19. New Mexico

"O.K., What bad stuff are you going to write about me?" asks New Mexico senior center Kenny Thomas in place of a more traditional greeting. Thomas is kidding...sort of. He clearly has issues with some of the scribes who have evaluated his job performance over the last three years, particularly during the tournament. Let's just say that around Albuquerque many of them are prone to doubting Thomas . "Hey, I know I'm not perfect," he says. "But who else gets criticized for getting 14 points and 10 rebounds while being triple-teamed the entire game?"

Thomas , a 6'8" so-called Baby Shaq , has career averages of 15.1 points and 8.0 rebounds, and he has won the WAC tournament MVP award twice. But in six NCAA games Thomas has vanished, attempting just 39 shots, averaging 8.5 points and fouling out three times. He should be liberated from triple-teaming this season by the arrival of two tall transfers—6'7" Damion Walker from TCU, a freshman All-America in '96, and 6'8" Brian Smith from San Diego—and by more consistent scoring from junior Lamont Long, a 6'4" slasher who had 31 points in one game last year and zero in two others. After reaching a settlement with the NCAA over a three-year-old eligibility dispute, Thomas will sit out the Lobos' first five games, an absence that could work to his team's advantage. "The rest of us need to learn not to rely so much on Kenny and show what we can do," Long says. "Maybe that will make us more dangerous in March."

That might be wishful thinking for the Lobos, who have earned trips to six of the last eight NCAA tournaments but haven't advanced beyond the second round. After serving 48 hours in jail over the summer for an April DWI, Thomas showed his increased commitment by shedding 25 pounds to reach 255. "I respect Kenny because he could have taken the money and run to the pros, but he knows he's not the finished product," coach Dave Bliss says. "He has matured more in the last three months than he did in the previous three years."

When asked about Bliss 's comment, Thomas lightens up for a moment. "Coach said that?" he says. "Sometimes I feel like I'm 21 going on 40."

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