2012-13 Big Sky Conference Basketball Countdown: Southern Utah

Next up on the Big Sky basketball countdown is the other all-sport newcomer to the league in the Southern Utah Thunderbirds.  Both men's and women's teams recorded losing records in their final season in the Summit League, with the men's team going 14-17 (and losing in the conference semifinals against eventual champion South Dakota State) and the women's team going 6-23.

MBB: The Thunderbirds return two starters from last year's team, and both are seniors heading into this season.  Forward Jackson Stevenett (right, #21 in white) led the team in both scoring (14.1 ppg) & rebounding (5.7 rpg) in 2011-12, while guard Damon Heuir from Australia was third in scoring at 10.8 ppg. Only one other player started games for the T-Birds last season, and that's junior forward Wade Collie, who started four games.  The team's three other seniors (guard Jordan Johnson and forwards Tyson Koehler and Julian Scott) and two other juniors (centers Jason Cheeseman and Jaren Jeffery) were primarily used in reserve roles.

VERDICT: Expect this Thunderbirds team to make some strides this season, as there will be three new starters in their lineup in their first season in the Big Sky.  And this will also be their first season under a new head coach in Nick Robinson, who played at Stanford (2001-05), with three seasons played under former Montana head coach Mike Montgomery.  If Jackson Stevenett can keep up his solid numbers heading into his senior season, their chances of competing for a conference tournament spot look good.

WBB: For fourth-year head coach JR Payne, the 2011-12 season is a season her team would like to forget after posting a paltry 6-23 record.  But everyone that started at least one game last season is back, and one of them is senior Tayler Anderson (left, #31), who started all 29 games for the Thunderbirds.  Also back is leading scorer Hailey Mandelko, who posted a team-high 13.1 ppg as a true freshman despite missing the team's last 10 games with an injury.  Leading rebounder Carli Moreland, who led the team with 8.3 rpg during her sophomore season, is also back as she was the only other player on the roster to start all the games.

VERDICT: This team is entering their first season in the Big Sky after struggling for most of the 2011-12 season.  Despite having only two seniors on their roster, there are six juniors on the roster, so there is plenty of experience to go around, and if Hailey Mandelko can stay healthy all season, the team will have something to build on should they not make the Big Sky tournament.

UP NEXT: Northern Colorado

Photo credits: Southern Utah University athletics