Mountain West Conference 2004 Offseason News Recap
by John Eisel
Late Night with the MWC: The Mountain West Conference announced they were unable to leave their ESPN “Big Monday” contractual obligation, keeping the conference showcase late at night (midnight-2 AM Eastern). The conference, which wanted to explore a Wednesday or Thursday televised conference game of the week, cited coaches complaints in trying to make a switch. MWC coaches have been critical of the game time because it led to sleepy players going to early Tuesday classes, and fans not leaving some arenas until after midnight. The league’s seven-year, $48 million deal with the sports cable network runs through 2006.
Must See Mountain West TV: If you’re looking for Mountain West Conference basketball games, you’ll soon need to tune in to College Sports Television. Conference officials reached an agreement on a seven-year, $77 million contract that will put the conference’s games on CSTV beginning in 2006. Until then, conference sports can be seen on ESPN, which declined to match CSTV’s offer. ESPN officials sought a longer deal than Mountain West officials were willing to sign. CSTV has deals with DirecTV, Comcast, Time Warner and Adelphia to broadcast the cable network’s around-the-clock coverage of collegiate athletics. With the switch, Mountain West games will appear in potentially 40 million fewer homes as CSTV has a reach of about 52 million homes while ESPN’s juggernaut spans to 90 million.
CSTV and the MWC will also collaborate on the first-ever College Conference Regional Sports Network, to be called Mountain West TV, launching in the fall of 2006. The Mountain West, who recently got out of a deal with ESPN as part of their Big Monday package, will incorporate all conference-related media, and will also feature MWC-sponsored educational programming. The deal was made in part by CSTV’s acquisition of Dave Checketts’ Sportswest Communications, based in Salt Lake City. Sportswest owns broadcast rights to six of the eight MWC member institutions. TCU joins the Mountain West effective July 1, 2005.
Air Force
Air Force lands a new coach: Just 24 hours after former head coach Joe Scott left for Princeton, the Air Force Academy promoted Chris Mooney to head coach of their men’s basketball team. Mooney, 31, has been in Colorado Springs for four seasons, the last two as an associate head coach. Prior to Air Force, he coached at Beaver College in Glenside, Pa., for two seasons. The Falcons won a school-record 22 games last season and won their first Mountain West regular season title. After losing in the conference tournament, the Falcons still played in their first NCAA tournament since 1962 and would lose to North Carolina in the first round. Mooney hired Kevin McGeehan from Springfield (Pa.) High School to be an assistant men’s basketball coach to fill out the staff.
Wounded Falcon: Air Force stormed the nation last season with a combination of painfully precise offense and oppressive defense. Nick Welch, the Falcons’ leading scorer and rebounder, was a crucial piece of that Mountain West-winning team, and he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to alleviate swelling and soreness. Doctors expect Welch to be ready for the team’s first practice Oct. 16, and the team cannot afford Welch to miss any significant time if the Falcons want to repeat as conference champions.
More television for Air Force: Kroenke Sports Enterprises’ regional sports network — and the Air Force Academy announced a multi-year telecast agreement to present live Air Force Falcons athletic events on Altitude.
Under the agreement, Altitude will televise annually a total of up to six men’s basketball and football games, as well as other intercollegiate athletic events. Altitude will also televise the Academy’s Wing Open Boxing Championships.
Altitude, a Denver-based cable sports channel, broadcasts the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and has a deal in place with the Big Sky Conference.
BYU
Cougars bring in JUCOs: Josh Reisman, a 6-1 combo guard from San Jose City College in San Jose, Calif., and Keena Young, a 6-6 guard/forward from South Plains College in Levelland, Texas will play for the Cougars this fall.
Reisman averaged 14.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists as a sophomore at San Jose City College during the 2003-04 season. Playing with an injured hand for much of the season, Reisman shot 43 percent from the floor, 33 percent from three point range, and 71 percent from the free throw line while helping the Jaguars to a 19-9 record. He posted season highs of 28 points, six rebounds and six assists playing primarily the shooting guard position.
Young averaged 9.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists as a freshman at South Plains College in 2003-04. A good mid-range shooter, the 6-foot-6 swingman shot 47 percent from the floor.
The Raptors’ choice: The Toronto Raptors selected former BYU All-American center Rafael Araujo with the eighth overall pick in the first round of 2004 NBA Draft Thursday, making Araujo the third-highest BYU player ever selected in the annual draft and the sixth Cougar to be taken in the first round. The 6-foot-11 Araujo came to the United States four years ago from Sao Paulo, Brazil, spending his first two years at Arizona Western College.
Araujo started all 62 games at BYU for coach Steve Cleveland while helping the Cougars achieve back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. An all-conference player both years he played in the Mountain West Conference, Araujo led BYU and finished second in the MWC in rebounding during the past two seasons (10.1 and 8.9). He was 11th in nation in rebounds per game in 2004 and boasted the fourth-highest combined scoring and rebounding average nationally. He posted career highs of 32 points, 17 rebounds, four assists, five blocks and five steals as a Division I player under Cleveland’s tutelage at BYU.
Colorado State
Robinson Tears Achilles: Colorado State junior forward Freddy Robinson is out indefinitely after partially tearing his right Achilles tendon. Team medical officials stated that Robinson had successful surgery on the injury, but there is no timetable for his return, nor a forecast as to whether he can play this season. Robinson, who averaged 8.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest last season, was practicing during drills in preparation for the Rams’ five-game exhibition trip to Mexico.
Colorado State Hires Miller: The Colorado State Rams hired Owen Miller, a former associate coach at Texas-San Antonio, as an assistant coach. His responsibilities will include on-court coaching, recruiting and program organization and administration. He has coaching experience at Mississippi State, having served as an assistant for three seasons.
South of the Border ball: The Rams went at least 3-0 during an August trip to Mexico. The Rams crushed Universidad LaSalle 108-35, Universidad Anahuak 86-53 and edged professional team Pachuca 96-94.
New Mexico
Lobos leave the pack: Justin Benson, Lenny Miles, Mikal Monette and Collins Ferris all left the New Mexico program over the summer. Benson is going to play at Oklahoma Baptist, Ferris will concentrated on academics, Miles will play football at Colorado and Monette transferred to Eastern New Mexico. None of the players made significant contributions on the court last season.
Frosh gets in international play: Incoming freshman Bombale Osby played with the Score International All-Star Basketball team as they swept four Dominican Republic teams. Osby averaged 7 points, 12 rebounds and a block per game.
Lobos sign one of their own, JuCo point guard: Darren Prentice, a 6-0 guard from Alamogordo (N.M.) High School and Kris Collins, a 6-2 point guard from Iowa Western Community College, signed to play at New Mexico in the fall. Prentice had agreed to walk-on for the Lobos then receive a scholarship starting with the 2005 spring semester. However, with the elimination of the NCAA’s 5/8 rule, Prentice’s scholarship is now effective the fall of 2004. He was a first-team all-stater, averaging over 23 points, five assists and five rebounds per game.
Collins is rated as one of the top-10 junior-college point guards by various recruiting analysts and will have two years of eligibility remaining with the Lobos. Last year Collins averaged 14.8 points and 3.8 assists per game as the starting point guard for Iowa Western.
San Diego State
Aztecs add guard, JUCO center: High School player Matt Thomas and JUCO center Mohammed Camara signed with SDSU over the summer.
Thomas, a 6-4 guard who attended Riverside’s Martin Luther King High, averaged 16.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 5.0 steals as a senior.
Camara, a 6-11, 260-pound center from Louisville, Ky., signed with the Aztecs. He attended Riverside Community College the last two years, averaging 9.4 points, 10.7 rebounds and connected on 51.0 percent of his field goal attempts in 2003-04.
Grant going back to NBA: Assistant coach Gary Grant has resigned his position to purse a similar role with an NBA franchise. Grant, a collegiate All-American and a 13-year NBA veteran, served as an assistant coach this past season with the Aztecs.
San Diego State turns back the clock: When Steve Fisher last had Mark Hughes on his team, the Michigan Wolverines won the 1989 national championship. Now, Fisher hopes Hughes can produce similar magic at San Diego State as an assistant coach. Hughes has assistant coaching experience under Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers when Rivers coached the Orlando Magic.
Stokes Won’t Start: San Diego State point guard Wesley Stokes is academically ineligible to play for the Aztecs when the season starts and cannot play until the fall semester ends Dec. 18. Until then, coach Steve Fisher hopes the former Missouri transfer will get his grades in order because Stokes averaged 12.1 points per game and dished out 175 assists last season. He was the second-most efficient point guard in the Mountain West Conference, and Stokes is the linchpin to the Aztecs’ success this season.
Aztec Struggles to Score in Class: San Diego State recruit Jabbar Young, a beastly center who weighs close to 300 pounds, is academically ineligible to attend the school and will return to San Bernardino College. The sophomore enrolled as an Aztec in 2003 after attending San Bernardino, but his grades forced him back to the college. If he raises his grades, San Diego State can recruit him again, and he would have two years of eligibility remaining.
UNLV
Kruger names his staff: Marvin Menzies, Steve Henson, Lew Hill and Mike Shepherd were hired as assistant coaches and director of basketball operations, respectively, for UNLV. Hill comes to UNLV from Texas A&M where he was an assistant coach from 1998-2003 and served as the program’s associate head coach last season.
In the spring of 1996, Shepherd followed Kruger to Illinois from Florida, where he served as an assistant coach. In 1999-2000, Shepherd joined the Tulsa women’s basketball program.
Henson comes to UNLV after spending one season as an assistant coach at the University of South Florida. He spent time as an assistant coach as well as an advance scout for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks from 2000-03 working under Kruger and then Terry Stotts.
Henson also worked for Kruger at Illinois as an assistant coach in 1999-2000.
Menzies comes to Las Vegas after spending one year as an assistant coach with the USC men’s basketball program. As the head recruiter at San Diego State, Menzies signed nationally ranked recruiting classes in 2001 (Top 25) and 2000 (Top 40). He signed the program’s first-ever McDonald’s All-American and also signed former Aztec Randy Holcomb, who was taken by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2002 NBA Draft.
Rebels sign JUCO players: Dustin Villepigue, a 6-9 forward from Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, Joel Anthony, a 6-9 center from Pensacola Junior College, and Ricky Morgan, a 6-0 guard from Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Mich., all signed to play with the Rebels.
At Dixie this past season, Villepigue played in 25 games, started 20 and averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He led the Scenic West Athletic Conference in field goal percentage at 64.9 percent. Villepigue, from Simi Valley, Calif., attended Gonzaga before transferring to Dixie. He redshirted at Gonzaga during the 2001-02 season as a freshman and played in four games the following year (2002-03) for the Bulldogs. Anthony averaged 9 points, 7 rebounds and 3.5 blocks for Pensacola this past season.
At Schoolcraft this past season, Morgan averaged 8.9 points, 6.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game in leading the school to a 27-4 record, the league title and the Michigan state junior college championship.
Morgan, from Pontiac, Mich., attended Iowa State in 2001-02, playing for the Cyclones as a true freshman. At ISU, Morgan tallied a team-high 91 assists, tying for third on the ISU freshman assist chart. He played in 29 games, started eleven, and averaged 3.1 apg, 2.6 ppg and 1.9 rpg.
Rebels go 4-0 in Canada: The UNLV Rebels swept their four games in Canada in August. The Rebels beat the Burnuby Mountain All Stars 83-53, Fraser Valley 103-62, University of British Columbia 89-71 and Langara College 70-58.
Utah
Utah loves Raymond: Utah hired Ray Giacoletti as its new head men’s basketball coach. iacoletti was head coach at Eastern Washington for the past four years.
Named the 2003-04 Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year, Giacoletti led Eastern Washington to its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth this past season. The Eagles, finishing 17-13 overall and 11-3 in conference play, won 14 of their last 18 games-including 11 straight victories-to capture the Big Sky regular season and tournament titles.
Giacoletti, 41, went 69-50 in four seasons at Eastern Washington. His .707 winning percentage (41-17) in Big Sky Conference games ranks first among league schools. Giacoletti is 117-83 in seven years as a head coach. Before taking over at Eastern Washington, he was at North Dakota State for three years (1997-2000), directing the NCAA Division II program to a 48-33 record.
Giacolleti hired Randy Rahe, Marty Wilson and Mike Score as assistant coaches. Chris Jones became director of men’s basketball operations.
Tough Break for Rupp: Despite leading Utah to a Mountain West tournament championship and NCAA tournament berth after Rick Majerus resigned for health reasons, Kerry Rupp will not return to the Utes in any capacity next season. New coach Ray Giacoletti said he respects the job Rupp did in a tough situation but will not retain him as an assistant coach. Rupp later took a job with Indiana.
Jackson back for Utes: Marc Jackson, who left the Ute men’s basketball team last April, has announced his intent to return to the program for his senior season in 2004-05 after meeting with new head coach Ray Giacoletti.
Jackson, a 6-1 guard from Olympus High School, most recently played with the Utes in 2002-03 and earned second team all-Mountain West Conference honors. He averaged 9.3 points in 22 minutes per game while appearing in 29 contests. Jackson ranked second in the Mountain West Conference in three-point percentage (44.8), second in free throw percentage (84.2) and ninth in assists (2.76 apg). In Utah’s two NCAA Tournament games, Jackson scored 13 points in the first round win over Oregon and had 19 points versus Kentucky in the second round.
Utes get another from down under: Luke Nevill, a 7-0, 240-pound center from Perth, Australia, has signed a national letter of intent with the Utah men’s basketball program. The announcement came today from head coach Ray Giacoletti.
Nevill has been living in Marietta, Ga., this year as an exchange student. While playing for Kell High School, Nevill averaged 17.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.7 blocked shots and 2.5 assists per game. He shot 70 percent from floor and 68 percent at the free throw line.
Bogut on Wooden list: Andrew Bogut, a 7-0 center/forward who will begin his sophomore year at the University of Utah this fall, has been named to the John R. Wooden Preseason All-American Team.
Bogut, along with the other Top 50 candidates named by the Wooden Award committee, will be considered for the Midseason Top 30 list and the national ballot for the John R. Wooden Player of the Year Award.
In his first season with the Utes, Bogut was named the 2003-04 Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year and second team all-conference. The Melbourne, Australia, native was Utah’s second-leading scorer (12.5 ppg), top rebounder (9.9 rpg) and best shot-blocker (44) last season.
Wyoming
Watson Leaves Wyoming: The circumstances appear fishy, but rising sophomore Mikel Watson is returning home to San Diego after a misunderstanding between him and the Wyoming coaching staff. Coach Steve McClain said that Watson failed to meet the standards he sets for the team. Neither would expound on the situation. Watson figured to be a major player in Wyoming’s attempt to compete in the ever-improving Mountain West conference. He averaged 5.9 points and 1.6 assists as a freshman.
Two out of three ain’t bad: James Ebert of Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Kevin Lewis of Compton Community College in Compton, Calif.; and Steve Neal of Minneapolis all signed with Wyoming. However, Neal couldn’t make grades and is attending a junior college. He is expected to join the Cowboys next year.
James Ebert is a 6-2, 195-pound guard from Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ebert was named a Second Team National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American in Division II. The native of Iowa City, Iowa, also earned First Team All-Region honors and was named the Region 11 Most Valuable Player. He averaged 17.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game during his sophomore season. An outstanding outside shooter, Ebert converted 40.9 percent of his three-point field goals, and hit 79.1 percent of his free throws.
Kevin Lewis is a 6′ 6″, 190-pound guard/forward from Compton Community College in Compton, Calif. Lewis averaged 14.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game his sophomore season at Compton, while shooting 48 percent from the field and 41 percent from three-point range.
Neal is a 6-5, 180-pound guard out of Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis, Minn. Neal was ranked among the Top 100 college prospects in the nation his senior season. To take his place, Wyoming signed freshman guard Abdullah Lawal of Plano, Texas.
TCU
TCU Coach Rewarded for Success: TCU coach Neil Dougherty will be around in Fort Worth, Texas, for several more years. The school has not released the terms of the deal, but officials hope that by the time his tenure comes to a close, TCU will be a powerhouse in the Conference USA. Last season, TCU won its first game against a Top-10 team and first conference tournament victory since 2000. Dougherty is 21-36 in two seasons at TCU, but last season’s improvement inspires hope for this program. The Horned Frogs will join the MWC in 2005.
