“We didn’t plan on Armoni not being here,” Sampson said. “Kind of like Target or Walmart — they have that blue light special at 6 o’clock, and you show up at 9. There ain’t a whole lot left in those bins now. That’s kind of where we were in June. Who’s out there? There ain’t no Armoni out there — let’s get that straight. There were no Armonis out there in April, either. Guys like him that can shoot it like he did don’t come along very often.”
Cedrick Alley Jr., the Cougars’ do-everything forward, is the top returning 3-point shooter (31 makes), followed by Nate Hinton (28). Cameron Tyson, an Idaho transfer who made 106 3s, is sitting out this season.
“Everybody that is capable of 3s, we all work hard every day,” Hinton said. “Our players are tough. Maybe sometimes in practice they may not fall in, but we’re working on it every day before and after practice. It just may not be the volume (from the past).”