The Huskie basketball team will be looking for big things out of its freshmen next year.

andy Fens, a 6-foot-8, 205 pounder from Dubuque, Iowa, and Brent Varner, a 6-foot-9, 235 pounder from Warren, Mich., signed National Letters of Intent Wednesday to join the NIU squad in 1988-89.

Varner and Fens will try to fill the large space left at the end of this season by seniors Mike Grabner and John Culbertson. NIU will be losing about 470 pounds of inside bulk when the two 6-foot-8 Huskies finish their collegiate careers.

Varner averaged 15.1 points and 14.8 rebounds per game as a junior for Anchor Bay High School, New Baltimore, Mich. He was a First-Team All-Eastern Michigan League player last season before transferring to Cousino High School.

Fens is described by NIU assistant coach Jon Mackey as a “banger” for his tough style of play under the boards.

“I saw him play in a pick-up game against some college students in Dubuque,” Mackey said of a recent trip to Loras College. “He’s a physical player who does not get intimidated. He was willing to mix it up.”

Fens, who described himself as “pretty aggressive,” was just another player as a sophomore when he averaged 8.0 ppg. But in the off-season, he developed himself into a true major college prospect. Fens said Texas, South Dakota and Wisconsin-Green Bay had all expressed interest in him.

“I put a lot of effort into it,” Fens said of his improvement on the basketball court. “From my sophomore to junior year I went to basketball camp at St. Edwards High School in Elgin.”

“The biggest thing I noticed is his rebounding,” Mackey said. “He’s going to come in here and mix it up, and I think he’ll get some playing time.”

Fens agreed with Mackey’s assessment, saying, “I think I can come in and play right away. I don’t know about starting though.”

Mackey said Fens will probably have to learn a new position if he is to make the Huskie lineup.

“He played center in high school,” Mackey said. “We project him as a power forward. He has some nice inside moves.”

Fens said he would be able to make the transition from the pivot to forward, but he would need to work on his ball handling and shooting. Fens described his present shooting range as “about 13 feet.”

The Iowa prep said his main reasons for choosing NIU over the other schools who recruited him were location and the gaps that would be left by the departures of Culbertson and Grabner.

“I had a good chance to play and it’s close to home,” Fens said. He also was impressed by the Huskie coaching staff.

“I talked to his coach (Dennis Geraghty),” Mackey said. “He said the whole school is very excited about Randy coming here. It’s their first Division 1 player ever from Hempstead High.”

NIU head coach Jim Rosborough said the Huskies were able to sign Fens partly because of his staff’s effort to bring him to DeKalb before he visited other schools.

“We were in first,” Rosborough said. “He did cancel some other visits.”

osborough specifically credited Mackey and assistant coach Robert Collins for their perseverance in recruiting Varner and Fens who were overlooked by many schools.