Eastern takes the floor for its season-opening tournament looking to erase the memories of a 6-21 season against opponents with the same idea.

Four teams currently in similar rebuilding modes will arrive in Ames, Iowa, for the Cyclone Classic as they enter a new college basketball season.

“It’s like taking a pop quiz in a biology class,” said Louisiana-Monroe head coach Orlando Early. “You just got to go in as ready as you can.”

Eastern, Louisana-Monroe, UC Riverside and host Iowa State are all trying to find an identity either with new players or in the Cyclones case, a new leader on the bench.

“It’s definitely a transitional field,” said Eastern head coach Mike Miller. “Not one team can look at its schedule and say that’s a guaranteed win or loss.”

Iowa State opens it 2006-2007 season with a new system of play created by its new coach Greg McDermott.

The former Northern Iowa head coach led the Panthers to three consecutive NCAA Tournament berths built on sound fundamental man-to-man defense.

“Defensively, our system is simple,” McDermott said during ISU media day. “You don’t allow transition baskets, you don’t allow offensive rebounds and you don’t foul.”

McDermott’s motion offense and set plays will mostly revolve around forward Rahshon Clark. The 6-foot-6 forward from Queens, N.Y., is the Cyclones leading returning scoring and had 23 points and 19 rebounds in ISU’s pair of exhibition wins.

“We will rely on Rahshon to bring leadership to our program,” McDermott said. “It’s his time to shine.”

After the Panthers’ disappointing season last year in Miller’s first year, Eastern signed eight newcomers to its roster to spark a change.

“It’s a process all the way and our guys are still learning to play at the pace we want,” Miller said. “It’s unrealistic to think our new guys to start on fire.”

The Panthers, ranked ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, open the round robin event against Louisiana-Monroe.

The Warhawks finished last season 10-18 and are led by Tony Hooper and Jonas Brown. The guard duo is now reunited after being high school teammates in Houston. Brown joins ULM this year after two seasons at Angelina Junior College in Luftin, Texas. Hooper and Brown combined for 28 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds in ULM’s 86-64 exhibition win against Division II Arkansas Tech.

“I was most impressed with Jonas having eight assists and no turnovers,” Early said. “Hooper is our leading scorer returning so he’s going to score.”

Hooper will be matched up with Eastern point guard Mike Robinson. Robinson, the 2005 Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year, will not only be responsible for adding to last season’s 9.6 points per game but also forcing mistakes out of Hooper because the Warhawks sophomore averaged 4.5 turnovers a game last season.

Eastern’s Saturday opponent UC Riverside is extremely excited to just be concentrating on basketball. This off-season the Highlanders program has been forced to endure numerous off-the-court issues. In September a single-car rollover accident killed guard Mark Hall and injured three other players (Aaron Scott, B.J. Visman and Michael Creppy).

“It’s hard to put into words how resilient this team has been since the tragedy,” said acting head coach Vonn Webb.

UCR head coach David Spencer has been granted a medical leave of absence and two more players (Dedrick Bates and Justin Bell) are out because of summer knee surgeries.

“At this point, our main focus is coming together as a team,” Webb said.

Miller is cautiously optimistic about how his new team will match up once they throw the ball up for real.

“Every team in this event has practiced about 17-18 times before they play,” Miller said. “The key is who can mentally process its system faster.”