Bobcats aim to exceed low expectations

Sun Belt coaches predict Texas State will finish in cellar.

— With eight players from last year having either graduated or left the program, Texas State’s men’s basketball team is returning just 39 percent of its scoring and 30 percent of its rebounds from last season.

The top three rebounders from last year are gone. So are three of the top four scorers.

That, Bobcats coach Danny Kaspar said, is why Texas State was picked to finish dead last in the Sun Belt in a preseason vote by the coaches.

Kaspar, though, sees it differently.

“I’m not in agreement with that last place pick there,” Kaspar said. “I can understand why. We’re only bringing back five scholarship players.

“I do think that, in many of these cases in which we lost some undergraduate players for a variety of reasons, who we brought in has helped improve the team.”

Eight players out means eight players in. The Bobcats signed four junior college transfers and four high school prospects. Four were guards, four were forwards.

Kasper, in his fourth season, finally has a roster that was recruited and signed entirely by his staff.

Still, replacing Emani Gant, who graduated and is now playing professionally in China, won’t be easy, especially in the paint.

“The area that we’re probably not going to be as strong at is interior scoring,” Kaspar said. “I’m not saying that about rebounding, I’m not saying that about defense, but I’m saying that with interior scoring.”

Outside the paint is a different story, Kaspar said. He thinks the Bobcats’ perimeter game has gotten better.

Kavin Gilder-Tilbury is a preseason All-Sun Belt thirdteam selection. A senior, he’s the only Bobcat who has been with Kaspar since Kaspar took over four years ago.

“It’s been up and down, for sure,” Gilder-Tilbury said. “I learned a lot from coach Kaspar. He taught me how to be a better player, how to be a man. He taught me what it takes to work hard.

“But a lot of things changed with coach Kaspar in the program. He was very assertive in what he wanted. He’s definitely a lot nicer now.”

Gilder-Tilbury averaged 12.3 points and led the Bobcats in three-point percentage last year. He’s Texas State’s top offensive returner and one of only four seniors on the team.

The Bobcats’ first action of the season will be an exhibition game against Southeastern Oklahoma State in San Marcos on Nov. 5.

The season opener is Nov. 11 at the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii.