College Hoops Daily Interviews Big Sky Coaches

Within the last site, the website College Hoops Daily had a couple of interviews with head coaches in the Big Sky. One was with Eastern Washington coach Jim Hayford, and the other was with Southern Utah coach Nick Robinson. Here is a snippet from each:

Hayford:

Over half of your 13-man roster hails from foreign countries (Australia/Germany/Serbia), how have you been able to bring in so many players from overseas? I looked at some models of success at the mid-major level, and I saw how Coach Randy Bennett was able to rebuild the St. Mary’s program by recruiting Australian players. Coaching here in Spokane has allowed me to meet some coaches from Germany who had players end up attending Gonzaga.

Robinson:

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Cal, UNLV, and San Diego State, which of these three games do you feel will present your biggest test? I think each of our games will be a test in its own way. Cal and San Diego State are road games, but all three of the teams you mentioned have top-25 potential so they will all be a challenge. One of the things we struggled with last year is winning on the road so we want to be challenged early and often.

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A Look at Southern Utah Signee AJ Hess

Earlier this month, Southern Utah announced the signing of 6'6'' guard AJ Hess to their recruiting class. He joins four other signees for first year coach Nick Robinson.

Hess put up nice numbers in high school, with 19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, 2.4 steals, and 2.4 assists per game, while winning the state championship at his high school. He was the Player of the Year for Arizona's small schools, so certainly there is some question about his level of competition (if he were putting those numbers up against big-time high school programs, he likely would not have been available so late).

"We are excited and fortunate to welcome AJ to the Thunderbird family at this time of year," Robinson said. "He comes from a great family and has been taught well by his coaches. Having won a high school championship earlier this year, A.J.'s versatility and competitive nature adds depth to our team as we enter the Big Sky."

Nobody knows Arizona basketball as well as Chad Groth of Area Codes Basketball, and they wrote about him here.

At 190 pounds, AJ Hess is 6 foot 6 and can really shoot the long range jumper, after his senior season at Phoenix Country Day High School in Phoenix, AZ, We thought it was best to keep playing thru the Spring and Summer and something will pop.

Hess is long and wiry, and Groth notes that Hess has been working with a strength and conditioning coach. It is tough to tell how physically ready Hess is, but he would seem to have a solid skillset to eventually be a contributor at the Big Sky level.

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Southern Utah Signs JUCO Jayson Cheesman

Southern Utah has their fourth commitment of the year, as they have signed JUCO big man Jayson Cheesman to a National Letter of Intent. Cheesman is a 6'11'' big man that played for Salt Lake Community College.

"We are thrilled to have Jayson join the Thunderbird family next season as we enter the Big Sky," Robinson said. "Jayson brings needed experience, size, and skill to our frontline. He has been well coached under Coach Phillips and we look forward to his contributions to our program."

Cheesman averaged 7.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game last year, shooting 50% from the field. Those numbers don't jump out at you, but big men are hard to find in the Big Sky, and he is certainly a big body that will at the very least be a nice rotation player. If he can be a solid rebounder and defender down low, that is a nice pickup.

Cheesman reportedly also had interest from San Francisco, Rhode Island, and San Jose State.

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Southern Utah Signs Drake Thomas and Zach Ghormley

Southern Utah had signed one recruit, but it was one that would not help them this year. That was Austin Waddoups, who will be going on his LDS Mission. Now, head coach Nick Robinson has inked two recruits that will be able to play right away.

One is Drake Thomas, a six foot guard from Ovilla, Texas. He is not much of a scorer, but he is a good distributor. Last season, he averaged 5.7 PPG and 7.3 APG, showcasing his excellent playmaking ability.

Zach Ghormley is a 6'4'' guard in Garland, TX, and is a guy that does a little bit of everything. Last year he averaged ten points, six rebounds, and three assists per game. Those numbers don't jump out at you, but it shows his versatility, especially as he did this on a very good high school team.

"We are excited to welcome Drake and Zach to the Thunderbird family," Robinson said. "Both come from a championship program under Coach Forsett and are high-character individuals who come from strong families. Drake is a true point guard with tremendous leadership qualities and Zach is as competitive as they come at both ends of the floor. Both Zach and Drake will help us make the transition into the Big Sky Conference."

Early on we see some of Robinson's recruiting philosophy. High character guys that understand the importance of team, and will be willing to do what is needed to help the program. With their relatively low scoring averages, they do not care about getting their stats, and that is important within a team concept.

Of course, this recruiting philosophy should not be very surprising, since that is the type of player that Robinson himself was.

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Southern Utah Hires A Couple Assistants

Bill Evans is not the only one hiring some assistant coaches in the Big Sky.

According to Southern Utah's website, Nick Robinson at Southern Utah has hired a couple new assistants.

First-year Southern Utah University men's basketball Head Coach Nick Robinson has taken the first steps in putting his mark on the Thunderbird program as he has named Jared Barrett and Todd Okeson as assistant coaches.

Barrett is currently the coordinator of basketball operations at Washington State, while Okeson serves in a similar capacity at the University of Georgia.

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Race Parsons Gets an Offer From Southern Utah

Race Parsons from Utah has been offered a scholarship by Southern Utah, according to reports.

The Southern Utah basketball coach, announced six days ago as the successor to Roger Reid, extended a scholarship offer to South Sevier point guard Race Parsons this week. Parsons, a 6-foot-1 point guard, has led the Rams to back-to-back Class 2A state championships and won back-to-back MVP awards from The Tribune.

Parsons is also receiving interesting from Utah State and Weber State. It seems like checking out Parsons was one of the first items on new head coach Nick Robinson's agenda.

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Nick Robinson Hired to Coach Southern Utah

As recently as a couple days ago, Barret Peery was reportedly the frontrunner for the Southern Utah head coaching job. Apparently, that information was not accurate.

Nick Robinson was hired on Thursday to be the next head coach of the Thunderbirds. Robinson graduated from Stanford in 2005, and most recently was an assistant coach at LSU.

"Nick is exactly what this program needs," Beazer said. "He comes to us with the highest of recommendations. He's a tireless worker and an outstanding recruiter and we believe that he and his family will fit well into the community.

It appears to be a bit of a risk given his relatively short track record. He is just 32 years old, and has never been a head coach before.

However, I like the hiring a lot. Sometimes low-majors have to take a bit of a risk with an unproven coach, and that can be a good way to hit a homerun. To work at a low-major requires passion and energy, and that is something that Robinson seems to have in spades.

He comes with a strong track record (and recent playing experience will surely be a nice draw for recruits) and is very highly recommended by Trent Johnson, a respected coach in his own right.

He is obviously not a guy that comes with a big pedigree, but that is OK in a conference like the Big Sky. He has a lot of energy, and is a very smart guy. He should be able to win recruits, and he has been on the staff of an excellent coach for the last few years. Time will tell obviously how this turns out, but I like the job by Southern Utah.

And of course, this brings up a great chance to show this video:



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Southern Utah Coaching Search

From HoopDirt:

The search to replace Roger Reid at Southern Utah appears to be in the final stages. From what I’ve heard, there are three leaders in the clubhouse at this point. They are:

Barret Peery – Head Coach Indian Hills CC. Played at Southern Utah. His IHCC team went 30-3 this season, his first at the school. He came to IHCC after three years as an assistant coach at the University of Utah. Peery's previous head coaching experience came during a three year stint at the College of Southern Idaho where he went 85–19.

Ron Verlin – Associate Head Coach Pacific. Has been at Pacific for the past 18 seasons. His twin brother Don is the current head coach at the University of Idaho. He has also been an assistant at Nevada.

Nick Robinson – Assistant Coach LSU. Hails from Salt Lake City, UT. Played at Stanford and has been a part of Trent Johnson’s staff at both LSU and Stanford. Also spent time as an assistant at William Jewel College (MO).

Sounds like an announcement will be made shortly. I’ll keep you updated as I hear more.

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