SB Nation - Loyola Marymount Lions

Defend That, Digger! Week 2

BoilerTMill — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:35:10 -0000

First things first: An apology is owed to Roll Bama Roll for the uncharacteristic attack yesterday after their e-mail. Simply put, it was uncalled for and I am a better writer than that. I let my emotions get the better of me and that kind of crap rarely happens here, especially since 99% of comments are positive and most of my commentary is nothing but complimentary. If I can be civil when it comes to Notre Dame, a team a despise, I can be civil when presented with a simple e-mail.

The lesson in this, of course, is that maybe even technology isn't infallible. They simply didn't get my e-mail. Sure, Skynet might have prevented my inappropriate outburst, but that whole dooming humanity thing just isn't worth it. I'll be the one that looks like an ass instead.

Now on to Defend That, Digger, our weekly feature where we point out that the the Big East and ACC aren't exactly the end all/be all conference that ESPN and other writers would have you believe them to be. Both conferences have certainly had some great wins to speak of on the season, but this weekend was fantastic for tearing down the perception that the Big East is king.

A better place to focus our frustrations.

Exhibit A: Loyola Marymount 87, Notre Dame 85

It's a good thing that this wasn't the days of Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers. Otherwise Notre Dame might have lost by 40. Perhaps that idea of playing a more national schedule isn't such a good idea. This is just too good to be true after ND's diatribe about not wanting to play state schools. The Lions are a 4-7 team. Defend That, Digger!

Exhibit B: Iona 82, Providence 73

Providence is complaining about this being the 4^th game in 8 days. Hmm, interesting. That's kind of like playing in the NCAA Tournament with a Friday-Sunday first and second round, then a Thursday-Saturday Regional. How awful and unfair. I am sure if Providence made its own non-conference schedule it wouldn't do that. Oh, wait, they do make their own non-conference schedule. Defend that, Digger!

Exhibit C: Western Carolina 91, Louisville 83

Fear the Catamounts! Western Carolina and Purdue very nearly became the answer to a trivia question in 1996. Purdue was a #1 seed facing the 16^th seeded Catamounts. The Boilers pulled off a two-point first round victory when not one, but two 3-point attempts for Western Carolina were missed in the final 10 seconds. We were that close to being the laughingstock of 1 seeds everywhere. 13 years later Western Carolina sort of gets its revenge, knocking off a #1 seed in last year's tournament on its home floor. At least Western Carolina is 10-1 with its only loss to #2 Texas. Clemson had better watch out in its next game. Defend That, Digger!

Exhibit D: Indiana 74, Pittsburgh 64

The Big Ten's worst team a year ago (and likely a lower third team this year) beats a 31-win, #1 seed from last season. I don't need to say anything else other than Defend That, Digger!

Exhibit E: Temple 75, #3 Villanova 65

In Villanova's defense this was a tough Philly Big 5 game. You can basically throw out the records in those games. Villanova has had way too many close calls against the like of George Mason and Fairleigh Dickenson (led by one at halftime). Temple is a legitimately good team with losses to St. Joseph's and Georgetown. Still, Defend That, Digger!

Exhibit F: Wisconsin Green Bay 88, Wisconsin 84 OT

Crap, how did that one get in there. Wisconsin gets bonus points for having the guts to play the Phoenix on the road, but still. Green Bay followed it up with a 24 point loss at Oakland. You win this round, Digger.

Exhibit G: Seeing Digger Phelps in drag for a play during the Purdue-Alabama broadcast

As one reader said during the GameThread: I am leaving my TV on pause for this to see if it will burst into flames. Please don't even talk about this, Digger.

"They are who we thought they were": 11/29-12/6 edition

everydayezag — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:48:29 -0000

More photos » by Rajah Bose - AP

Mark Few is probably wondering why the WCC decided to essentially take this week off and lose every meaningful game played.

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It was just one week ago when I was praising the improvements the WCC had made and how close this conference was to emerging on the national scene. After great performances by Gonzaga, Portland, and USD on the national stage, the national media quickly began discussing how the WCC might even be equal to the Pac 10. However, after a demoralizing week by nearly every team in this conference, we can probably stop the clamoring for this to be a two or even three bid league. Instead, Gonzaga will need to spend January and February making sure they don't lose, because the assumption that this league is Gonzaga and the 7 Dwarfs will sadly continue. Unfortunately, this is what happens when teams in mid-major leagues throw away great opportunities like Portland and USD did.

1) Gonzaga (6-2): 74-69 win vs. Washington State; 77-75 loss vs. Wake Forest

It pains me to say that this team was literally some made free throws and a couple smarter plays away from playing a top 10 match up against Duke at Madison Square Garden. As much as I don't like to assume any games will be automatic wins, I don't see anyway that this team will possibly lose games to Augustana and Davidson. However, one thing that I continue to like about this team is the toughness they play with and the physicality that they demonstrate every night. Also, as opposed to previous teams that have peaked in November and December, it's clear that the coaching staff is still trying to figure out exactly what each guy can bring to the table. This will make for a couple more head scratching performances, but should also make for one of the better teams in the country in March.

2) St. Mary's (6-1): 78-71 win @ San Jose St.; 68-63 win @ Utah St.

While Portland and San Diego struggled this week, the Gaels pulled off two very impressive wins. This group really showed some moxie in the win over San Jose St., as they came back from a 15 point deficit to earn the victory over a very underrated team. The one weakness I see with this group is depth, as they have only five guys who really make significant contributions on a nightly basis. However, these two wins over San Jose St. and Utah St. are very impressive, and lets hope the Gaels can send a big message when they travel to Oregon on Saturday.

3) Portland (5-3): 86-82 loss vs. Portland St; 68-48 loss @ Idaho

If you want to see a blueprint for how to become irrelevant in one week, just look at what the Portland Pilots have done. After finally securing a top 25 ranking for the first time in 50 years, the Pilots choked away a comfortable lead against Portland St, and then followed that up by laying an egg in Moscow. While the Idaho loss is galling because of the final score, the Portland St. loss at home is the most stunning. You just can't simply lose games like that if you want to be in the hunt for an at-large bid come March.

4) Santa Clara (4-4): 79-68 win @ UCSB; 66-63 loss vs. UNLV

Santa Clara was a couple baskets away from being the #3 team on this list. However, after jumping out to an eight point halftime lead against UNLV, the Broncos just couldn't quite hold on for the win. Unfortunately, the news became even worse when it was announced that Kevin Foster, who leads the team with 19.8 points per game, will likely be out for the season with a foot injury. With that said, the Broncos clearly played hard without him in the loss to UNLV, and hopefully some guys will take advantage of the added playing time and step up.

5) San Diego (4-5): 69-62 loss vs. San Diego St.; 58-55 loss @ UC Riverside; 69-37 loss @ Fresno St.

I'm beginning to get to the point where I worry about the mental makeup of the Toreros. After back-to-back tough losses against good competition, USD completely imploded in the loss to Fresno St. Brandon Johnson has been suspended for disciplinary issues, which has become a theme under Billy Grier. Lets hope that the hangover from those close losses doesn't extend much more, because the Toreros have a huge game against New Mexico on Wednesday night.

6) LMU (3-6): 91-72 win vs. Academy of Art; 76-70 loss @ Wyoming

After securing a fairly simple win against the Academy of Art ( I was unaware this was a school prior to this recap), the Lions threw away a huge opportunity when they blew a lead in the last three minutes against Wyoming. I know I say it every week about this team, but the talent is there for them to significantly improve and be a threat by January. However, as is the case with many young teams, there is still a long ways to go before they know how to win close games.

7) Pepperdine (3-5): 83-77 loss @ Cal Poly

Here is another case of a WCC team conceding a comfortable win. The Waves led by 10 points at the half against Cal Poly, but then allowed 52 second half points to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The one positive aspect of the loss is the fact that Pepperdine found a couple guys to compliment Keion Bell. In fact, Jonathan Dupre' led the team in scoring with 19 points, while Bell scored 18 and dished out five assists.

8) USF (2-6): 78-54 loss @ Colorado; 69-43 loss @ BYU

There really isn't much to say about USF at this point in the season. They were embarrassed in back-to-back losses on the road and continue to waste the great production of Dior Lowhorn. In fact, if you want to get a sense for why USF lost both these games, just go back and read every addition of the WCC Power Rankings I have written in the past year. Until the Dons can learn to surround a great player with decent talent, they will continue to languish at the bottom of these rankings.

Wyoming takes out Loyola Marymount

The Road — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:37:00 -0000

Final - 12.5.2009	1	2	Total
Loyola Marymount Lions	31	39	70
Wyoming Cowboys	42	34	76

Complete Coverage >

The Cowboys led early but Loyola Marymount made things close with a second half surge. Up 42-31 at the half it looked like Wyoming was cruising to an easy victory. Loyola went on a 19-4 run to open the second half to pull slightly ahead. The game was close the rest of the way until Wyoming went on a 10-1 run to secure a 76-70 victory.

Ryan Dermody made the most of his start putting up 15 points and was 4 of 7 from behind the arc. Desmar Jackson had 13 points in 16 minutes and Adam Waddell added 12 while making 8 of 10 free throws. Boubacar Syalla fouled out but had 6 points 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

The Lions dominated the Cowboys on the boards 47-27 and were +13 on offensive rebounds. Kevin Young led Loyola with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Drew Viney the usual leading scorer for the Lions was held to 7 points. 22 Lion turnovers led to 23 Cowboy points.

With the win the Cowboys improve to 4-4 on the year with the Lions dropping to 3-6. The Cowboys have next week off until facing Northern Colorado on the 12th.

Cowboys back in action against Loyola Marymount

The Road — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:04:04 -0000

Next Game

Loyola Marymount Lions
@ Wyoming Cowboys

Saturday, Dec 5, 2009, 6:00 PM PST
Arena-Auditorium

Complete Coverage >

The Wyoming Cowboys (3-4) host the Loyola Marymount Lions (3-5) tonight at 7pm MST. The Pokes should well rested after having five days off after playing four games in five days. The Cowboys dropped three of those four games with the only win coming over the Pepperdine Waves on Sunday.

The Cowboys have struggled of offense without F Afam Muojeke the teams leading scorer (17 pts) who has been out with a knee injury. Muojeke is likely to miss tonight's game as well. G A.J. Davis has stepped up nicely for the Pokes putting up 20, 18 and 19 points in three of the last four games.

Loyola Marmount is led by 6-7 sophomore Drew Vinney and his 18.6 points a game. The Oregon transfer has been shooting lights out so far this season and is hitting 54% of his 3pt shots. 6-10 Edgar Garibay pulls down over 6 rebounds a game in 23 minutes but has struggled with foul trouble.

The Lions and Cowboys have both faced Boise State this season. The Cowboys won 87-61 while the Lions lost 87-90 in their season opener.

Moving on to chapter two of the 2009-10 season

Zach B — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:29:47 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Portland guard T.J. Campbell has improved greatly since last season. Pretty remarkable when you consider T.J. was the WCC newcomer of the year in 2008-09. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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It's hard to believe that for as long as we've been waiting for the season to get here, it now feels like the first six games have passed in the blink of an eye. As you know, the Zags have begun the year with a bang. A 5-1 record is something Gonzaga fans have taken for granted over the years as Mark Few has always prepared his teams to begin the season well. When you think about everything this team lost from a year ago, it's hard to find another season where Coach Few did a better job coaching up a team. I immediately think of the 2006-07 season when the Zags lost Adam Morrison and J.P. Batista but I'd still give the nod to our current group of Bulldogs.

Depending on what kind of team we have, each year seems to take on a different attitude. Last year, the goals were different because we were picked by many to be a final four team, had a roster with four NBA hopefuls, and played in a conference where it was basically a two-horse race with everyone else lust meddling around. As we look at this year and after our fast start, I think that this team has got to feel like they're sitting on top of the world. I belive that it is very important for Mark Few to bring them back to reality and turn the pages on their fast start and get them ready for the next phase of their season which is the real meat of the schedule. If I had to title this chapter of the season it would have to be "Sustain". If we learned anything from last year, it is to take a college basketball season in stride. Gonzaga got off to a ridiculously quick start and won the Old Spice Classic but got taken to the woodshed in mid-to-late December by the likes of Arizona, Connecticut, Portland State, and Utah. With each of these losses happening in their own special and gut-wrenching ways, I think it is important as fans to realize that these issues can arise with even the most talented of teams.

With that being said, it's important to take a look back on the start of the season and understand just how difficult the rest of the 2009-10 season will be.

Mark Few makes a living off of fast starts

Just looking at the past five seasons in Mark Few's tenure and it is hard not to be impressed with the way his teams start the season. In that span, Mark Few has only lost games to Washington, Connecticut, Butler, Texas Tech, and Michigan State. During the same time he has defeated programs like Michigan State, Maryland (twice), Tennessee, North Carolina, Cincinnati, and Wisconsin. These lists are qualified within the first six games of the season but you get the idea that Mark Few knows what he is doing when he begins a season. Five losses in the past five years' first six games (convoluted, I know) is extremely impressive. When you look across the program and see highly ranked teams consistently lay eggs in early season play, it's easy to understand why this is such an amazing feat. So many times, we see bubble teams in the NCAA Tournament make or break their bid with how they did in their early season nonconference games. In college basketball, it's pretty easy to get buried in the public eye before conference play begins. If you look at a team like Oklahoma that went to Alaska and played back-to-back terrible games in losing efforts to San Diego and Houston, they have their work cut out for them to impress the country because those are two very bad losses when March rolls around.

Our schedule is behaving very oddly

Typically around this time of the year, we write a post or talk about just how horrendous our December schedule is and how awful the West Coast Conference is. This year, the December slate is beginning to look extremely appetizing and seems to get simpler by the day. Next month, Gonzaga will only be making one legitimate road trip to New York City to play the Duke Blue Devils. The great thing is that, during the month, the Zags will be getting Washington State, Wake Forest, and Davidson, and Oklahoma all in the state of Washington. With all due respect to those teams on the schedule that we get in the state, I have no reason to believe why we can't defeat them all judging by the way they have begun the season. Wake Forest is the only one that I really haven't seen play yet but that will all change on December 1st when the play Purdue and then four days later when they visit Spokane. Washington State has been winning but rather ugly and is one of those teams where if you stop one guy (Klay Thompson), you stop WSU. Davidson is obviously down this season after losing Stephen Curry but played well earlier when they took Butler deep into the game. Oklahoma, as I've already mentioned, is REALLY struggling but they could get it together come late December. Their is too much talent on that team to not make a run. Duke is obviously the remaining crown jewel of this schedule. Defeat them, and Gonzaga has their signature win and it'll prove that this team can sustain.

The other side of the coin: the WCC

We all know about the Pac-10's state this season. There are really only two teams worth mentioning this season. Cal is one of them but has been really banged up to start the season. The other one, sadly, is the University of Washington. Other than that, the conference is either really young (the Arizonas and Oregon State) or really bad (the SoCal schools). The WCC has taken advantage of both aspects of this conference and has given this conference some fun early season wins. Portland defeated in-state rival Oregon and then treated UCLA like a D-2 school and beat them 74-47. They've gone on to also beat Minnesota and now have the chance to really stun the country as they match up with West Virginia this evening. As impressive as Gonzaga has been, Portland has the chance to put together an even better start to the year. They've already beaten two Pac-10 teams and a Big-10 team (better than Wisconsin). If they can upset the Mountaineers, they may have a better top 25 argument than our beloved Zags. Saint Mary's has also had a nice start to the year with a dominating win over tourney hopeful San Diego State and a down to the wire loss to Vanderbilt. They have Oregon coming up on the schedule. San Diego defeated a dismal Stanford team in the opening game of their season and is now about to play in the championship game of the Great Alaska Shootout after beating Oklahoma and Houston. Brandon Johnson is back and has instantly been reinstated as the most exciting player to watch in the conference along with Keion Bell. The bottom half of the WCC is still a pretty serious work in progress but that didn't stop Loyola Marymount from upsetting USC. That might be the most stunning of all the upsets so far in the conference. I know USC is in turmoil but LMU has defined turmoil the past calendar year. For them to upset a school that has unfathomable resources like USC is just shocking on many levels.

Do we need to worry about the almighty NBA?

This is now a very real and present danger for this Gonzaga team. Elias Harris should be a household name in college basketball fans house after the month of December and Robert Sacre has shown tremendous growth in his post game. When you think about Rob's combination of size and post improvement, you have to wonder if he'll be lured by the professional ranks. He's only a redshirt sophomore so we could have two more years with Rob after this one but I think he'll leave early; not this season, but next. He's still a bit raw on the boards and on defense to make that jump and he has plenty of time for the NBA. Elias Harris is an interesting story. He's already got the size, the versatility, and the energy to make many scouts take a long look at him. Harris has said that attending college in the states has always been a dream of his but I'm sure he also looked at the exposure college basketball gets here and liked that as he considered his future. For the life of me, I have no clue how this kid was buried in the German pro leagues but he has definitely burst on the scene stateside. I don't think he'll be a one and done. Rob and Elias have to know that what they have is remarkable and that next year they could take Gonzaga further than they have every gone before. At least this is my hope.

Thursday Zags Around the Web - Need more basketball!

Zach B — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:30:16 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Former Gonzaga Bulldog and current Detroit Piston Austin Daye had one of the better games of his young career last night against Portland. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

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It's never easy to find things to take your mind off Gonzaga basketball once it has started but here are a few articles and links for you to check out while waiting for Friday. Included in today's ZATW are a new potential recruit for 2011, some interesting Maui quotes, and a look at the WCC. We have a very exciting batch of stories lined up for the rest of the day so make sure to check in often or follow us on twitter for our latest updates!

With that being said, here is the news for the day...

--- Lincoln's Coley: Mended arm, amended game | TOP SPORTS - The News Tribune | Seattle-Tacoma News

Local Lincoln High School prospect Damani Coley had a nice article written about him in The News Tribune. Coley is a 6'7'' wing who has a ceiling of 6'10''. Sounds like an intriguing prospect, but like all kids destined to grow a lot in high school, he is wiry. Why does this article matter, you ask?

Pac-10 schools Cal and Washington State, as well as Gonzaga, Seattle University and others, have taken an interest.

I think we all know that, in terms of recruiting, there is interest and there is interest. I feel like the latter is going towards guys like Wiltjer, Bell Jr., and Nick Johnson but Coley seems like a nice prospect.

--- Colorado, Texas Southern Quotes - CUBuffs.com—Official Athletics Web site of the University of Colorado

No, we aren't looking past IPFW but with Colorado's victory last night over Texas Southern, there were some questions regarding their next game against Gonzaga in Maui. In this article are some quotes from Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik, and guards Cory Higgins and Alec Burks about their upcoming match up with Gonzaga. None of the quotes are really worth mentioning here but it's a good read and should give you an idea of where CU is right now.

--- Colorado men's basketball team must get better on glass - Boulder Daily Camera

Colorado was outrebounded by Texas Southern last night. In fact, Colorado only grabbed 25 rebounds last night! I expect a heyday from the big men come Maui.

continue reading after the jump for Austin Daye news, a look at the WCC, and closing the book on MSU...

--- Portland 87, Detroit 81: Trail Blazers squeeze out a win | The Blazers Beat - OregonLive.com

Austin Daye with 7 points on 3-5 shooting with a couple of boards. Played great during the Pistons frenetic comeback in the fourth quarter. They fell short in the end but it was great to see Austin get the nod down the stretch.

--- UC Irvine rallies past Loyola Marymount 82-76 - San Jose Mercury News

Tough loss for LMU but Drew Viney scored 30 points in the losing effort for the Lions.

--- Toreros Put Away Point Loma, 84-65 - SAN DIEGO OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Matt Dorr had a career-high 18 points as San Diego dominated Point Loma. They'll get their first real test of the season as they travel to Alaska for the Great Alaska Shootout. Their first opponent: the Oklahoma Sooners.

--- Gonzaga Hoops: Young, but Good

Decent article from what is left of the Seattle PI. Basically a nice column about Gonzaga that says we should be in the top 25 that devolves into a discussion about the Gonzaga-UW series. It ain't gonna happen with these two coaches, time to get over it.

--- SLAM ONLINE | " Deconstructing an Early Season Game

A nice take by SLAM magazine on how to digest these early season games. Obviously the Zags impressed the author...and I love hearing the term "reloading".

--- Spokesman.com | Blogs | SportsLink | Day after Michigan State

Jim Meehan always puts out good reads at the Spokesman Review and he comes in with another following the MSU game.

WCC Power Rankings: Opening week edition

everydayezag — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:37:46 -0000

More photos » by Rajah Bose - AP

Matt Bouldin is one of the many reasons that Gonzaga will start out on the top of the WCC Power Rankings.

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Now that every team in the WCC has officially kicked off their season, we figured it was time to introduce the WCC Power Rankings. For those readers that are new to the site, every Sunday night I take a look at the past week of WCC action and put together a weekly power rankings of the conference. Last season, I made the mistake of not having Gonzaga at the top of my rankings on two separate occasions, and clearly that wasn't my smartest moment as a sports writer. Despite the returning talent at Portland, I am taking the approach that in order to knock Gonzaga off the top spot, these other teams must beat elite competition. I vow to longer be influenced by a great win-loss record when the competition is equal to my high school team (I'm looking at you St. Mary's). With that said, here is my take on how the WCC stacks up now that every team has opened the season.

1) Gonzaga (1-0): 94-75 win vs. MVSU

Like I mentioned before, until one of these other WCC teams goes out and beats some elite competition during the opening months of the season, I don't anticipate putting Gonzaga anywhere else. In the opener, the Zags looked very raw and very talented. It's clear that the skill and athleticism might be at the highest level in recent memory, but it may take a little longer for everything to gel. However, with Rob Sacre (17 and 9) and Elias Harris (18 and 7) playing so well in the post, this team will be able to handle nearly any front court they see.

2) Portland (1-0): 64-58 win @ Eastern Washington

Although it wasn't the blowout that some may have assumed, Portland deserves a lot of credit for going on the road and picking up a victory. The back court of T.J. Campbell and Nik Raivio is going to be a handful for every opponent on the Pilots schedule. In the opener against EWU, Raivio scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Campbell scored 15 and dished out four assists. This team will not have the growing pains that some of the other teams will have, but I still question how high the ceiling really is for this group.

3) San Diego (1-0): 77-64 win vs. Stanford

Normally a win over Stanford would be quite impressive, but the Cardinal are a long way from being a relevant team on the West Coast. The nice thing for USD is that it appears that the headaches and disruptions that really limited last season are officially out of the program. Brandon Johnson looked good in his return from injury, as he and De'Jon Jackson led the way with 18 points each. If the Toreros can receive any sort of consistent contributions from Chris Manresa and Roberto Mafra, this could be the surprise package in the WCC.

4) St. Mary's (1-0): 100-68 win vs. New Mexico St.

Just when you think that this conference is finally done dealing with great Australian guards, Matthew Dellavedova bursts on the scene and scores 19 points in his first game. This St. Mary's team will play a very European style of play, with a guy like Ben Allen, who at 6'11 is more comfortable scoring on the perimeter. Allen was a bit of a disappointment last year, but he scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and had nine assists in the opening win. It will be interesting to watch this team develop, as the only guy who has really proven himself is Omar Samhan. However, it seems that this is still a very talented group who may surprise some people.

5) Santa Clara (1-0): 84-81 win @ Cal State Bakersfield

This is the team that I really want to see make the jump to the next level in the conference. Kerry Keating has done a nice job bringing in the guys that fit the mold of what he is looking for, and they did pick up a nice win on the road. Kevin Foster is one of the most explosive young guards in the WCC, and he scored a game-high 21 points in the victory. Much like USD, if the Broncos can find some depth and consistency in the post, they might finally be ready to make the move to push for a top three finish in the conference.

6) Pepperdine (0-1): 67-64 loss vs. Pacific

Despite opening the season with a loss, I came away pretty impressed by Pepperdine. Pacific is a traditionally solid program and this game went 2 OT's before it was decided. While I don't think he will win WCC POY because his team will struggle, Keion Bell might be the best player in the conference. Bell opened the season with a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Unfortunately, the Waves have not developed any guys to compliment Bell on this team.

7) USF (1-0): 73-62 win vs. Cal Poly

I hope people haven't forgot just how good Dior Lowhorn is. Lowhorn opened the season with a typically brilliant performance, scoring a game-high 22 points to help lead the Dons to a victory. However, unlike in the past couple of years, Lowhorn actually received help from his teammates. Sophomore guard Kwame Vaugh scored 15 points and pulled down seven boards, while Angelo Caloiaro added 15 more. If Lowhorn can receive this type of support every game, USF could be a nice team.

8) LMU (1-2): 90-87 loss vs. Boise St.; 83-60 win vs. North Dakota; 64-63 loss @ Montana

I can assure that LMU will not be in this spot towards the end of the season. Although they were a laughing stock throughout the 2008-2009 season, there is actually a nice core group of guys in the program. In fact, the Lions were just a couple of baskets away from a 3-0 start and a nice spot in these power rankings. Both Larry Davis and Drew Viney will produce well for this team after sitting last season because of transferring, and Vernon Teel is one of the better guards in the conference. Once this team gels and develops a nice chemistry, they will be a tough game for any team in this conference.

Previewing the 2009-10 West Coast Conference

Zach B — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:50:23 -0000

Brandon Johnson may have been the most exciting player in the WCC two years ago. Can he return to form after a terrible Achilles injury?

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As the lone West Coast Conference blog on SB Nation, we've taken it upon ourselves to do our best to publicize the WCC as much as we can. If you read the site last year, you know that we love to cover the conference as much as we can without alienating the Gonzaga faithful. Schools like St. Mary's and San Diego have had national success in recent years and the University of Portland appears to be destined for a breakout season. All these teams make the conference fun to watch especially when you combine that with the fact that all the schools in the bottom half of the conference at least appear to be headed in the right direction. San Francisco and Santa Clara are both proud programs that seem to be on the rise. Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount have really struggled the past few years but are still getting decent talent and should be able to compete in the conference.

The West Coast Conference has often been ridiculed by the national media for being a weak conference and that definitely holds some water. Gonzaga feels compelled to play, and travel to, a bunch of big time schools just to boost their RPI because once conference play hits, the odds are that Gonzaga's RPI will fall off a bit. This season, however, Gonzaga will probably get its greatest challenge for the regular season conference crown in recent memory. The Pilots of Portland under head coach Eric Reveno return 12 players from last season's team and are everyone's choice to give Gonzaga the most trouble. St. Mary's is always a challenging foe for the Zags and a great rivalry has kicked up between the two schools in the past few years. San Francisco, Santa Clara, and San Diego are also all fully capable of putting together nice seasons as they each have some very exciting, veteran players leading their teams into 2009-10.

After the jump we'll take a more detailed look at each of the teams in the conference (except Gonzaga) and outline where we think they are headed this season.

Portland Pilots

Last Season: The Pilots had an outstanding season a year ago under Eric Reveno. They went 19-13 and made their first post season tournament since 1996 when they were selected to play in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Portland was bolstered by a group of veterans led by Nik Raivio but the biggest key may have been transfer T.J. Campbell. Campbell arrived at Portland and made an immediate impact at point guard, averaging 11 points and 5 assists a game.

Player to Watch: Everyone knows the talent that Portland brings back this season. The big question is whether all of that talent has enough upside to show great improvement from last season to this season. For this reason, the key player for the Pilots is T.J. Campbell. Campbell brought so much to the team in his first season that expectations are very high for this final year in Portland. He's a very heady guard with great penetration abilities who will be the key if UP hopes to knock off Gonzaga in 2009-10.

Season Outlook: The Pilots kick off their season with Eastern Washington on the 14th of this month and face a pretty tough nonconference schedule. Games against Oregon, at UCLA, and at Washington will test Eric Reveno's team and will give them great preparation for WCC play. Fittingly, Gonzaga and Portland open up the West Coast Conference schedule against one another in Portland on January 9th. Overall, Coach Reveno did an outstanding creating a schedule not full of insane traveling that should give his team good rest while playing a respectable batch of games. I wouldn't be surprised if the Pilots took 2/3 from their Pac-10 foes.

St. Mary's Gaels

Last Season: It was a banner year in Moraga a season ago as the Gaels brought home a school record 28 wins in 2008-09. Led by the now departed Patty Mills and Diamon Simpson, St. Mary's was selected to participate in the NIT Tournament and they were a game away from heading off to New York for the semifinals before San Diego State upended them. A weak nonconference schedule and being routed by Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament championship gave away any hope for the Gaels being an NCAA Tournament team.

Player to Watch: St. Mary's is sort of going through a Gonzaga-lite experience this season. The Gaels have seven freshmen this season, five true and two redshirt. With all this youth for St. Mary's, a veteran has to be looked upon to pick up the slack and that guy is Mickey McConnell. Mickey was very inconsistent a season ago but returns for his junior year with some great experience after filling in for Patty Mills when he was hurt. The show is McConnell's now and he'll have to step up his output if St. Mary's is going to stay in the West Coast Conference race.

Season Outlook: St. Mary's will get two outstanding early season tests at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga. San Diego State and Vanderbilt will make the trip to take on the Gaels on their homecourt and it will give St. Mary's a great idea of where they are at. Vanderbilt is a popular pick to be a top tier SEC team and San Diego State will challenge in the Mountain West. St. Mary's will also take on Oregon in Eugene and Utah State in Ogden to give them two nice road tests. Their hardest stretch of WCC games will be in mid-February as they take on Gonzaga, Portland, and San Diego all on the road in a seven day stretch.

San Francisco Dons

Last Season: It was a difficult year a season ago for the Dons. After not really playing anyone of note in their nonconference slate, San Francisco was greeted with some harsh reality and lost their first six games in conference play. The finally got off the hook with a win over Loyola Marymount but the season didn't really look up from their. The Dons would go on to win two more games in WCC play and were eliminated from the conference tournament by Pepperdine in their first game. The final tally for the Dons was an 11-19 record with three of them coming in conference.

Player to Watch: When I think about San Francisco, I actually feel happy that I won't have to watch Gonzaga take them on in person anymore. Not because it was such an awful game, but because I always feel terrible for Dior Lowhorn. Lowhorn is a combination of size and ability that even Gonzaga has trouble defending. He's been the leading scorer in the conference twice and averaged a little over 20 points a game last season. He has outstanding NBA potential and it is really hard to say where San Francisco would be without him on their roster...I'd wager somewhere near LMU.

Season Outlook: USF will be challenging itself this season with three very difficult road test in nonconfernece play. The Dons will face off with Arizona State, BYU, and Washington this season all away from their home court. They'll also make a trip to the Mountain time zone to take on Colorado and Colorado State. It's clear that Rex Walters is hoping to test his new, young nucleus of players with some road game that are winnable but will take a nice effort.

Santa Clara Broncos

Last Season: Santa Clara went 8-9 in their nonconference schedule a year ago with games against Georgia, FAU, UAB, Arizona, UNLV, Pacific, Stanford, Harvard, and New Hampshire all resulting in losses. They were able to defeat UTEP in a thrilling effort but aside from that, there wasn't a whole lot of quality wins on the schedule. A 7-7 record in the conference is what head coach Kerry Keating led his team to. Their only real surprising victory last season was their last game of the year when they took down Portland. They were led by John Bryant who is now graduated from the university and his shoes will be tough to fill.

Player to Watch: This is probably the easiest player to watch in the conference, save maybe for Pepperdine. Kevin Foster returns to Santa Clara for his sophomore season and will be expected to make a big jump from a season ago. The WCC's co-newcomer of the year with T.J. Campbell, Foster was also a Freshman All-American having averaged 15 points per game. The guard from Katy, Texas is an outstanding outside shooting threat as he broke Steve Nash's single season SCU record for three-pointers made. If SCU is going to be able to cope with the loss of John Bryant, it'll have to be Foster that puts in most of the work.

Season Outlook: Not a whole lot of beef in the nonconference schedule for the Broncos. San Diego State and UNLV will be two tough Mountain West opponents and Santa Clara will also be looking to avenge losses against New Hampshire and Harvard from last year.

San Diego Toreros

Last Season: San Diego's magical run a few years ago when the defeated Gonzaga in the conference championship and beat Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament feels like an eternity ago after a disappointing year last season. It got off to an awful start as senior Brandon Johnson tore his Achilles tendon after eight games. The Toreros wound up finishing with a 16-16 record and losing in the second round of the WCC Tournament to Santa Clara.

Player to Watch: Brandon Johnson was granted a fifth year of eligibility by the NCAA after his horrific injury. His return to the Toreros is enormous because without him, they might have challenge LMU for the spot in the cellar. Having also lost Gyno Pomare (graduation) and Rob Jones (transfer), Johnson will have to return to his old form and guide this team. There is a little experience with Johnson in the backcourt but the frontcourt will have sever growing pains for Bill Grier's squad.

Season Outlook: Games against Stanford, Oklahoma, San Diego State, and Mississippi State will give Bill Grier and the Toreros all they can handle in the nonconference slate. It appears that San Diego State has decided to schedule nearly ever WCC game, Oklahoma is a power in the Big 12, and Mississippi State could be a dangerous squad in the SEC. Stanford's basketball program is probably still a few years away but they still are Stanford and it will be a nice Pac-10 test right off the bat.

Pepperdine Waves

Last Season: Tom Asbury's return to coaching came with some mixed results in Malibu. They dropped 13 of their first 16 games including losses to Arizona State, USC, and Georgia Tech. Their only wins out of conference came against Western Oregon, Cal State-Monterey Bay, and Coppin State. They added five regular season conference wins and actually played inspired basketball. Wins over Santa Clara and San Diego were nice for Pepperdine but they were never able to challenge the heavy hitters and finished with a 9-23 record.

Player to Watch: Easily my favorite player not in a Gonzaga uniform is Keion Bell. The high-flying sophomore guard was one of the lone bright spots on the Pepperdine roster. Bell average about 13 points a game last year and brought some flare to the program. Keion is a very reckless player on the court however. He averaged about four turnovers a game last year and only dished out two assists. That will have to change in a big way for the Waves to show any signs of improvement.

Season Outlook: UCLA, Utah, Georgia, and Miami will all test Pepperdine in their nonconference schedule. The good thing is that they get Utah and Miami on their home court in Malibu. The rest of the schedule is anyone's best guess. Pepperdine will suffer some head-scratching losses but the key is for their veteran core to show some improvement and get some quality wins.

Loyola Marymount Lions

Last Season: You kind of have to give LMU a pass for their play a season ago. All summer and fall leading up to the season, we talked about LMU being the next program to challenge the top dogs. Bill Bayno was in charge and recruiting well but that all changed when Bayno took a leave of absence and eventually left the program. Max Good stepped in at the embattled program and led them to a historic 3-28 record. Wins over Bakersfield, San Diego, and San Francisco were all this team could muster.

Player to Watch: Believe it or not, the Lions do have some talent. They have two outstanding transfers who will be making an impact this season and one of them is former Oregon Duck Drew Viney. A 6'5'' sophomore forward, Viney left the Ducks after a short stint there due to injuries. He was a Scout top 100 recruit when he came out and will be called on to not only start immediately but be a leader on the team.

Season Outlook: In all honesty, every game for LMU will test them this season. With such a rough past few seasons, the program is still searching for an identity to build upon. Hopefully the new young players and transfers can build this program back into a proud on. Games against USC and Notre Dame stand out on the schedule for the Lions this season

ZB's Preseason Power Rankings
1. Gonzaga
2. Portland
3. St. Mary's
4. Santa Clara
5. Pepperdine
6. San Francisco
7. San Diego
8. LMU

Top 10 Players Not in Gonzaga uniforms:
Dior Lowhorn, USF
Kevin Foster, SCU
Keion Bell, Pepp
Mark Trasolini, SCU
Omar Samhan, SMC
TJ Campbell, Port
Nik Raivio, Port
Jared DuBois, LMU
Drew Viney, LMU
Brandon Johnson, USD

Poll

Outside of Gonzaga, St. Mary's, and Portland, which WCC team has the best shot for a breakout year in 2009-10?

San Diego

152 votes

San Francisco

30 votes

Pepperdine

18 votes

Santa Clara

51 votes

251 votes | Poll has closed

BtB 2009-10 West Coast Conference Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:18:44 -0000

The theme of the 2009-10 season in the West Coast Conference's is rebuilding. While Gonzaga ended 2008-09 in the Sweet Sixteen, where they lost to North Carolina, and St. Mary's ended a season that began with so much promise in the NIT quarterfinals, both these teams suffered significant losses that will result in tempered expectations this time around. And the changes aren't limited to the teams who finished at the top of the standings, as Loyola Marymount begins their first full season under Max Good, their fifth coach in this century.

With just about everyone going through some changes, the WCC race should be more competitive than last year's, when the Bulldogs ran the table and swept through the league tournament. The big question is how will a more even, and potentially bruising, league race impact the conference's chances at multiple bids. Las Vegas will serve as the neutral host for the conference tournament for the second straight year. With the Zags dominance last season, this will really be the first year we get to see if a neutral-site event will impact the conference's postseason fortunes, if at all. More on the eight WCC members after the jump.

Let's first take a look at last season's WCC standings.

West Coast Conference Standings

(updated 3.28.2009 at 12:54 AM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Gonzaga Bulldogs	14	0	28	6
St. Mary's, Calif. Gaels	10	4	28	7
Portland Pilots	9	5	19	13
Santa Clara Broncos	7	7	16	17
San Diego Toreros	6	8	16	16
Pepperdine Waves	5	9	9	23
San Francisco Dons	3	11	11	19
Loyola Marymount Lions	2	12	3	28

Now, here are my WCC picks for 2009-10, presented in reverse order.

Loyola Marymount (last NCAA: 1990) This March, 20 years will have passed since the Lions made their electrifying, emotional run to the Elite Eight. To me, it seems like only yesterday that Bo Kimble shot his free throws left-handed to honor his late friend Hank Gathers. For fans of LMU, the story of Alexander the Great must seem more recent. In those two decades, the Lions have become the WCC's perennial bottom feeders, averaging 20 losses a season during the new millenium. Head coach Max Good will attempt to improve on last year's 28-loss campaign with the help of five freshmen, Seton Hall transfer Larry Davis, a 6-4 guard, and Oregon transfer Drew Viney, a 6-7 forward.

San Francisco (last NCAA: 1998) The Dons are another program that's fallen on hard times. (Remember the dismissal of Jessie Evans and ill-fated interim tenure of Eddie Sutton back in '07-'08?) Rex Walters begins his second season by the Bay looking to climb up the standings. He'll get a lot of help from Dior Lawhorn (20.1 ppg), who's somehow managed to win the WCC's scoring title twice despite the presence of the high-flying Zags, and Manhattan transfer Rashad Green, brother of Danny, who just won a national title in Chapel Hill. USF will also feature an international frontcourt, as Walters secured the services of three European players, 7-foot C Tomas Bruha, 6-10 C Moustapha Diarra, and 6-8 F Nikola Stojiljkovic. The big question for Walters is who will run the offense now that Manny Quezada has graduated.

Santa Clara (last NCAA: 1996) Kerry Keating's third season at the helm of the Broncos could be a rough one. Santa Clara finished just under .500 at 16-17, and that was with WCC Player of the Year John Bryant on the roster. Keating will have to find a way to replace his 18 points and 14 boards a game. Sophomore forward Marc Trasolini will really have to step up to match those numbers, though he did average 6.8 points and 4.8 boards in limited action last season. Expect the Broncos to be more guard oriented this season, with 6-2 sophomore Kevin Foster (14.9 ppg, 2.5 apg) taking a bigger role in the offense.

Pepperdine (last NCAA: 2002) Tom Asbury begins the second year of his second stint on the sidelines in Malibu with a lot of hope. In a league where just about everyone is going through significant changes, the Waves actually return all five starters and most of their bench contributors. However, these returnees will have to, well, play A LOT better to move up the standings. The Waves simply didn't take good enough care of the ball or score enough to be very competitive. Point guard Keion Bell was the only player on the team to average in double figures (12.9 ppg), but he turned the ball over nearly 4 times a game. Comparatively, he dished out just a bit more than 2 assists per contest. The Waves will need more from their frontcourt this season to be a force. Mychel Thompson can improve on his scoring average of just under 10 points per game and Taylor Darby needs to make sure his scoring and rebounding averages aren't mirror images of one another (6.1 of each per game).

San Diego (last NCAA: 2008) The biggest moment for the Toreros in a 16-16 campaign was their upset win over Mississippi State in Starkville late last December. Point guard Brandon Johnson, who lost most of last season to a ruptured Achilles, was granted a fifth year of eligibility and will be back running the offense. The importance of Johnson's return can't be understated, as he averaged almost 17 points and 3.5 assists per game during his junior season. San Diego will have some frontcourt issues as F/C Gyno Pomare, who averaged almost 14 points and 6 boards a game, graduated, and Rob Jones, who averaged nearly 10 points and 5.5 boards left the program. Coach Bill Grier hopes 6-9 Brazilian junior college transfer Rafael Crescensio and 6-9 holdover Roberto Mafra (5.0 ppg. 2.5 rpg) can make an impact inside.

Saint Mary's (last NCAA: 2008) Everyone knows that the Gaels lost Patty Mills to the NBA Draft, but he wasn't the only significant player to leave Moraga after a 28-win campaign. Saint Mary's lost three other starters, most notably F Diamon Simpson (13.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg). Center Omar Samhan (14.1 ppg, 9.4 pg) is back, however, as is Mickey McConnell, who gained valuable experience running Randy Bennett's offense when Mills was out with a broken hand. Wayne Hunter will also see some time at the point, and watch for 6-1 Jorden Page, who played on Australia's team at the U19 Worlds this summer. He's seen by many as the natural successor to Mills. Bennett will need more from players like F Clint Steindl (2.7 ppg) and C Ben Allen (2.2 ppg) for the Gaels to stay high in the standings.

Portland (last NCAA: 1996) The Pilots won 19 games in 2008-09 and nearly pipped St. Mary's to second, falling a game short in the standings. Now, Portland, boasting five returning starters (four of them seniors) has rebuilding Gonzaga in its sights. The backcourt is a dangerous one. T.J, Campbell runs the offense efficiently (11.1 ppg, 4.8 apg, 53.1% 3 point shooting), while Nik Raivio (16 ppg) and Jared Stohl (11.2 ppg, 45.6 % from beyond the arc) can really score. The forward corps, featuring the 6-10 Robin Smeulders (10.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg), 6-9 Kramer Knutson (6.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg), and 6-8 Luke Sikma (6.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg) should do pretty well against most of the teams they meet in conference play. If the Pilots can do some damage in the non-conference portion of their schedule, which features three games at the loaded 76 Classic in Anaheim, a home game against Oregon, and trips to Nevada and Washington, an at-large bid is a definite possibility.

Gonzaga (last NCAA: 2009) Sure the Bulldogs lost a lot after last season, but write them off at your peril. Mark Few simply doesn't rebuild, even after losing four starters. While Gonzaga lost Austin Daye, Micah Downs, Josh Heytvelt, and Jeremy Pargo, who combined to average 47-plus points per game last season, there are plenty of players who are able to step up. Matt Bouldin (13.6 ppg, 3.4 apg) is the only returning starter, but he'll be joined in the backcourt by the talented Steven Gray (9.1 ppg) and Demetri Goodson (3.8 ppg, 1.6 apg). If Goodson can consistently play like he did against Western Kentucky in the 2nd round of the NCAAs last season, the Zags offense will be in good hands. The Bulldogs' two BIG men, 7-footer Robert Sacre and 7-5 Will Foster, will have to produce more than the average of 4 points and 5 boards they combined to contribute last year. The real inside scoring will probably have to come from a crop of newcomers that includes 6-9 Sam Dower, 6-7 Elias Harris, 6-10 Kelly Olynyk, 6-11 Andy Poling and most intriguing of all, 6-7 Bol Kong. Kong, born in the Sudan, comes to Spokane after a stay in Vancouver. This looks like a lot of question marks for a team picked to finish first in its conference, but it's Gonzaga. They seem to provide good answers consistently.

So, the Bulldogs are, yet again, the preseason pick for the WCC's auto bid. You'll see them in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket on November 9. To wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-WCC team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-WCC Team

Player of the Year: Matt Bouldin, 6-5 G, Sr. (Gonzaga)

Remainder of the Team
T.J. Campbell, 5-9 G, Sr. (Portland)
Dior Lawhorn, 6-7 F, Sr. (San Francisco)
Nik Raivio, 6-4 G, Sr. (Portland)
Omar Samhan, 6-11 C, Sr. (Saint Mary's)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the WCC this season?

Gonzaga

242 votes

Loyola Marymount

2 votes

Pepperdine

2 votes

Portland

29 votes

Saint Mary's

3 votes

San Diego

3 votes

San Francisco

2 votes

Santa Clara

2 votes

285 votes | Poll has closed

KNOW THY ENEMY: Iowa State Cyclones

BracketCat — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:00:25 -0000

I'm starting to see pumpkins everywhere, and you know what pumpkins always remind me of? Basketballs.

That's right, hoops season is just around the corner. Practice begins Oct. 16 in most places, which means it's time to start previewing the Big 12. Now, I haven't packed it in on the football season yet, by any means. But let's be honest: We all knew coming into 2009-2010 that football was just gonna be the appetizer. We're going to have a nationally ranked squad this year, and it's getting close enough to tipoff that I think the time has come to begin getting officially psyched up.

But to keep this on a semi-football-related plane, at least for the duration of the season, I will endeavor to keep these loosely linked to our football opponent of the week past. Which means it's time to venture up to Ames and see what Farmageddon on the hardwood might look like this year...

Normally these will publish at noon on Mondays, but as usual, the first one always is the most time-consuming because all the formatting has to be done from scratch. Anyhow, click the jump for the most comprehensive preview of the Cyclone hoopsters you'll find this side of Clone Chronicles.

The Coach

Greg McDermott
Fourth Season

44-51 (14-34) at Iowa State
265-178 (85-89) overall

McDermott's Cyclone teams consistently have ranked in the upper half of the Big 12 in scoring defense and in three-point shooting in his three seasons in Ames. In just three seasons, McDermott has coached four players who have earned all-conference recognition, including Craig Brackins, who was the first Cyclone since 2001 to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors, in 2009.

The Departures

Starters

Bryan Petersen (30.1 minutes per game, 6.6 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game)

Reserves

Wes Eikmeier (11.3 minutes per game, 0.8 point per game, 2.9 rebounds per game)
Sean Haluska (15.7 minutes per game, 1.0 point per game, 2.5 rebounds per game)
Cameron Lee (3.2 minutes per game, 0.7 point per game, 0.4 rebound per game)
Clinton Mann (2.4 minutes per game, 0.4 point per game, 0.7 rebound per game)
Alex Thompson (14.1 minutes per game, 2.6 points per game, 2.4 rebounds per game)

The Veterans

		#1 Dominique Buckley Sophomore Guard 6-2 \| 205 Detroit, Mich. Buckley played in 25 games as a reserve point guard, averaging 1.3 points and 0.8 assists. He logged a career-high 19 minutes vs. Texas A&M, and tallied five points vs. SIU-Edwardsville and Colorado. Buckley also handed out three assists vs. Iowa, Jacksonville State and SIU-Edwardsville.

		#4 Charles Boozer Junior Guard 6-3 \| 195 Raleigh, N.C. Boozer competed in 23 games, giving Iowa State a lift from the bench. He averaged 2.5 points and 1.6 rebounds; shot 37.2 percent from the field, 29.6 percent from 3-point range and 75 percent from the free-throw line; tallied a career-high 11 points vs. Missouri; and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds while logging a career-high 19 minutes vs. Kansas State. (And no, your eyes do not deceive you. Charles is Carlos Boozer's younger brother.)

		#5 Lucca Staiger Junior Guard 6-5 \| 225 Blaustein, Germany Big 12 Rookie of the Week (12/15/08 and 01/12/09) Staiger started 27 games last season, averaging 8.2 points and 2.2 rebounds. He was Iowa State's top long-range shooter, making a team-high 74 treys in 192 attempts. His 74 3-pointers rank seventh on ISU's single-season 3-pointers made list. Staiger averaged 2.3 3-pointers made per game to rank sixth in the Big 12 and seventh on ISU's single-season list. He made a 3-pointer in 26 of 32 games and had 14 games with three or more treys. Staiger had a streak of 16 consecutive games with a 3-pointer, tying for the third-longest stretch in school history. He scored 14 points behind a 4-of-8 effort from downtown vs. Oregon State and poured in a career-high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting from 3-point range vs. Drake. His eight treys in that game tie for second on ISU's single-game record chart. Staiger tied a Big 12 mark by making seven treys in the first half vs. Drake, tallied 15 points in his Big 12 debut at Texas, drilled six 3-pointers en route to 18 points vs. Nebraska, posted 14 points behind a 4-of-10 effort from long range at Oklahoma State, and was 5-of-9 from downtown and scored 17 points at Nebraska. His 74 treys already rank 18th in school history.

		#10 Diante Garrett Junior Guard 6-4 \| 185 Milwaukee, Wis. World Vision Classic All-Tournament (2008) NSCA All-American (2008) Garrett was one of the Big 12's top playmakers, ranking third in the league and 36th nationally in assists. He totaled 161 assists to rank 14th on Iowa State's single-season assist chart. One of two players to start all 32 games, Garrett was second on the team in scoring and averaged 3.3 rebounds. He led the team in steals with 30, shot 70.7 percent from the free-throw line, ranked 10th in the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio, handed out five or more assists in 17 of 32 games, led or tied ISU in assists in 22 of 32 games, recorded two double-doubles and four double-digit assist games, and posted a career-high 26 points at Hawai'i, going 10-for-10 from the free-throw line and marking the 16th time in school history where a Cyclone was perfect from the charity stripe with at least 10 attempts. Garrett dished out a career-high 11 assists vs. Loyola Marymount and Missouri, posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists against Oklahoma, notched 17 points vs. Texas Tech and made a career-high three treys vs. UW-Milwaukee, en route to 17 points. He currently ranks 18th on ISU's career assist chart.

		#21 Craig Brackins Junior Forward 6-10 \| 230 Palmdale, Calif. First Team All-Big 12 (2009) First Team USBWA All-District VI (2009) First Team NABC All-District 8 (2009) Basketball Times First Team All-Midlands (2009) AP Honorable Mention All-American (2009) Collegehoopsnet.com HM All-American (2009) Kansas City Star All-Big 12 Improved (2009) Big 12 Player of the Week (2009 - three times) MVP of World Vision Classic (2008) Brackins recorded one of the greatest seasons in Iowa State history, earning first-team all-Big 12 and first-team all-District honors from the NABC, USBWA and Basketball Times. He was named honorable mention All-American by the AP, was the first Cyclone to earn first-team all-Big 12 honors since Curtis Stinson in 2006 and was named Big 12 Player of the Week three times. Brackins averaged 20.2 points, ranking second in the Big 12 and 22nd nationally, and 9.5 rebounds to rank third in the Big 12 and 26th nationally. Along with Blake Griffin and Luke Harangody, he was one of three players in the country to rank in the top 30 nationally in both scoring and rebounding. In Big 12 games, Brackins averaged a double-double, scoring 20 or more points in 11 of 16 conference games. He scored a league-high 348 points in Big 12 games, the 10th-best single-season scoring total in league history; posted 19 20-point games and three 30-point outings; tallied 12 20-point/10-rebound games; led ISU in scoring in 21 of the last 23 games and paced the Cyclones in rebounding in the final 18 games; tallied 15 double-doubles to rank fourth in the Big 12; and ended the season ranking in ISU's single season top 11 in four categories: field goals, points, rebounds and double-doubles. Brackins is only the third player in school history to record 600 points and 300 rebounds in a season. His 645 points as a sophomore ranks second on ISU's class list behind Jeff Grayer, who tallied 684 points in his sophomore campaign. He became the 27th member of the 1,000-point club and just the fifth Cyclone in school history to record 1,000 points in their first two seasons. Brackins scored 18 or more points in a half eight times and tallied a double-double by halftime three times. He scored a career-high 42 points vs. Kansas, making 11 of 19 shots from the floor, 3 of 5 from beyond the arc and 17 of 21 from the charity stripe. The 42 points tie for the sixth-best effort by a Big 12 player in league history and are the fourth-best scoring effort in ISU history. His 17 free throws made tie for third best in ISU history. Brackins registered 38 points, including 23 in the second half, on 15-of-23 shooting from the floor at Houston. His 15 field goals made are tied for third-best all-time by a Big 12 player. He scored 32 points in an overtime victory at Northern Iowa and grabbed a career-high 17 boards vs. Jacksonville State.

		#23 Jamie Vanderbeken Senior Forward 6-11 \| 245 Belleville, Ontario Kansas City Star's Big 12 All-Newcomer Team (2009) Iowa State's top reserve in the post, averaging 5.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 31 games, Vanderbeken led ISU in 3-point percentage, making 35 of 86 shots from beyond the arc. He averaged 6.3 points in Big 12 play, was second on the team in blocks with 21, made 23 of his 35 treys in the last 14 games, had four games with three or more treys, tallied a double-double in his debut with 14 points and 10 boards vs. UC Davis, was 5 of 7 from the field and scored 12 points vs. Oklahoma, tallied 14 points at Kansas State, posted career highs in points and 3-pointers at Kansas, and was 4 of 5 from 3-point range en route to 12 points vs. Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship.

		#41 Justin Hamilton Sophomore Center 6-11 \| 255 Alpine, Utah Hamilton had a solid freshman campaign, averaging 4.2 points and 2.9 rebounds. He started 18 games, played in 32 contests and led the Cyclones in field-goal percentage, hitting 57 of 100 shots from the floor. His 57-percent clip from the floor ranks 15th on Iowa State's single-season record chart and second on ISU's freshman list. Hamilton tallied 17 blocks last season. In his first career start, he scored eight points and grabbed a career-high 12 boards in a win at Houston. Hamilton posted a career-high 16 points vs. SIU-Edwardsville and scored 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field at Missouri. He recorded eight points and 10 rebounds at Texas, and posted a career-high three blocks vs. Colorado.

The Redshirts

#11 Scott Christopherson
Sophomore Guard
6-3 | 205
LaCrosse, Wis.

Christopherson sat out the 2008-09 season as a redshirt after transferring from Marquette, where he appeared in 18 games as a freshman, all as a reserve. He missed the first five games of the regular season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, but netted a career-high six points on 2-of-3 shooting from the floor vs. Savannah State.

Christopherson averaged 1.3 points and 0.7 rebounds per game at Marquette, and shot 42.1 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range.

#34 L.A. Pomlee
Freshman Forward
6-8 | 235
Davenport, Iowa

Pomlee sat out the 2008-2009 season as a redshirt. He was ranked as the 38th-best power forward in the class of 2008 by Scout.com, was a first-team Class 4A all-state selection by both the Iowa Newspaper Association and The Des Moines Register as a senior, and also was a Quad City Times all-Metro pick.

Pomlee averaged 15.4 points and led the Mississippi Athletic Conference in both rebounding and field-goal percentage as a senior. His Central team went undefeated in the conference and 23-3 overall, and advanced to the state championship game, falling to Iowa City High 64-54 in the Class 4A state title game, in which he scored 14 points and grabbed 12 boards.

Pomlee missed his entire junior season after developing a blood clot in his leg, but was a third-team all-state selection in his sophomore campaign after averaging 14.2 points and 10.1 rebounds. He chose Iowa State over West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The Newcomers

		#2 Chris Colvin Freshman Guard 6-2 \| 195 Chicago, Ill. One of the best guards in the Class of 2009, Colvin was ranked as the 99th-best player in the nation and the 15th-best point guard nationally in the Rivals.com rankings. Scout.com ranked him as the 10th-best point guard in 2009 and he was ranked at No. 77 in the ESPNU final ratings. Colvin was named second-team Class 4A all-state a senior by the AP, and averaged 12.3 ppg and 6.2 assists on one of the best and most balanced prep teams in the nation. His Whitney Young team defeated Waukegan 69-66 in the state championship game to finish the season at 26-9 and win the 2009 Illinois Class 4A state title. He had seven points and a team-high six assists in the state championship game, and scored 14, 20, 12 and 17 points in the four previous postseason tournament games. Colvin averaged 14.1 ppg as a junior, earning all-state honors, and started three years at Whitney Young. He was named as one of the best players at the 2008 Reebok All-American Camp and chose Iowa State over Baylor, Florida State, Illinois, Kentucky, Marquette, Providence, USC and Washington State.

		#3 Marquis Gilstrap Senior Forward 6-6 \| 210 Covington, Ga. Gilstrap emerged as one of the best junior college players in the nation in his one season at Gulf Coast, averaging 22.6 points and 10.1 rebounds for one of the biggest surprise teams in junior college. He earned honorable mention All- America honors by the NJCAA, was rated as the 26th-best player in the class of 2009 by ESPN.com, and ranked 10th nationally in scoring and 20th in the nation in rebounding in the final NJCAA statistical rankings. Gilstrap shot 48.3 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from 3-point range and 74.8 percent from the free-throw line at Gulf Coast, was named Panhandle Conference Player of the Year and first-team team all-Panhandle Conference, and was a first-team All-FCCAA honoree. He led his team to a 24-9 overall record and a spot in the state final, where GCCC lost to No. 1-ranked Chipola JC 68-65 to miss out at a chance for the national tournament. Gilstrap also scored 27 points to help his squad defeat No. 3 Miami Dade in the first round of the state playoffs, and averaged 24.6 points and 10.3 rebounds to earn FCCAA All-Tournament team honors. He had seven 30+ scoring games and participated in the 2009 NJCAA All-Star Basketball Classic.

		#12 Alex Dorr Freshman Forward 6-7 \| 215 Norwalk, Iowa Dorr joins the Cyclones as a recruited walk-on. He averaged 20.2 points and 9.3 rebounds while earning Class 3A first-team all-state honors from both the Iowa Newspaper Association and The Des Moines Register as a senior. Dorr led Norwalk to its first-ever state championship game in 2009. The team finished the season with a 24-3 record. He scored 23 points and grabbed nine boards vs. Dubuque Wahlert in the first round of the state tournament, and averaged 18.9 points and 11.2 rebounds as a junior, earning second-team all-state honors.

		#15 Antwon Oliver Freshman Guard 6-5 \| 175 Racine, Wis. Oliver earned honorable mention all-state and third-team all-area honors as a senior, and developed into one of the best players in Wisconsin in his last year, leading his Horlick team to the Division 1 state championship game. He was ranked as the 13th-best player in the state of Wisconsin and averaged 16.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and hit 45 treys as a senior. Horlick went 24-2 and lost in the state final to Madison Memorial, 56-41. Oliver led his team with 13 points in the state championship game and was invited to play in the 2009 Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Boy's All-Star game. He averaged 12.5 points as a junior and 5.1 points as a sophomore.

		#22 LaRon Dendy Junior Forward 6-9 \| 225 Greenville, S.C. Dendy played two years at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, and was rated as the 57th-best player in the preseason 2008-09 Juco Junction rankings. He averaged 8.5 points and 6.3 rebounds as a freshman, earning honorable mention All-Region XI honors, but suffered a stress fracture in his sophomore season and saw limited action, averaging 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds and shooting 63.3 percent from the field in nine games. Ranked as one of the top post players in the Class of 2007, Dendy was rated as the 63rd-best player in the nation and the 17th-best power forward in the Rivals.com Class of 2007, and was the seventh-best player in the Southeast Region in 2007. He originally committed to Clemson, but opted to go to junior college.

		#25 Bubu Palo Freshman Guard 6-1 \| 175 Ames, Iowa Palo is a recruited walk-on. He was the starting point guard on Ames' 2009 Class 4A state championship team, which finished the season with a perfect 26-0 mark. Palo started his last two seasons at point guard, averaged 9.1 points as a senior to earn second-team All-CIML honors, had a 3.34 assist/turnover ratio and shot 52.0 percent from the field. He scored 11 points in Ames' state championship game win over Linn-Mar and was an honorable mention all-conference pick as a junior.

My thanks to the Iowa State sports information department for the photos and most of the information for the bios.

The Analysis

It's possible that my judgment has been colored by staring at these stats and bios for too long, but at least on paper, the Cyclones appear to have a much improved team. Thanks largely to the return of future NBA player Craig Brackins, Iowa State returns 77.9 percent of its scoring and 72.5 percent of its rebounding from a team that set school marks for 3-pointers made (236) and fewest turnovers (12.1 per game) in a season.

There were few notable departures, as most of the graduated seniors were little-used reserves. The biggest loss is starting wing Bryan Petersen, although there is reason to believe there will be little drop-off at that position. Also gone from last year's team is Sean Haluska, who chipped in quite a few minutes off the bench.

But the Cyclones return their other four starters, and add some significant pieces to challenge them for playing time. In the frontcourt, I expect Diante Garrett to retain his starting spot and continue growing as one of the premier point guards in the league, but Chris Colvin will push him to the max. Colvin is one of the most highly touted recruits Iowa State has signed (other than Brackins, of course) and turned down programs such as Marquette and USC to go to Ames. He could be the latest in a long line of talented Chicago point guards who have made in impact in the Big 12.

All Lucca Staiger did was come in and set a bunch of Iowa State records shooting the three-ball. Pretty impressive, considering he battled a lingering injury for at least part of the season. He will be complemented by Scott Christopherson, a transfer from Marquette who sat out last year per NCAA rules. The guard spots are bolstered by sophomore Dominique Buckley and veteran journeyman Charles Boozer.

Antwon Oliver is a promising prospect fresh out of high school, but will have a tough time finding minutes in such a deep, experienced backfield. Look for him to redshirt, along with preferred walk-ons Bubu Palo and Alex Dorr.

The frontcourt begins and ends with Brackins. One of the best players in the Big 12, he needs no introduction to the rest of the conference, but what he does need is help, especially with Petersen leaving. Well, help is on the way in the form of Marquis Gilstrap, a Top-50 juco player who has just one season to make an impact. At 6-6 and 210, Gilstrap has good size to hold down the 3 spot. Another exciting player for Cyclone fans to watch is juco transfer LaRon Dendy, a former Clemson commit who was in the Rivals Top 75 for 2007.

Justin Hamilton and Jamie Vanderbeken will man the post. Hamilton is considered the returning starter, but Vanderbeken pulled a few starts as well. It's really irrelevant, as both will rotate a lot in the paint in order to spell each other. Vanderbeken has an added dimension in that he is an excellent 3-point shooter, a talent that makes it hard for teams to pack it in against him and Brackins.

A wild-card player is L.A. Pomlee, who redshirted last season. He has a pretty good pedigree, given that he was a Scout Top 50 player and passed up a chance to play for Bob Huggins at West Virginia. Pomlee might make his biggest impact as a 4 whenever the Cyclones go with a small lineup, a formation that usually sees Brackins rotate into the post.

So, what we have here is a team with one of the best players in the conference, four returning starters and several more experienced veterans, and it loses very few impact players, but adds one of the best prep players in the country, as well as two talented juco players and a Big East transfer. That sounds like a recipe for dramatic improvement, which Greg McDermott better deliver, or the pressure might start to turn up on him. It's Year 4, and Iowa State needs to show some serious signs of breaking out of the basement now that the administration has built him a new practice facility.

But this year will be the most stacked the Big 12 ever has been, and the Cyclones still have a major weakness in their frontcourt: Other than Brackins, they don't have any truly athletic posts. When you look at a team like Kansas or Texas, you see multiple big, athletic matchup nightmares. Iowa State doesn't really have more than one or two of those guys. Hamilton and Vanderbeken are traditional centers who aren't nearly as talented as Cole Aldrich. The season could swing on whether Gilstrap can overcome past injuries and step up to be the third scoring threat the Clones need to keep defenses honest and free up Brackins to do some serious damage.

Projected Starting Lineup


Diante Garrett	Lucca Staiger	Marquis Gilstrap	Craig Brackins	Justin Hamilton
1	2	3	4	5

Projected Top Reserves


Chris Colvin	Scott Christopherson	LaRon Dendy	L.A. Pomlee	Jamie Vanderbeken
1	2	3	4	5

The Final Verdict

Although ISU has a pretty good backcourt, I think they're going to resemble the 2008-2009 Wildcats in a lot of ways when they hit the meat of league play. They'll be improved, but with Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri to contend with in the North, breaking into the top half of the conference might be too much to ask. An NIT berth would be a solid season for this squad, although it seems like a lame ending for a great player such as Brackins.

Predicted finish: 9th

Best-case scenario: 7th

		#1 Dominique Buckley Sophomore Guard 6-2 \| 205 Detroit, Mich. Buckley played in 25 games as a reserve point guard, averaging 1.3 points and 0.8 assists. He logged a career-high 19 minutes vs. Texas A&M, and tallied five points vs. SIU-Edwardsville and Colorado. Buckley also handed out three assists vs. Iowa, Jacksonville State and SIU-Edwardsville.

		#4 Charles Boozer Junior Guard 6-3 \| 195 Raleigh, N.C. Boozer competed in 23 games, giving Iowa State a lift from the bench. He averaged 2.5 points and 1.6 rebounds; shot 37.2 percent from the field, 29.6 percent from 3-point range and 75 percent from the free-throw line; tallied a career-high 11 points vs. Missouri; and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds while logging a career-high 19 minutes vs. Kansas State. (And no, your eyes do not deceive you. Charles is Carlos Boozer's younger brother.)

		#5 Lucca Staiger Junior Guard 6-5 \| 225 Blaustein, Germany Big 12 Rookie of the Week (12/15/08 and 01/12/09) Staiger started 27 games last season, averaging 8.2 points and 2.2 rebounds. He was Iowa State's top long-range shooter, making a team-high 74 treys in 192 attempts. His 74 3-pointers rank seventh on ISU's single-season 3-pointers made list. Staiger averaged 2.3 3-pointers made per game to rank sixth in the Big 12 and seventh on ISU's single-season list. He made a 3-pointer in 26 of 32 games and had 14 games with three or more treys. Staiger had a streak of 16 consecutive games with a 3-pointer, tying for the third-longest stretch in school history. He scored 14 points behind a 4-of-8 effort from downtown vs. Oregon State and poured in a career-high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting from 3-point range vs. Drake. His eight treys in that game tie for second on ISU's single-game record chart. Staiger tied a Big 12 mark by making seven treys in the first half vs. Drake, tallied 15 points in his Big 12 debut at Texas, drilled six 3-pointers en route to 18 points vs. Nebraska, posted 14 points behind a 4-of-10 effort from long range at Oklahoma State, and was 5-of-9 from downtown and scored 17 points at Nebraska. His 74 treys already rank 18th in school history.

		#10 Diante Garrett Junior Guard 6-4 \| 185 Milwaukee, Wis. World Vision Classic All-Tournament (2008) NSCA All-American (2008) Garrett was one of the Big 12's top playmakers, ranking third in the league and 36th nationally in assists. He totaled 161 assists to rank 14th on Iowa State's single-season assist chart. One of two players to start all 32 games, Garrett was second on the team in scoring and averaged 3.3 rebounds. He led the team in steals with 30, shot 70.7 percent from the free-throw line, ranked 10th in the Big 12 in assist/turnover ratio, handed out five or more assists in 17 of 32 games, led or tied ISU in assists in 22 of 32 games, recorded two double-doubles and four double-digit assist games, and posted a career-high 26 points at Hawai'i, going 10-for-10 from the free-throw line and marking the 16th time in school history where a Cyclone was perfect from the charity stripe with at least 10 attempts. Garrett dished out a career-high 11 assists vs. Loyola Marymount and Missouri, posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists against Oklahoma, notched 17 points vs. Texas Tech and made a career-high three treys vs. UW-Milwaukee, en route to 17 points. He currently ranks 18th on ISU's career assist chart.

		#21 Craig Brackins Junior Forward 6-10 \| 230 Palmdale, Calif. First Team All-Big 12 (2009) First Team USBWA All-District VI (2009) First Team NABC All-District 8 (2009) Basketball Times First Team All-Midlands (2009) AP Honorable Mention All-American (2009) Collegehoopsnet.com HM All-American (2009) Kansas City Star All-Big 12 Improved (2009) Big 12 Player of the Week (2009 - three times) MVP of World Vision Classic (2008) Brackins recorded one of the greatest seasons in Iowa State history, earning first-team all-Big 12 and first-team all-District honors from the NABC, USBWA and Basketball Times. He was named honorable mention All-American by the AP, was the first Cyclone to earn first-team all-Big 12 honors since Curtis Stinson in 2006 and was named Big 12 Player of the Week three times. Brackins averaged 20.2 points, ranking second in the Big 12 and 22nd nationally, and 9.5 rebounds to rank third in the Big 12 and 26th nationally. Along with Blake Griffin and Luke Harangody, he was one of three players in the country to rank in the top 30 nationally in both scoring and rebounding. In Big 12 games, Brackins averaged a double-double, scoring 20 or more points in 11 of 16 conference games. He scored a league-high 348 points in Big 12 games, the 10th-best single-season scoring total in league history; posted 19 20-point games and three 30-point outings; tallied 12 20-point/10-rebound games; led ISU in scoring in 21 of the last 23 games and paced the Cyclones in rebounding in the final 18 games; tallied 15 double-doubles to rank fourth in the Big 12; and ended the season ranking in ISU's single season top 11 in four categories: field goals, points, rebounds and double-doubles. Brackins is only the third player in school history to record 600 points and 300 rebounds in a season. His 645 points as a sophomore ranks second on ISU's class list behind Jeff Grayer, who tallied 684 points in his sophomore campaign. He became the 27th member of the 1,000-point club and just the fifth Cyclone in school history to record 1,000 points in their first two seasons. Brackins scored 18 or more points in a half eight times and tallied a double-double by halftime three times. He scored a career-high 42 points vs. Kansas, making 11 of 19 shots from the floor, 3 of 5 from beyond the arc and 17 of 21 from the charity stripe. The 42 points tie for the sixth-best effort by a Big 12 player in league history and are the fourth-best scoring effort in ISU history. His 17 free throws made tie for third best in ISU history. Brackins registered 38 points, including 23 in the second half, on 15-of-23 shooting from the floor at Houston. His 15 field goals made are tied for third-best all-time by a Big 12 player. He scored 32 points in an overtime victory at Northern Iowa and grabbed a career-high 17 boards vs. Jacksonville State.

		#23 Jamie Vanderbeken Senior Forward 6-11 \| 245 Belleville, Ontario Kansas City Star's Big 12 All-Newcomer Team (2009) Iowa State's top reserve in the post, averaging 5.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 31 games, Vanderbeken led ISU in 3-point percentage, making 35 of 86 shots from beyond the arc. He averaged 6.3 points in Big 12 play, was second on the team in blocks with 21, made 23 of his 35 treys in the last 14 games, had four games with three or more treys, tallied a double-double in his debut with 14 points and 10 boards vs. UC Davis, was 5 of 7 from the field and scored 12 points vs. Oklahoma, tallied 14 points at Kansas State, posted career highs in points and 3-pointers at Kansas, and was 4 of 5 from 3-point range en route to 12 points vs. Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship.

		#41 Justin Hamilton Sophomore Center 6-11 \| 255 Alpine, Utah Hamilton had a solid freshman campaign, averaging 4.2 points and 2.9 rebounds. He started 18 games, played in 32 contests and led the Cyclones in field-goal percentage, hitting 57 of 100 shots from the floor. His 57-percent clip from the floor ranks 15th on Iowa State's single-season record chart and second on ISU's freshman list. Hamilton tallied 17 blocks last season. In his first career start, he scored eight points and grabbed a career-high 12 boards in a win at Houston. Hamilton posted a career-high 16 points vs. SIU-Edwardsville and scored 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field at Missouri. He recorded eight points and 10 rebounds at Texas, and posted a career-high three blocks vs. Colorado.

		#2 Chris Colvin Freshman Guard 6-2 \| 195 Chicago, Ill. One of the best guards in the Class of 2009, Colvin was ranked as the 99th-best player in the nation and the 15th-best point guard nationally in the Rivals.com rankings. Scout.com ranked him as the 10th-best point guard in 2009 and he was ranked at No. 77 in the ESPNU final ratings. Colvin was named second-team Class 4A all-state a senior by the AP, and averaged 12.3 ppg and 6.2 assists on one of the best and most balanced prep teams in the nation. His Whitney Young team defeated Waukegan 69-66 in the state championship game to finish the season at 26-9 and win the 2009 Illinois Class 4A state title. He had seven points and a team-high six assists in the state championship game, and scored 14, 20, 12 and 17 points in the four previous postseason tournament games. Colvin averaged 14.1 ppg as a junior, earning all-state honors, and started three years at Whitney Young. He was named as one of the best players at the 2008 Reebok All-American Camp and chose Iowa State over Baylor, Florida State, Illinois, Kentucky, Marquette, Providence, USC and Washington State.

		#3 Marquis Gilstrap Senior Forward 6-6 \| 210 Covington, Ga. Gilstrap emerged as one of the best junior college players in the nation in his one season at Gulf Coast, averaging 22.6 points and 10.1 rebounds for one of the biggest surprise teams in junior college. He earned honorable mention All- America honors by the NJCAA, was rated as the 26th-best player in the class of 2009 by ESPN.com, and ranked 10th nationally in scoring and 20th in the nation in rebounding in the final NJCAA statistical rankings. Gilstrap shot 48.3 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from 3-point range and 74.8 percent from the free-throw line at Gulf Coast, was named Panhandle Conference Player of the Year and first-team team all-Panhandle Conference, and was a first-team All-FCCAA honoree. He led his team to a 24-9 overall record and a spot in the state final, where GCCC lost to No. 1-ranked Chipola JC 68-65 to miss out at a chance for the national tournament. Gilstrap also scored 27 points to help his squad defeat No. 3 Miami Dade in the first round of the state playoffs, and averaged 24.6 points and 10.3 rebounds to earn FCCAA All-Tournament team honors. He had seven 30+ scoring games and participated in the 2009 NJCAA All-Star Basketball Classic.

		#12 Alex Dorr Freshman Forward 6-7 \| 215 Norwalk, Iowa Dorr joins the Cyclones as a recruited walk-on. He averaged 20.2 points and 9.3 rebounds while earning Class 3A first-team all-state honors from both the Iowa Newspaper Association and The Des Moines Register as a senior. Dorr led Norwalk to its first-ever state championship game in 2009. The team finished the season with a 24-3 record. He scored 23 points and grabbed nine boards vs. Dubuque Wahlert in the first round of the state tournament, and averaged 18.9 points and 11.2 rebounds as a junior, earning second-team all-state honors.

		#15 Antwon Oliver Freshman Guard 6-5 \| 175 Racine, Wis. Oliver earned honorable mention all-state and third-team all-area honors as a senior, and developed into one of the best players in Wisconsin in his last year, leading his Horlick team to the Division 1 state championship game. He was ranked as the 13th-best player in the state of Wisconsin and averaged 16.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and hit 45 treys as a senior. Horlick went 24-2 and lost in the state final to Madison Memorial, 56-41. Oliver led his team with 13 points in the state championship game and was invited to play in the 2009 Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Boy's All-Star game. He averaged 12.5 points as a junior and 5.1 points as a sophomore.

		#22 LaRon Dendy Junior Forward 6-9 \| 225 Greenville, S.C. Dendy played two years at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, and was rated as the 57th-best player in the preseason 2008-09 Juco Junction rankings. He averaged 8.5 points and 6.3 rebounds as a freshman, earning honorable mention All-Region XI honors, but suffered a stress fracture in his sophomore season and saw limited action, averaging 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds and shooting 63.3 percent from the field in nine games. Ranked as one of the top post players in the Class of 2007, Dendy was rated as the 63rd-best player in the nation and the 17th-best power forward in the Rivals.com Class of 2007, and was the seventh-best player in the Southeast Region in 2007. He originally committed to Clemson, but opted to go to junior college.

		#25 Bubu Palo Freshman Guard 6-1 \| 175 Ames, Iowa Palo is a recruited walk-on. He was the starting point guard on Ames' 2009 Class 4A state championship team, which finished the season with a perfect 26-0 mark. Palo started his last two seasons at point guard, averaged 9.1 points as a senior to earn second-team All-CIML honors, had a 3.34 assist/turnover ratio and shot 52.0 percent from the field. He scored 11 points in Ames' state championship game win over Linn-Mar and was an honorable mention all-conference pick as a junior.