The loss of center Nate Rucker, along with power forward Lee Fisher, has created a hole in the NIU men’s basketball team’s front court that needs to be addressed.

Although Rucker did not lead the team in either points or rebounds, he was a force on the inside last season, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And, he was technically the only pure center for the Huskies.

Looking at this season, it’s unclear who is going to fill the hole left by Rucker, but all the signs point to returning senior Tim Toler.

There are only two returning forwards: senior Tyler Storm and sophomore Aksel Bolin. The rest of the front court consists of five freshman who will mostly play at the small forward and power forward positions, and junior transfer from Parkland College Brandon Hayes.

Here’s a look at how NIU looks inside:

Small Forwards

Mark Montgomery, NIU head men’s basketball coach, seems to be high on freshman Abdel Nader, who appears to be the front-runner to start at small forward.

“Abdel is a 6’7” kid that can score in a variety of ways,” Montgomery said. “He should be a good rebounder, a good defender, and we’re going to ask him to play both inside and outside.”

Nader is a versatile player who could also play at either the shooting guard or power forward position.

Another freshman that Montgomery sees playing at small forward this season is DeAndre Barnette.

“He played the four in high school,” Montgomery said. “Now we are trying to get him to play the three, so he’s trying to get down the speed of the college level.”

Other options to play small forward consist of Storm, Hayes and Bolin, who also can play shooting guard. Grade: B

Power Forwards

This is where the twin towers will come into play for NIU.

Montgomery is keen on the way freshmen Kevin and Keith Gray rebound the ball and play defense, which will give them a lot of big minutes.

“These are 6’7”, 6’8” type of athletes that have bought into their role very early in the season, which I really like, because my philosophy is defense and rebounding, and those guys attack the glass,” Montgomery said. “They look to get every rebound, so both of those guys will play significant minutes because they take defense and rebounding to another level.”

Storm, along with Nader, will also see some time at the power forward position.

“I told [Storm], besides being a little under-sized, that he would play the three and four for us,” Montgomery said. “I think what he could do in our offense, that we’re going to do this year, he can kind of stretch the defense. He also has a good three-point shot.” Grade: C+

Center

Toler will need to step up and fill the void that Rucker left, and Montgomery expects him to do just that.

“I’m challenging Tim,” Montgomery said. “He had four double-doubles last year, and I think he could be a double-double guy. I think I told Tim he will touch the ball just about every possession because we want him down low.”

NIU does not have many options at center, so Toler will have to be big in the paint on both sides of the ball. Grade: C