Gabriel gone, possible new recruit

It comes as no surprise that Chris Gabriel has left the team after one season, but Marvin Menzies said he hopes to replace him with Abdoulaye N'doye. With Terrance Joyner's scholarship, Menzies hopes to add another frontcourt player to join the Aggies on the court for the upcoming season. Both N'Doye and the mystery candidate, who would be an addition such as Wendell McKines was late in the summer after Menzies was on the road recruiting for an entire month. So this is how I believe the roster is shaping up.

Da'Shawn Gomez - scholarship
B.J. West - scholarship
Abdoulaye N'doye - scholarship (from Gabriel)
????? - scholarship (from Joyner)
Justin Standley - walk-on
Jahmar Young - scholarship
Jonathan Gibson - scholarship
Hernst Laroche - scholarship
Robert Lumpkins - scholarship
Wendell McKines - scholarship
Troy Gillenwater - scholarship
Hamidu Rahman - scholarship
Gordo Castillo - scholarship
Tyrone Watson -walk-on
Tray Britt - walkon
Kelly Merker -walkon
Makhtar Diop -walkon


I spoke with Chris Gabriel last week. First of all he had nothing but good things to say about Menzies and the Aggies.He said he had received a scholarship from San Diego but I couldn't get ahold of anyone at San Diego to try to confirm that. Either way he would have to sit out next year.

"My high school coach Tom Lewis is in San Diego and he's been like a father to me. I love Coach Menzies and I miss the guys but I didn't feel like New Mexico was the place for me."

Gabriel was never going to be a dominant player in the post, but it would have been interesting to see how he developed as a big body in tandem with Rahman. Rahman had a redshirt year to get a little stronger and become familiar with being a basketball player at NEw Mexico State. As a big body, Gabriel could have developed into a stronger rebounder and seemed to be more physical than Rahman in the limited action he had last year. The Utah State game here came to mind as a game when Gabriel stood out. He came in and mixed it up with Wilkinson as the only Aggie who seemed willing to do so. Hopefully some of these project big men that we keep hearing about will stay and develop.