The most anticipated basketball season in McNeese State history officially got underway Monday with the first practice.

The Will Wade era kicked off with a morning workout that included a host of new players on the roster joining three returnees.

“We have 11 new faces on the team,” said Wade. “We have talent but there’s a difference in having talent and being talented.”

The Cowboys return all-conference junior forward Christian Shumate, a preseason Southland Conference Player of the Year candidate. Shumate is coming off a dominating performance in last year’s postseason league tournament.

He is joined by senior guard Roberts Berze and sophomore forward Dionjahe Thomas, who finished strong last season.

Two of the bigger transfers are guard Shahada Wells from TCU and senior forward CJ Felder out of Florida.

“We are just trying to knock most of the rust off,” said Wade. “We will be a work in progress for a while.”

With all the talent Wade brought in, he’s looking for a very competitive camp moving forward.

“If you are not going to work hard, you are not going to play,” said Wade. “Your success will be tied to your effort.”

Wade knows that the path to the NCAA tournament runs through Lake Charles, where the Southland Conference postseason tournament will be played for the next six seasons.

The SLC is a one-bid league which means only the tourney winner gets to go. That means there is time for the newcomers to become a solid team.

“With all the changes in the league there is a race to see who can grow fastest into a team with their roster,” Wade said. “We have a lot of guys who can play multiple positions.”

The Cowgirls waited until the afternoon to get their season officially underway. In his third season as the McNeese head coach Lynn Kennedy returns six starters including a healthy Cristina Gil at point guard.

“We are excited about to start,” said Kennedy. “We have had a great fall.”

Gil was hurt a good portion of last season and should be back to run the point.

Two freshmen from Oklahoma, guards Azjah Reeves and Boston Berry lead the group of newcomers. A total of five freshmen are on the Cowgirl roster.

“This year we went with more freshmen to build the program from the ground up,” said Kennedy, who added two more from the Houston area.

“We are 100 times more athletic this year. It will be a lot different. We are taller, longer and faster.”

Crystal Hayes and Daniela Vallecilla are a pair of 6-foot-4 forwards from Texas joining the team. Also, Swedish prep star Alva Mofalk is another 6-4 newcomer as McNeese has eight players 6-2 or taller.

Both teams are looking to improve on last season, especially the Cowboys. They lost a program-record 23 games last year.