The names associated with helping Jerry Eaves bring the North Carolina A&T men’s basketball team out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference basement into a program that is routinely a top four team in the conference will not be playing when the 2008-09 season begins because their eligibility has expired.

Gone are the players who knew Eaves’ system backwards and forwards like Walter Booth and Greg Roberts. Gone is the versatility of forward Jason Wills who led the Aggies in rebounding three years in a row in addition to leading the Aggies in scoring as a sophomore and recording more than 200 assists.

Gone is Austin Ewing, the Aggies starting point guard the last two seasons. And the player that Eaves really points to as the one who was the catalyst for jumpstarting the Aggies program – Steven Rush – is also gone. Eaves will certainly miss Rush’s 193 career 3-pointers and his 85.5 percent free throw shooting percentage.

Despite not having all the cogs that helped the Aggies put together two straight winning seasons in the conference for the first time since the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons, Eaves is not worried. In his mind, not having Rush, Ewing, Wills, Booth and Roberts is what college basketball is all about.

“College basketball is great because is not so much about the individual as much as it is about the overall program,’’ said Eaves. “In the pros, people sometime identify individual players with a team. But people come to our games for years and years because they love A&T basketball regardless of who’s wearing the jersey.

It’s going to be an exciting season. When people come to our games this year, we’ll still be pressuring the basketball, we’ll still be pushing the basketball and we’ll still be running our same offense because that’s A&T basketball no matter what players are occupying the jerseys.”

The Aggies may be doing the same things, but the team will look dramatically different. Their different look also means that Eaves will be able to intensify the things he likes to do. N.C. A&T will go into the 2008-09 season with one of the biggest teams it has had in a long time. The Aggies have five players taller than 6-foot-8. Four additional players stand between 6-6 and 6-8.

Therefore, throughout the season the Aggies can put big lineups on the floor to combat physical teams.

“Last year we were the little engine that could,’’ said Eaves. “If we could get out ahead of you and build a lead, we could play our style all night because you had to speed up the game to get back into the game. That was fine. That’s who we were. But if we played even with people and couldn’t pull away, it was going to be a very, very tough game for us. This year we will be able to guard people in the halfcourt and rebound because we have size.”

Another aspect of this season’s team that Eaves likes is its versatility. He has a team full of players who can play multiple positions. The Aggies had a tough time pulling away from teams on the scoreboard if Rush or Ewing were not hitting 3-pointers. Eaves said that will not be the case this season.

He believes he has five or six different players this season that can score 20 points on any given night. There will also be nights where the Aggies leading scorer will have 12 points and yet they still win.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how this team develops,’’ said Eaves. “We will have our growing pains. But this team resembles the kind of teams I envisioned I would be coaching. We have good size, good athletes and excellent depth.”

Eaves, who enters his sixth season as the Aggies head coach, believes pressuring with bigger players will make this team one of his better defensive teams. Early in the season, Eaves believes his team will struggle to score points, but as the season matures the Aggies will begin to find their identity on the offensive end.

“We appreciate all the thing the Steven Rushs, Austin Ewings and Jason Wills did to revive this program,’’ said Eaves. “There are some things they did very well. We will not shoot the ball as well from the perimeter this year as we have in years past. But again this is what is great about college basketball. There will be other aspects of the game where we will be much better. I think we will be a lot better than people are going to give us credit for.”

GUARDS
The discussion of the Aggies backcourt this season is a new one when the number of new guards on the roster is considered. A familiar face could be the key to how well the Aggies offense succeeds this season. Tavarus Alston, a 6-foot junior out Smith High School in Greensboro, has waited patiently for his opportunity to be the lead floor general for N.C. A&T. He will have his chance this season.

Unlike some of his predecessors at the position during the Eaves era, Alston is not a combo guard or a shooting guard converted into a point guard. He is a true to life point guard. He thinks pass first and has excellent court vision. But is he ready to be the glue and the floor leader that holds the Aggies together?

“He has really matured,’’ said Eaves. “I’ve never seen him work this hard in the preseason. Tavarus is extremely fast with the basketball in his hands, so is really going to help us push the ball up the floor this year. I think we are really going to be able to attack the basket on the break with him leading that attack.”

 Marc Hill, a 5-8 freshman out of Bowie, Md., matches Alston in the speed category. He is also a pass-first point guard, but he is also a good shooter. Eaves describes him as lightning in a bottle. He may follow the same course as Alston in terms of having to wait his turn because Eaves likes to bring his freshman along slowly. Fellow newcomer Nic Simpson will also get some time at the point guard position although he is more of a combo guard. Simpson (6-3, FR, Ft. Thomas, Ky.) is an excellent one-on-one player who can create his own shot of the dribble.

“Hill is a little water bug out there,’’ said Eaves. “He is going to be great at breaking down the defense with dribble penetration. Nic is very strong athlete. He is probably the second or third strongest player on the team.”

The shooting guard position will be an interesting dynamic for the Aggies because of the versatility on the team. Conceivably, 6-7 senior Ed Jones could be the starter at that position. He can shoot the basketball and cause match-up problems for opponents. Senior swingman Nick Wilson, a 6-5 Trenton, N.J. native, also has the skills to play the two-guard position.

Then there is 6-2 junior college transfer Dwane Joshua. Simply put, Joshua is a shooter. He will compensate for some of the perimeter shooting the Aggies lost with the departure of Rush and Ewing. Joshua is also a good free throw shooter. Freshman Jared Williams out Kernersville could also fill in at the shooting guard position.

“You’re going to see some of our guys playing different roles throughout the year,’’ said Eaves. “We will be interchangeable at every position.”

FORWARDS
Jones and Wilson will at times make appearances at the forward position. Jones and Wilson have shown signs of brilliance in the past. Eaves wants them to show that brilliance on a consistent basis. Jones’ highlight came last season at Delaware State when he scored 24 points on 10-for-12 shooting in an Aggies win. Wilson’s signature game two seasons ago when he scored 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting in a win over SMU. Eaves hopes to see more of those types of games from his two versatile swingmen.

Robert Johnson’s role is more defined. The 6-6 junior out of Greensboro Dudley High School started to emerge late last season. He can shoot the outside jump shot, but his strongest attribute is his mid-range game. His two years as an understudy will be valuable this season as he takes on a larger role.

Sophomore Kam Shepherd and senior Julian McClurkin are two other players who could play different positions throughout the season. Shepherd and McClurkin could both play the center or power forward positions this season. Shepherd’s minutes were limited last season. During the off-season, he worked on his strength. McClurkin also saw limited action last season. But his presence this season could allow All-MEAC Rookie team member Thomas Coleman to play more power forward this season.

“Kam’s work habits have become so much better,’’ said Eaves. “His attitude is better and that better attitude is really going to help our team.”

Brock Moorman rounds out the Aggie forwards. He is a 6-6 freshman out of Owensboro, Ky, who is an excellent rebounder and scorer. His size and rebounding puts him in the mold of other tremendous rebounding swingmen such as Bruce Jenkins and Wills.

CENTERS
Coleman had an outstanding first year as an Aggie. He earned MEAC Rookie of the Week honors twice. He averaged 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game last season. He had a single-game school record nine blocks in a home game against Coppin State.

“The interesting thing about this season is that my best player is not going to be my leading scorer,’’ said Eaves. “There is no doubt that Thomas is our best player. Players tend to follow and try to do the things their best player does. So this year, my team is going to want to defend, block shots and play help defense. There are going to be nights when Thomas scores seven or eight points, but will be the most vital player on the floor because he’s going to get you 11 rebounds, four assists and four blocks as well.”

Coleman will look to play a lot of power forward this season. If Eaves can place Coleman at the power forward position, he doesn’t believe there are too many power forwards than can guard him. Senior James Porter will go a long way in helping Thomas play the “4.”

Porter is a veteran who has provided the Aggies valuable minutes over his career. He started during the Aggies non-conference schedule last season. Eaves hopes the veteran can provide rebounding and defense. Redshirt senior Chad Webster looks to play the same role.