Fans of UND basketball had to know the scenery of the team would be a little different than it was last year.

Leaders like Troy Huff, Aaron Anderson, and Jamal Webb are all gone, and while there are players returning from last season, many question who would lead this team.

That is where Quinton Hooker comes in.

“My role is going to be bigger this year,” Hooker said, “More of a leader, more of a floor general, and just leading the guys in the right way.”

Hooker, the team’s starting point guard, had his rise to team leader at the start of last season. As a freshman, it was Hooker’s job to learn from the veterans on the team. UND coach Brian Jones liked what he saw from the young point guard, and plugged him in the lineup for some key minutes last season.

“Quinton came on strong for us as a true freshman last year,” Jones said. “We will definitely rely on him to be a leader this season both on the floor and in the locker room. He is one of our captains. I think he has shown strides in that area. We will need him to command the floor, both offensively and defensively, to get us organized at both ends.”

As the captain of the team, the young sophomore has a solid amount of pressure on him to lead his team, a fact that Hooker relishes.

“There is definitely pressure,” Hooker said. “When anyone makes that jump from having limited minutes to having a big role and being captain, there’s pressure, but I like that pressure. I’ve had it growing up and through high school, and I am excited to have that pressure on me. It makes me work harder and makes me a better player.”

Last season, the Green and White almost accomplished the dream of making it to the NCAA March Madness tournament, only to fall short to Weber State in the Big Sky Championship game.

While not his main focus, Hooker still thinks about that game.

“That championship game and having that feeling of being so close to making the dream of going to the NCAA tournament, I think that is going to be motivation,” he said.

Another form of motivation comes in the form of the preseason rankings.

This year, the Green and White were projected to be the No. 9 team in the Big Sky Conference, falling from the No. 2 seed a season ago.

That does not sit right with Hooker and the rest of the team.

“Right now they got us picked No. 9 in the conference, which is kind of like a hit to us, but it gives us more motivation,” Hooker said. “We were No. 2 in the conference last year and dropping all the way down to nine is like ‘man, that’s really frustrating.’ But it’s making us the underdogs, and it’s goning to show that blue-collardness that this team has … I think this year, people are going to be shocked at how well we do and where we end up.”

This team may not boast the talent it did last year, and when a team loses a large amount of leadership, it will take time to get back to the position it was in.

While Quinton knows that the road ahead may get rough, that will not stop him from working as hard as he can to continue what last year’s seniors started.

“No matter who we’re up against or what player they have, it comes down to us and how hard we work and how much we play together,” he said.

Alex Stadnik is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].