The Wayne Morgan era begins Monday night as the Cyclone men’s basketball team opens up its season against the LA Stars at Hilton Coliseum.

This will be the first time the ISU faithful will have a chance to see Morgan’s new uptempo style of basketball, and senior guard Jake Sullivan can’t wait to get out on the court and show it to them.

“We’re really excited. It’s a new system, a new style of basketball. It’s fun to play and it gives us a lot of freedom, so I’m really looking forward to it,” Sullivan said.

After all the offseason controversies that have plagued the Cyclones this summer, junior center Jared Homan said he’s just glad to get the season started.

“We’re very optimistic and fortunate for a fresh start,” Homan said. “All of us are just looking to get on the court and prove ourselves.”

Heading into Monday’s game, Sullivan said he and his new teammates are really playing the way they need to be to start a new season. “Guys are confident right now, everyone’s really coming together,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan is coming off two ankle surgeries this offseason, and he said he’s almost at 100 percent, but not quite.

“I’m probably about 90 percent right now, but I’m close,” Sullivan said.

The LA Stars are an exhibition team made up of college standouts from all over the West Coast, with eight of the 13 players on the Stars coming from Division I universities.

But perhaps the most interesting fact about the Stars is that a number of their players compete in the newly formed SlamBall league, seen on the Spike TV Network (formerly TNN).

SlamBall is an “extreme sport” style of basketball, with players using trampolines to jump to the basket and no out-of-bounds.

Although SlamBall is somewhat of a novelty sport, Sullivan said he knows that the Stars are still basketball players, and good ones at that.

“It’s a good thing we don’t have trampolines here and stuff, but it just means they’re going to have a lot of experience and they’re going to be good players,” Sullivan said.

“We just need to execute and come out and play hard. If we do that, we should be able to win.”

Homan said he welcomes the style of play the SlamBall players will bring.

“I’ve seen SlamBall on TV and it looks physical and these guys like to get after it,” Homan said.

With senior center Jackson Vroman suspended from the team indefinitely, Homan will be the featured big man.

“It puts more pressure on me, but that’s a role I have to get into to help out my team and I’ll do whatever I can to help my team out,” Homan said.

Homan said if the Cyclones can dictate the style of the game, they should come away with a win in their first game.

“We have to come out and play our game,” Homan said. “We’ve got some shooters on this team and if we’re making our shots, we’ll win.”