SIUC men’s basketball coach Rich Herrin hopes his 1997-98 squad now has the players to make a return to its winning ways that ended two seasons ago.

The Salukis have struggled over the past two seasons with losing records and have felt the effects of having a very small bench.

Herrin has brought in a total of nine recruits for the upcoming season, including two walk-ons and three transfers. Herrin introduced six of the nine new players at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

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We’re a very young team, Herrin said. We’ll beat some people that we aren’t supposed to beat, then we’ll let someone slip up on us. But I think the big thing is we’ve got the size, depth and strength this year.

Transfers Chris Thunell, Lance Brown and Derrick Tilmon and freshmen Nikos Topouzis, Thanasis Topouzis, Josh Cross and Abel Schrader join non-scholarship walk-ons Jeremy Wright and Andy Scott as one of Herrin’s biggest recruiting classes at SIUC.

Thunell, a 6-foot-9 sophomore from O’Fallon, transferred to SIUC last fall after one season at Florida International University, while Brown, a 6-foot-3 sophomore from West Frankfort, joined the Salukis last season after transferring from John A. Logan College.

But both Thunell and Brown did not see action for Herrin last season. Thunell did not play in accordance to the NCAA rule requiring transfers from one Division-I school to another to sit out one year. Brown red-shirted the season, meaning he practiced with the team but retained three years of eligibility by not appearing in any games.

For Thunell, a year without basketball was painful at the time but will pay big dividends this season.

I think it’s the best thing that could have happened to me, Thunell said. I had a year to work on what I thought would help me. It was horrible, but it really helped me.

Tilmon, a 6-foot-7 sophomore from Clarksdale, Miss., played last season at Hiwassee College, where he averaged 13.2 points and grabbed 10 rebounds per game.

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Herrin also will look to five freshmen for contributions this season. Nikos Topouzis and Thanasis Topouzis, twin 6-foot-9 forwards from Kontariotissa, Greece, were the final addition to Herrin’s recruiting season last week, but both are an unknown commodity.

The Topouzis’ last played organized basketball in high school in 1995 and came to the United States to follow a dream of playing basketball and continuing their education.

Cross and Schrader played high school basketball in Southern Illinois. Cross, a 6-foot-4 guard from Carbondale, signed with the Salukis last fall, while Schrader, a 6-foot-4 guard from Okawville, earned Illinois High School Association All-State honors last season.

Rounding out the squad are 6-foot-4 freshman Scott and 6-foot-1 junior Wright. Wright played last season at John A. Logan College after a solid career a Murphysboro High School, while Scott played in East Peoria.

With the extra players, Herrin can now afford to have several backups at each of the team’s five starting positions.

Herrin plans on using Brown and Cross behind senior Shane Hawkins at the point guard spot, while Cross, Schrader and juniors Ryan Hammer and Monte Jenkins will battle for the shooting guard position.

Schrader and juniors Chris Wright and James Jackson will back up senior Rashad Tucker at small forward, while Tilmon, the Topouzis’, junior James Watts, Thunell and Jackson will battle for time at both the power forward and center positions.

With eight players standing 6 feet 6 inches or taller, Herrin said size will help his team battle some of the Missouri Valley Conference’s bigger teams this season.

Chris Thunell talked to me at the office the other day and said, Coach, I think we’re going to surprise some people.’ And I think that’s right, Herrin said. They’ve got a great attitude. We’ve got a good team for being so young.