The Saluki men’s basketball team started their practices Sunday for the upcoming 1995-’96 season, and facenre challenges with a youngsquad.

SIUC gained its third consecutive birth in the NCAA Final Four Tournament last season, but was defeated in a tough lose to Syracuse.

That team had the outstanding due of Chris Carr and Marcus Timmons though, and both players were lost over the offseason. Carr is now with the Phoenix Suns, and Timmons played in Italy earlier this season but was released.

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Head coach Rich Herrin said his team is young and inexperienced, but there is a core of four returnees, who received an abundance of playing time last season, that he looks to for leadership. The four key returnees include:Sophomore Shane Hawkins, senior Scott Burzynski, senior Aminu Timberlake, and senior Jaratio Tucker.

We’ve got four guys that got good playing time last season, but the help has to come from our young guys, he said. On a good team, every player has a role to play, and they have to play that role to help the team.

Herrin said he has six key new faces to the squad, and he looks for them to contribute early. Red-shirt freshmen Reggie Nelson and James Watts join the team this year, and recruits DaShonn Ford, Ryan Hammer, Troy Hudson( A Missouri transfer from Carbondale), James Jackson, and Monte Jenkins all could see action this year.

The Dawgs worked mostly on the transition offense, full-court pressure, and passing to the inside and outside, while also working on preseason conditioning and shooting free-throws.

A surprising addition to the roster for this season are two Saluki football players. Tight-end Damon Jones, and Wide Receiver Stephen Geralds will not join the team until the football season has come to a close.

Herrin said both players were good high school players, but expectations should not be set too high early on.

It will take time for them to catch up, he said. We will have played one preseason game by the time they join the team, so you can’t expect too much too quickly.

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Jones, a 6’6-270 junior, was an All-Conference basketball player at Evanston high school. Geralds is a 6’3,185 lb. freshman from Sikeston, Mo.

Assistant coach Ron Herrin said the team may seem a little small now, but he sees Jackson and Jones helping Timberlake underneath the hoop.

James Jackson is a good freshman. He has some spring in his legs, and Jones could help bang the boards, he said.

Rich Herrin said the lose of Carr and Timmons hurts, but the team also lost guard Paul Lusk and forward Ian Stewart. Herrin said he looks to give the team a different angle.

The fact that we lost four of our good players hurts, he said. You don’t try to replace them, you try to adjust.