Wacy Weeks, the top returning player, is recovering from a broken leg. Five of the players who signed to play basketball at Haskell Indian Nations University never showed up for school. Two others are academically ineligible. Another player started a family and won’t return to school until second semester, at the earliest.

So why is Haskell coach Jamie Morrison so excited to get the season started tonight against a deeper, more experienced, far more talented Columbia College?

“Last year, we all kind of expected would be our breakthrough year and for whatever reason, it didn’t happen,” Morrison said. “I think we needed some fresh faces with a new outlook, a new attitude, bringing a new hunger, giving us a little bit of a transfusion. It’s been good so far.”

Haskell finished 6-24 overall and 4-10 in conference play last season.

Tonight’s opener in the two-day, four-team tournament at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe is at 6 p.m. The Fightin’ Indians’ home opener is ay 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against Ottawa University.

Perhaps the best symbol of this team is freshman Lewis Rides Horse, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound post player from Park City, Mont., in that he is not yet ready to perform at a level that will make big winners out of the Indians, but his potential excites his coach.

“His ceiling is unlimited,” Morrison said. “He’s probably the youngest 18-year-old we’ve had. He’s big. He’s strong. He’s really, really raw, but he’s made so many strides in the first month.”

Rides Horse isn’t the only freshman whose chance to make an impact excites his coach. Donavan Begay, a 6-1 guard from Chinle, Ariz., fits that category as well.

“Begay can really shoot it,” Morrison said.

Kirk Brown, a 6-4, 215-pound forward from Walthill, Neb., is Haskell’s most advanced freshman, Morrison said. Brown, 20, totaled 30 points and 12 rebounds in an exhibition game.

“We’re young, but we have four or five guys who can really shoot,” Morrison said.

Morrison is used to some players not showing up and others not returning.

“Most of our kids come from pretty far away,” Morrison said. “We don’t have a whole lot of kids come from Kansas. Sometimes there is family pressure for them to stay. Other times they get in trouble. Sometimes it’s just hard to leave home. What happens a lot of times is they’ll come back five years later. They’ll have a little more maturity, but their athletic talents have seen better days.”

With such an eclectic squad this winter, expectations won’t be too high.

“We’ll struggle early and make a lot of mistakes,” Morrison said. “But we have the potential to be exciting.”