Margenthaler hoping for some one-year magic

Minnesota State men's basketball coach Matt Margenthaler announced his latest signing this week, adding 6-foot-7 guard Andre Gilbert to the roster.
Gilbert certainly brings some baggage (or interesting story, depending on your perspective), with an acquittal of sexual assault charges during his freshman season at South Dakota State, a transfer to a junior college in California, one season at Kansas State playing alongside Michael Beasley and Bill Walker and two years of working and living in California, looking for another chance.
It will be interesting to see how Gilbert, who payed high-school ball at Park Center, is received by the university and the program's fans.
Gilbert is the second transfer who will have just one season with the Mavericks, joining 6-7 A.J. Wilson, who came here from Murray State. Both are obviously talented athletes or they wouldn't have been playing at Division I universities.
But successful programs rarely are built on one-year players. Margenthaler said he's always trying to recruit the best players, and he looks for transfers to fill in holes on the team. Wilson will likely be the starting center/power forward, with Gilbert at shooting guard/small forward.
Margenthaler's desire to win is never in doubt. He puts more pressure on himself than the university puts on him, and having watched the Winona State men and Minnesota State women win national championship, that only fuels his passion for a title.
If it works next season, and the Mavericks have a prolonged run through the postseason, nobody will care where these players came from or why. If it falls apart as it did this season, more scrutiny will follow.

Recruits and other MSU men's basketball tidbits

Talked with Minnesota State basketball recruit Alex Hanks on Thursday, and for more on the conversation, pick up Friday's print edition or visit the web site Friday. But the gist of the conversation revolved around how excited he is to be joining the Mavericks next fall. The irony is that he lives in St. Cloud and attended Saturday's game at Halenbeck Hall, where he used to root for the home team, but he's already bleeding the purple and gold of Minnesota State and he's eager to get started.
The Mavericks received a commitment from guard Anthony Brant of Vermilion Community College in Ely. What stands out about him is that he's made 113 of 264 3-pointers in 25 games, both of which would represent program records at Minnesota State. However, Vermilion coach Paul McDonald assures that Brant plays both ends of the floor and passes well, and he said character is Brant's best trait.
The Mavericks enter Saturday's game at Southwest Minnesota State needing a victory to maintain first place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. St. Cloud State takes on Minnesota Crookston on Saturday, and Minnesota Crookston has just one conference victory. By my math, the Mavericks would still host the conference tournament if they tie with St. Cloud State for the regular-season championship, based on the strength-of-conference opponents tiebreaker.