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LOCATION: Irvine, CA
CONFERENCE: Big West (Western Division)
LAST SEASON: 6-20 (.231)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 2-14 (6th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 0/5
NICKNAME: Anteaters
COLORS: Blue & Gold
HOMECOURT: Brent Events Center (5,000)
COACH: Pat Douglass (Pacific '72)
record at school 15-38 (2 years)
career record 15-38 (2 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Len Stevens (Sacramento State '71)
Todd Lee (South Dakota '86)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 13-15-1-9-6
RPI (last 5 years) 156-192-302-241-289
1998-99 FINISH: Did not qualify for postseason.
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Pat Douglass started from scratch when he left Division II powerhouse Cal-State Bakersfield to move up a level (well, kind of) to the Big West. It took him one season to gut the program of its former players and bring in his own talent. Last season, his second at Irvine, he started three freshmen for much of the season. No wonder, then, that the Anteaters spent most of the season playing like they had a head cold. Playing three freshmen bodes well for the future, but it sure made for some long nights last winter. The Anteaters lost 14 conference games in a row. They were 0-13 on the road. They never rallied from a halftime deficit. They actually lost to woeful Nevada at home. Mercifully, last season is behind Irvine. And Douglass believes that the benefits from playing so many young players will begin to be realized this season. "Last year we pretty much had a youth movement," he said. "But these kids are older now so we look for a lot of changes in the program this time. We look for a lot more success this year." A lot of Douglass' optimism is centered on the man who runs Irvine's show from the point-guard position, 6-3 sophomore Jerry Green (12.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.9 apg). Green stunned the league last season with his court vision and open-court savvy, starting all 26 games and eventually earning the league's freshman-of-the-year honors. He finished as the third-highest scoring freshman in Irvine history and led the team in scoring, assists (100) and steals (38).
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT D- BENCH/DEPTH D
FRONTCOURT C- INTANGIBLES C-
Irvine had its moments last season, beating Brigham Young, Northern Arizona and Cal Poly. Of course leaning on those positives is akin to asking the lone survivor at Little Big Horn if he came back with any cool arrowheads. This was a bad basketball team last year. Things should improve this time around, however, as coach Pat Douglass tries to restock the roster with talent. The Anteaters don't have much of a physical presence yet, but they do have some skilled players who will keep them in games. The bigger question is whether they will win any of them. This team needs to learn how to win: Last year Irvine was 0-6 in conference games decided by five points or less. There will be improvement this season, but the rebuilding is far from completed. |
And he's only going to be better this season, in part because he's added more strength. "Most freshmen have eight or so good games their first season, but Jerry was the exception," Douglass said. "He played well 60 percent of the season. A lot of games he was one of the better players on the court. We thought he would be competitive, but he played even better than we thought he would." Green is the focal point to Irvine's offense, and Douglass plans to push the ball more often this season to better utilize Green's skills. But he isn't the only weapon returning. Seventy-seven percent of Irvine's scoring and 79 percent of its rebounding returns. The inside presence is anchored by 6-7 senior power forward Marek Ondera (11.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg), who brutalized the Big West's small front lines with his leaping ability. Ondera is a bit undersized and can be outmuscled, but his relentlessness on the boards still earned him five double-doubles last season. Ondera averaged 13.3 points and 10 rebounds over the final four games. Douglass expects more now that Ondera has a Division I season behind him. "I think he could be a 16- or 17-point scorer this year, and probably in fewer minutes than he played last year," Williams said. "I look for him to do really well the whole year. We have more depth, so he'll be able to rest a bit more. He's going to be a problem for defenses because he can take bigger forwards outside, but he can also go inside and shoot over the top." Ondera teams with 6-7 senior Adam Stetson (10.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg) to give Irvine a versatile punch inside. Stetson had an off-year last season, missing a third of the season with a foot injury. Douglass is crossing his fingers that Stetson will be healthy enough to provide some of the leadership and scoring ability he displayed as a sophomore. The third forward is 6-7 senior Ben Jones (9.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg), another finesse player who struggled at times his first two seasons because he was forced to shoulder a lot of responsibilities at a young age. Douglass predicts that Jones will be one of the big surprises of the league. Most Big West teams get by with the doughnut approach (no center), and Irvine has tried that for the last two seasons, too. When Douglass does want to go big, he has an option, however, as 6-10, 255-pound sophomore Mark Gottschalk (2.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg) returns. Gottschalk should have redshirted last season but was forced to play because of Irvine's thin numbers up front. He wasn't ready. He was too small, too unprepared, too easily worn down. The Anteaters are hoping that an off-season of conditioning (and 30 more pounds) will make a difference this season. One player who needs to step up is 6-4 sophomore shooting guard Zamiro Bennem (5.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg), a highly regarded high school recruit who was the Orange County Player of the Year in 1997-98. The Anteaters need his versatility and athleticism to chase around the many tweeners that inhabit the Big West. The final returning veteran is 6-1 junior Malachi Edmond (1.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.9 apg), a player with limited offensive skills who will spell Green at the point-guard position. Edmond can play defense, but he shot just 24 percent from the field last season and missed all 12 of his three-point attempts. Douglass has seven incoming newcomers but only plans to play three. One, 6-5 junior Sean Jackson, should have an immediate impact. The transfer from the University of California will likely start from day one and should become one of the better perimeter players in the conference. Jackson plays defense, can hit from outside and has the strength to post up when necessary. He played, albeit sparingly, on California's Sweet 16 team in 1997-98. Jackson averaged 2.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in 14 minutes of action per game for the Golden Bears. Backing him up will be 6-5 junior swingman Jens Jensen, a shooter who averaged 12.1 points per game last season at San Jose (Calif.) City College. He is expected to garner significant minutes right away. And, finally, the inside will be bolstered by 6-9 sophomore J.R. Christ. He scored only 5.4 points per game last season for Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College, but Douglass believes that his work ethic and aggressiveness will eventually make Christ the savior inside. Douglass hopes to redshirt four incoming freshmen: 6-7 forward Matt Okoro (Buena Park HS/Westminster, Calif.), 6-11 center Adam Parada (Alta Loma HSAlta Loma, Calif.), 6-2 guard Aras Baskauskas (Santa Monica HS/Santa Monica, Calif.) and 6-8 Greg Ethington, a nice prospect who originally signed with Pepperdine. "I'm going to be really disappointed if we are not much-improved over last year," Douglass said. "We definitely expect to win more games this year. We think we can play with anyone on our schedule. We're excited about this season."
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