24 Oklahoma State

Desmond Mason dunked for the first time at age 13, flushed a reverse jam at 14 and vaulted over a 5'10" defender in high school for a splay-legged stuff. These days the 6'6" senior forward can reach 11'6" from a flat-footed start. Yet none of those great leaps are as impressive as the one Mason's stock took during last year's NCAAs , when he lit up Syracuse for 28 points and then stung Auburn for 26 while holding the Tigers' Chris Porter to nine. "Desmond has been a secret because we're in Stillwater ," says guard Joe Adkins, "but I don't think he will be anymore."

One of seven Cowboys seniors, Mason takes his hard-driving game from the blocks to the wing this season as coach Eddie Sutton shifts to a beefier look inside. "When you play with four guards, which is basically what we had last year, then you're at a disadvantage," says Sutton . "To be better, we need to go with a bigger lineup." That means Sutton intends to always keep a pair of true post players in the lineup, a task made easier by the arrival of freshman Andre Williams, a 6'9" shot-blocking forward.

Besides Mason, though, the Cowboys ' main strength is clearly their backcourt rotation of seniors Adkins, Glendon Alexander and point guard Doug Gottlieb . A splendid passer, Gottlieb led the nation with 8.8 assists a game last season, but he was such a poor shooter (31.4% from the field, 44.4% from the line) that Sutton had to yank him at the end of games. After failed attempts to change his luck—by bleaching his hair, wearing his socks high, even singing a Garth Brooks song before free throws-Gottlieb is hoping that visits to a sports shrink and his dedication in the gym will turn him around. "I know I said this last year, but I've worked so hard," he says. "I'll show I have a well-rounded game."

If he does, the Cowboys might go further than the second round of the NCAAs , where they've been edged by No. 1 seeds the past two years. "It's time to do better," vows Mason. "Losing in the second round is getting old."

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