By SMUMustangs.com special contributor Alex Riley

DALLAS – It's a moment that has played out countless times during Isaiah Mike's tenure with SMU men's basketball. Between practices, games and sporadic visits, there's really no way of knowing how many times the redshirt junior has walked into the Mustangs' locker room.
 
Yet this summer, something felt different. Actually, it looked different.
 
"Before everybody came into town, before the summer started, we were looking around and we saw all the nameplates and stuff filled up all around the locker room. We were all like, 'Wow, we finally have 16 guys. What's going on?'" Mike said with a laugh recalling the moment. "It's kind of a shock but it's going to be something special."
 
Empty lockers were the norm for SMU basketball the last three years as NCAA scholarship reductions left the team with vacancies it could not fill. The program's depth was tested during practice and then exposed at tip-off as injuries left the team short on able bodies.
 
Now, with a full complement of players ready to compete, the Mustangs are looking for a return to where they feel they belong – atop the American Athletic Conference standings.
 
Having enough players to keep legs fresh and create a strong practice environment is a start, but SMU recognizes it's going to take more than available bodies to win games. Of the 16 players on the roster, seven will don the red and blue for the first time – three are Division I transfers, two come from the junior college ranks and the other two are true freshmen. SMU is hoping to get a boost as the program awaits decisions on filed waivers for Darius McNeill and Kendric Davis. If both are approved, it would give the Mustangs up to 15 players to use in the rotation.
 
"One of many things that was so frustrating and debilitating other than the scholarships being taken away is that it took away our ability to get transfers because we could not afford to have people redshirting while you're already short on numbers. Well, we're done with that, so we have our three Division I transfers, two junior college transfers and two freshmen – which if you think about it is exactly how we built this program over the last seven years," fourth-year coach Tim Jankovich said. "Some of the best players we've had have been transfers, and we've had some great freshmen come in as well. That mix has been our formula and now we're back to it. I think it's just another reason to be excited."
The looming question remains – can that wide spread of returning talent and exciting newcomers blend together quickly to form a cohesive team?
 
Jankovich likes what he's seen in practice thus far, noting that the potential for growth throughout the season is extremely high. All 16 players on the roster will have at least one year of eligibility left after the 2019-20 campaign, meaning the team's chemistry has a chance to continue building.
 
The biggest obstacle might be patience. Both the coaches and players have been eager to get the program's depth back and return to the success that made the Mustangs a top 25 team just a few years ago. Everyone recognizes that process won't happen overnight, but if players stay focused and healthy there is no telling where things could end up.
 
"Being a returner, you want things to move a little bit faster, but there are guys that need to learn the whole system. And you just have to be patient and know that our team is going to gel when we gel," Mike said. "People are going to learn the plays and defensive philosophies that make SMU basketball what it is. It's just taking it one day at a time and trying to learn as much as we can each day."