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How do you measure success during the early stages of someone’s coaching career?

Do you go by wins? Do you use postseason appearances as an indicator? The truth is, there is no shortage of variables to factor into the equation.

However, Alex Pribble immediately knew what the barometer would be when he was hired two years ago as the Saint Martin’s University men’s basketball coach. It occurred to him the first time he step into Marcus Pavilion.

“Right there,” Pribble said pointing to the student section. “The goal was to pack this place with 3,000 fans, and we did that last year. We have some momentum. Now we just need to build on that.”

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Coach Alex Pribble enters his third season at Saint Martin’s University. Pribble guided the Saints to their first ever GNAC tournament appearance last year. Photo credit: Saint Martin’s University

Pribble enters his third season with the Saints with plenty of new faces. A total of nine players are new to the program this season as SMU graduated its top four scorers from last year’s campaign which saw the team advance to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament for the first time in program history.

What remains the same is the foundation Pribble and his staff have established in just two short seasons in Lacey.

“We have nine new faces, but we have a returning coaching staff. Where there is a lot of teaching to be done we feel very confident in the consistency and teaching with our coaching staff,” Pribble said. “We have a great foundation and the six returning guys understand the culture here. They understand the expectations. That should make the transition very smooth.”

After going 15-13, but failing to make the GNAC tournament in his debut season with the Saints, Pribble guided SMU to a 17-13 mark last year – winning 10 GNAC games, the most since 2008, and good enough to secure the fourth seed to the GNAC tournament.

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SMU closed out the regular season by packing Marcus Pavilion as 3,000 fans saw the Saints play Western Washington. Photo credit: Saint Martin’s University

The team knocked off Concordia University (78-73) in the opening round of the GNAC tournament before losing in the semifinals to eventual champion and top-seeded Western Washington University.

Key members gone from last year’s team include Cole Preston, a second-team all-conference guard last year, Tyler Copp, who scored a GNAC tournament single game record 36 points in the season-ending loss to Western Washington, and 7-foot, 305-pound center Fred Jorg, who closed out his Saints’ career by grabbing a GNAC tournament-record 15 rebound in the win over Concordia.

The top retuning scorers from last year include 6-7 junior forward Jordan Kitchen (8.8 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game) and 6-4 junior guard Rhett Baerlocher (7.7 ppg, 5.8 ppg).

“There’s no big Fred anymore, but we have a lot of athletic guys on this team,” Kitchen said. “We have guys who can score on all three levels. We have so many guys that can just take over a game. So this year’s going to really exciting.”

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Pribble is 32-26 in two seasons at SMU, leading the Saints to consecutive winning seasons. Photo credit: Saint Martin’s University

The Saints also welcome back 6-5 sophomore guard Michael Painter who was granted a medical redshirt after appearing in five games last year, and 6-9 sophomore forward Cameron Chatwin, who made 24 starts in 2014-15 as a freshman before sitting out the last two years.

Matt Dahlen is the lone senior on the squad. The 6-7 forward played last year at Oregon State, where he played in 30 games with 10 starts for the Beavers.

Additional newcomers include a trio of freshmen (Caden Smith, B.J. Standley and Tavian Henderson) and transfers E.J. Boyce (San Jose State) and Jared Mathews (Blue Mountain Community College).

“Out of the nine new guys we expect a lot of them to make immediate contributions,” Pribble said. “We did lose a lot of scoring and this team will be really different in its makeup, but I think we are a much more versatile team than last year.”

SMU will open its season with a pair of exhibition games on the road against Pac-12 opponents. The Saints will play the University of Washington in Seattle on November 2 before heading to Pullman to take on Washington State University on November 5.

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Jordan Kitchen (No. 11) during photo day at Saint Martin’s. Kitchen is the team’s top returning scorer from last year. Photo credit: Saint Martin’s University

The team opens up the regular season with the GNAC/Pac West Conference Challenge in Monmouth, Oregon, playing Fresno Pacific University on November 10 and Point Loma on November 11.

The Saints home opener will take place on November 21 when they host the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

“We’re really excited about this season,” Pribble said. “These guys are talented. I think the ceiling is really high with this group.”

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