The Saint Louis University men’s basketball team takes its first step towards a new era this season. The team will play its first season under new head coach Brad Soderberg.

Soderberg inherited the team last year after Lorenzo Romar accepted what many considered a once-in-a-lifetime deal to coach at his alma mater, the University of Washington.

Things got off to a bumpy start for the new regime as soon as Romar left. Six-foot-11-inch Ryan Hollins and 6-foot-7-inch Nick Kern, who were considered two of the best prospects in the nation, backed out of their commitments with SLU. Later in the off-season, the Billikens lost Jason Edwin and Randy Pulley because of academic ineligibility.

Edwin was a forward/guard who averaged 9.2 points per game and shot 37.9 percent from behind the arc, while Pulley had 70 assists, the third highest on the team, for the season.

Nevertheless, the team will welcome Reggie Bryant, a junior from Baltimore, freshman Anthony Drejaj of West Orange, N.J., and Izik Ohanon, a sophomore from Jerusalem who has some professional experience.

Ohanon brings unique experiences to SLU. While serving with the Israeli Army, he played two years for a professional team in Israel. The NCAA suspended him for the first eight games due to his professional playing experience, making his first scheduled appearance with the Bills Dec. 28, against the Southern Illinois-Carbondale Salukis.

“He’s got the ability to handle the ball off the dribble and has excellent skills with the ball for a kid his size,” Soderberg said. “We’re not used to seeing a kid who’s 6-foot-9-inches or 6-foot-10-inches who can handle the ball like he does, who can shoot from the perimeter like he does and who can pass like he does.”

The Billikens also have all five starters returning, including seniors Marque Perry, Drew Deiner, Chris Braun and Kenny Brown coming into their last season.

Perry was named to Conference USA’s preseason All-Conference team. Last season he was the Billikens’ leading scorer, averaged 14.1 points per game, shot 43.9 percent from the field and landed 89 assists. However, he was plagued by an ankle injury for half the season. Many are calling for him to have a big season this year, but Soderberg will not rely solely on the efforts of Perry to determine the success of the season.

“Basketball is a team game, I don’t believe any coach would put the burden all on one player,” Soderberg said. “We don’t need Marque to be Superman, (but) we need every player to perform as well as they can.”

Brown is in his second season with the Bills after transferring last year from a junior college in Iowa. Last season, the 250-pound center’s physical style caused him to foul-out three times, but still led the team with 192 rebounds and 27 blocks.

Deiner also makes his final run this season after three solid seasons as the team’s outside threat. Last year he shot 42.7 percent from the field with an astonishing 42.3 percent from three-point territory.

Braun also begins his final season with the Billikens. Last season, he played in 31 games with one start, but came off the bench strong with 132 boards and 7.6 points per game.

Despite the team’s losing record of 15-16 last season, Soderberg is confident this group can effectively lead the team.

“The fact they have been through a lot makes me believe their resiliency is good,” Soderberg said. “These seniors have a lot to offer.”

The team has extensive talent offensively and defensively, but one of the biggest transitions Soderberg hopes to make is restructuring and tightening the defense. Additionally, Soderberg hopes to correct the team’s rebounding woes of last season.

“I’m hoping to make defense a strength, but we’re not there yet,” Soderberg said. “I think for us to have a chance to be good, that is going to have to emerge as one of our strengths.

“We have worked diligently on rebounding. To me, rebounding is not a big technique issue … it is just hard work and being aggressive,” Soderberg said.

“I’ve set three goals for the program that are not specific to any year, I’m just going to continue to strive for those goals throughout my tenure here. My first goal is to graduate every kid that comes here and plays men’s basketball. That is a very high priority to me,” Soderberg said.

“My other two goals are to win C-USA and compete for a national championship. I don’t think those are unrealistic goals; I believe they are difficult goals,” Soderberg said. “On the short term, my goals are to string good days together. I’m not expecting the team to win a certain number of games; my goals are to play tough, strong, aggressive basketball every day. I believe the process of keeping our long term goals in mind will lead us to success.”

Despite the team’s potential toughness and experience, many preseason polls and publications have picked the team to finish low in the league standings. However, Soderberg has stressed that the team must perform each night and strive to improve one day at a time.

“The main theme I try to present to the players is that our job is to deal with ourselves, not to worry about five opponents down the schedule or worry about what people are or aren’t saying about us. Our job is to do a great job today. When I go on the practice floor, I tell them, ‘Don’t worry about yesterday, don’t worry about tomorrow, all we can do is make the next two to three hours the best we can’ … We have to try and become the best team we can, and then the results will carry themselves,” Soderberg said.