“It’s kind of like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.”

That’s how Barry Rawlyk, the Huskies men’s basketball team head coach, could best describe his team: quoting Forrest Gump.

“It’s a young crew and it’s going to take us awhile to develop consistency in all areas of the game,” Rawlyk admitted. “We’re definitely a work in progress.”

The 2012-13 squad shines with fresh faces this season after graduating an entire Canada West championship starting lineup at the end of last year. Two-time conference MVP Jamelle Barrett and last year’s Canada West defensive player of the year Michael Lieffers were among the five graduates.

“Lieffers was a great role model for me in my first year. I was by his side all the time,” said Matt Forbes, a second-year forward slated to fill the void Lieffers left behind. “Hopefully I can set in and be like him. He helped me so much and that’s what I’m trying to do with the rookies this year.”

Forbes will have his work cut out for him helping to guide the freshmen. There are six first-year players this season, including four straight out of high school.

Daniel Ostertag, younger brother of second-year point guard Evan Ostertag, is one of the rookies. Both Ostertag brothers played high school basketball for Saskatoon’s Holy Cross Crusaders. They are two of eight Saskatoon players the Huskies have on this year’s 14-man roster.

Hailing from San Diego, Calif., Stephon Lamar is the Huskies’ third Californian product in the last six years, following in the footsteps of fellow sunshine state counterparts Jamelle Barrett, who had an NBA try-out this past summer and Showron Glover, who led the 2009-10 Huskies team to a national championship.

The six-foot point guard isn’t letting the comparisons of the former Huskie stars get to him though.

“I came here to play my own game. Those guys had their time here and now it’s my time,” Lamar said.

Despite being new to the Huskies, Lamar brings some much needed experience to the team. He is entering his third year of eligibility after playing two college seasons in the U.S. His first was with the University of the Pacific Tigers, an NCAA Division I program. He played in 14 games as a rookie with the Tigers, but was forced to redshirt the following season to recover from two knee surgeries.

Lamar moved on and played a season at San Diego City College,  where he earned the conference player-of-the-year award after averaging almost 23 points per game.

“Lamar has done some great things for us already,” Rawlyk said of his newest American import after his team won their fourth-consecutive trophy in the annual Graham Shootout — a pre-season invitational tournament hosted by the Huskies Oct. 18-20.

“It’s just going to take some time for him to acclimatize to our style of play,” Rawlyk added.

Lamar averaged more than 22 points per game in the tournament, and despite adjusting to Canadian university basketball rules Lamar says he understands the competitive spirit the Huskies play with.

“Playing and competing with guys night in and night out, that’s what I’m used to. I like to compete and play against the best.”

With so many new players it makes for a small group of returning players to the club, and an even smaller group of veteran players. The six-foot-four Patrick Burns is the only fifth-year player on the team and there are no fourth-year players. However, wingers Andrew Henry and Ben Baker both enter their third campaign with the club.

Baker is expected to step up his game to fill the space left by last season’s graduates. He averaged 22 minutes per game last season and posted 18 points in the Dogs’ 80-71 win over Lakehead University to capture the Graham Shootout title.

The Huskies are currently 6-1 in all pre-season action and will play one more warm-up match against Lakeland College before starting the season with a home-and-home series against the Regina Cougars. The Dogs play in Regina Nov. 1 and return to the PAC Nov. 3.

This year’s Huskies women’s basketball team is defined by a lack of veteran presence. But they won’t let that discourage them from their goal of making a sixth consecutive trip to the national championship tournament.

After graduating Katie Miyazaki, Marie Hipperson and Amy Lackie, the team is without any fifth-year athletes this season. This means the starting spots are open to all players on the team, even the three rookies.

One of those rookies is Kaylee Halvorson, sister to second-year player Jordan Halvorson. Kaylee represented Canada at the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championships over the summer and previously at the 2010 Youth Olympics 3-on-3 tournament in Singapore.

“Being such a young team, everyone has had an opportunity to prove that they deserve to be on the floor,” said interim head coach Jill Humbert, adding that Kaylee is “a dynamic player and I think she’ll definitely have a role this season.”

Dalyce Emmerson earned a starting spot when she was a rookie last season. In fact, she was named the Canada West rookie of the year and was one of only two players in the CIS to average a double-double in the 2011-12 campaign. She averaged 13.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

Emmerson says she doesn’t feel pressured to fill a leadership role on the team, but will gladly use the experience she gained last season to help ease the rookies’ transition to university both on and off the court.

“I’m willing to help the rookies with the transition from the high school game to the university game,” Emmerson said, emphasizing that the players are also students.

“We all want to get the best grades we can and a lot of us moved away from home young, so we want to help each other out in any way possible.”

The team will also be expecting big seasons out of third-year players Kabree Howard and Riley Humbert, coach Humbert’s younger sister.

Howard averaged over 30 minutes a game last season, totalling 54 assists and 20 steals.

Riley started in all of the club’s games last year and helped lead the team to a conference bronze medal.

The team warmly welcomed Jill Humbert as interim head coach this season. She played for the women’s squad from 2006 to 2011 and was an assistant coach for the second half of last season.

She will take over the duties from last year’s coach Lisa Thomaidis, who is taking a one-year professional leave.

Thomaidis was an assistant coach for Team Canada’s women’s Olympic squad over the summer. This year will be her first year away from the Huskies since she started coaching the club in 1998.

She plans to return to the team for the 2013-14 season.

The new head coach realizes she has a lot to live up to following Thomaidis as the women’s coach.

“It’s impossible to fill her shoes…. I was fortunate to have her as my coach for five years, but she is also the best mentor anyone could ask for,” said Humbert, who will remain in contact with Thomaidis throughout her first season as head coach.

In pre-season action the team has looked strong, sporting a 5-1 record and winning two tournaments in exhibition play in October.

The team will play one more warm-up match when they travel to play Fraser Valley University Oct. 27. The women will then join the men’s team on a road trip to Regina to open the season, taking on the Cougars Nov. 1 before travelling back to Saskatoon to again face Regina at the PAC Nov. 3.

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Bottom photo: Raisa Pezderic/The Sheaf