That's great for Chima and the program. It's funny that a year ago, Chima didn't even start the first few games for the Ags. JT and Goode started the Cable Car Classic games in Santa Clara, and it wasn't until one of them had a slight injury that Chima stepped into the starting role and never looked back.

I had forgotten about that. It's going to be important that some of the other Aggies step up and take some pressure off Chima this year. Teams began to double and triple team Chima late last season. He's pretty much the emotional and physical leader of this team and teams are going to be designing there defenses around stopping him. That should create some space for some of the other players and they will need to produce if we are going to make another title run.

Was Chima an unknown factor at the start of last preseason? I don't recall anyone mentioning any hype from Chima on this board. He came out of nowhere. Did the players know about his potential last preseason?

I'm only asking because everyone knew that Corey Hawkins was going to be great before he started a single game.

Are there any hype from the incoming group of players?

I think Coach Les saw Chima at combine of JC players in the midwest and saw how much raw athletic talent he had. He seems to be just one of those players that flew under the radar and has really come into his own under Les and his staff. Some players show lots of potential in practice but struggle when the real games start. Chima just exploded onto the Big West scene once he got an opportunity to play.

I've heard good things about PG TJ Shorts who is a JC transfer out of Saddleback College. Another JC transfer from San Jose City College, F Jonah Underwood, had a great year last year at SJCC but how that will translate to the pace of D1 competition is yet to be seen. F AJ John, a D1 transfer from Pepperdine is eligible this year and true freshmen Delvion Jackson from Boise, Gio Nelson from Corona, and Logan Strom from Norfolk, Nebraska are pretty much unknowns at this point. Jackson was heralded as one the the best preps in Idaho and Strom had a lot of D1 offers in the midwest.

It's going to be very interesting to watch this team develop.