Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Martin Wood [Click to enlarge]

Sacramento State's men's basketball team has a new look, and it's not just the newly-remodeled floor. The team has only four players returning from last season as the team adds a new head coach. coaching staff and 11 new players. However, its biggest addition has been the new intensity brought on by the new coaching staff.

Senior guard Loren Leath, one of the four returning players and the team's leading scorer from last season, said he has seen a big change since head coach Brian Katz came here.

Katz is an alumnus of Sac State and a native of Sacramento. Katz comes to Sac State by way of San Joaquin Delta College where he compiled a 425-185 record. For his first season as the head coach for the Hornets, Katz wants to put on the court a team that is respectable.

Katz himself admits that having a team where the majority of his players are new is not the most ideal situation and he knows that the team will have some bumps in the road.

"I think there is not a team in the country that would bring in 11 out of 15 guys and wouldn't have some bumps in the road," Katz said. "So we expect some bumps in the road but I'm happy with the group we have."

To help him with those bumps, Katz hired longtime friend and respected high school coach Terry Battenberg as one of his assistants. Battenberg, who literally wrote the book - two books to be exact - on post play, was brought in to help the Hornets with their inside game.

"He's probably the most prominent high school coach in this area for the past 30 years," Katz said. "That one was easy."

To complete his coaching staff, Katz hired Dominique Bukasa and Brady Bergeson.

"(Bukasa and Bergeson) are young, hard-working guys that I've observed on the road for years, and I've noticed that they have good work ethics and attention to detail," Katz said. "They'll be good coaches."

Along with the coaching staff to help players learn the new system, Katz has four players on the Hornets that played for him at Delta College. These players will take on an added role, as they will also help their new teammates learn Katz's new system.

"Some of us that have played for him, we try to help out, like talk with the guys and go over plays," said sophomore forward Aaron Wilson who played for Katz last year at Delta.

With his new system, Katz and his staff have also brought a new structure and intensity to the Hornets. In practice, the team's intensity fills the gym as all the players compete for their position on the new team. This was not done by accident, as the coaches know how crucial intensity is, even in practice.

"We just want to make sure that every practice is intense, because all the games are intense," said assistant coach Bukasa. "It's not something you just turn on, it's something that has to become second nature."

Even though it's early in the preseason and the team has many new faces, the players have a good feeling about the team.

"I think we'll do well, we always had the talent at this school, it just a matter of bring that talent together," said Leath.

Felipe Molina can be reached at fmolina@statehornet.com.

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