State’s men’s basketball team isn’t searching for a new identity, but it will have fans scrambling for their program to get up to speed.

The program is one year removed from icon, Nate Wolters and four important big men last season – Brady Carlson, Jordan Dykstra, Chad White and Marcus Heemstra – all who played a significant role on the team. The Jackrabbits’ identity will be defined by defense and rebounding, like they always have been said Nagy, but will be looking for a change on offense.

Seniors Zach Horstman and Cody Larson are expected to be the leaders this season, on a roster with nine players who haven’t even played a minute for SDSU yet. Point guard George Marshall will be ineligible for the first eight to nine game because of the transfer rules.

“We are really excited about our team,” Nagy said. “I think the [Summit] league is really wide-open and there is a lot of uncertainty in terms of who is expected to be the top team.”

Horstman said the team is ready and the atmosphere in practice has been great. The Jackrabbits got off to a quicker start than usual this season with the help of an unprecedented trip to Brazil in early August to play four games against some of that country’s pro teams.

“It was great, we got the opportunity to spend time with each other and play some basketball,” Horstman said. “We got the opportunity to play someone other than our teammates.”

The trip gave Nagy some extra work with the team he doesn’t usually get.

“It’s a little more clear than it normally would be because we took that trip to Brazil in the summer that we normally wouldn’t have had,” Nagy said. “We have a better idea of what we look like and how we’ll get through the season, than we normally would at this point.”

Because of the Marshall situation, Nagy said he is dividing the 2014-2015 season into three seasons.

“There’s going to be the season without George Marshall which will be the first eight or nine games, then there’s going to be a shorter season of getting used to having George back and playing with him and then there will be our conference season, Nagy said”

With the 2014-15 basketball season lurking, the basketball team began practicing Oct. 6. The Jackrabbits didn’t take many three-point shots last season, but that is going to change this year, Nagy said.