The 2005-06 WAC men's basketball season is in full force this week as every team is in action except for Fresno State. No. 22 Nevada, the WAC's preseason favorite, begins its season on Saturday when it plays host to Sacramento State.
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NMSU OPENS IN PRESEASON NIT ?“ New Mexico State opens its season tonight in the Preseason NIT. The Aggies, under the direction of first-year head coach Reggie Theus, travel to UCLA for a game that will be shown on ESPN2. If the Aggies win, they would face the winner of the Army-Temple game on Nov. 17 at a site to be determined. The winner of that game would advance to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 23. New Mexico State begins its first season in the WAC. The Aggies were 6-24 last year while competing in the Sun Belt Conference. Last year, former WAC member Tulsa played in the Preseason NIT and lost its opening round game at home against Wright State, 72-66, in overtime.
TECH TRAVELS TO LINCOLN ?“ Besides San Jose State and New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech is the only other team in the WAC to open its season at a tournament. The Bulldogs travel to Nebraska for the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge. The three-day tournament has a set schedule. Louisiana Tech will face Yale in the first game on Saturday, Longwood on Sunday, and then Nebraska on Monday. The Bulldogs finished last season with a 14-15 record.
OTHER ACTION ?“ Nearly every other team in the WAC begins play this week. On Friday, Boise State hosts Montana while Idaho travels to No. 8 Gonzaga. Hawai'i hosts No. 4 Michigan State on Saturday while Utah State travels to Oral Roberts and Nevada welcomes Sacramento State. Fresno State gets its season underway on Wednesday, Nov. 23 when it travels to Cal Poly.
NATIONAL RANKINGS ?“ Nevada is ranked 22nd in the AP poll and 25th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. It?™s the first time a WAC team has begun the season ranked in the top 25 since Tulsa opened the 2002-03 season at number 25 in the coaches poll. Both Utah State and Hawai'i are also receiving votes in both polls.
TWO WAC PLAYERS NAMED TO WOODEN AWARD WATCH LIST ?“ Louisiana Tech junior forward Paul Millsap and Nevada junior forward Nick Fazekas have been named as two of the top 50 preseason candidates for the men?™s 2005-06 Wooden Award All-America team. The Wooden Watch List is comprised of 50 student athletes who, based on last year?™s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for college basketball?™s most coveted trophy.
FRESNO STATE, NEW MEXICO STATE, SAN JOSE STATE NAME COACHES ?“ The WAC has three schools with new head coaches this season. Fresno State hired Steve Cleveland who grew up in Fresno, coached basketball at Clovis West High School and Fresno City College and then turned a 1-25 BYU program into a consistent postseason contender. He was honored as the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in 2002-03 and guided BYU to five straight postseason appearances and four 20-win seasons. New Mexico State named Reggie Theus as the school?™s head coach, replacing retired Hall of Famer Lou Henson. Theus spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville under head coach Rick Pitino. While at Louisville, Theus was an integral part of the Cardinals?™ run to the 2005 Final Four. Along with being an excellent teacher on the practice floor, Theus was also Louisville?™s top recruiter, helping the Cardinals sign a handful of the nation?™s top high school players over the past two seasons. Prior to his coaching career, Theus was a 13-year NBA veteran and a two-time All-Star. George Nessman was introduced as San Jose State?™s head coach in mid-March. Nessman served as the recruiting coordinator at California and coached the Golden Bears?™ post players in 2004-05. He brings 17 seasons of head coaching experience from the high school and junior college levels along with a record of 359-156 (.697) to the Spartans.
TOP PLAYERS RETURNING ?“ Just two players return from both the all-WAC first and second-teams: junior forwards Nick Fazekas (Nevada) and Paul Millsap (Louisiana Tech). Both were first-team selections in 2004-05 and Fazekas was the WAC?™s Player of the Year. Millsap led the nation in rebounding in each of his first two seasons. Four of the five all-newcomer team honorees return from last year: Ja?™Vance Coleman, Jr., G, Fresno State; Matt Gibson, Jr., G, Hawai'i; Mo Charlo, Sr., G, Nevada; and Ramon Sessions, So., G, Nevada. Sessions was last year?™s WAC Freshman of the Year.
STAT LEADERS BACK ?“ Statistically, three of the top 10 scorers return for the 2005-06 season. Nevada?™s Nick Fazekas was first in the WAC in scoring last year with a 20.7 point per game average. Others in the top 10 coming back are Paul Millsap, Louisiana Tech (20.4) and Ja?™Vance Coleman, Fresno State (16.9). Millsap is the leading returning rebounder with a 12.4 rpg average last season (1st in the nation) and Louisiana Tech?™s Daevon Haskins returns after ranking second in the WAC in assists with 5.8 per game.
FAZEKAS NAMED PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR ?“ In a vote by the WAC?™s head coaches and media, Nevada junior forward Nick Fazekas was picked as the league?™s preseason Player of the Year. Last season, Fazekas led the WAC in scoring with 20.7 points per game and also pulled down 9.4 rebounds per contest. He helped lead the Wolf Pack to a 25-7 record and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
1,000-POINT SCORERS ?“ The WAC has two players that have scored more than 1,000 points in their collegiate careers returning this season and both are juniors: Nevada forward Nick Fazekas (1,070); and Louisiana Tech forward Paul Millsap (1,060).
NEVADA TOP TEAM OVER LAST FOUR YEARS ?“ Over the last four seasons, Nevada is 85-43 (.664), the best record of any WAC team during that time. In conference games, Nevada has won 49 games, the most in that same time period. The top three teams in wins (both overall and WAC) over the last four seasons:
NEVADA TO HOST 2006 TOURNAMENT ?“ For the second consecutive year, Nevada?™s Lawlor Events Center (11,200) will host the WAC Basketball Tournament. The dates for this season?™s tournament are March 9-11. Due to self-imposed penalties, Fresno State will not compete in the 2006 tournament. Therefore, with an eight-team field, there will be no first round games as in years past. The quarterfinals will begin on Thursday, March 9. As announced last week, New Mexico State will be the host for the 2007 and 2008 tournaments.
WAC ON ESPN/SPORTSWEST ?“ The WAC has a multi-year contract with both ESPN and SportsWest for coverage of WAC football and basketball. Currently, 22 basketball games between the two networks are scheduled this season.
BRACKET BUSTER SATURDAY ?“ For the fourth year in a row, the WAC has partnered with ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences for Bracket Buster Saturday, a one-day men?™s basketball event matching potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. All nine WAC teams will be involved in this year?™s event to be held on Feb. 18, 2006. ESPN and ESPN2 will present six games while five more games will be produced and distributed in the markets of the competing teams. The match-ups for Bracket Buster Saturday will be determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences on Monday, Jan. 30, 2006.
UTAH STATE OWNS LONGEST HOME STREAK ?“ Utah State owns the WAC?™s longest home winning streak at three in a row.
MILLSAP LEADS NATION IN REBOUNDING FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR ?“ Last year, Louisiana Tech sophomore Paul Millsap led the nation in rebounding with 12.4 per game. In 2003-04, Millsap became the first WAC player to finish the season as the nation?™s leading rebounder with 12.5 boards per game. He is the first player to lead the country in rebounding in back-to-back seasons since American?™s Kermit Washington did it in 1971-72 and 1972-73. Millsap is also the first ever to take consecutive rebounding titles as a freshman and sophomore.
HOME SWEET HOME ?“ The WAC?™s 10 teams were a combined 107-51 (.677) at home last season. On the road and in neutral site games, the WAC was 47-86 (.353). In conference games, home teams were 59-31 (.656).
ROAD WARRIORS ?“ In all games, the WAC had two teams with winning road records last year. Nevada was 11-2 while UTEP was 7-4. In conference games only, Nevada was 9-0, UTEP was 6-3 and Rice 5-4.
NON-CONFERENCE MARK ?“ The WAC was 63-45 (.583) in non-conference games, including a 55-45 (.550) mark against Division I teams. In 2003-04, WAC teams were 72-42 (.632) in non-conference games with a 61-41 (.598) mark against Division I teams. The WAC?™s best record ever against non-conference opponents came during the 1974-75 season when it was 73-22 (.768).
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Are coming off a season where it advanced to the championship game of the WAC Tournament ... as the eighth seed, the Broncos became the lowest seeded team to ever reach the WAC Championship game ... finished the season with a 16-18 mark ... junior guard Coby Karl scored 20 points in the team?™s first exhibition game and then added 12 against Concordia last Saturday ... Karl is the son of Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl ... he started all 34 games for the Broncos last year and averaged 12.7 points per contest ... Eric Lane scored a game-high 19 points against Concordia while Tez Banks pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds ... the Broncos open the season with three straight home games.
Fresno State Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Announced earlier this month that it self-imposed sanctions for NCAA rule violations and will not participate in the postseason including this year?™s WAC tournament ... plays the WAC?™s final exhibition game this season when it hosts Fresno Pacific tonight ... against Master?™s College last week, junior guard Ja?™Vance Coleman scored a game-high 27 points ... Kevin Bell notched a double-double in that game with 14 points and 11 assists ... newcomer Quinton Hosley scored 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds ... Coleman has scored 20 or more points 12 times in his career ... is coached by Steve Cleveland who coached the last eight seasons at BYU ... the Cougars were members of the WAC during Cleveland?™s first two seasons.
Hawai'i Warriors (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Head coach Riley Wallace is one win shy of 300 for his career with the Rainbow Warriors ... he has a school record of 299-241 ... last year, he reached the 300-win mark for his career and currently has an overall record of 314-268 ... Hawai'i faces fourth-ranked Michigan State on Saturday ... the last time it played a team ranked higher was when it beat No. 2 Kansas, on Dec. 30, 1997, 76-65 ... UH won its only exhibition game of this season, 110-55, over Hawai'i-Hilo ... six players scored in double figures led by Matthew Gipson?™s 18 points ... Gipson was 8-of-10 from the field ... newcomer Ahmet Gueye added 16 points and nine rebounds while Julian Sensley and Matt Gibson each contributed 14.
Idaho Vandals (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Begins its first season in the WAC after competing the past nine years in the Big West Conference ... in its only exhibition game of the year, the Vandals beat Carroll College, 73-63 ... Tanoris Shepard scored a team-high 16 points while David Dubois just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds ... after trailing by a point at halftime, the Vandals shot 62 percent from the field in the second half ... ended last season with an eight-game losing streak ... opens this season at No. 8 Gonzaga ... is 67-60 all-time versus the Bulldogs but has lost the last five meetings ... has won just four road games the past two seasons ... has not allowed its opponents to score 100 points in a game for 402 contests, the longest such streak in the WAC.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Junior forward Paul Millsap has led the nation in rebounding in each of his first two seasons ... Millsap has scored in double figures in 33 consecutive games and scored 20 or more points in 25 contests during his career ... he is the WAC?™s active leader in double-doubles with 42 ... Millsap had 22 points and 10 rebounds in the exhibition game against Southern Arkansas ... he was 10-of-14 from the free throw line ... JC transfer Jerome Richardson was named the Preseason Newcomer of the Year by the WAC media ... Richardson scored six points in the exhibition game ... Daevon Haskins had 167 assists last year, the most by a Bulldog since Brett Guillory had 172 during the 1988-89 season.
(22/25) Nevada Wolf Pack (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
In two exhibition games, Nick Fazekas scored 22 points against Rockhurst and 25 versus Humboldt State ... he added 11 rebounds in the latter game ... Marcelus Kemp, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, scored 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds against Humboldt State ... Fazekas has scored in double figures in 32 straight games and scored 20 or more in 24 contests in his career ... has a 10-game road winning streak ... was 11-2 on the road last season ... has a nine-game WAC winning streak ... has won its last 28 games when holding an opponent to under 60 points including 17 wins last year ... last year, the Wolf Pack made more free throws (556) than its opponents attempted (500).
New Mexico State Aggies (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Begins its first season in the WAC after competing the past five years in the Sun Belt Conference ... has posted two consecutive losing seasons after two straight 20-win campaigns ... in its last exhibition game versus St. Mary?™s (Texas), the Aggies had four players score in double figures led by Tyrone Nelson?™s 15 points and 12 rebounds ... New Mexico State had six players in double figures against Cal State-Los Angeles on Nov. 5 ... Nelson scored 21 points to go along with 11 rebounds ... Trevor Lawrence added 18 for the Aggies ... Reggie Theus is in his first year as a head coach ... he was an assistant at Louisville when the Cardinals advanced to last year?™s Final Four ... Theus played 13 years in the NBA and was a two-time All-Star.
San Jose State Spartans (1-1, 0-0 WAC)
Opened its season splitting two games in the 2K Sports College Hoops Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament in Lubbock, Texas last week ... Matt Misko and Carlton Spencer each scored 10 points in the opener against Texas Tech ... in the second game against Portland, Menelik Barbary posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds ... Kevin Fleming scored a game-high 15 points for the Spartans ... the 82-53 win was the most lopsided victory over a Division I opponent for the Spartans since beating SMU, 81-51, on Feb. 18, 2001 ... has not scored 100 points in a game since beating Utah State, 101-85, on Jan. 25, 1979 (746 games) ... the Spartans did score 107 points in an exhibition win over Puget Sound on Nov. 5.
Utah State Aggies (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Begins its first season in the WAC after competing the past 27 years in the Big West Conference ... in its first exhibition game, Cass Matheus posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds ... he also had four blocks in the game ... the Aggies lost its second exhibtion contest against EA Sports, 67-60, last Saturday ... Chaz Spicer came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points in that game ... David Pak had nine assists ... former Utah State player Cardell Butler scored a game-high 24 points for EA Sports ... the Aggies have participated in the postseason (4 NCAAs, 2 NITs) the past six years ... has a home record of 392-102 (.794) at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, the best winning percentage of any WAC team at its current arena.