SCU Notes

In my continuing effort to keep abreast of the competition, here's another article from Zack Farmer (mercifully for the reader, I have edited it without mercy!):

The word in Santa Clara this season is “positivity.”

While this rings true for the Broncos as a whole this season following a year where they went 0-16 in WCC play, this was something Marc Trasolini had to embrace more than a year ago.

Trasolini missed all of the 2011-12 season with a torn ACL that he suffered in Vancouver during a team trip on Sept. 6, 2011 and his road to recovery has been met with more mental hurdles than physical ones.

The three-year starter was a key figure in Santa Clara’s run to a ColleegInsider.com Tournament championship in 2011, averaging 12.8 points and grabbing 6.1 rebounds during his junior season, and was unable to return to full contact practice until May.

A scouting report on the 6-foot-9 Trasolini would probably describe him as a good shooter from both inside and outside. It is the return of that versatility that has (Coach Kerry) Keating excited.

“He’s one of the few versatile players in this league that can do that, which poses a threat, and he’s a big part of what we do and how we do it,” he said.

His addition, along with the return of fellow fifth-year senior Kevin Foster, drastically changes the look of the Broncos.

“Having a fifth-year senior, an all-conference player [come back] is huge,” Keating said. “You can obviously change your team through recruiting but it’s not very often you change a team by bringing back two fifth-year seniors, all conference players.”

Trasolini ranks 24th in points (1,100), seventh in field goal percentage (.555), and fourth in blocks (122) in Santa Clara history. His career-high in points came on Feb. 24, 2011 against Loyola Marymount when Trasolini scored 31 in a 94-88 double overtime win at the Leavey Center.

Santa Clara guard Kevin Foster will be eligible for the 2012-13 season after being held out of competition in the latter part of the conference schedule due to his DUI arrest in January. Head Coach Kerry Keating said the senior guard has lost 25 pounds since then and has recommitted himself to the program.

Marc Trasolini and Kevin Foster are the school’s all-time single season scoring tandem when they dropped a combined 1,238 points in the 2010-11 season.

From Greg Crawford (CSNNW) today:

Keep your eye on Santa Clara this year. Yes they did go 0-16 in WCC league play last year, but with their whole team back, which includes Kevin Foster, who could be player of the year in the WCC, I think the Broncos will win 20 plus this season in a great turnaround for coach Kerry Keating

Zack Farmer is predicting Santa Clara will finish two spots better than the Pilots this season, finishing 6th in the WCC.

Outlook
Santa Clara has yet to win a game in 2012. So it is safe to say there is only one way to go: up. It also helps to be returning two All-WCC players in Kevin Foster and Marc Trasolini.

“Having a fifth-year senior, an all-conference player [come back] is huge,” Head coach Kerry Keating said. “You can obviously change your team through recruiting but it’s not very often you change a team by bringing back two fifth-year seniors, all conference players.”

But having those guys out let other players step in and get experience, which should be invaluable this year.

“That will be huge for us this year knowing that we went through all that stuff last year and can really grow from it and be much better this year,” Trasolini said.

In the cellar? Not this year.

Backcourt
Yes, Kevin Foster is back and that is big. His biggest impact will probably be felt by his teammates who now will have less attention paid to them with the senior guard returning. That means Evan Roquemore will have more room to move and Denzel Johnson will also be able to get more open shots.

“They all had their chances,” Keating said. “Certainly no one had a bigger chance than Denzel over the course of the season. Brandon [Clark] had a big chance playing the most minutes over the course of the season.”

Johnson came on strong last season after Foster was withheld from play in January. Johnson’s best came in a 26-point performance against San Francisco. He scored 20 or more in three games last season, showing that the then-freshman will be able to give the Broncos an offensive spark this season.

Frontcourt
There were a lot of growing pains for the frontcourt. Much of that was due to Trasolini missing all of last season because of a torn ACL. But it did allow Niyi Harrison, John MacArthur, and Robert Garrett to get playing time.

“They’re all better for it,” Keating said. “John is better for it being a junior having to play more minutes because Marc was out. They’re mentality right now isn’t about who is playing all the minutes. They’re mentality is what the team is getting done.”

Of course, it’s also nice to hear this from Trasolini: “I feel stronger than ever. I think I’m jumping higher. I think I’m stronger upper and lower body. Everything is great.”

Trasolini would have been the only senior a year ago but now he is one of five.

Notes
Kevin Foster is down 25 pounds from last season, which should allow him to be more explosive that he was in his previous three seasons. That is scary.

DoubleDipper wrote:
Kevin Foster is down 25 pounds from last season, which should allow him to be more explosive that he was in his previous three seasons. That is scary.

Via hard work ... or cutting down on the extracurriculars?? (Too soon??)

DaTruRochin wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:
Kevin Foster is down 25 pounds from last season, which should allow him to be more explosive that he was in his previous three seasons. That is scary.

Via hard work ... or cutting down on the extracurriculars?? (Too soon??)

No, not too soon. I had the same exact thought when I posted the article, but thought I would leave to others to back up my thinking.

Speaking firsthand, those extracurriculars can add a few.


Bulking up right now.

Not to be outdone by the Pilots picking up a transferring forward today, I'm told Fresno St. PF, 6-7 Jerry Brown (not the governor) will transfer to SCU.

I haven't seen anything to confirm this, but my source is usually impeccable.

It is also my understanding Brown will have to sit a year and will have only one year eligibility.

DoubleDipper wrote:Not to be outdone by the Pilots picking up a transferring forward today, I'm told Fresno St. PF, 6-7 Jerry Brown (not the governor) will transfer to SCU.

I haven't seen anything to confirm this, but my source is usually impeccable.

It is also my understanding Brown will have to sit a year and will have only one year eligibility.

It is confirmed that Jerry is enrolled at SCU, but I was wrong about him sitting a year....he can play instantly as a senior!

.....Santa Clara just picked up Emmanuel Ndumanya a 6-9/230 freshman center from Nigeria through Junipero Serra HS in California.

SCU already has two highly touted juniors at the center position, 6-8 Yannick Atanga from Cameroon and 7-0/280 Robert Garrett….so I see Mr. Ndumanya redshirting this year while he develops, just as Mr. Atanga did.

SCU will have 4 incoming freshmen this year and 1 who redshirted last year, and as they have no sophomores, I suspect someone will have to redshirt.

JOB OPENING...but you have to have at least 3 years of D-1 "success" as an assistant.

Kerry Keating, my second favorite coach in the WCC behind Rex Walters, is looking for an Associate Head Coach....

http://www.scu.edu/hr/careers/staff.cfm?id=3740

I'm thinking the paragraph that reads, Serve as a resource for interested parties regarding the numerous Volleyball events at Santa Clara is just someone in HR being lazy when writing the job description....

Word is the AD at Santa Clara is out!

Will Kerry Keating be far behind?  

Personally, I don't think so...$$$$.

Although the ousted/resigned AD hired Keating, and the current administration does not particularly care for Keating, I'm guessing they'll wait until his contract runs out or the program totally tanks before hiring someone new.

The San Jose Mercury spun it as Coonan seeking a job with the archdiocese of LA.

Coonan says he's "Thrilled"

http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_27937514/santa-clara-athletic-director-takes-job-l-archdioscese

DoubleDipper wrote:Word is the AD at Santa Clara is out!

Will Kerry Keating be far behind?  

Personally, I don't think so...$$$$.

Renee Baumgartner, Ph.D., a Portland native and Central Catholic HS graduate is the new AD at SCU.

http://www.scu.edu/news/releases/release.cfm?b=208&c=22654

According to Jon Wilner, Larry Williams was one of the finalists.
santa-clara-athletics-three-finalists-for-the-ad-job

Interesting that "game changing" SG, Omar Silverio has asked for and been given his release from his November signing, "due to some changes there."

Silverio, from the Dominican Republic via the Bronx, has been offered by at least 20 schools, and probably more.  

I wouldn't be too sad for SCU though, they are already bringing in four very good freshmen this fall, including a couple that could be instant starters.

Three-star freshman SG Matt Tuner is transferring.....seems the same old story of a kid being impatient to get playing time, so he's moving on.

Turner had a bunch of offers out of high school, including quite a few from P6 schools...but I'm not sure he'll get much playing time elsewhere after Coach Senden played him less and less as the season wore on.

Freshman center Julian Roche will be transferring.

Whether it was his decision or Coach Sendek's decision is hard to say, but the 6-11/245 Roche was considered a project when he arrived at SCU (seems he should have redshirted), and he only appeared a few minutes in a total of six games.

So far the transfers are not a huge loss to the Broncos, but Silverio's decision to reopen his recruiting a few days ago has to be a disappointment to the staff.  

I've heard unsubstantiated rumors that top assistant Julian Hodge might be leaving the team, and he's apparently been the main recruiter of the three individuals who have left or are not joining the team. Hodge is a former All-America at NC State and played professionally in the NBA and overseas.

DoubleDipper wrote:Freshman center Julian Roche will be transferring.

I've heard unsubstantiated rumors that top assistant Julius Hodge might be leaving the team, and he's apparently been the main recruiter of the three individuals who have left or are not joining the team. Hodge is a former All-America at NC State and played professionally in the NBA and overseas.

UPDATE: Roche is going "home" to Simon Frasier, and Coach Julian Hodge has left the team as rumored....

I wonder if SCU can lure Dick Davey away from his associate head coach job at Stanford.

Geezaldinho wrote:I wonder if SCU can lure Dick Davey away from his associate head coach job at Stanford.

Uh, no. Head Coach Herb Sendek has already hired Scott Garson to replace Hodge as his third assistant.

There was never any announcement about Hodge's departure, just Garson's hiring.

Highly regarded 6-6 guard Shaq Walters from London has decided to transfer to Northeastern University.

Apparently some thought he was attempting to transfer to a high major, but as his father passed away during the season and Shaq missed a number of games due to illness, he really just wanted to be closer to home.  Even though home may be across the Atlantic, it is still about four hours closer from Boston then it was from SFO.

I think Walters and Northeastern will really benefit from his sitting out a season as it was pretty clear he has the potential to be a terrific player once his feel for the American game improves.

A subtle change is taking place in WCC basketball this offseason as a number of schools have been bringing in talented big men, but one who is potentially the best just committed to SCU.

Native New Zealander, 6-10/250 Tai Wynyard, has transferred from Kentucky to Santa Clara.  Wynyard did not play a lot of minutes on a loaded UK team, but Coach Calapari obviously considered the 3/4 star athlete good enough to play for the Wildcats when he joined the team in 2015

Not sure how long Wynyard will have to sit or how many years of eligibility he has remaining, but he redshirted his first year at UK, then played the next two years, but this past season was cut short in December when he hurt his back.

DoubleDipper wrote:A subtle change is taking place in WCC basketball this offseason as a number of schools have been bringing in talented big men, but one who is potentially the best just committed to SCU.

Native New Zealander, 6-10/250 Tai Wynyard, has transferred from Kentucky to Santa Clara.  Wynyard did not play a lot of minutes on a loaded UK team, but Coach Calapari obviously considered the 3/4 star athlete good enough to play for the Wildcats when he joined the team in 2015

Not sure how long Wynyard will have to sit or how many years of eligibility he has remaining, but he redshirted his first year at UK, then played the next two years, but this past season was cut short in December when he hurt his back.

FYP, 6-10, not 6-1. Thanks for the updates.

SCU just got even bigger up front...

In addition to 6-10/250 New Zealander, Tai Wynard, a transfer from Kentucky, the Broncos just signed Senegal native, Fallou Ndoye, a 6-11/250 transfer from Cal State Bakersfield, and before that Mississippi St.

(In 2014 Ndoye graduated from "high school" at Findlay Prep in Las Vegas, the "school" that is comprised of only international basketball players...and no other students.)

It appears that Wynard will not be eligible this coming season due to NCAA transfer rules, but will have two years remaining at SCU.  Ndoye, a grad transfer, will play this coming season only.

The addition of Ndoye gives SCU three 6-11 front line players eligible to play this coming season....the others being senior Henrik Jädersten and freshman Ezekial Richards.

SCU's top scorer, Josip Vrankic is expected to return for his senior season, but the Broncos or losing the exciting Tahj Eaddy who's transferring to USC, and second leading scorer sophomore guard, Trey Wertz, who's name is in the transfer portal.

Also transferring with one year of eligibility left is guard David Thompson.

I have no doubt Coach Herb Sendek will find really good transfers to replace them, but it's still a big loss, IMO.