Men’s Basketball: Wolves Open Campaign With Broncos, Vikings

You can follow the game from the Taco Bell Arena in Boise tonight at KBOI.com, the Boise State flagship radio station. It is free, but you will need to register on the KBOI website. Start time is 7:05 PM, mountain time (6:00 PM Pacific).

The 2006-07 season marks the second year with head coach Craig Stanger at the helm.

MONMOUTH - Western Oregon will begin phase two of the Craig Stanger era with a pair of exhibitions games this week against NCAA Division I schools. Tonight (Thursday), the Wolves will take on Boise State, and Saturday they will travel to Portland State.

After the weekend of Division I exhibitions, the Wolves will have one more practice round before real play begins, hosting Concordia on Saturday,(7:00 PM).

The Wolves will then play their first regular season games at Chico State’s tournament on Nov. 24-25, against the host Wildcats and Humboldt State.

Second For Stanger:

The 2006-07 season marks the second year with head coach Craig Stanger at the helm. A longtime assistant coach at WOU, Stanger took the reigns last season and the Wolves finished 9-18 overall, and were 4-9 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Idaho native graduated from Brigham Young University in 1992, and was a highly successful high school coach in Idaho and Utah before joining the Wolves staff as an assistant in 1995.

Who is Back:

Eight lettermen return for Stanger this winter, including the 2005-06 GNAC Freshman of the Year, Travis Kuhns (6-8, Salem). Kuhns, who averaged 11.5 points a game in his rookie season, is joined by fellow returning starters Stanley Ratcliff (Jr., 6-3, Palmer, Alaska), Jacob Mitchell (6-7, Sr., Olympia, WA) and Larry Hall (6-2, Sr., Long Beach, CA). Ratcliff also averaged 11.5 points a game and pulled down six rebounds a contest. Mitchell was the team’s top board man (7.2), while Hall added seven points a contest. Other letterwinners returning include Dominic DeWeese (6-3, Sr., Portland), Tyler Blok (So., 6-6, Banks), Rob Malone (5-9, Jr., Portland), and Brad Krichevsky (5-9, Jr., Beaverton).

Who is Not:

Four-year starting point guard Kevin Tyner is gone, having left the program as WOU’s and the GNAC’s all-time leading assist maker with 600 even. He also led the Wolves in scoring the past two seasons, averaging 18.3 points per game in 2005-06. He is now playing professionally in Germany..

The New Guys:

Stanger secured a solid recruiting class, from which many players will contribute immediately for WOU in 2006-07. Included on the list is Tyner’s possible replacement, Alex Swerzbin (6-0, Sr., Portland) who last played at Hawaii Pacific. Mike McLaughlin (6-6, Fr., Lake Oswego) is a true freshman who was a key player on the Laker’s state championship squad last winter. Adonal Arrington (6-11, Jr., Clackamas) gives the Wolves height and bulk inside, and Ryan Schmidt (Jr., 6-7, Keizer) gives Stanger another scoring option. Schmidt transferred to WOU from Hawaii, and prior to that he averaged 18.2 points per game at Linn-Benton CC. Also expected to contribute is Keith Hoffman (Jr., 6-4, Corvallis), a transfer from Allan Hancock JC and freshman JC Cook (6-1, Canby).

Broncos And Vikings:

The Boise State Broncos return five players who started at least 16 games last year, including Coby Karl, who averaged 17.2 points and 5.1 rebounds a contest. A 6-4 guard, Karl is the son of former NBA head coach George Karl. He was also named to the pre-season All-Western Athletic Conference squad. The Broncos, under fourth-year head coach Greg Graham, finished 14-15 last year. Portland State, entering its second season with former Seattle Pacific leader Ken Bone at the controls, returns five letterwinners and three starters. Leading the list is 6-11 center Scott Morrison, who averaged 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds last year. Fellow starter Ryan Sommer led the Vikings in assists and averaged 10.2 points a game, and Juma Kamawa hit .527 of his shots from beyond the arch and contributed 11.4 points a contest. PSU finished 12-16 last year, and are picked to finish fourth this season in the Big Sky Conference.

The Coaches Speak:

The 2006-07 Great Northwest Athletic Conference coaches poll was released on Oct. 31st, with Central Washington garnering six of the nine first place votes and earning the favorites role. Here is how the coaches vote tallied. (1) Central Washington, (2) Seattle Pacific, (3) Alaska Anchorage, (4) Seattle, (5) Western Washington, (6) Saint Martin’s, (7) Alaska Fairbanks, (8) Northwest Nazarene, (9) Western Oregon.

Probable Starters:

F- 32 Stanley Ratcliff (6-3, 225, Jr., Palmer, Alaska)

F- 24 Jacob Mitchell (6-7, 235, Sr., Olympia, Wash.)

F- 30 Travis Kuhns (6-8, 200, So., Salem, Ore.)

G- 5 Alex Swerzbin (6-0, 190, Sr., Portland, Ore.)

G- 33 Ryan Schmidt (6-7, 210, Jr., Keizer, Ore.)

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