loyola preview

West Coast Conference Team Preview:
Loyola Marymount University--(Oct. 16, 1998)

Loyola isn't having it's own version of "Midnight Madness" (oops, can't call it that anymore. . . or does that guy's registration of a trademark only apply to the T-shirt sales?), at least not that we've heard about, so here's our preview of the team.

Haywood Eaddy (5'-4" Sr. PG)
Tim Kennedy (6'-5" Sr. G)
Willie Allen (5'-11" Sr. G)
Mihail Papadopulos (5'-10" Sr. G)
Chris Evelyn (6'-1" Sr. G)
Leo Saucedo (6'-4" Sr. G)
Elton Mashack (6'-5" So F)
Silvester Kainga (6'-11" Sr. C)
Robert Davis (6'-3" Fr. G)
Rupert McClendon (6'-5" Jr. G)
Matt Moore (6'-7" Fr. F)
Curtis Slaughter (6'-6" Fr. G)
Michael Stewart (6'-7" Fr. F)
Ed Wolfe (6'-7" Jr. F)

Loyola lost it's last three games in a row, and finished last in the WCC with a record of 7-17 overall and 3-9 in conference play. This year, most pundits pick them to finish last again, or 8th in the WCC. Amazingly, they had a worse record at home (1-6) than they did on the road (2-9). With a record like that, you'd think that Charles Bradley would be running for cover in his first year as head coach, but overall, Loyola hasn't been very good in any year in the decade, so he's got nowhere to go but up.

But even if they don't win a lot, they'll be fun to watch, and they've got little Haywood Eaddy, who started last season at the two guard spot, who is quick and fun, and was actually the leading scorer in about half the games last season, averaging about 18 points per game. Loyola however lost all three of it's frontcourt men from last year, and while they do have Michael Stewart, Ed Wolfe and Matt Moore from La Canada to try to fill some of the void. These guys are good, but just how good at the Division I level, remains to be seen. Loyola lost Ben Ammerman, one of their leading three-point scorers, and center Peter Cornell, who left the team. They also lost Kenny Hottopp who averaged about 8.2 ppg last season, but the good news is that they return most of the bench, including Guards Tim Kennedy who shot 46.3 percent from the field, Leo Saucedo who averaged 7.0 ppg, and Forward Elton Mashack, who shot 6.1 ppg, and average 3.4 rebounds per game.

Haywood Eaddy is one of the fastest and most explosive players on the team, and he is really a blast to see. Eaddy was a JC transfer and started all but four of the team’s 27 games after suffering a bruised shooting hand. He led the team in scoring with 15.2 ppg, assists, 4.9 apg, free throw percentage, at .835, and led in steals with 2.1 per game. Papadopoulous will back up Eaddy again, and we would also look for Robert Davis to present a real outside scoring threat. Saucedo is a real threat from the perimeter too, and last season he averaged about 7 points per game.

Senior guard Tim Kennedy went from being a starter as a sophomore to a bench player, and his scoring numbers fell correspondingly from his sophomore year when he had hit for 42.3 % of his three-pointers. But he still managed 41 assists and 11 blocks last year and will probably start again unless he gets displaced by one of the incoming freshmen. Willie Allen walked onto the team as a freshman, then transferred to a Cypress College, and then he returned to LMU last year. He was a starter, who averaged 9.2 ppg, the third best on the team and he was second in assists (2.2 per game). Look for him to again get the nod to start.

Sophomore forward Elton Mashack is one of the only returning big guys besides Kainga, and last year he averaged 6.5 ppg and 3.1 rebounds per game. Moore, Slaugher, Stewart and Wolfe will all provide valuable height and bulk inside. Moore averaged 25.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last season for La Canada, and led the team to the CIF III-AA Playoffs. Slaugher, from LA Washington is also a great shooter and has good height so he can play the swing spot, but he's really more of a shooting guard type, who averaged 17.0 ppg last year for the Generals, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. Stewart is a big, strong guy who can run the floor well, and he can also score, averaging 15 ppg and 7.0 rebounds for his high school team as a senior. Finally Ed Wolfe will be the power forward that Loyola so desparately needs to fill the void. He's a big inside player with good post moves and a strong inside-outside game. A JC transfer, he led Cochice College to its first 20 win season and averaged 14.0 points per game.

We don't expect Loyola to seriously challenge Pepperdine, St. Mary's, Gonzaga, or even San Diego, but they'll be fun to watch. Loyola leads off with a couple of exhibition games, first against San Diego's High Five America on November 4, and then on November 12 against the Double Pump College West All Stars. Then on the 17th of November, things really get rolling as they face Long Beach State, then Boise State on the 21st, Cameron Dollar's Southern California College team on the 25th and then they travel to UCSB for a Big West-WCC showdown, followed by two more cross-conference game against Big West opponents: Fullerton on December 2 at home, and San Diego State at home as well on December 5. On December 12, Loyola completes its Big West schedule with UOP at home, and then gets a taste of the WAC as they travel to Utah on December 19. Loyola heads east on December 21 as they play Xavier, and then on the 29th of December they travel to UCLA to get some Pac-10 attention. Talk about a tough schedule, and that's just the pre-season. If they even win only half their games, Loyola will have an amazing number on the RPI ratings given the depth of their schedule.

We don't expect Loyola to seriously challenge for the WCC title, or even to finish very high in the conference, given the talent at schools like Pepperdine, St. Mary's or Gonzaga, any one of which could win it all. But Loyola will have a fine rebuilding year, one in which it's great crop of freshmen will get some valuable experience and it's going to be fun to watch.