24 Oklahoma State

Desmond Mason dunked for the first time at age 13, flushed a reverse jam at 14 and vaulted over a 5'10" defender in high school for a splay-legged stuff. These days the 6'6" senior forward can reach 11'6" from a flat-footed start. Yet none of those great leaps are as impressive as the one Mason's stock took during last year's NCAAs, when he lit up Syracuse for 28 points and then stung Auburn for 26 while holding the Tigers' Chris Porter to nine. "Desmond has been a secret because we're in Stillwater," says guard Joe Adkins, "but I don't think he will be anymore."

One of seven Cowboys seniors, Mason takes his hard-driving game from the blocks to the wing this season as coach Eddie Sutton shifts to a beefier look inside. "When you play with four guards, which is basically what we had last year, then you're at a disadvantage," says Sutton. "To be better, we need to go with a bigger lineup." That means Sutton intends to always keep a pair of true post players in the lineup, a task made easier by the arrival of freshman Andre Williams, a 6'9" shot-blocking forward.

Besides Mason, though, the Cowboys' main strength is clearly their backcourt rotation of seniors Adkins, Glendon Alexander and point guard Doug Gottlieb. A splendid passer, Gottlieb led the nation with 8.8 assists a game last season, but he was such a poor shooter (31.4% from the field, 44.4% from the line) that Sutton had to yank him at the end of games. After failed attempts to change his luck—by bleaching his hair, wearing his socks high, even singing a Garth Brooks song before free throws-Gottlieb is hoping that visits to a sports shrink and his dedication in the gym will turn him around. "I know I said this last year, but I've worked so hard," he says. "I'll show I have a well-rounded game."

If he does, the Cowboys might go further than the second round of the NCAAs, where they've been edged by No. 1 seeds the past two years. "It's time to do better," vows Mason. "Losing in the second round is getting old."

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