It’s what some colleges who compete on a regional level athletically have wondered for years.

Instead of a roster full of players from across the country, what happens if you just make the meat of your line-up full of the top prep stars of the area and put them on the collegiate level, together.

Georgia Northwestern will find out how well that works in a couple of weeks.

Will the best of the preps bring a bigger following and a more talented team?

Those questions will be answered when the 2009-2010 season for Georgia Northwestern Technical College Mustangs tips off on Nov. 7 in Carrollton’s West Georgia Tech for a league jamboree.

“They are some of the best basketball players the high school ranks offered last season,” said GNTC head coach David Stephenson. “However, many are simply just all-around true athletes.”

During a water break at practice last week, the Mustangs began shooting from behind the three-point line. All 10 players made treys in succession.

This year’s roster includes four former prep All-Region performers, including the Most Valuable Player from this past summer’s Hardee’s Georgia-Tennessee All-Star Game.

When the Mustangs begin their 20-game schedule later this month, they will do it with athleticism, speed and scoring ability.

Freshman guard Vance Loveless was a region track champion in the 100 and 200-meters and triple-jump last year, as well as a standout basketball player at Ringgold High School, while first-year Mustang Kyle Wilson holds Armuchee High School’s single-game, single-season and career scoring records.

Chattooga’s dynamic inside-outside combination of Nic Perry and Perie Finley will also lace them up for the Mustangs in 2009. The duo helped the Indians advance to the Class AA Sweet 16 last season, while former Region 7-AA foe Jesse Moore from Dade County was a center for the Wolverines' Cinderella Elite Eight team last winter.

Also suiting up for the Mustangs for the first time will be former Dalton High product David White, and Providence Day’s (Savannah) John Koneman, a cousin of current Mustang center, Zach Davis, who has made the move to the northwest Georgia area.

Returning to the corral from last year is leading scorer, Bilal Weems, (St. Benedict’s, New Jersey), Davis (Providence Day, Savannah), and Isaiah Tibbs (Southeast Whitfield).

The Mustangs are only in their third season of collegiate ball, but Stephenson believes he has put together a roster with chemistry that will catch the attention of area prep basketball fans.

“Each of these players has the heart and confidence to make a difference in any game. We are truly blessed to have student-athletes of this caliber. Players who have the full support of their families, friends, and fans to make it through college first, then succeed on the court.”

The first home game will be Nov. 14 at the Rossville Athletic Complex, the new home of the Mustangs, against West Georgia Tech.