Idaho State's Frontcourt Production

When Deividas Busma exhausted his eligibility, Idaho State lost not only one of their two best players, they lost their best (and the cynic in me would say only) inside scorer from last season. Who will fill the void left by Busma?

One guy that will try to step in is Abner Moreira, who will be entering his senior year. He was the best rebounder on the team last year, and that should certainly continue. He shot a respectable 45% from the field, but that could stand to improve. He is decent at getting to the FT line, which is great, because he shot 80% from there last season.

After Moreira, no returning post got regular minutes last year, which leaves a lot of uncertainty. Jakub Kusmierak will get some PT for a couple of reasons. One, he has some D1 experience, having spent his freshman year at UTEP. Second, he is 7'4''. Kusmieruk will have a chance to earn consistent minutes for the Bengals.

Nobody else on the roster is taller than 6'8'', so they might have to play small for long stretches. Dejan Kostur from Australia will get a chance to be in the rotation, but he averaged just 8 PPG and 4 RPG last season (for a very good JUCO team.

Brandon Glanz is 6'6'', but he did averaged 17 RPG his senior year of high school (not a typo), so he figures to be able to play in the post a bit. He redshirted last season. Then there is Garrett Swanson, also at 6'7'', but he is more of a perimeter player than a post. He will have a role on the team though, as he can drain it from outside. If you are interested, he's got a lot of highlight videos.

Bengals fans, who do you see having the biggest role in the post this year? Am I forgetting anyone?

Former Sacramento State Players Overseas

Always fun to read about the guys from The Big Sky that are able to play professional basketball, but it is easy to lose track of the guys that go overseas.

The Sacramento State website put together a nice write-up on five of their former players who recently complete seasons overseas. Pretty cool to see where they all are.

Lateef McMullan (Portland State Recruit)

If Portland State really is going to have any chance to win the Big Sky, they are going to need Lateef McMullan to come in and be a solid contributor right away.

McMullan is a JUCO PG, coming to the Vikings from Tulsa, OK, with stops at two different colleges along the ay (most recently Citrus Junior College in CA, and his freshman year at UC Riverside). Last season he averaged 16.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 4.2 APG.

"Lateef is extremely quick with the basketball and can get from free throw line to free throw line in a hurry," said Geving. "That's what we need with the style we like to play. He makes good decisions, can break people down off the dribble, then score or make plays for his teammates. Lateef has a great understanding of the game and I expect big things from him."

He also brings an outside shooting element to the Vikings, as he made 94 3-pointers last year after shooting 41% his freshman year at UC Riverside. His quickness with the ball and ability to find the open man will fit perfectly in Tyler Geving's system, as the Vikings were the fastest team in the Big Sky last season.

Coming out of high school, this is what Scout had to say about him:

Talented guard who has a floater, speed and a tough mentality. At his size he's got to be a knock-down shooter. Likes to score and has a few different shots in his bag of tricks.

Lateef will be a lot of fun to watch next season, that we know. His speed in getting up and down the court will make him a crowd pleaser. If he can properly distribute the ball to the talented guys the Vikings have, as well as knock down some open shots, Portland State could become very dangerous in the Big Sky.

Shavon Shields Pick Nebraska

A couple weeks ago, I wrote that Shavon Shield was drawing interest from Northern Colorado and Weber State.

Well, it was for not, as Shields has chosen to become a Cornhusker, per Eric Bossi.

Per @MOKANElite director Matt Suther. Kansas wing Shavon Shields is offthe board to Nebraska. 6-5 wind had tremendous summer.

Joel Bolomboy Commits to Weber State, Class of 2012

Weber State has secured their first commitment for the class of 2012.

PF Joel Bolomboy from Keller, TX, committed to the Wildcats after reportedly visiting campus last weekend. Last year, he averaged 9.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 1.3 assists per game, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

As far as I can tell, this was first reported by Josh Gershon of Scout.com / Foxsports.

Bolomboy is a little on the small side for a PF/C at 6'7'', but he has long arms, and seems like he could have some growing to do. He is an athletic rebounder and shot blocker, with a developing offensive game. Best guess, he will never be more than an average offensive player, but he has a lot of potential to be very good defensively on the block.

Here is a highlight video I found of him... much of which is basically a block party. Bolomboy is definitely a nice get for Head Coach Randy Rahe.

North Dakota Player Catches 40 Pound Catfish

As seen on The Dagger, North Dakota Center Mike Mathison caught a 40 pound catfish on an Animal Planet show called "Hillbilly Handfishing."

Even though North Dakota's Mike Mathison only scored a total of four points last season, the seldom-used 6-foot-10 center can still lay claim to having the surest hands in all of college basketball.

How many other guys can hoist an oversized catfish out of a river without the help of a rod or some bait?

Check out the article for video and a full round-up of the fishing!

Kevin Winford

If you look at Kevin Winford's stats last season, he looks just like any other 3-point specialist. He averaged 9.9 PPG, and jacked up 187 treys (compared to 74 2s). He was a solid outside shooter, but most of all he took a lot of 3s.

However, looking a little deeper, you notice something else - he has games of 39 points and 28 points last season. For a guy that is the 4th leading scorer on a team, that is pretty impressive. And it is one of the reasons EWU might be picked to finish as high as 3rd in the Big Sky.

Winford is no doubt a bit of a volume shooter, as none of his percentages jump out at you. In the game he scored 28 points against Idaho, he shot 9/20 from the field and 8/16 from downtown. In the 39 point game against New Hope Christian, he shot 14/27 from the field, 10/23 from downtown. Those aren't bad, but it is not an amazing shooting percentage.

It is unclear if he will be given as much of a green light from Jim Hayford as he had under Kirk Earlywine, and so he needs to add a little variety to his game. He does get many assists (though he doesn't turn it over a lot either), and he is not one to get to the hoop and get to the FT line. He is a 3-point specialist, and 35% is actually pretty average for someone with that role. He is definitely athletic, so it would be nice to see him show a little more restraint in simply jacking up 3s.

With the presence of Jeffrey Forbes, Cliff Colimon, and Collin Chiverton, it remains to be seen if Kevin Winford will start. But either way, he figures to be a key role for the EWU offense. He is very talented... if he can get a little more efficient, he can be one of the most dangerous scorers in the Big Sky.

Tanner Samson to Make Official Visit to Montana

From ESPN'S Dave Telep:

Colorado Chaos wing Tanner Samson will make officials to Elon, Pepperdine and Montana

Samson is a 6'4'' SG from Littleton, CO. ESPN gives him an 85 grade, making him their 4th best prospect out of Colorado.

He looks like a typical Big Sky prospect, as he is not an excellent athlete, but he is very skilled and has good range on his jumpshot. He would definitely be a nice get for the Griz.

Big Sky Schedules

Weber Hoops has put together a nice page with the schedule for all of the Big Sky teams, which can be found here.

Still waiting on a final schedule release from Northern Arizona and Portland State, but check it out, it is definitely a very good resource.

A Look At Sacramento State's Recruiting Class

After a last place finish in the Big Sky, Sacramento State is in need of some hope. They hope their four-man recruiting class will provide that.

The best of the bunch appears to be Dylan Garrity, who is also the only freshman recruit the Hornets are bringing in. At 6'2'', he is a solid all-around guard that will likely be asked to play a lot of minutes right away. He averaged at least 17 PPG each of his last three years of high school, including 20.6 PPG his senior year. He also had 3.7 APG, 3.7 RPG, and 1.8 SPG. He is a solid outside shooter (45% from downtown). He was all-state twice in high school, and holds his school record for points and assists. If the program is going to turn around under Brian Katz, Garrity will likely be behind it.

They also signed 3 JUCO guys. One of them is Anthony Costentino, who is 6'7'' and played at Southwestern College in Chila Vista, CA last year. He was named the conference MVP both of his years there, and last year put together a line of 18.7 PPG AND 6.9 RPG. He is dangerous from everywhere on the court, as he shot a respectable 38% from beyond the arc. “Anthony is very versatile player who has perimeter skills and can go inside and post up,” says Brian Katz. “He comes from a basketball family and has grown accustomed to winning at every level he has played.” He figures to be in the mix for playing time at the 3/4.

Another G/F combo is Joe Eberhard, who comes to Sac-Town after playing two years at Irvine Valley JC. Last season he averaged 11.1 PPG and 6.3 RPG. He is a very versatile player, and could see some minutes at a couple of different spots for the Hornets.

The last guy they brought in is combo guard Jordan Estrada, who played at Diablo Valley JC in Concord, CA. He averaged 13.2 PPG to go with 1.8 APG last year. He also showed a propensity to hit the deep ball, making 40% last year. He will be in the rotation for minutes at the guard spots, though he doesn't look to me to be a starter.

What do you think of the class? Who is the best, and what do you expect from them?

Big Sky TV

If you plan on watching any Big Sky basketball this year (and really, you probably aren't reading this blog unless you are), you should check out the Big Sky Conference's Official Blog and their posting on Big Sky TV, and changes to it.

First off, you must create a new account this year. Even if you registered in previous years, you will have to create a brand new account.

You can do this roughly five minutes before the start of event, or when the game information box changes from blue to green. We encourage fans to check out an event prior to the event you really want to watch so you don't encounter problems and miss the game. This link takes you to the entire Big Sky schedule. There are some volleyball matches tonight, and that would be a great time to check out the system.

A very good service there and a unique part of being a Big Sky fan... take advantage of the ability to watch the games this year.

Happy Labor Day!

Hope you all enjoy a great Labor Day, full of the outdoors, barbecue, and lots of relaxing!

The Other Star in Ogden: Kyle Bullinger

When you think of Weber State, Damian Lillard is the first guy that comes to mind. He already has a Big Sky Conference MVP Award under his belt, and he will be one of (if not the) favorites to win it again this year.

But if you think all of Weber's success is because of him, you would be wrong. Last year, though he got hurt before conference play began, the Wildcats still finished 11-5 in the Conference. One of the big reasons for that was Kyle Bullinger, who was an all Big Sky performer last season.

Bullinger is 6'6'' but more forward than guard for Randy Rahe. He averaged 11.1 PPG and 6.2 RPG, but is even better than his numbers suggest. For one, he is an excellent rebounder, posting a 21.2 DR%, 126th in the country (and 3rd in the Big Sky last season).

Offensively, he can hurt you in different ways. He is potent from the outside (a theme for the Wildcats), as he shot a solid 42.9% from downtown last year, making 54/126. He is also adept at getting to the line, shooting103 FTs last year with a solid 39.3 FT Rate. He made about 69% of the attempts, which isn't great, but solid. And he shoots 46.3% from 2s, which again, not bad. Add it all up, and his EFG% is 55.0, which was 7th in the Big Sky.

Putting it all together, and Damian Lillard is certainly the star for Weber State, but he is not the only one. One of the reasons why Weber State is going to be picked to do so well is guys like Kyle Bullinger... they might not get a lot of press, they'll never make it in the NBA, but they are excellent college players at the mid-major level.

Shout-Out To Our Football Brethren

It was a nice, competitive day in Big Sky football, which should be recognized.

The biggest game of the day was Sacramento State football shocking Oregon State, 29-28 in OT. Displaying the "nothing-to-lose" attitude that we all love, Sacramento State was down 28-21 in OT when they scored a TD, and then went for the win instead of kicking the PAT to send it to a second OT.

The Hornet victory was the first against a Football Bowl Subdivision team in 11 tries and snapped a streak of 49-straight losses by Big Sky Conference schools against FBS foes dating back to 1996. In addition, the win snapped a 29-game losing streak by Big Sky teams against Pac-10 teams. The last Big Sky win against the Pac-10 came on Sept. 7, 1996 when Montana beat Oregon State 35-14.

Of course, the Big Sky almost got a couple more.

Defending FCS champion Eastern Washington lost a barnburner to Washington, 30-27. And in a late game, Weber State missed a late FG, but they put together a great effort against Wyoming, losing 35-32.

Ultimately, any publicity for the Big Sky for any sport will help the conference, and that is what happened Saturday. With one victory and two narrow losses to the FBS opponents, it was definitely a great day for Big Sky football.

Lucas O'Brien Will Visit Some Big Sky Schools

From Mslacat's twitter feed:

Lucas O'Brien 6-10 C/F from Gilbert Az will visit @UMGRIZZLIES_BB (10/7) @ N. Ariz (9/9) 4 other school are also showing serious interest

Also, according to his feed:

Lucas O'Brien avereaged 13pts, & 7 rbs and stock has been rising as of late.

Productive big men are always in demand in the Big Sky, so it will be interesting to see what happens with O'Brien.

Could Portland State Win the Big Sky?

Recently we looked at who might be the third best team in the Big Sky, considering for the sake of the argument that Weber State and Montana would be 1-2. In the post, I consider Portland State perhaps the favorite to be 3rd.

But Craw's Corner has gone a step further, making a bold prediction that Portland State would win the Big Sky:

The Portland State Vikings will win the Big Sky championship this year in men's basketball. Yes those Vikings who play in a clean, sparkling, but awfully small arena, the Stott Center, which is seldom filled, but as noted, has the best band of any school in the country, with the band having an average of what I would guess 50 years old.

While Portland State is long on talent, I personally don't see them winning the Big Sky, and here is why:

- Coach Tyler Geving may someday be a very good coach, but he is not there yet. He is only 38, and after two seasons (albeit marred by some messes left by Ken Bone), there has been one thing about his resume that has stood out - PSU has been terrible defensively. Two years ago they had an AdjD of 112.4 (meaning opponents scored 112.4 points per 100 possessions against the Vikings), which was 338th in the country. Last year, they were down to 113.8, which ranked 334th in the NCAA. I don't care what league you are in, that will not get it done. They need to emphasize defense, and Geving hasn't shown yet that he can do that.

- They don't have a ton of experienced depth. Charles Odum and Chehales Tapscott are their senior leaders. Michael Harthun and Brandon Cataldo are talented but it's tough to say how good they will be. Lateef McMullan looks like he will be a solid contributor coming in as a JUCO. But what will their depth look like? I'm not sure.

- I think Weber State is actually going to be very good this year. Craw says it's "easy to win the Big Sky," but I don't think it will be easy at all to beat Weber State this year. They will be deep at all positions, they have great shooters, and they have an excellent coach in Randy Rahe. To top it off, you know they will be hungry after their preseason top ranking in the Big Sky was derailed by the injury to Damian Lillard. He will be back, and they will be good.

What are all of your thoughts? Does Portland State really have a chance to win the Big Sky?

Things You Should Read

Have had a crazy night... the joys of apartment living, as the (vacant) room above me had a pipe break, causing my ceiling to sprout leaks from about 10 places. I suppose everyone needs one of those stories in their lives...

- The story on Javaris Crittenton was one of the sadder things you'll hear about, but that is not how National Hoops Reports remembers Crittenton - The sad tale of a good kid.

- You may have heard about Maryland signing a mysterious Ukranian big man... well, he is slightly less mysterious to me after reading Jeff Eisenberg from The Dagger's article on Olexiy Len.

- There are a lot of interesting viewpoints to the Andre Drummond signing... another of them is that Alex Oriakhi was even shocked by the news.

- Just some good, solid writing on Stanford, and their attempt to become relevant again in basketball (Josh Childress, where have you gone?)

- Non basketball related, but my alma mater pitched a shutout in their season opener.

- Will have more to say soon another of Craw's Corner's posts, but for now time to take a step back and appreciate the things that we do have in this life. Life is a beautiful thing and we can't ever lose sight of that.

Hope you all have had a great start to your holiday weekend!

How Good Can Gabe Rogers Be?

After the graduation of Cameron Jones, someone is going to need to step up and be the leaders for the Lumberjacks next season. The frontcourt is lacking in established players and star talent, which could a lot of pressure on the backcourt.

Fortunately, NAU has a very talented player back there in Gabe Rogers, who could be a star entering his junior season. Rogers was second team All-Conference last season, so he is no stranger to success. But this year, there will be no Cameron Jones to draw the attention of defenses.

First and foremost, Rogers is an elite shooter from the outside. He shot 46.8% from 3-point range last season, draining 81 of them. Because of this, he posted solid EFG& and ORtg, though not quite as good as you would expect for someone with that high of an outside percentage. The reason is that he only shot 40.1% from 2-point range, which is a very mediocre mark. It is not really an aberration either, because he was at 41.2% his freshman year. An improvement to even a modest 45% would do wonders for his offensive efficiency.

Rogers takes good care of the basketball, posting a pretty solid 15.9% TO Rate, even with using 21.6% of their possessions. However, his Assist rate was also pretty average, at 16.1%. If he is going to be the leader, he has to become a better distributor. While he will be off the ball a bit with Stallon Saldivar in town, he needs to create shots for his teammates more often.

One more improvement would be if he can get to the FT line a little bit more. He is a very good FT shooter, and so some increased attempts would be a nice boost for his scoring and efficiency.

Cameron Jones used 37.6% of NAU's possessions last year, second most of anyone in the NCAA. That is a lot of shots and possessions to make up. Gabe Rogers was second on the team in those areas last season, and even more of the load will fall onto his shoulders this year. If he can improve inside the arc, maintain his great outside shooting, and find a way to get teammates a few more open looks, he could definitely be a member of the First Team All-Conference at the end of 2012.

What Will Brandon Cataldo Provide For Portland State?

I think there's a chance Portland State could make the leap up to third in the Big Sky Conference this season, but they are going to need some guys to step up. They should know what they are going to get from Charles Odum and Chehales Tapscott. We have looked at Michael Harthun and what he could bring to the table this year.

The other key piece could be Brandon Cataldo.

Cataldo is a 6'10'' redshirt freshman out of Rainier, OR. He got injured his senior year of high school (with a broken leg) and spent last year working on his game and getting back into shape, according to the school website. He has the potential to be a great Big Sky player.

Going into his senior year, he was the 10th ranked high school center in the country, and the 2nd highest ranked center on the west coast (though his rankings dropped a little bit because of the injury, pre-injury he was behind some guy named Josh Smith, who might be the best player in the Pac-12 this year). As a junior he was the conference player of the year in his high school conference.

He was a bit of a late riser as a high schooler, but if he can get back to his former shape and explosiveness, he will be one of the top bigs in the Conference. He has excellent hands and moves well for a big man (he has had some weight issues in the past). He is a solid passer as well. Unlike some guys that like to play on the perimeter, he is a true post player that is not afraid to get dirty.

Cataldo will be one of the more interesting stories in the Big Sky this year. If he is back 100% (or close to it), a front-line that involves Tapscott and Cataldo could easily be the best in the Big Sky.

Some Questions on Big Sky Coaches

Some good stuff from Craw's Corner:

Will Jim Hayford be as good in D-1 as he was at D-3? This will be one to watch for sure. I have always been a big proponent that a coach can win at any level, if he is a winner. Hayford had a great run at D-3 Whitworth, built them into a national power. The challenges are much greater at Eastern Washington for Hayford, where he has to worry lots, including making sure his athletes are attending classes. I have always said it does not take much to rise to the top the Big Sky, Eastern has potential to do just that in future years.

I think EWU could be a top 4 team in the Big Sky this season, as they have a lot of talent coming back (and some nice additions)... it will be interesting to see the style of play that Hayford has his teams play.

Will Joe O'Brien win five games at Idaho State? Idaho State is overmatched even in the weak Big Sky and as bad as Idaho State has been under O'Brien, this year could be even worse. I think the only thing that could save him from being terminated at the end of the year would be if his team won 20 games and that is not going to happen, winning 10 would be a successful season and that is not going to happen. In the winter in Idaho, people deserve to watch good basketball, or actually at Idaho State it is been so long since they have seen good basketball, would they even recognize it.

He is spot on here... O'Brien will need a miracle to see one coming. I suppose by the very definition of the word "miracle" it is something that you can't see coming, and that is more than applicable here. It would be a shock if O'Brien is still the coach after this season.