by Michael Vernetti

It was a lazy summer Thursday in Moraga, just right for meeting the Gaels’ new athletic director, Mike Matoso.

Introducing the former Stanislaus State (Turlock) AD and University of San Diego Senior Associate Athletic Director wrapped up a tidy three-month search headed by college President James A. Donahue and Gael alumnus and Board of Trustee member Peter Kelly (SMC ’67). Donahue had set a June 30 deadline for concluding the search, and Matoso accepted the post on that day.

For Matoso, leading Gael athletics continues a career path he started 18 years ago at San Diego, where he helped fund the Toreros’ glittering baseball facility, Fowler Park, ranked as one of the top five collegiate baseball facilities in the country.  He made no secret of his glee over returning to the WCC after five years at Stanislaus State.

“My first college baseball game was at Saint Mary’s,” he recalled, and he repeatedly praised the WCC as unique for its top-caliber athletic programs and overall academic excellence.  Matoso played baseball for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, going all the way to the Division II College World Series, then began his athletic administration career in SLO.

He moved on to USC, where he served as academic advisor to the Trojan football teams, then started at San Diego. His last five years at Stanislaus State have been marked by continued fund-raising success and improvement in the university’s athletic performance, with 11 of 14 teams competing in the post season in 2016. One of his successes at San Diego caught the eye of President Donahue.

“He helped San Diego win the WCC Commissioners Cup — given to the top all-around athletic performer in the conference — for five consecutive years,” Donahue stressed, emphasizing the desirability of Saint Mary’s achieving that goal.

Unmet goals at SMC

Donahue did not put Matoso on the spot for completing two outstanding athletic facility improvements at Saint Mary’s — the baseball and basketball stadiums — but there was news concerning one of those projects. On hand for Matoso’s introduction was Lisa Moore, the college’s top fund-raiser.

Moore dispelled doubts among some sectors of the alumni that the long-awaited expansion of McKeon Pavilion has been delayed. The north wall of the gym will not come down this summer, as some had expected, but following completion of the 2017-18 basketball season instead. Knocking down the wall and extending the north end of McKeon will allow for some additional seating and addition of much-needed athletic training facilities.

Delaying the major part of the expansion was congruent with the desires of a key figure in McKeon’s future — basketball Coach Randy Bennett. According to Moore, Bennett preferred waiting to knock down the wall until next spring to minimize disruption of the basketball program. The entire construction project will take 11 months, Moore said, so it is more efficient to begin some tasks now and hold off on the heavy work. Site preparation is currently underway at McKeon, and construction will become part of daily life on the site until the expansion is complete in 2018.

Bits and pieces

It wouldn’t be an Athletic Department gathering without some news about Gael hoops. Among the tidbits tossed around by various coaches were:

— Kristers Zoricks is a stud. Despite his baby-faced appearance in videos, Zoricks is “ripped,”one coach said. The incoming freshman from Latvia by way of The Hampton School in New England is taller than he appears and will live up to the description as “a 6-4 Emmett Naar.” The consensus is he’s is going to be a “big” guard for the Gaels.

Zoricks tore his ACL around the turn of the year, so is a little more than six months into rehabilitation. Bennett said he may be ready to begin some “one on zero”  training in the near future. That’s coach-speak for working out on his own.

— Quinn Clinton has impressed the coaching staff by his performance with the junior New Zealand national team in the FIBA U-19 World Cup underway in Cairo, Egypt. Clinton was the team’s top scorer heading into its final game yesterday, where he and the team played badly and were eliminated. Instant analysis of Clinton — great shooter.

— Bennett and Assistant Coach Marty Clarke are getting ready to head out on the recruiting trail, taking advantage of loosened restrictions recently approved by the NCAA. Bennett knows his 2018 recruiting class will be crucial with the graduation of stalwarts Jock Landale, Naar and Calvin Hermanson, plus the end of Cullen Neal’s one-year graduate season in Moraga.

Coach Bennett and new Athletic Director Mike Matoso got together at the ceremony to introduce Matoso to the college community. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

What does it mean that Patty Mills’ team beat Matthew Dellavedova’s team 117-113 in a hard-fought, wildly entertaining Gael alumni game Sunday afternoon?

That the game’s leading scorer and most electric player, E.J. Rowland, is unknown to many current Gael fans because he played more than a decade ago and has labored in Europe ever since?

That many fans wouldn’t recognize the current version of Omar Samhan, the former Ponderous Post Player reborn as a skinny, jump-shooting three-point bomber (with a mullet)?

That more than 100 former Gaels, stars and journeymen included, turned out for the second all-star celebration — so many that even two games couldn’t accommodate them?

I think it means that Randy Bennett has built a living, breathing organism called Saint Mary’s Basketball that didn’t exist before he came to Moraga in 2001. We celebrated the Tom Mescherys and Steve Grays in odd moments, but Bennett has enshrined the past as part of something that can now be called Gael Tradition.

That the tradition lives in the minds of former Gael players — those who played under Bennett as well as those who didn’t — could be seen in the enthusiasm of NBA stars Dellavedova and Mills, who coached the opposing squads. I don’t think Delly could have smiled more or more obviously enjoyed himself if he were playing “footy” back in Maryborough.

Mills, who is by nature more reserved and regal in his bearing, was nevertheless equally invested in the day’s activities and just as accommodating as Delly to the throngs of young autograph and photo seekers.

Bennett himself was everywhere and, at the same time, nowhere. He was constantly in motion, greeting his former players and enjoying himself immensely, yet was hands off in the process of the festivities. That is the Bennett Way — to create something for his players to carry on.

Fans were numerous and enthusiastic. The lower sections of McKeon were filled on both sides of the court, and although I’m not sure what that means in terms of hard numbers, I would estimate a turnout of around 2,000.

About the game

After the warm-up contest between two teams of Not Ready for Prime Time contestants — the slightly older and less fit Gaels such as Kamran Sufi, Tyler Herr, Eric Schraeder, Eric Knapp, Todd Golden and Tim Williams — the main event tipped off. My initial take on the lineups in the main event was that the Blue Team under Delly would have the advantage because of  its numerous three-point shooters including Clint Steindl, Stephen Holt, Mickey McConnell and, yes, Omar.

But it was the White squad, led by the gritty inside play of Beau Levesque and Diamon Simpson and abetted by the overall excellence of Rowland, who dominated early, leading 66-48 at halftime. Rowland was sensational, blazing down the court for layups or hitting the occasional three-pointer (two for two). His line for the day was 30 points on 13-16 shooting.

Rowland, who was Bennett’s first highly-prized point guard, and who combined with sensational shooter Paul Marigney to lead the Gaels to their first NCAA Tournament appearance under Bennett, has had a long and successful international career. He has played in nine countries, from Latvia to Australia, and won league championships, scoring titles and MVP awards. In 2009 he was the lone non-citizen to make the Bulgarian National Team playing in the biennial European championship (Eurobasket), leading the team in minutes played and scoring 17.7 PPG.

Behind hot shooting from Samhan and Steindl, the Blue team made a comeback in the latter portion of the second half after falling behind by 22 points. The Blues moved ahead 106-105 on a three-pointer by McConnell. Mills and Delly got to try out their coaching skills in the final minutes, giving fouls and setting up last-minute shots to try for the win. The White team, getting a boost from a driving layup by Joe Rahon, managed to hold on despite Delly’s maneuvering. Rahon looked fully recovered from the late-season knee injury that required surgery, and will play for the Golden State Warriors in the upcoming NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Here are the lineups for those who like to keep souvenirs. There were three puzzling no-shows, Daniel Kickert, Brad Waldow and Marigney. Kickert gave interviews about the game, but was not in attendance. Marigney was in the stands and looked fit, but did not play. Waldow was nowhere to be seen and nothing was announced concerning his whereabouts.

White Team (117)

Rowland (30 pts); Levesque (29 pts); Simpson (25 pts); Dane Pineau (9 pts); Rahon (9 pts); Kyle Rowley (6 pts); Brett Collins (9 pts).

Blue Team (113)

Samhan (25 pts); McConnell (22 pts); Mitch Young (22 pts); Steindl (19 pts); Rob Jones (13 pts); Holt (12 pts).

It’s a sight many Gael fans envision for sometime in the future — Delly roving the sidelines as a Gael coach. He was defeated by his countryman and fellow Gael great Patty Mills on Sunday, but the image of Delly on the Saint Mary’s sideline will resonate with Gael fans in the years ahead. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

That Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga would battle for the championship of the WCC in 2017-18 should surprise no one. That Saint Mary’s should have the edge over last season’s national championship finalist may surprise many.

Gonzaga ran the table against the Gaels last year, a 3-0 whitewash that didn’t include a single close game. Saving the worst for last, Saint Mary’s bombed so completely in the first half of the WCC championship game that a second-half comeback to crawl within five points served only to save a little face. The confident Zags suddenly woke up, ran off an 11-2 blitz and cruised to an 18-point win, 74-56. They then rattled off four straight NCAA Tournament wins before coming up a little short, 71-65, in the title game against North Carolina.

Saint Mary’s recovered from the WCC tourney setback enough to beat Virginia Commonwealth in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, and to stay close before losing to Arizona in the second round. A good 29-5 season versus a dominating 37-2 campaign. Game, set, match.

So, what will be different in 2017-18? It’s simple — the Gaels have better horses.

Gonzaga simply saw too much talent go out the door following its dream season, and has too little left to match last year’s record. Gone is the dominating one-two inside punch of Przemek Karnowski and Zach Collins and the skillful trigger man who unleashed its potential, point guard Nigel Williams-Goss. Flirting with the NBA and potentially creating a chasm instead of an opening in the Zags’ front court is forward Johnathan Williams III, who still hasn’t indicated whether he will enter the NBA draft or return to Spokane.

And, topping it off, Jordan Matthews, the ex-California outside bomber, has used up his one-year rental contract with Mark Few’s charges. That makes three or four major contributors missing for the upcoming season, a deficit even a talent-rich environment such as Kentucky, North Carolina or Duke would have trouble making up.

The Zags are hardly destitute, bringing back skilled and experienced guards Josh Perkins and Silas Melson, and eagerly awaiting redshirts Zach Norvell Jr. and Jacob Larsen, along with highly-regarded freshmen Corey Kispert, Jesse Wade and Joel Ayayi. Also ready to emerge from the wings are sophomores Killian Tillie and Rui Hachimura, who made valuable contributions to the Zags’ success last year.

That’s a lot of quality players — why won’t it be enough to edge out the Gaels for the second year in a row?

Starts in the post

The problem starts in the post, where the Zags are counting on Larsen, the 6-11 center from Denmark, to replace Karnowski and Collins. The problem is, Larsen is coming off two knee injuries and has not done much since he shone at an international competition when he was 16. One unproven Dane with knee issues does not replace the experience and athleticism of Karnowski and Collins.

The Zags are facing their biggest talent gap in the post since Karnowski went down with back troubles two years ago. At that point they merely upped the minutes given to Domantas Sabonis, who had been backing up Karnowski. Sabonis became a dominating low post presence in the 2015-16 season, and is now looming large in the future plans of the Oklahoma City Thunder. There is no Sabonis waiting in the wings behind Larsen.

Contrast that situation with the Gaels’ depth at center. Jock Landale, a finalist last year for the Kareem Abdul Jabbar award (won by Karnowski) given to the nation’s outstanding post player, is back for a senior season when he will be a candidate not only for WCC Player of the Year, but also for all-American or other national honors.

Backing up Landale will be another Jock, the 7-1 redshirt Jock Perry, who was considered a much brighter prospect when he and Landale were junior players in Australia. The Gaels can also call upon junior Jordan Hunter. who has logged numerous quality minutes behind Landale and, Gael coaches believe, is capable of stardom in his own right.

Gaels strong at forward, too

Switching to forward, Gonzaga fans are justly anxious to see what Tillie and Hachimura can do with more playing time, and still don’t count out Williams to return for his senior season. Whether Few has three excellent front line players or two, he still has to plan on using one of them in the post to back up Larsen.

Again, the Gaels seem more settled in the other front line positions. Evan Fitzner was made a reserve at power forward last year even though he started every game because Gael Coach Randy Bennett couldn’t wait to insert Dane Pineau in Fitzner’s place for Pineau’s superior defense and rebounding. Pineau has graduated, however, and the position is Fitzner’s to keep if he can. A much better shooter than Pineau, the 6-10 Fitzner needs to show Bennett he can stay on the floor because of his defense and rebounding instead of his three-point shooting skill — which is considerable.

Again, Bennett has options because of the presence of Hunter, an eager and athletic 6-10 front line player, who could do what Pineau did last year if necessary — play the power forward spot in addition to the post. The Gael front line corps of Landale, Perry, Hunter and Fitzner is equal to the Zags’ contingent whether Williams comes back or not.

New Zag faces

Looking past the front line, Zag adherents eagerly point to a crop of talented newcomers, and they have a point. In case you’re feeling sorry for the “depleted” Zag roster, ask yourself this question: who is Jesse Wade? Odds are most non-Zag fans can’t name him because Gonzaga signed him in 2015. He’s been on an LDS mission since then, but he was something at Davis High School in Kaysville, UT.

A skinny, 6-1 jump-shooter, Wade was Utah’s Mr. Basketball, and Gonzaga’s recruitment constituted a broad daylight theft from BYU, which likes to think it has cornered the market on basketball-playing Mormons in Utah. Wade reminds me of two former WCC stars, neither of whom contributed to the sleep of Gael fans — Tyler Haws of BYU and Kevin Pangos of Gonzaga.

Like Pangos, Wade is a scoring point guard, and like Haws he is an excellent shot-maker. He could be even better than Haws, however, because his range is anywhere inside the gym, while Haws wasn’t much of a three-point threat. Wade returned home from his mission in France this spring, and has seven months or so to work off the rust from his time off the court. There is some talk that the Zags could redshirt him, but I don’t believe it. He’s too good.

Also showing up in Spokane this fall will be 6-6 wing Corey Kispert, who was the Washington high school player of the year at Seattle’s Kings High School after averaging 25 PPG. He is similar in style to the Gaels’ Calvin Hermanson, a former two-time player of the year from Oregon. Kispert suffered a Jones fracture of his right foot at the tail end of his high school career, so has some rehabbing before next season starts, but the Zags have him penciled in as a future star.

Also anxious to show his mettle is Norvell, the highly-touted Chicago high school guard who, like Larsen, encountered some knee problems before his freshman season got underway, so redshirted last year. The 6-5 Norvell was the darling of Zag fans before Williams-Goss came into their lives, and hopes are high for him.

The Gaels are going with known entities in their back court, with senior Emmett Naar and sophomore Jordan Ford expected to get the majority of minutes. An unexpected bonus came Bennett’s way with the decision by former New Mexico and Mississippi sharpshooter Cullen Neal to become a Gael via the fifth-year transfer route. Abetted by freshman Kristers Zoriks from Latvia via The Hampton School in New Hampshire, the Gaels’ back court should once again constitute an object lesson in pick-and-roll efficiency.

The bottom line

In picking the Gaels as next year’s WCC champion, I’m choosing experience and consistency over promise. Yes, the Gaels lost not only the formidable defender and rebounder Pineau, but also the consummate leader in point guard Joe Rahon. But they don’t have any promising redshirts or incoming freshmen vying to take the places of Pineau and Rahon.

The new names that will be inserted into the Gaels’ lineup are known entities who, like Ford, have demonstrated flashes of excellence in Moraga, or, like Neal, have carried starter responsibility for two high mid-major programs. The Gaels will be built upon the excellent-but-still-improving Landale and a back court duo who live to run high ball screens. Excellent three-point shooting from Fitzner, Hermanson, sophomore Tanner Krebs and newcomer Neal will complement a dominating low post attack, and the Gaels will be their usual stingy selves on defense.

The Zags will give Few an opportunity to retain his national coach of the year honors by deploying a quick-strike offense that makes everyone forget Karnowski and Collins, but I doubt it. They have counted on excellent low post play as the cornerstone of their offense for too many years to switch gears in 2017-18. They’ll be very good — head and shoulders above the bottom eight teams of the WCC, including BYU — but not good enough to stop the Gaels.

Here’s my not-really-too-early-because-not-much-will-change-before-November forecast:

1. Saint Mary’s
2. Gonzaga
3. BYU, but don’t bet the store
4. San Francisco, with a more-than-decent chance to surpass BYU
5. Santa Clara
6. Loyola Marymount
7. Pepperdine
8. San Diego
9. Portland
10. Pacific

In a game against Gonzaga from last season, Jock Landale calls for the ball in the low post against Zag defenders Johnathan Williams III and Zach Collins. Collins is certainly gone next year and Williams may be, too, but Landale will be back. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

There will be no revolution in the WCC in 2017-18. Barring catastrophe, Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga will dominate the conference, BYU may slip a little and the battle for fourth place should again be lively (San Francisco and Santa Clara tied last year).

But there is activity in the lower ranks, activity that may presage eventual disruption of the established order or, at least, the development of another Top 100 RPI program to boost the conference’s standing. Let’s look at who is breaking the most plates and is seemingly most willing to wage war against the established order.

Portland Pilots

Ex-NBA great and Portland icon Terry Porter received a rude introduction into the WCC in his first college coaching gig: ace guard Alec Wintering went down with a blown ACL in the Pilots’ sixth league game, effectively ending their season and dooming them to the cellar with a 2-16 record (11-22 overall).

Even before Wintering’s injury, however, Porter was actively recruiting to improve the Pilots’ lot. He signed four players before the early signing deadline in November of 2016, earning a no. 17 national ranking from Hoop Scoop. Okay, you and I have never heard of Hoop Scoop, and neither have Rivals or ESPN, traditional arbiters of college basketball recruiting, but a ranking’s a ranking.

Of the initial crop, JoJo Walker, a two-star guard from St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, CA, was at least traceable, while one of the others was from Japan, one from New Zealand and one from a junior college in Salkehatchie, South Carolina (high school at Loyola in Los Angeles).

Porter’s existing team seemed to cast its judgement on the recruits and the boisterous way in which Porter and the university were publicizing them when four of them, including leading scorer Jazz Johnson, announced they were leaving the program in March. Undeterred, Porter announced three more recruits — one from England, one from Hawaii and one, Crisshawn Clark, a transfer from Pittsburgh of the Atlantic Coast Conference except he never played for Pitt because he tore his ACL for the second time before the season began.

Porter seemed to save the best for last when he landed legit three-star guard Marcus Shaver from Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, AZ, earlier this month. Boise State, facing the defection of point guard Paris Austin to Cal, was anxious to land Shaver, but he chose the Pilots.

The jury will remain out until all of Porter’s far-flung parts come together, but with eight newcomers on its roster, Portland deserves an “A” for effort. In an ironic coda to the recruiting effort, Porter’s best player next season may be his own son, Franklin, who left Saint Mary’s after a tantalizing freshman season to follow his dad to Portland.

Loyola Marymount

Almost matching Portland in activity was Mike Dunlap at Loyola Marymount, but he had little choice. With five players graduating and guard Munis Tutu leaving the program, Dunlap had some recruiting to do.  On paper, the LMU recruits are of a higher caliber than the bulk of Portland’s, with a trio of three-stars, forward Zafir Williams and guards Ryse Williams and Elijah Scott, all from established southern California high schools, leading the way. Dunlap also signed two-star guard Joe Quintana and JC transfers James Batemon and Cameron Allen, and has last year’s prized recruit, guard Donald Gipson, back after injuring his foot in the first game of last season.

With Dunlap, however, it always seems to be a case of taking the good with the bad. His ace recruiter, Reggie Morris, Jr., recently left after a year at LMU to return to the high school coaching ranks where he was a bit of a legend, having coached Russell Westbrook, among others. Morris was responsible for recruiting several of LMU’s prized players early in the 2016-17 season.

Pacific

Another coach under the gun because of departing players was Pacific’s Damon Stoudamire, who lost seven players, including team leaders T.J. Wallace, Tonko Vuko and Ray Bowles. A trio of players with eligibility remaining — forward Jacob Lampkin and guards D.J. Ursery and Maleke Haynes — opted to finish up at Alaska-Anchorage, while Bowles, who averaged 13.4 PPG last year, took his remaining year of eligibility to Fresno State. Stoudamire signed four JC transfers to fill the gaps, but at present has only 10 players on his roster, presumably all scholarship recipients. Because of self-imposed sanctions growing out of an NCAA investigation, Pacific has only 11 scholarships to give through the 2018-19 season.

Pepperdine

Facing some urgency because of the quality of players leaving was Pepperdine Coach Marty Wilson, who said goodbye to high-scoring Lamond Murray, Jr., play-making guard Jeremy Major and hard-luck shooting guard Amadyi Udenyi, who missed parts of two seasons because of injuries. In addition, forward Chris Reyes, who became an offensive leader for the Waves as a fifth-year transfer, lost the last part of his final year to an injury.

Wilson was not caught unprepared, signing three guards in the early signing period: Trae Berhow, a 6-6 wing from Watertown, MN, Colbey Ross, a 6-1 shooting guard from Aurora, CO, and Jade Smith, a 6-4 guard from Oakland, CA who fell under the Gaels’ eyes during his career at St. Joseph Notre Dame in Alameda. Wilson also signed New Zealander Harrison Meads, a 6-7 forward, out of Laramie Community College in Wyoming, and added graduate transfer Matthew Atewe from Washington and JC transfer Darnell Dunn from Miami Dade College.

Those were the most active WCC members. Anther group had fewer holes to fill and was able to enjoy a less frantic off-season:

San Diego

Lamont Smith lost only one rotation player, forward Cameron Niebauer, as he continues to build the Toreros’ program in his third year. He snapped up a pair of guards, Joey Calcaterra from Marin Catholic in the Bay Area, and Emanuel Hylton from the respected DC high school, St. John’s, and then added an Aussie big man, 7-0 Andrew Ferguson from the Australian Centre of Excellence.

Santa Clara

Second-year Coach Herb Sendek, who did not alter the roster he inherited from the outgoing Kerry Keating in 2016-17, made a few moves in this off-season to fill the shoes of departing stars Jared Brownridge and Nate Kratch. Concentrating solely on prep schools, Sendek signed Matt Turner, a 6-3 guard from Blair Academy in New Jersey, Josip Vrankic, a 6-9 Canadian who attended Utah’s Wasatch  Academy, and Shaquille Walters, a 6-6 wing from England who attended Lee Academy in Maine. Maybe Sendek felt the Broncos didn’t look mature enough last year.

San Francisco

Kyle Smith, who seemed to hit the ground recruiting when he took over at San Francisco last summer, has added a few more pieces in order to move past Santa Clara and, maybe, BYU in the coming season. Perhaps his prized recruit was Eric Poulsen, a 6-11 center from Santa Rosa JC, who will bolster his undermanned front line. He also picked up a pair of guards, 6-3 Souley Boum from Oakland Tech in the Bay Area, and 6-2 Jamaree Bouyea from Salnias, CA. For good measure, Smith added 6-9 forward Taavi Jurkatamm from Estonia.

Nest time: A look at the conference’s Big Three and a prediction about how the conference race will end up.

Gael Coach Randy Bennett, consulting with his staff in a game from last year, will have new casts of characters on competing WCC teams in the 2017-18 season. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

That wasn’t so bad now, was it?

The hearts of Gael Nation were set aflutter earlier this spring with the news that two pleasantly filled roster slots for the 2017-18 season were suddenly unfilled.

Junior-to-be Stefan Gonzalez decided that he would rather help lead UC Davis to a higher level of success in D-I hoops than warm the bench for another year with the Gaels. Hard to argue with the logic.

Shortly thereafter, redheaded newcomer Angus Glover announced that he liked hanging around the locker room of the Australian pro team, Illawarra Hawks, more than slogging through four years of classroom work in Moraga. “I was never much of a fan of school,” Glover explained. Allrighty then.

These were unexpected blows to a program to which THIS JUST DOESN’T HAPPEN. What would the Gaels, meaning Coach Randy Bennett, do to right the ship? Many solutions were proposed by a helpful fan base, but Bennett did what he usually does — stepped back, trusted his judgement and waited to see what options presented themselves.

Fitts is a fit

The first answer came almost immediately when a bruising, 6-8, 237-lb. small forward from southern California by way of the University of South Florida, Malik Fitts, announced he was joining the Gaels after his original college choice imploded midway through his freshman year.

South Florida, which shall forever be known as the school that robbed University of San Francisco of the “USF” designation in television scrolls, fired its coach, Orlando Antigua, after a 6-7 start. Things didn’t get much better after that, and virtually the entire team started heading for the exits shortly after the 2016-17 season ended.

Fitts was considered a hot commodity on the increasingly robust college transfer market. He likes to put the ball on the floor and attack the basket, but is also a competent spot-up shooter from three-point range. He managed to average 7.4 PPG in his freshman year, and undoubtedly caused many coaches’ hearts to go pitty-pat thinking about what he could do for them.

What Fitts wanted after the bruising year at South Florida, however, was “a culture of winning,” and he found it in Bennett’s arms after a visit in mid-April. It all happened so fast that it was easy to overlook what an advantageous development it is for Gael basketball. Fitts has to sit out the upcoming season as a condition of transferring, but then has three years of eligibility remaining.

That means he will not crowd the Gaels’ incumbent small forward, Calvin Hermanson, as  Hermanson embarks on a senior season that will find him at least a pre-season all-WCC choice and probably a contender for Player of the Year honors — along with teammates Jock Landale and Emmettt Naar.

Upon Hermanson’s graduation, Fitts, with a year of practicing and absorbing the Gael system under his belt, will be prepared to step right into Hermanson’s shoes. Scratch off recruiting for an excellent small forward until the 2020 season.

What about a guard?

Filling the second opening in Gaeldom was not so easy as the Fitts decision. Logic dictated that Bennett would be anxious to land a guard since both departing players, Gonzalez and Glover, were guards. Moreover, there were only two experienced guards on the Gaels’ roster — three if you count Tanner Krebs, the 6-6 sharpshooter who played mostly at the small forward position backing up Hermanson in his freshman season.

The holdovers, senior Naar and sophomore Jordan Ford, are expected to form the nucleus of Bennett’s back court next season, but it’s always nice to have some more fellows to share the ball-handling duties in practice. Sophomore walk-on Tommy Kuhse and incoming freshman Kristers Zoriks, are additional options, but have zero college game experience.

There were many bright, shiny objects available on the transfer market, the brightest and shiniest of which was former Butler Bulldog and New Mexico Lobo Elijah Brown. Gael fans remembered Brown from his initial recruiting visit to Saint Mary’s following  graduation from Mater Dei High School in southern California.

Brown, along with his parents, showed up for a campus visit and all seemed auspicious for landing one of the nation’s highest-rated players. Brown’s dad, Mike, is a longtime friend of Bennett’s stemming from their time together as player (Brown) and assistant coach (Bennett) at the University of San Diego, and played a role in the successful debut of ex-Gael Matthew Dellavedova with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where Brown was the head coach.

Elijah, however, was not wowed by the promise of Saint Mary’s, and left the campus that day without committing. He ended up signing with Butler and Gael fans wondered how that decision set with Bennett. After a decent but not spectacular freshman season at Butler, Brown transferred to new Mexico, where he tore up the Mountain West Conference after sitting out a year.

He averaged 21.7 and 18.8 PPG in two seasons there, was named conference Newcomer of the Year, was chosen for the all-conference team and was voted the pre-season choice as Player of the Year heading into his senior season. Except, he decided to transfer again with a year of eligibility left and immediately listed Saint Mary’s as one of his five target schools. Would Bennett swallow his pride after Brown snubbed Saint Mary’s out of high school?

We won’t know until Bennett publishes his memoirs, but there are hints that the Gael coach was less than enthusiastic over the prospect of adding Brown. Brown’s dad, Mike, has recently emerged as interim head coach of the San Francisco Warriors while Steve Kerr recovers from back ailments, and so couldn’t play an active role as Elijah sussed out his third college. Brown invited a couple of suitors for Elijah’s services to make their pitches in person at the Warriors’ training facility in Oakland, and two coaches took him up — Gonzaga’s Mark Few and Oregon’s Dana Altman.

While Few and Altman’s visits were noted by the media, there was no word that Bennett had traversed the Caldecott Tunnel to pay court. In fact, Bennett didn’t say a word about Brown, including the day when Brown announced he was going to Oregon. Bennett was undoubtedly guided in his deliberation by concerns over Brown’s loyalty — to Saint Mary’s or anyplace else — and his effect on the Gael players.

Brown has star treatment written all over him, and Saint Mary’s is not the place for star treatment. Naar and Ford have worked their way through the Gael ranks and proved themselves worthy of playing major roles in the coming season. To plop Brown in the middle of that dynamic must have struck Bennett as problematic.

Patience rewarded

Bennett also remained mum about another guard prospect who received media and fan attention — Noah Blackwell. Blackwell was a childhood buddy of Ford’s and the Gaels were interested in him out of high school, but he went to Long Beach State. Unhappy after two years at The Beach, Blackwell announced he was transferring and immediately hinted that he wouldn’t mind landing alongside his old buddy Ford in Moraga. Again, Bennett didn’t say a word, and one can only speculate on his thought process.

Blackwell and Ford are both point guards, and if Blackwell sat out a year and became an active member of the Gaels in Ford’s junior year, an immediate conflict would have been created. Who needs it, Bennett may have thought. At any rate, he did not seem interested in Blackwell and Blackwell eventually chose Fresno State. But there was still that open scholarship, and  the Gaels still needed another experienced guard.

News that erstwhile prime recruit Cullen Neal, battered and bruised through stints at New Mexico and Mississippi, had chosen Saint Mary’s for his final year of eligibility caught Gael fans by surprise. Neal topped Brown in kicking the Gaels in the teeth because he actually signed a National Letter of Intent to enroll at Saint Mary’s back in 2013 before deciding to attend New Mexico instead.

But there was a huge difference in Neal’s situation — his dad moved up from assistant to head coach at New Mexico during Cullen’s senior year, so defecting to play for dad was a forgivable choice. Unfortunately, Neal immediately became a  case study in the still-to-be-written book “Why you might not want to play college basketball for your dad.”

Neal’s troubles

He didn’t bomb at New Mexico,  but he didn’t blow anybody away either, and the team struggled as well. Unruly Lobo fans turned on Neal, as unruly fans will do, and reports surfaced of actual threats against the young man’s well being. Enough to send a guy to, well, Mississippi, which is where Neal headed for the 2015-6-17 season. Dad got fired, too.

Happiness and success were not waiting for Neal in Oxford either, however. After beginning the year as the starting point guard, he was demoted to a backup role and settled in as an instant offense guy off the bench. It was a good solution because Neal has retained an excellent three-point shooting touch throughout his college travels, and he became a bright spot in a successful Mississippi season (22-14) which ended in a second-round NIT loss to Georgia Tech.

Neal shot 41% from three-point range in Oxford, making 63 of 154 attempts. By comparison, the Gaels’ most deadly three-point shooter last year, Hermanson, made 43% of his attempts (85 of 204). Adding Neal to other long-range bombers on the Gael roster, Evan Fitzner, Krebs and, occasionally Naar, gives Bennett an imposing  arsenal. But still, why would Saint Mary’s get excited about a guy who was drummed out of his home town and lost his starting job at Ole’ Miss?

Because he learned humility from those experiences. Brown would have come in as a star and immediately complicated Bennett’s planning for next season. Neal will be complimentary to the expected heavy use of Naar and Ford, and will probably gladly accept any role Bennett gives him. He just fits, in a way Brown would not have.

Neal is an excellent insurance policy as well. Naar saw his productivity decline last season, attributable to a nagging knee injury that kept him off-balance. It is hoped that he recovers fully in the off-season and bounces back with a season like his sophomore campaign, in which he emerged as the Gaels’ offensive leader.

As for Ford, Gael fans are excited to see what he can do out from the shadow of Joe Rahon, the Gaels’ captain, spiritual leader and tough-it-out exemplar. Many feel Ford will excel, but his experience level is far below what Rahon’s was when he took the reins in Moraga after two years at Boston College, where he started every game since he arrived on campus.

So, with a recovering Naar and an inexperienced Ford, Neal looks like a nice asset for the Gaels. It is a fools’ errand to speculate exactly how Bennett will use Neal — who will start, how floor time will be distributed, etc. — but Bennett will bend his crafty mind to that question between now and the first tip-off in November. His track record of formulating a potent attack promises a fulfilling result.

So, Gael fans can now exhale and await the 2017-18 season without undue anxiety.

Next: Now that the Gaels’ roster is set, how does it compare with rivals Gonzaga, BYU and other West Coast Conference competitors?

Gael Coach Randy Bennett will have plenty of opportunity to confer with Emmett Naar, as shown above, as the Gaels navigate the 2017-18 season. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

The Gaels’ annual team banquet Wednesday night at the Moraga Country Club was in many ways the same lighthearted look back at the completed season that it is every year — a time for good-natured jibes among teammates, team awards and some reflection from the coaches.

A good time was had by everyone who squeezed into the “ballroom” that has clearly become too small for the growing interest in this event. One of the best bits of news floating around was that the dinner will move into the more spacious Soda Center on the Saint Mary’s campus next year. Good plan.

Among the good vibes, however, was the sense that this year marked the graduation of more than just a few good players — that some sort of era had passed that the Gaels will be hard pressed to equal in the future. To be sure, great players have moved on in the past, from Patty Mills to Matthew Dellavedova, from Omar Samhan to Brad Waldow, from Diamon Simpson to Rob Jones.

But as coaches and players repeatedly made clear Wednesday night, the graduation of Joe Rahon and Dane Pineau is of a greater order of magnitude. Back-to-back seasons of 29 wins against a total of 11 losses was an historic milestone: the 29 wins racked up season before last was a team record — equaled last year — and the five losses in 2016-17 gave Saint Mary’s its highest winning percentage in program history.

Throw in three post-season wins in the NIT and NCAA Tournaments and it is clear something special has, indeed, taken place. Over and over again, the role of Rahon and Pineau in accomplishing that something special was made clear Wednesday night.

Head coach Randy Bennett, guided as usual by the inspired emceeing of NBC Bay Area sports analyst Matt Maiocco, called Pineau one of the two best inside players he ever had — alongside Simpson. He said he hopes his returning players were paying attention to the example that Pineau and Rahon set as players and leaders.

“Those are two big holes to fill,” Bennett said. “One guy won’t do it. It’ll take a group effort.”

Danny Yoshikawa, called upon to present the Defensive Player of the Year Award for the Gael coaching staff, marveled at how Rahon and Pineau — who shared the award — provided leadership for the Gaels.

“Joe would take the opposition’s best 1,2 or 3 every night for two years and shut him down,” Yoshikawa said. Coaches would huddle at halftime to review how the opponents’ top scorers did in the opening 20 minutes, and, Yoshikawa remembered, “It was always 1, 2 or maybe 3 points if Rahon had sat down with foul trouble.”

The same was true of Pineau guarding the opponents’ 4 or 5 position, Yoshikawa said, calling Pineau’s ball hawking ability on ball screens “an extraordinary thing.”

Looking to the future

For all the attention paid to the contributions of Rahon and Pineau, however, Bennett was anything but gloomy in looking to the future. He said Saint Mary’s was still reaping the benefits of last season’s success, particularly the opening round NCAA win over VCU and the near-miss against Arizona (L69-60).

“Recognition [of our program] is at a different level” since last year, Bennett said, citing the effect of Saint Mary’s season-long position among the nation’s top 25 teams, and the exposure gained from playing Arizona in prime time on a Saturday night.

“That was great for our program,” Bennett said, then left dangling the promise of some undisclosed payoff. “We’ll get some benefits moving forward,” he said tantalizingly. With two scholarships still to give for next season due to the decommitment of Angus Glover and the transfer of Stefan Gonzalez, attendees were left wondering if some recruiting news was still to be made. Nothing else was added to the tease, however.

Bennett said the crucial non-conference portion of the Gaels’ 2017-18 schedule was all but wrapped up with three games to come in the Wooden Legacy over Thanksgiving weekend (possible opponents include San Diego State, Georgia, Harvard, Saint Joseph’s, Washington State), and rematches against Dayton and Nevada.

Cal is back

The biggest scheduling news, however, was a three-year contract with the California Golden Bears, beginning with games there and concluding with something Saint Mary’s fans thought they would never see — a contest against Cal in Moraga. The heavens did not shake when Bennett let that that gem slip from his lips, but the crowd burst into applause over the news.

Bennett, who is usually loathe to give out anything fans would consider news, was unusually generous on that score Wednesday night. He reiterated something that had leaked earlier — a $1 million gift to the McKeon expansion, aka Student Athlete Performance Center — that will enable groundbreaking on the long-awaited project this summer.

And, Bennett announced that the immensely popular Alumni All-Star Classic will return on June 25. As with the inaugural event in 2014, there will be an old-timers game for more seasoned alumni, followed by a main contest featuring ex-Saint Mary’s players now playing professionally. More than 100 former Gael players participated in the first all-star event, and more than 3,000 fans showed up to watch them perform.

And now for the entertainment portion

In addition to news and recognition of the contributions of Rahon and Pineau, the evening’s main activity was the player introductions that give Gael athletes the opportunity to expose foibles of their teammates. The format calls for each member of the Saint Mary’s team to “introduce” a randomly-selected teammate, with the introductions serving as a gentle roast.

Some highlights:

Turns out forward Calvin Hermanson is not just making a sartorial statement with his trademark goggles, headband and grotesque mouthpiece — it is a reflection of his nerdy nature. Teammate Evan Fitzner called Hermanson “the biggest nerd I’ve ever met” because of his obsession with video games.

Sophomore guard Jordan Ford didn’t wait for someone to make fun of him — he did it himself when introducing Jock Perry. Hanging out with Perry is disastrous to his dating life, Ford said, because Perry  “is 7-1, has nice hair and an Aussie accent.” Girls never make eye contact with him when Perry is around, Ford lamented.

Emmett Naar, who has a sly sense of humor behind his angelic demeanor, gave a humorous spin to Pineau’s departure, complaining that he’ll actually have to play defense next year without having Pineau available to erase his mistakes. Naar was on the receiving end of a jibe from Hermanson, who said Naar’s small size and youthful looks caused Hermanson to “lose him in a crowd of kids at Moraga Commons.”

Even though cast as a hero throughout the evening, Rahon showed a biting sense of humor, which was directed at Bennett as well as some of his teammates. He quipped that “Bennett’s heart was as big as his suit” and predicted that a major step forward for Bennett would be an introduction to Microsoft Word instead of assembling a closet-ful of hand-scribbled notes.

He skewered guard Tommy Kuhse over his ability to light up a room because of the light reflecting off his pale skin, and said Hermanson would be glad to tell you about his thunderous dunk against VCU if you hadn’t seen it. “He was up ’till 3 a.m. watching ESPN to see if it made the Top 10 highlights,” Rahon said.

It was all in good fun, and it made for a good night shared with the players and coaches.

It’s no coincidence that Calvin Hermanson, shown above driving the lane, looks so weird with his goggles and headband: according to teammate Evan Fitzner, he’s “the biggest nerd I’ve ever met.” Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

It was going to be a glorious off-season for the Gaels.

Restored to the ranks of NCAA Tournament teams after three years in the wilderness, they scored a first-round win, scared two-seed Arizona in the round of 32 and turned their thoughts toward an expected third straight year of 25+ wins.

Then a prized recruit decided to stay in Australia, a valuable back-up guard transferred and the Saint Mary’s athletic director decided he liked the challenge of restoring Sacramento State’s football glory more than helping the Gaels get to the Final Four. Bam! Slap! Oof!

These blows will take a toll on the Gaels, if only to ruin that expected glorious spring, but I don’t think they present enough of a threat to derail the Bennett Express, which is aimed at getting back to the NCAAs and advancing beyond the first round. The decision by Angus Glover, newly selected for the verifiably Very Big Deal Nike Hoop Summit, to eschew college hoops in favor of playing pro ball in Australia was the stranger of the two player decisions.

Reading the tea leaves, as any Gael follower must do, one deduces that Mr. Glover faced some academic trials as an undergrad at Moraga, and decided a freshman year of concentrating on studies wouldn’t be as much fun as competing for playing time with the Illawara Hawks, or wherever. It was a blow mainly because after 15 Aussie players had passed successfully through Saint Mary’s, or are in the process of doing so, here was one who decided that the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.

Notable for its novelty, but hardly a cause for long-term concern.

Gonzalez a different story

The story of Stefan Gonzalez is more painful because the Gael faithful had grown to admire his game, character and deportment over two years of battling for playing time.  Even with the Glover decommit, Gonzalez realized that he would have no better chance for stardom as a junior at Saint Mary’s than he did in his first two years. There are four guards besides him either on the current roster or coming on board, and he knows by now that Gael Coach Randy Bennett chooses two and pretty much relegates everyone else to competing for garbage time.

Gonzalez broke that mold as a freshman because his versatility allowed him to spell Calvin Hermanson at the small forward position rather than battle Emmett Naar and Joe Rahon for guard minutes. Gonzalez became a fan favorite by making 40 of 76 three-point attempts as a freshman, a gaudy 53%. But Bennett had a better fit as Hermanson’s back-up last season — the 6-6 Aussie Tanner Krebs — and Gonzalez saw his opportunity vanish.

His efficiency fell as his minutes decreased, and he became a 40% shooter on far fewer attempts, 45. There was murmuring among the Gael fan base that Gonzalez might transfer, and his request to be freed from his Letter of Intent when the season ended did not shock most observers. Gonzalez did not specify a preferred destination, but is willing to observe the NCAA’s required one-year absence from competition to get a shot at stardom. Most Gael fans wish him well in that pursuit.

The situation with Mark Orr was more commonplace, as the former athletic administration wunderkind decided to accept a new challenge before he became set in institutional aspic. Orr was just 30 when he moved up to the AD post in 2006, and has spent the last 11 years learning the ropes, making some tough calls and pressing the flesh on behalf of capital campaigns such as the Alioto Recreational Center and the McKeon Pavilion expansion known as the Student Athlete Performance Center.

He is from Sacramento, knows well the seemingly eternal struggle for Sac State to compete successfully in Division I athletics, and may figure that nowhere was a more unlikely place for a sports miracle than the one he is leaving. Best to him, and best to the Gaels, who represent one of the last bastions of underdog athletic teams competing against major powers. Someone will respond to that challenge.

Wither the Gaels?

So, how badly do the defections of Glover and Gonzalez affect the 2017-18 Gaels. It is hard to figure because before the Nike Hoop lightning bolt, Glover seemed to be just another promising Aussie recruit, albeit a red-headed one. He did not come with the murmur of “something big” that attended Patty Mills’ enrollment, nor with the muted excitement stemming from the recruitment of the Matthew Dellavedova-Jorden Page tandem.

Glover, following in the footsteps of fellow Aussies Dante Exum, Ben Simmons and Thon Maker, who went from the Nike Summit to the NBA, would certainly have had an air of expectation surrounding him upon arriving in Moraga. But he would have also faced a back court log jam, headed by fifth-year senior Naar, sophomore point guard heir apparent Jordan Ford, Latvian recruit Kristers Zoriks and undervalued walk-on sophomore Tommy Kuhse.

It’s not to say that a potential NBA-caliber player couldn’t break open that log jam and create a role for himself as a freshman, but it would be equally unfair to conclude that the Gaels are in desperate need of guards. Proceeding without Glover and Gonzalez may make it easier for Bennett to dope out his optimal back court rotation considering several different scenarios.

If Naar regains his second-year excellence, when he led the Gaels in scoring at 14 PPG, averaged 6.4 APG and shot 42% from three-point land, he will be the unchallenged leader when practice opens on October 1. That presupposes that Naar recovers from the leg/knee maladies that reduced him to little more than a spectator in many key games last year — such as the loss to Arizona (two points on 1-3 shooting, one assist).

If Naar and Ford are presumed starters, Ford taking the place of the graduated Rahon and Naar continuing in his role as alternate point guard, questions remain about roles for others. Will Krebs continue as a sub for Hermanson at small forward or will Bennett decide to use him as a two-guard, clearing the way for redshirt freshman Elijah Thomas to assume the Hermanson back-up role?

That presents an opportunity for Thomas, who possesses the athleticism missing from many Gael lineups, but breaks up a deadly combo at small forward. Based on Krebs’ two NCAA performances, scoring 12 points in each game, he and Hermanson (13.1 PPG game average last season) project more than 25 PPG from the small forward spot. If ever there were  an argument for “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” this is it.

Enter Zoriks?

The role of Zoriks is also ripe for conjecture. He was the starting point guard on an excellent New England prep school, New Hampton, for each of his two years there after turning heads (including that of Gael assistant coach Marty Clarke) in the FIBA Under-17 world championships as a 16-year-old. In his senior year he averaged 10.2 PPG and 4.1 APG on a team that went 22-9 before losing to New England prep powerhouse Brewster Academy. Six of his teammates went on to D-I schools in his junior year — including San Francisco’s 7-foot center Jimbo Lull — and another five will join him in the D-I ranks this year. That speaks to excellent competition, but Zoriks was unquestionably a star in that situation.

Clarke once characterized Zoriks as “a 6-4 Naar,” and one can see how that description fits. He is a pass-first point guard, adept at penetrating the paint off either a left or right-hand dribble and capable of knocking down three-pointers, runners or pull-up jumpers. His coach, Nick Whitmore, describes him as “an awesome fit” for Saint Mary’s, and Whitmore knows what he is talking about.

A New Englander by birth, Whitmore transferred from Rhode Island to Boise State as an undergrad to see what the west was like. He began a prep coaching career in San Francisco, and eventually moved up to Rex Walters’ staff at San Francisco as Director of Basketball Operations. He knows the WCC.

Bennett now has two scholarships to award following the loss of Glover and Gonzalez. It is late in the recruiting year to find any gems, and one supposes Bennett will tread cautiously to avoid disturbing the excellent chemistry of his team. One option Bennett may consider is conferring a scholarship on sophomore walk-on Tommy Kuhse.

The 6-2 Kuhse was an excellent point guard at Mountain View High School in Mesa, AZ, earning second team all-state recognition in his junior and senior years. He averaged 21.4 PPG and 4 APG in his senior year, for which he was named to the first team all-city squad and named section player of the year. He holds school records for most points in a game (42) and most three-pointers (10).

For all those accomplishments, Kuhse was also an excellent baseball player, and playing baseball instead of roaming the AAU basketball circuit cost him recognition among some basketball pundits. Although he received some scholarship offers, he chose to come to Saint Mary’s as a walk-on (with significant academic scholarship help since he is also an excellent student) because he loves Bennett’s philosophy and the Gaels’ team-first style of play.

Sometimes the answer to life’s problems is right in front of us.

Losing two anticipated players, one of whom may have been a star, along with an AD Bennett has worked with for 11 years, constitutes bumps in the Gaels’ road to continued success in the NCAA Tournament. But smoothing out bumps is a coach’s job, and Bennett is an excellent coach. I think he’ll get past these obstacles and keep the program moving forward.

Jordan Ford, who played mostly in late-game situations as a freshman, becomes the heir apparent at point guard for the 2017-18 season. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

The conventional wisdom following Arizona’s 69-60 win over Saint Mary’s Saturday in the second-round NCAA Tournament game is that the result was inevitable: Arizona is too big, too deep and too athletic not to triumph over Randy Bennett’s overachieving Gaels.

There is no denying that the Wildcats’ one-two punch on the front line, twin 7-footers Lauri Markkanen and Dusan Ristic, and their guard corps of Allonzo Trier, Rawle Alkins and Kadeem Allen gave the Gaels fits: Markkanen and Ristic totaled 29 points and 13 rebounds to 24 and 15 for Saint Mary’s Jock Landale and Dane Pineau, while the guard threesome scored 32 points against eight points for Emmett Naar and Joe Rahon.

That’s a definite advantage, especially in the back court where Rahon and Naar’s smaller size was mismatched against the sturdy Alkins, Adams and Trier. But still…

Even with Trier coming alive in the second half after sulking his way through the first, scoring all 14 points after the break, and even though Markkanen seemed to live at the foul line in the second half (9-10 free throws), the Gaels never wilted. It was inevitable that the dizzying 10-point lead Saint Mary’s achieved twice in the first half — at 22-12 and at 24-14 — was going to come under attack.

This was never going to be anything but a dog fight down the stretch, and a close look at several late-game turning points shows the Gaels were close to pulling off a stunning upset. The first came at the 12:36 mark, with the Gaels ahead 44-42 after a Pineau lay-up from a Rahon dime.

Rahon boo-boo

The Gaels got a stop, and Rahon was confidently bringing the ball up-court with an eye to increasing the advantage. Rahon then got sloppy, leaving a dribble-pass for Calvin Hermanson to retrieve. Rahon and Naar make that type of exchange often during games and it usually goes off without a hitch. But Hermanson is a forward, not a guard, and he seemed confused by Rahon’s move, allowing Arizona’s Allen to scoop up the ball and sprint down court for a slam to tie it at 44.

Rahon, who was his usual brilliant self in directing the Gaels throughout the game  (eight assists, three turnovers) didn’t sulk, penetrating the paint for a lay-up to put the Gaels back up 46-44. Crisis averted.

The next several minutes went to the Wildcats, as Trier suddenly came alive with a three-pointer, a two-pointer and a pair of free throws to give Arizona a 51-46 lead. It was another opportunity for the Gaels to wilt, but Hermanson made a strong drive into the paint and sank a contested lay-up to break the Arizona run.

When Arizona continued to press its advantage with a lay-up by Alkins and another Trier jumper, Landale answered with a tough move in the paint to cut the margin to 55-52 with about six minutes left. Then came another turning point.

The Wildcats tossed the ball into Ristic, with Landale pressing him. Ristic made a power move over his left shoulder and caught Landale in the nose with that shoulder. Ristic made the bucket and the refs called a foul on Landale, giving Ristic a three-point play at a crucial moment. Gael fans undoubtedly groused among themselves that Landale was called for fouling Ristic with his nose, but he was actually called for having both arms draped around Ristic before he made his move. It was a legitimate call.

That could have been a momentum-changer that paved the way for Arizona to put the game away with less than five minutes left. But Tanner Krebs had other ideas, sinking a three-pointer at the 4:01 mark to pull the Gaels back into contention at 58-55. Krebs was brilliant throughout the game, just as he was on Thursday against Virginia Commonwealth, scoring 12 points on 4-6 shooting, including 3-5 on three-pointers.

When Arizona opened the lead to 63-55, the Gaels again staved off disaster, this time with an Evan Fitzner cut into the lane to convert a Landale dime for his only score of the game. It was a  big one, giving the Gaels life at 63-57. With just under two minutes left, Hermanson pressed the Gaels’ advantage with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 65-60 and provide Saint Mary’s with momentum. Then came the crusher.

What could have been

Rahon made what could have been the play of the game with less than two minutes left on the clock, swiping the ball from an Arizona guard and sprinting down court with a chance to cut the lead to two or three points. Rahon had botched a transition opportunity in the first half by making a sloppy alley oop pass that the Arizona defender intercepted, but he wasn’t going to make that mistake again.

Rahon pulled up and fired the ball back to the trailing Krebs, who had set up at the three-point line for what Gael fans have affectionately come to know as an Aussie lay-up (think Matthew Dellavedova or Clint Steindl converting countless three-pointers off transition). Krebs was wide open and had made three of four previous three-pointers, but he was off on this one and the Gaels lost a glorious opportunity to cut the lead to 65-63 and put serious pressure on Arizona.

The Wildcats then caught an enormous break courtesy of the refs, who seemed disposed to protect Arizona from any possibility of a foul — the Wildcats shot 23 free throws to eight for the Gaels. Jordan Hunter had entered the game to give the Gaels a fresh pair of legs on rebounds, and he was shoved in the back in the scramble to corral Krebs’ missed shot. Hunter tumbled into another Arizona player and the referee blew his whistle to signal a  foul on Hunter.

It was a stunningly bad call, and sent Trier to the line for a pair of free throws to extend the Arizona lead. A sequence that could have ended with the Gaels trailing 65-63 instead saw Arizona increase its lead to 67-60, two off the final margin.

Looking ahead

So, the Gaels opportunity to advance to the Sweet Sixteen failed, but it would be a mistake to label the 2016-17 season anything other than a smashing success. Saint Mary’s improved last year’s glittering 29-6 record to 29-5, and suffered four losses to top-10 opponents Gonzaga and Arizona. No Pepperdine slip-ups this year, and Bennett could say as he likes to do that his team didn’t lose any games it should have won.

The Gaels return four starters next year (Pineau was not officially a starter, although he played far more minutes than the nominal starter, Fitzner), and have four outstanding prospects joining the roster: redshirts Elijah Thomas and Jock Perry and recruits Kristers Zoricks and Angus Glover. With Landale coming back as a probable pre-season all-American in the post, Bennett is poised to equal or exceed his success for another season.

Indeed, Bennett’s main challenge in the immediate future might be staving off a serious push by Cal-Berkeley alums and administrators to hire him to revive the sinking fortunes of Cal basketball. Sources are hinting strongly that Cal will open its wallet to lure Bennett from Moraga to Berkeley, and it seems probable that the 16-year Gael coach will at least listen to their arguments.

In the end, though, it is hard to see any major benefit from making the move, other than increasing his tax load with a giant paycheck. Saint Mary’s is loaded, Bennett should get his long-awaited training facilities with the renovation of McKeon Pavilion, and the Gaels have improved their reputation among hoops insiders. A comparable record next year should propel the Gaels into a four-seed or better in the NCAA Tournament, which will prevent a second-round match-up against a two-seed.

This is no time to give up on the Moraga experiment in disrupting expectations for small college hoops.

Jock Landale, shown above in an earlier game against Gonzaga, will be the undisputed leader of the Gaels in 2017-18. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.

by Michael Vernetti

No need to exhaustively analyze Saint Mary’s 85-77 win over Virginia Commonwealth Thursday, as it was mainly a stage-setter for the massive showdown Saturday against Arizona.

The biggest takeaway from Thursday’s game was that the Gaels did not exhibit the opening-game jitters that derailed them in four out of five previous NCAA appearances against beatable teams: Southern Illinois in ’05 (L65-56), Miami in ’08 (L78-64, in Patty Mills’ only NCAA appearance), Purdue in ’12 (L72-69, the Clint Steindl brain fart), and Memphis in ’13 (L54-52 when Beau Levesque had his Steve Sax moment).

An argument can be made that Saint Mary’s interrupted the series of losses by beating Middle Tennessee State 67-54 in a play-in game in 2013, but I’m not sure if such an outcome legitimately constitutes a first-round win. Maybe with an asterisk.

That mostly discouraging history, gloriously countered by the 2010 Sweet Sixteen run, was nowhere in evidence as the Gaels took the floor against VCU and its swarming defense. Guards Joe Rahon and Emmett Naar were in control of the Gaels’ offense from the start, and deftly executed a mercilessly efficient dismantling of VCU that produced a 46-31 halftime lead.

The Rams, a proud team that expected to conquer the Gaels with athleticism, energy and a gritty, grabby defense, mounted an impressive second-half comeback that brought them within two points. But the Gaels, showing the calm belief in themselves that has been their hallmark under the two-year reign of Rahon at point guard, refused to crack.

There would be no back court panic that ruined any chance of beating Southern Illinois, no second-half collapse that propelled Miami, no offensive paralysis that led to the Purdue loss and no flinching from a massive shot-blocking display by Memphis’ D.J. Stephens (eight blocks) that derailed the Matthew Dellavedova-led offense.

Rahon came off the bench after a brief-sit-down upon committing his fourth foul, and calmly orchestrated a Gael resurgence that righted the ship and made the last several minutes a free throw-shooting contest. Perhaps the biggest moment in that resurgence was produced by Rahon himself, as he sank a three-pointer with time expiring that pushed the Gael lead to 63-56 with a little more than eight minutes left.

Rahon is not the guy Gael fans would normally count on to make a big-time three-pointer, as his 34 of 95 record (36%) pales in contrast to the mid-40s percentages of Naar, Calvin Hermanson and Evan Fitzner. But he was the right shooter in that moment, and exemplifies why this team is different from other NCAA contenders. Call it true grit, with Rahon in the John Wayne role.

On to Arizona

The big, bad Arizona Wildcats play the role of Villanova from the 2010 NCAA Tournament, bearing the same two-seed resume that Villanova did then. But, whereas ‘Nova was wilting down the stretch in 2010, Arizona is soaring. With an overall record of 31-4 and boasting a five-game winning streak, Arizona recently won the Pac-12 Tournament with wins over UCLA and Oregon.

The Wildcats’ 100-82 win over North Dakota on Thursdaay was impressive enough, but North Dakota was a nine-loss team from a decidedly non-power conference (Big Sky). The Fighting Hawks split with woeful Sacramento State in conference play, and their biggest win was a 93-89 squeaker over Weber State to win the Big Sky conference’s auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Even with that pedestrian resume, North Dakota shot 44% from the field against ‘Zona and 45% from three-point range. It is with those statistics in mind that predictive analytics guru Ken Pomeroy gives the Gaels a 54% chance of beating Arizona. Whether you believe in the KenPom rating service or not, the bullish appraisal of Saint Mary’s by his and other analysis-driven services raises some intriguing questions about the NCAA Selection Committee’s “big win” theory of choosing and seeding teams in the NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA is committed to a model that values wins over top-50 opponents over all else, no matter if mid-major teams are able to schedule top-50 teams or not. As called out by Illinois State Coach Dan Muller, this method is blatantly biased towards teams in the power conferences, who can count on numerous top-50 opponents just by going through their conference schedules. That is why you see teams like Maryland and Minnesota in the NCAA field, even with records like 24-8 (Maryland) and 24-9 (Minnesota).

No one outside the Selection Committee was surprised by Thursday wins by Xavier over Maryland (76-65) or Middle Tennessee State (81-72) over Minnesota. Both Maryland and Minnesota were over-seeded by the Selection Committee based on their conference affiliations (Big Ten), with Maryland taking a six seed from Saint Mary’s and Minnesota even more improbably earning a fifth seed. Xavier was seeded 11th and Middle Tennessee 12th, another major fail by the Selection Committee to properly evaluate teams in its own tournament.

The next shoe to drop in the seeding fiasco will come today (Friday), when, I predict, Rhode Island will beat Creighton, which was awarded another six seed that should have rightly gone to Saint Mary’s.

No one can say how these biases will play out when the Gaels face off against the Wildcats Saturday afternoon on CBS (approximately 4:45 p.m. Pacific). But the stubborn insistence by numbers freaks like Pomeroy that there is more to evaluating teams than rating their opponents will get a highly-visible showcase.

Saint Mary’s has scrimmaged Arizona in two out of the last three years, and, if leaked results from these “secret” encounters are to be believed, the Gaels have held up commendably (I am reluctant to pronounce either team a winner in these scrimmages because they are held early in the season and don’t replicate actual game conditions, but there are those who claim Saint Mary’s “won” both scrimmages).

Given the confidence that comes from actual combat against their better-known and better-financed opponent, I believe the Gaels will hold up well against the Wildcats. I’m with Pomeroy in believing Saint Mary’s has an opportunity to drive another dagger into the heart of the Selection Committee’s processes, and set the stage for a possible Elite Eight all-WCC showdown with Gonzaga on March 25 in San Jose.

Take that, Selection Committee.

Joe Rahon’s three-point form, shown above in a game from earlier this season, may not be inspiring, but it was money in the Gaels’ 85-77 opening-round win over VCU in the NCAA Tournament. Photo courtesy of Tod Fierner.