Who’s up for an encore…and maybe more?

The Cowboys are set to tip off their most anticipated season in program history with expectations through the roof.

A loaded roster filled with talent has McNeese State basketball fans drooling over the postseason before a basket has ever been made.

Coming off a history 30-4 campaign, McNeese’s roster was upgraded with seven quality transfers, three from power conference programs, to go with three returning starters and other key pieces.

And that doesn’t even include sharpshooter Alyn Breed, who sat out last year after transferring from Providence at midseason. Just don’t start patting second-year head coach Will Wade on the back yet.

“Everybody looks good on paper,” said Wade. “Talent is the price of admission, but there is a big difference between talent and talented. The ed is in the details.”

The Cowboys finished 17-1 in the Southland Conference a year ago, winning the title for the first time since 2002 and earning the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They are the clear favorites to repeat as champs after going 18-0 on their home floor in the Legacy Center.

Still, Wade’s message that we have done nothing has gotten through to his players.

“Everybody knows we are a talented team,” said senior forward Christian Shumate. “The standard is to win now, but you always have to prove something to somebody. We have to prepare and deal with the little things.”

Half of the Southland’s 10-player preseason All-Conference team is from McNeese, led by Shumate, the returning Defensive Player of the Year. 

Shumate, a senior from Chicago, was one of three Cowboys to make the SLC’s first team. He led the league in rebounding last season and was 31st in the country at 9.5 a game.’

The forward became a fan favorite with his 57 dunks, many of them highlight-reel-worthy. He finished with 12 double-doubles while averaging 12.1 points and was featured on ESPN’s SportsCenter nine times in the Top 10 Plays of the Day.

“This is my last year here and I just want to make it special,” said Shumate. “I want to win an NCAA Tournament game or two.”

The Cowboys have never done that, going 0-3 in the NCAA.

Shumate was joined on the first team by a pair of transfers, forward Joe Charles from Louisiana-Lafayette and Quadir Copeland from Syracuse. Copeland, a 6-foot-6 guard, spent two seasons at Syracuse, averaging 9.6 points and 4.6 rebounds last year.

Charles (6-9) started all 33 games for the Cajuns last winter, scoring 11.3 points and pulling down 9.6 boards an outing. He was the first addition to the roster after last season for McNeese.

Two Cowboys were picked for the second team, returning senior guard Javohn Garcia and Ole Miss transfer Brandon Murray. Garcia averaged 11.2 points for McNeese last year and was named to the All-Tournament team at season’s end. 

“The expectation is bigger than anyone,” said Garcia. “We have goals. The difference from last year is we were all underdogs and this season we have expectations.”

Murray, who started his college career at LSU with Wade, averaged 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.1 steals as he was selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team in his year with the Tigers. 

“We can be really good but we can also hold ourselves back,” said Murray. “We can be as good as we want to be.”

After LSU parted ways with Wade after the 2021-22 season, Murray transferred to Georgetown and started 27 games for the Hoyas. He finished second on the team with 13.7 points per game, while also grabbing 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists before spending last season at Ole Miss.

However, there is much more talent fighting for minutes. 

DJ Richards returns after averaging 11.4 points coming off the Cowboy bench. Richards (6-4) made 45 percent of his 3-point shots last year and scored in double digits in five of their last six games. 

He was named to the All-Louisiana third team after the season and was picked for the All-SLC Tournament squad.

The additions of inside players Jerome Brewer (6-9/Texas A&M-Commerce) and Bryant Selebangue (6-8/Arizona State) add depth on the inside. Wade has been especially impressed by Selebangue.

“He has been much better than we expected,” said Wade. “He has really been aggressive and worked hard on the inside.”

Brewer scored 32 against McNeese last year and averaged just over 10 points in his two seasons at Commerce.

Expectations are also high for Sincere Parker, a 6-3 transfer guard from St. Louis. Parker has been slowed in the preseason by injuries but averaged 15.9 points in 16 games for the Bilikins.

McNeese’s roster has received national attention. The Cowboys earned 11 points in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, the first time in program history that has happened. That’s why people are looking forward to the season’s start.

McNeese has also been picked as high as 10th in some national mid-major polls. They open the year Monday against South Dakota State in the inaugural Field of 68 Showcase inside the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. 

Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. on YouTube TV.

“I can’t wait to see what happens this season,” said Garcia.

He’s not alone.

McNeese Roster

7 Alyn Breed G 6-3 190 Junior (Providence)

8 Jerome Brewer F 6-9 216 Junior (TAMCC)

0 T’Johnn Brown G 5-11 164 R-Freshman

5 Joe Charles F 6-9 215 Senior (ULL)

1 Omar Cooper G 6-0 179 Senior

11 Quadir Copeland G 6-6 200 Junior (Syracuse)

33 Lamont Evans G 6-0 155 Sophomore (St. Louis)

6 Javohn Garcia G 6-3 183 Senior

13 Howard Gaskins G 6-2 185 Freshman

23 Brandon Murray G 6-5 210 Senior (Old Miss)

21 Sincere Parker G 6-3 195 Junior (St. Louis)

2 DJ Richards G 6-4 185 Junior

3 Mike Saunders G 6-0 189 Senior

9 Bryant Selebangue F 6-8 225 Senior (ASU)

24 Christian Shumate F 6-6 213 Senior

Erik Vallarreal G 6-3 195 Freshman