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LOCATION: Cedar City, UT
CONFERENCE: Mid-Continent
LAST SEASON: 13-17 (.433)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 6-8 (5th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Thunderbirds
COLORS: Scarlet & White
HOMECOURT: Centrum
COACH: Bill Evans (Southern Utah '72)
record at school 97-104 (7 years)
career record 97-104 (7 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Bob Lowe (George Fox '85)
Barrett Peery (Southern Utah '95)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 17-15-9-7-13
RPI (last 5 years) 248-215-214-284-239
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference quarterfinal.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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It's amazing what a year of experience can do. It hones skills, it bolsters confidence and it teaches lessons. It shows you where you've been and tells you how far you have to go. It fosters maturity, growth and talent. It transformed Southern Utah from a seven-win doormat into a 13-win competitor. Small strides, to be sure, but strides nonetheless. Two seasons ago, debuting in the Mid-Continent Conference, the Thunderbirds were close to wretched, notching only seven victories and going 4-12 in the conference to finish in seventh place. Last year, with that crucial year of experience under its belt, SUU stepped it up. The Thunderbirds won seven of 16 nonconference games and six of 14 Mid-Continent games, which is a noticeable turnaround. They shot well (.453 percent) and blocked 52 more shots than their opponents, but more reflective of their near-.500 record was that in nearly all other statistical categories, they were just about even with the opposition. Last year's modest success let's face it, the Thunderbirds were under .500 will be tough to build on, due in no small part to the loss of two big-time starters, forwards Kenyatta Clyde and Tarvish Felton. Clyde, an all-conference first-team selection, averaged a league-leading 16.6 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds, blocked 48 shots and shot .492 percent from the field and .723 percent from the line. Felton notched 12.2 points and 6.4 rebounds, wrested 48 steals, and shot .500 percent from the floor and .370 percent from behind the three-point line. Eighth-year head coach Bill Evans can talk about "cautious optimism" all he wants, but the thought of replacing these two guys surely keeps the realist in him awake till the wee hours of the morning.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT B BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT C INTANGIBLES C+
Bill Evans turned Southern Utah into a competitive Mid-Continent Conference team pretty quickly, but he faces the challenge this year of sustaining it without a lot of the guys who got him there. Just five of the roster's 14 players were with the Thunderbirds last season, a fact that seems a bit troubling to Evans, if you read between the lines. "I think this team has potential if it develops some chemistry, and I think it should," he said. "I really like this team." We wish we could be so sure. Jeff Monaco's presence will allow Evans to forget about any troubles at the point, and Tyson Hancock and Jim Faulkner should keep the net popping from the wings. Rampant inexperience up front will likely hurt this team. Even the lusted-after trio of trees at center sounds deficient. After all, a three-headed monster works well only if all three heads are attached to the same body and are on the hardwood at the same time; in addition, each of these heads, taken singly, doesn't possess a complete set of skills. It won't exactly be a rebuilding season, but it sure feels like a transition year for SUU. The program needs to find a way to replace Kenyatta Clyde and Tarvish Felton's considerable contributions. If it can, the Thunderbirds will be pointed in the right direction, but if not, those near-.500 seasons may continue for quite a while. |
Still, the news is not entirely grim. The Thunderbirds welcome back three starters, two of whom averaged in double figures and the third of whom was just shy. Also helping out will be the presence of the team's first seven-footer in a decade, as well as two 6-10 post players. "We have a good nucleus of experienced players back, and I think we had a very successful recruiting effort this year," Evans said. "We've been able to recruit some talented kids who have been in good junior-college programs and have some young kids who we think can step up and help." The greatest experience is in the backcourt, where both starters return and are complemented by a returning starting swingman. Unexpectedly thrust into a major role, 6-0 junior point guard Jeff Monaco (12.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg) responded with an outstanding season. Starting all but two games, he had 149 assists, best in the league, and added 50 steals and a team-high 54 three-pointers. With just seven more shots, Monaco would have led the league in free-throw shooting as well, at .910 percent. The performance earned him an All-Mid-Continent second-team selection by the media. Evans described Monaco as "a tremendous player who is his own worst enemy. He is too hard on himself. He must understand that he can't play a perfect game every minute. He's got great ballhandling and shooting skills, and he's a good passer. He should have a big year for us." Southern Utah's leading returning scorer is 6-7 senior guard Tyson Hancock (12.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg), a bruising swingman who shot .437 from the field, .344 from behind the arc and .742 from the free-throw line. Hancock missed four first-half games with a leg injury. He still started 22 games and registered 35 assists, 17 blocks and 20 steals. His size allows him to mix it up inside a bit, which increases his versatility and makes the Thunderbirds' lineup that much harder to defend. The other returning starter is 6-6 senior forward Jim Faulkner (9.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg), who started 27 games, many of them as an undersized front-line player. His readiness was a question mark a year ago, because he had last played in 1994-95 before departing for a two-year church mission, then spending a season as a redshirt. Well, Faulkner proved that the layoff didn't affect him too badly, and this season he will slide on out to the wing, where his size should free him up for some clean shots. And because Faulkner shot the ball so well a season ago (.490 percent), the move could prove beneficial. "Jimmy will be challenged guarding the smaller, quicker players but should give a lot of people problems with his size," Evans said. "He needs to use all of his abilities at the two, though. He needs to pass, rebound and score. Tyson had an exceptional junior year when he was healthy. He is a great shooter and is able to score around the basket as well. He has good size and is a good rebounder at his position, but the question is always going to be with his health." Don't be surprised to see the Thunderbirds taking a lot of 12-foot jumpers this season, as they are blessed with an abundance of wingmen. In addition to Hancock and Faulkner, Evans can call on 6-2 sophomore Stan Johnson, 6-5 junior transfer Fred House, 6-5 freshman Ross Day and 6-2 junior transfer Justin Sant. Johnson (1.2 ppg, 0.8 rpg) is the only player with Division I experience, having appeared in 26 SUU games a season ago. Unfortunately, offseason injuries kept him from working out at full speed, so he may not quite ratchet up his game the way his coaches had hoped. House (Dixie JC/Killeen, Texas) and Sant (Utah Valley State/Bancroft, Idaho) are expected to contribute immediately. The former averaged 12.3 points and 4.8 rebounds at the junior-college level, and is projected by Evans as a more athletic version of Felton, while the latter can play both guard slots. Day (Folsom HS/Folsom, Calif.) will see his first action since serving a two-year Mormon mission. "Sant can shoot and also create things with the ball, while Ross Day is a tremendous perimeter shooter who is as hard a worker as I've been around," Evans said. "Stan is a good defender and outstanding athlete, but he hasn't played the game that much and is still learning. Fred House is as good an athlete as I've ever coached, and he is a relentless player." In addition to Sant, backing up Monaco will be the coach's son, 5-11 redshirt freshman David Evans (Cedar City HS/Cedar City, Utah), a former Utah 3A MVP who has as good a grasp of the Southern Utah system as any newcomer ever will. He redshirted last season after averaging 14.0 points as a high school senior and helping his team to its second straight state championship. "David is a hard worker, who brings that kind of mentality to the team," said his dad. "He is an unselfish player who plays the game for all the right reasons." The graduations of Clyde and Felton are huge blows, but the games must go on. SUU will try to compensate with size in the middle in the form of three newcomers, 6-10 freshman Chris Wallin (Mountain View HS/Mesa, Ariz.), 7-0 freshman Nate Bloom (Mountain View HS/Mesa, Ariz.) and 6-10 junior transfer John Wheeler (Utah Valley State/Taylorsville, Utah). Wallin, at least, practiced with the squad last season as a redshirt. The year before, he averaged a meager 4.0 ppg and 4.9 rpg for his school's state champion team. "It's sort of a three-headed monster," Evans said, meaning that as a compliment. "John Wheeler is a guy with some very good offensive skills around the basket, while Chris Wallin is a big, strong player who will give us a defensive and rebounding presence we didn't have with (Clyde). Nate will be a true freshman, but he is a skilled player with size who has a chance to be a very good basketball player." Three players will vie for time at power forward. The experienced candidate is 6-7 senior Nate Pugmire (1.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg), who averaged a little more than 13 minutes a game in 22 games. He started twice and saw some action in the pivot, impressing Evans with his attention to detail. The newcomers are 6-7 junior B.J. Chandler (Utah Valley State/Provo, Utah), a JC transfer, and 6-8 freshman Aaron Miles (Cedar City HS/Cedar City, Utah), who redshirted last year.
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