BATON ROUGE – A new season with a lot new faces will begin for the 2015-16 McNeese Cowboys basketball team on Friday when the squad travels east to Baton Rouge to take on 21^st-ranked LSU as most basketball fans anxiously await the debut of highly touted Tigers' freshman Ben Simmons.
 
Tip-off for the game is set for 8 p.m. at the Maravich Assembly Center and will be televised live on ESPNU. There will be no local radio broadcast.
 
McNeese returns just two starters from last year's team that finished 15-16, and will have to fill the void left by Desharick Guidry, Kevin Hardy, and Keelan Garrett. Gone with them is 60-percent of last year's scoring and 56-percent rebounding.
 
"This will probably be the biggest challenge since I've been here," said Simmons as he enters his 10^th season as the McNeese head coach. "Pretty much trying to figure out a whole new team."
 
And while most of the country will be focused on LSU's Simmons, who has been named the SEC's Preseason Player of the Year and an All-American, McNeese's Simmons – head coach Dave Simmons – will be excited to finally see his group of talented newcomers show what they can do against one of the better teams in the nation.
 
"We've got more talent from these freshmen than we've had in quite some time," said Simmons. "(Jarren) Greenwood is the complete package. He can handle the ball, shoot it, and pass it. He's college ready and can play in a lot of places.
 
"(James) Harvey is one of the best pure shooters we've had in a long time."
 
McNeese will roll in with junior point guard Jamaya Burr who has played in 59 games and 34 starts in his career. He ranked seventh in the Southland Conference last season with 4.1 assists per game and averaged nine points a contest.
 
"He'll be a big key," said Simmons of Burr. "He's been on the floor in tough situations. He's seasoned and very battle tested."
 
Senior Shaun Johnson, has made just one start in his career, is expected to get the start at the shooting guard position. Johnson ranked third on the team with 36 three-point goals made last season and has 66 makes in his career.
 
Senior forward Austin Lewis came on strong midway through the season last year. A starter through the first 21 games, Simmons moved Lewis to the sixth-man spot and it paid off. In the eight games coming off the bench, he averaged 6.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and blocked 17 shots during that span. He ended the season ranked second in the league in blocked shots with 2.2 per game.
 
The Cowboys will get back Craig McFerrin, who missed all of last season due to a shoulder injury. The preseason all-conference selection averaged 9.2 points and 6.5 rebounds in 2013-14 and is expected to take over where Guidry left off in the rebounding department.
 
"Craig has the size and quickness to get the job done on the glass," said Simmons.
 
McNeese has yet to beat LSU in 23 tries, including last year's 83-72 loss after storming back to tie the game at the half.
 
After Friday's game, McNeese will open its home season on Tuesday when it hosts Louisiana College at 7 p.m. in Burton Coliseum.