The Eastern Oregon University men’s basketball team opens its 2010-11 regular season Friday night in Portland at Portland Bible College.
The Mountaineers return to the court after making their third straight trip to the national sweet 16. EOU welcomes one of the finest recruiting classes in the school’s history this year. Isaac Williams begins his second year as Eastern’s head coach after leading EOU to its fourth consecutive 20-win season in 2009-10.
Eastern finished one game behind Oregon Tech for the Cascade Collegiate Conference title a year ago. EOU finished the season at No. 13 in the NAIA Div. 2 Top 25, and hosted a postseason game for the third straight season. The Mountaineers fell to Warner Pacific in the conference tournament semifinals, but advanced to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive season.
EOU met Davenport (Mich.) in the first round of the NAIA Div. 2 National Tournament in Point Lookout, and after trailing by double digits in the second half, the Mountaineers rallied for the opening round win. The nation’s third-ranked team, Indiana Wesleyan, struggled in the first half with Eastern Oregon. EOU led the Wildcats at halftime, but were overcome in the second half and ended the season, 23-9.
Back Court
Eastern Oregon returns only four players, three at the guard position, from last season’s 12-man roster. Thomas McCarthy is one of three seniors in this year’s lineup. The 6-0, 170-pound, shooting guard comes back for his final year at EOU after averaging 8.5 points and 4.7 rebounds a game last season. The Prineville, Ore. native, will be looked at to provide an outside threat for the Mountaineers after shooting 37 percent from the field in 2009-10.
Josh Cottle and Cody Thurmond will carry the point guard responsibilities for Eastern this season. Cottle lead the team last year with 4.3 assists per game, while adding 7.7 points per game. The Heber City, Utah native came to Eastern Oregon last year by way of NCAA Div. 1’s Weber State University. Thurmond made great strides as the year progressed in his freshman season in 2009-10. The 6-0, 165-pound, Poulsbo, Wash. native, dished out 2.7 assists and scored 6.7 points per game.
The Mountaineers will look for more unselfish play from the back court this year after leading the Cascade Conference in assists, averaging 15.8 per game, which was also 15th in the nation. Eastern shot 38 percent from behind the perimeter which was second in the conference.
JC Cook enters NAIA basketball after being named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference newcomer of the year a season ago at NCAA Div. 2’s Central Washington University. The Canby, Ore. native helped lead the Cougars to the NCAA Div. 2 National Tournament, averaging 14.7 points per game. Cook was named second team All-GNAC for his efforts.
Jamar Johnson comes to La Grande after excelling at Mt. Hood Community College. The 6-3 incoming junior averaged 16.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season for the Saints. He also shot 43 percent from behind the perimeter for MHCC. The Portland, Ore. native was named Southern Region first team as a sophomore and second team as a freshman.
Former Pima Community College contributor, Travares Peterson, joins the Mountaineers after a great two-year stint in Arizona. The El Paso, Texas native excelled at Chapin High School before moving onto PCC. Peterson, a 6-4 wing, helped lead Pima Community College to the school’s first ever trip to the NJCAA National Tournament and a seventh place finish. He was named a NJCAA National Player of the Week during the 2009-10 season. He averaged 17.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore, while shooting 51 percent from the field and 44 percent from behind the arc.
Cook, Johnson, and Peterson were all named preseason All-Cascade Conference by the league’s coaches. Jared Heitzman will make his debut after taking a redshirt year in 2009-10. The 6-3, 180-pound freshman had an excellent career at Lewiston High School in Lewiston, Idaho before signing with Eastern Oregon.
Front Court
The fourth returning player for Eastern is Robert Barrington. The 6-5, 210-pound, sophomore shot 42 percent from the field in seven games last season. The Virginia City, Nev. native grabbed 11 rebounds and scored 14 points in 2009-10.
Anthony Brown joins Cottle as a NCAA Div. 1 transfer. The 6-5, 210-pound wing/forward, shined at Spokane’s Shadle Park High School before signing on to play at Washington State University. There, Brown appeared in three games as a true freshman. The Spokane, Wash. native was a four-year letter winner at Shadle Park. Brown was named to the All-Greater Spokane League second team his sophomore and junior seasons. He was then named the league’s Most Valuable Player and the Washington state Player of the Year in Class 3A his senior season.
Jason Mumm averaged 15.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game last season at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Ore. The incoming junior was an Eastern Region player at the NWAACC All-Star Game in 2009-10. The 6-7 forward had a standout career at Kimberly High School in Kimberly, Idaho before playing for the Chukars.
Jeff Ranstrom, a native of Eagle, Idaho, averaged 15.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season at Big Bend Community College. Ranstrom enters the Eastern Oregon campus after being the winner of the NWAACC’s Red Lion Scholarship in 2010 for academic excellence. The 6-4 forward received an academic leadership award last year after achieving a 3.92 GPA. The former Eagle High School star was named first team All-Eastern Region as a sophomore at BBCC and second team as a freshman.
Kyllian Wood, a Springfield, Ore. native, comes to Eastern averaging 16 points and nine rebounds per game at Thurston High School last year. The 6-7 incoming freshman earned All-Midwestern League honors and played in the OSAA All-Star Series. Wood ended his high school career with a team-high 20 points in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament in 2009-10.
The Mountaineers led the conference in rebound margin last season (+9.8), and was third in NAIA Div. 2 in that stat category. Eastern was second in the CCC in scoring defense giving up only 69 points per game. EOU was fifth in the conference in scoring offense averaging 78 points per game.
Schedule
Eastern Oregon was picked fifth in the CCC preseason poll last season before making a run that ended at second in the conference and 13th in the nation. This year the Mountaineers begin at No. 18, it’s the second highest ranking in the preseason poll in school history. EOU had its best preseason ranking in the 2008-09 season when they started at No. 6. Eastern climbed to No. 3 in the national poll that season, the highest in school history, before ending the season in the national quarterfinals.
The Mountaineers begin the season at Portland Bible, a team that gave Eastern some trouble in last season’s meeting before EOU won, 85-72. PBC has already played three games, and enters the matchup with EOU, 1-2. Eastern Oregon stays in Portland for its second game the following night at Multnomah University. The Lions and the Mountaineers met in the 2008 season opener in Hermiston, Ore. Eastern eased to a 111-55 win. MU made only five two-point shots, but hit 13 of their 49 three-point attempts. EOU shot nine three-pointers in that game, and made three.
Eastern Oregon welcomes Montana Tech, Walla Walla University, and The College of Idaho to the annual Quinn Classic on Nov. 5th and 6th. The Mountaineers and Montana Tech split their two meetings last season, with the home team winning each game. EOU won both meetings with Walla Walla in 2009-10.
The Mountaineers travel to Helena, Mont. on Nov. 19th and 20th for the Carroll College Classic. EOU opens the tournament against Rocky Mountain College, who won the NAIA Div. 1 national title in 2008-09. Eastern will then play the host, Carroll College, the following night.
The next weekend, Thanksgiving weekend, Eastern plays in Walla Walla, Wash. at the Vineyard Inn Classic hosted by Whitman College. EOU opens with Whitman on Nov. 26, and then plays another NCAA Div. 3 opponent the next night, Pacific Lutheran.
December 3rd and 4th is the opening of the Cascade Conference schedule. The Mountaineers start league play with The Evergreen State College. The Geoducks welcome a couple players back from a team that made their second straight trip to the national tournament last season. TESC was picked ninth in the conference preseason poll.
Northwest University and EOU were each picked second the CCC preseason poll in a tie. The teams will meet in La Grande on Dec. 4. The Eagles return four starters from a 17-14 finish last season. NU finished tied in fourth in league play in 2009-10 behind preseason All-Conference performer, Greg George.
A trip to Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech follow on Dec. 17th and 18th for the Mountaineers. Eastern has found success against the Raiders as of late, but have not won at OIT since 1979. Tech returns only one starter from last season’s team, but received the top spot in the conference preseason poll. Joseph Foster returns for his senior year and was named the CCC Preseason Player of the Year.
Concordia and Warner Pacific loom on Dec. 30 and New Year’s Eve in La Grande. Concordia was picked sixth in the preseason poll, while WPC was fifth. The Knights have found more success at Quinn Coliseum than any other team in the past five seasons. Eastern has won 54 of the last 59 games in Quinn Coliseum, but three of those five losses have come to Warner Pacific. The EOU men have won 30 out of the last 31 regular season games at home. Eastern has won 25 straight conference regular season games in Quinn Coliseum.
Eastern rounds out the first half of the conference schedule with The College of Idaho, Northwest Christian, and Corban University. EOU went 5-1 against those teams a year ago, with the lone loss coming at Corban late in the regular season.
Friday’s game at Portland Bible College will have live audio from the Rose City. Pregame begins at 6:45 p.m. with Barrett Henderson calling the action from the PBC campus. Last season’s meeting with the Wildcats was the first all-time between the schools. Live audio will be available at EOUSports.com with tipoff set at 7 p.m.