HOUGHTON - Twenty-one months is a long time between basketball games, but the wait has just made it that much more exciting for Matt Esters, a redshirt freshman for the Huskies.

"Us redshirts haven't played a game in about 21 months, so it's really exciting to get back out there playing and getting those nerves out against other players, instead of the same guys at practice," Esters said.

The 6-foot-3 graduate of Divine Child High School in Dearborn is now in his second year at Michigan Tech, where coach Kevin Luke has high hopes.

"He is going to be an outstanding player in this league, he's a slasher-type scorer," Luke said. "He's developed his shot enough where he'll be a threat from the 3-point line, and he's an awesome rebounder for his size."

While Luke has high expectations for the freshman that averaged 15.4 points per game as a high school senior, he knows the results won't come immediately.

"He's inexperienced right now," Luke said. "But the biggest thing we like is his desire to become a complete player.

"He asks questions, he's the kind of kid you want in your program because he'll try to get done what needs to be done in the system ... he's the ultimate team player, which is what you want from a coach's perspective because when he gets it and gels with other players who get it, we'll be pretty hard to beat."

As for Esters' work on the court?

"I just want to be a guy that goes out there and plays as hard as he can, runs the floor and fights for rebounds," Esters said. "Coach told me I'm going to have to grow fast, I'm gonna go out there and do the little things to help the team win."

Esters said the team is hoping to improve on last year's win total, and they've set a goal of 19 wins.

"We came up with that when we came up with our team goals, previously our goal was to be above .500, but we wanted to take that a step further," Esters said. "We just want to set the standard high this year."

The team has a long way to go, but coach Luke can see what work needs to be done, and for Esters that will include slowing the game down.

"Last night he took the ball to the hole a couple of times, but he was going too fast and charged, all he needs to do is slow down," Luke said.

"He is going to get better every game, every minute that he plays he'll get to another level."

Michael H. Babcock can be reached at mbabcock@mininggazette.com.