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NOVEMBER 12, 2015

CHANGINGGUARDSof

the

COLIN MULVANY [email protected]

AT GONZAGA, the backcourt quartet (from left) of Silas Melson, Kyle Dranginis, Eric McCellan and Josh Perkins will try to help theBulldogs overcome the loss of four-year starters Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell Jr. to graduation. PAGES 4-5

TYLER TJOMSLAND [email protected]

AT WASHINGTON STATE, guardIke Ireogbu is among a group of

players the Cougars are hoping canreplace DaVonté Lacy.

PAGES 2-3


AT IDAHO, Pat Ingram, a physicalpoint guard, comes from the junior

college ranks to step in fortwo-year starter Mike Scott.

PAGE 7

DAN PELLE [email protected]

AT EASTERN WASHINGTON,transfer guard Austin McBroomsteps into a backcourt that lost

Tyler Harvey to the NBA.

PAGE 6

SPECIAL SECTION

2015-’16 College Basketball Preview

Graduation and NBA took star backcourt players from area D1 basketball programs. We examine how

teams are dealing with the losses.

ALSO:John Blanchette looks at the challenge Gonzaga’s guards arefacing to maintain the high standard set by Pangos and Bell PAGE 11

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PAGE T2 � THURSDAY � NOVEMBER 12, 2015 THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

COLLEGE BASKETBALL 2015/2016

ERNIE KENT’S WASHINGTON STATE BASKETBALL PROGRAM isn’t a democracy, but the coach will occasionally consider player input. One such occasion is an annual

survey of his team the coach conducts at WSU’s retreat, held this year in the Tri-Cities.The question: How many minutes should you play this season? There are only 200 minutes available

in a regulation college basketball game. The sum total of the Cougars’ responses was 296 minutes.“Obviously, somebody’s going to have to scale back,” Kent quipped.

But the coach still likes where his players’ heads are at in that so many of them believe they will be major contributors this season. That’s because Kent wants a cohesive group

adding up to a whole greater than its individual parts.

WSU Cougars

Que Johnson, one of the most highly ranked college basketballrecruits to ever sign with Washington State, has always beenenormously talented.

He just hasn’t always been very good.Unlike most four-star prospects in the highly scrutinized world of

prep basketball, Johnson was something of a late bloomer. Whilesome of his peers had been scouted since elementary school, Johnsonwasn’t even one of the best players on his eighth-grade team.

“I was kind of bad,” Johnson said. “I just shot 3s. I couldn’t shootand I was kind of chubby.”

The wing grew out of his baby fat, developed a sweet shootingstroke and easy athleticism, turning into a versatile scorer whoturned down scholarship offers from Gonzaga and Washington to be

the man at WSU.But because of his late start, Johnson never learned how to be the

offensive focal point in high school and his inconsistent past hasyielded an inconsistent present. Oh, he’s shown glimpses of thattalent. When DaVonté Lacy missed time with a burst appendixduring the 2013-14 season, Johnson, just a redshirt freshman, becamethe team’s scoring threat and hit double figures in 13 games.

But he regressed last season, only reaching double-digit scoring insix games, though he opened the season with a double-double (11points, 10 rebounds) at UTEP.

Johnson spent the offseason training long hours in Michigan andLos Angeles so that he can be a consistent, versatile scorer for theCougars. Just like Lacy.


Washington State junior guard Que Johnson.

MEET QUE JOHNSON: HE IS DAVONTÉ LACY’S REPLACEMENT

The Sacramento 24 Hour Fitness was a tornado ofIroegbus. Eldest brother Chukwuemeka “Chuks,”middle brother Ikenna “Ike,” and Uchenna, theyoungest, zipped around a non-regulation court thatwas too small for their speed, forcing them to getused to arriving at the rim at a dead sprint.

The experience racing up and down those tinycourts produced Ike Iroegbu’s game, which isperfectly suited to the fast-break approach favoredby Washington State coach Ernie Kent.

“Both my brothers are really athletic,” Ireogbusaid. “When we would go to the gym it would just beus three on the same team. We’d want to go out andjust speed down the court and get layups and dunksand stuff.”

Iroegbu’s prodigious speed with the ball in hishands gets him to the rim in a hurry – 42.2 percentof his field-goal attempts came at the rim last season,leading all the team’s guards by a sizable margin.He’s still learning how to play with his speed,though.

Iroegbu struggled to finish those shots at the rimat times last season, shooting just 48.8 percent onsuch attempts. To that end, he put on significantmuscle mass this offseason to better absorb contactin the lane and become the go-to transition scorerthe Cougars had in DaVonté Lacy.


Washington State junior guard Ike Iroegbu.

MEET IKE IROEGBU: HE IS DAVONTÉ LACY’S REPLACEMENT

When Charles Callison arrived at WashingtonState for his first summer workouts with his newteam, he was a real pain. He didn’t treat the gameslike regular offseason runs where dunking wasmore important than defense –he got into guys.

He barked, he hand-checked and let histeammates know that he would be a fun person toplay with, but never against.

“That was my first thing: never show that I’mintimidated,” Callison said. “They’re just like me;they’re human. I had to earn my respect and theyhad to earn my respect for them, so we just gotafter it.”

You have to hand it to Callison, he has a way ofintroducing himself. His first basket in a WSUuniform was a violent dunk that belied his 6-footstature. Just a few minutes later, he got above therim again, this time to hammer down atwo-handed alley-oop dunk off a pass from RenardSuggs that didn’t fly all that close to the rim.

His aggressive nature on both ends of the floorreveals an intense desire to prove his worth on a

basketball court. The sparkplug guard, whoappears likely to be the Cougars starting pointguard, was not heavily recruited out of CanyonSprings High or San Bernardino Valley College,where he played his first two college seasons.

Cal had an interest in Callison, but he says that aworkout for Golden Bears coach Cuonzo Martinfell through because of a shortage of basketballsand not much effort was made to reschedule.

“It didn’t seem like he was very interested in me,so I just rolled with coach Kent, who was veryinterested in me,” Callison said. “Calling me everyday. Came to my house, which was a great blessingbecause I’d never had a college coach come to myhouse like that and speak to my family like that.”

DaVonté Lacy also felt that he should have beenmore highly recruited, and it burned the Tacomanative that hometown school Washington didn’tshow any interest.

In Callison, WSU has another player with a chipon his shoulder, and that’s just fine with theCougars.


WSU junior guard Charles Callison

MEET CHARLES CALLISON: HE IS DAVONTÉ LACY’S REPLACEMENT

Stories by Jacob Thorpe

[email protected],(509) 710-8070




THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW NOVEMBER 12, 2015 � THURSDAY � PAGE T3


Spokane (509)309-2050 618 W. Riverside Avenue Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. wsuconnections.com

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THE SCHEDULEDate Opponent Time

Nov. 13 Northern Arizona 5:30 pm

Nov. 20 Idaho State 8 pm

Nov. 24 Cal State L.A. 8 pm

Nov. 28 Texas Southern TBA

Dec. 02 Gonzaga 8 pm

Dec. 06 Portland State 1 pm

Dec. 10 at Idaho 6 pm

Dec. 13 UTEP 3 pm

Dec. 18 Texas State 6 pm

Dec. 22 Oklahoma* 8 pm

Dec. 23 TBD* TBA

Dec. 25 TBD* TBA

Jan. 1 USC 6 pm

Jan. 3 UCLA 6:30 pm

Jan. 9 Washington Noon

Jan. 14 at Arizona State 5 pm

Jan. 16 at Arizona 6:30 pm

Jan. 21 Utah 8 pm

Jan. 23 Colorado 6 pm

Jan. 28 at USC 7:30 pm

Jan. 30 at UCLA 4 pm

Feb. 3 Arizona 7 pm

Feb. 6 Arizona State 3:30 pm

Feb. 11 at Colorado 7 pm

Feb. 14 at Utah 2 pm

Feb. 18 Stanford 7 pm

Feb. 21 California 5:30 pm

Feb. 24 at Oregon 7 pm

Feb. 28 at Oregon State 3:30 pm

Mar. 2 at Washington 8 pm

Mar.9-12

Pac-12 tourmamentLas Vegas

All day

* at Diamond Head Classic, Honolulu

THE ROSTER No. Name Y. P. Ht. Hometown/Previous school

33 Brett Boese Sr. F 6-7 Spokane/Shadle Park

23 Charles Callison Jr. G 6-0 Moreno Valley/San Bernardino Valley

42 Conor Clifford Jr. C 7-0 Huntington Beach, Calif. /Saddleback

4 Viont'e Daniels Fr. G 6-2 Federal Way, Wash./Federal Way

22 Robert Franks Fr. F 6-7 Vancouver, Wash./Evergreen

24 Josh Hawkinson Jr. F 6-10 Shoreline, Wash./Shorewood

2 Ike Iroegbu Jr. G 6-2 Sacramento/Oak Hill Academy-Va.

45 Valentine Izundu Jr. C 6-10 Houston/Houston

32 Que Johnson Jr. G 6-5 Pontiac, Mich. /Westwind Prep-Ariz.

0 Derrien King So. F 6-6 Wichita, Kan./Santa Monica CC

15 Junior Longrus Sr. F 6-7 Oakland/Bishop O'Dowd

3 Ny Redding So. G 6-2 Cleveland, Ohio/Westwind Prep-Ariz.

1 Renard Suggs Jr. G 6-2 St. Paul, Minn./Gillette College

Ding! Renard Suggs checks his cellphone. He hasa text waiting from one of the NFL’s most-fearedlinebackers.

Suggs has just played in his first game atWashington State since transferring from GilletteCollege in Wyoming, an exhibition game againstLewis-Clark State, and Suggs, a shooter, didn’t shootvery well, making just 1 of 6 field-goal attempts.

But afterward, he got a pick-me-up text from hiscousin, 2011 NFL Defensive MVP Terrell Suggs.

“Keep your head up and keep playing hard,” itread. “Everything’s going to go your way.”

It sure did.Suggs was WSU’s first sub off the bench in its

second exhibition game, against Pacific (Oregon),and 14 seconds after touching the court he swished a3-pointer. A minute later he made a layup and thenext trip down the court he buried another 3.

WSU’s junior guard gorged on 3-pointers, hittinghis first four attempts, scoring 14 points in just fourminutes. He showed the same capacity for bustingopen zone defenses that the Cougars relied on Lacy– the school’s all-time leader in made 3-pointers –for in previous years.


Washington State junior guard Renard Suggs

MEET RENARD SUGGS: DAVONTÉ LACY’S REPLACEMENT

Washington State basketball coachErnie Kent doesn’t want an alphadog. He doesn’t want a DaVontéLacy.

As a player and as a programspokesperson, Lacy was ideal. Acavalcade of injuries and setbacksnever seriously derailed hisrecord-setting college career, and hisdecision to not transfer to a winningprogram at the start of his seniorseason undoubtedly made Kent’s lifea lot easier, smoothing the coachingtransition and helping make Kent’sinaugural year a success.

But Lacy was also the majorremnant of a system under formercoach Ken Bone in which the team’soffense started and ended with onedominant player. Like KlayThompson and Brock Motum beforehim, Lacy put the team’s scoring loadon his shoulders every night and itwas difficult for other players toescape his gravity.

Even in Kent’s more egalitarianoffense, Lacy still took 23 percent ofthe team’s shots last year. TheCougars probably don’t have a singleguard on this year’s team who is asgood as Lacy was.

But they may have the pieces toreplace everything he brought to thetable, and by spreading hisresponsibility around make ittougher on other teams.

“Vonté was a great player but nowI feel like we’re morewell-balanced,” said junior guard IkeIroegbu. “Everyone can score,everyone can shoot the ball well, andit’s going to be harder for teams toguard us.”

Iroegbu will be counted on to

score on fast breaks like Lacy, andQue Johnson has the natural abilityto be the volume scorer when theCougars need a hot hand. Lacy had araw desire to prove his worth tohighly regarded opponents thatappears evident in junior collegetransfer Charles Callison, andRenard Suggs has shown a Lacy-likeability to stretch defenses with hisshooting.

One departed, under-recruitedSouth Sound player is replaced byanother in true freshman Viont’eDaniels, the State 4A player of theyear at Federal Way High, andsophomore guard Ny Redding can bethe steady ball-handler the Cougarscan rely on when other teams turnup the pressure.

The Cougars can’t have onedominant player this year – it would

take too long to get him the ball.Through two exhibition games, WSUhas shown a desire to get in passinglanes, turn turnovers into points andhave the leading scorer be whoeverhappens to fill the lane for the mostfast-break layups on a given night.

There is no Lacy on this year’steam, and there is no player who canreplace him. The Cougars don’t evenwant to try.

ON SECOND THOUGHT . . . LACY REPLACEMENT NOT NEEDED


WSU head coach Ernie Kent wants his guards, like junior Ike Iroegbu, to share the on-court responsibilities.

Associated Press

Que Johnson will be counted on to be more consistent with the ball.





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IT ISN’T JUST ABOUT REPLACING Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell Jr.’s combined 8,512 minutes, 3,115points, 541 3-pointers, 40 percent-plus 3-point accuracy and stellar assist-to-turnover ratio. Or their

All-WCC recognition, player of the year and defensive player of the year honors. It’s also about replacingtheir leadership, selflessness, communication, consistency and consummate attention to detail.

GU BulldogsThe backcourt duo of

Kevin Pangos and GaryBell supplied stats,intangibles and peace ofmind for Gonzaga for fouryears but they are playingprofessionally overseas, leavingbehind two job openings andShaq-sized shoes to fill.

“You prepared yourself for it, butI’m not being truthful if it hasn’t beena source of frustration pretty muchevery day,” coach Mark Few said. “Ifwe could get (the current guards) tovalue that type of detail, they havesome innate abilities that are differentthan what we’ve had. Getting them tobe consistently good at everything is areal challenge.”

Make that three vacancies. Wing

Byron Wesley was an idealfit in his only season andreplacing him could proveas tough as replacingPangos and Bell.

The list of candidatesfor the three spots is five deep with noshortage of talent. Unlike whenPangos and Bell took over as truefreshmen in 2011, four of the five havecollegiate experience, spanning JoshPerkins’ five-game stint beforesuffering a season-ending broken jawto Eric McClellan’s 60 games (18 atGU) to Kyle Dranginis’ 107appearances in 109 possible GUgames.

Perkins’ injury removed theredshirt from Silas Melson, whoaveraged nearly 10 minutes in 31

games. Wing Bryan Alberts redshirtedlast season.

So who is in position to earnstarting jobs and important minutes?Depends on the minute, the hour, thepractice.

“Last year at this time we all kind ofknew he’s going to play a lot, he’sgoing to play a lot, whereas (this year)I think they’re too evenly matched intheir abilities,” Few said. “The bighope is these guys can continue togrow as we move along, which givesus a good upside. Maybe that’s a littledifferent from what we’ve had in thepast because what you’ve seen inNovember – which wasn’t bad, wewere always pretty darn good – hasbeen what we’ve been all the way.”

Perkins is the frontrunner at pointguard. McClellan and Dranginis areversatile enough to help at multiplepositions. Melson and Alberts haveperimeter shooting ability, a valuedcommodity minus Pangos and Bell.

“Those two guards were

tremendous for this program for fouryears,” McClellan said. “I think theguards we have now are a bit moreathletic, a bit riskier in the chances wetake. To be honest you might see a bitmore turnovers, but I think you’ll seeus getting up and down the floorquicker and probably more in thepassing lanes and more steals.”

Melson experienced Bell’s tenacityfirsthand.

“He used to lock up in practice thewhole 2½ hours,” Melson said. “Iused to hate getting guarded by him.I’m trying to be that way.”

The Zags are loaded inside withKyle Wiltjer, Domantas Sabonis andPrzemek Karnowski. Coaches havesaid the trio will play together attimes, depending on matchups. Tosome degree, the frontcourt prowessshould make it easier on the guards.

“They need to be good offensiveplayers, too,” Few said. “They can’tjust rely on these bigs. They have tofind their way.”

ZAGS’ GUARD PLAY STILLA WORK IN PROGRESS

Stories by Jim Meehan


Josh Perkins was off to a nice start as Kevin Pangos’backup last year but was sidelined after five games by abroken jaw. He scored 13 points against St. Joseph’s. Heaveraged 20 minutes, 5 points and 3.4 assists as the Zagsrouted four of their first five opponents.

At 6-foot-3, Perkins is taller and more athletic thanPangos and the Colorado native has the ability to create forhimself and teammates. The challenge for Perkins, and therest of the guard line for that matter, is to take care of theball and hit perimeter shots. GU ranked 21st nationally atjust 10.4 turnovers per game. The Zags were eighth in3-point percentage (40.0).

“They’re a work in progress as far as how to handleadversity, how to communicate on the floor, but thewillingness is there,” coach Mark Few said of Perkins andSilas Melson. “There’s an upside they can give you thatmaybe the other two (Pangos and Gary Bell Jr.) didn’t have.At this point, they’re not even in same ballpark with beingdetail-oriented. They’re not alone, being young players.”

Perkins received a medical redshirt so he has fourseasons of eligibility.


Gonzaga freshman guard Josh Perkins.

JOSH PERKINS: CREATING FROM POINT

The 6-5 senior from Nampa, Idaho, has been a steadycontributor the last three seasons. He stepped in as astarter for eight games for an injured Gary Bell two yearsago and delivered 12 points and four assists in a rout overSaint Mary’s. He scored in double figures twice in lastyear’s WCC tournament. Dranginis had a 30-point outburstin his freshman season against Lewis-Clark State College.

“You lose those three big assets we had last year,”Dranginis said, “but I think everybody is ready to step up.”

Dranginis is comfortable at the “2” or “3” and could seetime at point in a pinch. His career average is 4.4 points pergame, but he ranks higher in assists and steals. He’s a 48percent career shooter, including 35 percent from 3.

Coaches Mark Few want Dranginis to be more of ascoring threat, a necessity if he’s going to assume a largerrole. “He was comfortable in his role last year,” Few said.“He has to give us more this year.”


Gonzaga senior guard Kyle Dranginis.

KYLE DRANGINIS: STEADY CONTRIBUTOR


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Nov 13 Pittsburgh* 4 pm

Nov 18 Northern Arizona 6 pm

Nov 21 Mount St. Mary's 6 pm

Nov 25 Washington 9 a.m.

Nov 26 Texas/Texas A&M TBA

Nov 27 Final Round TBA

Dec 2 at Washington State 8 pm

Dec 5 Arizona 12:15 pm

Dec 8 Montana 6 pm

Dec 12 UCLA 7 pm

Dec 14 Saint Martin's 6 pm

Dec 19 Tennessee% 8 pm

Dec 21 Pepperdine 6 pm

Dec 23 Loyola Marymount 6 pm

Dec 31 at Santa Clara 2 pm

Jan 2 at San Francisco 8 pm

Jan 9 Portland 5 pm

Jan 14 BYU 6 pm

Jan 16 San Diego 5 pm

Jan 21 at Saint Mary's 8 pm

Jan23 at Pacific 1 pm

Jan28 Santa Clara 6 pm

Jan 30 San Francisco 5 pm

Feb 4 at Loyola Marymount 7 pm

Feb 6 at Pepperdine 9 pm

Feb 11 at Portland 8 pm

Feb 13 at SMU 7 pm

Feb 18 Pacific 6 pm

Feb 20 Saint Mary's 7 pm

Feb 25 at San Diego 7 pm

Feb 27 at BYU TBA

*Okinawa, Japan# Battle for Atlantic, Paradise Island, Bahamas%Battle in Seattle

Eric McClellan became eligible last season at the semesterbreak but a foot injury delayed his debut until Jan. 22. Heaveraged just eight minutes and 1.9 points per game, but he had14 assists versus four turnovers.

The 6-foot-3 senior from Austin, Texas, possesses quicknessand speed. He can be a pest defensively and is capable ofproviding an energetic presence at both ends of the floor. Heaveraged 14.3 points for Vanderbilt before being dismissed 12games into the 2014 season. He scored 29 points against Butlerand 22 versus Texas.

“I know how I approach my work and I can say the sameabout every guard on the team,” McClellan said. “Every guard isreally competitive and we expect a lot from each other.”


Gonzaga senior guard Eric McClellan.

ERIC MCCLELLAN: ENERGYAT BOTH ENDS OF COURT

The Portland native was pressed intoduty last year as a true freshman whenJosh Perkins was sidelined. Roughlytwo minutes into his first game againstSt. John’s in the NIT Season Tip-Offchampionship at famed MadisonSquare Garden, Melson drained a3-pointer. He made 34 percent beyondthe 3-point line and averaged 3.2 pointsin limited playing time.

Melson, an explosive jumper who ismore athletic than Gary Bell Jr., has thepotential to be a defensive standout.

“Their attention to detail,” said the6-foot-4 Melson, when asked what helearned from Kevin Pangos and Bell. “Alot of guys in college don’t really paythat much attention to detail the waythey did and it was one of the reasonsthey were so good and we were sogood.

“I like to take defense kind ofpersonally. I don’t want my guy toscore on me and I want to help myteammates’ back.”


Gonzaga sophomore guard Silas Melson.

SILAS MELSON: STRIVING FOR

ATTENTION TO DETAIL


10 Bryan Alberts Fr.. G 6-5 Northridge, Calif./Village Christian

15 Rem Bakamus Jr. G 6-0 Longview, Wash./Mark Morris

2 Jack Beach Fr.. G 6-2 San Diego/Torrey Pines

3 Kyle Dranginis Sr. G 6-5 Nampa, Idaho/Skyview

25 Ryan Edwards So. C 7-1 Kalispell/Glacier

22 Jeremy Jones So. F 6-6 San Antonio/Rice

24 Przemek Karnowski Sr. C 7-1 Torun, Poland/Nicolaus Copernicus

23 Eric McClellan Sr. G 6-4 Austin, Texas/Vanderbilt

0 Silas Melson So. G 6-4 Portland/Jefferson

13 Josh Perkins Fr.. G 6-3 Park Hill, Colo./Huntington Prep

11 Domantas Sabonis So. F 6-11 Kaunas, Lithuania/Unicaja Malaga

55 Dustin Triano So. G 6-3 Vancouver, B.C./New Hampton

14 Johnathan Williams Jr. F 6-9 Memphis, Tenn./Southwind/Missouri

5 Nigel Williams-Goss Jr. G 6-3 Happy Valley, Ore./Washington

33 Kyle Wiltjer Sr. F 6-10 Portland/University of Kentucky







PART OF TYLER HARVEY is still at Eastern Washington. “I got an e-mail from him last week,”Eagles coach Jim Hayford said after a recent practice. “He said he wants the team to get back-to-back

NCAA Tournament appearances, so a lot of his heart is still here.” What’s missing is the sweet step-awayjumper that helped Harvey score 23 points a game and make a name for himself, as in “National scoring

leader Tyler Harvey.” The new moniker followed Harvey all the way to the second round of the NBAdraft but left Hayford with the task of replacing those 23 points and the floor-spreading benefits that

accrued to the rest of his offense.

EWU Eagles


20 Cody Benzel Fr. G 6-4 Spokane/Ferris

32 Bogdan Bliznyuk So. F 6-6 Lutsk, Ukraine/Todd Beamer

15 Will Ferris So. G 6-1 Bellevue/Newport

12 Grant Gibb Fr. G 6-5 Longview, Wash./Mark Morris

2 Ty Gibson Fr. G 6-0 Issaquah, Wash./Issaquah

11 Bear Henderson Fr. F 6-6 Mission Hills, Calif./Village Christian

34 Jesse Hunt Fr. F 6-7 Geraldton, Australia/Sir Francis Drake

55 Venky Jois Sr. F 6-8 Boronia, Australia/Box Hill

0 Julian Harrell Jr. G 6-5 Los Angeles/CC of San Francisco

5 Austin McBroom Sr. G 6-0 Los Angeles/St. Louis

40 Geremy McKay Fr. F 6-7 Melbourne/U. of Albany

22 Rico Nuno So. F 6-8 Half Moon Bay, Calif./Diablo Valley

23 Kyle Reid Sr. F 6-8 Los Angeles/L.A. Trade Tech

42 Mario Soto So G 6-6 Irvine, Calif./Concordia

44 Felix Von Hofe Jr. G 6-5 Melbourne/Australian Institute of Sport

4 Sir Washington So. G 6-3 Las Vegas/Clark

10 Michael Wearne Fr. G 6-2 Croydon, Australia/Box Hill

So who will replace Tyler Harvey? The question isn’t fair, coach Jim

Hayford says.“I wouldn’t say I’m too philosophical

of a man, but one of the things I’vethought through is that comparisonisn’t a good thing. It leaves a winnerand a loser, and no two things are thesame,” said Hayford, who at the same

time noted thatthe Eagles went3-0 last yearwhile Harveywas out with aleg injury.

More to the point, Hayford is focusedon replacing his entire backcourt,which also included hard-nosedsharpshooter Parker Kelly and versatilepoint guard Drew Brandon, whoaveraged almost 10 points a game andwas one of the top rebounding guardsin the nation last year.

That combination helped forge thebest season in Eastern history, a 26-9campaign and the Eagles’ first NCAATournament appearance in 11 years.

Hayford’s offense isn’t just aboutspreading the court and letting ’er rip.“Everything we do is based onprogressions,” Hayford said. If you playout the progressions, he explained, theresult will be high-percentage shots.

And while Tyler Harvey routinely letfly from 25 feet, “he was ahigh-percentage maker,” Hayford said.Much depends on someone keepingthose percentages high.

The obvious answers are on theperimeter, in sharpshooting forwardFelix Von Hofe, guard Sir Washingtonand Austin McBroom, a graduatetransfer from Saint Louis.

If only it were that simple.This year, success at Eastern will

start in the frontcourt, which Hayfordsaid he wouldn’t trade for any in theconference. And defense, which isgetting a boost with the offseason hire ofassistant Chris Victor.

In 6-foot-7 senior Venky Jois, theEagles have the top power forward inthe Big Sky Conference, a player whocan post up as well as drive the lane withauthority. Last year, Jois averaged 17.6points and 7.7 rebounds whilecomplementing the Eagles’ perimetergame.

“When opponents look at this Easternteam, the first challenge to address iswhat are they are going to do about

Venky Jois,” Hayford said.That in turn should open up the

perimeter for kick-outs from Jois.While Jois was a known commodity

going into last year, the biggest surprisewas the emergence of true freshmanBogdan Bliznyuk.

“I wasn’t surprised, because I thoughtI had it in me,” said the 6-6 Bliznyuk,who averaged almost nine points andfour boards despite playing just 19minutes a game. Expect those numbersto go up for the sophomore after starterOgjnen Miljkovic left after last season.

EAGLES LOOK BEYOND HIGH-SCORING HARVEY

Stories by Jim Allen


For EWU coach Jim Hayford, the top priority in off-seasonrecruiting was replacing Drew Brandon, a versatile 6-foot-4 pointguard who was comfortable in the paint as well as the perimeter.

He got Austin McBroom, a graduate transfer from Saint Louiswho, at 5-11, will be more of a playmaker than a rebounding threat.

“I’m definitely a pass-first point guard,” said McBroom, whoplayed 66 games for the Billikens and started 47 of them. “I want tohelp my players make plays.”

Eastern’s offense will help him do that. “It’s one of the bigreasons I came to this school … Coach gives me a lot of freedom tomake plays, penetrate and make assists.”

McBroom is being modest, said Hayford, who calls him a goodshooter and expects him “to call his own number frequently.”

Last season, McBroom played in all 32 games for Saint Louis ofthe Atlantic 10. He averaged 20.2 minutes, 6.7 points and 1.6 assistswhile starting 15 games, and made 42 of 98 3-point attempts (42.9percent).


Senior guard Austin McBroom.

AUSTIN MCBROOM: THE POINT

Sir Washington says he’s ready to step up and make a bigger contribution, andcoach Jim Hayford is ready to oblige.

Eastern’s success will depend on getting defensive and rebounding help fromthe backcourt, and the 6-4 redshirt sophomore is the leading candidate to fill thatrole after the departure of point guard Drew Brandon.

“Sir is an athletic wing player who can score off the shot and drive. We look tohim as a lock-down defender,” Hayford said.

Washington showed flashes last year until a knee injury cost his 11 games in themiddle of the season. He came off the bench in the NCAA loss to Georgetown,scoring 5 points and sparking a late rally that he hopes carries over into this year.

“I just keep playing hard hard on defense, picking up my team and making surethay play hard,” said Washington, who last year averaged 2.6 points a game on 41percent shooting. Washington said he’s working on improving his shootingpercentage and getting to the rim.

And the knee? It’s almost 100 percent. The rehab is “making me play better, andI’m getting quicker,” Washington said.


Sophomore guard Sir Washington.

SIR WASHINGTON: THE DEFENDER

More than almost anyone on the Eaglesroster, Felix Von Hofe said he’s gratefulfor the addition of playmaking point guardAustin McBroom.

“It’s fantastic to have a guy like that,”joked Von Hofe. “Because I’m not aplaymaker, I’m a play-taker.”

Von Hofe may be selling himself short,because at 6-foot-5, he’s a solid defenderand rebounder on the wing. Says coachJim Hayford, “Felix brings length to hispositon, and some tenacity … he needs totake the next step and finishing apossession with a rebound.

“His maturity should help us,” saidHayford, noting that Von Hofe is a teamcaptain along with forward Venky Jois.

Last year, Von Hofe, an Australian, wasbest known for his 3-point touch. Heaveraged 13.3 points a game on 41.1 percentshooting and enjoyed a breakthroughgame in last year’s Big Sky semifinalplayoff game against Sacramento State.

After Von Hofe came on to hit 7 of 8

3-pointers in 21 minutes, Hayford calledhim one of the nation’s best pure shooters.Now he’ll be counted on for more.


Junior guard Felix Von Hofe.

FELIX VON HOFE:THE SHOOTER


Nov. 13 at Miss St 9 pm

Nov. 15 George Fox 6:30 pm

Nov. 17 Seattle 9 pm

Nov. 23 at Seattle 10 pm

Nov. 28 Pacific 9:30 pm

Nov. 29 South Dakota 5:30 pm

Dec. 1 at San Francisco 10 pm

Dec. 6 U of Great Falls 5 pm

Dec. 9 at Davidson 8 pm

Dec. 11 at Pitt 7 pm

Dec. 14 at W Carolina 7 pm

Dec. 17 Morehead State 9 pm

Dec. 20 at Denver 3 pm

Dec. 31 at N Colorado 7 pm

Jan. 2 at North Dakota 3 pm

Jan. 9 Idaho 3 pm

Jan. 14 Southern Utah 9 pm

Jan. 16 N Arizona 3 pm

Jan. 21 at Montana State 9 pm

Jan. 23 at Montana 9 pm

Jan. 28 Portland State 9 pm

Jan. 30 Sacramento St 3 pm

Feb. 4 at N Arizona 8:35 pm

Feb. 6 at Southern Utah 9 pm

Feb. 11 North Dakota 9 pm

Feb. 13 N Colorado 5 pm

Feb. 18 at Sacramento St 10 pm

Feb. 20 at Portland State 10 pm

Feb. 27 at Idaho 4 pm

Mar. 3 Idaho State 9 pm

Mar. 5 Weber State 5 pm







TWO THINGS HAVE REMAINED CONSTANT for Idaho men’s basketball since Don Verlin took thehelm of the program in 2008. Verlin blessing Moscow with his should-be trademarked thin mustache is one

of them. The other? A revolving door at point guard that has never produced a starter lasting more twoseasons. And so it is in 2015 that Idaho will, once again, need to find a new player to dub himself the floor

general worthy of leading the Vandals into their second season of Big Sky Conference play.

UI Vandals

If Pat Ingram can follow in the footsteps of other point guards to join Idahoout of a junior college then he should be thrilled. In fact, the guy he hopes toreplace, Mike Scott, was a JC product himself.

Ingram signed with Idaho out of Trinity Valley JC, having transferred to thetwo-year school after a short stint with the Big Ten’s Iowa Hawkeyes.

The 6-foot-2-inch guard sat out last season in order to get his grades right,and now hopes to add a matured presence to Idaho’s point guard competition.

“He sat out last year to keep his grades in order. Big strong, physical guy whocan come in and play, we think right away,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “Hehas a very good feel on how to play ... good shooter, good handle on the ball.He’ll be a good player the minute he steps on campus.”

Ingram scored 12.2 points per game his sophomore season at Trinity Valleyafter making 19 appearances at Iowa his freshman year.

Ingram played 10 minutes in Idaho’s exhibition against Saint Martin’s but satout the 88-55 win over Lewis-Clark State.


Idaho junior Pat Ingram.

PAT INGRAM: BIG SHOES TO FILL


Nov 14 at San Jose State 7 p.m.

Nov 17 at CSU-Bakersfield 7 p.m.

Nov 21 Linfield 7 p.m.

Nov 23 at North Texas 5:30 p.m.

Nov 24 Troy (Denton) 3 p.m.

Nov 25 Samford (Denton) Noon

Nov 28 Northern Illinois 7 p.m.

Dec 2 CSU-Bakersfield 8 p.m.

Dec 5 Little Rock 5 p.m.

Dec 7 at USC 7 p.m.

Dec 10 Washington State 6 p.m.

Dec 18 New Hope 7 p.m.

Dec 22 at UC Davis 7 p.m.

Dec 31 at North Dakota 4 p.m.

Jan 2 at Northern Colorado 1 p.m.

Jan 9 Eastern Washington 12:05 p.m.

Jan 14 Northern Arizona 7 p.m.

Jan 16 Southern Utah 7 p.m.

Jan 21 at Montana 6:05 p.m.

Jan 23 at Montana State 1:05 p.m.

Jan 28 Sacramento State 7 p.m.

Jan 30 Portland State 7 p.m.

Feb 4 at Southern Utah 6 p.m.

Feb 6 at Northern Arizona 1 p.m.

Feb 11 Northern Colorado 7 p.m.

Feb 13 North Dakota 7 p.m.

Feb 18 at Portland State 7:05 p.m.

Feb 20 at Sacramento State 7:05 p.m.

Feb 27 Eastern Washington 1 p.m.

Mar 3 Weber State 7 p.m.

Mar 5 Idaho State 7 p.m.


0 Nick Blair Fr. SF 6-5 Las Vegas/Bishop Gorman

1 Perrion Callandret Jr. G 6-2 Bothel, Wash./Bothel

2 Myles Franklin Fr. PG 6-0 Castaic, Calif./Hart

3 Tyler Brimhall Fr. G 6-4 Logan, Utah/Logan

5 Jake Straughan Fr. G 6-1 Colton, Wash./Colton

10 Chris Sarbaugh Sr. G 6-4 Spokane/San Diego

11 Victor Sanders So. G 6-5 Portland/Jefferson

13 Pat Ingram Jr. PG 6-2 Indianapolis/Trinity Valley JC

14 Chad Sherwood So. G 6-2 Albany, Ore./West Albany

15 Paulin Mpawe Sr. F 6-10 San Bernardino/S.B. Valley

21 Arkadiy Mkrtychyan So. F 6-7 Portland/Columbia Christian

23 Nate Sherwood Fr. PF 6-8 Albany, Ore. /West Albany

24 Nahshon George Sr. F 6-9 Kapolei, Hawaı̀i/Shoreline CC

33 Skyler White So. F 6-7 Bellevue/George Washington

41 Ty Egbert Jr. F 6-9 Coulee Dam/Lake Roosevelt

44 Jordan Scott So. SF 6-6 Colorado Springs/Lewis-Palmer

Gone from Idaho is Mike Scott, asecond-team All-Big Sky selectionlast season, who scored 14 pointsper game and dished out 5.3 assistsper game. Scott solidified the jobheading into last season, leadingthe Vandals to a 13-17 record (8-10in conference) and a berth into theconference tournament.

Scott took over for Glen Dean,who followed Mike McChristian,who followed Landon Tatum, whofollowed Deremy Geiger and MacHopson.

Now, four players will have thehonor of competing for the right tobe Scott’s successor.

Chris Sarbaugh, a University ofSan Diego transfer via Gonzaga,and a Spokane native, is a graduatetransfer on the Idaho squad whodished out eight assists in Idaho’sexhibition opener against SaintMartin’s.

Pat Ingram, a Trinity ValleyJunior College transfer via Iowa, isIdaho’s newest JC addition at theposition.

Myles Franklin, a true freshman,will likely avoid redshirting and bein the mix.

The fourth player in the mix is afamiliar face to Vandals fans:third-year junior PerrionCallandret.

Coach Don Verlin confidentlytold the gathered media at hispreseason news conference whathe had told Callandret:

“I’ve challenged Perrion to bethe best guard in the league, I thinkhe has that ability and he’s got tobe a marquee player in this leaguefor us to be successful at the levelwe want to be,” Verlin said. “I likewhat’s Perrion has done so far infall workouts and really happy he’sback.”

Callandret joined Idaho twoseasons ago out of Bothell(Washington) High School aftertransferring to the suburbanSeattle school from O’Dea inSeattle. He quickly cracked Idaho’sstarting lineup in exhibition play asa freshman before quietly fallingoff to a 12.5-minute-per-gameoutput that saw him score barelyover 2 points per game.

He’s a freakish athlete knownfor his high-flying dunks in highschool, and even has a couple ofthem under his belt at Idaho. He

dished out 49 assists last seasonand shot 43 percent from beyondthe arc last season, perhaps apreview what he can bring to thepoint guard battle this season.

His combo guard experiencemeans he can also help offsetIdaho losing its three leadingscorers. Along with Scott, theVandals bid farewell to all-timeleading 3-point shooter ConnorHill to graduation as well assecond-leading scorer SekouWiggs, a sophomore whotransferred to Division IIAlaska-Anchorage.

The three combined for 41.9points per game.

Russian sophomore ArkadiyMkrtychyan should take the torchas Idaho’s leading scorer. Thepower forward scored 8.8 pointsper game in only about 21 minutesof work per game while he battledfoul issues. Sophomore VictorSanders and redshirt freshmanJake Straughan will take over asIdaho’s 3-point shooters. ForwardsNahshon George and Jordan Scottwill help supplement the scoringfrom the wing.

Verlin hopes his scoring formulawill involve a number of players onany given night.

“I think it’s a good thing, I thinkit makes us harder to guard whenwe have four or five weaponsinstead of teams keying on one ortwo,” Verlin said. “It makes you alot more difficult to guard.”

The Vandals open their seasonNov. 14 at San Jose State and openat home Nov. 21 against Linfield.Idaho will be doing so with a staffthat will include two interimassistants.

Joe Ford jumped to Idaho fromPacific but resigned in Octoberpending an investigation into hisconduct while at Pacific. Zac Clauswas hired on as Director ofBasketball Operations and waspromoted to Director of PlayerDevelopment when Ford steppeddown. Tim Marrion was broughton as Director of BasketballOperations.

Verlin said Idaho will addressthe coaching staff at the end of theseason.

“We’re going to cross that bridgeat the end of the season when theseason gets over and then we’regoing to have a chance to look intowhich direction we want to go asfar as our full-time coachingpositions,” Verlin said.

FOUR VIE TO REPLACEPLAYMAKER SCOTT

Stories by Sean Kramer

Correspondent

Myles Franklin only played in 13 combinedminutes in Idaho’s two exhibition games, but thetrue freshman point guard out of Newhall,California, made the most out of them.

In those 13 minutes, Franklin scored seven points,grabbed three boards and dished out three assists. Agood haul for a player Idaho expects to skip theredshirt and contribute right away.

“Myles is a quick, athletic guard, can really playoff the ball screen. He’s a guy who can score in thelane, outside the lane, had an excellent high school

career,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “We’reextremely happy to add Myles, Myles is a guy wethink can come in and play right away.”

Franklin wouldn’t be the first true freshman tohandle a bit of point guard duty. Perrion Callandretdabbled in it his freshman year, but didn’t see manyminutes that season.

But freshman have gotten plenty of opportunitiesunder Verlin, including Victor Sanders and ArkadiyMkrtychyan last season and players like ConnorHill, Kyle Barone and Stephen Madison in the past.


Idaho freshman Myles Franklin .

MYLES FRANKLIN: YOUNG CONTRIBUTOR





WHITWORTHPirates

MEN’S SCHEDULEDate Opponent Time

Nov. 13 La Verne 12:01 am

Nov. 20 Caltech 7 pm

Nov. 21 Northwest 7 pm

Nov. 27 vs. Hamline* 4 pm

Nov. 28 vs Colorado Col.* 6 pm

Dec. 4 Lewis & Clark * 8 pm

Dec. 5 Linfield * 6 pm

Dec. 12 vs. Colorado Col.@ 2 pm

Dec. 19 Millsaps 3 pm

Dec. 29 vs. Calvin# 8 pm

Dec. 30 vs. Mary Hardin# 4 pm

Jan. 5 Whitman 8 pm

Jan. 8 at Pacific 8 pm

Jan. 15 at Willamette 8 pm

Jan. 16 at George Fox 6 pm

Jan. 22 Pacific Lutheran 8 pm

Jan. 23 Puget Sound 6 pm

Jan. 29 at Linfield 8 pm

Jan. 30 at Lewis & Clark 6 pm

Feb. 2 at Whitman 8 pm

Feb. 6 Pacific (Ore.) 6 pm

Feb. 12 George Fox 8 pm

Feb. 13 Willamette 6 pm

Feb. 19 at Puget Sound 8 pm

Feb. 20 at Pacific Lutheran 6 pm

* Thanksgiving Invitational @Colorado Springs, Colo.@ George Fox # D3hoops.com Classic @Las Vegas, Nev.

THE MEN’S ROSTER No. Name P. Yr. Ht. Hometown/Previous school

1 Kyle Roach G Fr. 6-4 Marinwood, Calif./Marin Academy

3 Matt Staudacher G Sr. 6-0 Kirkland, Wash./Simon Fraser

4 AJ Grant G Sr. 6-0 Newberg, Ore./George Fox

5 Kenny Love G Jr. 6-1 Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman

12 Forrest Baker F Jr. 6-7 Spokane/Lewis-Clark St.

15 Christian Jurlina F Jr. 6-5 Sydney, Australia/Sydney Boys

20 CJ Johnson F Fr. 6-4 Clarkston/Clarkston

22 Derek Isaak G Jr. 6-0 Coulee City, Wash./NW Nazarene

23 Brodie Ford F Fr. 6-5 Wellpinit, Wash./Wellpinit

24 Ekow Nottinson-Nyaaku F So. 6-5 London, England/Gonzaga Prep

32 George Valle G Sr. 6-4 Bellevue/Sammamish

34 Joel Gabriele F So. 5-11 Camden, Maine/Eastern Nazarene.

35 Ben Bishop P Fr. 6-8 Olympia/Olympia

40 Drew Sears P Jr. 6-10 Stanwood, Wash./Stanwood

41 Alberto de Miguel F So. 6-7 Madrid, Spain/MacDuffie

50 Luke Atherton G Fr. 6-0 Portland/Grant

WOMEN’SSCHEDULE

Date Opponent Time

Nov 15 Eastern Ore. 2 pm

Nov 20 Col. of Idaho 5 pm

Nov 25 at Central 5 pm

Dec. 4 Lewis & Clark 6 pm

Dec 5 Linfield 4 pm

Dec 12 vs. Cal Lutheran * 4 pm

Dec 13 vs. Southwestern* 2 pm

Dec 19 at UC Santa Cruz 7 pm

Dec 20 vs. Chapman# 3 pm

Dec. 29 vs. Babson 9 pm

Dec 30 vs. Eureka% 5 pm

Jan 5 Whitman 6 pm

Jan 8 at Pacific 6 pm

Jan 15 at Willamette 6 pm

Jan 16 at George Fox 4 pm

Jan 22 Pacific Lutheran 6 pm

Jan 23 Puget Sound 4 pm

Jan 29 at Linfield 6 pm

Jan 30 at Lewis & Clark 4 pm

Feb 2 at Whitman 6 pm

Feb 6 Pacific 4 pm

Feb 12 George Fox 8 pm

Feb 13 Willamette 6 pm

Feb 19 at Puget Sound 8 pm

Feb 20 at Pacific Lutheran 6 pm

* Thanksgiving Invitational @Colorado Springs, Colo.@ George Fox # D3hoops.com Classic at Las Vegas, Nev.

THE WOMEN’S ROSTER No. Name P. Yr. Ht. Hometown/Previous school

3 Erika Kuehn F/G So. 5-7 Billings/Billings Central Catholic

4 Grace Douglas G So. 5-5 Lynnwood, Wash./Lynnwood

5 Briann Maley G Sr. 5-9 Rosalia./Rosalia

11 KC McConnell G Sr. 5-7 Clarkston./Clarkston

13 Mikayla Kraemer F/P Jr. 6-0 West Linn, Ore./West Linn

14 Callie Harwood F So. 5-9 Snohomish, Wash/Snohomish

15 McKenzie Harsin P Jr. 5-10 Mead/Mt. Spokane

20 Alexis McLeod G Sr. 5-8 Kirkland, Wash./Woodinville

21 Chloe Quinnett P So. 5-10 Moscow, Idaho/Moscow

22 Jessica Thoens G Jr. 5-4 Oregon City, Ore./Warner Pacific

25 Faith Emerson F Sr. 6-0 Santa Barbara, Calif./Providence Hall

33 Faith Cebula F Fr. 6-0 Olympia/Olympia

32 Faith Lopez-Flores G Fr. 5-5 Bothell, Wash./Jackson

10 Taylor Flemming G Sr. 5-8 Nine Mile Falls/PLU

21 Sidney Riggs G Fr. 5-5 Sitka, Alaska/Sitka

12 Alli Kieckbusch G Fr. 5-7 Billings/Billings

2 Madison Moffat G Fr. 5-7 Ellensburg./Ellensburg

Asked about Whitworth’shistoric run of success, men’sbasketball coach Matt Logie madea scary prediction: The 2015 teammay be his best yet.

The Pirates enter the seasonranked No. 3 in the nation andhave won the NorthwestConference regular-season titlefor six consecutive seasons.

Heading into his fifth season atWhitworth, Logie has compiled astaggering 100-18 record and hasbecome the first coach in DivisionIII history to hit the centurymark after only four years. He’saveraged 25 wins and 4.5 lossesover that span while nevermissing the NCAA Division IIItournament and twice reachingthe Sweet 16.

“I think we are as talented agroup as we’ve had in the last fewyears,” Logie said, “which issaying quite a bit.”

The Pirates return four starters,including junior guard KennyLove, who was named to thesecond-team PreseasonAll-America Team byD3hoops.com and is the reigningNorthwest Conference Player ofthe Year.

The Pirates also have the guywho finished second in the POYvoting: wing Christian Jurlina,also a junior, who led the team inscoring (14.8 points) andrebounding (5.4) per game.

Whitworth also gained theservices of guard AJ Grant, whotransferred in from George Fox.Grant was named the preseasonconference player of the yearbefore an injury kept him out lastseason. He won’t be eligible toplay until Dec. 19.

“It’s still early,” Logie said, “butwe have a talented, experiencedgroup especially in the backcourt.Eighty percent of our scoring andassists are back.”

However, the Pirates lost thepost presence of centers TaylorFarnsworth and Adam Wilks tograduation.

“They were very valuablesenior leaders for us,” Logie saidof the 6-foot-8 Farnsworth and6-7 Wilks. “But, we have theversatility to be productive inthose areas.”

The team returns 6-10 postDrew Sears, a junior, who battledinjuries most of last year, and 6-5sophomore EkowNottinson-Nyaaku (GonzagaPrep), who also has battled backinjuries at the beginning of hiscareer.

Sears “has gotten off to a greatstart,” Logie said. “Ekow’s gotreally long arms and he’s veryactive. He does a great jobfinishing.”

Added to the mix is BenBishop, a 6-8, 240-poundfreshman from Olympia.

Bishop “is a talented youngplayer who will haveopportunities to get on the floor,”Logie said.

But Logie hinted that he mayget away from playing atraditional post, depending on thesituation.

Starting point guard MattStaudacher, a senior, returns as

does senior forward George Valle,who has played everything frompoint guard to center.

“George is a position untohimself,” Logie said. “Hisversatility is probably his biggeststrength.”

The team also returns keybackups in guard Derek Isaak and6-7 forward Forrest Baker, whodoes most of his damage frombehind the 3-point line.

Logie also had good things tosay about 6-4 freshman guardKyle Roach, who can playanywhere from the point to thewing.

“I think we always are lookingfor ways to maximize the abilitiesof our players,” Logie said. “Thisyear, we will be able to do that ina number of ways. We have thepossibility of playing a smallergroup of highly versatile andskilled players.”

Women reloadAfter three consecutive 21-win

seasons, the Whitworth women’steam enters the new season withonly one returning starter.

Coach Helen Higgs, who is thelongest-tenured and winningestcoach in program history(326-212), must build a new teamaround first-team all-conferenceguard KC McConnell, who led thePirates in points (16.5) and assists(2.1) and was tied for second with5.8 rebounds a game.

“She is a great athlete whounderstands the game,” Higgssaid. “She will have to carry a bigload early on to get us all on thesame page.”

The team also returns 5-8senior Alexis McLeod, 6-footsenior forward Faith Emersonand 5-9 sophomore CallieHarwood. Although she had ayear of eligibility left, startingpoint guard Lexie Zappone didnot return. But, the team returns5-4 junior point guard JessicaThoens.

“We have a nice group ofreturning players who haveexperience,” Higgs said.

But with roster full of mostlynew players, Higgs will have herhands full finding continuity.

“We are playing a lot ofscrimmages,” she said. “Each timewe do something were are morecohesive and more undercontrol.”


Whits return four starters, including preseason All-American Kenny Love.

LOADED PIRATES RANKED THIRD IN THE NATIONStory by

Thomas [email protected], (509) 459-5495

“It’s still early, but we

have a talented,

experienced group

especially in the

backcourt. Eighty

percent of our scoring

and assists are back.”

Matt Logie,Whitworth men’s coach




WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

GU SCHEDULEDate Opponent Time

Nov. 13 Air Force 6 pm

Nov. 15 Stanford 1 pm

Nov. 19 Eastern Washington 6 pm

Nov. 22 West Virginia* 2 pm

Nov. 23 Grand Canyon* 6 pm

Nov. 24 USC* 6 pm

Nov. 29 at. North Carolina 11 am

Dec. 3 Wyoming 6 pm

Dec. 6 Montana State 2 pm

Dec. 8 at Washington State 6 pm

Dec. 11 at Dayton 4 pm

Dec. 13 at Colgate 11 am

Dec. 21 at Pepperdine 7 pm

Dec. 23 at Loyola Marymount 1 pm

Dec. 31 San Francisco 5 pm

Jan. 2 Santa Clara 2 pm

Jan. 9 at Portland 2 pm

Jan. 14 at BYU 6 pm

Jan. 16 at San Diego 2 pm

Jan. 21 Saint Mary’s 6 pm

Jan. 23 Pacific 2 pm

Jan. 28 at Santa Clara 6 pm

Jan. 30 at San Francisco 2 pm

Feb. 4 Loyola Marymount 6 pm

Feb. 6 Pepperdine 2 pm

Feb. 13 Portland 2 pm

Feb. 18 at Saint Mary’s 6:30 pm

Feb. 20 at Pacific 2 pm

Feb. 25 San Diego 6 pm

Feb. 27 BYU 2 pm

*Hall of Fame Challenge at Gonzaga

GU ROSTERNo. Name Y. P. Ht. Hometown/Previous school

13 Jill Barta Fr. F 6-3 Fairfield, Mont./Fairfield

20 Kacie Bosch So. G 5-9 Lethbridge, Alberta/Chinook

44 Shelby Cheslek Sr. C 6-5 Pullman/Pullman

32 Melissa Holland Jr. G 5-7 Atherton, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep

23 Kiara Kudron Jr. F 6-2 New Boston, Mich./Huron

22 Shaniqua Nilles Sr. G/F 6-0 Spokane/West Valley

33 Zykera Rice Fr. F 6-1 Lakewood, Wash./Clover Park

30 Chandler Smith Fr. G 6-0 Brewster, Wash./Nebraska

14 Emma Stach So. G 5-9 Buchholz, Germany

5 Georgia Stirton Sr. G 5-8 Melbourne, Australia/NIC

11 Laura Stockton Fr. G 5-8 Spokane/Gonzaga Prep

10 Zhané Templeton Fr. G 5-11 Grand Prairie, Texas/S. Grand Prairie

31 Elle Tinkle Sr. G 6-2 Missoula/Big Sky

1 Chelsea Waters Sr. G/F 6-1 Lewiston/Lewiston

4 Makenlee Williams Sr. G 5-11 Syracuse, Utah/Utah State

12 Emma Wolfram So. C 6-5 Kamloops, B.C./South Kamloops

WSU SCHEDULEDate Opponent Time

Nov 13 UC Santa Barbara 8:30 pm

Nov 16 Hampton 7 pm

Nov 20 Nevada* 2:30 pm

Nov 22 Hawaii * 3 pm

Nov 27 San Jose State 7 pm

Nov 30 at Oklahoma State 5 pm

Dec 3 at Boise State 6 pm

Dec 6 at San Diego 1 pm

Dec 8 Gonzaga 6 pm

Dec 12 at St. Mary’s 1 pm

Dec 20 at Kansas 5 pm

Dec 29 Washington 8 pm

Jan 2 at Utah 4 pm

Jan 4 at Colorado 7 pm

Jan 8 Arizona 7 pm

Jan 10 Arizona State Noon

Jan 15 USC 8 pm

Jan 17 UCLA 12 pm

Jan 23 at Washington 2 pm

Jan 29 at California 6 pm

Jan 31 at Stanford Noon

Feb 5 Oregon 8 pm

Feb 7 Oregon State 11 am

Feb 12 at UCLA 7 pm

Feb 14 at USC 4 pm

Feb 19 at Arizona State 5 pm

Feb 21 at Arizona Noon

Feb 25 Colorado 7 pm

Feb 27 Utah 11 a.m.

* Rainbow Wahine Classic at Honolulu

EWU SCHEDULEDate Opponent Time

Nov 13 Eastern Oregon 11 am

Nov 15 Air Force 1 pm

Nov 19 at Gonzaga 6 pm

Nov 22 Northridge 1 pm

Nov 26 Northwestern* 3 pm

Nov 27 East Carolina* 3 pm

Nov 28 Creighton* 3 pm

Dec 3 Utah Valley 6 pm

Dec 13 at Cal State Fullerton 1 pm

Dec 15 at Wichita State 5 pm

Dec 18 Abilene Christian 6 pm

Dec 21 Boise State 6 pm

Dec 31 Northern Colorado 3 pm

Jan 2 North Dakota 2 pm

Jan 9 at Idaho 2 pm

Jan 14 at Southern Utah 6 pm

Jan 16 at Northern Arizona 5:30 pm

Jan 21 Montana State 6 pm

Jan 23 Montana 2 pm

Jan 28 at Portland State 7 pm

Jan 30 at Sacramento State 2 pm

Feb 4 Northern Arizona 6 pm

Feb 6 Southern Utah 2 pm

Feb 11 at North Dakota 5 pm

Feb 13 at Northern Colorado Noon

Feb 18 Sacramento State 6 pm

Feb 20 Portland State 2 pm

Feb 27 Idaho 2 pm

Mar 2 at Idaho State 6 pm

Mar 4 at Weber State 6 pm

* Lone Star Showcase at Austin, Texas

IDAHO SCHEDULEDate Opponent Time

Nov 15 UC Santa Barbara 2 pm

Nov 20 CSUN 6 pm

Nov 23 Seattle U 6 pm

Nov 26 Duke* 10:30 am

Nov 27 Texas State* 8 am

Nov 28 Iowa State* 8 am

Dec 2 Northwest Christian 5:30 pm

Dec 5 Wyoming 2 pm

Dec 9 at Texas Tech TBA

Dec 12 at Oregon State TBA

Dec 20 Abilene Christian 12 pm

Dec 28 Carroll College 2 pm

Dec 31 North Dakota 2 pm

Jan 2 Northern Colorado 2 pm

Jan 9 Eastern Washington 2 pm

Jan 14 at Northern Arizona 6 pm

Jan 16 at Southern Utah 6 pm

Jan 21 Montana 6 pm

Jan 23 Montana State 2 pm

Jan 28 at Sacramento State 7 pm

Jan 30 at Portland State 2 pm

Feb 4 Southern Utah 6 pm

Feb 6 Northern Arizona 2 pm

Feb 11 at Northern Colorado 6 pm

Feb 13 at North Dakota 12 pm

Feb 18 Portland State 6 pm

Feb 20 Sacramento State 2 pm

Feb 27 at Eastern Washington 2 pm

Mar 2 at Weber State 6 pm

Mar 4 at Idaho State 6 pm

* Cancun Challenge at Cancun, Mexico

WSU ROSTERNo. Name Y. P. Ht. Hometown/Previous school

11 Dawnyelle Awa Sr. G 5-9 Kealakekua, Hawaii/Konawaena

24 Bianca Blanaru So. C 6-5 Timisoara, Romania

4 Louise Brown So. F 6-2 Melbourne, Australia

34 Mariah Cooks Sr. F 6-1 Santa Maria, Calif./Ernest Righetti

12 Taylor Edmondson Sr. G 5-11 Carlsbad, N.M./Carlsbad HS

1 Caila Hailey So. G 5-10 Inglewood, Calif./Serra HS

45 Borislava Hristova Fr. F 6-0 Varna, Bulgaria/Georgi Benkovski

15 Ivana Kmetovska Jr. F 6-3 Skopje, Macedonia /Orce Nikolov

20 Maria Kostourkova Fr. C 6-4 Lisbon, Portugal/E.S.P.J.A.L.

21 Nike McClure Fr. F 6-3 Tenino, Wash./W.F. West

2 Krystle McKenzie Fr. G 5-8 Gold Coast, Australia

22 PinelopiPavlopoulou

So. G 5-8 Athens, Greece/ACS Athens

23 Alexys Swedlund Fr. G 5-11 Rapid City, S.D./St. Thomas More

10 Alexas Williamson Sr. G 5-9 Chino Hills, Calif./Mater Dei

EWU ROSTERNo. Name Y. P. Ht. Hometown/Previous school

00 Ashli Payne Jr. F 6-0 Bremerton/Olympic

1 Aqeelah Williams Fr. G 5-8 Seattle/Cleveland

4 Delaney Hodgins So. F 6-0 Pasco/Chiawana

5 Baylee Rexing Fr. G 5-3 Suwanee, Ga./North Gwinnett

12 Violet Kapri Morrow Fr. G 5-8 Tacoma/Wilson

13 Desiree Harding Fr. G 5-7 Fresno, Calif./Fresno

20 Tisha Phillips Jr. G 5-9 Lapwai, Idaho/Lewiston

23 Mariah Cunningham So. F 6-0 Spokane/Central Valley

24 Amira Chandler Fr. C 6-2 Wenatchee/Wenatchee

25 Hayley Hodgins Sr. G 5-10 Pasco/Chiawana

30 Alissa Sealby Fr. F 6-0 Wenatchee/Wenatchee

55 Bethany Montgomery so. G 5-9 Tacoma/Wilson

IDAHO ROSTER No. Name Y. P. Ht. Hometown/Previous school

1 Christina Salvatore Sr. G 5-11 Anaheim, Calif./Canyon

2 Karlee Wilson Jr. PG 5-4 Lewiston/Lewiston

4 Brooke Reilly Jr. P 6-1 Spokane/Mt. Spokane

5 Brigitte O'Neill Fr. P 6-2 Melbourne/Carey Grammar

11 Tayla Corrigan Sr. P 6-3 Adelaide, Australia/Mineral Area

12 Nejra Solo So. P 6-5 Zenica, Bosnia/PRVA Gimnazija

13 Ali Forde Sr. P 6-2 Woodinville, Wash./Woodinville

14 Taylor Pierce Fr. G 5-7 Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon

21 Mikayla Ferenz Fr. G 5-10 Walla Walla/Walla Walla

22 Bethany Krause So. G 5-8 Centerville, Ohio/Centerville

23 Renae Mokrzycki Sr. P 6-0 Melbourne, Australia/NIC

31 Geraldine McCorkell So. P 6-0 Melbourne/Penleigh & Essendon

32 Agueda Trujillo Jr. G 5-11 Manacor, Spain/IES CTEIB

35 Connie Ballestero Sr. G 5-9 Orange, Calif./Villa Park

44 Sue Winger Fr. P 6-1 Spokane/Mead

The Gonzaga women’s basketballteam is taking self-motivation to a higherlevel.

Call it the confidence borne of success,but some of the Bulldogs feltdisrespected by the West CoastConference preseason coaches’ poll: GUwas picked for first place, but by onlytwo points ahead of BYU.

“We’d have loved to get all the votesacross the board … if anything, that’sgoing to be a motivator,” said seniorguard Elle Tinkle. “I’m sure it’ll be in theback of our minds a little bit, but for nowwe’re just focusing on ourselves.”

Most of all, the Bulldogs are motivatedto match last year’s team, which went26-8, won the WCC regular season andreached the Sweet 16 of the NCAATournament – all under a new coach,Lisa Fortier.

“I was pretty nervous going into it, butI tried not to let that show,” said Fortier,a longtime assistant who took over whenKelly Graves left for Oregon. “I still getnervous, but I think we can continue todo a great job here.”

In fact, the Bulldogs appear to bereloading despite the loss of their twotop scorers, Sunny Greinacher and KeaniAlbanez. Led by all-WCC post ShelbyCheslek, the frontcourt is so deep thatFortier wonders aloud “how we mighttry to play three posts at a time.”

Cheslek, a 6-foot-5 senior from

Pullman, had a breakout season last year,shooting 46 percent from the field andaveraging 8.2 rebounds a game. She’llshare the paint with Emma Wolfram, a6-5 sophomore whose season-longimprovement culminated in a team-high17-point effort in a second-round NCAAwin at Oregon State.

“She’s the next-best thing we have as areplacement for Sunny,” Fortier said ofWolfram.

The depth will come from returningredshirts Jill Barta and Kiara Kudron,both of whom can score, Fortier said.

Things are more settled in thebackcourt. Point guard Georgia Stirtongrew into her role after transferringfrom North Idaho College, starting all 34

games while averaging 5.7 points and 3.1assists.

Another all-WCC preseason pick whohad a breakout year last season, the 6-2Tinkle combines scoring (11.7 ppg lastyear on 44 percent shooting) on thewing.

More talent is on the way. GonzagaPrep all-state pick Laura Stockton isadjusting to the speed and size of thecollege game. “There are more arms inthe way … but she has the vision andshe’s going to be OK,” Fortier said.

Fortier who also expects acontribution from Utah State transferMakenlee Williams.

“We’re a veteran team compared tolast year,” Tinkle said. “The majority of

us have already learned the system, andwe have kids who are super versatile andwork together.”

“We’re far from peaking,” Tinkle said.However, with all the new talent,

Fortier expects that the Bulldogs willstruggle to score early in the seaseon.Greinacher and Albanez werehigh-volume, high-percentage shooters,“and we don’t have the next Sunny,” shesaid.

In the meantime, the Zags will get bywith defense, contesting every shot theway they did during their NCAA run.The wins and the belated recognitionwill follow.

Fortier, too, saw the preseason poll forwhat it was: a motivational tool. “If wehad gotten all the votes, I probablywould have downplayed it,” she said.

Washington StateCoach June Daugherty’s glass is half

full despite losing three starters from lastyear’s team.

That’s because that’s all the Cougarslost from a squad that finished a solidseventh (7-11) in the Pac-12 and narrowlymissed an NCAA tournament berth.

“Our kids took that to heart – weknow that we were that close,” saidDaugherty, who returns nineletter-winners from a team that finished17-15 overall. She says the Cougars are“two and three deep at every position”for her ninth season in Pullman.

“That’s a great luxury for a coach tohave,” said Daugherty, who has an evenbigger one in senior point guardDawnyella Awa. A fixture in thebackcourt since her freshman year, the5-foot-9 Awa returns more than just her45 percent shooting average and 2.5

Squeezing out motivation


Gonzaga senior center Shelby Cheslek anchors an experienced frontcourt.

See WOMEN, T10

Area women’s teamseach have their own

incentives to succeedBy Jim Allen

[email protected], (509) 459-5437





assist average.“She’s the glue that never gets any

credit,” Daugherty said. “She knows thesystem, knows when to make the big play– and when not to.”

With the departure of leading scorersLia Galderia and Tia Presley, that chorewill fall to senior Mariah Cooks, a 6-1forward who averaged 7.5 points and 5.3rebounds.

The Cougars will be young this year,with nine of 14 players beingunderclassmen.

Eastern WashingtonAfter posting one of the best seasons in

school history, the Eagles will count onsisters Hayley and Delaney Hodgins tokeep them there.

“We’ve got two of the best players in theconference,” said coach Wendy Schuller,who, in her 14th season, led Eastern to a21-12 record that included wins overFlorida, Wichita State and WashingtonState.

Hayley, a 5-10 senior from Pasco, led theEagles in scoring last year with a 16.3average. She also pulled down 4.3rebounds and is a first-team all-Big Skypreseason pick.

Delaney, a 6-foot forward, grew into herrole last year as a freshman, playing nearly29 minutes a game while averaging 10.5points and 4.7 boards.

The Eagles will be young this year;Hayley Hodgins is the lone senior, andnine of the 12 players on the roster are

underclassmen. However, Eastern shouldbe helped by the new Big Sky postseasonformat, in which all 12 teams will advanceto the conference tournament in Reno.

Junior college transfer Ashli Payne isexpected to bring immediate help atforward.

IdahoAfter earning back-to-back NCAA

appearances in the Sun Belt Conference,the Vandals found it tough going last yearin their first season in the Big Sky; Idahowent 14-15 overall and 8-8 in theconference, just missing a spot in thepostseason tournament.

This year, the Vandals are picked tofinish sixth by the coaches and eighth bythe media.

“Whether we are picked first, sixth,eight or whatever, you still have to go outand win games,” coach Jon Newlee said.“That is the bottom line. This will give us abit of motivation, getting picked down inthe pack.”

With 11 returning players – four of themstarters – Idaho figures to improve.Seniors Christina Salvatore (9.4 points agane) and Ali Forde (9.4) are the topreturning scorers.

The team opens the regular season athome against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 15.

Continued from T9WOMEN

JESSE TINSLEY [email protected]

Hayley Hodgins, left, with Mariah Cunningham, will join her sister, Delaney, to providea 1-2 scoring punch for the Eastern Washington women.

In the spring of 2000 – still at thebeginning of things, in the modestscope of Millenial Zag – Matt

Santangelo, Richie Frahm, Mike Nilsonand Ryan Floyd departed the Gonzagabasketball program in the greatest exodusof backcourt achievement in InlandNorthwest college basketball history.

It included what at the time were theNos. 3 and 5 scorers in school history andtop 3-point shooter, plus Gonzaga’s careerassists leader. There was the defensivestopper who established a programstandard for that skill, and a former Blegend who took apart UCLA like it wasanother night in the Bi-County League.

Plus: 93 wins, two West CoastConference titles and appearances in theNCAA’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.

Whatever would the Zags do?Well, they’d plug in three brand new

guys – one of them another walk-on – andgo back to the Sweet 16 the next year.

And now there’s all this hand-wringingabout losing a couple of guys named Kevinand Gary?

Yes, there is. And not without cause.The Bulldogs have had too many

exceptional guard combinations tosuggest that Kevin Pangos and Gary BellJr. established a benchmark for the howthe position should be played. But maybethey codified it.

Or how is it that Santangelo put it whendiscussing Pangos’ legacy last March?

“Is he on the Mount Rushmore ofGonzaga basketball?” he wondered. “Idon’t know what it is – but he’s beenawesome to watch from Day 1 on thiscampus.”

We know the numbers. Pangos started aschool-record 141 games at GU, Bell 124.Together they played a part in 122victories, took the Zags to No. 1 and, notinsignificantly, shushed some of theclueless blather about the program’spurported “flops” in March.

And, yes, at one point they had to fetchup the same expectations that JoshPerkins and Silas Melson do now as thegatekeepers of Gonzaga’s basketballfuture.

It’s the rites ofautumn. Santangeloand Frahm had tobuild on what KyleDixon, Jon Kinlochand John Rillie hadleft them asGonzaga’s firstNCAA Tournamentteam. Dan Dickau

and Blake Stepp took the baton fromSantangelo and Frahm.

Subsequent successions – Derek Raivioand Jeremy Pargo, Matt Bouldin andSteven Gray – were more staggered. Butthey’re all fraught with hiccups andobstacles.

Asked to distinguish between thePangos-Bell takeover and the transition tothe new kids on the block, senior KyleDranginis – who actually came in with theformer pair, but redshirted – insisted thathe saw “more similiarities thandifferences.

“When you’re young and you’re startingout, you’re not very vocal. You don’t wantto step on anybody’s toes. But you need toget out there and be aggressive – you can’ttiptoe into this or else you’re going to getbeat.”

And Pangos and Bell couldn’t afford tosit back. They were needed too much.Gray had graduated. Demitri Goodson, theincumbent point guard, had decided he’dgone as far as he could with basketball andtransferred to Baylor to play football – aspectacularly prescient notion. MarquiseCarter, who had rescued GU’s 2011 season,for some reason regressed into the unsureJC transfer he’d been.

So all Pangos did was score 33 points inhis first collegiate start – a spash so big noone seemed to notice that Bell had 14 offthe bench in the same game.

“And from the jump, Gary was ready todefend on this level,” said coach MarkFew. “We was tough and detail-orientedand we felt pretty good about justthrowing him out there on the otherteam’s best player.”

Perkins and Melson at least have had ayear in the program to acclimate – though

Perkins’ freshman year was wiped out bya broken jaw, and Melson often gotmisplaced in the Zags’ remarkable depth.

But for all their wins, Pangos and Bellleft another legacy.

As the Zags took another step in theirevolution, they kept the programgrounded, as ever more talented – andregarded – players signed on, includinghighly sought players like Perkins himself,and Zach Collins and Zach Norvell of theclass to come. They grew up fast whenthey had to, and later subjugatedthemselves to big dogs who needed fed(there’s a chance they will have playedwith as many as six NBA big men). Theytook care of details.

“We didn’t do things to the 70thpercentile,” Few said of Bell and Pangos’final team, “we did them to the 99thpercentile or 95th percentile. Whetherblocking out or taking care of thebasketball or executing or communicatingwhat we were doing on defense. That’s asbig a lesson as we need to learn right now.These things don’t magically happen.There’s a process to them. You’ve got toexecute the process before winninghappens.

“You’ve got to hit the Zag standard.”And if it happens, those rites of autumn

become the rites of spring.

Associated Press

Mark Few congratulates his two young freshmen, Kevin Pangos, left, and Gary Bell, Jr. in their first NCAA Tournament back in 2012.

Setting a standardGuards have challenge to maintain excellence continued by Bell, Pangos

JOHNBLANCHETTE Game Day Live

Join The Spokesman-Reviewbeat writer Jim Meehan andcolumnist John Blanchette on“Game Day Live” two hours beforeeach Gonzaga Bulldogs gamebroadcast on 1510 KGA.

You’ll hear news, interviews, analysisand opinion from writers with morethan 50 years combined experiencecovering the Zags, with occasionalspecial guests. The hour-long showtips off five hours of coverage ofevery Bulldogs contest during the2015-16 season.

The blue bloods havereloaded. New contenders arerising. More talented freshmenare ready to shine. The college basketball season

is upon us and this one, asalways seems to be the case, isloaded with intrigue.

Top teamsMaryland: Melo Trimble and

the loaded Terps are eyingMaryland’s first NCAA titlesince 2002. Kentucky: Another year,

another loaded freshman class. North Carolina: The Tar

Heels were the preseason No. 1in the AP poll for a record ninthtime. They might have a hardtime staying there with seniorguard Marcus Paige out threeto four weeks with a brokenhand, but watch out once he’shealthy. Kansas: Mix of experienced

players, talented freshmen hasthe Jayhawks thinking big. Duke: The defending national

champions have reloaded andare ready for another deep run.

Top players Ben Simmons, F, LSU. Top

recruit coming out of highschool could be the top playerin college basketball byseason’s end. Paige, G, North Carolina. At

his best in the clutch, will belooking to make up for losttime. Kris Dunn, PG, Providence.

Decision to hold off on the NBAmakes the Friars a whole lotbetter. Kyle Wiltjer, F, Gonzaga.

Back to the basket, out on thewing, driving to the basket – hecan do it all. Ron Baker, Wichita State.

Don’t be surprised if he andFree VanVleet get the Shockersback to the Final Four. Skal Labissiere, F, Kentucky.

Could be the No. 1 pick in nextyear’s NBA draft, will be amatchup nightmare until then.

Non-conference tilts � No. 3 Maryland at No. 1

North Carolina, Dec. 1. If Paige isback in time, this matchup offormer ACC rivals could beepic. Should be good anyway. � No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 5

Duke, Nov. 17. A meeting thatcould be the preview for the2016 national championshipgame. � No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13

Michigan State, Nov. 17. Goingto be some double feature atthe United Center in Chicago. � No. 11 Villanova at No. 6

Virginia, Dec. 19. The battlebetween Villanova’s shootersagainst Virginia’s defendersshould be fun to watch. � No. 12 Arizona at No. 9

Gonzaga, Dec. 5. Could be thebest game out West all season. Louisville at No. 2 Kentucky,

Dec. 26. Almost not worthmentioning – a given to be atop game every year.

New coaches Shaka Smart, Texas. Havoc

in the Hill Country. Should befun. Bobby Hurley, Arizona

State. Former Duke point guardhas added some buzz to theSun Devils after successful runat Buffalo. Rick Barnes, Tennessee.

Took about 10 seconds for theVols to snap him up after firingfrom Texas. Ben Howland, Mississippi

State. He’ll have his work cutout for him with the Bulldogs,but already has successfulturnarounds at Pittsburgh andUCLA on his resume. Chris Mullin, St. John’s. Best

player in school history tries toget the program back on track. Avery Johnson, Alabama.

Former NBA point guard andcoach stirring up plenty ofexcitement in Tuscaloosa.

Numbers8-1 Odds for Kentucky to win

the national championship,according to Vegasinsider.com.Duke is second at 17-2. 2 Times North Carolina has

been ranked No. 1 in thepreseason and won thenational title, in 1982 and 2009. 11 Straight Big 12 titles by

Kansas. 22.2 Points per game by

Northwestern State’s ZeekWoodley, Division I’s topreturning scorer. 30 Seconds of the new shot

clock, a rule change expectedto spur scoring and speed upthe game. 1,018 Career victories by Duke

coach Mike Krzyzewski, mostall-time.

Collegebasketball

quick guideBy John Marshall

Associated Press



JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW

NIC MENDate Opponent Time

Nov 6 Sheridan College 7:30 pm

Nov 12 at South Mountain CC 2 pm

Nov 13 Eastern Arizona* 2 pm

Nov 14 at Arizona Western 8 pm

Nov 20 at Pierce CC 7 pm

Nov 21 at Green River CC 6 pm

Nov 24 Columbia Basin CC 8 pm

Dec 3 Green River CC 7:30 pm

Dec 4 Whatcom CC# 7:30 pm

Dec 5 TBD# 5:30 pm

Dec 5 TBD# 7:30 pm

Dec 6 TBD# 3 pm

Dec 8 Columbia Basin CC 7:30 pm

Dec 12 Southern Idaho 7:30 pm

Dec 17 at Utah State-Eastern 7:30 pm

Dec 20 at Colorado NW CC 5 pm

Dec 28 TBD% TBD

Dec 29 TBD% TBD

Dec 30 TBD% TBD

Jan 7 Snow College 7:30 pm

Jan 9 Salt Lake CC 5 pm

Jan 16 at Southern Idaho 4 pm

Jan 21 Colorado NW CC 7:30 pm

Jan 23 Utah State-Eastern 5 pm

Jan 28 at Salt Lake CC 6:30 pm

Jan 30 at Snow College 4 pm

Feb 6 Southern Idaho 5 pm

Feb 11 at Colorado NW CC 6:30 pm

Feb 13 At Utah State-Eastern 4 pm

Feb 18 Salt Lake CC 7:30 pm

Feb 20 Snow College 5 pm

*at Arizona Western %CDA Inn-vitational at NIC# Bigfoot-Cardinal Classic at NIC and SCC

NIC MEN’S ROSTER No. Name Y. P. Ht. Hometown/Previous school

0 Sam Dowd Fr. G 5-8 Spokane/Gonzaga Prep

1 Lucas Antunez So. G 6-3 Madrid, Spain/Findley Prep

2 Haywood Irwin Fr. G 6-2 Tacoma/Foss

3 Trey Burch-Manning Fr. G 6-6 Federal Way/Todd Beamer

4 Brayon (BJ) Blake So. G/F 6-7 Seattle/Garfield

5 Dylan Okoro So. F 6-8 Newark, N.J./Boomfield

11 Braian Angola Rodas So. G 6-6 Villanueva, Colombia/Findlay

20 Markus Golder Fr. G 6-5 Clackamas, Ore./Clackamas

21 Kaleb Warner So. G 6-7 Seattle/Mercer Island

22 Kyle Guice So. F 6-7 Coeur d’Alene/Lake City

23 Ziggy Satterthwaite Fr. F 6-7 Washington, N.C./Rogers

24 Dalen Erickson So. G 6-3 Grantsville, Utah/Grantsville

31 Scott Turner Fr. G 6-6 Coeur d’Alene/Coeur d’Alene

32 Keegan Hansen Fr. G 6-2 Idaho Falls, Idaho/Bonneville

33 Tony Naccarato Fr. F 6-6 Coeur d’Alene/Coeur d’Alene

NIC WOMENDate Opponent Time

Nov 16 Whitworth JV 5:30 pm

Nov 24 at Columbia Basin 6 pm

Nov 28 North Idaho All-Stars 3 pm

Dec 1 CCs of Spokane 6 pm

Dec 4 Everett CC* 3 pm

Dec 8 Columbia Basin 5:30 pm

Dec 12 Southern Idaho 5:30 pm

Dec 17 at Utah State-Eastern 4:30 pm

Dec 19 at Colorado NW CC 2 pm

28-30 TBD*

Jan 7 Snow College 5:30 pm

Jan 9 Salt Lake CC 3 pm

Jan 16 at Southern Idaho 2 pm

Jan 21 Colorado NW CC 5:30 pm

Jan 23 Utah State-Eastern 3 pm

Jan 28 at Salt Lake CC 4:30 pm

Jan 30 at Snow College 2 pm

Feb 6 Southern Idaho 3 pm

Feb 11 at Colorado NW CC 4:30 pm

Feb 13 at Utah State-Eastern 2 pm

Feb 18 Salt Lake CC 5:30 pm

Feb 20 Snow College 3 pm

* Bellevue College Tournament# Lower Columbia College Holiday Tournament

CCS MENDate Opponent Time

Nov 20 Alumni game * 7 pm

Nov 24 Gonzaga Club % 8 pm

27-29 Red Devil Classic! TBD

Dec 4 Centralia CC# 8 pm

Dec 5 TBD# TBD

Dec 6 TBD# TBD

11-13 Bates Invite, Eugene TBD

17-19 Crossover, S. Puget Sound TBD

Jan. 2 at Everett CC 7 pm

Jan 3 at Whatcom CC 2 pm

Jan 9 Wenatchee Valley % 4 pm

Jan 15 at Treasure Valley CC 8 pm

Jan 16 at Blue Mountain CC 4 pm

Jan 20 Walla Walla CC % 8 pm

Jan 23 at Columbia Basin 4 pm

Jan 27 Yakima Valley CC * 8 pm

Jan 30 Big Bend CC % 4 pm

Feb 6 at Wenatchee Valley 4 pm

Feb 12 Blue Mountain CC * 8 pm

Feb 13 Treasure Valley CC * 4 pm

Feb 17 at Walla Walla CC 8 pm

Feb 20 Columbia Basin % 4 pm

Feb 24 at Yakima Valley CC 8 pm

Feb 27 at Big Bend CC 4 pm

* at Spokane Community College% at Spokane Falls Community College# Bigfoot-Cardinal Classic at SCC! at Longview

CCS WOMENDate Opponent Time

Nov 21 Alumni game % 6 pm

Nov 23 Bellevue % 2 pm

28-30 Thanksgiving Tourn. ! TBD

Dec 7 Centralia CC# 10 am

Dec 12 Edmonds CC ^ 2 pm

Dec 13 Bellevue ^ 4 pm

Dec 14 NW Indian College 4 pm

Dec 18 CCS Alumni % 8 pm

Dec 19 South Puget Sound % 7 pm

Dec 20 Clackamas CC % 3 pm

Dec 28 Kwantien + 1 pm

Dec 29 Bellevue + 4 pm

Dec 30 Big Bend CC + 3 pm

Jan 5 North Idaho College % 6 pm

Jan 10 at Wenatchee Valley 2 pm

Jan 16 Treasure Valley CC % 6 pm

Jan 17 Blue Mountain CC % 2 pm

Jan 21 at Walla Walla CC 6 pm

Jan 24 Columbia Basin * 8 pm

Jan 28 at Yakima Valley CC 6 pm

Jan 31 at Big Bend CC 2 pm

Feb 7 Wenatchee Valley * 2 pm

Feb 13 at Blue Mountain CC 6 pm

Feb 14 at Treasure Valley CC 2 pm

Feb 18 Walla Walla CC % 6 pm

Feb 21 at Columbia Basin 2 pm

Feb 25 Yakima Valley CC * 6 pm

Feb 28 Big Bend CC % 2 pm

* at Spokane Community College% at Spokane Falls Community College# Bigfoot-Cardinal Classic at SCC! at Glendale, Arizona^ Everett Holiday Classic at Everett CC+ Skagit Valley Tournament at Mt. Vernon

NIC WOMEN’S ROSTER No. Name Y. P. Ht. Hometown/Previous school

5 Sidney Davis So. F 6-0 Missoula/Big Sky

10 Gracie Roberts Fr. G 5-9 New Zealand/Waimea College

12 Maci Benedict So. G 5-7 Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon

15 Alyssa Case Fr. G 5-7 Boise/Mountain View

21 Shelby Cloninger So. F 6-0 Kamiah, Idahu/Kamiah

22 Katia Brown So. G 5-4 Edmonds/Tulalip Heritage

23 Kaylee Olson Fr. G 5-7 Challis, Idaho/Challis

24 Monica Landdeck So. G 5-8 Maple Valley, Wash./Brewster

30 Jocelyn Cook-Cox Fr. G 5-9 Nine Mile Falls/Lakeside

32 Ebony Norman Fr. G 5-10 Meridian, Idaho/Meridian

33 Clarissa Smith Fr. G 5-8 Coeur d' Alene/Lake City

35 Stormee Van Belle So. F 6-0 Sunnyside/Sunnyside Christian

44 Grace Varcoe So. P 6-1 Australia/All Saints Anglican

55 Charity Marlatt Fr. P 6-1 Cranbrook, B.C./Western Canada

CCS MEN’S ROSTER No. Name Y. P. Ht. Previous school

1 Dean Richey So. W 6-5 Lewis and Clark

2 Kyle Johnson Fr. G 5-11 Colfax

3 Kage Sobotta Fr. G 6-2 Clarkston

4 Jake Love Fr. W 6-3 West Valley

5 Kellen Miller Fr. G 6-1 Freeman

10 Jacob DeVries Fr. G 6-1 Richland

13 Paris Estrada Fr. G 6-2 Durango (Nev.)

14 Chase McDuffie So. G 511 North Central

15 Race Martin Fr. W/P 6-5 Pullman

20 JJ Winger Fr. W 6-3 Lake City

22 Orin Porter Fr. W 6-2 Incline Village (Nev.)

24 AJ Knudsen Fr. G 6-1 Central Valley

32 Dalton Patchen Fr. W/P 6-7 Colton

33 Brady Bergman Fr. P 6-6 West Valley

40 Justin Holbrook Fr. P 6-5 Coronado (Ariz.)

42 Jon Thompson Fr. P 6-5 Timberlake

CCS WOMEN’S ROSTER No. Name Y. P. Ht. Hometown/Previous school

4 Karlee Martin So. G 5-5 Almira/Coulee-Hartline

11 Khadija Neumeyer Fr. G 5-8 Capital (Idaho)

12 Rayla Lohman Fr. G 5-5 Lewiston

14 Briana King Fr. G 5-4 North Central

15 Bianca Gonzales So. G 5-3 Chiawana

20 Aurorah Davis So. F 6-0 Quincy (Wash.)

22 Mackenzie Reddish Fr. G 5-7 Rosalia

31 Dezaree Dargan So. F 6-0 Valley Christian (Mont.)

34 Emily Schramm So. G 5-6 Chelan

40 Amanda Bearmedicine So. F 5-9 Sentinel (Mont.)

42 Jennifer Gonzales Fr. W 5-7 Chiawana

44 Gese Gruber Fr. F 5-11 Ellesnburg

50 Jenessa Heine Fr. F 5-10 Flathead (Mont.)

The Sasquatch are elusive no longer. While turnover is the norm in all two-year

programs, the Community Colleges of Spokanemen’s basketball team has a rare luxury headinginto the season: depth.

“This year is unique. We have eight new guyson the roster, but six of our top seven scorers areback,” coach Jeremy Groth said. “That matters alot when you have guys who know what it takesto win games and how much work they have toput in.”

Even with the highest-scoring team in theleague, the Sasquatch finished 19-11 last year andlost a playoff game to make it into the NorthwestAthletic Conference tournament.

“So, we are hungry,” said Groth, entering hisfourth season as head coach. “Our group ismotivated and I hope our work ethic will helpcarry us into the season.”

CCS returns Jake Love (West Valley), a6-foot-3 wing, who averaged 15.9 points and 6.3rebounds a game. He was named the region’sfreshman of the year.

The Sasquatch also get back Race Martin, a6-5 wing from Pullman, who averaged 17 pointsand led the team with 7.3 rebounds a game.

The team also returns 6-8 post DaltonPatchen (Colton), 6-2 guard Kage Sobotta(Clarkston) and 6-1 guard Jacob DeVries fromRichland.

“We’ll be expecting good things from DeVries,who started about half the year” and averaged11.2 points a game, Groth said.

Groth has also been impressed thus far withfreshman Ty Axtell, a 6-1 guard from Riverside,Garrett Hull, a 6-1 guard from Ellensburg, and6-2 wing Levi Taylor (Lewis and Clark), who istrying to get back into the game.

“We had a great spring and summer,” Grothsaid. “I’m excited about the potential we havewith this group. I’m looking forward to seeing allthe work our guys put in really pay off.”

CCS womenThe CCS women’s basketball team is facing a

decidedly different turnover problem, longtimecoach Bruce Johnson said.

“We’ve got some new faces, as we always do,”Johnson said. “We have four sophomores backand two were starters.”

The Sasquatch, which finished 15-15 last year,return 5-8 guard Khadija Neumeyer, anall-region selection last year, and 6-foot GeseGruber.

The team also returns 5-5 guard RaylaLohman (Lewiston), who played in every gameand started a few.

Despite the few returning starters, the teamreturns players familiar to the system.

Jessica Boyer, a 5-8 guard from Wilbur,played the first semester but had to sit out aftershe was declared academically ineligible. She’sreturned after getting her schoolwork back inorder, Johnson said.

The team also has 5-4 guard Brianna King(North Central) who is returning from majorknee surgery.

“She’ll be a good one as long as we keep herhealthy,” Johnson said. “She’s as good a pointguard as we’ve had in a while.”

The team also added Kierstyn Russell, a 5-9guard from Mead and 5-3 guard Talia Felicefrom Rogers.

“One thing this year is we have more (GreaterSpokane League) kids than we’ve had in a longtime,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to get thembecause Spokane is so highly recruited byeverybody.”

Johnson also spoke highly of Jenessa Heine, a5-11 forward from Kalispell and 5-9 wingJennifer Gonzales from Pasco. The team has

also waited for 5-7 guard Cali Moscrip to joinfrom the CCS soccer team.

Moscrip is “a pretty tough kid. She will step inand be either in the starting group or in the topsix or seven players,” he said. “We can go nine or10 players deep, which is nice.”

NIC menFor a first-year head coach, Corey Symons

had a pretty good year guiding the North IdahoCollege men’s basketball team.

The Cardinals finished 24-8 and third in theScenic West Athletic Conference. Symons ishoping the returning core of players will meshwith some key additions to match last year’ssuccess.

The team returns starters Braian AngolaRodas, who averaged 13.4 points and led theteam with 6.2 rebounds a game. The team alsoreturns 6-7 Kyle Guice, of Coeur d’Alene, whoaveraged 6.6 points and 5.7 points as aspart-time starter; and starting 6-3 point guardLucas Antunez, of Madrid, Spain.

“We have those three coming back and we gota couple nice transfers,” Symons said. “We aresort of that 6-6 or 6-7 team without any reallybigs, so we are going to have to work onrebounding. But, we have a chance to be allright.”

Symons expects to again start Antunez at thepoint, Guice in the post, Angola Rodas atshooting guard, 6-7 Kaleb Warner at a wing and6-7 transfer Brayon Blake at power forward.

“We have a couple freshmen who will have tolearn through their mistakes, but we can go nineor 10 deep,” Symons said. “That’s the nice thing.We are pretty deep.”

But the team’s success will depend on the newplayers meshing with the returning starters.

“It’s huge,” Symons said. “We had a good yearlast year. All three (returners) were hugecontributros. They know what it takes to lead.”

Without having much length in the post,Symons expects to run more transition.

“We will try to get up and down the court alittle,” he said. “We are going to press. I reallylike our group. It’s going to be fun and exciting.”

NIC womenThe North Idaho College women’s team took

a step back last year after an impressivefive-year run of either winning the SWACconference regular-season or tournament titles.

That success also included the 2011 nationalchampionship for coach Chris Carlson, who isentering his 12th season guiding the Cardinals.

“I think we’ll improve,” Carlson said. “Wewent out and brought some kids in to competefor the league championship.”

The team only has four returning playersalong with eight freshmen. The returningstarters include 5-8 guard Monica Landdeck,who was a second-team all-league player. Sheaveraged 12 points and 4.1 rebounds a game.

Also returning are 5-7 guard Maci Benedict,who was the backup point guard last year, and6-1 post Grace Varcoe, who started severalgames late in the season.

The team also returns Shelby Cloninger, ofKamiah, Idaho, who only played three gameslast year. “She played one season at Utah State.She’s pretty dynamic,” Carlson said.

The Cardinals also added 6-foot forwardStormee Van Belle, who transferred fromMerrimack College in Massachusetts.

“A couple of the kids we brought in willprobably leave after one year and get recruitedelsewhere,” Carlson said.

He was referring to 5-10 forward EbonyNorman from Meridian, Idaho, and 5-9 forwardGracie Roberts, of New Zealand.

“They are very talented,” Carlson said. “Werecruited to compete so I think we will bebetter.”

JC teams look loaded

Some blessed with depth plus new talentBy Thomas Clouse

[email protected], (509) 459-5495



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