Update on Byron Fulton's Injury

Last week I posted that Byron Fulton may have a knee injury that could keep him out until conference play. Just wanted to update that I heard that he did indeed have his knee scoped, but should be back in a week or two, so it was quite minor.

Fulton should have a big role in WSU offense with his versatility, and he will be counted on to rebound as well.

The info is from Roy Burton of the Standard-Examiner.

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Portland State Holds Off Concordia 96-93 in Exhibition

Portland State took on Concordia in their exhibition, and it probably was not quite as smooth as Coach Tyler Geving was hoping for. PSU needed a basket in the final minute (and a final defensive stop) to hold off Concordia, winning 96-93.

 Coach Geving has said this preseason that he expects the Vikings defense to be improved this year, but giving up 93 points in an exhibition is not a promising start. Ultimately, the exhibition doesn't matter, and perhaps it will not be a harbinger, but certainly they were hoping for a better showing.

Offensively, newcomer Dre Winston was the star, scoring 25 points on 10/18 shooting. Renado Parker had 18 points, and Lateef McMullan chipped in 17 as well.

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Eastern Washington Preview Article

There is a nice article on Eastern Washington's website with a preview for the season. It's Jim Hayford's second year at the helm, and they should be one of the most entertaining and interesting teams to watch all season.

“Our system is predicated on three things,” he explained. “First, we want to push the ball and be a transition team. Two, we want to really take care of the ball and be a low turnover team. And three, we want to shoot the ball well from deep – we are going to recruit players who can shoot it and stretch the defense. When you shoot well from the outside it opens up good things on the inside. When we are playing well offensively, we are doing those things.”

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Soctt Bamforth, Tate Unruh Among Top Shooters in NCAA

Every year, Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports lists the top 50 shooters in America, and this year it features two Big Sky players.

Number six on the list is Scott Bamforth of Weber State:

Damian Lillard may not have been the best shooter on his team the last couple of years. Bamforth made 48.8 percent of his 3's as a sophomore despite battling a shoulder injury and last year proved it was no fluke by making 77-of-192 (40 percent) from deep. Bamforth was also among the nation's leaders from the line last season at 87.5 percent.

Number 23 is Tate Unruh of Northern Colorado:

The Bears were the nation's top 3-point shooting team in the nation last season and Unruh is the best shooter on team. He made 46 percent (60-of-130) and shot 42 percent from deep two years ago.

Congrats to both of those guys, who both have beautiful strokes. Hopefully they make good on the preseason publicity!

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Damian Lillard's First Game

I'm certainly not going to update all of Damian Lillard's game, but wanted to make note of the Weber State product's first game in the NBA.

He finished with 23 points and 11 assists in a win over the Lakers. Quite a debut! From the Elias Sports Bureau:

Damian Lillard made a great first impression by scoring 23 points and adding 11 assists for the Trail Blazers as they topped the Lakers. Lillard joined Oscar Robertson (21 points, 10 assists for the Cincinnati Royals in 1960) and Isiah Thomas (31 points, 11 assists for the Pistons in 1981) as the only players in NBA history with 20 or more points and at least 10 assists in their NBA debuts.

He is still making the Big Sky proud.

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Working on My Preview

Sorry for the dearth of quality posts on the site this week... I have been working on my conference preview, which should hopefully be posted here next Tuesday!

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Byron Fulton May Have An Injury

I haven't really seen this confirmed anywhere, so I just want to make sure it is noted as just something I have heard, but cannot confirm.

The word (off of a Weber State message board... and yes, I have learned what I believe to trust on message boards and what not to) is that Byron Fulton has his knee scoped, and may be out at least until the beginning of conference play.

Fulton is one of their best offensive players and could even start in the frontcourt, so it would be a big loss if he misses significant time. If he does miss time, a player like Joel Bolomboy would be counted on to step up.

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Ken Pomeroy's Big Sky Rankings

If you read this blog much, you know I love Ken Pomeroy. His site is invaluable for college basketball wisdom, and I would recommend anyone that follows the sport to subscribe.

So when he released his preseason rankings, of course I was going to check them out. They are, shall we say, a little bit different from my rankings. Here they are (with national rank in parenthesis):

1. Montana (103) - 16-4
2. Northern Colorado (170) - 13-7
3. Weber State (187) - 13-7
4. North Dakota (203) - 12-8
5. Southern Utah (263) - 10-10
6. Sacramento State (271) - 9-11
7. Eastern Washington (278) - 9-11
8. Portland State (279) - 9-11
9. Montana State (311) - 7-13
10. Northern Arizona (325) - 6-14
11. Idaho State (328) - 6-14

Thoughts?

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Top Newcomer, Per Team

Under each team's profile in the Big Sky Prospectus, they have the newcomer to watch, which I presume they get from someone on the coaching staff, which can make it interesting. Here is who they have listed for each team. As a bonus, after the slash is the newcomer on the team I am most excited to see (didn't want you to think I was being lazy with this post!):

Eastern Washington - G Justin Crogsile / Crogsile
Idaho State - G Chris Hansen / G Tomas Sanchez
Montana - F Spencer Coleman / Coleman
Montana State - G Antonio Biglow / Biglow
North Dakota - none listed / F Jaron Nash
Northern Arizona - G DeWayne Russell / Russell
Northern Colorado - F Derrick Barden / Barden
Portland State - F Lamont Prosser / G Andre Winston
Sacramento State - G Mikh McKinney / McKinney
Southern Utah - none listed / F Jayson Chessman
Weber State - F Davion Berry / F Joel Bolomboy (along with Berry)

Any other newcomer you are excited to see?

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NBC Sports Big Sky Preview

NBC Sports has one of the best college basketball blogs around, and Raphielle Johnson of the site has his Big Sky preview up. Like most others, he has Montana pegged as the favorite to win the conference.

So while the Grizzlies remain the favorites the door has opened a bit wider for the competition in the Big Sky, with Weber State once again the chief challenger. Scott Bamforth and Gelaun Wheelwright are back along with front court standouts Kyle Tresnak and Byron Fulton. Northern Colorado returns four starters led by guard Tate Unruh from a team that was a bit young to be expected to contend last season, but the Bears are ready to go in 2012-13.

Here is his order.

1. Montana
2. Weber State
3. Northern Colorado
4. Sacramento State
5. North Dakota
6. Eastern Washington
7. Portland State
8. Montana State
9. Idaho State
10. Northern Arizona
11. Southern Utah

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Montana State Gets Verbal From Stephan Holm

From Gidal Kaiser of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, MSU has received its second verbal committment of the fall, as guard Stephan Holm has given his verbal. He chose MSU over UC-Riverside (and also had offers from UC-Davis and Idaho State). Gidal has some nice interviews at the link.

Holm is a 6'3'' guard out of Riverton, Utah. He is a good shooter who is unique in that he is a lefty. He may be best known for his buzzer beater to win a state playoff game in double OT (video below). According to Gidal, he averaged 14 points per game last year, and like the "college town atmosphere" of Bozeman.

It's interesting to note that his game is similar to the Bobcats' first recruit, Vance Wentz, in that they are both excellent shooters that will need to work on expanding their game. You can never have enough good shooters, and that appears to be Brad Huse's philosophy for next year's class.



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Sherrod Baldwin Academically Ineligible For Fall Semester

Idaho State is already thin on experience in the backcourt, and they will be a little more thin during the first half of the year, as Sherrod Baldwin has been declared academically ineligible for the fall semester. I saw this first reported by Jeff Landers.

Obviously it is never good when you lose a rotation guy, but it is a loss they should be able to make up for. He averaged five points per game last year, shooting 16/34 from downtown (which is solid), but he shot just 43% from inside the arc. He turned it over more than he assisted it as well. He didn't appear to be in line to start, but should have seen some minutes off the bench.

He is a senior this year, which makes it a little more puzzling than when a young guy has academic issues, because he should know what to expect in the classroom. Hopefully he will use the time away from basketball to really focus on the studies and realize that the most important thing he can get out of his basketball scholarship is a degree.

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A Few Other Verbal Commits

Occasionally, believe it or not, things slip through the cracks here. It has come to my attention this has happened with a few recent verbal commitments which I have not written about, so I wanted to write briefly on some I believe I have missed.

- McKay Cannon signed with Weber State, and will join the team in 2015 following his mission. He also had offers from Montana, Idaho State, and Southern Utah out of the Big Sky. Cannon is a good looking guard that averaged over 14 points and about five assists per game as a sophomore. He appears to be a bit on the small side, so having the extra years of growth while on his mission should help.

- Southern Utah signed 6'1'' Arizona guard John Marshall, a nice looking PG prospect. He is a tough, pass-first point guard prospect, who has displayed good leadership skills throughout his time in high school. His scouting report also talks about how he is a very good defender. It looks like he may need to work on his jumper, but his game should translate well to the Big Sky.

Plus, he won't be lacking for confidence. From his website:

John Grant Marshall should be considered one of basketballs top prospects entering the College level class of 2013.

He was also looked at by Utah State.

- Last, Northern Arizona has had a couple of recruits that I have noted on my recruiting tracker, but haven't written anything about them.

One is 6'8'' Zachary Reynolds, who will come out of Gulf Coast CC in Florida. I haven't been able to find out a ton about him yet.

The other is 6'3'' G Chris Miller, a combo guard out of Arizona. He is described as being a high character kid, a good athlete, and solid midrange scorer. As a junior, he averaged 20.7 points and five rebounds per game. Once again, Jack Murphy is putting together a very stellar class.

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Justin Smith Commits to Idaho State

Idaho State scored their second commitment for 2013, as they have gotten a verbal commit from Colorado wing Justin Smith. He is 6'6'', 195 pounds.

"Smith committed to the Bengals for a variety of reasons.," Colorado Chaos director David Matthews said. "He visited the Pocatello, Idaho campus a few weeks ago and felt extremely comfortable with new Idaho State coach Bill Evans and also really enjoyed the atmosphere in Pocatello."

One article says that he averaged 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists last year. Another says he averaged 12.4 points and 5 rebounds per game. He plays on a high school that went 27-1 last year, and he hit the game winning three point shot in the state title game.

One report says that he scores well both at the rim, and has a nice outside shot. He is an athletic guy that is a good defender (which is probably a given when Bill Evans is recruiting him), and could have a chance to play immediately for the Bengals.

Very nice signing for ISU. In past year the Bengals have struggled to pick up early commitments, so this is a very positive sign for the program.

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Will Cherry is the 27th Best PG in America

According to CBS:

Will probably miss the first few weeks of the season with a broken foot, but he's on the NBA's radar due to his athleticism, improved offensive game and ability to dominate a game on the defensive side of the floor. -- J.G.

Last year, Damian Lillard starting the year high on people's lists, and ended the year as the best point guard in the country. This year, if Will Cherry is able to come back fully healthy from his foot injury, I suspect that by the end of the year he could be among the top ten best point guards in America. And that might be too low. He is simply that good, as he combines an improving offensive game with perhaps being the best perimeter defender in the country.

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Summary of Preseason Coaches Conference Call

On Thursday morning, all of the coaches gathered for a conference call, with the media getting six minutes or so to ask them questions. The audio of the call can be found here. I decided I would provide a quick summary as well of what the coaches say, just in case you don't want to listen! Surely I am missing some things, but here are some of the key things they touched on.

EASTERN WASHINGTON COACH JIM HAYFORD
- Hayford talked a little bit about the trip to Canada over the offseason, and how that was helpful with so many newcomers.
- When asked about Collin Chiverton, he said he is a lot healthier, and that he is looking for more consistency from him. He said when Chiverton is good, he is really good, and when he is bad, he is really bad. More consistency will help the whole team.
- I asked him about the PG spot, and he said that transfer Justin Crogsile has the ability to be a special player in the Big Sky. He also had good words for freshman Daniel Hill, who has played a lot of minutes in Australia. Hayford noted that the PG spot is extremely important in his offense.
- He talked about Parker Kelly, and how he was a very hard worker and a big part of the team down the stretch last year.
- I asked him about Venky Jois, who has gotten a lot of praise. He said in a closed scrimmage, Jois pulled down 20 rebounds. He is a very athletic and intelligent player. He said that Jois and fellow freshman Thomas Reuter have the chance to both be four year starters.

IDAHO STATE COACH BILL EVANS
- Evans talked about his past experience in the Big Sky (as an assistant at Montana) has given him a good feel for the conference. He is familiar with the teams and coaches.
- He said the transition  has been made easier by the fact that he has some really good kids with the program. Even though he is the third head coach in two years, the transition has been smooth, with most of the credit for that going to the kids.
- He talked about how it will be an emotional return to Cedar City when Idaho State travels to take on Southern Utah, where he used to be the head coach. He believes that even though the Summit League has really good teams up top, and is a little more athletic than the Big Sky, that the Big Sky is more competitive top to bottom. One of the biggest reasons for this is the stability of the conference.

MONTANA COACH WAYNE TINKLE
- I asked him right off the bat if he was concerned about the frontcourt with all of the losses, and he said it was one of his biggest concerns. He is happy to have Mathias Ward back, and Eric Hutchison has really stepped up and grabbed the 5 spot. He said they were hoping to redshirt Andy Martin, but circumstances mean he will be playing now. He also said Jake Wiley has been a pleasant surprise, and that he is the most athletic post player he has had at Montana since he got there.
- He talked about the decision for Will Cherry not to have surgery, and said it was the safer route for his future. He will be getting the cast off this week, and they are hoping he can return by early December.
- He mentioned that Kareem Jamar is a guy that they are counting on to be a leader, on and off the court. They toyed with the idea of playing him at PG, but they don't want to take away from his skills on the wing.
- He talked a lot about Jordan Gregory and Keron DeShields, the two guys trying to replace Will Cherry. Gregory is a guy that they saw as someone that can lead a team, as he can be a vocal leader. He is very physically strong, and can get almost anywhere he wants on the court through his strength. He is also a very good shooter. DeShields is a bit more unorthodox and herky jerky, but also seems to get where he wants. He is a very confident player (which Tinkle said can be good and bad), who is very athletic.
- Tinkle did say that the thing they are most trying to preach with the young PGs is that they don't need to score a lot of points to get time and to impress the coaches. He compared it to a young QB, who you just want to not be the reason you lose a game.

MONTANA STATE COACH BRAD HUSE
- Huse talked about how even though there are a lot of new guys with the program, they do return a core group of guys that will provide continuity for them.
- He talked about how the frontcourt production will be a bit by committee, but that Flavien Davis, Paul Egwuonwu, and Eric Norman have all really asserted themselves. He has also been pleased with the freshmen in the frontcourt.  He believes this year's group doesn't quite have the size of last year's group, but that they are more skilled.
- He believes that the frontcourt defense will come down to having the right mentality.
- I asked a question about newcomer Antonio Biglow, and Huse talked about how talented and unselfish he is. Huse made sure to note he did not want to overhype him (I noted in my question that Biglow was much hyped) or put too much on his shoulders, but noted that he has the ability to play both guard spots. Huse has been very pleased with his approach.

NORTH DAKOTA COACH BRIAN JONES
- I asked him if he was worried at all about the team having to go on long roadtrips whenever they played any road games in the conference, but he said that the players and coaching staff have learned a lot about how to handle those from the last two years in the Great West.
- Jones said he is a big believer that you win at this level with great guard play, and he feels very good about his talent and depth there, as they return a bunch of talent.
- I asked him about Troy Huff and his potential. Jones said there is no doubt that Huff is as athletically gifted as anyone in the conference, but his biggest hurdle is mental. Last year, he did not sneak up on anyone as he did the year before, and he was impressed with how he battled through it. He did say that they will do their best to have a balanced scoring attack.
- I asked him about the status of Jaron Nash, the transfer from Texas Tech. He said that the NCAA has requested more medical documentation that they are working on sending over to them. He just wants to make sure that the NCAA has everything they need to make the best decision for everyone. He didn't say it but I will - it would be a shame if the NCAA does not grant Nash immediate eligibility.

NORTHERN ARIZONA COACH JACK MURPHY
- Murphy started off my talking about how the seniors (six of them) have been through a lot, but have really come in really willing to work hard, and to bring along a lot of the younger guys in the program. This has obviously been a big help for the transition.
- The team will be relying a lot on seniors Gabe Rogers and Stallon Saldivar for leadership. They will be relied on in the backcourt in many ways. They are counting on Saldivar to do even more offensively, and provide a bit more scoring in addition to his passing.
- Of the big guys, Ephraim Ekanem is a guy that has really stood out to the staff, and seems to be in line for a starting gig. The other guy is Gaellen Bewernick. Coach Murphy called both of them "lunch pail type of players." He did say there is a lot of good competition after that, but those two were head and shoulders above the rest.
- He talked about freshman guard DeWayne Russell, who he said is a winner and plays with a ton of heart. He takes care of the ball and makes good decisions. It sounded like he will be relied on immediately. Murphy even said there could be times when he would be on the court with Rogers and Saldivar, as they want to do what they can to get their best players on the court.

NORTHERN COLORADO COACH BJ HILL
- Hill talked about how they are returning a ton of guys, though he (humorously) noted that can be a good or bad thing when it was a 9 win team. A big key will be the backcourt taking care of the ball.
- He talked about Derrick Barden, and said a big thing is that even with his strong credentials, he is a very coachable guy with no ego. He is very versatile and good around the rim, but can also step out and stretch the defense.
- He talked about the turnovers and defensive issues from last year, and how those are generally the toughest areas for a young team.
- He ended with talking about how Tate Unruh and Tevin Svhihovec really have challenged each other and pushed each other, and how they will rely a lot on them. He said that more than anyone else, those two have worked hard in the offseason at adding different things to their game.

PORTLAND STATE COACH TYLER GEVING
- Geving talked extensively early about how the team's defense should be improved this year, and that he has been happy with the team's effort. In particular, he noted that Andre Winston on the wing has the potential to be one of the best defenders in the Big Sky. He said Marcus Hall is another guy that brings a defensive presence.
- I asked him about Renado Parker, who he said was a warrior in the low post, especially in the second half of league play last year. He is a good rebounder, and a load down low who can have a really good year for PSU. I am also very high on Parker.
- After losing Chehales Tapscott and Charles Odum, he said they will be a lot more balanced offensively, and try to make up for that scoring hit with four or five guys.
- When asked about how there is no freshmen on the roster, he said it was not necessarily by design, but that he really liked the veteran makeup of the team, with no players under the age of 20. After losing Tapscott and Odum, they felt like they wanted to get JUCO help.

SACRAMENTO STATE COACH BRIAN KATZ
- Katz started off talking about how this is the best team that they have had in a while, but ultimately have to play the games. He talked about how they have a lot of experienced talent back (five guys that averaged around double figures in scoring), and will have a pretty set 8 man rotation.
- He said that three guys have really shown they can step up and be contributors off the bench, and they are Mikh McKinney, Cody Demps, and Joey Quigley.
- He had a lot of praise for Dylan Garrity, who he said is unique in that he is so pass-first. He is the best shooter on the team and may well be the best scorer, but he has an infectious unselfishness. Katz also had good things to say about Joe Eberhard, and how versatile he is with the ability to play three positions.
- I asked him about Konner Veteto and his foul trouble issues, and he said it is something that they have worked on everyday with him. They made it a big priority, but he says until he shows he can stay out of foul trouble in games, you still have to consider him foul prone.

SOUTHERN UTAH COACH NICK ROBINSON
- Robinson said they have had good enthusiasm and energy in practice, and talked about how it is a new year for everyone. He talked about one of the biggest challenges is whether or not players really buy into the system, and the seniors and leaders of the team have really done that here.
- He believes one of their strengths will be their balance. He also talked about his philosophy on defense being a strong man to man team.
- They have a difficult non-conference schedule, which he said would allow them to better prepare for the Big Sky season. They have a non-conference tournament that would prepare them for the Big Sky tournament, which is obviously where they want to be at the end of the year.
- One guy he talked about was newcomer Jayson Chessman, who will have an impact from 15 feet and in.

WEBER STATE COACH RANDY RAHE
- Rahe started off by saying his team isn't very good yet, but that probably echoes the sentiments of many coaches at this time of the year. He thinks they can be competitive by conference time.
- He continually talked about how one of the biggest things they are losing from the departure of Damian Lillard is leadership, and how they are looking for somebody to fill that leadership role.
- As is pretty obvious, he talked about the fact that they will be more balanced this season.
- He said that Gelaun Wheelwright and Jordan Richardson are both playing some PG, but it's a spot they haven't played that much at before this season. Another sign of how much Lillard was counted on last year.

Anything stand out to you?

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2013 Recruiting Tracker is Updated

The recruiting tracker should be fully updated! Please take a look and let me know if I am missing anything. With the big whirlwind of verbal commitments rolling in, there is definitely a strong chance I am missing someone… please let me know! And as always, if you have any tips or links, please email them or tweet them to me, or even leave a comment on any of the posts on this site.

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Portland State Signs Kyle Benton

Portland State has reeled in another recruit with forward Kyle Benton. He verball committed last week, joining Zach Gengler as commits for the 2013 recruiting class for the Vikings.

Benton is a 6'6'' forward out of Long Beach, CA, and the second high school recruit for Tyler Geving. Over the past few years, he has gone hard after junior college guys to build the program back up, but now he has started this class off with two high schoolers, which is probably a good trend for the long-term.

He projects as a four at the college level (and PSU has had a lot of success with shorter power forwards), with range out to 15 feet. He is solid athletically and has good length, according to scouting reports.

I haven't been able to find a stat line at all, but it seems he needs to improve a bit on rebounding, and his physicality. While he has a solid face-up game, he will need to work his back to the basket game. This will come in time.

PSU is off to a nice start.

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A Look At Northern Arizona's Rotation

In both the coaches and media poll, Northern Arizona is being picked to finish last in the Big Sky. Regardless of whether that seems too low (we will get to that in time), there is no denying the fact that NAU has the potential to be one of the most entertaining teams in the conference this season.

For one thing, the roster will be very guard-oriented, which can lead to an exciting style of play in the right system. It appears that new coach Jack Murphy wants to play that system. He told Blue Ribbon that the philosophy would be to, "Score early, get the ball up quick, and I'm not opposed to early shot - especially ones that are open, really an attack mentality. Defensively, we're going to have to play some different ways to promote that offense."

This is good on three fronts. One, players love playing in that type of system, and so it could help in recruiting. Two, they don't really have the personnel this year to be competitive playing a more traditional type of game (we will get to that), so an up-and-down style is probably their best chance to win this year. Three, Flagstaff is over 7,000 feet, so they could have a built in advantage there.

In the backcourt, they are led by two seniors in Gabe Rogers and Stallon Saldivar. Two years ago, Rogers was one of the best shooters in the conference. He struggled after returning from a shoulder injury last year. If he is back to 100%, he can be a very good scorer. Saldivar is one of the two or three best passers in the conference, and should have a great understanding of getting guys shots in his senior year.

Behind those two guys, there are some interesting options. The most intriguing is freshman DeWayne Russell, who led the state of Arizona with 27 ppg last year as a high school senior. The rest of his stat line was also impressive - over five assists, four rebounds, and four steals per game. He should be a big-time performer from the get go, and it wouldn't shock me to see occasional sets with Rogers, Russell, and Saldivar in the game.  

Michael Dunn should also get time in the backcourt, as he made 22 threes last year. Blake Hamilton and Bryce Gosar are two more freshmen that could get time in the frontcourt, but they could also be redshirt candidates.

Upfront, their best player is Gaellen Bewernick, who stands at 6'6''. He may have been their best rebounder last year. In Murphy's system, I would suspect that he will play a lot at the four again, though it wouldn't surprise me if he started games at small forward. Ephraim Ekanem, Ben Olaynika, and Max Jacobsen will all have chances to get time at the four and five spots, and all are more traditional big men returning to the roster. Len Springs was brought in as a JUCO recruit, and he could be a presence defensively.

The more interesting option up front could be Jordyn Martin, who was Murphy's first recruit. He is 6'7'', and averaged 11 and 9 last season. With the team likely building for the future, it would make sense that Martin could see a lot of time.

There are a lot of unknowns with a new coach and some new players, but NAU should be consistently entertaining. Not a lot of Big Sky teams try to pick up the pace a lot, so it would be a welcome change if the Lumberjacks do. They seem to have the personnel to make a lot of things interesting if they can push the temp.

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Marko Kovacevic Commits to Utah

Marko Kovacevic was supposed to be a key member of Montana's frontcourt this season before he was ruled ineligible because of academic issues.

Now he will definitely never suit up for the Grizzlies, as the Salt Lake Tribune reports that he has committed to the University of Utah, and will play there after spending another year at Western Nebraska Community College.

He looked like he would have been a solid start for the Grizzlies, and the Big Sky is a little worse since he is not eligible to play this year. Hopefully he has a successful career.

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