Six new players joined the Ball State men's basketball team thisseason. Three of the players are freshmen who will get the chanceto play and contribute right away.
"We're going to need all three of them to play," head coach TimBuckley said.
Julien "Skip" Mills, Peyton Stovall, and Darren Yates make upthe incoming freshmen class. Mills is the 6-foot-3-inch forwardfrom North Central in Indianapolis. Mills averaged 18.6 points andsix rebounds as a senior. Stovall, the 6-foot-1-inch guard fromLafayette Jefferson averaged 22 points and 6.7 rebounds as a seniorand was also named to the 2003 Indiana All-Star team. Yates is the6-foot-2-inch guard from Pike of Indianapolis and averaged 10points and four rebounds a game as a senior for the defending 4Astate champs.
Buckley said the freshmen class is very good and is ready toplay at the next level.
"I feel like they're college ready," Buckley said. "They havecollege bodies and a college work ethic and if they are game ready,they will be ready to go.
One of the things that Buckley was impressed with was how wellthe freshmen class has progressed since the first day of practice.The freshmen had little difficulty adjusting to playing at thecollege level.
"In high school, you learn things and habits, but in college,you have to get out of it and learn new fundamentals and skills,"Stovall said. "The upperclassmen really helped us with that."
The freshmen players credit the upperclassmen for some of theirprogression, including showing them what things to do and whatthings not to do.
"The upperclassmen helped a lot. They helped us do thingsright," Yates said. "Coach (Buckley) didn't say stuff to us becausethe upperclassmen would already tell us that stuff."
In Ball State's first exhibition game against Team Nike, Mills,Yates and Stovall averaged 15 minutes, while combining for 12points and eight rebounds. All three are ready for the regularseason to get started.
"The first game was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to thechallenge to playing college competition," Mills said.
"I'm really excited to start. In the exhibition, we progressed alot and learned a lot," Yates said.
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