After the Reggie Theus-coached New Mexico State Aggies made Las Cruces, N.M., a basketball town once again with an NCAA Tournament berth in 2007, the first year under Marvin Menzies left fans with mixed emotions at best.

While the team played its best basketball late in the year like any coach would hope for, it couldn't overcome an awful start early in the season to secure a postseason invitation to either the NIT or College Basketball Invitational.

Its hopes for an automatic NCAA invite were crushed with a triple-overtime loss in the Western Athletic Conference championship game played in Las Cruces, N.M., to Boise State.

Senior forward Justin Hawkins was great and in just two years at New Mexico State, after transferring from Utah, proved to be one of the programs best ever. He scored more than 1,100 points in his two seasons in an Aggie uniform and was a two-time All-WAC first team selection.

Much of the Aggies early season troubles came in the form of not having a steady allotment of players. Freshmen Herb Pope and Jahmar Young each missed the first half of the season while awaiting clearance from the NCAA for various eligibility issues from classes they took before enrolling at NMSU. Pope developed into a starter and Jahmar Young was a dangerous shooter off the bench. Both would have helped the Aggies win early in the year and likely secured a postseason berth.

NMSU also suffered through several weeks in the middle of the season of senior power forward/center Hatila Passos sitting out with grade problems.

NMSU loses several key seniors, including starters Hawkins, point guard Fred Peete, power forward/center Hatila Passos and the top post player off the bench in center Martin Iti.

On the bright side, the way NMSU played down the stretch provided fans with plenty of reason for optimism about whether the team can come together under Menzies.

Several freshmen had key minutes down the stretch, including Pope who started, and Young, who was the top guard off the bench. Fellow freshman Wendell McKines, a forward, was a rebounding machine and led the Western Athletic Conference in offensive rebounds despite playing less than 20 minutes a game.

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