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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACH LISA FORTIER FIGHTS ON AND OFF THE COURT
Diagnosed with cancer in February, Lisa Fortier has returned to Gonzaga’s sideline ready to lead a new-look roster back to the NCAA Tournament.
You heard it here first (for about the seventh time) – this will be Gonzaga’s breakthrough season
If you’re going on past performance, you may be inclined to dismiss the following commentary. I’ve written half a dozen columns over the years predicting that the impending college basketball season would climax with Gonzaga players parading with nets around their necks, proudly passing the NCAA Tournament championship trophy among them. Those weren’t exactly out-ona-limb opinions. The Zags men are always in the tournament and have not only made lengthy stays, but have advanced to the title game twice. Something always got in the way. A sprained ankle here, some dubious foul calls there. Sometimes just bad matchups against powerful teams.
DAVE BOLING
SPOKESMAN COLUMNIST
DAVE BOLING SPOKESMAN COLUMNIST
Even random things, like one of their best chances getting canceled by a global pandemic. I won’t be foolish enough to suggest they capture the title this year because of karma debt or that the spinning wheel of good fortune and lucky bounces finally comes their way.
They’re a good pick this year because they are skilled, experienced and extremely versatile in the way they can attack defenses and counter matchups. And the roster, top to bottom, seems on the rise. The guys who stayed were trending upward on the way to their Sweet 16 in March. And those who were brought in have
intriguing skills and seemed to have been acquired with specific intent, being just the right pieces to complete the roster puzzle. Not to forget the head coach, Mark Few, who spent the summer with the USA Olympic team in Paris. Don’t you think the experience of coaching LeBron James, Steph Curry, etc., should leave some residual gold dust he can sprinkle on this year’s Zags? Yes, the absence of quintessential Zag Anton Watson is a loss. But it’s the only one, and it can be mitigated. A couple of reasons for this being the year: Four starters return. The group is so veteran that post Graham Ike has the least game experience (80 games), joining Ben Gregg (106 games), Nolan Hickman (104 games) and Ryan Nembhard (99 games).
They’re not just experienced, they’re now experienced with each other, in the same system under the same staff.
Don’t overlook the significance of the fact that every key player off last year’s team returned to GU rather than being lured away by a school that might have brighter prospects.
Nobody can better predict the competitiveness of a team than the players on the roster. So, trust these guys. They obviously sensed a building of critical mass.
Toss in new Zag Khalif Battle, who is entering his sixth season and fourth team, having played 101 games at Butler, Temple and Arkansas before arriving in
Spokane with some fascinating statistics. That group has seen everything, done everything, and played against just about everybody.
The eight-deep features a nice mix of four guards and four bigs, and looks as talented as any of the Zags predecessors. Play big, play small, play fast. Whatever.
Returners Nembhard, Hickman, Gregg and Ike are likely to be joined in the starting lineup at small forward by Pepperdine transfer Michael Ajayi. An All-West Coast Conference first-team selection last year, the 6-foot-7, 220-pound Ajayi would probably be considered most effective in filling the role of Watson. But maybe with more firepower.
Ajayi averaged roughly 17 points and 10 rebounds last season, while making 47% of his 3-point attempts. He didn’t shoot well in games against the Zags last season, but pulled in 14 rebounds in one game.
Solid to spectacular guard play has keyed many GU tournament runs, and both Nembhard and Hickman rose to the challenge late last season. Hickman had big games against Kansas and Purdue, and had career highs in scoring and shooting percentage over the season.
Nembhard and Ike needed a little time last season to acclimate to the Zags system, but toward the end of the year they had found so many variations on pick and roll, with such perfect timing, they at times seemed unstoppable.
Inserted in the starting lineup in the middle of last season, Gregg became a powerful rebounder and scorer with range, with some toughness at the rim tossed in. Against Kansas in the NCAAs, he made all six shots, including a pair of 3s, to score 15 points with nine boards and two blocks. If Ajayi can replace Watson’s rebounding, Gregg should supply any missing cohesiveness, grit and combative attitude.
The 6-9 Ike enters the season as one of the country’s top big men. It wouldn’t hurt if he could provide a bit more rim protection, but he’s so talented on of-
fense it feels a bit picky to quibble. What might be the most encouraging aspect of this edition of Zags is the quality of the full rotation, which might force Few to go further down the bench than usual.
Perhaps most interesting among the newcomers is Battle, a 6-5 guard, whose late-season scoring outburst at Arkansas registered massive statistics.
In the last seven games of the season, Battle averaged 29.6 points and 6.3 rebounds. This was against top-flight competition. He scored 34 against Kentucky, 29 against LSU, 22 against Alabama, and on Feb. 24, he nailed 6 of 10 3-pointers in a 42-point effort against Missouri.
More of a known commodity, but also a talent ready to go big, sophomore forward Braden Huff averaged roughly nine points in only 13.5 minutes a game for the Zags. With a soft touch on the low block and perimeter range, Huff scored 26 against San Diego and 25 on Portland last season.
Picture at some point during the first halves of games this season when the Zags send Battle and Huff off the bench together. Instant offense. Game-changers, tempo-changers, style-changers.
It’s also easy to sense a serious hunger from this bunch.
After the loss to Purdue in March, nobody in the locker room seemed interested in talking about anything but getting started to work toward the season that is now upon us.
“Nobody wearing a Zag uniform is going to go into any game feeling pessimistic or that we can’t win it,” Ike said.
And by “it,” it seemed as if he was talking about the whole thing.
After that loss, Gregg looked like he was ready to find a gym someplace that night to start practicing.
“We’re going to be very hungry going into this offseason,” Gregg said. “We got a taste for going this far and we want to go further than this.”
I’ve been wrong before, but I think, more than ever, this is the year.
By Theo Lawson THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Two things might have been immediately apparent to anyone who stopped by and watched the 5-on-5 portion of Gonzaga’s practices last season. Depending on the day your visit landed, the Bulldogs may not have had 10 scholarship players available to run through the competitive, live sessions that tend to take place near the end of practice.
When they did have the numbers necessary, there was a clear talent disparity between the two groups on the floor, underscoring the depth issues Gonzaga faced at nearly every position throughout a bumpy regular season.
One year later, the same scrimmages have left Gonzaga’s coaching staff with another set of problems related to the team’s depth.
Good problems in this case.
“Last year, there was a lot of days we didn’t have 10 players, so it was one group playing and a group walking through. That to me is the difference,” Gonzaga assistant Brian Michaelson said. “The depth of that practice and that it’s even on even. You’re getting great competition that you literally every single day know it’s going to be close, but you have no idea which group’s going to win.
“Whereas last year you clearly had a
group that was ahead or you only had one group certain days. We were so low that you only had one group, so it was a lot of like walk through, jog through.”
Flip the calendar forward a year and one group might consist of point guard Ryan Nembhard, shooting guard Nolan Hickman, wing/forward Michael Ajayi, forward Ben Gregg and forward Graham Ike.
That unit contains 40% of the players selected to the 10-man All-WCC preseason team on Oct. 17, includes the program record-holder for single-season assists (Nembhard), a fourth-team preseason All-American, per ESPN’s Jay Bilas (Ike) and someone The Athletic projects to be a second-round pick in the 2025 NBA draft (Ajayi).
It does not, however, include the only player on Gonzaga’s roster to score 40 points in a college game (Khalif Battle) or team’s returning leader in points-perminute (Braden Huff). It doesn’t include a transfer wing who could wind up being the Bulldogs’ top all-around defender (Emmanuel Innocenti) or someone who started the first 15 games of the season for the last year’s team (Dusty Stromer).
The Zags would probably feel comfortable filtering through a nine-man rotation most nights this season and they could go even deeper than that. The roster also features a two-time
See ZAGS, 8
2023-24: 27-8 overall, 14-2 WCC
No shortage of options here, but we’ll go with a newcomer. There’s no doubt Pepperdine transfer Michael Ajayi will have to be a difference maker during his first and only season in Spokane, but he may also be Gonzaga’s X-factor. NBA scouts liked the WCC’s leading top enough to extend an invite to the draft combine and Ajayi’s versatility could take the Zags’ high-functioning offense (84.5 ppg in 2023-24) to new heights while giving them a boost on the glass.
G-Ryan Nembhard, 6-0, Sr, 12.6 ppg, 6.9 apg; G-Nolan Hickman, 6-2, Sr, 14.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg; G-Michael Ajayi, 6-7, Sr, 17.2 ppg, 9.9 rpg; F-Ben Gregg, 6-10, Sr, 9.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg; F-Graham Ike, 6-9, Sr, 16.5 ppg, 7.4 rpg
There’s no reason to think Gonzaga can’t start and finish the season with the nation’s top adjusted offense. The Bulldogs still have a few things to sort out on the defensive end, but another Final Four run could be on the horizon if everything comes together. Prediction: 16-2 WCC, 27-4 overall.
Nov. 4: vs. Baylor, 8:30 p.m.* Nov. 10: vs. Arizona State, 2 p.m. Nov. 15: vs.
Nov. 18: at
Nov. 20: vs.
Nov. 27: vs. W.
11:30 a.m.** Nov. 28: vs. Indiana/Louisville, TBD** Nov. 29: vs. TBD** Dec. 7: vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m.*** Dec. 14: vs. UConn, 6 p.m.**** Dec. 18: vs. Nicholls, 6 p.m.
Dec. 21: vs. Bucknell, 6 p.m.
Dec. 28: at UCLA, 5 p.m.***** Dec. 30: at Pepperdine, 7 p.m.
Jan. 2: vs. Portland, 6 p.m.*
Jan. 4:
With a pair of new WCC faces, Gonzaga remains team to beat
By Theo Lawson THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Last year, it was the departure of BYU. This year, it’s the addition of Washington State and Oregon State. More change coming 12 months from now, with Grand Canyon and Seattle U entering the picture. And in two years? Another round of defections, with Gonzaga, WSU and OSU moving on to the Pac-12.
Welcome to life in the ever-fluctuating West Coast Conference.
In the here and now, 11 teams make up a conference that projects to be formidable at the top, strong in the middle and improved in the lower third.
Led by preseason favorite Gonzaga at No. 9, the WCC has four teams ranked inside the top 100 of KenPom’s early rankings, six total inside the top 150 and none occupying a spot lower than No. 287 (Pacific).
Some things probably won’t change – beating Gonzaga, a national title hopeful, looks to be as difficult as it’s ever been – but other things might look different for a conference that’s sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament just one time (2022) since the 2011-12 season.
Not surprisingly, the list of candidates begins with the Zags and Saint Mary’s Gaels, who’ve made a combined 33 NCAA Tournament appearances under longtime coaches Mark Few and Randy Bennett. Santa Clara cleared one hurdle by taking down Gonzaga last season. Some think the Broncos have the talent and roster continuity to break down another barrier and return to March Madness for the first time in three decades.
San Francisco, a 20-win program seven of the past eight seasons, earned an at-large bid in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Can the Dons, with their talented backcourt, scrape together another resume worthy of a tournament bid?
Loyola Marymount could be an improved squad after reloading in the offseason and the WCC’s newcomers, WSU and OSU, should have a say in how things play out within the top half of the conference standings.
We give our own predictions below, ranking the 11 teams in order with educated guesses –some more educated than others – on starting lineups and brief outlooks for each entering the
2024-25 season.
1. Gonzaga
Find preview information on Page 3.
2. Saint Mary’s
Coach: Randy Bennett (24th season; at Saint Mary’s and overall: 533-216) 2023-24 record: 26-8, 15-1
WCC
Possible starters: G Augustas Marciulionis (12.4 ppg, 5.3 apg), G Jordan Ross (1.3 ppg, 1.0 rpg), G Luke Barrett (5.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg), F Paulius Murauskas (2.7 ppg, 1.2 rpg at Arizona), C Mitchell Saxen (11.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg)
Key losses: F Joshua Jefferson (10.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg), G Aidan Mahaney (13.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg), G Alex Ducas (9.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg), F Mason Forbes (5.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
Our take: The Gaels lose four high-impact players from a team that swept the WCC’s regular-season and conference tournament championships, but we’re wagering on Bennett being able to rebuild and retool the same way he has for the past two decades running this program. For all Saint Mary’s lost, one could still argue the Gaels bring back their two most important players in WCC Player of the Year Augustas Marciulionis and Defensive Player of the Year Mitchell Saxen. Jordan Ross replaces Aidan Mahaney and Paulius Murauskas is a floor-stretching forward who made 52% of his 3-pointers last season at Arizona.
3. Santa Clara
Coach: Herb Sendek (9th season; at Santa Clara: 140-107; overall: 553-402)
2023-24
record: 20-13, 10-6
WCC
Possible starters: G Carlos Stewart (4.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg at LSU), G Tyeree Bryan (8.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg), G Adama Alpha-Bal (14.4 ppg, 3.1 apg), F Johnny O’Neill (11.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg), F Christoph Tilly (9.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg)
Key losses: G Carlos Marshall Jr. (13.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg), G Jalen Benjamin (4.9 ppg, 1.2 rpg)
Our take: The WCC’s coaches came to a consensus that Santa Clara should be slotted third in the preseason poll, ahead of a talented group from San Francisco, and after much deliberation, we did too. If Adama Alpha-Bal can take another step as a senior, the all-conference wing should be the WCC’s top NBA prospect when the draft rolls around. Carlos Stewart, a former All-WCC guard at Santa Clara, returns to the Broncos after a tumultuous season with LSU in the SEC, and Sendek brings back 6-foot-10 Johnny O’Neill and 7-foot Christoph Tilly, who should form one of the conference’s best frontcourt pairings.
4. San Francisco
Coach: Chris Gerlufsen (third season; at San Francisco: 43-25; overall: 51-30) 2023-24 record: 23-11, 11-5
WCC
Possible starters: G Ryan
Beasley (7.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg), G Marcus Williams (14.0 ppg, 3.9 apg), G Malik Thomas (12.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg), F Ndewedo Newbury (9.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg), C Carlton Linguard Jr. (9.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg at UTSA)
Key losses: F Jonathan Mogbo (14.2 ppg, 10.1 rpg), G Mike Sharavjamts (7.7 ppg, 2.6 apg), F Isaiah Hawthorne (7.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg)
Our take: One year after discovering Jonathan Mogbo –the WCC’s top rebounder who’d go on to become a first-round NBA draft pick – the Dons believe they’ve unearthed another talented transfer forward who could turn heads playing on a bigger stage this season. UTSA’s Carlton Linguard Jr. may not have the interior strength or rebounding ability that Mogbo possessed, but the springy 7-footer adds rim protection and gives the Dons a proven lob threat on the offensive end of the floor. Outside of Gonzaga, USF may have the WCC’s best backcourt, returning two players who received All-WCC votes (Marcus Williams, Malik Thomas) and the WCC Freshman of the Year (Ryan Beasley).
5. Washington State Find preview information on Page 15.
6. Oregon State Coach: Wayne Tinkle (10th season; at Oregon State: 140-177; overall: 298-268) 2023-24 record: 13-19, 5-15 Pac-12
Possible starters: G DaMarco Minor (15.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg at SIUE), G DaJohn Craig (2.7 ppg, 0.5 rpg), G Josiah Lake (3.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg), F Michael Rataj (8.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg), F Parsa Fallah (13.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg) Key losses: G Jordan Pope (17.6 ppg, 3.4 apg), F Tyler Bilodeau (14.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg), G Dexter Akanno (10.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg), C KC Ibekwe (5.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg), G Christian Wright (3.3 ppg, 1.1 rpg) Our take: There aren’t many spots where we differed from the WCC preseason poll, but this
was one of them. Five of Tinkle’s top seven scorers took the opportunity to transfer out of OSU’s program after the Beavers finished last in the Pac-12 and subsequently joined the WCC as an affiliate member, but we like the newcomers enough to place them one place ahead of LMU, which took sixth in the preseason poll. DaMarco Minor didn’t garner much attention while playing for SIUE last season, but the transfer guard should be an All-WCC candidate in Corvallis. Michael Rataj started 23 times for the Beavers last season and Parsa Fallah should be an instant impact player after transferring from Southern Utah.
7. Loyola Marymount
Coach: Stan Johnson (fifth season; at LMU and overall: 55-48) 2023-24 record: 12-19, 5-11
WCC
Possible starters: G Myron Amey Jr. (15.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg at San Jose State), G Will Johnston (11.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg), F Alex Merkviladze (12.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg), F Jevon Porter (16.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg at Pepperdine), C Rick Issanza (1.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg) Key losses: G Justin Wright (11.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg), G Dominick Harris (14.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg); G Justice Hill (11.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg), C Lars Thiemann (9.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg),F Keli Leaupepe (9.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg), F Michael Graham (3.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg)
Our take: Riddled with injuries, LMU had six scholarship players available at one point last season. Now the Lions now have to replace six of their top eight scorers, including program cornerstone Keli Leaupepe and former Gonzaga guard Dominick Harris, who was leading Johnson’s team in scoring before a season-ending injury. A retooled roster is headlined by Pepperdine forward Jevon Porter, who decided to join Johnson’s program after LMU hired former Waves coach Lorenzo Romar as an assistant. Myron Amey Jr., a guard from San Jose State, posted impressive numbers in a strong Mountain West Conference last season, and big man Rick Issanza returns to the lineup after a season-ending back injury.
8. Portland Coach: Shantay Legans (fourth season; at Portland: 4555; overall: 120-104) 2023-24 record: 12-20, 5-11 WCC
Possible starters: G
How ‘unfinished business’ lured Gonzaga’s quartet of returning starters back to school for one last run
By Theo Lawson THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
One by one, they filter into a team dining room adjacent to the court at McCarthey Athletic Center. Ben Gregg takes a seat, followed by Ryan Nembhard and then Nolan Hickman. Five minutes later, Graham Ike finishes a photoshoot on the upper concourse of the Kennel and walks through the door, pulling up a chair next to Hickman. Gonzaga fans know why it’s important to savor this scene – four starters from a second-weekend NCAA Tournament team returning a year later on account of “unfinished business.”
As an entity, college basketball should take the time to appreciate it, too.
“It’s like, if we’ve got another run at this, why not try to run it back and see what we can do?” Ike said. “It wasn’t really a thought about leaving or anything. ... We already knew. Everybody’s still got eligibility, we’re not leaving.” Gonzaga has been a college basketball anomaly for the better part of three decades, manufacturing an unlikely national powerhouse on a small Jesuit campus in the Pacific Northwest.
Mark Few’s program, targeting a 10th consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 and lots more in 2024-25, will be an anomaly in another sense this season when it takes the court with four of the five players who started for the Zags one year ago, along with two key reserves –
Dusty Stromer and Braden Huff – who accounted for 35 of the team’s 46 bench points, and 76% of the total bench minutes during the NCAA Tournament.
Assembling a roster has become an all-encompassing endeavor for college basketball programs in 2024, starting as early as March and often bleeding into late August or early September. The final piece of Gonzaga’s 2023-24 roster, Pavle Stosic, arrived on campus with the fall semester already underway. On the other end of the spectrum, Gonzaga took the first step toward addressing the 2024-25 roster before the 2023-24 campaign concluded, picking up a commitment from Pepperdine’s Michael Ajayi on March 26, roughly 24 hours before the team flew to Detroit for the Sweet 16.
Ajayi is one of four incoming transfers, and one of five newcomers, but Gonzaga’s ability to retain six rotation players and seven total from last year’s roster made this rebuild relatively simple and straightforward, at least as rebuilds go in the modern college hoops climate.
“Unbelievable to retain six of the seven that played and obviously the one had no eligibility left is out of this world,” said Gonzaga assistant Brian Michaelson. “Retention is so important in college basketball and used to be quite common, but I think even we had a unique level of retention. To return whatever it was, 80% of statistics in today’s world is unheard of.”
It’s safe to assume virtually every program in the country would be thrilled with that number. In GU’s case, it’s slightly higher than 80% this season. Officially, the Zags are bringing back 81.4% of returning minutes from one year ago. That’s not the top percentage in the country, but it’s not far off either, ranking fifth out of 364 Division I teams, according to the analytics website run by Bart Torvik.
Per BartTorvik.com, nobody else occupying a spot in the preseason AP Top 25 returns more than 80% of its minutes, with No. 4 Houston as the next-closest at
77%. In total, 232 college basketball teams return less than 50% of returning minutes from last season, with eight returning fewer than 1%. Eight of Gonzaga’s 11 foes in the West Coast Conference bring back 47% or lower of returning minutes, with four of them below 25%. It’s an impressive level of retention, even by Gonzaga’s standards, and yet none of the team’s four returning starters seem overly surprised things played out this way.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Gregg said. “I mean honestly with the world of college athletics now, you could probably go somewhere else and make a lot of money. But I don’t think that’s what these guys are worried about. I know I’m not.”
“I just felt like we knew what we had in this locker room,” Nembhard said, “and I really had no plans on doing anything else.”
Added Hickman: “For me it was a no-brainer, honestly. I’ve been here since my freshman year so it would’ve been hard to up and leave Gonzaga as a whole. The fans, everybody around Gonzaga as a community. It wouldn’t feel right for me to leave.”
• • •
Michaelson specifically remembers two things about GU’s locker room moments after Zach Edey and top-seeded Purdue ended Gonzaga’s postseason run in Detroit.
First was the outpouring of love and gratitude for outgoing senior Anton Watson, a fifth-year player who left an unquantifiable impact on his hometown program, from his first day on campus down to his final seconds in a Gonzaga uniform.
Second was the shared feeling among rotation players with eligibility left that it couldn’t end this way. Not in the Sweet 16. Not after conceding the WCC championships – yes, both of them – to bitter
14 points per game for the Zags last
programs and said other schools can you give this much money, this and that,” he said.
right intentions of winning,” Ike said, “whether it’s a drill in practice, as a whole, whatever it may be.”
sibilities for the team’s highly touted backcourt.
rival Saint Mary’s. Not after the progress they’d made over five months, going from NCAA bubble candidate to a group nobody wanted to see in March.
“Two things that stuck out was how much emotion those guys had for Anton and how much they loved him and respected him ... That really, really stuck with me. That was really cool,” Michaelson said. “And then almost in that same breath, them all being like, we’ve got to do this again. So that’s far from official, but even in that moment while you’re dealing with the end, there was clearly a thought toward the future. Which is always a good sign.”
Almost as if they’d scripted the response beforehand, Nembhard, Hickman, Ike and Gregg all relayed the same message to reporters from their individual lockers at Little Caesars Arena.
“We had some unfinished business,” Nembhard said.
What if actual business interfered with the unfinished business that brought all four players back to Gonzaga?
Advancing to the second weekend of March Madness inevitably drove up their market value and a 2024 report from NIL technology firm Opendorse shows that athletes who transfer make 70% more in NIL earnings than those who stay put. Nembhard, Hickman, Ike and Gregg could’ve commanded significant NIL packages, potentially putting Gonzaga in a position where it might have been able to afford a raise for one or two players, but possibly not all four.
Once the semester ended, all four players would eventually split to their offseason homes, where family members, friends, AAU coaches and NIL agents would have opportunities to get in their ear.
Gregg, for instance, returned to the Portland area where longtime friends and basketball acquaintances gauged his interest in a move away from Gonzaga, tossing out dollar figures to see if anything would move the needle.
“People I’ve been close with since I was a kid that have connections to other
from 4
ager Webb (7.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg at American)
Key losses: G Tyler Robertson (16.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg), G Tyler Harris (12.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg), F Alimamy Koroma (9.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg), G Juan Sebastian Gorosito (8.6 ppg, 2.6 apg), F Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams (8.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
Our take: Retention and stability have been hard to come by for former Eastern Washington coach Legans, who’s been unable to prevent his top player from leaving for more NIL money and high-major opportunities at the University of Washington each of the past two offseasons (Moses Wood, Tyler Harris). Replacing fifth-year veteran Tyler Robertson, an Australian wing who was with Legans at EWU, isn’t an easy task, but Legans likes his new roster and the Pilots are optimistic about the continued growth of Vukasin Masic, who’s improved his scoring production every year he’s been on campus. Elon transfer Max Mackinnon accompanied Legans and Masic at WCC Media Day
Gregg, who’s seen six teammates drafted to the NBA over the last four years, understood the value of the long play at Gonzaga.
“I’m like, I’m good man,” Gregg said. “I’m good where I’m at, so I didn’t pay any mind to that.”
Gonzaga made it through the transfer portal window unscathed, but the professional route offered another potential roadblock for the program’s chances of bringing back all four starters.
None were considered top-end draft prospects, but even for players who aren’t firmly on the NBA’s radar, there’s value in testing the waters, going through pre-draft workouts and gaining feedback from scouts. Players are permitted to enter the draft twice without forfeiting their college eligibility and none of Gonzaga’s returning starters had done it previously.
Which made May 1 another important checkpoint for Gonzaga. The NBA revealed 195 players who’d filed for early draft entry and while none of GU’s returners had indicated they’d be testing the waters, it was still worth scrolling through the alphabetical list just to be sure there wasn’t a Gregg, Hickman, Ike or Nembhard appearing anywhere on the page.
“The NBA is always going to be there. Pro is always going to be there,” said Nembhard, who possibly took advice from older brother Andrew, a starting guard for the Indiana Pacers, on that front. “You only have a certain amount of time to play with this group of guys and achieve some great things.”
All four made personal decisions to stay and informed Few of their plans –at that point more of a formality than anything else.
“We didn’t even have to say it, it was just known,” Hickman said. “Yeah, no doubt.”
• • •
If retention was the buzzword associated with Gonzaga’s offseason, intention may be the one that defines the next five or six months.
“We’re attacking every day with the
and brings both experience and versatility to UP’s backcourt.
9. Pacific
Coach: Dave Smart (first season)
2023-24 record: 6-25, 0-16
WCC
Possible starters: G Elijah Fisher (10.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg at DePaul), G Petar Krivokapic (7.2 ppg, 1.5 rpg at FIU), G Lamar Washington (2.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg), F Elias Ralph (15.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg at University of Victoria), C Jazz Gardner (2.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg at Nevada) Key losses: G Donovan Williams (9.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg), G Judson Martindale (9.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg), G Moe Odum (8.7 ppg, 4.5 apg), G Cam Denson (8.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg), G Nick Blake (7.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg), G Lesown Hallums Jr. (6.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg)
Our take: It likely surprised some to see Pacific picked 10th in the WCC’s preseason poll. We’re confident the Tigers can finish one spot higher than that in Smart’s first season with the program. Pacific’s roster retains just one player from the team that finished 0-16 in WCC play last year and brings in three high-major transfers that could help the Tigers climb out
One season may feel like an eternity to some, but within the context of a long career, it can feel like Gonzaga’s veteran starters are coming up on the final seconds of their respective shot clocks.
Gregg, the last remaining remember of GU’s 2020-21 national runner-up team, is entering his fifth season and refers to the quartet of returning starters, with an average age of 21½ years, as “old heads.” Together, they’ve played in 389 total games, 33 NCAA Tournament games and have 4,041 career points under their belt.
Knowing the time remaining is finite, there’s not as much tolerance when the team has to repeat a drill or exercise two or three times at practice. Gregg, Ike, Nembhard and Hickman are viewed as an extension of the coaching staff and they’re encouraged to speak up if they see something Few or one of his assistants happen to miss.
“We’ve got to go all out every day,”
Gregg said. “We can’t waste any practice time, walkthroughs or anything like that. It’s all about making sure we’re holding each other accountable every day.”
Early in his career, Hickman was stubborn and not always willing to take advice from GU’s veterans. Now he’s comfortable dishing it out to younger players and transfers – and doesn’t take offense if Ike, Nembhard or Gregg feel the need to correct him on something.
“Freshman year, you’re not accepting none of that and you’re starting to feel a lot of hostility toward others and everything,” he said. “Yeah man, once you start getting older, getting mature and start realizing things, it starts putting things in perspective.”
On the floor, everything is clicking at a higher level in many of the ways you might expect.
Nembhard’s two-man game with Ike was effective last season, but their partnership has reached another gear. Hickman, Gonzaga’s primary point guard two years ago, has grown more comfortable playing off the ball and has a better understanding of where he can complement Nembhard, unlocking more pos -
of the WCC’s basement. One of those, Elijah Fisher, is a former four-star prospect who averaged double figures last year in the Big East. Lamar Washington should be a factor after playing in 62 games at Texas Tech the last two seasons and Canadian wing Elias Ralph brings outside shooting and rebounding after making 40% of his 3s and averaging 8.2 rebounds at the University of Victoria.
10. San Diego
Coach: Steve Lavin (third season; at San Diego: 29-35; overall: 266-185)
2023-24 record: 18-15, 7-9
WCC
Possible starters: G Kjay Bradley Jr., G Kody Clouet (15.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg), G Dragos Lungu (5.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg), F David Simon (3.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg), C Steven Jamerson II (8.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg)
Key losses: G Deuce Turner (15.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg), G Wayne McKinney III (13.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg), G PJ Hayes (10.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg), G Kevin Patton Jr. (9.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg), F Jimmy Oladokun Jr. (5.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg) Our take: The Toreros lost their top four scorers – three of
“Last year, new point guard, new big man coming in, we play through them so much that you kind of have to get used to the way they play and where they get their shots and where they’re looking to pass the ball to you,” Gregg said.
“I know Graham’s game so well now, I know where to go if he misses a shot, where most of his misses go if he does miss, which is rare. Then where to spot up for Ryan to find me at and that stuff.”
Centered around retention, Gonzaga’s formula is something most coaches strive for but struggle to replicate, especially in the increasingly chaotic transfer portal/NIL climate. Few’s had better success than most, but the Zags haven’t been completely immune to offseasons where they’ve had to turn over a majority of the roster, if not more.
“It rings loud and clear how much they love each other, care for each other, care about the program, care about the school, care about the community,” Few said. “I’ve been so impressed by that and go into this season kind of with just carrying that as a motivator and a debt I and our staff wants to pay back to them for that. So it’s pretty cool in this day and age.”
Outside expectations are understandably high for the country’s sixth-ranked team. Within the locker room, there’s an internal understanding of what’s possible, but the Zags have been strategically more subtle about voicing their goals this season.
The last time “national championship” came up in a team setting?
“We try not to use that word anymore,” Gregg said. “We had a good retreat where we just all got to get together to talk about what we want from this season. Every year we’ve done a retreat, the goal is national championship. That’s all we talk about and this year we’re more worried about getting 1% better each day.
“We’ll make the run and do all that, but we’ve just got to focus on what we’re doing day to day and try to get better every day we step onto the floor.” Theo Lawson can be reached at 509-4595584 or theol@spokesman.com.
them to Division I programs within a 150-mile radius of San Diego’s campus – and only added one Division I transfer in former Gonzaga walk-on Colby Brooks. Those things make Lavin’s team especially hard to predict coming off a respectable 18-win season and fifth-place finish in the WCC. The top returner is Steven Jamerson II, an athletic center who started in 24 of the 26 games he played last season and displayed all-conference potential. Guard Kody Clouet is the most experienced player on the roster though he’s new to Division I with prior stops at Division II Southeastern Oklahoma State and NAIA St. Katherine’s. 11. Pepperdine
Coach: Ed Schilling (first season; overall: 75-93) 2023-24 record: 13-20, 5-11
WCC
Possible starters: G Moe Odum (8.7 ppg, 4.6 apg at Pacific), G Taj Au-Duke, Javon Cooley (7.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg at Marist), F Alonso Faure (6.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg at Loyola Maryland), F Boubacar Coulibaly (8.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg)
Key losses: G Michael Ajayi (17.2 ppg, 9.9 rpg), G Houston
Mallette (15.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg), F Jevon Porter (14.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg), G Malik Moore (7.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg), G Ethan Anderson (5.7 ppg, 3.3 apg), G Nils Cooper (5.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg), F Jalen Pitre (4.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
Our take: The rebuild taking shape at Pepperdine is twofold. The Waves are reconstructing their roster under first-year coach Schilling, but the school also broke ground on a new 3,600-seat basketball arena that’s set to be completed in the fall of 2026. In an ideal world, Schilling’s rebuild will be finished sooner than the new facility, but the former Grand Canyon assistant faces a challenging task with a team that brings back one starter in Boubacar Coulibaly. Pepperdine should lean heavily on Moe Odum, who transferred within the conference after two seasons at Pacific, along with Marist transfer Javon Cooley. Freshman guard Taj Au-Duke, who averaged 24.8 points as a high school senior in Ontario, Canada, has impressed coaches early and could play his way into the starting five.
Theo Lawson can be reached at (509) 459-5584 or theol@ spokesman.com.
Newcomers Khalif Battle, Michael Ajayi bring energy, physical play, scoring punch to Zags
By Jim Meehan THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Some numbers to put new Gonzaga guard Khalif Battle’s scoring prowess, mindset, dedication and motivation – all closely related – into perspective.
Let’s begin with the uniform numbers the Arkansas transfer has worn in his four-school, six-year career: 4, 0 and 99.
“I’ve done covered every region,” Battle said of his college odyssey.
The New Jersey native couldn’t snag his favorite No. 0 as a freshman at Butler because it was taken by a teammate. He settled for No. 4 because “it just looked nice.” Battle transferred to Temple for the next three seasons and donned the No. 0 that “I’ve worn my whole life. That’s how many people can guard me.”
GU senior starting point guard Ryan Nembhard has dibs on No. 0 for the second straight year, so Battle chose 99.
“For my friend, a best friend,” Battle said of a college pal that was shot and killed a couple of years ago. “He had nine letters in his name, he was born in September, the ninth month. I asked his mom if I could honor him with 99 and she thought it was a great idea.”
Battle’s internal belief, particularly in his rapid-fire scoring ability, stems from countless hours in the gym. For Battle, the gym was at a school that employed his grandmother as a janitor. She had a major role in raising Khalif, older brother Tyus and their autistic cousin.
Grandma routinely brought the three to the school when she worked nights and weekends. Khalif and Tyus, who went on to play at Syracuse and plays professionally overseas, would hoop for hours with marathon sessions of 1-on-1 games to 100 while their cousin was reading books in the library.
“My mother was a waitress. She wasn’t really home trying to make money,” Khalif said. “My dad got laid off for a major part of my life and he was finding himself with his business. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother.
“She would lock us in the gym. I didn’t really take it as seriously as my brother. He was always a natural, since seventh grade a top-five player. I never thought of myself like that. She passed away when I was in seventh grade, and that’s when I started taking basketball seriously. It’s kind of my calling card for her I guess.”
Battle, whose first name is pronounced K-liff but he’s known as KB to teammates, expanded his game and refined his shooting touch playing at the park against older kids.
“I played on a double rim and the shot had to go in,” said Battle, referring to double rims being less forgiving than single. “In college, people tweaked my shot. I’d spend hours, until 2 in the morning, sometimes until 5 ... I’ve always been a gym rat. Every coach I had used to have to kick me out of the gym. You have to have ultimate confidence and trust your work.”
Evidence of that came last year in his lone season at Arkansas. The 6-foot-5 Battle scored 42, 36, 34 and 29 points late in the regular season against Missouri, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and LSU. The 141 points
in a four-game span were the most by an
SEC player in two decades. Not bad for not being in the starting lineup just 10 days before facing Missouri.
Battle buried six 3-pointers, including a couple approaching 30 feet, drained smooth pull-ups, converted on the break and went 14 of 14 at the free-throw line against Missouri. He didn’t slow down in the ensuing three games with 22, 24 and 20 points to close the season.
He’s already made an impression at Gonzaga. During podcast interviews at WCC Media Day recently in Las Vegas, coach Mark Few mentioned Battle made 140 consecutive free throws in practice.
“Graham Ike was just sitting there (waiting for his turn),” Battle said. “At first he was like, ‘He’s going to miss.’ I told him to get comfortable. I stopped counting and had the manager start counting.”
In a shooting drill with guards firing 3-pointers from six spots (until they missed two in a row), Battle posted a score of 337. The next closest: 190.
Battle hit 87.3% of 213 free-throw attempts last season in 793 minutes. Six GU players logged more minutes, led by Nembhard’s 1,250, and Ike paced the team with 134 free-throw attempts in 846 minutes.
Battle, a three-level scorer who can operate in ball screens and apply foul pressure, and Pepperdine transfer Michael Ajayi, penciled in to replace Anton Watson in the starting lineup, are major additions to a squad that returns six of its top seven scorers.
“They fill needs we felt we needed to be addressed,” Few said. “Obviously, losing Anton, it’s not going to be absorbed by just one person. He had an impact on all phases of the game, but obviously Mike really helps us there. KB brings us something we probably haven’t had in a while, kind of an electric scorer that can get his own shot, can get downhill and get to the line, but he also makes free throws.”
The 6-7 Ajayi averaged 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds in his first D-1 season. The senior forward made 47% on 3s and logged nearly 35 minutes per game.
“Physical, big, strong, great energy, great personality,” Zags assistant coach Brian Michaelson said. “We needed that physicality and he’s going to go rebound.”
Gonzaga seemingly had the best of all worlds in the transfer portal after last season, stocking up on immediate and downthe-road help while losing two scholarship players that combined for just 176 minutes.
Tarleton State transfer Emmanuel Innocenti started 33 games last year as a freshman on a 25-win team. The 6-5, 200-pound native of France averaged 6.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals and was rewarded with WAC All-Defensive and All-Freshman honors. Few have raved about Innocenti’s defensive ability.
He’ll compete for rotation minutes and assume a larger role next season and beyond. GU will lose at least six seniors/grad students after this season.
“He’s a good defender, strong, his arms are longer than you think,” Battle said of facing Innocenti in practice. “Slides his feet really well. Everybody told me how great a defender he was, and if anybody
could keep me out of the paint it would be him. I took to that (as a challenge), so every single time I go at him, but he always accepts the challenge. He can score the ball as well.”
“Emmanuel could have gone somewhere and started,” Michaelson said. “He, like the other guys, wanted to be pushed and challenged and strive for long-term greatness.”
The 7-foot, 237-pound Ismaila Diagne is just 17 years old and doesn’t have extensive game experience, but he could provide rim and paint protection in certain situations.
“He’s younger than the vast majority of the 2025 recruiting class,” Michaelson said. “He has an unbelievable spirit and positivity that this group needs. In my experience, that leads to growth and success. He’s a real physical presence. He’ll be a massive piece for us going forward. All those young guys are going to be really good players here.”
That includes Braeden Smith, who is redshirting and a top candidate to take over at point guard next season. The Seattle native played two years at Colgate and was named Patriot League Player of the Year last season. He started all 70 games and averaged 12.0 points and 5.0 assists.
“He’s plenty good to play (this season), he’s talented,” Michaelson noted. “And
he’s a real leader. He’s pushed Ryan and Nolan to the absolute max, which those guys haven’t had in their careers here. If the ball is in his hands at practice, his group has a chance to win.”
Winning hasn’t eluded Battle – his teams have been .500 or higher three times and Arkansas finished 16-17 last season – but he hasn’t suited up in an NCAA Tournament game. Butler was 22-9 his freshman year and appeared to be a lock for the tournament before it was canceled due to COVID.
March Madness was one of the selling points in Gonzaga’s pitch to Battle. He visited Villanova and Kansas State, but his visit to Spokane “felt like home.”
That fell in line with advice he received from Roc Nation president Juan Perez. Battle got to know Perez after his brother Tyus initially signed with Roc Nation.
“He’s like an uncle to me,” Battle said. “He told me, ‘You can go to all these schools, but you’ll know when you go to the right place.’ ” Few, the head of GU’s house, offered the clincher sitting in his office with Battle.
“It just felt like a different type of vibe,” Battle said. “Coach didn’t really say too much. He just said, ‘You wanna win or not?’ It was pretty much a done deal.”
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Patriot League Player of the Year, Colgate’s Braden Smith, who plans to redshirt and will use the next five months learning under Nembhard before succeeding the point guard next season.
Junior wing/forward Jun Seok Yeo has untapped potential and the South Korea native could sneak into the rotation if reports about his improved perimeter shooting are accurate. Outside of Smith, the scholarship player with possibly the lowest odds of seeing the floor is Ismaila Diagne, a 7-footer with legitimate professional experience. Diagne signed with Gonzaga after starring for Real Madrid’s U-18 team, but he also made four appearances for the senior squad, which listed ex-NBA players Rudy Fernandez, Mario Hezonja and Facundo Campazzo on its roster.
It’s hard to see where Diagne fits in with this group, but Zags fans could quickly point to a few scenarios last season – two games against 7-4 Purdue giant Zach Edey come to mind, as does one against UConn and 7-foot Donovan Clingan – where the Bulldogs might have been able to use his big frame in spot minutes.
Consider this: This is the team that remained after a season-ending Achilles injury to sharpshooter Steele Venters, another player who’s earned conference MVP honors at a previous stop (Eastern Washington).
“I would say this is one of the deepest teams I’ve been on in the four years I’ve been here,” Hickman said during WCC Media Day.
Is it reasonable to think there’s seven potential starters on this ros-
ter? Eight even?
“Most definitely,” Hickman said. When the Zags finally took one of their competitive intrasquad scrimmages to a live audience at Kraziness in the Kennel, the “White” squad was leading “Blue” 34-33 when Innocenti rose up from the 3-point line and drilled the winning shot.
“That’s literally how everything has been, so you definitely feel it with the depth not even being comparable, the balance not even being comparable and that leading to the competitiveness,” Michaelson said.
It’s a solid starting point, but the next five months will be about identifying the right lineups, overcoming
the departure of program icon Anton Watson and handling the adverse situations that often compounded for Gonzaga last season, leaving little margin for error in the win-loss column over the final two months.
Preliminary results from practices – and tightly contested intrasquad scrimmages – have left the Zags optimistic they can succeed in many of the aforementioned areas.
“I think the biggest piece that you would see is the competitiveness that has changed from last year to this year’s team,” Ike said.
“Every day is a dogfight and that’s only making us better. The iron is getting sharpened every day.”
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Battle had arrived at Butler thinking he’d be one-and-done and NBA bound, but quickly learned “I had no idea about how college works.” He saw limited time as a freshman before becoming a big-time scorer at Temple. He led the Owls as a sophomore at 15.0 points, but he was limited to 11 games, in part by a hamstring injury. He put up an AAC-leading 21.4 points in seven games the following season but was sidelined by a broken bone in his foot and received a medical redshirt year.
He averaged 17.9 in his final season at Temple but left the team for personal reasons after being benched during a mid-February loss to Wichita State.
“I was immature going into college,” Battle said. “All my trials and tribulations have grown me into a man and being a leader and being early for things. I’m not afraid to speak up and do the right thing.” He started just 13 of 32 games last season, but was still the Razorbacks’ second-leading scorer at 14.8. With GU’s deep roster, Battle could start or see significant minutes off the bench. He’s put up big numbers in both roles. If the Zags go with Ajayi and the four starters from last year (Nembhard, Ike, Nolan Hickman and Ben Gregg), Battle would probably be the first guard and Braden Huff the first big off the bench – both known for serious point-per-minute production.
“As a competitor, you always want to start,” Battle said. “At the end of the day, you always have a job to do, whatever benefits the team. I’m still confident in my ability to score.”
Few stresses defense and Battle said he’s put in extra time with Michaelson and assistant Stephen Gentry on defensive drills.
“He can really move his feet, quick twitch athlete, nice size, quick feet,” Michaelson said. “His willingness to want to improve as a defender and his willingness to pass – two things I’ve been most pleased with about him.”
For 20 years, Gonzaga basketball’s McCarthey Athletic Center has played host to endless milestones and memories
By Jim Meehan
The timing and planning of Gonzaga’s new basketball facility more than two decades ago was spot-on, mirroring so many of the key aspects that launched the program’s ascension to national prominence.
It took bold thinking to make it happen. Mark Few, early in his head coaching tenure, accompanied then-school president Robert Spitzer to Salt Lake City to request donations from brothers Phil and Tom McCarthey for GU’s athletic endowment.
Except Few drew up a new play and asked Rev. Spitzer to broach the idea of a new basketball arena when they huddled before a meeting with the McCartheys.
“Mark laid it on the line: An investment in a new Kennel is going to help us with our recruiting, with our marketing and on down the line – all these things instinctively one would know,” Spitzer told The Spokesman-Review’s John Blanchette in 2009. “I knew right away for Mark that this was going to be essential for him as a coach.
“So I changed my pitch right away –I’ve told the McCartheys this story – and it became all about the arena. We didn’t have a design, we didn’t have an amount, we didn’t have anything, but we were pitching the arena.”
That meeting was one of many that led to the McCarthey Athletic Center, which opened 20 years ago in October 2004.
Gonzaga’s men have lost just 18 times and boast a 94% winning percentage on their home court, so there’s plenty of candidates for the top 20 McCarthey moments.
Timely
On-court highlights occupy most of this list, but, as mentioned earlier, the McCarthey Athletic Center came to be at just the right time.
Building materials were largely budget-friendly when the facility was being built.
“Garco (Construction) did a fantastic job and was willing to make an honest profit and we had great subcontractors,” Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford said. “At the time, the prices for (building materials) were really suppressed and then they came back to normal (after construction). Especially steel, it was really low.”
Size mattered
It’s a question Standiford and former AD Mike Roth probably have heard hundreds of times. Why didn’t the $25 million arena have more than 6,000 seats? The answer in a nutshell: It wouldn’t have been anywhere close to a $25 million price tag if the arena required expanding to seat even 8,000.
“Substantially more on a cost-per-seat basis,” Standiford said. “I know from the design, development phase, it was way more expensive to make the building bigger. We were really pressing to build that building and fund that building as it was.”
Turiaf thrives in new digs
Ronny Turiaf felt right at home inside the new arena. The charismatic forward scored 33 points
in a win over Portland State on opening night.
He followed with 20 points against Montana before dropping 40 points in a victory over Idaho in the third game.
First ranked foe falls
No. 14 Washington, the first ranked opponent to visit the McCarthey Athletic Center, fell to the Zags 99-87 in December 2004.
Adam Morrison scored 28 points, Turiaf added 23 points and 13 rebounds and Derek Raivio made five 3-pointers while contributing 21 points.
Morrison magic
We could probably assemble a list of Morrison’s top 20 in the McCarthey. Instead, we combined several of his memorable moments for space reasons. There was his fadeaway jumper in the final second in a 75-73 win over San Francisco in Feb. 2005. There was Morrison’s 42-point eruption against Portland in January 2006, still the McCarthey Athletic Center record.
Morrison had 23 points and earned MVP honors as Gonzaga rallied from 15 points down to edge Loyola Marymount 68-67 in the 2006
WCC Tournament title game. He celebrated by hopping on the broadcast table and hanging out in the Kennel Club after LMU’s Chris Ayer missed from close range in the closing seconds. GameDay and more Morrison magic
When ESPN’s GameDay came to GU for the first time in February 2006, Morrison delivered 34 points, 12 in the final three minutes, in an 8076 win over Stanford.
P-Mac’s triple, Morrison’s pass OK, one more Morrison mention. He had 34 points in a 75-72 victory over San Francisco on Senior Night in February 2006. He had a hand in the game-winner with his lone assist leading to a Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes 3-pointer with two seconds remaining.
J.P.’s Senior Night surprise Gonzaga center J.P. Batista, a native of Brazil, had no idea his older brother Anderson had made the long trip to surprise him on 2006 Senior Night.
The two shared an emotional embrace after Anderson walked onto the court. It had been
four years since Anderson had seen his younger brother.
Gonzaga pulls rank on UW No. 18 Gonzaga routed No. 13 Washington 97-77 on Dec. 9, 2006, in the first McCarthey Athletic Center contest between ranked teams. Raivio drained five 3-pointers and finished with 25 points.
First home defeat
Santa Clara toppled the Zags 84-73 in February 2007, ending GU’s 50-game home winning streak – the nation’s longest – that dated back to the Martin Centre. It was an unsettling weekend for the Zags, who were without Josh Heytvelt and Theo Davis. Both were suspended after being arrested the night before the game on drug possession charges.
Zags come up short on Gray’s great day
Steven Gray tried to will the 11th-ranked Zags to victory, but No. 25 San Diego State’s Billy White and Kawhi Leonard had other ideas in a November 2010 showdown. Gray scored 35 points, including 14 of the team’s final 15, but GU couldn’t overcome White’s career-high 30 points and Leonard’s 18 points and 12 boards. “Steven was superhuman,” Few said.
Pangos hits nine 3s vs. WSU
In his first start and second collegiate game, freshman Kevin Pangos put on a memorable shooting display in an 89-81 win over the Cougars in November 2011.
Pangos equaled Dan Dickau’s school record with nine 3-pointers and scored 33 points. He made 9 of 13 3s and handed out six assists. Olynyk drops 31 on the Gaels
Kelly Olynyk was early in his breakout junior season when he scored 31 points in an 83-78 victory over Saint Mary’s, just days after his career high 33 points in a road win over Santa Clara in January 2013. Olynyk and Pangos combined for GU’s last 16 points. The 7-footer made a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left after the Gaels had closed within 79-78.
BYU ends GU’s
As Gonzaga women’s basketball wins mounted, crowds grew and legends were made
By Greg Lee
McCarthey Athletic Center has been home to 262 victories for the Gonzaga women’s basketball team since its opening in 2004-05.
The Spokesman-Review takes a look at the top 20 memories/ moments since the first dribbles and baskets in the 6,000-seat arena.
First win Gonzaga christened its new arena with an 87-41 win over Utah Valley before 1,644 on Nov. 20, 2004. Five players scored in double figures led by Reanna Jewell, who had 20 to go with eight rebounds. Stephanie Hawk had 11 points and six rebounds, Shannon Mathews had 10 points and nine assists and Ashley Burke added 10 points.
Fast start Gonzaga went undefeated at home, 14-0, to open McCarthey. The Zags’ first loss in the new arena came in the third home game in 2005-06, a 72-60 setback to Montana before a crowd of 1,724 – quite low considering the crowds the Zags attract 20 years later.
First postseason game San Francisco defeated Gonzaga 75-67 in a West Coast Conference Tournament game March 2, 2006. Ashley Anderson led the Zags with 20 points and four steals, Stephanie Hawk had 14 points and seven rebounds and Anne Bailey added 13 points and five rebounds.
Former area players return Gonzaga lost 81-66 at home against Arizona State on Dec. 6, 2006, before a crowd of 3,418. The game was a homecoming of sorts for four Wildcats – Emily Westerberg of Central Valley, Briann January of Lewis and Clark, Reagan Pariseau of CV and Aubree Johnson of Post Falls. Westerberg led ASU with 20 points. Washington’s first visit Gonzaga knocked off Washington 91-72 in front of 2,352 on Nov. 12, 2007. Former Lewis and Clark standout Katelan Redmon had six points for the Huskies. Heather Bowman led the Zags with 21 points and six rebounds, Janelle Bekkering had 20 points, Jami Bjorklund had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Michelle Elliott
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wrong direction as Crandall finished with a layup. Emery poked fun at himself, tweeting a video of the play with the comment:
“If anyone is wondering, my ankles are okay. You win some, you lose some.”
Rui connects on game-winner Washington rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to pull even at 79, but Rui Hachimura countered with a 15-foot jumper with less than one second remaining for an
added 10 points. Redmon transferred to Gonzaga and she poured in 18 points in an 81-52 win over the Huskies on Nov. 22, 2009, in front of a crowd of 4,259. Courtney Vandersloot added 18 points and 11 assists.
Pat Summitt visits
The late legendary coach, Pat Summitt, brought her Tennessee Volunteers to McCarthey on Dec. 30, 2008. It was the first sellout. The Vols won 77-58. It was Summitt’s 993rd career win. Tennessee was led by former University High standout and four-year starter Angie Bjorklund, who had 14 points. Heather Bowman led the Zags with 19 points and seven rebounds. The game was supposed to be a showcase for Bjorklund and her sister, Zag Jami (Bjorklund) Schaefer, who injured a knee a week before the matchup and couldn’t play.
Big Ten victory
Gonzaga got its first win over a Big Ten opponent at home on Nov. 16, 2012, when the Zags topped Wisconsin 62-53. Gonzaga trailed 31-28 at halftime. Haiden Palmer led Gonzaga with 15 points, five rebounds and five steals.
First NCAA games
The Zags hosted first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games for the first time in the 2010-11 season.
And they did so in impressive fashion, beating Iowa 92-86 before a crowd of 5,632 and topping UCLA 89-75 in front of 5,804. Vandersloot shined in both games. Against Iowa, she had 34 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and four steals. Against UCLA, she had 29 points, 17 assists, six rebounds and five steals. The Zags advanced to the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight at the Spokane Arena, beating Louisville 76-69 before losing to Stanford 83-60.
Second NCAA tourney at home
For the second year in a row, the Zags played host to first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games in the 2011-12 season. In their opener March 17, 2012, the Zags defeated Rutgers 86-73 before 5,680. Kayla Standish led Gonzaga with 23 points and Haiden Palmer had 21. Two days later Gonzaga earned a Sweet 16 berth, downing Miami 65-54. Standish led with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Elite coaches
Kelly Graves and Lisa Fortier have been the head coaches in the 20-year history at McCarthey. Their careers have been split evenly over that span. Graves’ record at McCarthey was 129-15 and included three undefeated seasons on the home court. Fortier’s
career record at home is 133-16 and includes four undefeated seasons. The combined record for Graves and Fortier is a .894 winning percentage. Gonzaga has never had a losing season in McCarthey.
Graves’ final win
At the time, Gonzaga’s 81-77 victory over Pacific on March 1, 2014, carried little significance. But it turned out to be the final win at McCarthey for coach Kelly Graves, who resigned shortly after the season to take the head coaching job at Oregon. He continues to coach there. His career record at Gonzaga was 316-136.
Fortier’s first win
The first win in the Lisa Fortier coaching era at McCarthey Athletic Center actually came in her first game ever – Nov. 16, 2014. The Zags rallied from a 33-22 halftime deficit to beat Dayton 75-65 before a crowd of 5,442.
Knock off the Mountaineers
West Virginia visited McCarthey Nov. 11, 2015, and Gonzaga beat the Mountaineers 62-57 before a crowd of 5,509. Jill Barta and Laura Stockton led the Zags with 14 points each.
Win not academic Gonzaga played host to one of
Vandersloot’s
81-79 win in Dec. 2018.
Hachimura finished with 26 points and the Kennel Club chanted his name as he waited for a post-game interview with ESPN’s Bill Walton and Dave Pasch.
Blue bloods visit the Kennel
GU has entertained lots of power conference schools, but the anticipation meter was off the charts when two of the biggest names in the college hoops came to town. In 2011, coach Tom Izzo and Michigan State pulled out a 74-67 victory powered by Draymond Green’s 34 points. Jud Heathcote,
who led the Spartans to the 1979 national championship during a distinguished coaching career that began at West Valley High, retired in Spokane and watched from the stands.
The second-ranked Zags handled North Carolina, one of the bluest blue bloods, 94-81 in December 2019. Corey Kispert hit 5 of 6 3-pointers and scored 26 points.
The Tar Heels, playing without standout point guard Cole Anthony, suffered their fourth straight setback. “We want Wofford!” chided the Kennel Club, in reference to the team responsible for UNC’s third
loss in the streak.
Timme torches Texas
The Longhorns’ visit in November 2021 was big by any measure, including AP rankings – Gonzaga was No. 1, Texas No. 5.
Drew Timme, a Texas native, conducted a post-move clinic with a 37-point effort, third in McCarthey Athletic Center history. He made 15 of 19 shots in GU’s 86-74 win.
GameDay visit, Gaels go down
In February 2023, ESPN’s GameDay returned to the Kennel for the first time in
the revered academic institutions in the nation, Northwestern, Dec. 16, 2016. The Zags prevailed 67-56. Kiara Kudron led Gonzaga with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Won NIT games
In coach Lisa Fortier’s second season (2015-16), the Zags advanced to the NIT. In seven of the other nine seasons under Fortier the Zags have played in the NCAA Tournament. It would have been eight in 2019-20 but COVID got in the way. Gonzaga hosted an NIT opener on March 17, 2016, handling UC Riverside 88-54 before 1,309. Four days later, Utah beat the Zags at McCarthey 92-77 in front of 3,000.
First win over Stanford at home
The Zags finally cracked through against the revered Cardinal, stopping them 79-73 in front of a sellout crowd on Dec. 2, 2018. Stanford was ranked eighth at the time. Chandler Smith led the Zags with 20 points and Jill Townsend and Katie Campbell each had 15.
Retiring Vandersloot’s number
The best player in Gonzaga history was given the highest honor possible when the Zags retired the jersey of Courtney Vandersloot before a sellout crowd of 6,000 on Feb. 11, 2023. Her jersey, No. 21, became the first women’s uniform retired and will forever hang in the arena rafters with the jerseys of five former men’s standouts. Vandersloot, 35, just completed her 14th season in the WNBA.
Stanford falls
The Zags pulled off an early stunner, knocking off then-No. 3-ranked Stanford 96-78 before an overjoyed sellout crowd on Dec. 3, 2023. How historic the victory was wouldn’t be fully known until after the season when legendary Stanford coach Tara Vanderveer retired. It was Gonzaga’s second win over Stanford at home. Crack the century mark
Gonzaga’s biggest margin of victory – and most commanding win at McCarthey in history – came in a 104-39 thumping of Pacific in front of 5,633 on Feb. 23, 2024. Six players finished in double-figure scoring led by Yvonne Ejim, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
36 and counting Gonzaga ended the 2023-24 season with the second-longest home winning streak in the nation – behind national power South Carolina. The Zags’ 77-66 win over Utah on March 24 in a second-round NCAA Tournament game, Gonzaga’s 36th consecutive home victory, propelling it into the Sweet 16 in Portland.
14 years. About 12 hours after Mark Few sat down with the GameDay crew and the airing of Drew Timme’s 94 feet segment with Jay Bilas, the 12th-ranked Zags downed No. 15 Saint Mary’s 77-68, avenging a 78-70 loss in Moraga, California. Timme had 19 points and Anton Watson added 17 as GU and SMC shared the regular-season title.
McCarthey Athletic Center’s impact Brian Michaelson has a unique perspective on what the McCarthey Athletic Center has meant to the program. When the venue
opened in 2004, he was a senior on the team. He joined Gonzaga’s staff in 2008 and he’s entering his 12th season as an assistant coach.
“The timing was absolutely perfect,” he said. “It was as early in the run as we could have done it and you needed it at that time. It has really helped take it to the next level. A bunch of us played in that old gym (Martin Centre) and it was really special, the atmosphere was special.
“But for the future, it was huge. The legitimacy of having a real arena was huge for the growth that came down the road.”
By Greg Lee THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
One has to wonder if picking the Gonzaga women’s basketball team to win the West Coast Conference regular-season championship is something automatic for opposing coaches.
The Zags have won 19 WCC titles, two in a row, and eight under coach Lisa Fortier, who is entering her 11th season. Gonzaga has advanced to a postseason tournament in nine of Fortier’s 10 seasons. It would have been 10 had COVID not interrupted things in March 2020.
The 2024-25 team might be the least experienced team Fortier has returned. Least experienced in terms of playing together, though, not regarding ability. Four starters are gone from the team that went 32-4 and advanced to the Sweet 16. Gonzaga must replace 58.3 points per game and four starters who averaged in double figures.
Fifth-year senior Yvonne Ejim, the reigning WCC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, will likely break school records this season and is likely to impact the season as much as she did last year, if not more so. Fortier has some retooling to do to be sure. Fair or not, the Zags are embracing the challenge. Truth is, they want to break through
in the conference tournament. The Zags have been upset by Portland in the tournament finale the last two years.
Five of the 11 WCC coaches picked Gonzaga to win the conference title, and with 92 points the Zags edged affiliate member Washington State. The Cougars, Portland and another affiliate member, Oregon State, each received two first-place votes.
There’s no shying away from the target that’s been placed on the Zags. But new faces doesn’t mean different expectations.
“We’re expecting our team to be the best version of us,” Fortier said. “Right now, we don’t know what that is yet. I don’t think you know the identity of your team until the middle of December when you start to know what you’re made of.”
The Zags’ obvious strength is the inside game anchored by the 6-foot1 Ejim, who led with 19.7 points and 8.7 rebounds. She also had 15 double-doubles and was named the Becky Hammon Player of the Year.
Joining Ejim will be 6-3 senior forward Maud Huijbens, the WCC Sixth Woman of the Year last season, and redshirt freshman forward Lauren Whittaker, a 6-3 forward from Canterbury, New Zealand.
Huijbens, an All-WCC preseason selection, averaged 6.3 points and
See GU WOMEN,
2023-24: 32-4 overall, 16-0 WCC DIFFERENCE MAKER
This is a no-brainer. Yvonne Ejim should be the WCC Player of the Year for a second straight season. And she could repeat as the Defensive Player of the Year, too. There’s nobody better in the league. Period. Statistically her numbers could go off the chart. But if the Zags get the contributions they’re hoping for, Ejim at worst will duplicate her near 20 points per game from a year ago and threaten a double-double every game. And it could be a record-breaking season. She will challenge for the Zags’ all-time scoring record, rebounds and blocked shots among other things.
F-Yvonne Ejim, 6-1, 5th-Sr, 19.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 60% FG shooting; F-Maud Huijbens, 6-3, Sr, 6.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg; W-Esther Little, 6-2, Sr, 2.3 rpg; F-Lauren Whittaker, 6-3, R-Fr; G-Ines Bettencourt, 5-9, Jr, .6 ppg
The starting lineup never changed last year. Change is a big word for the Zags this year. They could likely start as many as eight, and will tinker with lineups and rotations during the 11game nonconference schedule. The key will be defense. This could be one of Gonzaga’s better defensive teams.
Prediction: 19-1 WCC, 29-2 overall
Nov. 5: vs. Montana, 6 p.m.
Nov. 10: at Stanford, noon Nov. 14: vs. California, 6 p.m. Nov. 17: vs. Wyoming, 1 p.m. Nov. 21: vs. Rice, 6 p.m. Nov. 24: at New Mexico, 1 p.m. Nov. 28: vs. Missouri St., 2:30 p.m.* Nov. 29: vs. Texas Tech, 6 p.m.*
Nov. 30: vs. Florida St., 6 p.m.* Dec. 8: at Colorado St., noon
Dec. 14: vs. EWU, 2 p.m.
Dec. 19: at San Francisco, TBD Dec. 21: at San Diego, 2 p.m.
Dec. 28: vs. Oregon St., 2 p.m. Dec. 30: vs. Pepperdine, 6 p.m.
Jan. 2: at Portland, 6 p.m. Jan. 4:
(2) Vera Gunaydin 5-9, JR./Guard
(22) McKynnlie Dalan 6-0, So./Forward (31) Ella Hopkins 6-3, R-FR./Forward (33) Lauren Whitaker 6-3, R-FR./Forward
Continued from 12
3.6 rebounds last year, and those contributions should go up measurably.
The Zags have raved about Whittaker since she joined the team in January and began having an immediate impact in practice. She’s considered a versatile scoring threat, either inside or from 3-point range.
The critical area of need is at point guard where Gonzaga must replace talented twins Kaylynne and Kayleigh Truong. Candidates include junior Ines Bettencourt, a 5-9 transfer from UConn; Tayla Dalton, a 5-9 graduate transfer from Saint Mary’s; and 5-8 freshman Allie Turner from St. Louis.
“They’re going to do a great job,” Fortier said. “It has just been a long time since we’ve had a point guard that we’ve had to teach and then rely on. It’s an important job for us – it’s as important as any job we have this year – to get (them) up to speed for what we expect there. That position is critical to our success. Coaching that position might be the most critical piece of coaching that we do all year.”
The Zags also lost 3-point shooting ace Brynna Maxwell, a two-year starter at wing. Returners Esther Little, a 6-2 senior, and Claire O’Connor, a 6-0 sophomore who same limited time off the bench last year along with sophomore McKynnlie Dalan, a transfer from Minnesota, will get the majority of time.
Junior Bree Salenbien, who is recovering from a third ACL surgery, could be in the mix if she decides to return.
Filling out the roster are 5-11 freshman guard Christabel Osarobo, 5-9 junior college transfer guard Vera Gunaydin and redshirt freshman forward walk-on Ella Hopkins. Dalon and Dalan were slowed by injuries during much of the preseason.
“We have other parts of our depth that can come to the forefront and be strengths as well,” Fortier said. “We have so many new players that we’re going to watch all the film all the time. It’s interesting when you turn on the lights which players are going to play. Which ones look exactly like they do in practice and which look better and which struggle a little more.”
Fortier told the crowd at FanFest she expects defense will be a team strength. The Zags will have to lean into defense early as they sort out roles and minutes.
The Zags will rely heavily on the experience of the returners to show the newcomers the Gonzaga standard.
“We’re going to rely on those guys to bridge the gap,” Fortier said. “The young players are talented, game and eager to learn. There are more new people than returners. If ever there was a year to be focused on process it’s this year.”
This much is certain: Gonzaga fans can’t wait to watch the 2024-25 team develop.
Every season-ticket holder – more than 4,000 – renewed their tickets, and Gonzaga added more than 300.
Gonzaga forward Yvonne Ejim scores against Washington State in a
By Greg Lee THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
The landscape has changed much in the West Coast Conference. First, Washington State and Oregon State are affiliate members for two years in women’s and men’s basketball. That raises the competitive level for sure. Second, WCC women’s teams suffered 36 losses to the transfer portal, wreaking havoc on some rosters. That doesn’t include the eight transfers Oregon State lost. One thing hasn’t changed, though. Defending champ Gonzaga, despite having to replace four starters, was picked to win the conference in the coaches’ preseason rankings.
“They’ve been the first thought and the last thought of this league for a long time,” WSU coach Kamie Ethridge said of the Zags. “It starts and ends with Gonzaga.”
Still, the race for the league title is expected to be tight. WSU, OSU and Portland each received two first-place votes.
2023-24: 21-15 overall, 7-11 Pac-12 DIFFERENCE
Coach Kamie Ethridge has a few candidates for this tag, but none are more key than Tara Wallack. She’s the lone senior and will be counted on heavily for leadership. Wallack has done all the right things in the offseason. “She stayed this summer, the first time ever, and she really got some good work in,” Ethridge said. “I feel very confident about her leadership and scoring abilities and how she’s going to be a momma hen. It’ll be like gathering chicks with the little freshmen going everywhere. She’s going to have her hands full.”
W-Tara Wallack, 6-2, Sr, 10.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg; PG-Eleonora Villa, 5-9, So, 12.9 ppg; PG-Austera Tuhina, 5-9, Jr, 9.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.0 apg; G-Jenna Villa, 6-1, So, 5.6 ppg; C-Candace Kpetikou, 6-3, R-Fr.
Four of the five starting spots are secure, but one could be rotated. Minutes will be divided among a handful of capable, talented players. This could be the best team coach Kamie Ethridge has had in Pullman. One thing is for sure: The Cougars will be exciting to watch.
Prediction: 18-2 WCC, 26-5 overall
Nov. 4: vs. EWU, 4 p.m.
Nov. 7: at Stanford, 7 p.m.
Nov. 10: vs. Idaho, noon
Nov. 16: at Texas Tech, 4 p.m.
Nov. 24: at Iowa, 1 p.m.
Nov. 28: vs. Norfolk St., 1 p.m.*
Nov. 29: vs. Virginia, 1 p.m.*
Nov. 30: vs. Drake, noon*
Dec. 4: at Oregon, 6 p.m.
Dec. 13: vs. BYU, 6 p.m.
Dec. 15: vs. Saint Martin’s, noon
Dec. 19: at San Diego, 6 p.m.
Dec. 28: vs. Pepperdine, noon
Dec. 30: at Pacific, 6 p.m.
Jan. 2: vs. Santa Clara, 6 p.m.
Jan. 4: vs. Oregon St., noon
Jan. 9: at Saint Mary’s, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 11: vs. Gonzaga, noon
Jan. 16: at San Francisco, 6 p.m.
Jan. 18: at Santa Clara, 2 p.m.
Jan. 23: vs. Portland, 6 p.m.
Jan. 25: at LMU, 2 p.m.
Jan. 27: at Oregon St., TBD
Jan. 30: vs. Pacific, 6 p.m.
Feb. 1: vs. San Diego, noon
Feb. 8: at Gonzaga, 2 p.m.
Feb. 13: vs. LMU, 6 p.m.
Feb. 15: at Portland, 3 p.m.
Feb. 20: vs. San Francisco, 6 p.m.
Feb. 22: vs. Saint Mary’s, noon
Feb. 27: at Pepperdine, 1 p.m.
*-Discover Puerto Rico Shootout
Experienced backcourt, new talent could help WSU women’s basketball make big splash in WCC
By Greg Lee THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
PULLMAN – The Washington State women’s basketball team has yet to play in the West Coast Conference.
Judging by what the WCC coaches anticipate, though, the Cougars will challenge for the conference championship.
Had the Pac-12 not blown up, WSU no doubt would have been projected to finish higher than tied for eighth as it did a year ago.
Last year, the Pac-12 was arguably the best women’s conference in the nation.
A couple of those teams will make immediate impacts in new conferences.
The Cougars would have finished higher last year had they not suffered such a jarring injury when they lost Charlisse Leger-Walker for the final nine games. Finding a way to navigate through that injury actually gave WSU a head start on the 2024-25 season.
The Cougars return three starters in 6-foot-2 senior guard/wing Tara Wallack, 5-9 junior guard Astera Tuhina and 5-9 sophomore guard Eleonora Villa.
“If all you have back is those three players, you’re in a good spot,” said WSU coach Kamie Ethridge, who begins her seventh season in Pullman.
A year after winning the Pac-12 Tournament, WSU advanced to the first WBIT semifinals last year, where it lost to Illinois and ended the year 21-15.
The Cougars could earn a berth to the postseason for a fifth straight season.
Sophomore 6-1 guard Jenna Villa (no relation to Eleonora) has earned a starting job. The final starting spot could go to any one of five players.
Ethridge brought in five freshmen to go with a redshirt freshman and a transfer. Returners Alex Covill, a 6-6 sophomore post, and Kyra Gardner, a 5-11 junior guard, saw limited minutes off the
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bench last year.
“The thing I love about this freshman group is they love to play and they love to compete,” Ethridge said. “They’re passionate about working out and they’re in the gym nonstop.” Ethridge likes what she sees all over the court.
“We’ve got a bunch of long 6-1 wings that are very versatile, strong, can shoot it, can pass it and can drive it,” Ethridge said. “We have more talent than we’ve ever had in our gym, top to bottom.”
Eleonora Villa was named to the Pac12 All-Freshman team last year. She’s the Cougars’ top returning scorer at 12.9 points per game. Wallace averaged 10.5 points and 4.4 rebounds last year and Tuhina contributed 9.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
“Ele got so much better from the start of the season to the end,” Ethridge said. “She is unfazed. She isn’t bothered by who we play or where we play or when we play. She shows up every night and was probably our most consistent player as a freshman last year.”
Ethridge expects a big jump from Wallack, especially as the team’s lone senior.
“Tara has looked better than ever,” Ethridge said. “She’s playing poised and under control, just what seniors should do. She’s now a three-level scorer with post moves. She’s shooting the (3-pointer) better than ever. It really makes people have to extend out on her.”
Tuhina missed seven games with a foot injury midway in the season, returning to the game after Leger-Walker was lost for the season.
“She knows our offense well and communicates at an elite level,” Ethridge said. “We play better when she’s on the floor. She puts people at ease. She’s a player who can hurt you in a lot of different ways.”
Wallace and Eleonora Villa were
named to the All-WCC preseason team. Redshirt freshman Candace Kpetikou, a 6-3 center, was the fifth starter in the Cougs’ exhibition romp over Lewis-Clark State College.
“Candace is a lot like Bella (Murekatete),” Ethridge said of WSU’s fifth-year starting post last season.
“I expect her to step into some big shoes that Bella left behind. She comes in as a much better player than Bella did. She can score right away and has the body and control to be a factor for us.”
Ethridge also praised true freshmen Marta Alsina (5-11 guard), Charlotte Abraham (6-0 guard) and Dayana Mendez (6-2 forward).
WSU has more depth than ever under Ethridge. And she knows she can’t get 13 players enough minutes. So the nonconference will allow her to sort that out. In past years, depth has been an issue for Ethridge. It should be a luxury this season.
“In years past, we’ve overplayed people,” Ethridge said. “We’ve allowed players to jog up and down the floor because we were trying to save them. They played too many minutes by the end of the season. We would peak early and couldn’t sustain it in the postseason.”
Versatility and extra athletic bodies will allow Ethridge to play multiple lineups – big and small.
“That’s going to make us better in March,” she said. “The big question mark is how do we sub this many and get the right rhythm on offense and consistency on defense.”
It’s a pleasant problem.
“I want to kick myself for saying this, but I want to say yes, this will be the best team we’ve had,” Ethridge said.
“The challenge will be, can we get everybody on the same page and nobody care about scoring? We need to have a selfless personality.”
We have more talent than we’ve ever had in our gym, top to bottom.”
Kamie Ethridge WSU head coach
seventh season at Washington State with a roster that has a mix of returning players and talented newcomers.
Despite mass exodus, new head coach David Riley has WSU men’s basketball in solid shape for WCC detour
By Greg Woods THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
It’s a Tuesday afternoon in early October and David Riley is out of breath. Just moments prior, he had finished a few sprints with his Washington State players, wrapping up a preseason basketball practice by getting in shape alongside them.
“This is the first time for me,” Riley said. “I realized about a week ago that I hadn’t done much exercise since I got the head coaching job. It was an opportunity for me to get a little running in.”
Riley wasn’t missing out on exercise because he was being a couch potato. He was out of shape because he had spent the past six months earning the head coaching job and putting together a roster at WSU, which lost all but two players in the offseason, when former coach Kyle Smith left for Stanford and nearly the entire roster took their talents elsewhere.
The only holdovers Riley didn’t need to replace are guards Isaiah Watts and Parker Gerrits, the former of whom came on strong toward the end of last season, helping the Cougars reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 16 years, making an appearance in the second round. In late March, they defeated Drake before falling to Iowa State. Two days later, Smith ended his five-year WSU tenure by accepting the same job at Stanford.
By early April, Riley had left the head coaching job at nearby Eastern Washington for the same job at WSU, and he already had a rebuilding job on his hands. When the dust settled, nearly the entire team had left. Guard Myles Rice transferred to Indiana, wing Jaylen Wells was drafted into the NBA, veteran Andrej Jakimovski transferred to Colorado, and centers Oscar Cluff and Rueben Chinyelu transferred to South Dakota State and Florida, respectively – giving Riley some serious work to do.
He reconstructed this Washington State team by bringing along a few of his best EWU players, including wings Cedric Coward and LeJuan Watts, and centers Ethan Price and Dane Erikstrup. He maintained a commitment from guard Marcus Wilson and secured a new one from Lapwai, Idaho, guard Kase Wynott. He added Cal transfer ND Okafor and Washington transfer Nate Calmese, then added a few players from overseas: Iceland guard Tomas Thrastarson, Latvian wing Rihard Vavers and Serbian center Dimitrije Vukicevic.
That’s the group that will guide WSU into the first of two seasons as West Coast Conference affiliate members, a temporary solution to the Pac12’s collapse last summer. In 2026, the Cougs will compete in the rebuilt Pac-12, but until then, they’ll compete against the likes of Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara and the rest of the WCC. In the teams’ first meeting since 2015, WSU will travel to face Gonzaga on Jan. 11. The Pullman contest is set for Feb. 19.
“I think something that we always look for is motor, No. 1,” Riley said of how he rebuilt the WSU roster. “We need guys that have a chip on their shoulder, they’re gonna play super hard, IQ, skill and character. Those four things are the biggest things. We love athleticism, but I think that’s something that kind of takes a second (place) to those four other characteristics. I think when you look at it from that perspective, all those new guys
have that.” Riley didn’t need to look for any of that in Isaiah Watts, who never much considered jumping ship when his teammates departed, he said. He likes Pullman, likes the small-town feel he doesn’t get in his hometown of Seattle. For Watts, that made it easy to stay, especially as he saw the guys Riley was landing for the new-look Cougs.
For his part, Watts seems to fit well into Riley’s offensive system, which relies heavily on shooting and court sense. He wants to space the floor, wants to get guys playing, not thinking. Almost all his guys at Eastern the past couple of years felt comfortable shooting from distance, and as he implements the same type of system in Pullman, it’s becoming clear how free-flowing WSU’s offense might be.
Riley also likes the additions of his assistant coaches, including former NBA G League head coach George Galanopoulos, whose experience will help the Cougs round out their defense.
Assistants Jerry Brown, Pedro Garcia Rosado and Blake Fernandez followed Riley from EWU to WSU, helping him piece together a coaching staff he hopes will lead the Cougars into a new, bright future.
“It’s been really fun,” Watts said. “A lot of different cultures, a lot of different people from a lot of different places. So it’s awesome to see how they act and versus how we Americans and my Seattleite self acts.”
Greg Woods can be reached at (509) 4595587 or at gregw@spokesman.com.
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2023-24: 25-10 overall, 14-6 Pac-12
Cedric Coward. Perhaps the biggest fish coach David Riley lured from Eastern Washington to WSU, Coward averaged 15 points, six rebounds and two assists last year for the Eagles, using his 6-foot-6 frame to do a bit of everything for EWU. He’s a comfortable shooter from the outside and a bruiser on the inside, and if he can adjust well to the speed and talent of the WCC, the Cougs might be a real contender in their new conference.
G-Nate Calmese, 6-2, Jr, 4.1 ppg; G-Isaiah Watts, 6-3, So, 3.7 ppg; G-Cedric Coward, Sr, 6-6, 15.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg; F-Ethan Price, Sr, 6-10, 12.2 ppg; F-LeJuan Watts, So, 6-6, 9.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg
WSU lost nearly its entire team over the off-
season, including the head coach who took the club to its first NCAA tournament in 16 years. Can new skipper Riley and his new recruits compete for a top spot in the WCC? Prediction: 16-14 overall, 9-9 WCC.
Nov. 4: vs. Portland St., 8 p.m. Nov. 8: vs. Bradley, 8 p.m. Nov. 11: vs. Idaho, 6:30 p.m. Nov. 15: vs. Iowa, 5:30 p.m.* Nov. 18: vs. N. Colorado, 6:30 p.m. Nov. 21: vs. EWU, 6:30 p.m.** Nov. 26: vs. Fresno St., 9 p.m.*** Nov. 27: vs. SMU/Cal Baptist, 6:30/ 9 p.m.*** Dec. 2: at Nevada, TBD Dec. 7: at Boise St., 2 p.m.
Dec. 14: vs. Missouri St., 2 p.m.
Dec. 18: at Washington, 8 p.m.
Dec. 21: vs. Northern Iowa, 1 p.m. Dec. 28: at Portland, TBD
Dec. 30: vs. LMU, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 4: vs. San Francisco, 4 p.m.
Jan. 9: vs. Pacific, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 11: at Gonzaga, 6 p.m.
Jan. 16: at San Diego, TBD
It’s been really fun. a lot of different cultures, a lot of different people from a lot of different places.”
Isaiah Watts WSU guard
FR./Guard/Forward
FR./Guard
By Greg Woods THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Every once in a while, when they’re out in public together, Isaiah Watts and LeJuan Watts will lean into the joke. A stranger will recognize the two, who are now teammates at Washington State, and they’ll wonder what seems fair to ask: Are you guys related?
“And we’ll tell them, like yeah, that’s my cousin,” Isaiah laughed. “Just to get it out of the way.” Contrary to what might be popular belief, Isaiah and LeJuan are not related in any way, only new teammates at WSU. Isaiah is from Seattle, LeJuan from Fresno, California. Isaiah played for the Cougars last year, LeJuan for Eastern Washington, which is where new WSU coach David Riley came from. They don’t even look much alike.
But they do share a close relationship, and maybe they wouldn’t if they didn’t share a last name. They first met years ago, when both were in high school. They attended an elite camp in Arizona, where they played on a team together. They didn’t know each other at the time, but when they noticed they shared a last name, they greeted each other.
Since then, they’ve become buddies, and now they’re closer than ever. This season, the Watts figure to play key roles for the Cougs, who are competing as affiliate members in the West
Coast Conference, giving the team a chance to renew a dormant rivalry with Gonzaga. They’ll play in Spokane on Jan. 11 and in Pullman on Feb. 19.
Can the Watts propel WSU to wins in those contests and beyond? It helps that their games seem to complement each other. Watts fashions himself a quick guard, a catch-and-shoot artist, which is the kind of talent he used to bury the game-winning 3-pointer in WSU’s NCAA Tournament win over Drake last spring. Watts is more of a downhill play finisher, scoring the majority of his baskets last season inside the arc.
Part of succeeding in Riley’s open-floor offense, they understand, is having a strong basketball IQ. Both Watts like that part of their games, seeing open passes and looking for the hot hand, so it stands to reason they’ll work well together.
“I think it complements perfectly,” LeJuan said of he and Isaiah’s games. “We’re kinda opposites. He’s a shoot-first (guy). I would say I like to pass it, so whenever someone chases him around, I’m looking for him.”
A season ago, Isaiah averaged 3.7 points on 38% shooting from deep, coming on strong toward the end of the season. He tallied 18 points in a home win over USC, 15 in a loss to rival Washington and late in WSU’s NCAA Tournament win over Drake, the Cougs faced a deficit. Their offense was stuck in mud, but with a
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Isaiah and LeJuan Watts aren’t related, but share a high basketball IQ that should help them flourish as WSU teammates
shade under two minutes to play, Watts sunk a go-ahead trey, sparking WSU’s offense and pushing the Cougars across the finish line.
For his part, LeJuan registered several sterling games of his own last season. He scored in double figures on 14 occasions, logging a season-high 21 points in an overtime win over Big Sky powerhouse Montana State. He wasn’t much of a 3-point shooting marksman, but he did knock down two treys in back-to-back games, a loss to USC and a win over Air Force. That, LeJuan said, is a change he’s ready to make. Last season, he did shoot 41% from deep, but he only averaged a little more than one attempt per game. He left the distance shooting to his teammates.
He wants to develop into more of a threat from beyond the arc this season, he said, which figures to help him flourish even more in Riley’s system, which thrives on pace, shooting and game IQ.
The other Watts might be able to help with that. Last winter, he ribbed his teammates over his shooting prowess, crowing that he was the best shooter on the team. He didn’t see meaningful playing time until the back half of the season, but his numbers seemed to back him up. Now the Watts have each other to back up. Their games seem primed for it.
Greg Woods can be reached at (509) 459-5587 or at gregw@spokesman.com.
We’re kinda opposites. He’s a shoot-first (guy). I would say I like to pass it, so whenever someone chases him around, I’m looking for him.”
2023-24: 11-21 overall, 5-13 Big Sky
DIFFERENCE MAKER
As Julius Mims goes, so go the Vandals. He is managing knee soreness in preseason practice, but is one of the most physically gifted players in the Big Sky. If Idaho can use what is expected to be great depth to force the pace in games to the point where opposing defenses cannot collapse on Mims in the lane, UI could be a team to reckon with in March’s conference tournament.
F-Julius Mims, 6-9, Sr, 11.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 48 blocks; F-Tyler Mrus, 6-7, R-So, 10.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg; G-Kristian Gonzalez, 6-3, So, 4.3 ppg, 0.8 apg; F-Tyler Linhardt, 6-7, Jr, 8.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg; F-Kyson Rose, 6-9, Sr, 6.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg.
PROJECTIONS
Lessons learned about defensive intensity last season and an improved perimeter attack on offense can help this Idaho roster measure up to the picture coach Alex Pribble has of a successful team able to challenge for a conference title.
Prediction: 10-8 Big Sky, 16-15 overall
Nov. 4: vs. Northwest Univ., 6 p.m.
Nov. 7: vs. UC Davis, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 11: at WSU, 6:30 a.m.
Nov. 16: at BYU, TBD
Nov. 19: vs. Evergreen St., 6 p.m.
Nov. 23: vs. Southern Utah, 2 p.m.
Nov. 24: at San Diego, 2 p.m.
Nov. 30: vs. UC Riverside, 2 p.m.
Dec. 4: at Kansas City, 5 p.m.
Dec. 7: at Oregon St., 2 p.m.
Dec. 15: vs. UC
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Feb. 15: at EWU, 4 p.m.
Feb. 20: at N. Arizona, TBD Feb. 22: at N. Colorado, TBD
Feb. 27: vs. Idaho St., 6 p.m.
March 1: vs. Weber St., 2 p.m.
March 3: at Montana St., 6 p.m.
2023-24: 15-16 overall, 8-10 Big Sky DIFFERENCE MAKER Kelbie Washington, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Oklahoma. The 5-7 guard took a medical redshirt last season, but before that she was on the All-Big 12 freshman team and was a two-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week.
PROJECTED
STARTING LINEUP
C-Vitoria Carvalho, 6-3, Sr, 1.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg; F-Jennifer Aadland, 6-1, Gr, 9.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg; F-Sarah Brans, 6-1, Jr., 6.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg; G-Olivia Nelson, 5-6, Gr, 13.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4 apg; G-Kelbie Washington, 5-7, R-So, 6.7 ppg, 3.7 apg.
PROJECTIONS
Idaho’s season will depend upon how quickly 11 new players can mesh with three returners. If the group can find cohesion by the start of conference play, and if three talented freshmen mature as quickly as Coach Arthur Moreira hopes, the Vandals could be a factor in determining the league champion.
Prediction: 11-7 Big Sky, 17-12 overall
SCHEDULE
Nov. 6: at BYU, 6 p.m.
Nov. 10: at WSU, TBD
Nov. 13: vs. Walla Walla Univ., 6 p.m.
Nov. 16: at Southern Utah, TBD
Nov. 20: at UC Riverside, TBD
Nov. 23: at Cal Poly, 2 p.m.
Nov. 27: vs. Montana Tech, 2 p.m.
Dec. 7: vs. St. Thomas, 2 p.m.*
Dec. 15: vs. Utah St., 1 p.m.
Dec. 18: vs. UC Davis, 11 a.m.
Dec. 21:
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan. 25: at N. Arizona, TBD
Jan. 30: vs. Weber St., 6 p.m.
Feb.
Feb.
Feb.
Feb.
Feb.
By Peter Harriman THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
What Alex Pribble’s first season as men’s basketball coach at Idaho lacked in victories, his Vandals may have made up for in bright spots.
Idaho – which finished 11-21, with a 5-13 mark in the Big Sky – won half of its preseason games before coming up with some notable conference wins over Montana State, Sacramento State and Idaho State, even after key injuries bit into the lineup as the season progressed.
Heading into his second season, Pribble believes the Vandals laid the groundwork for a big jump forward.
“You have got to act like a champion before you are a champion,” he says.
With 10 returning players who understand those expectations, Pribble says Idaho is now well equipped to play the aggressive defensive scheme that he hopes will be the foundation for the Vandals’ culture.
Key transfers should enable the Vandals to be more deadly on offense as perimeter snipers and fast-break assassins.
The newfound prowess “really shows on the defensive end,” Pribble said. “We are much better on defense than we were at this time last year. On offense, we want to change things up, play with a little more skill, more pace this year.”
He calls this Vandals’ team “coachable, but relatively young, with only two seniors.”
Leading the way will be Julius “Juice” Mims. The 6-foot-10 senior, a transfer from North Idaho College, is an elite leaper, as evidenced by his selection to the 2023-24 All Big Sky defensive team. Mims finished with 48 blocked shots, and he averaged 11.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
The most important addition may be the return of redshirt sophomore Tyler Mrus. Before a leg injury sidelined him last season, Mrus was the kind of player at both ends of the court that Pribble envisioned leading a relentlessly aggressive Idaho team. The 6-7 forward scored seven points against Washington State and 14 against Cal State Northridge before going down.
Incoming transfers Kolton Mitchell, a redshirt freshman guard from Coeur d’Alene who played at Idaho State last
year, 6-4 junior guard Isaiah Brickner, who arrived from Marist College, Jojo Anderson, a junior guard from Mount Spokane High School and Whitworth, and Jack Payne, a 6-6 redshirt sophomore guard who played last season at Colorado State, will add speed and length to Idaho’s backcourt, Pribble says. They will team with 6-3 sophomore Kristian Gonzalez, who flashed talent as a freshman while playing 29 games, averaging 4.3 points, just under one assist, three blocks and three steals per game. In the frontcourt, anchored by Mims, Pribble expects 6-7 junior Tyler Linhardt and 6-9 senior Kyson Rose to build on last season’s campaign. Linhardt averaged just over eight points and three rebounds per game, and Rose 2.8 rebounds and 6.6 points. Rose also recorded 11 blocks and 10 steals. At 245 pounds, Rose – a junior college transfer from Walla Walla College – is now well acquainted with the physical nature of Division I basketball, Pribble said, and will give Idaho a more dominant presence in the paint.
The Big Sky Conference should be wide open this season, Pribble predicted, with Montana and Montana State, Weber State and Northern Colorado likely to finish in the top half of the league. Pribble expects the Vandals to be in the mix, too.
“We can take a big step forward in conference play,” he said. “On defense, that is where you can feel our culture is going to stand out.”
New head coach Arthur Moreira has Idaho ready to make most of mismatches with its size and speed
By Peter Harriman THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
In a new season, Idaho is looking forward to a fresh start. Arthur Moreira, an assistant coach last year, takes over for Carrie Eighmey, who led the Vandals to a 15-16 record in her lone campaign as UI coach.
Only three players return from that group, and Moreira has built a new Vandals team with an international flair –with five of the 11 new Vandals hailing from Australia, Brazil, Serbia and Portugal. So far, Moreira is delighted with what he has seen: size in the frontcourt to battle the Big Sky Conference’s most imposing lineups and both size and speed in the backcourt to create matchup nightmares for league opponents.
“We built the roster to adjust to different matchups,” he says. Vitoria Carvalho, a 6-foot-3 native of Brazil who previously played at Tarleton State, will anchor the Vandals up front.
“Our guards are huge,” adds Moreira. “People might struggle matching up against us.”
Freshmen Ana Pinheiro, 6-0, from Braga, Portugal, and 5-11 Ana Beatriz Passos Alves da Silva, from Sao Paulo, Bra-
zil, are a couple of examples of Idaho’s backcourt size. Playing against teammates in preseason practice may make it difficult to judge a team’s relative speed. In a scrimmage against North Idaho College, Moreira says, “as soon as we played somebody else, we saw it. We are not out of control. But we are fast.” And, apparently, deep.
“I might play more players than at any time in my career,” he says. Moreira seeks to introduce
a consistent urgency to the Vandals, beginning with practices. “Every single person has bought into that culture,” he says. Idaho can also expect veteran leadership from 5-6 guard Olivia Nelson, a graduate transfer from the University of Central Missouri.
“She has played close to 100 college games,” Moreira says. Another grad transfer, 6-1 forward Jennifer Aadland from Augustana University,
“is a great athlete” and sets a tone for aggressive play. Key returners for the Vandals are 5-6 senior guard Ashlyn Wallace and 6-2 junior forward Sarah Brans. Moreira anticipates Eastern Washington, Montana, Montana State, Weber State and Idaho State to be among the Big Sky’s toughest teams this year – and Idaho.
“I expect us to compete at the top,” he says. “We want to win multiple Big Sky championships here.”
By Dan Thompson THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
In the Eastern Washington men’s basketball program, it’s a fresh start for everyone.
It’s a fresh start for redshirt junior Nic McClain, healthy again after playing just two games last season, his first in the Eagles’ program.
It’s a fresh start for the other five returners who were role players at best for the Big Sky’s regular season champions.
It’s a fresh start for the other nine players on Eastern’s roster, who came from all levels of college basketball.
And it’s a fresh start for Dan Monson, the Eagles’ 63-year-old head coach with 445 career victories to his name.
How well all those pieces come together is the question as the Eagles prepare to defend their league title.
“I needed a new challenge,” Monson said, “and I think for the majority of our team they needed the same. Guys who were here last year didn’t get much of an opportunity to play, whether it was injuries or they were behind very good players, or whatever the circumstances were. And (the guys we recruited) … I think we’re all here for the opportunity.”
Eastern finished 21-11 overall last year
setting stage for defense of Big Sky
By Dan Thompson THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
After a couple of years coaching a veteran roster, Joddie Gleason has been enjoying the opportunity to lead a younger team heading into this women’s basketball season.
“There is a new energy,” Gleason said. “We haven’t had freshmen in a couple years. … They are so eager. They are so excited to be in college. They are so excited to be at Eastern Washington. They are just fun to be around.”
The challenge for the defending Big Sky Conference champions – in the regular season and in the league tournament – is to reload after winning a program-record 29 games last season.
“It’s been fun,” senior Alexis Pettis said. “It’s exciting getting to know these new people and getting to play with them. I always love playing under coach Joddie. It’s going to be an exciting year.” Pettis’ 91 career games played are the most among Eastern’s returners, but the Eagles also added three experienced
and 15-3 in the Big Sky but lost its first game in the conference tournament for the second straight season. Afterward, head coach David Riley left to become Washington State’s head coach, and he brought with him four of the team’s top six scorers.
In all, the Eagles returned six players from that team, but only one of them saw consistent and substantial minutes. That’s sophomore Sebastian Hartmann, who played in all 32 games and averaged 12.6 minutes off the bench.
Sophomores Vice Zanki (14 games) and Mason Williams (17) contributed at times, but both will be called upon to step into larger roles on this year’s team.
“Losing five starters five years ago would have been unheard of,” Monson said. “Now it’s just part of the landscape. I think having six guys back in a situation like we’re in, we’re lucky to have those six guys because the culture of the program remained intact. … The winning, the work ethic, they’re able to carry that on.”
Joining them are nine transfers who came from programs in Iowa, Nevada, California, Montana, Arizona and Idaho.
Two – redshirt freshman Shaumba Ngoji and junior Maddox Monson – played for Dan Monson last year at Long Beach State. Just one, guard Jordy McKenzie, from Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco, is a true freshman.
Many of the new players bring plenty
of experience with them. Senior Andrew Cook was an NAIA All-America selection last year at Carroll College in Helena, Montana, where he started 60 of 81 games. Last season he averaged 20.8 points per game and made 55.8% of his shots.
Juniors Angelo Winkel and Elijah Thomas were teammates at Des Moines Area Community College the last two years, and last season they led the Bears to a 31-5 record and a fifthplace finish in the NJCAA Division II national championships.
How well Winkel (16.9 points per game) and Thomas (10.7) adjust to playing Division I basketball is one of the unknowns for the Eagles.
Monson also recruited redshirt junior guard Tyler Powell, who was previously at Nevada and, before that, Seton Hall. Grad student Pavlo Dziuba, originally from Ukraine, played most recently at High Point University, and before that at Maryland and Arizona State.
They’ve also been joined by redshirt senior guard Sam Stockton, who started 34 of 107 games the last four years at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston.
If it’s a hodgepodge, then at least there is one commonality: veryone has the same goals.
“All the new guys have come in and just want to be part of the team,” McClain said. “We all want to win. Everybody has come here to win.”
lead a young but talented group.
players through the transfer portal. Grad student Peyton Howard transferred after four years at Seattle University, where she started 94 of the 113 games she played.
Guard Rachel Harvey transferred from Cal State Northridge, where she played in 85 games and started 23. And forward Paris Kirk, now a junior, played in 42 games over the last two seasons at Robert Morris. It’s also not as if the roster fully turned over: The Eagles return eight players, which Gleason said has helped maintain the team’s culture. “These players know what we expect
and know what it takes, what it means to be a good teammate and what it means to be an Eagle,” Gleason said. “... I think it’s their time, and I’m super excited to see them be able to get on the court a little bit more. We had some pretty strong players in front of them.” Throughout the offseason, then, the focus, Pettis said, has been on steady growth.
“We’re going to be a high-energy team, and we’re going to work together as best as we can,” Pettis said. “We’ve got a lot of pieces, a lot of good freshmen and transfers, and the people who’ve been here are improving every single day.”
to possibly triple in an expanded role.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
G-Alexis Pettis, 5-5, Sr, 4.2 ppg, 31.7% 3s; G-Ellie Boni, 5-9, Gr, 2.4 ppg, 1.3 rpg; F-Bella Hays, 6-4, R-So, 3.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg; G-Peyton Howard, 5-10, Gr, 7.6 ppg (Seattle U); G-Rachel Harvey, 5-7, Gr, 3.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg (CSU Northridge) PROJECTIONS
Lots of roster turnover, but the Eagles still have Joddie Gleason as head coach. They will rely on grad transfers this year as a quintet of freshmen acclimate and prepare for a bigger role next year.
Prediction: 9-9 Big Sky, 13-17 overall
SCHEDULE Nov. 4: at WSU, 4 p.m. Nov. 9: vs. Walla Walla, 6 p.m. Nov. 14: at Washington, 6 p.m. Nov. 17: vs. Portland, 2 p.m. Nov. 22: vs. Saint Mary’s, 4:30 p.m.* Nov. 24: at Hawaii, 5:30 p.m.* Nov. 27: vs. CSU Bakersfield, 6 p.m. Dec. 4: at S. Dakota St., 5 p.m.** Dec. 7: vs. N.
Pirates face familiar challenges as men look to reload, women rebuild
By Ethan Myers THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Entering his 14th season with Whitworth, men’s basketball coach Damion Jablonski has become accustomed to the cycle of having to replace impact players every year.
The program did it successfully last season after losing three starting seniors, yet still securing a Northwest Conference title – the third straight.
Jablonski and his staff will look to pull off something similar this year, as the Pirates will need to offset the loss of three experienced and talented guards from last season’s starting lineup.
“Our program has been able to sustain its success really because we’ve been able to recruit well and develop players in waiting who are ready to take over,” Jablonski said. “So it’s really no different this year.”
The roster again appears well equipped to recover.
“We’ve got a rising junior class that has actually contributed quite a bit in small pieces and they’re extremely hungry,” Jablonski said. “I think honestly we’ve had a lot of good talent that has been developing and is ready to take the next step in the backcourt.”
Senior guard Garrett Long, who logged crucial starts in the conference championship and NCAA D3 tournament games due to injuries, is expected to slide back into the starting lineup.
The Pirates bring back a big chunk of a deep bench unit, including 3-point sharpshooting juniors Stephen Behill and Colton Looney.
“This team is extremely connected and they play really, really hard,” Jablonski said. “I’m hopeful that it will translate to really great defensive effort and also sharing the ball on the offensive side.” Whitworth will be without NWC player of the year Jojo Anderson, who transferred to Idaho, as well as all-NWC first-team Sullivan Menard and Jerry Twenge, who both graduated. The trio accounted for over 90 minutes and 40 points per game, and helped lead the group to a postseason tournament win over Cal Lutheran before narrowly losing to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the second round.
But the return of graduate senior Jake Holtz, who decided to return for his fifth and final year of eligibility, is crucial to the team’s ability to grab its fourth straight conference title. Holtz is coming off averages of 16 points and six-and-a-half rebounds per game.
Despite being a steady force for the Pirates and making second-team all-NWC last season, the forward from Kapolei, Hawaii feels he still has plenty to prove.
“I’m just really trying to be a better leader, especially vocally,” Holtz said. “I think I can
benefit these younger guys a lot by breathing belief into them.”
The Pirates brought in Caden Bateman, a 6-foot-7 junior transfer from the University of Montana who is expected to contribute right away.
“Caden is a really, really athletic player for our level,” Jablonski said. “I definitely think he’ll be able to impact the game with his defensive versatility and rebounding, but more than anything, he’s just a tremendous, high-character individual and he fits the culture of our team and Whitworth really, really well.”
After a loaded nonconference slate helped prepare last year’s group for the NCAA Division III tournament, Jablonski sought out another challenging schedule this season.
Some of the anticipated matchups include a tournament rematch with Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, Calif. on Nov. 21 and a clash with Hardin-Simmons in the Whitworth Fieldhouse on Dec. 7.
“I think it’ll be a good test for us of some teams that just have different styles from different areas of the country,” Jablonski said. “I am excited about it.”
Women
Some coaches may shudder at the thought of having to rebuild nearly an entire roster. For Whitworth women’s basketball coach Kenny Love, he is eager for the opportunity.
The Pirates bring back only two players –one starter – from last year’s roster.
“I am really excited for the young group,” Love said. “It’s been such a positive and light environment with our group and a nice optimism … We’re just excited to see what the young players can do because people can say, ‘Oh it’s a bunch of freshmen,’ but if they can play, so what?”
Entering his third season as head coach, Love’s entire roster is made up entirely of players he brought in or recruited for the first time in his tenure at Whitworth. He views it as a chance to build a competitive team in the Northwest Conference in the near future.
“Having no seniors is somewhat weird, but at the same time, it’s kind of nice when we go out there, we know this is the group for the next two years,” he said. “… I really like the level of all of our newcomers, freshmen and transfers alike.”
After finishing 6-10 in conference play last year, a key piece to remaining competitive this season is the return of junior guard Mya Bair. Ashlyn Neilsen, a sophomore guard, is the only other returner.
“I think the coaches have been a big help in trying to rebuild a lot of what was lost,” Bair said. “We have new expectations because it’s a brand new team, so there are a lot of things that we are trying to figure out.”
2023-24: 20-9 overall, 13-3 NWC
DIFFERENCE MAKER
Jake Holtz. The graduate senior chose to return for one more season and will be an anchor on both sides of the ball.
Jablonski lauded Holtz’s growth and said the team has ultimate confidence in him as the go-to guy. Coming off an all-NWC second-team selection, Holtz will draw a lot of attention from the defense and he will need his teammates to knock down open shots.
G-Garrett Long, 6-1, Sr; G-Stephen Behil, 6-7, Jr; F-Caden Bateman, 6-7, Jr; F-Jake Holtz, 6-4, Grad; F/C-Ty Edwards, 6-7, Jr.
The Pirates lost experience and offensive firepower in the backcourt, but the return of Holtz and a rising junior class will be key in the quest for a fourth consecutive Northwest Conference title. Whitman, Pacific and George Fox will all be obstacles in the way of that goal.
Prediction: 11-5 Northwest Conference, 17-9 overall
Nov. 12: vs. E. Tx. Baptist, 11 a.m.*
Nov. 14: vs. Benedictine, 7 p.m.
Nov. 21: at Cal Lutheran, 6 p.m.
Nov. 23: at Cal Tech, 4 p.m.
Dec. 6: vs. Belhaven (Miss.), 7 p.m.
Dec. 7: vs. Hardin-Simmons, 6 p.m.
Dec. 16: at Southwestern, 5 p.m.
Dec. 18: at Schreiner, 3 p.m.
Dec. 19: at Texas Lutheran, 1 p.m.
Jan. 3: vs. PLU, 6 p.m.
Jan. 4: vs. Puget Sound, 4 p.m.
Jan. 10: vs. Willamette, 6 p.m.
Jan. 11: vs. Lewis & Clark, 4 p.m.
Jan. 17: at George Fox, 6 p.m.
Jan. 18: at Pacific, 4 p.m.
Jan. 21: vs. Whitman, 6 p.m.
Jan. 24: vs. Linfield, 6 p.m.
Jan. 31: at Puget Sound, 6 p.m.
Feb. 1: at Pacific Lutheran, 4 p.m.
Feb. 7: at Lewis & Clark, TBD
Feb. 8: at Willamette, 4 p.m.
Feb. 14: at Pacific, 6 p.m.
Feb. 15: vs. George Fox, 4 p.m.
Feb. 18: at Whitman, 6 p.m.
Feb. 22: at Linfield, 4 p.m. *-Spokane Public Schools game
By Justin Reed THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
The Community Colleges of Spokane and North Idaho College basketball begin their second seasons on different paths.
CCS remains in the Northwest Athletic Conference while NIC – previously a NWAC member – enters Season 2 as part of the National Junior College Athletic Association.
CCS men
The Sasquatch men hope to improve on last season’s No. 3 seed in the NWAC Tournament. Coach Jeremy Groth hopes new additions will help the team’s scoring punch.
“Basically we wanted more guys who could make it, not just shoot it, but make it as well,” Groth said.
Zack Reighard, a sophomore guard from Mead, and Nate Visentin, a 6-foot8 big man are the only returning starters from last season’s squad that finished 1614 overall and 8-6 in league play.
“He’s our hardest worker, he’s always in the gym, he’s invested so much time and he’s doing it the right way too,” Groth said of Reighard. “We’re very thankful and blessed to get one more year with him.”
Sam Wenkheimer, a Mead grad who took last year off after a freshman season at Wenatchee Valley, Evan Nomee, a freshman from Rogers, should see plenty of action.
CCS women
Head coach Brittany Davis – formerly Kennedy after getting married this summer – is in her third season for CCS and is looking to get off to a hot start this season. CCS finished 10-15 overall and 5-9 in league play a season ago.
side of the area. The Spokane region is a hotbed of talent, Davis said.
“Especially growing up and seeing the talent I got to compete against and play alongside with in high school, it’s just the same and I think it’s starting, actually, to ramp back up,” she said.
NIC men
Corey Symons’ squad in the 2023-24 season overcame the goals the coaching staff had in place for the team after making the switch from the NWAC to the NJCAA.
They took third in Region 18, while still having a chance to win the league with three games remaining.
“I think we did well for what we went through last year with changing at a late date, we kind of had an NWAC roster because it was so late in the game when we moved, but we had a good year,” Symons said. “To take third in arguably one of the toughest junior college leagues in the country, without a whole lot of preparation, I was proud of our guys and happy with our coaching staff.”
more from Federal Way, Washington, is one of the best guards in the country, Symons said.
“He can score at all three levels, he’s a big-time athlete for us,” Symons said.
Two other players to watch are Sam Marbury, a transfer from Central Wyoming, and Deng Diew, a transfer out of Northeastern Colorado.
Jacori Ervin, a 6-11 freshman from North Central High School and Gage Ontiveros, a 6-10 freshman from Pocatello, Idaho will provide a lot of height off the bench.
NIC women
Head coach Nathan Covill, who is in his third season, only has two returning players with 12 new faces looking to make an impact.
“I feel like we made some drastic improvements and gave our team a good chance to see the sort of competition they will play all season,” Covill said of his team’s offseason additions. Sophomore Iratxe Amorrortu, a native of the Canary Islands in Spain, and redshirt freshman Tayler Adams are the two holdovers from an NIC team that finished 8-17 overall and 1-9 in conference play. CCS, NIC are on different paths but both face roster overhauls
Most of the roster is from the Inland Northwest, with three players from out-
The roster was still overhauled this summer with 16 new faces in Coeur d’Alene this fall and only two returners. One returnee, Vaughn Weems, a sopho -