THE GOOD NEWS
The Ramblers have reached double-digit wins in each of the last four seasons, their longest streak since a 16-year stretch from 1974-89. They signed four recruits from four states: 6-2 Courtney Stanley of Philadelphia, Pa.; 6-6 Jordan Hicks of Rochester, Minn.; 6-7 Walt Gibler of Cincinnati; and 6-9 John Benkoske out of Oshkosh, Wis. Stanley also had interest from Butler and Wright State.

THE BAD NEWS
Of the departing five-member senior class, clutch-shooting forward Tracy Robinson leaves the biggest void. His late-game heroics include a buzzer-beating 3-pointer vs. Youngstown State on Jan. 31 and five free throws in the final minute to seal an upset at Butler last season. With 65 wins since the start of 2004-05, this senior class was Loyola's most successful since the Class of 1988 won 69 games.

KEY RETURNEES
J.R. Blount ranks 25th in Loyola history with 1,153 career points and was arguably the biggest snub on the all-conference teams after finishing fifth in the Horizon in scoring. Andy Polka has posted back-to-back seasons with at least 200 points, 200 rebounds and 50 assists.

ROSTER REPORT

--Junior guard J.R. Blount boosted his scoring average for a third straight year, pouring in 15.1 points per game after averaging 12.9 in 2006-07 and 11.3 in 2005-06. He became the first Loyola player since Eric Dolezal (1990-93) to average 10 or more points in each of his first three seasons.

--Sophomore forward Ross Forman came on strong at the end of the season, scoring in double figures in each of the last three games. That includes the Wyoming transfer's huge 28-point, 15-rebound game at Green Bay. He committed just two turnovers over his last 222 minutes of action.

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