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LOCATION: Cheney, WA
CONFERENCE: Big Sky
LAST SEASON: 10-17 (.370)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 7-9 (6th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Eagles
COLORS: Red & White
HOMECOURT: Reese Court (6,000)
COACH: Steve Aggers (Chandron State '71)
record at school 36-70 (4 years)
career record 224-210 (15 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Brian Priebe (Washington '95)
Byron Jenson (Pepperdine '93)
Lorenzo Hall (Cal State Hayward '85)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 6-3-7-16-10
RPI (last 5 years) 280-300-276-164-231
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Eastern Washington coach Steve Aggers learned last year that one never knows what trouble lurks around the next bend. The Eagles were coming off their best season in nearly a decade and had a strong corps of players back from that team. "We thought we had turned the corner in rebuilding this program," Aggers said of Eastern Washington, a school that had won just eight league games in the previous five years before the breakthrough season in 1998. Unfortunately, Aggers had to think again as cruel fates intervened. Projected starting center Eddie Turner's father died, and he quit school to go to work to help his family. Then the Eagles' other center, Jason Humbert, tore an ACL and was lost for the season.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C+ BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT D INTANGIBLES C
If junior point guard Jamal Jones is as good as coach Steve Aggers hopes, then the Eagles' marks could go higher. How Deon Williams reacts to losing his job in his senior year to a transfer could be a key to team chemistry. On paper, at least, Aggers is justified to worry about his front line. If Johnson's knee isn't ready to go and White redshirts, an already suspect frontcourt will be that much weaker. After two steps forward the last two seasons, the Eagles might take one back, but Eastern is still gaining ground. |
"Losing those two big guys, we became real perimeter oriented," Aggers said. And the Eagles struggled early, winning just three non-conference games. Behind the shooting of guard Shannon Taylor (16.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 65 assists, 32 steals), the Eagles found their wings. A victory at Montana on the final day of the regular season got Eastern back into the Big Sky Tournament for the second straight year, a first for the program. "That was a huge win for our program, given the way our year had gone," Aggers said. Taylor came into his own as a senior, hitting a league-record 103 three-point shots for the season and setting a school record for his career. "On the nights we shot well, we were a decent team," Aggers said. "But you cannot win at this level or in this league without someone inside." And that could be Eastern's problem this season. "The key to this year's team is the front line," Aggers said. "We're really hurting." Sophomore center Chris Johnson (4.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg) has added some bulk to his 6-11 frame but had some offseason knee problems that could slow his progress. Six-foot-nine junior Chris White (6.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg) could redshirt, Aggers said. That would leave the post duties to 6-8 senior Will Levy, who started 21 games last season, averaging 5.6 points and 5.7 rebounds. Levy is more natural at the power-forward position, where he would be backed up by Kareem Hunter, a 6-8 junior from Modesto (Calif.) Junior College. A couple of new faces should compete for playing time at small forward. Keyon Cooley, 6-7, 205, a freshman from Poly High School in Long Beach, Calif., and Delwin Corner, a 6-6 junior transfer from Monterey Peninsula (Calif.) Junior College, will be given a shot to win a job. Corner averaged 18.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a sophomore. At first glance, the Eagles would appear to be set at point guard. Six-foot-two senior Deon Williams (11.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 146 assists) led the Big Sky in assists (5.4 apg) for the second straight year. Is Williams the point guard every coach dreams of having? Not quite, Aggers said. "Deon Williams had a horrible year," Aggers said. "He gained 10 pounds and had a poor junior year." Jamal Jones, a junior from Santa Rosa (Calif.) Junior College, will likely take Williams' job at the point. His statistics in junior college would suggest he knows how to play the position he averaged 6.0 assists to go with 16.0 points as a sophomore. "He's a great kid, a team leader," Aggers said. "He'll force Deon to play much better. He'll either compete with Jamal at the point or play off guard. Last year, we felt like we lacked the chemistry and leadership we needed. Deon was not a leader. Having a quality point guard is crucial." Others in the mix at shooting guard are Aaron Olson, a 6-5 junior transfer from the University of Victoria who redshirted last season, and 6-2 senior Ryan Hansen (8.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg), the team's second-leading three-point shooter (45 of 121 .369 percent) behind Taylor. "Taylor was obviously a great scorer and a talented individual player," Aggers said. "But his game was inconsistent. When he was playing well, he was as good as anybody, and we'll miss him. But I think we'll be a better team because we'll be less oriented to one individual." Can the Eagles find the ingredients to make it back to a third straight Big Sky Tournament? "I hope so," Aggers said. "It depends on the front line play and how we come together as a team. We have more seniors (four) than we've had in a while who have been through the wars."
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