It doesn’t take long to figure out what Bill Armstrong is thinking.

He’s thinking big.

The new McNeese State men’s basketball coach is putting together a roster that he hopes will compete with other mid-major programs and a few from the power leagues.

Armstrong has gone big with his recruiting plans in his two months at the helm of the Cowboys. The latest was Tuesday’s signing of 6-foot-10, 210-pound Peitok Machar of Sydney, Australia.

Considered by Armstrong to have a huge upside, Machar is not alone when it comes to new Cowboys who are bigger than usual. He is the second 6-10 player inked to Armstrong’s first roster at McNeese.

“I wanted to get big players who can play in our system,” Armstrong said when he first took over for Will Wade. “We need to get a little more size for when we play against big people, but we also want guys who fit in our system.”

Machar does that, Armstrong said. He can guard both big and small players, allowing McNeese to use Armstrong’s switching defense.

The junior college product will join fellow 6-10 big man Jerrell Colbert, who is transferring from Southern Methodist. Colbert is a few years older and a few pounds heavier, weighing in at 235.

Both should give McNeese an inside presence that the Cowboys have been lacking. While it would be a stretch to call them twin towers, they are the biggest Cowboys riding into town since the already forgotten 7-foot-1, 245-pound Brendan Medley-Bacon of four seasons ago.

Medley-Bacon wasn’t bad, but he was never the dominant force Wade envisioned when comparing his size to the rest of the Southland Conference. That’s nothing new. Most 7-footers in the league don’t dominate for various reasons.

That’s what makes the Colbert/Machar pairing much more interesting. Armstrong considers both of his new bigs guys who can get out and run the floor and help in McNeese’s pressing defense.

He wants rim protectors on defense and rim runners on offense.

“With the way we are going to play, it is important that we have guys who can switch on defense, protect the basket, and run on offense,” Armstrong said.

McNeese has also added a pair of 6-foot-7 forwards who should add inside depth and power. Jacolb Fredson-Cole comes from Oklahoma, while Yanis Ndjonga played for Armstrong at Baylor.

McNeese has added three guards: Carl Cherenfant (6-5), Garwey Dual (6-5) and Larry Johnson (6-4). They are all from big programs and provide positional size.

McNeese’s two returning guards, D.J. Richards (6-4) and Javohn Garcia, Southland’s Player of the Year at 6-3, prove the Cowboys are playing with big expectations.

This is all so that they can continue to run wild in the Southland, which they have won the last two seasons, and try for more success in the NCAA Tournament. McNeese ran up against Purdue in the second round last season, which wore it down.

Armstrong said he hopes that adding size will help the Cowboys stand up to bigger teams.

Big players make for big expectations.

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Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. Email him at jimgazzolo@yahoo.com