ISU in ‘new chapter’

By J-W Staff And Wire Reports     Nov 7, 2001

The Big 12’s dominant men’s basketball team the last two seasons hasn’t been Kansas, Missouri or Oklahoma State.

It’s been Iowa State often underrated entering the season, but the one left standing at the end with two consecutive conference championships.

The Cyclones’ roster has carried the Big 12’s player of the year in each of those seasons. Marcus Fizer earned the honor before leaving for the NBA after the 1999-2000 season. Last year, it was guard Jamaal Tinsley.

This year coach Larry Eustachy is in the same situation. The defending conference champs were picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll.

“This is a new chapter for us,” Eustachy said. “We’ve had it awfully good recently. But I think our players are looking forward to the challenge.”

That challenge will include relying on a slew of youngsters. Tinsley is one of four starters the Cyclones will have to replace from last season’s 25-6 team. Eustachy said he could enter the season with three freshmen and two sophomores in the starting rotation. Among those is guard Jake Sullivan, the reigning Big 12 freshman of the year.

Sullivan led all league frosh in scoring at 11.4 points per game while breaking the ISU three-point record by making 61 of 136 attempts (44.9 percent). He also hit 87.9 percent of his free throws.

Junior college transfer Tommie King is one of the most talented players on the roster. And Eustachy expects senior forward Tyray Pearson to evolve into a go-to player before the season concludes.

Still, with so many young players, the ISU coach knows things could get rough.

“It’s great that we have two sophomores and three freshmen,” Eustachy said. “You say the future’s bright. But if you don’t win a game, how can the future be bright? I do know that they’re going to give it all they’ve got.”

Baylor

Third-year coach Dave Bliss’ rebuilding project took a giant step forward last season when the Bears, who were projected to finish 11th in the Big 12 by the league’s coaches and media, put together a 19-12 record and finished eighth in the conference with a 6-10 mark.

The season was highlighted by a 12-0 start and wins over Kansas and Iowa State.

The Bears lose standouts Terry Black and DeMarcus Minor.

“Last year, I don’t think anybody was talking about Terry and DeMarcus before the season started,” Bliss said. “We’ve got to take the next step by committee. This year we are probably working with better overall basketball talent than in the past couple of years because we’ve recruited better and better each year.”

A strength should be the guards, including Matt Say-man, Kevin Henry, Wendell Greenleaf and Kenny Taylor.

Henry is a senior who spent last season sitting out after transferring from New Mexico, where he started 66 games and made 197 three-pointers in three seasons, including a school-record 102 as a sophomore under Bliss in 1998-99.

“Kevin will be looked on to really help our three-point shooting,” Bliss said.

Greenleaf started 30 games last year, averaging 10.5 points. Also back is Greg Foster, a 6-9, 230-pound senior forward who averaged 9.2 points.

Missouri

Missouri is expected to have a banner season with prognosticators listing the Tigers as both Big 12 title and Final Four possibles.

Top returnee is junior forward Kareem Rush, who averaged a league-high 21.1 points and was fourth in the Big 12 in three-point percentage.

“Kareem had a fantastic season and has really emerged as a leader. He wants us to be the best team we can be,” coach Quin Snyder said.

Three-point bomber Clarence Gilbert returns, along with wing Ricky Paulding, guard Wesley Stokes, plus one-time KU recruit Travon Bryant.

Gilbert was honorable mention all-Big 12 last year after ranking fourth in the league in scoring at 16.5 points per game. He scored 43 points in a four-overtime win over Iowa State.

“I’m really excited about the job Clarence has done in the offseason. He has improved as a ballhandler where he’s learned to change speeds,” Snyder said.

Paulding started eight of 33 games as a freshman. He replaced Rush in the starting lineup when Rush was out eight games with a broken bone in his hand.

Arthur Johnson, 6-9, 275, is back for his soph season after leading the Big 12 freshman class with 7.8 rebounds last year.

“We are all excited about the expectations of this season without having those expectations damage our resolve,” Snyder said.

Texas Tech

Senior center Andy Ellis is new coach Bob Knight’s best returning player.

Ellis has led Texas Tech in scoring the past two seasons at 14.2 and 16.9 points respectively. He was honorable mention all Big 12 a year ago.

Possible standouts include sophomore guard Andre Emmett, who averaged 7.7 points a game last year, plus juco additions Will Chavis and Kasib Powell. Chavis averaged 25 points and 10 assists at Panola (Texas) Juco last year. Powell, a forward, averaged 18.7 points at Butler County CC in El Dorado.

Ellis, for one, likes playing for the controversial Knight.

“He’s lets us make our mistakes, correct them and go on,” Ellis said.

Knight is as demanding as ever.

“I knew it was going to be hard, but I had no idea it was going to be as hard as it was,” Powell said. “It’s pretty much new to all of us, but we’re all getting the hang of it, which is good.”

Knight has concentrated on his players’ habits.

“They have some good some bad, probably more bad than good,” Knight said. “Now we’ve got to change those habits, and changing those habits is an interesting situation in anything, I think, and particularly in basketball or sports.

“Little things will probably mean more to our team than anything will. Those little things all start with our concentration. What we’re trying to say is there’s a hell of a difference between doing something almost right and doing it right. (Winning and losing) are far more the result of mistakes than they are the result of great plays.”

Texas A&M

Coach Melvin Watkins is hoping to improve on last year’s 10-17 finish.

A key will be the play of Bernard King, a 6-5 junior, who averaged 18 points last year. Soph forward Nick Anderson averaged 10.3 points a game , while junior forward Keith Bean tallied 7.0 points.

“We were competitive in a lot of our games,” Watkins said. “We just ran out of steam in the second half.”

The Aggies didn’t have to look far for a top recruit, snagging Bryan High’s Daryl Mason to add to the youthful Aggie squad. Bryan is adjacent to College Station.

The lone senior is 6-foot-3 guard, Andy Leatherman.

“It has been tough for us, but we deserve a winning program,” Watkins said.

He has compiled records of 12-15, 8-20 and 10-20 at A&M after 22-9 and 20-11 seasons at UNC Charlotte.

Colorado

The Buffs are expected to contend for an NCAA berth.

Top players include senior guard Nick Mohr, junior forward D.J. Harrison and junior forward Stephane Pelle. Newcomer David Harrison, D.J.’s younger brother, joins the program. He’s a 7-foot McDonald’s All American out of Nashville.

“We’ve been a pressing team in the past, and I think any time you have a big guy in the back of that press it can only help your defense,” coach Ricardo Patton said. “We’ll try to extend our defense and get the tempo up a little bit.

“We could take more chances, but a lot of that will depend on how quickly David (Harrison) becomes not only a good basketball player, but also a smart basketball player. One thing we don’t want to do is to get him into early foul trouble.

“A lot of things have to fall into place for us to really crack into the top tier of the Big 12,” the coach added. “I think a lot depends on how we grow up. Although we’ve brought in some new and young talent, that talent still has to get better and mature. I know that there are probably four or five teams in the Big 12 that will be in the Top 25 this year.”

D.J. Harrison isn’t a bad player himself. He was CU’s leading scorer at 15.2 points a game.

Oklahoma State

The Cowboys return 93.7 percent of their scoring, including guards Maurice Baker and Victor Williams. Junior forward Andrew Wil-liams is back, along with Fredrik Jonzen.

Baker led the team in five statistical categories a year ago, including scoring (19.8), free throw shooting (80.6), assists (4.23) and steals (2.03). He’s a senior out of Dixie JC in Utah.

“I do not think anybody on our coaching staff would have believed that he would have turned into such a fine basketball player in such a short time,” coach Eddie Sutton said. “I am not sure that he will have the same numbers as last year. He may be a better player, but teams will be keying on him more. From what I have seen in practice thus far, he is playing every bit as well as he did a year ago.”

Jonzen, 6-10, averaged 15 points a game and earned second-team all league honors.

Andrew Williams was named to the league’s all-defense specialty team, while Victor Williams was named to the all-newcomer team. He had 26 points against Okla-homa.

“We do have some depth and the ability to play three guards which my better teams have done,” Sutton noted. “We also have some big guys. I do like the makeup of this team.”

Kansas State

Hopes are high at KSU, where the Wildcats return three starters guard Larry Reid, forward Quentin Buchanan and forward Matt Siebrandt.

“I think every coach would tell you that if you have good guard play, you have a chance to be a competitive team,” coach Jim Wooldridge said. “Larry Reid had a solid year for us a year ago. Tony Atchison is returning. He’s a player that scored some points for us last year, although he had somewhat of an up-and-down episode through the year. We hope our guard play will be better. We have more versatility there.

“We do have bigger guards with Nick Williams, Gilson DeJesus, Janerio Spurlock and Marcus Hayes,” he added. “It should help us compete better at those spots up there, and we have a better skill level at the guard spots right now.”

Hopes are high for the team’s eight newcomers, including juco transfer Pervis Pasco, 6-9 from Pensacola JC.

“We need him today. We need him to be as good as he can be today,” Wooldridge said. “We need him to play and do the things he does, run the floor, block some shots and rebound. He can also give us some additional inside scoring. He’s going to be a very important player on this team. That’s not saying he’s ready for the NBA, but for our basketball team he’s a critical player.”

Wooldridge is confident entering his second season in Manhattan.

“You’re more educated to the competition and you understand the league better. You understand your job better and the players understand the system better. There’s more of a consistency in your day-to-day, week-to-week and month-to-month activities as a coach and player,” he said.

Nebraska

Coach Barry Collier returns just one starter in guard Cary Cochran, yet doesn’t see a big drop-off from last year.

“We should be a better shooting team on the perimeter and will have a better understanding of what we need to do to win,” second-year coach Collier said. “We will not be blocking shots or rebounding quite the same as last season, but I do think we will be playing better defense overall. The players here, both the returning ones and the newcomers, are capable of playing great defense and winning games.”

Collier guided Nebraska to a 14-16 mark last season a three-game improvement over the previous season. He and will count on senior guards Cochran and John Robinson, as well as sophomore forward Brian Conklin, to carry much of the offensive load.

Only Cochran has seen extensive action in past years. In fact, all of this year’s 10 returnees have combined for just 40 starts in their careers, compared to the 183 career starts by last year’s group of returning players.

Cochran ranked second in the league and fourth in the country last season in three-point field goal percentage at 47.3 (78-of-165). Cochran tied the NU single-season record for 3-pointers with 78 last season, and needs just 24 from downtown to break the school record of 202 set by Eric Piatkowski from 1991 through 1994. With three treys he will move into sole possession of second place.

Junior transfer Brennon Clemmons was an NJCAA honorable mention All-Amer-ican last season for Olney Central (Ill.) CC. Conklin adds some size at 6-11. He drifted outside to hit 23 of 54 threes a year ago.

Oklahoma

Coach Kelvin Sampson returns senior forward Aaron McGhee, who averaged 12.9 points anad 4.8 boards last season. Junior guard Hollis Price, plus soph forward Johnnie Gilbert and senior forward Daryan Selvy return.

Ebi Ere, a junior college transfer, was named the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year.

Ere was a second-team junior college All-Amer-ican last year at Bar-ton County CC in Great Bend, averaging 25.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.8 steals. Ere signed with the Sooners out of Tulsa McLain before attending junior college. He was the Oklahoma High School Player of the Year as a senior when he averaged 28.8 points and 9.0 rebounds.

Oklahoma is coming off a 26-7 year in which it shared with Kansas second place in the conference with a 12-4 mark.

“Every year at this time I don’t think we’ll win a game,” Sampson said. “I look at the polls and lists of all league players and none of our guys are listed. That’s OK. We’ll fool ’em.”

Sampson has averaged 22.3 wins with seven NCAA appearances in seven years at OU. He’s finished in the upper half of the conference race in all seven seasons.

Texas

Too bad science hasn’t found a way to meld two basketball players into one. If it were possible, Texas coach Rick Barnes would have a dishing, defensive monster at point guard.

Freshman T.J. Ford is one of the best passing guards Barnes said he has ever seen. Senior Fredie Williams is one of the best defensive guards Texas has ever had. But there’s only one ball, and, as Barnes figures, only one way to handle the situation.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that there will be times this year when T.J. and Fredie will be on the court at the same time,” Barnes said. “We’re definitely looking to run,” he said.

The Long-horns, 25-9 last season, certainly are capable now that Ford is on board.

The McDonald’s All-Amer-ican and Sugar Land Wil-lowridge product has captured his coach and teammates’ attention while preparing for the 2001-02 season. Ford averaged 12 points and 9.4 assists per game as a senior and finished his high school career on a 62-game winning streak.

It seems the only downside is that Ford passes too much. Barnes said he wants the 5-10 Ford finishing more plays when he goes inside. Still, senior Chris Owens said: “I think he’s really going to step up and help out our team at point guard.”

But where does that leave Williams? The 5-10 Georgia native lost the point guard job last year to Royal Ivey, but Williams made waves with some stout defense and 33 steals. Both Ford and Williams are battling for the starting job this season.

Senior forward Owens was named to the preseason All-Big 12 team. A second-team All-Big 12 Conference pick and first-team NABC/Chevrolet All-District 9 selection, Owens set a school single-season record with 92 blocked shots during the 2000-01 campaign.

He led the team in rebounding (7.9 rpg) and double-doubles (nine) and ranked second in steals (35) and third in scoring (14.4 ppg). Owens has been named one of 50 preseason candidates for the Wooden Award and one of 30 candidates for the Naismith Award.

The Longhorns also return sophomore forward Brian Boddicker, who averaged 7.3 points a game last year.

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