Men's basketball team prepares for competitive season
Tyler Roberts
Issue date: 11/2/09 Section: Sports
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Last season the team finished with a record of 16-11, 8-4 in conference play, just missing a bid to play in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
The Red Storm will face a tough road, with the preseason favorite to win the national championship, BYU-Hawaii, in their conference. The Seasiders finished the season last year with a 12-0 conference record and a 27-2 overall record, beating the Red Storm by scores of 100-79 in Hawaii on Feb. 2, and 92-77 at home on Feb. 20.
Head coach Jon Judkins is optimistic about this year, but said it will be difficult replacing last year's seniors, guard Bowie Jeffs, guard Ben Hartman and guard Ryan Sanchez.
"We lost five players from last year who played a lot, three of them were seniors, and we lost two to LDS missions," Judkins said. "We have a lot of junior college transfers this year who have proven they can compete at the college level."
Judkins said Zach Robbins, a freshman forward/center, and Wade Bronson, a freshman forward, will be two young guys to step it up this year. He also said the team is more athletic than last year's team and will be able to push the ball up the court.
Senior forward/center Nick Howard, an integrated studies major from Sandy, said the team has worked hard this offseason to be competitive.
"I think we will be pretty solid," Howard said. "We are a lot stronger and more physical this year, and we should compete for the top spot in our league."
Howard also said the young freshmen and junior college transfers would be key to winning. He said guard Jeremiah Barnes, a junior transfer from Cerritos Community College, will be a big difference maker for the team on defense.
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