“It will certainly be a different look with the seniors gone from last year and the success they had the previous two years,” sixth-year head coach Tim Wise said.

Last year's team handled the ball extremely well and forced opposing teams into bad decisions, which contributed to the most successful season in the program's 97-year history. Millsaps had the SCAC's No. 1 scoring offense at 77.5 ppg and committed just 394 turnovers against 557 assists, ranking fourth nationally at 1.41 to 1 in assist/turnover ratio. The Majors dished out 17.4 dimes per game (9th nationally), led by senior guard Chad Songy with 126.

“Taking care of the basketball and eliminating turnovers is something we've emphasized. The combination of our defensive pressure and solid guards who have played a lot of games put that turnover ratio around 11 a game for us, while we forced 19 a game.”

Under Wise, who recently moved into fourth all-time on the career wins list at 74-61 overall, Millsaps has won 42 of its last 50 games (84 percent) dating back to the 2006-07 season. The Majors were a perfect 16-0 in the Hangar Dome last season and carry a 17-game overall home winning streak into the 2008-09 campaign.

With the loss of two, four-year starters in Lorenzo Bailey and Rodney Rogan, a three-year starter in All-American Edrick Montgomery and frequent starters Allen Odum (80 games – 43 starts) and Deonte Oscar (87 games – 35 starts), Millsaps is without 65 percent of its scoring from a year ago and close to 61 percent of its rebounding.

“The ability to score is a concern with the graduation of three, 1,000-point scorers,” Wise said. “The last few years we've felt that if we could be close in rebounding that the amount of turnovers we caused would give us more opportunities on the other goal. Rebounding will be more of a premium this year with the absence of guys like Montgomery and Rogan at the forward spots.”

Montgomery, the SCAC's Player of the Year runner-up the past two seasons, ended his stay as Millsaps' career-leader in rebounds with 761, one better than John Garber who grabbed 760 boards from 1993-97. He also ranks second all-time in rebounding average (9.2 rpg), third in blocks (116), fifth in points (1,383) and seventh in field goals made (552) and field goals attempted (1,043), while becoming only the seventh player to score 1,000 career points and grab 500 career boards.

The contributions from Bailey, Rogan, Odum and Oscar will be missed just the same. Bailey set a new career record in 3-pointers made (232) and attempted (617), Rogan finished in the Top 5 all-time in four offensive categories, Odum finished with 200+ assists and 100+ steals and Oscar had a 41 percent career field goal percentage.

Wise and third-year assistant coach Justin LeBlanc will work with two returning senior starters in Chris Sanders and Chad Songy and will rely on several key role players from a year ago to fill out the remaining three slots.

Sanders, a lanky, 6-foot-4 guard who has the potential to have a breakout season, averaged 9.4 ppg and 5.2 rpg last season. The senior from Brandon played in 31 of 32 games, ranking first on the team in 3-point percentage (.400) and steals (56) and third in field goal percentage (.462). He is the returning rebounding leader at 160 and will have to use his pure ability and wingspan to help lead the Majors' defense.

The hero that sent Millsaps into the “Sweet Sixteen” with a last-second shot to defeat Mary Hardin-Baylor, Songy returns as the starting point-guard with plenty of poise. The senior from Lafayette, La., started 22 of the Majors' final 23 games and provided an immediate spark in the scoring column. Songy reached double figures in scoring in 11 of the final 23 games and dished out 97 assists, to finish at 8.8 ppg and 3.9 apg for the year.

Juniors Cameron Varnado and Blake Martinez established themselves as key players off the bench at just fewer than 13 mpg and will compete with Chris Ingle and Russell Booth to join Sanders and Songy in the starting role. Varnado is a guy who can come in and take an important charge and provide solid defense, while Martinez is used more as a shooter from the perimeter with a career 3-point percentage of .390. Booth, the final senior, provides a 6-foot-6 frame in the post that can block a few shots and also knock down a shot from beyond the arc.

Ingle, a 6-foot-5 sophomore forward from Baton Rouge, La., missed the entire 2007-08 season with a back injury and will get his chance to start. As a freshman, Ingle played in 26 of the Majors' 27 games, knocked down 44 percent of his shots from the floor and grabbed 38 boards. He, Booth and Sanders will be looked upon to do a majority of the rebounding with the absence of three of the top four rebounders.

Chris Steele and Cody Aucoin, who combined to play in 33 games, have parted ways with the Majors, while sophomores Josh Colar, Richard Craven, Brett Hittel, and Morgen Viel are all back for another run at a conference championship. Viel has the most court experience of the bunch, playing in 13 games as a true freshman. The 6-foot-4 guard from League City, Texas, provides a ton of athleticism and can get up and down the court to help the Majors succeed this year.

In the offseason, Millsaps also welcomed nine new players to the team in Jeff Brown (Atlanta, Ga./Marist HS), Chase Cone (Atlanta, Ga./Marist HS), Ben Cooper (Guntersville, Ala./Guntersville HS), Ryan Doherty (Sugarland, Texas/Clements HS), Kaylon Durham (Memphis, Tenn./White Station HS), Joe Hunter (New Orleans, La./Ben Franklin HS), John Love (New Orleans, La./Jesuit HS), Brian Merkel (Baton Rouge, La./Saint Michael the Archangel) and Jason O'Rear (Mandeville, La./Northlake Christian).

Practice officially opened on Oct. 15 in the Hangar Dome and the Majors' first game of the season is slated for Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. against cross-street rival Belhaven College. After three straight road games to open the year, Millsaps will put its 17-game home winning streak on the line against Wesley College on Friday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m.