Mountain West Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2020-21 season

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 16: The Mountain West Conference logo is seen before the championship game of the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament between the Utah State Aggies and the San Diego State Aztecs at the Thomas & Mack Center on March 16, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) /

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BOISE, ID – FEBRUARY 23: Head coach Paul Weir of the New Mexico Lobos (Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images) /

507. . . . Lobos . 8. team

Projected Starters:

Guards – Jeremiah Francis-SO*, Makuach Maluach – SR, Keith Mcgee-SR

Forwards – Valdir Manuel-SR and Bayron Matos-FR

Bench – Javonte Johnson-FR, Kurt Wegscheider-SO, Rod Brown-SO*, Jordan Arroyo-JR, Emmanuel Kuac-SO

The Lobos were hit hard by graduation and transfers in the offseason forcing Paul Weir to scramble to fill his roster heading into his fourth season as head coach.

In pursuit of a point guard, he may have found the most intriguing transfer prospect in the Mountain West conference in former North Carolina guard Jeremiah Francis. Francis averaged three points in 13 games his freshman campaign and even got three starts for Roy Williams, but a series of injuries that caused him to fall out of rotation opened up an opportunity for a fresh start, and that is exactly what he has at New Mexico, a program that desperately needed a point guard.

Teaming up with Francis in the backcourt will be two returning starters, Keith McGee (5.9 PPG), and guard-forward combo Makuach Maluach (9.6 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 1.2 Ast), so there is definitely something to work with here. One or two of these guys is going to have to make a transition from role player to best player and if they can find that gear the Lobos are better than ninth.

Javonte Johnson, a 3-star freshman out of Colorado Springs will also have an opportunity to get into the backcourt rotation on the wing and could fill Vance Jackson’s role at some point.

The Lobos have a lot of options in the backcourt, but the frontcourt is where they will struggle. Yes, they welcome 6’9 center Bayron Matos, the fourth-ranked 5-man out of the state of Tennessee, but beyond that, they are very thin upfront. The late addition of former Penn State JUCO commit Valdir Manuel should help.

Malach, a four-year starter, has the ability to play in the post, but that runs the risk of foul trouble and they need him on the floor. Besides Matos and Malach there is nobody expected to be a key contributor taller than 6’7 on the roster.

There is a lot of potential in Albuquerque, but replacing Jaquan Lyle and Vance Jackson is a tall order. Hopefully, Weir, who has yet to win 20 games in three seasons, can work some magic and improve off of a 7th place MWC finish a season ago. Otherwise, his seat will be very, very hot.