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Newcomers crucial, on and off court

Rick Majerus is back with the Utes after a one-year hiatus.  Jamie Squire/Allsport 1   Wyoming 2   Utah 3   San Diego State 4   New Mexico 5   UNLV 6   BYU 7   Air Force 8   Colorado State 9 Number of consecutive winning seasons by under-the-radar Colorado State, a school record and longest current streak in the conference, but one that figures to end this season "You miss a year and people think you change. You don't change. I'm just back." -- Rick Majerus, who rejoins the Utes after missing last season to attend to his mother's health and his own. By Phil Miller, Special to CNNSI.com The competition for Newcomer of the Year may be as intense in the Mountain West this season as for the conference championship. At least, there are more preseason contenders. New Mexico has added a 7-footer, Moustapha Diagne of Senegal, to work amid Fran Fraschilla's impressive collection of speedy guards. Marcus Banks, the best small man in junior college hoops last year, figures to give Charlie Spoonhour's offense at UNLV a jolt of adrenaline. San Diego State has a trio of new players -- Tony Bland, Mike Mackell and Brandon Smith -- that may be as good as any the Aztecs had a year ago. Even stripped-down BYU welcomes back church missionary Mark Bigelow, technically not a newcomer since he was Freshman of the Year in 1999, but still an exciting new face for the defending conference champions. But the newcomers who are most likely to affect the race atop the league standings aren't players at all. Wyoming and Utah, conference heavyweights who were upstaged last season by co-champ BYU, should be better in 2001-2002 because of the coaches on their sidelines. The Utes' addition is the most obvious, and the most critical. Rick Majerus, who missed all but the season opener a year ago because of health problems and his mother's illness, is back to work his better-than-the-sum-of-their-parts magic on his club, which suffered a what rates as a "down" year -- a share of its seventh straight league title, but no NCAA berth -- in his absence. Wyoming hopes its addition leads to subtraction on the scoreboard. Assistant coach Heath Schroyer, who helped design and implement the league's best defense (62.7 points per game) at BYU, switched allegiances over the summer and will work under Steve McClain in Laramie this year. Schroyer will handle Wyoming's major failing; with a chance to win the outright championship in their regular-season finale last season, the Cowboys allowed UNLV to score 106 points in a difficult loss. If the Cowboys, who own the league's most feared front line in Marcus Bailey, Josh Davis and Uche Nsonwu-Amadi, are motivated to play defense half as hard as they attack the basket, Wyoming should tear through a soft non-conference schedule and show up in the national rankings. "I'm a little uncomfortable that Heath stayed within the conference, but there's no doubt that he's got a great opportunity to help Wyoming," said BYU coach Steve Cleveland, who brought Schroyer with him from Fresno City College four years ago. The league's biggest question, though, is whether the Mountain West will have more than one NCAA tournament opportunity. Thanks to weak RPI numbers and few notable non-conference games, much less victories, dropped the MWC into the ranks of automatics-only. "It was a problem that we asked our members to address, and tried to help them address, by scheduling better games," said commissioner Craig Thompson. "It's a difficult undertaking because some conferences view our teams as dangerous games, particularly on the road. It's a circular argument: Our RPI is low because people won't play us, but they won't play us as long as our RPI is low." Still, there are some big-name programs on the league's schedules this year, like Stanford (which will play BYU and New Mexico), Duke (against San Diego State), Cincinnati and Texas (both to face UNLV). There should be enough talent to earn at least one at-large berth this season, which should go to the runner-up of the Utah-Wyoming battle; figure SDSU, UNLV and New Mexico, a darkhorse that could challenge the big two for the title if Ruben Douglas and Marlon Parmer get enough help, to be on the bubble come Selection Sunday. Colorado State, which graduated most of its shooters, and Air Force, undersized but now comfortable with coach Joe Scott's backdoor offense, will fight to stay out of the cellar. Two seasons ago, Marcus Banks was the backcourt mate of point guard Maurice Baker at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah. Banks watched last year as his former teammate blossomed into the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year at Oklahoma State, finishing in the top 10 in scoring, assists and steals. That's the sort of impact Banks would like to make in his hometown of Las Vegas this year for UNLV. The 6-1 guard, who led a Baker-less Dixie to a 34-2 record last season and earned NJCAA all-America honors, committed to the Rebels before former coach Bill Bayno was fired. He briefly thought about going elsewhere, but new coach Charlie Spoonhour convinced him to stay. Banks played a physical, attack-the-basket style in junior college that will likely be toned down against bigger Division I players. Still, Spoonhour likes Banks' get-out-of-my-way mentality. "I expect the adjustment to this level will be very quick for Marcus," the coach said. "He's so explosive, not many people can guard him." HOT: The Jon H. Huntsman Center Utah hasn't lost a conference game there since January 1996, a 44-game streak that is the nation's longest. NOT: UNLV G Jermaine Lewis Projected to either start or be scoring sixth man after averaging 9.3 points as a sophomore, Lewis will miss at least two months and possibly the entire season after surgery on his right knee. HOT: BYU coach Steve Cleveland After delivering an NCAA berth just four years after taking over 1-25 program, he became the first basketball coach in school history to sign a contract longer than one year. NOT: Utah G Kevin Bradley The Utes' leading scorer and most athletic player a year ago didn't keep his grades up and likely won't play at Utah again.   San Diego State didn't exactly test itself with its non-conference schedule a year ago -- the Aztecs didn't even leave California until mid- January -- so a little more intensity was probably in order. Intensity. Not insanity. But the Aztecs overcorrected, trading in one of the league's easiest schedules for what is almost certainly its most difficult. Steve Fisher will get to see some of his old Big Ten buddies, since they visit Lubbock to take on Bob Knight and Texas Tech, then Las Cruces to take on Lou Henson and New Mexico State. SDSU gets Jerry Tarkanian and Fresno State at home, then flies to Hawaii for a game. And just as they are getting over their jet lag, they head to Durham to take on Duke. "I wanted to harden us for what we'll see in the Mountain West," said Fisher. Utah assistant coach Dick Hunsaker Thrust into unexpected spotlight when Majerus took a year off, he held team together and won a share of MWC title, then moved back to supporting role when the big man returned. Wyoming F Marcus Bailey Easily overlooked on a team with good interior players, he quietly led the league in scoring as a sophomore, but he's also a good rebounder and the Cowboys' best defender. San Diego State F Myron Epps For two years, he was the lone threat on horrid Aztec teams, but now has willingly turned offensive focus over to others in order to make the team better.   The race for the Mountain West championship figures to come down to the season's last day, or maybe even the last shot. Utah and Wyoming, the surest bets to sit atop the league, close the season with a showdown in Laramie on March 2. The home team has won 13 straight games in this matchup, dating back to January 1993, so a road victory by either team -- they also meet in Salt Lake City on Feb. 4 -- could be decisive in the league race, the MWC tournament seedings, even on NCAA Selection Sunday. It's never easy, however, as the Utes learned last January. After building a 13-point second-half lead, Utah melted down, going scoreless for five minutes as the Cowboys roared back for a 78-77 overtime victory.   Even though its campus will be used to house athletes, Utah plans to play home games against Air Force and New Mexico during the 2002 Winter Olympics in February. The Falcons will bunk at nearby Hill Air Force Base during the road trip. ... Point guard Chris McMillian has started every game in his three seasons at Wyoming, but the streak is in jeopardy. The senior from southern California broke his fibula while playing softball in July, and there's a chance he might not be ready by opening night. ... The Lobos will play 16 of their first 17 games in New Mexico, 15 at home and one at New Mexico State. The Lobos only real road trip before late January is a Nov. 28 game at Cal. ... Utah forward Phil Cullen spent the summer pitching for a Seattle Mariners' rookie-league team. ... San Diego State guard Al Faux was suspended indefinitely in late October for breaking unspecified team rules, though Fisher expects him to return at some point. ... Colorado State graduated all four of its leading scorers, or roughly 80 percent of its offense. ... New Mexico has finished at .500 or better for 18 straight seasons, sixth-longest current streak in the nation.

Phil Miller covers the Mountain West for the Salt Lake Tribune. His "This Week in the Mountain West" column will appear weekly during the season.