*** College Basketball Preview - Mountain West Conference ***
The My Sportsbook
By Gregg Xenakes, College Basketball Staff Writer
OUTLOOK: For the third straight season the Mountain West Conference pushed three of its eight programs into the NCAA Tournament last year which is quite a feat considering the rest of the college basketball world still looks down on the league as a mid-major. Over the last five seasons Mountain West teams actually have the best overall home winning records of any conference in the country regardless of size or power so they must be doing something right. Three schools; Utah, UNLV and Air Force all have new head coaches this season, and yet those three programs are the favorites to be at the top of the regular season standings come March. Does that mean that the rest of the schools are growing stagnant because they are not going with a fresh approach in 2004-05? Probably not, but it is nice to see that those three aforementioned programs are getting a bit of a face lift. Last year New Mexico had a rather mediocre campaign with a 14-14 record, but with four starters returning and a quality recruiting class the Lobos could be fighting for the title right up until the end. San Diego State still has a quality head coach who has w on a national title, and that goes a long way in recruiting and motivating players, but Steve Fisher needs more than just his reputation to stand on these days. With a homecourt (Marriott Center) that is one of the toughest in the entire nation for visiting teams, the BYU Cougars at least have that going for them this season, now that three starters have abandoned the program. Colorado State was not as bad as its 13-16 record showed in 2003-04 and the Rams are still head and shoulders above the Wyoming Cowboys who took a nosedive after being one of the most feared squads in the MWC just a few short years ago.
CONFERENCE CHAMPION: Utah
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH: 1. Utah; 2. UNLV; 3. Air Force; 4. New Mexico; 5. San Diego State; 6. BYU; 7. Colorado State; 8. Wyoming
TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS:
UTAH - There's a new dawn arising in Salt Lake City this season and it starts on the sideline where new head coach Ray Giacoletti begins his reign with the Utes. Giacoletti has some huge shoes to fill now that Rick Majerus has left the program, and some wonder if the Minot State University graduate is ready for the responsibility. As far as his head coaching experience is concerned, he began with North Dakota State at the Division II level and then moved on to Eastern Washington where he made the Eagles into a legitimate contender in the Big Sky Conference by putting together the four toughest non-conference schedules in school history. Is he ready for the big time in the Huntsman Center? Only time will tell, but his players certainly believe in what he brings to the table and that's one of the main reasons why Utah is favored to win the title in the Mountain West. Although two of the top scorers from last year are gone, Giacoletti still has Andrew Bogut to bang opponents on the inside. The 2003-04 MWC Freshman of the Year and a Second-Team All-MWC choice, Bogut averaged 12.5 points and 9.9 rebounds a season ago. He also showed that big men can pass the ball effectively out of the post, putting up better than two assists per game as well. Joining Bogut as returning starters are Richard Chaney and Tim Drisdom, who averaged 9.5 and 6.1 ppg, respectively. Drisdom, a junior guard who is not afraid to mix it up in the paint, adding 3.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists last year. A player to watch for the Utes will be Marc Jackson, who is coming back for his senior season after taking off 2003-04. A year prior he was named to the All-MWC Second Team when he averaged 9.3 ppg.
UNLV - Now with their third coach in two seasons, the Rebels will be lucky if they can figure out which way is up before the New Year. Under the command of Lon Kruger, the Rebels should challenge for the league title this season due to their all-around athleticism. On the inside they may have lost J.K. Edwards and on the outside, Demetrius Hunter, but overall UNLV is still one of the elite programs in the Mountain West. A First-Team All-MWC selection last year and a candidate for Player of the Year honors this time around, senior forward Odartey Blankson has Rebel fans remembering the days of Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon. Last year, Blankson was one of a select few at the Division I level to average a double-double with 17.6 points and 10.2 rebounds per contest. A castoff from Marquette, Blankson has little trouble handling the ball for a man his size. To complement his ability on the inside, senior guard Jerel Blassingame is tasked with leading the Rebels with his passing, which produced 6.6 assists per game a season ago. Blassingame is considered one of the best at his position in not just the Mountain West, but the entire nation, which is why senior swingman Romel Beck (14.2 ppg) will again reap the rewards of Blassingame's unselfishness.
AIR FORCE - Once again the Falcons had the top scoring defense in the entire country last season, coming in at 50.9 ppg allowed. Most schools don't know how to prepare for the academy, expecting the game to be a walk over against a bunch of undersized players who have defending our country as their top priority. Notoriously one of the smallest teams in the nation, at least as far as the mid-major conferences are concerned, the Falcons still figure out how to play quality basketball despite the disadvantage. This year three returning starters bring back a wealth of scoring acumen, with junior guard Nick Welch (the MWC Co-Player of the Year for 2003-04) leading the way with his 11.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per outing. While the four rebounds per contest may not be all that impressive, considering Air Force is one of the poorest rebounding programs at the Division I level year after year (it averaged only 21.5 rpg last season), Welch is actually an accomplished player on the glass. Senior guard Tim Keller prides himself on being on top of his perimeter game, hitting 35 percent of his attempts, with the team shooting 37.9 percent as a unit. Keller may not be up there with the rest of his teammates in terms of percentage, but no one else is as fearless when it comes to letting the long balls fly. Antoine Hood, a junior guard, was one of four players to have started every game for Air Force last year, averaging 10.4 ppg, which is why new head coach Chris Mooney has to be pleased to have him and his experience back in the fold.
NEW MEXICO - Although he is still eight games under .500 in his two seasons with the Lobos, Ritchie McKay is still fighting through to his third campaign with the program in Albuquerque, one that should be more successful than 2003-04. Last season the team finished an even 14-14 overall and 5-9 in league play, but when it came to playing outside of The Pit the squad simply fell apart with nine defeats in as many tries. However, with four starters returning this year that trend should change almost right off the bat. Sure, the team is going without Javin Tindall, its second-leading scorer from last season, but that doesn't mean all is lost. In fact, what it means is that seniors Troy DeVries, Danny Granger and Alfred Neale will get even more chances to show off their wares. Granger, who transferred from Bradley a couple years back, is being picked as the preseason Player of the Year in the MWC and for good reason. The 6-8 forward is tenacious when he sets himself in the paint and there are very few players in the Mountain West who can match his physical play. Granger, a First-Team All-MWC choice, has recorded 18 double-doubles in his career, posting a total of seven in the 22 games he played for the Lobos. Junior forward David Chiotti shot a team-best 54.8 percent from the field last season, leading to 12.5 ppg. He added 5.3 rpg, while Neale chalked up 5.4 rpg.
SAN DIEGO STATE - Coach Fisher has been living off a legacy for some time now, since leading his Michigan Wolverines to the national title in the early 1990's. Last season he took his Aztecs on a mediocre ride that saw them finish with a 14-16 record and just two wins in 12 chances on the road. Aside from victories over New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado State, the team lost every game they played from January 24 until the conference tournament where they fell to Utah in Denver. Considering the team has four returning starters to fall back on this year, one would think that the program should be on the upswing, but that one starter that is not coming back is Aerick Sanders, the only player for SDSU to make any one of the three All-MWC teams last year. Guard Brandon Heath showed that while Sanders was patrolling the paint, he could fill it up from the outside to the tune of 13.8 ppg. However, the youngster is just a sophomore this year and still has a lot of growing to do in Fisher's scheme, as does Marcus Slaughter who showed signs of brilliance with his 7.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per outing for the program as a freshman. Now a senior, Wesley Stokes will more than likely be the go-to guy for San Diego State this season. A former Missouri Tiger who opted to come back closer to his hometown of Long Beach in California, Stokes is a streaky player who can both score (12.1 ppg) and distribute the ball (5.8 apg) equally as well and keep his teammates involved.
BRIGHAM YOUNG - Head coach Steve Cleveland has a lot of work to do this season in Provo. A team that has been quite successful the last few years, the Cougars are probably going to be on the downside for a few seasons before returning to prominence. The team has lost three of its top four scorers and in Rafael Araujo, the one player who actually scared the rest of the league when he planted himself in the paint and dared them to challenge his size and strength. BYU still has a couple of marquee players to sell its brand of basketball, the first being senior guard Mike Hall, who was named the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year for 2003-04 and a member of the All-MWC Third-Team as well. Hall averaged 12.8 ppg as the third-leading scorer for the Cougars a season ago and also pulled down three and a half rebounds per contest, not to mention ripping off almost a steal and a half per game as well. Once the MWC's Co-Freshman of the Year in 2001-02, senior forward/center Jared Jensen has seen his productivity tail off recently because he was muscled out of the key, but now he should be able to return to form and boost his mediocre 3.8 ppg from last year. With just six letter winners returning, adding five newcomers, and watching players float in and out on church missions, the Cougars have a rough row to hoe this year.
COLORADO STATE - Matt Nelson, now a senior center, was the only Colorado State player to be named to any one of the All-MWC teams last season, checking on the third team for the Rams. He's back this year, along with three other starters to give CSU a firm foundation on which to build. However, with just four conference wins last year, there's a lot of rebuilding to be done this season in Fort Collins under the direction of Dale Layer. The team was abysmal down the stretch in 2003-04, losing seven in a row to start the month of February, so to expect this squad to bounce back right away would be a lot to ask. Nelson, the program's top scorer last season with 15.6 ppg also tied for the rebounding lead with senior forward Matt Williams (10.3 ppg) at 5.7 rebounds per contest. Only three players on the entire roster had more assists than turnovers a year ago, with Michael Morris leading the way with his 4.2 apg to go along with 7.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per outing. Not known for their three-point shooting, the Rams have some work ahead of them if they at least want defenses to believe they might be a threat on the perimeter, after hitting only 28.2 percent beyond the arc in league play last year, 33.8 percent overall through 29 contests.
WYOMING - If finishing just 11-17 last season was not tough enough, putting up four wins in 14 tries against the rest of the MWC along the way, the Cowboys have to be really concerned with where the upcoming campaign is going to lead them. In 2003-04 the team didn't win a single game on the road under head coach Steve McClain, now entering his seventh season in Laramie. Wyoming was a better than average scoring team last year, putting up an even 70 ppg across the board, and thankfully the squad's leading scorer, Jay Straight (15.7 ppg) is back again. A senior guard, Straight was the only double-digit scorer for the Pokes and was also the leading assist man with 103 dishes. He paced the group with 38 steals and cleared almost three and a half rebounds per game as he averaged better than 31 minutes of action per outing. To expect Straight to keep up that sort of pace would be a lot to ask the Chicago native. The only other returning starter from last year is senior forward/center Alex Dunn who posted 8.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Overall the team has just four returning letterwinners, mixed together with five junior college transfer, three redshirts and another three freshmen. If Wyoming finishes this year any higher than sixth before the conference tournament begins it will be a small miracle.
