Wednesday's WAC basketball roundup

Nevada receives a mention in the recruitment of 2013 SoCal backcourter Jordan Matthews, per Josh Paunil.

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MinerRush has tweeted this: "Former UTEP G @Perez23 has narrowed his potential schools to Penn St., Nevada, and Purdue"

Mike Perez is a shooting guard out of Arizona with very good athletic ability and solid shooting skills.


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This Jason Groves tweet has some Aggie fans hyperventilating. Credit to realaggie at the AggieAlert MB for bringing this to attention.

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Marcus Thompson writes about Big Wen and the Golden State Warriors.

Saturday's WAC basketball link collection

Based on interviews, Chris Murray offers an all-about-the-MWC post. Chris also reports that Coach David Carter is thisclose to signing an extension. Then Chris beats everyone to the punch and covers what the football and basketball teams of the new MWC composition have been accomplishing, or not.

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Matt Sonnenberg looks at the good and the bad, very heavy on the former, of the new MWC. No ugly whatsoever.

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Tony Jones reports on Friday's announcements, as does Jon Wilner, Shawn Harrison, Rhett Wilkinson and Mark Purdy.

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Jimmy Watson and Jerit Roser are all over Louisiana Tech's move to C-USA.

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Dayton Morinaga has a video interview Kerry Rupp on his move to Montana.

Brian McInnis writes about Rupp's departure plus has an interview with Coach Gib Arnold all about signee Manroop Clair.

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It's looking at options time for New Mexico State and Idaho as Jason Groves and Josh Wright respectively report.

The MWC wants two more football members so ...

Thursday's WAC-on-life-support edition

Chris Murray rightly plugs the play of Dario Hunt. PTW is hearing Joni Mitchell singing "... you don't know what you've got / Till it's gone ..."

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Kellon Hassenstab writes:

Another beneficiary of the live period in April could be 6-9 center Brekkott Chapman of Roy (Utah). He was a huge factor in Utah Hoops taking the 16U division in the tournament, as a finesse-oriented big man with good shooting touch and passing ability. After missing half of his sophomore year due to an injury, Chapman shook the rust off for a great performance in a run towards the title. He currently doesn’t have any scholarship offers, but with Utah, Utah State, Weber State and BYU all showing interest, that could change in the short term.

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Dayton Morinaga is all over the commitment of backcourter Manroop Clair to UH.

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Jimmy Watson covers Louisiana Tech's upcoming announcement about being C-USA bound.

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So does New Mexico State University land in the Sun Belt Conference? Teddy Feinberg covers that territory as well as noting that Texas State is headed there.

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WACocalypse is the term coined by Vandal Nation, leaving PTW a bit envious.

Although the WAC really has no other choice than putting on a brave front, it's reminiscent of the Monty Python famed Black Knight yelling it's just a flesh wound after losing both arms.

Not only does Matt Sonnenberg has a way with words and stories, add headlines to his harvest. Matt also extends a challenge.

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Jason Groves says the Chairmen of the Boards will win the New Mexico State - Indiana pairing. Jason also writes about not getting Chili hot.

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Jerit Roser surveys the steps forward taken by the Louisiana Tech basketball program in 2011-12.

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Chris Murray's latest looks at one primary benefit for Nevada in joining the Mountain West Conference. Chris also notes a report on teams wishing to gain entry to the Mountain West Conference - Conference USA amalgamation.

Sunday's game reports

It's official. Yes, Hawaii is road weary but still has yet to really put up a fight in the last three games as the Rainbow Warriors were smacked 84-67 by Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs are not a team that should shoot 10 more free throws than UH although Coach Mike White's bunch going 11-24 from three-point range isn't off the chain. A 22-14 turnover deficit also damaged the chances for Gib Arnold's group. Trevor Gaskins' Senior Day output -- 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists -- led LT in EACH category. Vander Joaquim led the visitors with a 20/10 double/double but none of his teammates stepped up.

Brian McInnis tweeted the matchup.

Dayton Morinaga game reports.

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New Mexico State was up 40-31 at the half over San Jose State University and the game concluded with pretty much the same point differential, 79-68.  Frontcourters Wendell McKines and Hamidu Rahman led the way with 20/15 and 22/10 double-doubles respectively. Rahman was also credited with five blocked shots and the Aggies owned the 45-30 rebounding advantage. Spartan Wil Carter managed a 16/10 double-double. There surprisingly were four technicals called (that has to be the most in a WAC game this season) -- against McKines, Rahman, Tyrone Watson for the hosts and SJSU's Calvin Douglas.

Jason Groves tweeted the pairing plus here is his writeup.

Sam Wasson and Anthony Esparza also have the details. 

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Three overtimes. Host Fresno State and Nevada both kept battling until the Wolf Pack emerged after a trio of extra periods to win 79-76. Olek Czyz produced 25 points and 11 boards with Dario Hunt close behind at 20/15 and five blocks. Bulldog Kevin Foster went for 24/12 plus Jonathan Willis just missed his D/D with 19 and nine.

Robert Kuwada and Dan Hinxman both were present and accounted for.

A feature on Raphael Carter

Raphael Carter has plans. Finish the season and hopefully lead Diablo Valley College to the state championship, then head to Reno to play ball and earn a degree, followed by play-for-pay and eventually employment as a designer of automobiles.

But what he has left out, if he so chooses, is working as a sports or basketball commentator as Carter has the gift of expressing his thoughts in a learned, accomplished and well-spoken manner. Think Len Elmore or simply the antithesis of Dickie V, and this is someone who just turned 19!

The road to basketball-ville began in Ohio for the 6-foot-9 Carter.

"I was dribbling a basketball while in diapers (talk about a real diaper dandy)," Carter explained. "As a kid, we were always watching basketball." He's a Laker fan, particularly of Kobe Bryant but hopefully the Golden State Warrior/Wolf Pack aficionados in and around Reno will overlook this.

But what about other sports?

"I played a little soccer and I was offered a baseball scholarship to a private high school after eighth grade," Carter said.

Hoops won out.

What's funny in retrospect is why Carter isn't out on a football field. "My mom wouldn't let me play football. She was worried about her baby getting hurt."

That's probably not what other parents would have envisioned happening.

Nevada, specifically former Wolf Pack Coach Dennis Gates, first noticed Carter in a Florida nationals tournament. "He liked that I grabbed rebounds and defended the rim well."

But his senior year saw Carter miss a qualifying test score requirement by two points so it was a matter of turning to the junior college ranks.

Plus, there was another bump in the road as Carter explained: "I didn't finish out my senior year. I only played in six games because I got kicked off the team for being at the wrong place at the wrong time on New Year's Eve. But i still got a Top 24 McDonald's All-American award and that's what kept my hopes alive after I didn't pass the NCAA Clearinghouse."

Nevada remained steadfast and told Carter about Diablo Valley College and Coach Steve Coccimiglio, as the latter has enjoyed two of his previous frontcourters in Mo Charlo and Demarshay Johnson contributing well up Reno way.

That was fine with Carter as his grandmother lived in California (Santa Monica) and he had some distant cousins in Oakland. The distance from home and especially being in new surroundings were not new to Carter. "We moved around a lot when I was growing up."

In 2010-11, the Vikings went 26-5, 13-1 and won the Big 8 Conference -- "we had a great run and a great season" per Carter. Individually, he was named as an Honorable Mention to the All-State team as well as being an All-League selection. Diablo Valley advanced to the Final Four in the state tournament before falling.

As for his recent letter-of-intent with Nevada, there was a degree of competition as California and Oregon State entered the picture, showing interest in Carter.

Along with his grandmother, Carter had visited Nevada unofficially when he was a high school senior and then he did a solo sojourn later on an official trip.

But the familiar and the loyal won out.

So why the Wolf Pack?

Unlike with the others, there will be an option for Carter to redshirt in his initial season in Reno but he understands that will depend on the needs of the team.

Plus, "I just fell in love with the school -- it's not too big and not too small -- and the facilities are some of the best in the WAC," Carter offered. The loss of Coach Gates (who is now at Florida State) "made my decision a little tougher but I have a good relationship with Coach [David] Carter."

So it became a matter of Carters sticking together.

He wanted to major in automobile engineering design so as to eventually become a car designer but Carter found out that Nevada doesn't offer that specific program. However, various engineering design programs are available and that was good enough.

Regarding basketball influences Carter named a pair from back home -- Sam Smith and Jermaine Guice. Smith graduated from Dayton and played overseas but helped "me a whole lot with both my game and getting on [AAU] teams." Greer also played overseas and "has been a huge part of my basketball life."

An interesting aspect to Carter's development, this of the physical manner, is that he weighed 190 pounds in high school. His self description: "I was allergic to the weight room. As soon I walked in, I would sneeze."

Now he checks in at 210, with plans to move the needle higher.

"The weight room at Nevada is out of control. I'm going to look like Superman before I'm done, " Carter proclaimed.

Besides the team goals for this season, Carter said, "I'm still blocking shots and rebounding." But he plans on displaying more aggressiveness to the rim, a better jump shot -- just having more offensive skills."

Once the school year concludes at Diablo Valley, Carter will head home to Ohio for a short period before moving to Reno and as he puts it, "getting to work."

Chris Murray with another three-pointer

Chris Murray offers his keys to the Nevada - Fresno State matchup plus a prediction. The game begins at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Chris offers soups to nuts to date about the sophomore Malik Story's basketball travels. Chris also features Story's father who has some fascinating tales of his own to tell.

Chris Murray on Nebada and Idaho

Chris Murray offers his four keys to Thursday night's Nevada - Idaho matchup in Reno plus a prediction.

Friday evening and more WAC links

Dayton Morinaga previews the UH - UC Davis matchup. The Aggies should have trouble with Bill Amis and Vander Joaquim upfront plus Davis also has difficulty with backcourt quickness.

Jeff Portnoy asks where's JT?

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Chris Murray doubles up with a Nevada - UC Irvine game preview plus his usual four game keys/prediction. We're going with the host Wolf Pack in the afternoon contest. This one doesn't seem like a quality pairing but, of course, we'll see.

Chris Murray looks backwards and forwards

Chris Murray analyzes last week's Wolf Pack action and previews Utah State coming to town.

Chris Murray with a Deonte Burton feature

Has a corner been turned? Will there be some blips along the way?

Chris Murray offers up a lengthy feature on freshman Deonte Burton who is making progress towards joining the ranks of Ramon Sessions and Armon Johnson.

Saturday morning's WAC potpourri

Dayton Morinaga has the details of Hawaii's ultimate team victory over Chicago State -- a game report and much more, just chock full of informational nuggets,

Brian McInnis was also there plus also posts the box score.

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Brandon Russell offers Nevada - Arizona State game photos at Silver and Blue Sports while Mark Littlefield serves up the game report.

Chris Gabel reports on the matchup for the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Joe Santoro/Nevada Appeal is here.

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Boise State let a double-digit second half lead dissipate and the Broncos eventually fell to Utah in Salt Lake City -- Nick Jezierny reports as does the Deseret New's Mike Sorenson.

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Jason Groves previews the New Mexico State - Pacific meeting tonight in Las Cruces -- that should be a terrific game.

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Fresno State hosts the Bison of North Dakota State which will actually be a good test for the Bulldogs.

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Utah State is in Orem for a challenge from Utah Valley -- Kraig Williams previews the game as does Shawn Harrison.  Brockeith Pane and Pooh Williams are back in good graces with Stew Morrill and will be back in the starting lineup.

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 San Jose State is in the Emerald City to face Seattle -- here's a pre-game look.

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We don't understand why this doesn't happen more.

A pair of WAC p.m. items

Sam Wasson at Bleed Crimson serves up an interview with Coach Marvin Menzies. Sam also has a column that, among other things, details the whereabouts of Jonathan Gibson and Jahmar Young.

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Olek Czyz takes the court for the Wolf Pack on Friday -- Chris Murray provides the background.

Jason Groves chooses another Aggie at #3 and much more

It's a Tai for the #3 player in the WAC per Jason Groves and our 'guess' is five Aggies will eventually appear -- go here.

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Chris Murray links to a good feature on Mark Fox and the mighty mo he is creating in Athens.

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Cameron Forte, a senior shooting guard out of the Arizona high school ranks, has received an offer from Fresno State. He has a total of four bids extended but is also considering doing a year at Westwind Prep. Go here for Adam Gorney's article (a Rivals sub is required).

Here is a March, 2010 feature on the 6-foot-5 Forte, including a photo.

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Per Rivals' Damon Sayles, 6-foot-6 Dallas wing Jalen Jones has decided on hometown SMU. According to the article, Houston and Boise State also offered. Go here (and a Rivals sub is required).In a six degrees of Nevada basketball element, Jones said his decision was helped by having former teammate London Giles at SMU
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Wednesday and the WAC

K.C. Ross-Miller did some mutual wooing with Nevada a while back -- although it always seemed a long shot for the Wolf Pack to land the young man -- until the point cast his lot with Louisiana State.

It turns out that Ross-Miller's academics, even with the additional year, didn't fulfill NCAA requirements.The acceptability of homeschooling courses appears to be the issue.

Eric Bossi of Rivals is reporting that Ross-Miller is headed to Florida International (and Isiah Thomas) but is also trying to get the NCAA to reconsider. Go here (a Rivals sub is required).

Here's a July article on the subject.

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Per Tony Jones and out of Karl Benson's mouth, "everyone is in play" when it comes to the current WAC team roster.

Matt James offers some interesting takes, including a bit of history, on Fresno State's move.

It makes sense geographically but does Hawaii want to drop down -- at least a bit -- and join up with the Big West Conference in all sports other than football? Can UH really make a go of it as an independent in football? Read Ferd Lewis here.

An early look at the Wolf Pack

Jordan Burns meet Deonte Burton meet Derrell Conner meet Jerry Evans meet Jordan Finn meet Illiwa Baldwin meet Devonte Burton meet Kevin Panzer . All of you meet Keith Fuetsch and Patrick Nyeko and Malik Story and Adam Carp and Marko Cukic and Olek Czyz and Dario Hunt and Keith Olson.

That takes care of the introduction of new to old. This Wolf Pack situation continues the theme in our WAC preview series with "greet the bevy of newcomers" an appropriate slogan for most every squad this coming season.

What is also noteworthy about Nevada hoops in 2010-2011 is that this is Coach David Carter's team, what with any personnel traces connected to Mark Fox next to non existent. Armon Johnson and Luke Babbitt are in The Shining City as well as Brandon Fields, Joey Shaw and Ray Kraemer off pursuing their personal endeavors. That's a powerful quintet of departed talent and experience and it equals 84% of Nevada's scoring last season..

But Carter isn't bereft of skill and potential on his roster -- it's simply that there are a myriad of unanswered questions at the moment.

Smalls

Jordan Burris 6-foot-6 205 CA HS freshman

The young man can shoot and produce points -- college-level ball skills and more attention to the defensive side will be his primary objectives this coming season.

Deonte Burton 6-foot-1 185 CA HS freshman

It's difficult to call any one person the best athlete on his team -- when that squad is loaded with runners and jumpers -- but we'll go with Burton because he also has the strength and body that makes him ready to roll. He's a PAC-10-er physically who needs to upgrade his shooting mechanics in order to consistently shoot accurately.

Derrell Connor 6-foot-0 165 Kankakee JC, IL junior

He'll battle with Jordan Finn for the most minutes at the point and his experience should put him in the lead. He's not that proficient as a shooter/points producer but did hit 80% of his foul shots as a sophomore which is a good number for someone playing the position that handles the ball the most at the end of games.

Jerry Evans 6-foot-8 188 CA HS redshirt freshman

Athletic, a good shooter and with the height that will make covering him a challenge. Let's see how much rust he has and how quickly he can shake that off.

Jordan Finn 6-foot-4 190 Air Force Prep freshman

He was brought in as the Wolf Pack point of the future and his size should make him a power point. We're curious to see how well he shoots this season. He'll certainly be a rotation player as a Wolf Packer -- watch to see if a starting spot at some point is within his grasp.

Keith Fuetsch 6-foot-0 170 sophomore

There just won't be much of an opportunity this coming season for this walk-on.

Patrick Nyeko  6-foot-6 180 sophomore

Sort of designated as the most promising defender of the smalls, his question is one of offensive generation. It's way, way too early and not based on anything heard or read (it's just a feeling) but the possibility of his being crowded out by the so many others makes Nyeko the likeliest of Wolf Packers to move on at some point.

Malik Story 6-foot-5 225 redshirt sophomore

He should be either a starter at the wing or two guard spot but we want to see if he is a shooter or a scorer or a combo of the two? .

Bigs

Illiwa Baldwin 6-foot-11 260 Pratt JC, KS junior

Still on the raw side, it will be very interesting to follow his development. PTW sees him having better offensive potential than junior Dario Hunt but the latter is better defensively and on the boards.

Adam Carp 6-foot-7 215 senior.

He saw 41 minutes of action in 2009-2010 and that will be reduced by the personnel additions.

Marko Cukic 6-foot-9 250 sophomore

He can score inside (61% on his shooting) but can he stay ahead, especially in the coming seasons, of this Pack plethora of frontline newcomers?

Olek Czyz 6-foot-8 240 Duke transfer sophomore

Available some time in December, he's more athletic than basketball skilled and that makes the WAC a much better level of competition for him than the Atlantic Coast Conference. We can see him earning a starting spot once he's available.

Devonte Elliott 6-foot-10 220 CA HS freshman

Another guy who is a big time athlete nededing work on his offensive skills plus additional strength.

Dario Hunt 6-foot-8 230 junior

The returnee at center, it doesn't appear he will ever generate much offense since he has yet to display development in this area. Hunt's best as a shotblocker and offensive rebounder who will score on putbacks and such.

Keith Olson 6-foot-10 270 junior. (walkon)

There will be less use of him in the coming season due to the signing of Baldwin but he is a solid walk-on.

Kevin Panzer 6-foot-9 205 CA HS freshman

Known mostly as a shooter and points producer, his playing time will be dictated on his rebounding and defensive advancement. That and additional weight and strength. PTW sees him as a redshirt possibility.


Like with a number of the other WAC teams, who emerges as the team leader or leaders here? Is it the newcomer Connor at the point? How about Burton, the most heralded recruit? Could it be Story? A combo?

Nevada will be much easier -- which is not to say easy -- to defend minus the creative talents of Babbitt and Johnson. However, this is the top team in the WAC in having players with high potential on its roster.

If the game of basketball solely depending on the blocking of shots, the Wolf Pack would have a tremendous edge as Baldwin, Cukic, Czyz, Elliott, Hunt and Panzer all possess the ability to send basketballs into the opposite direction.

Crystalballin' the Nevada starting five:

* Dario Hunt
* your guess is as good as ours
* Malik Story
* Deonte Burton
* Derrell Connor
 

Chris Murray is back with a roar

Chris is pumping 'em out, covering what the RGJ missed in his absence:

Go here for the Ahyaro Phillips update.

Go here for a lengthy Q-and-A with Olek Czyz.

Go here for the very latest on Armon Johnson.

The WAC late on Monday

Jeff Eisenberg provides a feature on the Leon Rice-ing of the Boise State basketball Broncos -- go here.

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AW Prince at Silver and Blue Sports offers an update interview with Wolf Pack recruit Kevin Panzer -- a sub is required.

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Among Jeff Goodman's latest Twitter tweets:

"Brady Heslip told FOXSports.com he is leaving tomorrow for official visit to Georgetown and then will go to Baylor. May also go to Hofstra."

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Jared Eborn checks in with his take on the Heslip situation.

Just asking: anyone else thinking about "Waiting For Godot"?

Eran Ganot back to St. Mary's /// Luke Babbitt CAN run and jump

Eran Ganot will go from UH to assisting at St. Mary's. Dayton Morinaga has the details here and Brian McInnis here.

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EZRowdy at the Silver and Blue Sports Forum offers the details (from ESPN's Chad Ford) on Luke Babbitt's athletic prowess: try 37.5" vertical, 3.19 sprint and 10.98 lane agility. For the sake of comparison, Jmwp provides those of John Wall and the margin is mighty thin. EZRowdy also offers more numbers so go there and check it out.

Ahyaro Phillips has a new destination

Former Wolf Packer Ahyaro Phillips is not heading to James Madison as was originally announced. Something came up and now it's Southern Mississippi and Conference USA. The Phillips family relocated to Virginia (where James Madison is located) after their home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Here is one link on this turn of events.

Here is another. 

For those with short memories, here is why Phillips is no longer in Reno.