The Northwest men's basketball team may look a little different this winter when they take the court at Bearcat Arena.
The Bearcats return only four men from last year's roster. Forward Hunter Henry is the only senior taking the court for the 'Cats this season.
Northwest recruited several junior college transfers this season to fill the empty spots on the roster.
"I feel good, but it's a big difference because I come from a (Junior College)," junior transfer Edriss Floyd said. "It's a lot more fast paced. You have to come, and you've got to learn a lot and really pay attention and take in everything the coach tells you. I feel good playing on this team in my position, everything is going good."
Coach Steve Tappmeyer expects the transfers to step up and help the team succeed this season.
"We'd like to see them get the grasp of things well enough to get in there early and be playing," Tappmeyer said. "They're all guys we recruited with the idea they could step in and play this first year."
Northwest will need all the help it can get from its inexperienced players. Ten new players join the team just one year after winning the MIAA Championship and making an appearance in the NCAA tournament.
This time last season, the 'Cats only had one new player on the court.
"I think it's not very fair for us to compare with where we were last year at this time," Tappmeyer said. "Last year, we only had one new player on the team and everyone else had been through it, so sometimes I think we get caught being guilty of comparing where we've been the last four or five years, and we're behind quite a bit. But it doesn't mean you stay there. Your ability to improve throughout the year is only that much greater."
Tappmeyer said the biggest challenge the new 'Cats will have to overcome is the system he likes to run.
"Learning the system with as many new people as we have (will be tough)," Tappmeyer said. "We've got guys that have good work ethic and approach it the right way, but it's just a lot of different things you've got to learn. It seems like often times in our system guys who are here for their second year is when they really feel the most comfortable with it, and we've just got to jump that learning curve this year, because we've got 11 new players."
Junior Mike Larsen sees the difficulty in learning the system but said there is something more important the 'Cats will have to overcome.
"They're learning the system pretty quickly," Larsen said. "A lot of it is just building a team. It takes a lot of time to become a cohesive team that's not something that comes overnight. Hopefully in a little bit more time we'll be more like a team."
The young and new 'Cats will be put to the test once their season starts next week.
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