TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Boise State won its first WAC championship in 2007-08, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994 ... the Broncos are coming off a school-record 25 wins, which included a school-best 12 road victories ... Anthony Thomas, who is the Broncos’ lone returning starter, finished last season with 141 assists, the third-most in Boise State history ... Thomas needs 55 assists to crack the Broncos’ career top-10 list ... Paul Noonan is Boise State’s leading returning 3-point shooter making 44.4 percent of his threes as a freshman ... BSU returns six players (Thomas, Noonan, Jamar Greene, Aaron Garner, Mark Sanchez and Kurt Cunningham) who have each scored in double figures during their career ... after beating NMSU in the WAC Tournament last year, the Broncos have now beaten three tournament hosts in the WAC Tournament since joining the league.
Fresno State Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Fresno State topped the WAC in 3-point shooting for the second-straight year, with 8.28 three-pointers made per game ... the team must replace four starters who averaged 47.7 points per game in 2007-08 as each played in all 32 games during the season ... the Bulldogs return only one of their starters in senior Dwight O’Neil who missed more than half the 2007-08 season due to injury ... O’Neil finished fourth on the team with 3.7 rebounds per game and 24 steals ... sophomores Nedeljko Golubovic and Brandon Webster will be expected to continue to contribute as underclassmen ... Golubovic, of Serbia, played in all 32 games as a freshman forward averaging nearly five points per game while adding strong defense ... Webster brings size to the center position and led the team-of players with more than 20 games played in 2007-08-with a 60.7 field goal percentage.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Hawai?i returns one starter and four letterwinners from last year’s squad, which finished 11-19 overall and in fifth place in the WAC with a 7-9 mark ... the lone returning starter is Bill Amis, who averaged 8.5 ppg and 4.6 rpg and led the team in field goal percentage (.557) and blocked shots (40) ... UH must replace four senior starters from last year’s squad, including 1,000-point scorers Matt Gibson and Bobby Nash ... UH welcomes five new recruits to this year’s roster, including Roderick Flemings, a first-team All-American from Weatherford College in Texas ... lso rejoining the team is Hiram Thompson, who played his freshman season at UH before serving a two-year church mission ... UH again has a diverse roster with players from five different states (California, Hawaii, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington) and four foreign nations (Canada, China, Lithuania and the Republic of Georgia).
Idaho Vandals (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Idaho and Boise State were the only WAC teams to sweep the Hawai?i - San Jose State road trip last season ... Idaho finished tied for sixth in the WAC last season ... the sixth-place finish was Idaho’s best since finishing fourth in the Big West during the 2003-04 season ... with five conference wins, Idaho surpassed its WAC win total from each of the past two seasons. The team also totaled eight wins for the first time since the 2004-05 season ... Idaho averaged 72.9 points per game at home, compared to 58.2 ppg on the road ... the team held a +2.5 scoring margin in 13 home games and was 3-2 in non-conference games at home ... Idaho’s 85 points scored at Hawai?i were the most points the Vandals have scored in a road game since Feb. 12, 2000 ... Idaho’s win at Hawai?i snapped a 27-game road losing streak dating back to Nov. 16, 2006 at South Dakota State.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Louisiana Tech’s roster looks almost brand new with the addition of eight newcomers including transfers from LSU and Oklahoma State ... transfers Magnum Rolle (LSU) and Kenneth Cooper (Oklahoma State) sat out last season under the NCAA transfer rule and will be eligible to play this season ... junior Kyle Gibson was named second-team all-LSWA and second-team all-District NABC Team 8 after last season ... Magnum Rolle played on LSU’s 2006 Final Four team before electing to transfer to Tech ... NBA legend Karl Malone will serve as Tech’s director of basketball promotion for the second season in a row ... Louisiana Tech head coach Kerry Rupp enters his second season with the Bulldogs ... Tech will compete in the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska, this season and will also play 2008 Final Four participant UCLA.
Nevada Wolf Pack (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Nevada’s incoming recruiting class has been ranked 26th in the nation by Rivals.com ... freshmen Luke Babbitt and London Giles signed with Nevada last fall, while the Wolf Pack added junior Joey Shaw and freshmen Dario Hunt and Ahyaro Phillips this spring ... with its 21-12 record last year, the Wolf Pack turned in Nevada’s fifth-straight season with at least 20 wins ... the team has now turned in a WAC-best 127-39 record in the last five seasons ... last year was the 10th 20-win season in school history and the fourth for head coach Mark Fox, who is the only coach in school history to lead more than one team to at least 20 victories ... Nevada earned an invitation to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational last season, marking the sixth-consecutive season that the team has appeared in the postseason (four NCAA Tournament bids, one NIT bid and one CBI appearance).
New Mexico State Aggies (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
New Mexico State ranked No. 2 nationally in rebounding margin ... Coach Menzies recorded the most wins by a first-year head coach in school history (21) ... NMSU recorded the program’s 23rd 20-plus win season in 2007-08 ... the Aggies posted their best league record (12-4) in their third year of WAC play ... after a veteran squad that consisted of five seniors in 2007-08, the Aggies now have 10 underclassmen on the 2008-09 roster ... the Aggies return two players who averaged double figures, Jonathan Gibson (12.2) and Jahmar Young (10.3) ... the Aggies played in their second consecutive WAC Tournament title game ... Coach Menzies led the Aggies to five conference road victories for the first time since NMSU joined the WAC.
San Jose Spartans (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
The Spartans seek their first season with a .500 or better record since 2001 when the team was 14-14 ... SJSU ranked among the top-20 NCAA Division I programs in 2007-08 for most improved teams with eight more victories than in 2006-07 ... SJSU is the only WAC team that returns all five starters from the 2007-08 season, and is the only team that returns five players who averaged in double figures ... SJSU is the only team in the WAC with two of the top-10 rebounders from last season (Chris Oakes, 6th; C.J. Webster, 9th) returning for 2008-09 ... Mac Peterson is a 2008-09 academic all-WAC honoree ... SJSU is the only team in the WAC with two of the top-10 players in steals from last season (Justin Graham, 3rd; and DaShawn Wright, 6th) returning ... forward C.J. Webster became the first Spartan in five years to be named to the WAC all-Newcomer team.
Utah State Aggies (0-0, 0-0 WAC)
Utah State won a share of its first-ever WAC Championship in just its third year in the league as it notched a 12-4 conference record ... in the last nine years, Utah State has won 75.3 percent of its games with an overall record of 222-73 ... that 75.3 percent winning percentage ranks fifth in the nation during that time period, while its 222 wins rank seventh overall ... USU has appeared in a school-record nine-straight postseasons, as it has played in five NCAA Tournaments and four NITs since the 1999-2000 season ... the team finished the 2007-08 season leading the nation in both overall shooting at 51.4 percent and in free throw shooting at 79.2 percent ... overall, USU is just the fourth team in NCAA history to lead the nation in both statistical categories ... USU returns one all-league player from a year ago in senior forward Gary Wilkinson who earned second-team all-WAC honors in 2008.
WAC NOTES
WAC TEAMS PERFECT IN EXHIBITION PLAY
WAC teams went a perfect 14-0 in exhibition play this season. Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai?i, New Mexico State, and Utah State each went 2-0, while Idaho, San Jose State, Nevada, and Louisiana Tech each went 1-0.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO RETURN TO RENO IN 2009
The WAC Board of Directors awarded the 2009 and 2010 WAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments to the University of Nevada and the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. The tournaments will be held in the 11,485-seat Lawlor Events Center, located on the campus of the University of Nevada. The tournament features all nine men’s and women’s teams. The WAC tournaments were last held in Reno in 2006. The 2007 and 2008 tournaments were held in Las Cruces, New Mexico at New Mexico State University.
ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS
For the seventh year in a row, the WAC has partnered with ESPN and several other top college basketball conferences for ESPNU BracketBusters, a weekend men’s basketball event matching potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. All nine WAC teams will be a part of this year’s pool of teams. The event will be held February 20-21. The match-ups for Bracket Buster Saturday will be determined by ESPN in conjunction with the conferences about three weeks before the event.
TOP PLAYERS RETURNING
The WAC returns one player from last year’s all-WAC second team, Utah State forward Gary Wilkinson. No players return from the first team. Three of the five named to the all-newcomer team return: Armon Johnson (G, Nevada), C.J. Webster (C, San Jose State), and Wilkinson. Nevada guard Lyndale Burleson is the lone returner from last season’s all-defensive team. Nevada’s Johnson was the 2007-08 WAC Freshman of the Year.
TOURNAMENT OPPONENTS
WAC teams could face at least 16 non-conference opponents that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament, including three teams in last years’ Final Four (Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA). Idaho and Nevada lead the conference with three games scheduled apiece.
Idaho at Michigan State, Nov. 16
Cal State Fullerton at Hawai’i, Nov. 16
Boise State at Siena, Nov. 17
Nevada at San Diego, Nov. 18
Idaho at Gonzaga, Nov. 18
New Mexico State at USC, Nov. 18
Fresno State at St. Mary’s, Nov. 19
UNLV at Fresno State, Dec. 3
New Mexico State at Kansas, Dec. 3
LETTERWINNER/STARTER CAPSULE
This season, three of the nine WAC teams return at least three starters: Louisiana Tech, San Jose State and Utah State. San Jose State leads the conference as they return all five of their starters from last season. Nevada returns two starters from the 2007-08 season, and Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai’i, Idaho, and New Mexico State all return one from the previous season. Boise State has the most number of returning letterwinners with nine.
STAT LEADERS BACK
Statistically, only two of the top 15 scorers return for the 2008-09 season. Louisiana Tech junior, Kyle Gibson, was ranked seventh in the WAC in scoring last season averaging 16.5 points per game. Utah State’s Gary Wilkinson averaged 13.3 points per game to rank 13th. Wilkinson is also the second-best rebounder returning in the conference with a 7.0 rpg average. San Jose State’s Chris Oakes averaged the most rebounds last season of returning players, by grabbing 7.2 boards a game (6th in the WAC). Boise State guard, Anthony Thomas, enters the 2008-09 season with a 4.15 assist per game average (5th in the WAC) from last year, the most among returning players. Hawai?i junior Bill Amis leads returners with 1.33 blocked shots per game, good for third in the conference.