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SoCalHoops College News

SoCal Fishies Doing Better
Than Just Alright At Cal--(Dec. 4, 1999)

Our friend from up in NorCal, Richard Lee, ever the faithful Bears fan, wanted us to know that Gilbert Arenas isn't the only SoCal freshman getting a lot of attention from the media and fans this season. And since we at SoCalHoops are also Cal alumni, we thought we'd share two articles which were run in two of the local Bay Area papers about the five freshman at UC Berkeley: Shantay Legans, Joe Shipp, Nick Vander Laan, Brian Wethers, and Donte Smith. Of those five, three (Legans, Wethers and Vander Laan) were all on the same Rockfish travel team, and all of them are doing well, better than a lot of people expected.

Here's the first article, from the Contra Costa Times (hotcoco.com):

Cal gets 'gift' from freshman

Legans makes his point with flashy passes as the Bears' emerging floor
leader

By Jay Heater
TIMES STAFF WRITER
12/4/99

BOULDER, Colo. -- It might be called a no-look pass, but Cal coach Ben Braun wants everyone to know his freshman point guard, Shantay Legans, always plays with his eyes wide open. Never an advocate of showboat basketball, Braun defends Legans' habit of whipping the ball through a mob of unsuspecting players while looking in another direction.

"It's a look-off pass," Braun offered as a better description of Legans' favorite play. "It's a matter of setting the defense up. It's like a player who sets his man up by faking high, then going low. It's the same thing. Shantay gets the defense to lean. "I promise you that he sees the entire court. That's what good guys can do. It's something he did well in high school and now at the college level. It's a gift."

Legans' "gift" has been a huge reason for Cal's 4-1 start and has generated excitement among the Bears' faithful, who are imagining what he might do a couple of years down the road. Freshman forward Joe Shipp already has crowned Legans, who has 25 assists and just 10 turnovers this season, as the team's floor leader.

As for Legans' ability to hurl a ball where it's least expected, Shipp says, "You've got to keep your eyes open."

For the time being, it appears Legans, who was held out of practice Wednesday due to a slight concussion he suffered Monday against Hofstra, will continue to generate excitement coming off the bench. Braun said freshman point guard Donte Smith (7.6 ppg, 2.0 apg) most likely will make his sixth consecutive start when the Bears play Colorado tonight at 6 (PST). "Shantay has played well coming off the bench, and we like his aggressiveness," said Braun, who isn't about to pull Smith out of the starting lineup because of one poor outing (four turnovers in the first half against Hofstra)." Whether or not he comes off the bench, Legans is getting his minutes. He is averaging 27.8 minutes per game, second on the team to junior forward Sean Lampley.

"Donte and Shantay can play well together or they can spot each other," Braun said. "With this team, you are going to see a lot of different combinations. Before the year is over, you might see Shantay at off-guard because he shoots so well. It really doesn't matter. Guards are guards and they need to make plays."

So far, Legans not only makes plays, he makes good decisions. Twice against Hofstra, he stole the ball on the defensive end, then lofted the ball toward his basket as both teams were taking their first steps in the other direction. Cal wing player Brian Wethers burst ahead of the pack, grabbed the ball and converted breakaway baskets both times. "I always know Brian will outrun the other guys for the ball," said Legans, who obviously understands the abilities of his teammates.

"It's my job to start up the offense," he said. "I've got to get the ball to (Lampley) and the other big guys down low." Braun is careful not to heap too much praise on Legans or any of Cal's other freshmen. He knows they have a lot to learn before they will be a factor in the Pac-10. But Braun said he is encouraged by some positive signs.

"Shantay has been strong and aggressive with the ball," Braun said. "He isn't guessing. And he is strong enough and quick enough to handle pressure. It all starts with Shantay, and he gets the ball across the 10-second line with conviction. If you start your possession shaky, you're going to end it shaky. We are such a better team when we can get by a defender and make a play."

Although Legans isn't expected to be in the starting lineup tonight, Braun will continue to start four freshmen -- Smith, Wethers, Shipp and center Nick Vander Laan. Braun considered bringing Vander Laan off the bench against Hofstra but instead gave him his second consecutive start. "We've got to get a balance going," Braun said. "As teams start to give Lampley and Vander Laan attention, we are going to get some good looks. That's a heck of a dilemma for teams."

Lampley obviously is getting the most attention from Cal's opponents, and he is holding his own by averaging a double-double (16.4 points, 10.8 rebounds). However, he is getting lots of help under the basket from Vander Laan, who leads the team in scoring at 16.6 per game. Braun said their ability to score should open up the perimeter for Shipp and Legans, who are Cal's best 3-point shooters to date.

And this one from the San Francisco Chronicle:

Freshman Orientation Extended for Bears
4-1 Cal plays at Colorado tonight

Jake Curtis, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, December 4, 1999

With four freshmen in the starting lineup and another freshman as its sixth man, Cal's basketball team seems to be crying out for a nickname.

"Well," said Bears coach Ben Braun. "we can't be the Fab Five, because we aren't fabulous yet and we're not Michigan"

Eight years ago, the Wolverines proved it can be done with first-year players, reaching the 1992 NCAA Championship game with five freshmen in the starting lineup.

Despite its 4-1 record and despite having freshmen as five of its top six scorers, Cal is not in that Michigan category yet. Braun knows it. That's why he needs to be patient. That's why he crafted this season's schedule as he did. Tonight, against Colorado, Cal will play a game on the opponent's home court for the first time this season. In fact, it is the only one of Cal's 12 nonconference games that will be played in the opponent's arena.

The opening of Haas Pavilion prompted Cal to try to schedule a lot of home games, but the youth of the team had a lot to do with it, too, because road games do not build confidence in inexperienced players. It's a far cry from the 1997-98 schedule when Cal played at North Carolina, at USF and at Houston on its way to an 0-4 start. "We're battling confidence," Braun said. So far, the freshmen have not played like freshmen, scoring two- thirds of the team's points.

"I wasn't sure four would start,'' said Brian Wethers, the most highly touted of the Bears' five freshmen, "but I knew it was a possibility. This just shows what we can do and what we can build on. Being on the road for the first time is good for us. I always felt I played better in away games, anyway."

Three first-year players -- point guard Donte Smith and swingmen Wethers and Joe Shipp -- have started all five games, and another freshman, Nick Vander Laan, has started the past two. The workmanlike 6- foot-10 Vander Laan leads the team in scoring at 16.8 per game, while averaging 7.4 rebounds. "Nick is really a fearless player," Braun said.

Wethers and Vander Laan played on the same AAU summer team, along with freshman Shantay Legans, the first player off the Cal bench. The 5-10 Legans is the team's top 3-point shooter (60 percent) and top assist man (5.0 per game) and is getting more playing time than starting point guard Smith, who is shooting just 37.1 percent and has nearly as many turnovers (eight) as assists (10). Braun considered putting Legans in the starting lineup, but will stick with the four current freshman starters, along with junior Sean Lampley.

Radical moves are not called for this season. Braun could have yanked Wethers out of the starting lineup after he went scoreless in the opener and scored just five points in Game 3 against Oklahoma. But Braun does not want to do any long- range psychological damage to Cal's most highly rated recruit. Wethers has scored in double figures the past two games.

"The one thing I think I've exhibited over the years is patience," said Braun, who then joked, "Remember, I coached Geno Carlisle." Unexpected highs and inexplicable lows are inevitable, says Braun, who saw both in Monday's win over Hofstra. "We shot 28 percent in the first half, and I told the team, 'We're not that bad,' " Braun said, "and we shot 68 percent in the second half, and I said, 'Guess what? We're not that good, either.' "

It's a touchy-feely situation for Braun. Sophomore Dennis Gates was scheduled to be a starter this season, but he has the maturity to accept coming off the bench, while letting freshmen such as Wethers gain confidence as starters. And, Lampley has done a personality turnaround, becoming an outspoken leader. Lampley's the old man of the group, and his 82 points this season are the only Cal points not scored by a freshman or sophomore.

"I thought it was conceivable that four freshmen would start,'' Braun said, ``but saying that five of our top six scorers would be freshmen, that really does surprise me."