Hounds hope newcomers will lead to success

PORTALES — Brent Owen begins his second season as the Eastern New Mexico University men’s basketball coach trying to change the culture.

Last season, the Greyhounds had a couple of good wins early and were 6-6 as Lone Star Conference play got rolling. They then suffered through an 11-game losing streak before capturing their finale over Western New Mexico, but the 7-17 record (3-11 LSC) didn’t sit well.

Owen thinks with the players the Hounds have brought in, they can turn things around quickly.

“We made a pretty significant roster change in the spring,” he said. “We went after guys who are used to winning, who defend, who are tough and who are unselfish. I feel like we did a good job of hitting on those characteristics.”

ENMU, which lost a preseason exhibition to Grand Canyon 71-43 in Phoenix on Oct. 28, begins the regular campaign this weekend in the LSC/Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Challenge at New Mexico Highlands. The Hounds face Fort Lewis on Friday and take on host the host Cowboys on Saturday.

ENMU was picked 15th of 16 teams in the preseason LSC poll — actually, seventh of eight teams in the West Division — but the Hounds don’t plan to finish that low.

“I think we’re going to shock a lot of people,” said senior guard Eze Dike (pronounced E-zay DEE-kay), a graduate student who played three seasons at Yale in the Ivy League and started 13 games last year for the Bulldogs before sustaining a torn ligament in his left wrist. “ I think we’ve got tough guys who can compete with anybody in the conference.”

Owen also sees better things ahead.

“I wasn’t surprised (by the poll) because of where we’ve been and how many new players we have on the team,” he said. “But I would say it put a chip on my shoulder and everyone on this team.”

Only three players return, including freshman guard Junior Hodnett, who redshirted last season. Sophomore guard Niko Bossinakis started eight games and averaged 4 1/2 points, while sophomore guard Sabastian Jimenez saw spot duty off the bench.

Bossinakis’ younger brother, Alex, is a 6-foot-2 guard and one of four incoming freshmen. He was the Texas TAPPS Class 5A player of the year last season and helped lead Fort Worth Christian to a state championship.

“He’s a point guard who can shot a 3,” Owen said.

Other freshmen are 6-6 forward/guard Blazei Czerniewicz, who is from Poland, along with 2020 Clovis High grad Darion Morgan and Highland H.S. grad Jose Murillo.

Dike helped Yale win three Ivy League tournament titles as the No. 2 seed to reach the NCAA Division I tourney. Born in Montreal to Nigerian parents, he said he likes the environment at ENMU, and the team’s overall makeup.

“We’ve put in a lot of work, and guys are coming together,” Dike said. “They get along really well.

“Everybody’s coming from winning backgrounds. At Grand Canyon, the fact the players didn’t back down told me we’re going to play to win.”

Grehion Easter, a 6-3 senior guard from Little Rock, Ark., also transferred from the D-I level (Cal State-Bakersfield) and is a highly-touted defender who also has shooting range, Owen said.

Junior college transfers include junior guard/forward Jahcoree Ealy, sophomore guard Dwayne Chester III, junior guards Greg Johnson and Jason Holman, 6-7 sophomore forward Errol White and 6-9 sophomore center Malique Oates.

“Overall, I think the trend with our guys is there’s a lot of wins coming in here,” Owen said. “We really wanted to recruit guys who had won.”

He said the Hounds gave a good effort, especially on defense, at GCU, one of the favorites to capture the Western Athletic Conference title. The offense, though, is admittedly still a work in progress.

“I don’t think it would be fair to these guys to expect them to play their best basketball in November,” Owen said. “I expect us to make progress as we come together.”

ENMU opens its home schedule against first-year program New Mexico Tech on Nov. 17, and the teams will meet a second time two days later at The Rock in Clovis. Owen said the Thursday tilt, slated for an 11 a.m. start at Greyhound Arena, will be Youth Day.

“Local schools can bring in students,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to get over 2,000 students that day.”