W I L D C A T S P O R T S N E W S

Transcription

1 W I L D C A T S P O R T S N E W S MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE * WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY 2702 University Circle * Ogden, Utah Office Fax: (801) MEN S BASKETBALL PRACTICE BEGINS THIS COMING FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15 (For Release on Wednesday, October 13, 2010) OGDEN, UTAH - Weber State, the two-time defending Big Sky Conference men s basketball regular season champion, begins its quest for a third with the opening of pre-season practice this coming Friday, October 15. Coach Randy Rahe and his staff hit the Dee Events Center floor for the first time at 5:00 p.m. We are excited and ready to go, said Rahe. This is going to be a really fun group to work with. They have worked hard in the off season to improve their skills and strength, and most importantly, they have been working hard in the classroom. I like the chemistry of this team. They are all good teammates and good citizens in the community and on campus QUICK PREVIEW *The Wildcats return six lettermen and two starters of a team which won the Big Sky Conference regular season title.... A key will replacing Franklin Session (6-3, 185 Jr. Forward) who was the Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year. Session was a 27-game starter and averaged 10.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Eighty-one of his 181 rebounds game on the offensive glass.... Session transferred to Cal State Los Angeles. STARTERS RETURNING * Damian Lillard (6-2, 185 Jr. Guard) returns. Lillard was the Big Sky Conference MVP and earned Honorable Mention All-America honors from the Associated Press.... Lillard led the Big Sky in Scoring at 19.9 ppg and shot just over 85 percent from the line... He has played in 62 career games, started in 57. * Kyle Bullinger (6-6, 215 Jr. Forward) has played and started in every game the past two seasons (62).... Has averaged 8.7 ppg both seasons starting at the four spot.... Could see action at the three spot (small forward) this season. LETTERMEN RETURNING *Lindsey Hughey (6-3, 205 Sr. Guard) backed up Nick Hansen at the two guard spot.... Averaged 7.8 ppg. *Darin Mahoney (6-8, 230 Jr. F./C) has backed up both the power forward and center spots each of the past two seasons... Averaged 2.9 points last season.... Has 37 career blocked shots. *Trevor Morris (6-9, 250 Sr. C/F) will be a key component for the Wildcats in taking over in the middle PAUL GRUA Assistant Media Relations Director Office: (801) pgrua@weber.edu BRAD LARSEN Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Office: (801) blarsen3@weber.edu W W W. W E B E R S T A T E S P O R T S. C O M DARIN HOGGE Assistant Media Relations Director Office: (801) dhogge@weber.edu

2 from three-year starter Steve Panos... Has appeared in 90 career games and started twice.... Has shot just over 61 percent from the field in his career.... Has averaged 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in his career, coaches will be looking for him to double those numbers this season. *Josh Noble (6-2, 195 Sr. G/F) played in 21 games in a reserve role, scoring 19 total points. NEWCOMERS * Red-shirts Blake Davis (6-6, 210 Forward) and Byron Fulton (6-7, 220 Forward) are ready to step in and make an immediate contribution. Davis can play both forward spots, while Fulton is more of a power forward player but can shoot from long range. They were high school teammates at St. Mary s HS in Phoenix, Arizona. * Scott Bamforth (6-2, 190 Soph. Guard/Forward) is a juco transfer who will have three years of eligibility. He brings a strong athletic presence to the two guard and small forward positions. He s an excellent long range shooter who should help fill the shoes of departed guard Nick Hansen. *B.J. Porter (6-3, 190 So.) is a transfer from the University of Portland who was granted his sophomore year back after suffering an injury last Fall.... Came to WSU in January of 2010 and will eligible to play on Dec. 11, Brings a great deal of athletic ability to the small forward and off guard positions. *James Hajek (HIGH-ek) (6-10, 250 Fr.), Jordan Richardson (6-1, 180 Fr.) and Kyle Tresnak (6-10, 250 Fr.) are a trio of talented freshmen who are the future of WSU basketball.... Getting two, quality high school post players was a coup for the Cats and will give them a solid presence in the low post for the next four years.... Richardson is a lightening quick point guard with the skills to shoot and drive for points. *Frank Otis (6-7, 230 Jr. ) transferred to Weber State after playing two seasons at SMU in Conference USA.... He have to sit out the season as a red-shirt QUICK REVIEW * For a second straight season, the Wildcats captured the regular season Big Sky Conference title and the right to host the Conference Post-Season Tournament.... In , the Wildcats lost to Montana State in the semifinal game. In , the Wildcats defeated Portland State, 69-60, in the semifinal game but lost to Montana, 66-65, in championship game after leading at halftime.... Montana s Anthony Johnson scored 34 of his 42 points in the second half in the comeback win. * The Wildcats were overall, and 13-3 in Big Sky Conference play.... For a second straight year, the Wildcats were awarded a berth in the NIT. In the Cats Diego State and in , lost at Cincinnati (76-62). *Damian Lillard was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year and earned First Team honors for a second straight season. Lillard was also named Honorable Mention All- America by The Associated Press.... Franklin Session was named the Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year and earned Second Team All-Big Sky honors, as did senior center,

3 Steve Panos.... WSU head coach Randy Rahe was named the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year for the third time in four seasons. * Key wins for the Wildcats came at home on Dec. 2 vs. Utah. The Wildcats, behind 28 points from Damian Lillard, overcame a halftime deficit for the win. It came after a 1-4 start by the Wildcats and was the start of a four-game win streak. * The Wildcats began the Big Sky Conference season by winning eight of their first nine games.... The first game came on Dec. 5 at Sacramento State with an win. Damian Lillard had 27 points and Franklin Session scored 14 points and hauled in a career-high 18 rebounds.... A key game in that stretch was a draining three overtime win on the road at arch-rival Idaho State, Included in those games was an win at home over Eastern Washington with Damian Lillard scoring a career high 36 points. * Weber State led the Big Sky Conference in Rebounding Offense at 36.0 per game, in Rebounding Margin at +2.7 per contest, Offensive Rebounds per game at 11.7 and in Three-Point Shots Made Per Game at 8.1. * Individually, Lillard led the Big Sky in overall scoring at 19.9 ppg. and led the league in three-point shots made per game at 2.7. He was fourth in assists at 3.6 and fourth in free throw percentage(.869) WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY MEN S BASKETBALL ROSTER NO. NAME POS. HT. WT. CL. EXP. HOMETOWN HS/JC/OTHER 1 Damian Lillard... G Jr. 2VL Oakland, California... Oakland 2 B.J. Porter... F/G So. TR Layton, Utah... Layton Christian / U. of Portland 3 Kyle Bullinger... F Jr. 2VL Mountain View, Wyoming... Mountain View 4 Scott Bamforth... G/F So. JC Albuquerque, New Mexico... Del Norte / Western Nebraska 5 Jordan Richardson. G Fr. HS Lewisville, Texas...West (Tracy, Calif.) *13 Frank Otis... F Jr. TR Oakland, California... McClymonds / SMU 15 Lindsey Hughey... G Sr. 1VL Grand Prairie, Texas...South Grand Prairie / Seminole (OK) 21 Josh Noble... G/F Sr. 1VL Brooklyn, New York...Hillcrest / Snead State (Ala.) 25 Byron Fulton... F Fr. HS/RS Phoenix, Arizona...St. Mary s 30 Darin Mahoney... F/C Jr. 2VL Heber City, Utah...Wasatch 40 Blake Davis... F Fr. HS/RS Phoenix, Arizona...St. Mary s 44 Kyle Tresnak... C/F Fr. HS Scottsdale, Arizona... Horizon 45 James Hajek...C Fr. HS Omaha, Nebraska... Skutt Catholic 55 Trevor Morris...C Sr. 3Vl Nampa, Idaho... Nampa *will sit out the season as a red-shirt

4 Head Coach RANDY RAHE Beginning his fifth season, Weber State head coach RAN- DY RAHE (ray) has established himself as one of the up and coming coaches in the NCAA Division I coaching ranks. Preaching team unity, togetherness and chemistry, Rahe has built upon an already solid basketball foundation and made it even stronger. A coach is only as good as those players he puts on the court, says Rahe. Our philosophy from day one was to recruit players who, number one, wanted to gain an education and make themselves a better person throughout their lives. Two, to be good teammates and try to make everyone around them better persons and players. Third, to put teams on the court which are competitive and play hard. When you get players who fit in the first and second categories, the third naturally falls into place. In four short seasons, Rahe has produced three regular season Big Sky Conference champions, produced three different Conference Players of the Year, and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament once and to the NIT, twice. He has averaged nearly 20 wins per season overall and has won 10 or more games in Big Sky Conference play each season as well. A native of Bancroft, Iowa, Rahe was a two-sport standout at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa as a point guard (5-7, 150 but fiesty) and a shortstop on the baseball team. He earned a bachelor s in Elementary Education in He began his coaching career as the head coach at Stratton High in Colorado ( ) where he was twice named District Coach of the Year. He teams posted a record of earning two 3rd place finishes in the state tournament. He got his first taste of coaching on the collegiate level in when he joined the staff at Colorado College as an assistant. He went on to serve as an assistant at the University of Colorado ( ) and the University of Denver ( ) before beginning a long association with Coach Stew Morrill at Colorado State (seven years) and Utah Stae (six years). In , Rahe left to join the staff at the University of Utah under new coach Ray Giacoletti and spent two seasons there before taking the position at Weber State. Basketball is a family affair in the Rahe household. His wife, Laura, is a women s basketball official in the Mountain West and Western Athletic Conferences. They are the parents of two sons, both future hoopsters, Luke (11) and Kade (8). RAHE at Weber State YEAR OVERALL BIG SKY FINISH POST-SESON BIG SKY MVP st NCAA 1st Rd David Patten (6-8, 225 Sr.) rd st NIT 1st RD Kellen McCoy (5-6, 180 Sr.) st NIT 1st RD Damian Lillard (6-2, 185 So.) TOTAL

5 WEBER STATE MEN S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE DAY DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME WED OCT 27 PURPLE-WHITE GAME OGDEN, UT 7:05 MON NOV 1 LAVAL UNIVERSITY (Canada) - Exb. Gm. OGDEN, UT 7:05 %SAT NOV 6 WESTERN NEW MEXICO - Exb. Gm. OGDEN, UT 4:00 Sat Nov 13 at Utah State Logan, UT 7:05 %TUES NOV 16 COLORADO CHRISTIAN OGDEN, UT 5:35 Sat Nov 20 at Utah Salt Lake City, UT 4:05 Thurs Nov 25 #Alaska-Anchorage Anchorage, AK 9:30 Fri Nov 26 #Houston Baptist / Arizona State Anchorage, AK TBA Sat Nov 27 #TBA Anchorage, AK TBA SAT DEC 4 SEATTLE UNIVERSITY OGDEN, UT 2:05 Sat Dec 11 at Southern Utah Cedar City, UT 7:35 Thurs Dec 16 at Tulsa Tulsa, OK 6:05 %SAT DEC 18 UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTHWEST OGDEN, UT 7:35 TUES DEC 21 BRIGHAM YOUNG OGDEN, UT 7:05 Wed Dec 29 *at Montana State Bozeman, MT 7:05 Fri Dec 31 *at Montana Missoula, MT 1:05 Sat Jan 8 *at Northern Arizona Flagstaff, AZ 6:35 THURS JAN 13 *SACRAMENTO STATE OGDEN, UT 7:05 SAT JAN 15 *IDAHO STATE OGDEN, UT 7:05 Thurs Jan 20 *at Portland State Portland,OR 8:05 Sat Jan 22 *at Northern Colorado Greeley, CO 7:05 SAT JAN 29 *NORTHERN COLORADO OGDEN, UT 7:05 THURS FEB 3 *MONTANA OGDEN, UT 7:05 SAT FEB 5 *MONTANA STATE OGDEN, UT 7:05 THURS FEB 10 *NORTHERN ARIZONA OGDEN, UT 7:05 Sat Feb 12 *at Eastern Washington Cheney, WA 8:05 WED FEB 16 *PORTLAND STATE OGDEN, UT 7:05 Sat Feb 19 BRACKET BUSTER GAME TBA TBA Tue Feb 22 *at Idaho State Pocatello, ID 7:05 Sat Feb 26 *at Sacramento State Sacramento, CA 7:05 WED MAR 2 *EASTERN WASHINGTON OGDEN, UT 8:05 Sat Mar 5 Big Sky Tournament - Quarterfinals TBA TBA Tu-Wed Mar 8-9 Tournament Semifinals/Championship Reg. Season Champ TBA %Doubleheader with WSU Women