With less than two weeks remaining before the start of the 2010-11 hoops season, TheMWC.com presents its 2010-11 Basketball Countdown. Mick McGrane, MWC Correspondent, will preview each of the league's men's and women's basketball programs, beginning on Monday, November 1, and continuing for nine consecutive business days, ending on Thursday, November 11. Each preview in the series will be released in alphabetical order of the MWC institutions, continuing today with TCU.
With seven newcomers on the roster, TCU head coach Jim Christian is looking for improved effort on both ends of the court in 2010-11 after ranking near the bottom of the MWC in scoring offense (62.1 ppg), scoring defense (69.2 ppg) and defensive rebounds (20.94) against Conference opponents last season. Junior guard Ronnie Moss, the team's leading scorer (14.9 ppg) in 2009-10, was a second-team all-MWC pick and ranked 10th in the nation in assists per game (5.9). Among the newcomers are a pair of NCAA Division I transfers in junior guard Hank Thorns, who sat out the 2009-10 season after transferring from Virginia Tech, along with senior forward Nikola Gacesa, who played three full seasons at Florida International.
TCU, who has made nine NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 10 years and is ranked 23rd in the Associated Press Preseason Top-25 poll, is well-equipped to defend last year's regular-season title. Senior guard/forward Helena Sverrisdottir (13.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg), last season's MWC Player of the Year, was the only player in the league to rank among the top 15 in assists (No. 2), steals (No. 3), rebounding (No. 8) and scoring (No. 9). She is the only player in program history with 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists. Senior guard Emily Carter, a first-team all-MWC pick in 2009-10, returns as the team's leading scorer at 14.4 points per game.
