BASKETBALL PREVIEW : Departure of Bowser Elevates McDaniels’ Profile : Northridge: The shock of a three-year starter quitting is buffered by the emergence of a talented sophomore.

In many ways, the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team that opens the season tonight at home against St. Thomas College (Minn.) will resemble last season’s.

Three of the Matadors’ five starters return and Northridge will continue to run its up-tempo, two-forward, three-guard offense.

But there will be one big difference in the Matadors’ makeup.

Six-foot, eight-inch, 250-pound Todd Bowser will be missing.

Bowser, a three-year starter from Montclair Prep who averaged 11.0 points and 6.4 rebounds a game last season, quit the team this semester, citing differences with Coach Pete Cassidy.

And although Bowser’s exodus weakened the Matadors’ depth on the front line, it has given forward Kendell McDaniels an opportunity to start and possibly shine.

McDaniels, a sophomore from Chatsworth High, was used sparingly by Cassidy in the first half of last season, but his playing time increased when Northridge shifted into California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play, and he led the Matadors in rebounding in three of their last four games.

“Kendell really came on for us last year,” Cassidy said. “He was a very pleasant surprise. Once he got to know the system and understand our offense, he became an effective player.”

After averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds a game as a senior at Chatsworth, McDaniels averaged 5.1 points and 3.8 rebounds while playing an average of 13 minutes a game. As McDaniels’ playing time increases, however, so should his productivity.

“I’m expecting good things out of Kendell,” Cassidy said. “He has good leaping ability and he has a nice turnaround jump shot in the key. He can put the ball in the hole and we’ll need him to do that.”

Northridge (16-11, 7-7 in CCAA play last season), also will need McDaniels to excel in the blue-collar departments of rebounding and defense, areas in which he can improve the most, according to Cassidy.

“He’s getting tougher and tougher in the middle,” Cassidy said, “and he’s improving on defense. But he has to learn to stop committing the silly fouls. He has to stop the reach-in fouls.”

McDaniels (6-4) will be part of a starting five that includes Kris Brodowski (6-6) at the other forward position, and guards Jemarl Baker (6-2), Derrick Gathers (6-3), and Eugene Humphrey (6-0).

Gathers was the Matadors’ leading scorer (16.9 average) and rebounder (7.0) last season, and he tied for second in assists (3.2) with Baker, who is coming back from arthroscopic knee surgery. Brodowski averaged 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds.

Humphrey is a transfer from Cerritos College, last season’s state junior college champion.

Guards Sandy Brown and Andre Henry, and swingman Erik Cooper give Cassidy an abundance of quickness in his reserves. The quickness probably will be needed to compensate for a lack of height.

“We’re quicker on the perimeter this year,” Cassidy said. “So we’ll extend our defense out some. We’ll try to take advantage of our quickness by increasing the defensive pressure and picking up the tempo a little on offense.

“I still have a lot of questions about our depth. I’d like us to be 10-deep and I’m not sure if we are.”

After starting the season tonight against St. Thomas, a Division III school from St. Paul, Northridge will play host to Cal Lutheran on Tuesday night before going on the road against Division I teams Weber State on Friday and Utah State on Saturday.