From the rocky mountain news:
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"The Weber State University Men's Basketball Team will get off to an early start in the upcoming 2007-2008 season, two months earlier than last season. The Wildcats will travel north of the border to participate in the Battle of the Border men's basketball tournament Sept. 1-3. The University of Calgary will host the five-team tournament. "It's a great opportunity for our kids to get a jump start on things," said WSU Head Coach Randy Rahe. "We get to go up there and play four games in three days. The best thing about it is that we get a jump start practicing with our kids." Under NCAA guidelines, the Wildcats are allowed 10 days of practice before the day of their first game. WSU's first exhibition game last season wasn't until Nov. 1. "Anytime you can get started a little early," Rahe said, "work on some things, I think it has a chance to help us. It will also be good for our guys to be able to go up there and get to know each other, start developing the chemistry, get away from everything, hang out as a team, do a lot of team things. I think in that regard it's going to help us get the chemistry developed a little earlier." It's that same chemistry that proved to be so important to the Wildcats last season as they made their improbable run from last place in 2006 to first place in 2007. Many of the players said the reason for such a drastic change was the chemistry the team possessed. They credited Rahe as being a major part of instilling that togetherness. "I hope we have the same chemistry [as last season]," Rahe said. "I'll be a little surprised if we don't. We've got enough veterans back, and the new kids that we're adding are all wonderful kids, really high-character guys, good people. I'm really hoping that we take off where it was last year." The Wildcats lose a statistical and emotional leader in David Patten, who earned the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year award in his senior season. Dan Henry also played out his eligibility last year and will not return. Jake Orchard red-shirted last season and will serve an LDS mission this season. Eric Turner started a few games as point guard last season but has opted to transfer to a different school this season. "It is a new team," Rahe said. "Last year's team is going to be a little different from this year's team. They always are. If we can start off with at least having that chemistry close to the same thing, that gives us the chance of making the kind of progress we need to make." As four players leave the program, five new recruits will join the program. Kellen McCoy transfers to WSU from Northern Oklahoma Junior College. The four others are straight out of high school. Josh Cottle and Dan Mahoney join the Wildcats from Heber City, Kyle Bullinger from Mountain View, Wyoming and Trevor Morris from Nampa, Idaho. Rahe and his staff have had some time to work on these recruits, as opposed to last season, when they were thrust into a very late recruiting season, scrambling for players. "We've had a chance to spend some time recruiting these kids and getting to know them," Rahe said. "It wasn't so quickly as it was our first month or two here. We really like them. We had some kids up on campus for the month of June and got to know them a little bit better, got them acclimated. We're excited about them." Rahe said the new recruits bring some needed youth to the program, youth that will form a foundation for Rahe and his staff to build upon. WSU awarded Rahe a contract extension at the end of last season through the 2011-2012 season. So this foundation will have an impact for years to come. Rahe's philosophy as to what type of players he wants remains the same. "We're excited about those guys," Rahe said, "and the difference I think is that they all fit, they fit for what we want our kids to be about and that's high-character, good people who will work really hard. They really fit the mold for what we are looking for. BATTLE OF THE BORDER - WEEKEND SCHEDULE All games in the Jack Simpson Gym Saturday, September 1 11:00 am Creighton vs. Saskatchewan 4:00 pm Weber State vs. Lethbridge 7:00 pm Creighton vs. Calgary Sunday, September 2 10:30 am Mt. Royal All-Stars vs. Weber State 1:00 pm Creighton vs. Lethbridge 5:30 pm Calgary vs. Weber State 7:00 pm Saskatchewan vs. Creighton Monday, September 3 10:00 am Weber State vs. Saskatchewan 12:00 pm Creighton vs. Calgary
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