Men's Basketball to Take Preseason Canadian Tour

The ISU website is undergoing maintenance, so this will eventually show up over there, so I'll post it here for now.

	ISU will head north in August

July 2, 2010

Pocatello, ID --- With just four returning players and a host of newcomers, head coach Joe O'Brien knew that much of preseason practice in October and November would be about getting his team to bond, gel and learn his system of play. Well, O'Brien and company can get a big head start on the 2010-11 season as he has announced that the team will embark on a preseason tour of Vancouver, British Columbia in August, playing three games as part of Basketball Travelers, Inc.

The team will be able to practice from August 5 through August 13 before heading out on a long bus ride to Vancouver, where the team will play three games over a four-day period from Monday, August 16 to Thursday August 19. The only definite opponent set up so far is the University of Fraser Valley, who will host Idaho State on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm Pacific Time.

The Bengals return just four players from last year, one of which, Deividas Busma, redshirted after playing just seven games due to an injury. Also returning is Broderick Gilchrest, who started at point guard and is a senior, senior guard Mike Lacey, and junior guard Sherrod Baldwin.

The trip allows ISU to take advantage of a new rule in place this year that allows incoming players to take part in an international tour if they have taken and passed three hours of summer school, meaning seven of the eight newcomers will join the team. Only Kamil Gawrzydek, who is not in summer school, will not make the trip. A team can take an international trip once every four years.

"A tour like this is a tremendous benefit to us with all the new players we have entering the program," said Joe O'Brien. "Not only will we get a week's worth of practice, but we will play three games against other schools that will allow our staff to evaluate our team in a game setting."

O'Brien added, "The trip will also allow for the team to really get to know each other and bond, since a bus ride to Vancouver isn't exactly a short trip, but that is only going to benefit us down the road."

The team after the tour will have a chance to visit some of the sites of the 2010 Winter Olympics, including Whistler, British Columbia before heading back to Pocatello. "Culturally, this is a chance to really enhance the collegiate experience for our team, to see another country, and to see some of the places in the Olympics that they got to see on television will make this a great experience, not just for basketball, but educationally as well."

Here's a sneak peak for you....

....OK, I've been sitting on this and didn't want to post on the main site without Joe's quotes, but RECRUITING IS OVER!!!!! (YEAH!) Here is recruit #8, Kamil Gawrzydek (and I have no clue how to pronounce that just yet)

A Kamil Makes Eight, ISU Signs North Platte’s Gawrzydek

6-11 center completes recruiting class for 2010-11 season

Pocatello, ID --- Idaho State University Joe O’Brien and his coaching staff have probably earned a little R-&-R as O’Brien has announced the signing of 6-11 center Kamil Gawrzydek of Teresin, Poland for the 2010-11 season, completing a large eight-man recruiting class. Gawrzydek joins Abner Moreira of Western Wyoming Junior College, Nick Mason of Memphis Southwind High School, Chase Grabau of North Platte Community College, Justin Brunswick of Middletown Madison High School, Kenny McGowen of the College of the Sequioas, Brandon Glanz of Las Vegas Coronado High School and Andre' Hatchett of Tucson Santa Rita High School. Gawrzydek’s signing completes the 2010 recruiting class, one that features four JC transfers and four high school seniors.

Gawrzydek, who was a college teammate of Bengal recruit Chase Grabau at North Platte CC, was slated to be the starting center last year before injuries derailed his sophomore season. He ended up playing in 23 games for North Platte, and 223 minutes total. Despite that, he still shot .686 from the field and averaged 3.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in less than 10 minutes of action. Despite his limited minutes he still finished third on the team in blocks as well.

North Platte last year went 29-6 and won the NJCAA Region IX championship, advancing to NJCAA National Tournament for the first time in school history.


So as soon as I get Joe's quote, that will be on the site, so it's a sneak preview for all the bloggers that read this.

And Now Help Me Win a VAN!!!!
I entered a homemade video into a contest sponsored by the Jay and Jack Lost Podcast, and it got picked as a finalist. I've already won a finalist prize, which is a replica of the LOST four-toed statue, but the winner of the internet vote wins a real Dharma Initiative Van. This is totally for real, and I could use help from the Bengal faithful...all you have to do is go directly to my video here....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0vbxxHtcRg

and click the thumbs up button underneath the video. You have to be logged into Youtube to do that, but I really would appreciate it. Thanks gang

At Mid-Season, Here's the Task At Hand

This weekend marks the turning point for Big Sky Conference men's basketball teams, the half-way pole when every team in the league has played every other one. The women, meanwhile, are a week behind, not having played any games in December. Nonetheless, the Idaho State men's and women's teams approach this critical weekend in dramatically different circumstances. The women are 4-1 in the league, unbeaten at home and with two road wins in their pockets. The men, meanwhile, are bringing up the rear, 1-5 with two very damaging home losses and road losses to two of the teams immediately above them in the standings.

Here's a little historical perspective on what each squad faces coming down the stretch:

Montana has won the women's title every year since the Big Sky Conference expanded to nine teams in 2006-2007. The Griz have averaged just over 14 conference wins a season and have not lost a home conference game during that time. Everyone acknowledged before the season that this was probably a rebuilding year for the Griz, who were picked to finish behind Portland State in both pre-season polls. Montana has indeed slipped, getting swept on the Portland-Eastern road trip (the one the Bengals will take this weekend), and losing their best player, freshman Katie Baker, to a knee injury in the process.

The Griz are still very much in the title hunt, however, having maintained the "Missoula mystique" with a 3-0 home mark. They are just two games back of Eastern Washington. The Eagles are certainly sitting in good shape with a 5-0 mark, including three road wins to date. The Bengals sit in second, 4-1 and plus-two in the road breakthrough category, with PSU and Montana each a game back in third. Needless to say, this weekend is a critical one for Andrea Videbeck (above) and her teammates' championship hopes. If they get swept, they could trail EWU by as much as three games with nine to play. A split puts them in decent shape, particularly if they get it by beating the Eagles. That would assure them nothing worse than being a game behind Eastern with six home games left for the Bengals. And a sweep? Well, that would really put ISU in the catbird seat with all those home games remaining.

The men, meanwhile, are staring up from a deep hole in their attempt to just make the top six and get into the Big Sky Conference's post-season tournament. Since the Big Sky went to nine teams, six has been the fewest wins needed to get into the tournament, and one year the Bengals were the last team in with an 8-8 mark. Assuming they'll need six this year, ISU must win five of their last 10 games, half of which are at home. Noting that ISU has already lost on the road to two teams (Sac State and NAU) that were considered among the weaker teams in the league before conference play, one has to assume that getting a road win, any road win, is going to be a chore from this point on. So the Bengal men need to win out at home, starting with a two-game stretch against EWU and Portland State in Reed Gym this weekend.

If you assume that the sixth place team will do better than six wins, now you're talking about the Bengals sweeping the remainder of their home games and somehow finding a way to get a road win in Montana, at Weber, or in Cheney or Portland, where Joe O'Brien has never won. The odds get a lot longer under that scenario, but the Bengals can't worry about things out of their control. They have to get wins, and Reed Gym has been extremely good to O'Brien and his ballclub. Let's hope that good fortune holds out this weekend.

Basketball -- Anybody?

Last Saturday night's crowd of just under 3,000 for the ISU-Weber State game was extremely disappointing to those who remember the "good, ole days" when the Wildcats used to attract over 6,000 fans to Holt Arena. The fact is, attendance is down significantly at Idaho State and around the Big Sky Conference this year. After 69 games, the league is well on its way to setting another all-time low for home attendance with an average of 2,111 fans for Big Sky home games. That would fall well below last year's previous record low of 2,298, although one can assume that more conference games will result in a jolt upward as the season goes along.

But the Big Sky has averaged fewer than 3,000 fans at its home games every year but one since the 1996-97 season, the first without Boise State and Idaho in the league. And with a few minor exceptions, those numbers keep going down every year.

Idaho State is not immune to the trend. The Bengals have drawn an average of 2,118 fans to six home contests this year. That's down from 2,755 last year, a season that got a real boost from having BYU, Utah and Utah State all come to Pocatello. Without those three in town, average attendance would have been worse than the 2,370 ISU drew in 2007-08, or the 2808 they attracted per game in 2006-07.

And the Bengals are not alone -- Boise State is averaging just 2,634 fans per contest in cavernous Taco Bell Arena, the University of Utah's Huntsman Center, which can accommodate 15,000, is drawing 8,694, the lowest mark since the facility opened 40 years ago, and BYU is attracting a little over 12,300 per game, down from the 13,300 mark of last year, and a far cry from the Danny Ainge-Fred Roberts days of the early 1980s when the Cougars routinely filled the 22,700-seat Marriott Center.

There are any number of theories as to why college basketball (regular season basketball, at least) is not drawing well outside of a few big conferences like the ACC and the Big Ten: too much basketball on television and via the Internet, competition from professional teams (the Jazz have certainly cut into Utah, BYU and Weber State crowds), loss of interest from the students, the economy, you name it. My personal theory is that a regular season basketball game at any level -- NBA, college or high school -- is simply not special any more. With a satellite dish and a DVR, you can literally watch basketball 24 hours a day, seven days a week from November through March -- and catch up on the "classic" games during the summer. Except in very special places like Kentucky, North Carolina and Indiana, where attending basketball games is "an experience," the average fan has become so jaded, he or she is not willing to spend the money or exert the effort to go to just a regular-season basketball game.

For a basketball traditionalist like me who grew up watching high school games in packed gyms in small-town Illinois, that is a sad reality. Nobody can convince me that anybody was having any more fun than the 2,900 or so fans who showed up to watch Weber State's triple-overtime thriller over the Bengals Saturday night, whether you were wearing white or purple. But life has gotten a lot tougher for basketball marketing departments all over the Intermountain West.

Football Recruiting Notes

I ran into Bengal defensive coordinator Brian Strandley after the coaches' show Monday and he tells me ISU is getting very close to filling its upcoming recruting class. Strandley said ISU may take up to 20 recruits, depending on the grade situation of some candidates. He feels very good about the interior defensive linemen who have committed to date, and he's hopeful they'll greatly improve the pass rush for the Bengals by providing a good push up the middle. He said the Bengals are still in the market for an "edge rusher," but haven't gotten a commitment from that position yet.

Interesting Link from Bozeman

Montana State has added an "Ask the AD" feature to their web site. Their athletic director, Peter Fields, provides an interesting answer to the swirling speculation about the future of MSU and the Big Sky Conference. The Q-A hasn't been updated since mid-December, but there is some interesting discussion here.

--Brad B.

And thanks for being a Bengal -- it ain't always easy, but it's always fun.

It's Always Fun During Weber Week...

Well gang, it truly is always fun during Weber State week, and with the women's team in Ogden on Friday night and then the men hosting the Wildcats on Saturday, well...it's just a fun week for everyone involved.

Anyways, lots of little things going on, so here's a little rundown of the little things.

The Little Things...
Dan Angell has a nice story about the trails and tribulations of Rolando Little, who had to really work to get eligible, and then work hard to stay eligible, and then ended up having a major medical setback. Also, Tim Flagstad, who sadly is leaving town shortly for a new gig outside of the sports world in his home state, wrote a great piece on the Jared Allen Strength and Conditioning Center.

But Their Stories on the Official Site are Awesome
Well, the men's and women's tennis teams have not been overly successful in the past few years, much to the chagrin of Katie Zigars, our Asst. SID and tennis contact, who was a former player on the team (and she was pretty good...I watched her play like twice). Anyways, it must be getting old for her to see this come over the wire, but if you read the tennis stories...they are pretty in-depth, because of her knowledge of the sport.

Morgan to Be Honored
Prior to the starters on Saturday night, Amorrow Morgan will be presented with a commemorative ball for his breaking the 1,000-point barrier when he scored in the first half against Montana State. He is the third player in four years to break the 1,000-point mark with Matt Stucki last year and David Schroeder in 2006-07.

Diversity is synonymous with Nicholson....duh...
Idaho State University is celebrating Martin Luther King Day with 10 days worth of activities for ISU's Civil Rights Celebration. While the requisite marches are going on, along with various guest speakers...but apparently nothing says Civil Rights more than the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, where Jack Nicholson plays a statutory rapist who fakes being mentally ill in order to get transferred to an institution so he can have an easier time over the last few months of his sentence. Makes perfect sense to me.

Monday Morning Press Conference Notes
Alyssa Chin of Channel 8 did a nice job of summarizing Idaho State's Monday afternoon press conference with Joe O'Brien and Seton Sobolewski.

Blum Done
Kyle Blum, who was ISU's starting quarterback last year at the beginning of the season, will not be back in the fall for ISU football, as he is 13 credits from graduating, and he does not plan to attend graduate school at ISU. That leaves ISU in the spring with incumbent starter Russel Hill along with three freshmen in Kyle Morris, Jake Lammers, and Justin Level, a grayshirt who is now enrolled.

I Hope this Helps
This can't be bad news, although the number that really matter is full-time students, and we won't know that for a few weeks. Still...it sounds good, no?

Funny...Doesn't Look a Day Over 76...
The Idaho State school newspaper The Bengal turned 100 this week. I remember for a brief time when I got here that the paper changed their name to the eXtra, but by the time the paper snapped a shot of this adorable little kid, it was back to the Bengal.

Thoughts on the Hawk, McGwire, and Moronic Hall of Fame Voters (AKA, Seriously not ISU Related, but Just a Little Topic Near to Me):
I'm going to delve on this for a minute because since I'm actively involved with a very political group1, that being the ISU Sports Hall of Fame, I feel I can interject on a couple of things with the Baseball Hall of Fame, since I'm a pretty big baseball fan.

1If you don't think there is politics and stuff with the ISU Hall of Fame, talk to me whenever I'm officially not getting a paycheck from Idaho State. That being said it shouldn't be a surprise, as I'm sure all college hall of fames have some sort of politics behind them.

Point number one is personal...I'm happy to see Andre Dawson make it in...I remember him playing, and he was a feared hitter and fielder...one of the best of his era. You can't put his numbers into the steroid era and compare. Did I say steroid era? wait...I'll get to that.

Point number two is the voting. Did you know that no one has ever been elected unanimously into the Baseball Hall of Fame? Tom Seaver got left off of five ballots when he got in...Nolan Ryan six, heck..Ty Cobb...TY FREAKIN' COBB wasn't unanimous...getting 222 of226 votes? Babe Ruth? Only 215 out of 226...thank you very much. Now, the reason for this is so moronic, but there are voters who feel that no one should ever get into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Really? Are sports writers THAT holier than thou? There isn't an argument on the planet that can back this up, but somehow, these writers insist that as the keeper of the keys to the Hall, they have that right to do that. However, this past year, do you know who got votes? Kevin Appier, Pat Hentgen, and David Segui each got one, and Ellis Burks and Eric Karros each got two!!! The full 2010 class vote is here.

But here's a good one for you...no one could have gotten all the votes this year because Jay Marriotti, formerly of the Chicago Sun-Times and a panelist on Around the Horn on ESPN, turned in a blank ballot as he felt there was no one deserving. This is after he voted for Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven the year before, and Jim Rice on his 15th and final chance. Mariotti said that he voted for now one this year because "I didn’t vote for anybody in the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. You know why? To me, the first ballot is sacred. I think Roberto Alomar is an eventual Hall of Famer, not the first time. Edgar Martinez, designated hitter, eventually, but not the first time. And same goes for maybe Fred McGriff. As far as Blyleven and Dawson, if they haven’t gotten in for years and years I cannot vote them in now." This is pompous arrogance at it's best. He won't be on the ISU Sports Hall of Fame voting list, I can tell you that...of course, he wouldn't care anyways.

Lastly comes the steroid issue. How do you differentiate folks out of this era? Mark McGwire has gotten 128 votes in three of the four years he was eligible. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will have their moments on the ballot in a few years. Will they get in? Should they get in? Bonds was a sure fire Hall of Famer before he got ... well, it hasn't been proven for him officially, correct? OK...before he got so big his head didn't fit inside his helmet anymore. That works. McGwire might or might not have gotten the home runs needed and he was very injury prone for a while, so he's a maybe. However, the issue I have again is the voters passing judgment for a player using performance enhancing drugs. Honestly, I sort of feel like this...I'm guessing that most sports writers have been inundated when watching sports programming with ads for Cialis2, (Viva) Viagra, and eXtenze ... who hasn't? So, have those reporters wondered about trying them? I mean I'm sure they don't need them...but hey, if it works, and no one has to know, would they try it? If they could get some (Viva) viagra, would they try it? My guess is yes, because I know this topic has come up before when watching games, and I'm saying right now, 90% of my friends and people who I have been around when this comes up have said they would try it ... and yes, I'm in the 90%. So, if a reporter would try a PED for that, can they really pass judgment on a baseball player for a PED to help him out on the field? Sadly, I don't have an answer to it, but I think it's a legitimate question.

I do realize that this has almost nothing to do with ISU athletics, but I thought it was interesting, and the topic has come up in my traveling circles...

Don't Look Now, but It's Hoops Time!

I consider the arrival of the Big Sky men's basketball prospectus as the official opening of the basketball season, even though teams can't start practicing for a week and a half. Since I received the prospectus from the Big Sky office last week, I'm already running late in putting together my early, early Big Sky preview. So let's get to it already.

I've sneaked a peak at a couple of college basketball preview magazines on the newsstands, and I'm going to preview the BSC teams in the approximate order the magazines have placed them. I'll give you my predictions as we get closer to the start of the season:

Weber State

Performance Over Last Five Years: The Wildcats have posted a 47-29 record in league play over that time period, including last year's 15-1, regular-season title effort. The Wildcats were shocked by Montana State in the Big Sky semifinals on their own floor just one week after punishing the Bobcats by 20 in Bozeman.

Outlook: With four starters back from a 21-10 team, WSU will very likely be a heavy favorite to win the league again this year. The one missing piece is a big one, however: league MVP Kellen McCoy, an amazing competitor for his size who led WSU in scoring and steals, finished second in assists and was the unchallenged leader of the Wildcats. Guard Damien Lillard, the first true freshman in league history to earn first-team all-league honors, is expected to inherit that leadership mantle. He averaged 11.5 points and 2.87 assists last year, and those numbers should increase significantly this year. Forwards Steve Panos, Kyle Bullinger, Trevor Morris and Darin Mahoney return a combined 33 points and 20 rebounds per game, and Pocatello's Nick Hansen is back after hitting 38 percent of his 3s.

Intriguing Newcomer: Guard/forward Franklin Sessions averaged a double/double at Saddleback JC last year (14.6 points and 10.5 rebounds).

How They Did Against Idaho State: The Wildcats came from behind to win in overtime in Pocatello, then enjoyed a 14-point win in Ogden.

Montana

Performance Over the Last Five Years: The Griz have been 48-28 over that time, including an 11-5 mark last season. They were upset in the first round of the Big Sky tournament by a Montana State team they beat handily twice during the regular season.

Outlook: With Anthony Johnson, the overwhelming pre-season Player of the Year, and three-point specialist Ryan Staudacher (45 percent from 3) both back on the wing, and big men Brian Qvale, Jack McGillis and Derek Selvig upfront, the Griz have a lot of depth and experience. Johnson single-handedly wills the Griz to a lot of wins (although there has been some concern raised on the Montana message board recently about a potential knee injury with Johnson.)

Intriguing Newcomer: The Griz hope 6-6 F Raason Young, a summer pick-up out of traditional JUCO power Hagerston CC, will finally provide a consistent back-to-the-basket presence on the offensive end. Freshman PG Will Cherry out of Oakland is equally intriguing, offering the Griz a true PG they lacked in recent years.

How They Did Against the Bengals: The two teams split, each defending home court by a comfortable margin.

Portland State

Performance Over the Last Five Years: PSU has posted the best record in the league over that period, 50-26. The Vikings took advantage of MSU's two stunning upsets in the league tournament to get back to the Big Dance after finishing 11-5 in the regular season. They lost to Xavier 77-59 in the tourney.

Outlook: The Vikings are the only team in the league with a new coach after Ken Bone took over at Washington State and was replaced by assistant Tyler Geving. PSU lost former Big Sky MVP Jeremiah Dominguez, but they still return plenty of talent, including guard Andre Waters (41 points against NAU), forward Phil Nelson (scored in double figures 17 times), and inside players Jamie Jones and Julius Thomas, who combined for 13 points and 8.5 rebounds a game.

Most Intriguing Newcomer: Melvin Jones, a 5-10 PG, shot 48 percent from three last year at North Idaho Junior College.

How They Did Against the Bengals: After the two teams split home-court blowouts in the regular season, the Vikings won the rubber game, 61-53, in the Big Sky tournament on their way to the league championship.

Montana State

Performance Over the Last Five Years: The Bobcats have been 37-39 in league play over that time, including 6-10 last year, but then they rose from the dead to shock Montana and Weber State in the league tournament before falling to Portland State in the championship game.

Outlook: Who was the real Montana State: the team that barely squeezed into the post-season tournament, or the one that pulled two huge upsets once they got there? The pre-season magazines seem to be saying the later, as they have ranked MSU ahead of an Idaho State team that was three games better during the regular season. Guard Will Bynum and wing men Bobby Howard and Erik Rush combine to return over 30 points per game. MSU will have to find an inside presence to replace leading rebounder Divaldo Mbunga.

Most Intriguing Newcomer: DiMarco Bourgaudt, a 6-5 F from France, got a lot of experience on European club teams.

How They Did Against the Bengals: Idaho State dominated the Bobcats last year, sweeping both games and holding MSU to a Holt Arena record for fewest points in a half.

Idaho State

Performance Over the Last Five Years: The Bengals were 32-44 in Big Sky play, but 25-23 under Joe O'Brien. ISU was 9-7 last year, losing in the semifinals of the league tournament to Portland State.

Outlook: All-league wing man Amorrow Morgan (sixth in the league in scoring, third in assists) leads a group of eight seniors who have played a ton of basketball at Idaho State. The question is: who among those other seven will step up to replace the scoring and leadership of the departed all-league Matt Stucki?

Most Intriguing Newcomer: There aren't many, but long-time Bengal fans are hoping JUCO PG Broderick Gilchrest is the equivalent of Terrence Fleming, who arrived as a one-year transfer in 1994 to lead a veteran Bengal team to a tie for the league regular season title. High-flying F Rolando Little would bring some much-welcomed athleticism if eligible.

Northern Colorado

Performance Over the Last Five Years: The Bears have only been in the league for three years, and they've been 16-32 during that time. Last year was their best at 8-8, and they lost to Idaho State in the first round of the league tournament.

Outlook: Diminutive PG Will Figures (12.1 PPG), outstanding wing shooter Devon Beitzel (49 percent from 3) and a number of role players return. The Bears will have to find a power player to replace the departed Jabril Banks.

Most Intriguing Newcomer: Emmanuel Addo, a 6-7, 230-pound F out of Minnesota, will get the first shot at taking Banks' minutes.

How They Did Against the Bengals: The Bears gave the Bengals matchup fits, but ISU eventually won the season series, including an OT win in the regular season and seven-point post-season victory, both in Holt.

Northern Arizona

Performance Over the Last Five Seasons: The Lumberjacks have been 43-33, including a nice 34-12 run sandwiched in between 4-10 and 5-11 seasons, the later coming last season when the Axers missed the post-season.

Outlook: Cameron Jones (who averaged 15.6 points in league play) and Shane Johannsen (shot 82 percent in the Big Sky) both emerged nicely as sophomores last year. Shane Lepley, 6-10, showed a lot of potential as a freshman. The Axers could be the surprise team in the league if those three continue to develop.

Intriguing Newcomer: Eric Platt, a 6-5 guard, saw a lot of playing time during two seasons at Wyoming. He averaged 6.5 PPG as a freshman for the Cowboys, and will likely line up at the wing opposite Jones.

How They Did Against the Bengals: In one of the key games of the season, NAU blew a big second-half lead against ISU to lose in Flagstaff, then the Bengals punished an injury-depleted Axer team in Reed Gym, 71-49, at the end of the regular season.

Eastern Washington

Performance Over the Last Five Seasons: Eastern has been 34-42 in league play during that time, including back-to-back 6-10 seasons under Kirk Earlywine.

Outlook: The Eagles return leading scorer Benny Valentine, a 5-7 PG, and leading rebounder Brandon Moore, 6-9 C, but that's about all the experienced talent.

Intriguing Newcomer: Would have been Treymayne Johnson, a 6-7 F who was recruited by some heavyweights early on, but I was told over the weekend that he is ineligible. The Eagles are bringing in three freshmen guards and two JUCO forwards, but none of them catch your eye immediately.

How They Did Against the Bengals: The two teams split, each winning on their home courts.

Sacramento State

Peformance the Last Five Seasons: The Hornets have clearly been the worst program in the conference over that time with a 21-55 mark. Their last non-losing season, and the last time they've been in the post-season, was 2004-05, when they went 8-8.

Outlook: Justin Eller, a 6-8 C who averaged 10 points and 6.7 rebounds, and fourth-leading scorer Antonio Flaggs, a 6-3 G who averaged 7.7 points, return. Six junior college transfers and two freshmen lend an air of mystery to the roster.

Intriguing Newcomer: Sultan Toles-Bey, a 5-10 G, averaged 17 points and 5 assists a game at Fresno City College last year.

How They Did Against the Bengals: Sac State earned its only conference victory against the Bengals at home, then ISU blew out the Hornets 74-39 on the last weekend of the regular season.

--Brad B.

And thanks for being a Bengal fan -- it ain't always easy, but it's always fun.

Critical Period for ISU Basketball Begins

Idaho State will turn over more than half its men's basketball roster next year, and the grunt work for finding new players kicked into high gear this week, with the beginning of the first July "evaluation period. " That's NCAA speak for the period of July 6-15, when coaches can watch potential recruits at the various AAU tournaments scattered across the country.

Idaho State head coach Joe O'Brien (above) and his two assistants, Tim Walsh and Geoff Alexander, are heading off to places like Tulsa and Memphis to watch loose-knit collections of high school kids playing for AAU clubs under volunteer coaches with teammates they may have just met. It's a very difficult environment in which to evaluate how a 17-year-old's talents and temperment will translate to a much more structured and competitive team environment at the collegiate level. Nonetheless, the summer AAU tournaments have become much more important in the recruiting process over the years, and college coaches have no choice but to dive in and take part.

ISU coaches will also evalute players at events set up to showcase junior college players. Then, after a "dead period" from July 16-21, the three Bengal coaches will gather in Las Vegas and Southern California for more AAU action. Throughout the period, they will be comparing notes on players each has seen at their various stops, and making decisions about which potential recruits to focus on.

The Bengals have to be particularly precise in their evaluations this year, because they are looking to bring in as many as eight players and they are limited by NCAA regulations to just 13 on-campus visits. That means the coaches have to really hone in early on players they believe will fit ISU's needs -- and who are really serious about possibly committing to the Idaho State program. The critical on-campus visits can begin Sept. 5, with the early signing period running from Nov. 11 to Nov. 18.

O'Brien has said he hopes to fill about half of those open scholarships during the early signing period, and the other half in the spring. There also remains the possibility he will add another player for the upcoming season. He's still evaluating a couple of potential late recruits, but says he won't take another player just to add a body.

Rolando Little Update

Little, an athletic 6-9 forward who sat out last season as a walk-on at Idaho State, is still progressing toward getting eligible for next season. The Memphis native needs to complete two correspondence courses this summer in order to be eligible for next season, after passing an incredible academic load this past year. Because he walked on without scholarship aid, his family has had to pay a lot of money in out-of-state tuition during that time period.

Little, who has just one year of eligibility left, offers a skill set somewhat reminiscient of former Bengal Slim Millien: he is a big time leaper who can rebound and block shots. He probably doesn't offer the same offensive capabilities as Slim, who was a consistent double-figure scorer. In his last year in junior college, Little averaged about 18 minutes a game, made 65 percent of his field goals, 48 percent of his free throws and attempted only one three-pointer, which he missed. He grabbed five rebounds a game, blocked 36 shots and averaged 7.3 points per game. His assist-to-turnover ratio was a none-too-shiny 12 to 36.

So Little would be a decidely mixed bag if he succeeds in getting eligible, but he definitely offers an athleticism that will be exciting for Bengal fans. What remains to be seen is if he's more disciplined defensively than Slim was. ISU fans will recall the pained look on former Bengal coach Doug Oliver's face brought about by Millien's occasional "matador" approach on the defensive end of the floor.

Speaking of Recruiting

Eastern Washington recently announced the addition of five new men's basketball recruits -- which is noteworthy only because they had already announced the signing of four new players earlier -- but only one of those four managed to get academically eligible. Most Big Sky programs have to take occasional chances on players with risky academic profiles, but losing three-fourths of your commitments indicates EWU's Kirk Earlywine may be in desperation mode.

Congrats to Former Bengal Wrestler

Four-time Big Sky champion John Berry recently earned a spot in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame after receiving the Lifetime Service Award from the Idaho Chapter. Berry coached Idaho high school wrestling for 33 years, including 30 at Sugar-Salem, where he won 10 state championships. Berry, who grew up in Driggs, wrestled at Idaho State from 1969 to 1973, and was elected to the Idaho State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.

If I ever win the Powerball drawing, I'm going to give Idaho State a million bucks to restart its wrestling program. You could easily fill a roster with outstanding Idaho high school wrestlers and be immediately competitive with the few western schools that are still sponsoring the sport. I understand and appreciate what Title IX has done for the growth of women's athletics at Idaho State and around the country, but one of the true tragedies has been its impact on collegiate wrestling programs.

--Brad B.

And thanks for being a Bengal fan -- it ain't always easy, but it's always fun.

Farewell to a Coaching Icon

I was shooting the breeze with Idaho State Basketball Coach Joe O'Brien a couple of weeks ago, when he introduced me to his new assistant, Tim Walsh. O'Brien noted that I was from Collinsville, Ill. -- that was instant cred with the two coaches, Walsh and O'Brien, who had spent a lot of time in Illinois High School basketball circles. As I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, Collinsville High School was known around the country for its outstanding high school basketball teams.

Yesterday, I found out the man who coached those teams for 32 years, Vergil Fletcher (above), died one day short of his 94th birthday. Fletcher won over 700 games at Collinsville, including two state championships (1961 and 1965) back in the days when there was only one class in Illinois. One of his best teams -- and his last -- didn't win state. The 1977-78 Kahoks (named for a mythical Indian tribe) featured three future Division I players in Kevin Stallings (Purdue), Steve Ray (Tennessee) and John Belobraydic (Arizona). Despite all that talent, Collinsville lost a close game in the semi-finals to a tough-minded Lockport Central team, and wound up third in the state tournament. Coach Fletcher, then 64, took the opportunity to retire.

Collinsville continued to trade back and forth with Centralia, another Illinois high school (and alma mater of former ISU coach Herb Williams) for the most wins by any high school program in the nation over the next couple of decades, but Kahok basketball would never be the same. Things finally deteriorated so much that in recent years, the team has struggled to win at all, student aparthy is rampant and hardly anyone goes to the "Purple Palace" -- the nickname for Fletcher Gym -- on Friday nights anymore. Coach Fletcher's death really closes the final chapter from those glory days, when the high school gym was jammed on game night, the students turned out in droves and towns people passed down season ticket locations to their children and grandchildren.

I was a student manager for Coach Fletcher one year, and covered the team for the school newspaper another. By the time I was going to school, in the mid-1970s, Coach Fletcher was a calm, no-nonsense guy who had his system ingrained at every junior high school and parochial school in town. Everybody played his 1-2-2 zone press on defense, and every grade school kid in town knew what was coming when the high school point guard called out a play. Although he turned out a lot of excellent guards who would go on to play in college (Rich Knarr at Mississippi State, Stallings at Purdue, his own son Marc at Kansas and Tulane), Fletcher lived and died with his big men. It seemed he could take any high school kid who was 6-6 or taller and turn him into a high percentage shooting, double-figure scorer.

I got to play a role in his system first-hand, when I was a team manager as a sophomore. A new kid, Terry Clark, move into the school district that year. He was a 6-foot-7 bean pole with average athletic ability, but I spent the better part of lunch hour all that sophomore year passing the ball into Clark so he could practice his turn-around jump shot. Two years later, he averaged 20 points a game as a senior.

Catch the ball up high. Fake, turn and square up, shoot with the ball high over your head. Every former Collinsville big man, from eventual college stars like Tom Parker (Kentucky) and Roger Bohnenstiehl (Kansas) to the guys that never made it to the next level but were significant contributors at the high school level, must still wake up in a cold sweat, practicing that catch, fake, turn and shoot in their sleep. My exposure to those sound fundamentals are why I get so irritated to this day when I see 7 footers at the Big Sky level who come into college with no post-up game and clearly a poor coaching foundation.

I had heard that Fletcher used to display a nasty temper in his earlier coaching days, but I never saw it. By that time in his career, he would sit quietly on the bench throughout the game, a rolled up program in his hand in a Woodenesque type of gesture. He spoke mostly during timeouts, and his instructions were clear, to the point and usually without a great deal of elaboration. The players, most of whom had been playing in his "system" since fifth grade, didn't need a great deal of instruction on strategy. And Coach Fletcher had adopted the notion that if you wanted your players to compete with poise under pressure, it was probably a good thing if the coach displayed similar restraint.

Coach V wasn't without his critics. Some folks said he wasn't a great coach because he didn't adapt his system to his opponent, or to the times. Some people criticized the hold he had over the school district, where some concluded he was really running things. He was accused of nepotism for letting his two sons run the point during their playing days at Collinsville, and he certainly gave Marc, a 6-5 all-stater who averaged 28 points a game his senior year, a lot more freedom to shoot than most of his point guards.

So his death earlier this week only confirmed that Coach V was, indeed, human. But for a young man whose earliest memories included going down to the street corner and staking out a spot on a cold, blustery March day in 1965 to wait for the state champions to parade by, it was the rarest form of humanity: success with dignity.

--Brad B.

And thanks for being a Bengal fan -- it ain't always easy, but it's always fun.

House Cleaning

This Friday blogpost is going to be a veritable hodge-podge of stuff, so let's get to it, shall we?

When 5-for-7 rocks, and when it just sucks.
In sports, going 5-for-7 generally is good. If Amorrow Morgan is 5-for-7 shooting, that's awesome. If Megan Miller goes 5-for-7 in a doubleheader, we should probably win both games. If Kyle Blum or Russel Hill go 5-for-7 passing on a drive, ISU is probably gonna score. In all those ways, 5-for-7 rock. So when does 5-for-7 suck? When the Idaho State Journal runs something regarding Keith Goins, Ryan Anchetta-Major, and Travis Anderson's legal troubles five of the last seven days. Really? I understand the first deal (although the headline and positioning was a bit much), and I get the little thing on the editorial page today in a way, but seriously, this isn't a free for all on the athletic department.

The only day there was nothing regarding this information was in Tuesday and Wednesday's paper. Matt Stucki (Pocatello) won four awards last night in the Bennion Awards Banquet, and Michelle Grohs (Salmon) won three .... we honored 37 or so student-athletes. All that got into the paper on that tremendously positive story was a listing of the winners in the agate section. No photo of all of our student-athletes dress in ties and dresses looking great ... just the agate. Hell, let's see who did have a picture in today's sports ... Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Kellis Robinett, Ben Crane (who you ask? he's on the PGA tour), a high school softball pitcher from Malad (name withheld due to NCAA rules), some high school tracksters, and LeBron James.

Now, as I have always stated, I don't write for the paper, and I have a great relationship with Tim, Kelvin, and Kellis, and maybe they have others above them making decisions on things (of which it should be pointed out that most of the incident stuff this week avoided the sports section, save for Kellis' column where he basically has decided ISU's hiring and firing practices ... I'll still buy his lunch next week though), but you would have to think that somewhere a picture could have made it. I will give kudos for running a small second APR story that painted a much truer picture of ISU's APR standing, brings me to my next nugget.

NCAA/APR/LOL/OMG
The NCAA loves the APR acronym, but I'll let Dave Hickman of the Charleston Daily Mail describe a great point in his column from yesterday.

"For starters, I'm never really sure what to call it because, apparently, neither is the NCAA. You know it as the APR, but that can refer to either Academic Progress Rate - which seems to be the NCAA's semi-official moniker for the system itself - or Academic Progress Report, which is what the group uses to refer to its yearly account of its findings. And just for kicks and giggles, the folks out there in Indianapolis also sometimes refer to the APP (Academic Performance Program), which seems to be the umbrella under which those APRs (take your pick) fall."

Nice right? Since the APR (take your pick) is here to stay, the NCAA has to do a better job at a couple of things with it.

#1) Retitle the reports.
When you go to the NCAA website and get a report, for instance, the one that came out last Wednesday, it is titled "NCAA Division I 2007-2008 Academic Progress Rate Public Report". Well guess what...that's wrong. It's not the 2007-08 APR...it's the four-year rolling score, meaning the correct title is 2004-08. If the report is entitled that, then folks know that the men's basketball score of 897 is spread over two coaches, Doug Oliver and Joe O'Brien, not one. Instead, it looks like Joe is saddled with an 897. O'Brien's score since he's been here? 926, and that includes having to get rid of guys from the previous staff like Tony Jones, and stuff like that (not bagging on the previous staff here, just making a point).

#2) Make the individual year reports available.
Why is this not available? Well, each school has an APR officer who has a pass code to gain access to it, but why not the publicity people who have to get the information out? ISU's four-year APR scores are OK, but the single-year scores for this year are higher in 13 of our 15 sports. Why wouldn't the NCAA make that publically available? I get the four-year score, but let's take men's basketball. In Doug Oliver's final year, the score was 827 (43 of a possible 52 points). In Joe O'Brien's first year, the team got 45 of 50 points, a 900 score (Tony Jones hurt here, and then Joe cleaned a few guys out of the program, like Ryan Baumgartner off the top of my head). His score for last year, which was just released, was a 956 (43 of 45), losing a point for Steve Anderson, who transferred out just half-letter grade under the 2.6 GPA mark. The guys had a perfect fall, and so, just for arguements sake, let's say that men's basketball gets 52 of 52 points, a 1000 score. Next year's report will list ISU's score for 2008-09 as 920.

That 920 will get in the commented on potentially as a "lowlight" since it's no at the magical 925 mark .... but is that 920 a representative score? Should a new coach pay for a something that he could not control? Apparently, he has to, but in what I just described, O'Brien's APR for his three-years would be a stellar 952. So O'Brien has his squad performing OVER the national Division I average, yet according to the NCAA and the APR, ISU is below the mark? Denmark? Rotten? I think so....there has got to be a better way to properly showcase the improvements schools make, so that brings me to point number three

#3)Allow waivers to recuse schools that change coaches
Now, all of that might look like I'm blaming Doug Oliver and his staff, but to the contrary, Doug announced he was not coming back during in January of the season. Try as he and his staff might, he couldn't control if kids transferred out or went to class in April ... he wasn't here. Anytime there is a coaching change, the APR of either the first season of a new coach, or the last of the old coach will always be down. Look at football. John Zamberlin cleaned out the program, and because of that, he took a huge APR retention hit. But, the program is better off. Now, a few scholarship athletes do something stupid, and he boots three scholarship kids out of the program. Good for him, but bad too, because now his APR takes a hit. He kicks Rashaad Richards off the team. Rashaad is an APR hit. Coaches, who used to have to come to grips with the fact that letting go of a student-athlete might hurt his chances at winning on the field, now are put into a position of having to decide whether or not to clean out a program knowing it could devestate the APR, causing lost scholarships, meaning it's tough to compete, meaning it's hard to win and recruit better kids, and getting into a horrible catch-22.

#4) Actually post accurate information
When you go to ISU's website and click a boxscore, there is an understanding that you are downloading the official, correct stats. Well, guess what. If you pull ISU's 2006-07 APR score off the NCAA's official web site...it ain't right. ISU had a few numbers changed on that report after an audit...some scores went up, some went down. However, if you go to the NCAA website, like all of the nation's media were sent to, the NCAA hasn't fixed the older reports to put the new stats on there. Seems like that would be something to get up there pronto. Hell, I'd like it if they just told the SIDs that the school was audited, because I didn't even think to check the numbers.

Admitting a Gaffe
This is sort of a BengalDen response, but some questions arose (legitimate ones I might add) about how the football incidents with the four guys was handled. Let me go with the best political answer I can give here. We tried something a little different. For 11...well, 10 years and 10 months, we have always been pretty quick with things like this in releasing a short statement that "X person has been suspended for a violation of team rules". However, different coaches take different tacts with them, and while I was prepared to let folks know if they asked that they were suspended for a violation of team rules, no one in the media brought it up to me. Why that is, I have no earthly clue, but it wasn't. It was also decided to not release anything about the suspensions until I was asked so as not to throw the folks under the bus so to speak, which is something I have great empathy for, and after nearly 11 years, I decided to alter my own policy stance and try something different. In the end, it was my call.

Suffice to say what can work for a coach somewhere else might not work here, and that is why I regard everything as a learning experience. I was OK with trying something different, but clearly if the Idaho State Journal is going to have something about this incident in the paper in five of the last seven days, we need to go back to the original plan of action.

While these things are discussed with coaches, the bottom line is it comes down to my call, and I went in a different direction with it....hindsight shows it was not the correct decision. We learn (me especially) and move on. I have prided myself since being here of being someone who listens to the fans, and tries to represent ISU as best as possible, and I don't mind answering questions about it. Hope that lends a little insight.

In other news, Matt Stucki needs a pick-up truck
Matt picked up four awards last night, and Michelle Grohs three at the Bennion Banquet. There is no funner event for me that the Bennion Banquet, of which I Ihave now MC'ed twice, which is great. After all the hard work during a season, I take great pride in getting to announce season awards and read the accomplishments of the award winners to their peers. Everyone is all dressed to the nines, it's a great meal....fun times.

Graduation is Saturday!

He's Back!

This will disappear off the ISU front page pretty fast, so I'm putting it here for a little while...

O’Brien Signs New Three-Year Deal

Looks to continue his successful run through the 2011-12 season

Pocatello, ID --- Idaho State University Interim Director of Athletics Jeff Tingey has announced the men’s basketball coach Joe O’Brien has been signed to a three-year contract extension that will keep him prowling the Bengal sidelines through the 2011-12 season.

O’Brien, the second-longest tenured coach in the Big Sky behind only Northern Arizona’s Mike Adras, has not suffered a losing season in three years in Big Sky play, going 25-23. Those 25 Big Sky wins were the most over a three-year period for Idaho State in the last 32 years, and ISU’s home sweep of the Montana schools was the first since 1996 for the Bengals.

Idaho State has qualified for three straight conference tournament appearances under O’Brien, including a pair of semifinal showing in each of the last two years. Idaho State also picked up a signature win this year, beating Utah 72-68, an eventual five-seed in the NCAA tournament. O’Brien’s teams have had several close calls on the road over the years as well, including overtime losses to Brigham Young and Marquette, and a two-point loss last year at Wisconsin. Last year Idaho State went 12-19, playing the nation’s toughest non-conference schedule, as 12 of their 14 opponents qualified for the postseason.

“We are excited to have Coach O’Brien back for another three years here at ISU,” said Tingey. “Joe has brought in a talented group of student-athletes that have brought some excitement back to the men’s basketball program. I am confident that in the next few years, under Coach O’Brien’s leadership, the team will earn a conference championship as well.”

O’Brien will face another tough schedule next year with road games at Utah, Brigham Young, Utah State, South Dakota State, and Notre Dame, plus a few more that are just awaiting signed contracts.

"We are very excited to have both a new contract and the opportunity to continue the work we started three years ago. I feel we have grown as a program and I know I have grown as a coach,” said O’Brien. “Next Fall our first recruiting class will be seniors, and they have some "unfinished business" they want to come back and take care of. Our program has made some positive strides the past three years. Obviously, the next step is to take this experienced group and compete for a conference championship."