ucsb notes

socalogo.gif (8739 bytes)
SoCalHoops College News

UCSB Season Preview:
Coaches' Luncheon Notes--(Oct. 8, 1999)

We made some quick notes based on what we heard and read yesterday at the LA Athletic Club from each of the coaches we saw. Here are some observations on UCSB for the coming season 1999-2000, the roster, some schedule notes and other assorted stuff:

UCSB: Head Coach Bob Williams

Coach Williams was one of the best and clearest speakers of the day, and the fact that he went first had him setting a pretty high standard for the rest of the assembled group, certainly in the witty quip department (we can't actually remember any of the funny lines, but he's pretty good with the quick one-liner). Williams indicated that a decision has not yet been made on whether Nick Jones and B.J. Ward, the two recruits from Santa Clara will redshirt, but that both of them are leaning that way, and that B.J. really wants to redshirt this season. J.J. Todd will definitely, as we reported earlier, redshirt. Also, UCSB's starting point guard from last season, Derrick Allen, broke a bone in his foot and will be having surgery today (Friday), and he may miss most of the first half of the season. Without Todd in the lineup, Williams quipped that the team will be competing for a "6'-0" and under league title." He intends to play an uptempo game, utilizing the same type of system that got his UC Davis team to the NCAA D-II schedule. He's not terribly concerned about the polls: "Most of the polls I read last year picked us to finish last, and we finished 1st in our division, the Big West Western Division; most of the polls I've seen this year pick us to finish 5th, so maybe we'll win it all."

Williams is actually a remarkable coach, and if you consider last season, you'll understand just how remarkable his accomplishments have been. When he took over the program, UCSB had posted five consecutive losing season, and had ended the 1997-98 season with an eight game losing streak, and after 8 games last year, and 8 straight losses, things were looking pretty bleak, but then Williams went to work, and after the 0-8 start, he finished the season 15-13 overall, but 12-4 in the Big West, and by winning 15 of their last 20 games last year and the Big West Western Division title, Williams was named Big West and NABC District 15 Coach of the Year.

Since UCSB doesn't have a website up yet for the current year's basketball team, we had to hand-enter all the roster data. Here's what the team looks like for this season:

LaRon Bryant (6'-2" Jr. G) Sacramento, CA/American River College
Larry Bell (6'-2" Sr. G) Compton, CA/Compton HS
Derrick Allen (6'-0" Sr. G) New Orleans, LA/Kennedy HS
Brandon Payton (6'-0" Jr. G) Oakland, CA/De La Salle HS
Mark Hull (6'-6" Fr. F) Glendale, CA/Hoover HS
Erick Ashe (6'-2" Sr. G) Los Angeles, CA/Palmdale HS
Mike Vukovich (6'-9" So. F) Huntington Beach, CA/Mater Dei
Ross Carmichael (6'-9" Jr. F) Dallas, TX/Texas Tech
Eric Hare (6'-5" Fr. F) McKinney, TX/McKinney HS
Adama Ndiaye (6'-9" Jr. F) Dakar, Senegal/Marine Military Academy (TX)
Juliano Jordani (6'-7" Jr. F) Sao Paulo, Brazil/College of Southern Idaho

Probable or definite redshirts

J.J. Todd (6'-11" Fr. F) Chatsworth, CA/Chaminade HS
B.J. Ward (6'-1" Fr. G)Oxnard, CA/Santa Clara HS
Nick Jones (6'-4" Fr. G) Oxnard, CA/Santa Clara HS

Williams is expecting big things from the returning players, and even with the injuries there will be four redshirts from last year who will be playing. Mike Vukovich, who played in 23 games and averaged 2.8 ppg and 2.5 rpg, bulked up during his redhsirt year and will become a valuable man on the frontline. Mark Hull from Hoover HS in Glendale redshirted last year as a freshman and along with Eric Hare, the two will be eligible this year as freshmen. Hull is an excellent shooter who will lend depth and be a real zone-buster, while Hare is also a big time scoere who averaged 21.8 ppg and 13.0 rpg as a senior at McKinney HS in Texas. . Ross Carmichael, a transfer from Texas Tech is expected to become eligible for his junior season as the end of the fall quarter. As a soph at Texas Tech, he played in all 27 games, started 12, and averaged 3.5 ppg and 4.4 rpg while leading the Red Raiders in blocks with 26. Other returning players will be Adama Ndiaye who wil be expected to step up inside; last year he averaged 3.3 ppg and 4.0 rpg and led the team with 26 blocked shots. Eric Ashe, a transfer from Fullerton JC two years ago, finished last season as the third leading scorer at 10.6 ppg and led the team in three-point baskets with 39 and tied for second in steals with 38; in the last three games of the season he average 19.7 ppg and made 22 of 40 shots from the floor. Brandon Paydon was sort of up and down last year, and he often struggled with his shooting, but still managed to finish as the fourth leading scorer on the team. Larry Bell will also be a contributor, and at least until Allen retgurns to the lineup, he'll probably be the starting guard. Last year he finished with 119 assists, averaging 4.3 apg. Juliano Jordani will also be a big contributor up front as a transfer from the College of Southern Idaho, where he averaged 13.3 ppg and 5.9 rebounds per game as a sophmore; he was also a member of the Brazilian Junior National Team. Also new to the lineup will be LaRon Bryant, a junior guard from American River JC up in Sacramento, and Williams expects to play him a lot at the wing; he ranked second in the State last year with 115 three pointers and shot 49.5% from behind the arc, 115-232. As a freshman at American River, he average 16.0 ppg and 4.0 rpg while making 92 three pointers.

This is going to be a team that will lack serious size until next year, and they will need to be quick and utilize their outside depth and great shooting abilities. They could go very deep this year in the Big West and have a serious shot at making the NCAA Tournament this season, but will face very stiff competition from Cal Poly SLO, New Mexico State and Nevada, but they should be in pretty good shape with the rest of the Western Division. They have a tough schedule but start off easy with two exhibition games, the first against the Double Pump California All-Stars, then they meet the Lithuanian team. But then things start to rock as the Gauchos will play Stanford at UCSB, folwed by a road trip against San Jose State, USF, and USC. Over December they'll face Westmont, Pepperdine, Concordia and BYU at home and will travel to San Diego State. In January, Big West Conference play begins along with non-conference games agaisnt LMU and St. Mary's (away and home, respectively).