We are now just one week away from the Lobos’ first exhibition game, and we couldn’t be more excited. Yesterday, we looked at the guards and wings on the team, so today we’ll get to know the bigs and the walk-ons. As before, we’ll have an overview of each player, along with some things that we expect to see, some things we hope to see, and their stats from the last season they played in D-1. One thing seems clear to me: this is a much-improved unit that should provide a lot more production than what the team got from the inside last season.

#11 Obij Aget

Center, 7’1”, 220 lbs., Junior

Big O entered last season with big shoes to fill, having to replace the production lost by Alex Kirk going pro. Defensively, I think that it was the expectation that he would hold his own. Which he did, using his length to alter shots and to record 1.4 blocks per game. Offensively, the hope seemed to be that he’d be able to score occasionally in transition and off of put-backs. By the end of the season, O was showing that he had a developing post game and was someone they could sometimes just toss the ball to and let him go to work. He also seemed to improve all-around as the season went on, which bodes well for him to take a further step forward this year. All in all, O solidified himself last season as the team’s starting center and looks set to remain in that position for the next couple of years.

What we expect to see: As you might expect from a lanky 7’1” center, Obij has proven to be a difficult obstacle for opponents to shoot over and a good rebounder. Twice last season he had games with 12 rebounds and 4 blocks, which seems a possibility for him to do in any game. He has also showed good chemistry with Cullen in the past, so there should be several alley-oops between the two this year.

What we hope to see: Although his offense has improved since he arrived in New Mexico, he still isn’t a consistent threat game-in and game-out. As mentioned, there have been signs that he is heading in that direction, which would be great for the team as a whole and for O’s eventual pro prospects. I think that he and Tim Williams can combine to give the Lobos the legitimate interior presence they lacked last year, which would give the shooters on the team plenty of daylight.

2014-15 Stats: 24.7 mpg, 6.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.5 spg, 1.4 bpg, 55.9% FG, 0.0% 3P, 64.9% FT

#23 Joe Furstinger

Forward, 6’9”, 215 lbs., Sophomore

Joe was pressed into service as the primary backup power forward last season as a true freshman, which came with the expected ups and downs. Like most freshmen, he had some issues getting used to playing defense at this level, which led to a decent number of fouls in his limited minutes. But, he did show several flashes of promise throughout the season. He has some nice moves down low and is quick enough to go to the rim from midrange. He also sets really good screens, which will be more useful this year with guys who can take advantage of that. Joe will be fighting for playing time this season, as he’s probably starting off as the third-string power forward, but if he has made some strides on defense and keeps playing hard, Coach Neal will probably find some minutes for him.

What we expect to see: Joe stuck out to me last season as a guy who plays hard all the time, fighting for tough rebounds and trying to get good positioning on offense. He’ll supplement his interior game by stepping out for the occasional three pointer, so long as he makes it at a good enough rate to have the green light.

What we hope to see: Joe was able to put on a little weight this season, but not as much as the staff probably would have preferred because of a surgery this summer to remove his appendix. I hope that he was still able to add some strength, though, so he’ll be better suited playing defense down low.

2014-15 Stats: 12.4 mpg, 2.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.8 apg, 0.1 spg, 0.5 bpg, 35.8% FG, 10.0% 3P, 57.1% FT

#0 J.J. N’Ganga

Center, 6’10”, 240 lbs., Senior

J.J. is a bit of an enigma this year simply because his status is so up in the air. He hurt his Achilles’ tendon towards the end of last season and, by the sounds of it, he still hasn’t completely recovered. So, there’s a chance that J.J. ends up just redshirting this season and hoping to come back strong next year. That said, I’m sure that it’s preferable for everyone if he’s good to go. J.J. came in last season as a big body who was more skilled in the low post than initially advertised. He was still raw at times, particularly on defense, where he had the highest rate of fouling on the team. If he is able to play this season, I’d expect that to improve, as simply having another year of experience will help him get into better position. If he can’t play, however, hopefully he’ll be able to use this missing year to just keep improving for a strong senior year in 2016-17.

What we expect to see: If he plays, I’d expect him to be a presence down low on offense by muscling his way into a good position and using some of his moves to get to the rim for some easy baskets. He had a pretty good field goal percentage last year just by doing that.

What we hope to see: Hopefully, J.J. will cut down on his turnovers this season, which was an issue that plagued him all last year. Part of that was not catching the ball cleanly and another part was a tendency to set moving screens. Those are both things that can be improved upon and, if he’s going to be an asset either this year or next, will need to be improved upon.

2014-15 Stats: 11.9 mpg, 3.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 0.2 apg, 0.0 spg, 0.2 bpg, 59.0% FG, 0.0% 3P, 61.1% FT

UPDATE: In today’s press conference, Noodles confirmed that J.J. will sit out this season and then they’ll figure out a plan moving forward. If nothing else, I will never forget how he taught me how to howl in French:

#33 Nikola Scekic

Center, 7’1”, 255 lbs., Freshman

Nikola was a summer commit to the Lobos, coming to New Mexico from Serbia by way of Florida. Nik is a big, big man, which by itself would make him an interesting prospect. That’s not all he is, though, as he already seems to have a nice looking stroke and good hands, especially for his size. He and his mentors have made no bones about Nik’s ultimate goal being to make the NBA, so it is a credit to Neal and the rest of the coaching staff that they are being trusted to develop him to get to that point. He is still fairly raw in some aspects of the game, so getting more familiar with the game and developing his basketball IQ might take a little time. But, if things start to click, he looks to have the physical abilities to make the leap to the next level sometime down the road.

What we expect to see: Nik will likely be called on to spell Obij occasionally, especially if J.J. is injured, but development feels like it will be the name of the game for Nik this season. That said, he hasn’t really been playing basketball all that long, so the Nik we see at the end of the year feels like he will be an entirely different player than what we see in the season opener. Because of his size, he should be able to fight for a lot of rebounds and be able to get himself in good position in the low post.

What we hope to see: In the brief bit that I’ve been able to see him live, Nik got a little out of position occasionally on offense, defense, and for rebounds. That sort of thing comes from experience, so if Nik is a quick learner then he’ll get that figured out in time to be a good contributor by the holiday tournament. Big guys also tend to have issues with foul trouble early in their career, so being able to reign that in would also help him earn more playing time.

#12 Devon Williams

Forward, 6’8”, 210 lbs., Redshirt Junior

To me, Devon was one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of last year’s team. After his redshirt freshman season where he couldn’t crack the rotation and looked overmatched when he did get in the game. When he was announced to be one of the team’s starters at the beginning of last season, I sort of figured that it was just as a stopgap until someone else took his place. Instead, he ended up starting all but one game on the season and was one of the more productive players overall. This year, Devon seems as good of a candidate as anyone to see a jump in his development, as he always had the length and athleticism, but he now seems to have developed more skills and gained more experience. He will likely coming off of the bench this season, but that might make him one of the best post players the Lobos have had coming off the bench in a while.

What we expect to see: Devon is pretty quick for a guy his size and he runs well, so look for him to be involved regularly in fast break situations. As a whole, the team should see more opportunities to run this year, which would give Devon lots of opportunities to finish. He will also likely act as more of a stretch-four than any of the other post players, so he will see some playing time when Coach Neal wants to get better spacing on offense.

What we hope to see: At the Howl, it looked to me as though Devon had been working on his outside shooting, particularly in terms of making his shot more fluid. Over the course of the whole season, he didn’t shoot threes well enough to warrant taking them regularly, but if he can make them at a decent clip this season, he will be one of the most versatile post players for the team.

2014-15 Stats: 22.6 mpg, 6.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.5 spg, 0.6 bpg, 45.7% FG, 26.3% 3P, 69.7% FT

#32 Tim Williams

Forward, 6’8”, 240 lbs., Redshirt Junior

Tim transferred to UNM from Samford last summer, where he was coming off of a first team all-conference selection in the Southern Conference after putting up some great numbers. He made the decision to come here to give himself a new challenge and to show that he can play at a higher level than he had been. By all accounts, he is certainly a capable player who will be one of the team leaders. He has some really nice low post moves and has a good enough shot to step out to knock down midrange shots, so although he might not score almost 18 points per game with the other weapons around him, he’ll still get his. He also might have been the best defender on his Samford team, so if he can adjust to the level of competition on that end of the court too, he’ll be hard to keep off the court.

What we expect to see: Tim is projected to be the starting power forward for the Lobos this year, as he appears to be the most complete post player that the team has. He is a good rebounder, has a nice touch around the rim, and has the size to be a good interior defender. He is the obvious candidate to be the go-to low post presence and will likely be one of the team’s leading scorers and rebounders. He also seems like he and Devon would complement each other on the court, so against teams without a big interior presence, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the two of them get some minutes together.

What we hope to see: Tim was so good at Samford that a first team all-conference appearance is certainly on the table. However, Samford was a mediocre team in one of the worst D-1 conferences, so showing that he can deliver a similar level of performance against tougher competition isn’t a given. Putting up similar numbers to his time at Samford would go a long way towards the Lobos fighting for a conference championship.

2013-14 Stats (Samford): 33.0 mpg, 17.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 0.8 apg, 1.3 spg, 1.4 bpg, 60.1% FG, 33.3% 3P, 75.0% FT

#30 Adam Cumber

Guard, 6’2”, 185 lbs., Redshirt Freshman

Adam is a local guy who had a solid high school career at Sandia before making the team as a preferred walk-on. Last season he redshirted, which is a little unusual for a walk-on and might indicate that the coaching staff thinks that there is a chance that he’ll develop as a player, namely as a point guard. Whether or not he does, he appears to be a good teammate who will give good effort at practices, which is the primary job description for a walk-on.

What we expect to see: Adam had a decent shot at Sandia, but was most impressive distributing the ball. If he gets in the game, look for him to be trying to set up his teammates.

What we hope to see: Hopefully Adam will get a little time here and there when the Lobos are blowing their opponents out and will get the chance to get a couple of assists and make a couple of shots.

#22 Connor Joy

Guard, 6’4”, 195 lbs., Senior

Connor was announced to be a walk-on a few weeks ago as a reward for all that he has done for the program. Namely, last season, when the team was short on players who could actually play, Connor stepped up to allow the team to have enough guys to actually practice. Connor played high school basketball in Rehoboth, NM, so it’s really cool to see a local guy who has been so supportive of the team be rewarded in this way.

What we expect to see: Honestly, very little out of him. There are a bunch of guys on the team this year, so even garbage time will likely consist mostly of scholarship players. Hopefully he’ll get in the game a few times this season.

What we hope to see: At least one game where the crowd starts to chant, “We want Connor!” followed by Connor coming in a scoring his first points as a college basketball player.

#34 Michael Nesbitt

Forward, 6’7”, 220 lbs., Redshirt Senior

Michael transferred to UNM from Missouri S&T, where he was a three-year starter for the Miners. He decided to transfer to UNM for his senior season to play under his old high school coach, Alan Huss. By the looks of it, he is a good shooter, hitting 42.4% of his three point attempts and 81.7% from the free throw stripe. Of all of the walk-ons, non-Tim Jacobs division, he seems to be the most likely, and most ready, to get some playing time. If he does, he’ll probably be running around the perimeter looking for his shot.

What we expect to see: If he does get manage to get minutes outside of garbage time, it will likely be because Coach Neal thinks that he can open up the floor with his shooting, so expect him to be trying to get open for a three.

What we hope to see: It’s not an easy jump to go from D-II to D-1, so who knows if his shooting will translate from one level to the next. If he does get any significant minutes, hopefully his shots will be falling.