Coach Hartman is lucky enough to have a very good and deep back court.  Of course everything starts and ends with superstar to be Walt Frazier.   Frazier might be the most complete point guard in the country outside of Ohio and Michigan and he is way better than the Magic Man or Big O defensively.  Gifted offensively and a born leader, Frazier is as cool as a cucumber under pressure and always knows who to get the ball to.  He runs the team like a Quarterback runs a football team (he was a high school QB in Georgia and got scholarship offers to play but realized they did not have many black QB’s in the NFL and thus took the basketball offer to SIU).  Hartman must have seen something in Frazier as he too was a QB albeit in the Canadian football league.  Frazier can also score effectively on his own but revels in being the man for the Salukis which means he must get everybody else involved.     As good as Frazier is offensively he is that much better on the defensive end.  Frazier has great size for a guard at 6’4 200 but is cat quick and loves to challenge other players in the backcourt.  He is adept at picking the pockets of the other team.  Larry Bird got most of the attention and rightfully so for his magnificent season for Indiana State but the fans of this conference know there is a stud waiting in the wings to challenge him for domination in the MVC.  Who knows how far this team could have gone if Clyde would not have missed the entire year but the good thing is some other guys got a chance the shine. 

Joining Frazier in the backcourt is an array of different styles of players.  Senior Charlie ‘Chico’ Vaughn comes into the season as the main offensive weapon.  Vaughn scored almost 18 pts a game with Frazier gone and though he might lose a few points will not have to work so hard for his baskets.  Vaughn is a perfect complement to Frazier at one of the wings as he is a pure scorer and should at least get a chance in some professional league.  He may not be as exciting as Frazier but he has his own kind of charisma and gets the job done.  Vaughn is a pure scorer who loves to fire from behind the three but can also get to the hoop and convert.  How good is he offensively?  Well, when he came out of tiny Tamms Vaughn held the record for most points in Illinois boys High School hoops history.  You can add the Salukis all-time scoring record as well as though he might have got overshadowed a bit by Frazier, Chico was the Man last year.  Vaughn has had a stellar three year career in Carbondale and was really the first star this program ever produced.  There is not a better back court in the MVC and even with this team’s lack of size underneath, this duo gives them a chance against anybody. 

With Frazier gone there was a big opening at point guard last year.  Enter Junior Mike Glenn.  More of a scorer than distributor, Glenn jumped into the open starting role with gusto and produced some big numbers and huge games.  Glenn is good at hitting the jumper up to twenty feet.  His accuracy on the long-range jumper can be compared to anyone in the country.  Glenn is also a terrific ballhandler who acquiesced to Frazier before last season as he was better suited taking passes and hitting jumpers.  As consistent as he was all season for the Salukis, Glenn took it to a whole other level down the stretch and into the postseason.  He averaged almost 20 a game the last six without the two seniors and then went ballistic in the tourney.  In his two games he averaged thirty points a game and hit the game winner versus Tulsa in the first round.  Glenn will be counted on to be the main offensive weapon off the bench next year (yes, Walt will get his starting role back) and if those last eight games are a barometer then the fans in Carbondale have a new hero that can heat up the nights at the SIU Arena. 

The third part and least appreciated of the mighty Senior triumvirate in the backcourt is Dick Garrett.  Garrett who hails from Centralia, just up the road, is a complete player but he also knows where his bread is buttered.  He does not mind being second (or third) fiddle to Frazier.  Or Vaughn!  Who would?  Garrett had all of the skills of a solid guard.  He can shoot and drive to the hoop.  He is a solid passer and a good defender and at six three has a little bit of size.  Basically, he is a great combo guard who understands his role.  Garrett was just as comfortable starting or coming off the bench, wherever Hartman wanted him.  He averaged double digits but like he said when things get tough out there ‘we just get the ball to Chico or the Man and get out of the way.’  Of course, Garrett tried but was just not the guy to put the team on his shoulders when Frazier missed the season.  That is when Glenn stepped up big to the plate.  But he has had a great career here as number two (or three at times) and has enough talent to contribute at the next level.  For now he will continue to be a Saluki as they are a team who needs a smart, articulate well-rounded combo guard who knows his role.  But, then again, doesn’t every team need those guys?

Hartman has a great bench and one of the reasons he bumped Glenn into the starting role is he did not want to upset his players roles.  Most important of these was Junior Wayne Abrams.  Abrams like Frazier is a big point guard who knows how to get his teammates the ball.  He is more of a pass first guy who does not score much and is nowhere the defensive presence of Frazier but gave Hartman solid minutes running the team behind Glenn last year when he needed a break.  Abrams had some huge games leading the team from his point forward position.  He is super thin and does not score much but Abrams is born to lead and he will be pushing hard to keep his role next year even with Frazier back in the mix.   Fellow junior Nate ‘the Scarlet Letter’ Hawthorne is Mr. Consistent on both ends in the same type of role.   He does not put up great numbers but his defense is so good that Hartman has got to play him.   George McNeil leads a large group of senior holdovers, most of who have spent most of their careers deep on the pine.  McNeil got a shot last year with Frazier gone and played well.  Two Johns, Sebastian and Ramsey, are also wings looking for a chance to play. Neither will likely play much but Sebastian will be welcomed back as long as he can shoot which he showed by making a world record 63 free throws blind-folded two summers ago.  The juniors coming back are moving up from the JV and are in the same boat as the seniors.  Barry Smith and Milt Huggins were productive wings and will push for minutes.  Huggins improved dramatically last year and can really shoot and has a shot.  Fellow junior and another John, Garrett, played some on varsity with Frazier gone.  The ‘Mouse’ as he is dubbed is a 5’11 waterbug who will compete and can score.  Seniors Tom Millkin and Bruce Butchko are the only two post players coming back besides Bryson and it shows the utter need for help as all of these guys are holdovers from the lower division days and are not up to mustard here.  Junior Gary Wilson is though.  Undersized at 6’5, Wilson is the best board man on the team and pushed Bryson hard last year for minutes.  If Hartman’s kids are not up to snuff, Wilson will start at the four and even if they are this gamer will play.  Fellow junior Richard Ford is also 6’5 and plays hard underneath and teamed with Wilson, Glenn and the Abrams brothers that took the MVC JV title in the Salukis 1st year in the league annoucning that this program will be here for the long haul.  Ford plays center and is undersized but this team needs post players like Frazier needs a nickname. 

Speaking of post players, leading the way up front for the Salukis is center Joe C. Meriweather.  The ultra-sleek big man is a very consistent defender underneath.  A team who pressures as much as the Salukis needs a great rim protector to make this a solid defensive unit.  He is the goalie.  He was second in the league in blocked shots and has great timing in this area.  His rebounding got better as the season progressed but he really tuned it on offensively the second half of the year.  Meriweather became the offensive weapon this team needed underneath.  His ability to hit baby hooks and make teams’ defend him opened up the lanes for the cat quick guard to drive.  Joe C. may not have been as important as Frazier to this team but he was darn close and was as valuable as any big man to his team fortunes in this conference including Big Benoit Benjamin.  His matchups with Benjamin were classic and the six ten Junior more than held his own with the bigger Sophomore.  The best thing about this year for Meriweather is the amount of improvement he made from being a sophomore as he earned second team All-MVC accolades and he is only going to continue to improve.  This smoother operator from small town Alabama might not look like he is the next coming with his raw boned frame but he is one of the best centers in the Midwest and next year could be an All-American.  He is that good.  Meriweather, however, needed help up front and that is where the team, struggled.  Senior Seymour Bryson got most of the early minutes at the four but has some size issues.  You see, Bryson is just not big enough for the MVC and though he was once the man down low Hartman HAS to find some other options to compete with the brute force up front that has become the Valley.  After all you are not going to match up with Silas and Carr with six four 190 pound guys no matter how good they are on the boards because believe me they are better.  Bryson is a motivated man and maybe became more valuable as a mentor then he was on the floor.  He is the guy most of the younger guys look up to.  Hartman’s assistant coach Paul Lambert was a recruiting genius especially in the south with Frazier, Wilson, Glenn and the abrams boys all coming from south of the Mason-Dixie.  Lambert had supposedly recruited about 5 freshmen power forward types to play next to Meriweather and has a couple of almost seven foot JC kids coming in as he knows this team needs more size. Lambert was such a great recruiter in the south that the Auburn Tigers had recently hired him as thier head coach.  Sadly, this past June, on a trip to Georgia for a basketball camp and recrutiing, Lambert passed away in a hotel fire as he was the only vicitm and was found on the floor trying to crawl to safety. 

The Southern Illinois Salukis have been most known for a goofy nickname that no one knows what it means in the past.  This year the former Division Two stars stepped up and showed that these dogs could hang on the porch of MVC.  Coach Hartman turned over the reign of the team to junior Mike Glenn after Senior Walt Frazier had to sit out due to eligibility issues.  The team responded with a decent regular season run in the rough Missouri Valley Conference.  This forever guard oriented program will now rely on some tremendous wings and a super front line to carry them to the top of the Valley.  You might not know what a Saluki is but you dang sure will know that this program is a major player not only in the Valley but hopefully nationally soon.  But, after losing their beloved coach who recruited many of the stars of this team will Hartman be able to get this team and all of his fresh young talent motivated for the upcoming year in the tough MVC.  Well,  ‘Clyde’ Frazier is back and he is the ‘Man’ in Carbondale and he has made a pledge to play this year for his Coach.  If Frazier is on his game there are not many better.  His sidekick, Chico Vaughn, leads a heck of a supporting cast but this season will come down to how well the big guys plays.  Coach Jack Hartman can coach as he led Coffeyville junior college to an undefeated 32-0 season before he took over the Salukis.  Sure, nobody is picking these Johnny come latelys over the likes of powerhouses Creighton or Bradley or Wichita State but if Joe C can hang with those burtal front lines and get a little help, I would not bet against Clyde and the gang.