CARBONDALE - Three big changes hit the Southern Illinois University men's basketball program this week, but it's still yet to be determined what kind of impact they'll have.

The Salukis lost a bit of their home swagger with Wednesday's 59-51 loss to Northern Iowa. It was just the third home loss to a Missouri Valley Conference opponent since the 2001 season.

Friday, SIU coach Chris Lowery confirmed his team was down to nine eligible players, as freshman guard Torres Roundtree and junior forward Christian Cornelius left the team. Sophomore walk-on Brandon Allen is expected to have a second knee operation next week, and will likely be out until next spring, Lowery said. Senior Tony Freeman became an integral part of practice Friday, but the Iowa transfer is ineligible to help the Salukis on the court in an actual game until the 2009-10 season per NCAA rules.

Yet, as Drake (10-4 and 1-1 in the Valley) approaches Sunday, some said the Salukis may be better off because of the transitions.

"These are the guys who want to be here, and the guys who want to play, and look forward to coming to practice, and are working hard," said SIU senior point guard Bryan Mullins. "I think it's going to help us a lot. Now it's our team, and I think we're excited about the challenges ahead of us. We're just going to take it a game at a time."

Roundtree, a 6-foot-4 righty from Florissant, Mo., was one of the jewels of the early signing period of 2007. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Metro Player of the Year in 2007, he helped McCluer North (Mo.) High School win a Class 5 state championship in 2007 and finish second in early 2008. Roundtree started four of the 11 games he played in, but never seemed really in sync with the Saluki system. He averaged 1.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in an average of 11.8 minutes per game.

Roundtree said Friday he will enroll at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park but will not play basketball this coming semester. He hopes to work out for some college coaches, and find a Division I program he could be more comfortable in.

"They haven't done anything to me, I just decided to part ways in order to better myself, to put myself in a better position where I would be more successful on the court," Roundtree said. "I didn't feel comfortable. It wasn't because of a lack of anything. I just thought about it after the game, and told the coach that I would be leaving."

Cornelius, who fought back from a knee injury suffered before the 2006-07 campaign to play in 16 games last season, said his 22-year-old body struggled to keep up with the Division I schedule. Cornelius tore his anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus prior to the 06-07 season, and later fractured his femur. Last season, he averaged just under a point and a rebound per game, but played in all 12 games this season.

"For me, the big reason was health-wise," Cornelius said. "Like I've been telling everyone else who's interviewed me, you gotta be in top shape to play at this level, and I didn't have it. I support my teammates 110 percent, and I support this program 110 percent. In the past, I'd been putting people ahead of myself, and I guess, yesterday, I just put myself first."

Lowery said Roundtree and Cornelius both had a lot of potential this season.

"Sometimes, when guys are unhappy, they do things that bring the rest of the people down, and, unfortunately, we didn't have enough playing time for everybody that was on the team," he said. "And that's part of life. Sometimes you gotta work for things. Things aren't going to be given to you. It's unfortunate that we lost a player as talented as Roundtree. He was a kid that we definitely wanted to see blossom into something special, like we thought he could.

"Christian, in this point of his career, he graduated. At this point, he just didn't think he could compete at this high a level, and we thought he could. He was, by far, shooting the best field-goal percentage of any of our bigs, and he was playing the most and the best since he's been here."

Still in Carbondale Friday, Cornelius said he might try to play one more season at a lower-level college before hanging up his shoes.

"I definitely want to have one good year of basketball before I hang it up for good," he said.

Beginning Sunday, SIU finds out if its nine-man strong team can begin playing the type of basketball fans are used to. The Salukis are 0-2 in the Valley for the first time since the 1997 season.

"This team has got to be closer, especially since there's only nine or 10 of us now," forward Carlton Fay said. "We got a small group. We gotta work hard, and earn everything that we get."

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 351-5087