The madness begins for MSU basketball

The Minnesota State men's and women's basketball teams began their seasons with the first offficial workouts at 12:01 a.m. Friday at Bresnan Arena.
The first thing you notice is transfer Andre Gilbert on crutches, with his right ankle wrapped up. Coach Matt Margenthaler said he doesn't expect Gilbert to miss much practice time.
Guard Anthony Brant has a smooth-looking jumper from long range. The Mavericks lacked consistent perimeter shooting in the final month of the season.
The Mavericks have new uniforms, with a simple MSU across the chest and a number on the front and back. It's an old-school look, but it might take a while to get used to it.
The loudest cheers of the night, and maybe the season, was the T-shirt and sub giveaways.
Point guard Marcus Hill, small forward Cameron Hodges and power forward Jefferson Mason look like cinches to be in the starting lineup. It wouldn't be a surprise if the other two are Gilbert and transfer A.J. Wilson, depending on how quickly they fit in at Minnesota State.
Watch out for redshirt freshmen Connor O'Brien and Jimmy Whitehead.

For the women's team, Lauren Barber looks like she's lost some weight. Last season, she struggled early in the season, and offseason conditioning looked like a problem. Given this team's offensive struggles last season, she's going to need to do more than shoot 3s.
It's good to see Andrea Walsh back on the court. It's been almost a year since she had back surgery, and she took a medical redshirt last season. Her play at point guard will be important as the Mavericks replace Tiffany Moe.

The men begin the season Nov. 6 with an exhibition game against Bethany Lutheran, and four days later, they travel to Madison, Wis., for an exhibition game against the Badgers. The first official games come at the Cal State-Sonoma tournament Nov. 19-20.
The first game for the women comes in the Maverick Classic with Grand View College and California (Pa.) University coming to town Nov. 19-20.