The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Lowery era begins with bumps, bruises

Mike Dale stood a couple steps behind the three-point line, took a couple dribbles and exploded toward the paint.

Awaiting him was Jamaal Tatum who stood planted with his body squared in position to take a charge.

Dale saw Tatum, but continued his flight and nearly soared over the 6-foot-1 guard on his way toward the rim. The two collided, sending Tatum to the floor as Dale's dunk ricocheted off the back of the rim.

The play got the attention of the entire team, and set the tone for the Salukis' first day of practice.

"That kind of surprised me," said senior guard Darren Brooks. "It kind of caught everybody off guard."

Although the Salukis never played 5-on-5 full court, at times Saturday it seemed as if they were auditioning for a spot on the SIU football team's No. 1-ranked defense.

Dale, Tatum, Brooks and sophomore guard C.J. Smith each stepped out of drills at one point because of minor bumps and bruises they sustained.

Smith was out the longest period of time after having his lip busted while defending teammate Tony Young.

"Tony's got a hard head," Smith said, his lower lip adorned with gauze. "He drove, and his head hit my chin, and my tooth cut my lip."

SIU spent the bulk of practice working on half-court defense and rebounding. The Salukis also spent time split up into two groups with guards on one half of the court and big men on the other.

Saturday was the first collegiate practice for true freshmen Matt Shaw, Wesley Clemmons and Tony Boyle, and also Chris Lowery's first as head coach.

"This is my first day wearing a whistle, ever," Lowery said. "Sometimes I wanted to sit and watch when I should have been talking."

Lowery's job was made easier by seniors Stetson Hairston and Lamar Owen, who did not hesitate to call out players who were not performing up to their potential.

"It was great to see kids diving and screaming at each other and being upset when certain people didn't do the right thing," Lowery said. "I didn't really have to do it all the time."

With eight players on the Salukis' roster who have yet to make their Division I college basketball debut, Lowery has put a greater emphasis on teaching during practice.

"They may look a little tentative right away, but I think as we go on and they learn to do things right, they'll pick it right up," Lowery said.

The 6-foot-3 Clemmons said practices at Indiana's Northwest High School were no comparison to Saturday's nearly three-and-a-half hour marathon.

"Guys are much more stronger and more physical, and I'm coming in trying to learn new things," Clemmons said.

At one point, while going through guard drills, Clemmons lost his lunch. "That dorm food," Clemmons said. "I ate right before I came."

Clemmons recovered though, and did his best to hold his own against what Tatum calls the best backcourt in the Missouri Valley Conference.

"The guards are loaded," Clemmons said. "That's the reason why I came here, so I can get better at the guard position."

Lowery said he was intrigued by the match-up between Brooks and senior guard Stetson Hairston. Lowery contributed in recruiting both St. Louis area products and had not seen them go head-to-head for a year after spending last season as an assistant at Illinois.

"I always like Stetson and Darren going against each other," Lowery said. "They're my old men now. It seems like when they fall down it takes forever to get back up."

Lowery said everyone was so eager to get the season underway that they arrived 30 minutes before practice.

"We'll see two weeks from now if it's going to be 30 minutes or 10 minutes before," he said.