Hounds add five to men's basketball fold

PORTALES — When the Greyhound men’s basketball team was ousted in overtime in their Lone Star Conference tournament opener, the focus had to change quickly.

A promising year that ended with the fourth seed, and a mild upset by Tarleton State, meant the Greyhounds went from playoff mode to rebuild mode with five seniors to replace.

Coach Tres Segler is optimistic the rebuild mode is going well, as the team made its fifth signing for the 2019-20 season this last week in junior college transfer Yosnier Cobas.

Segler said an offer is still out to a sixth player and he remains optimistic. The haul so far includes:

• Cobas, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward from Columbia College.

• Marvin Mapaga, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward from Arizona Western.

• Brandon Meadows, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard from Eastern Wyoming.

• Austin Kingman, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward from Tacoma Community College.

• Ibn Zaid, a 6-foot-1 guard from Cavilan College.

The Greyhounds had two concerns entering the offseason — grab guards to take some offensive pressure off Devin Pullum and get big guys to apply defensive pressure to some of the LSC’s bigger bodies.

Troubles were evident when the Greyhounds played West Texas A&M, who boasted LSC player of the year Ryan Quaid and freshman of the year Qua Grant in the frontcourt.

“We’re definitely excited about what we’ve got,” Segler said. “We’re much bigger at the 4 position. These guys are powerful and can be true difference makers in the Lone Star.

“I felt like if we had some big powerful guys, for one we’ll score some easy baskets. Two, we would have been able to guard guys like Quaid a little better.”

Mapaga averaged 9.8 points and 6.2 rebounds as a sophomore at Western Arizona, while Cobas scored 12.8 points per game and led the Central Valley Conference at 9.6 rebounds per game.

Kingman, Segler said, provides additional size, and is a skilled shooter from the 3-point line and in pick-and-pop situations. He scored in double figures in all but four of Tacoma’s games, and shot 41 percent from 3-point range.

The Greyhounds lost their prime experience at guard between Zach Parker, Maurice Coleman and Nick Brown.

“Ibn is a true point guard, kind of a team quarterback type guy to replace Maurice Coleman. Brandon Meadows is a combo guard, really athletic. He can play the point or the 2. Having him play both guard spots can maybe allow Devin to be more of a scoring guard than the point.”

Meadows averaged nearly a double-double at Eastern Wyoming (13.8 points, 9.6 rebounds), while Zaid averaged 14 points a game on 42 percent shooting — including 38 percent from the 3-point line.

The Greyhounds were 13-14 overall last season, with a 10-8 conference mark.