Sven Alskog
Sports Editor
Heading into the 2015/2016 season, Idaho State men’s basketball has been picked dead last in both the Big Sky preseason coaches’ and media polls, along with recently being ranked 344 out of 351 division one teams by CBS Sports.
Fortunately for the Bengals, they don’t play the games on paper, with the doubters giving the team extra motivation to prove them wrong as they embark on the new season.
“It’s more motivation,” said redshirt sophomore Justin Smith, a key addition after missing last season with a foot injury. “I try not to let it get to me too much, but at the same time it is motivation to go out there and prove them wrong. So we’ve just got to use that to get better every day.”
ISU enters the fourth year of the Bill Evans era looking to replace four of the top five scorers from last season, including sharpshooter Chris Hansen (17.7 PPG) and rebounding machine Jeff Solarin (12.6 PPG and 8.9 RPG).
“Those guys were a big part of our team,” said Smith. “Losing them, it was big, but I think we have a lot of guys this year than can step up and they are going to have to step up. It’s going to be a big team effort this year.”
Ben Wilson and Evann Hall are the lone seniors, as the duo looks to provide veteran leadership for a relatively inexperienced group.
“I take more of a leadership role this year, but I’m not trying to do anything I can’t do,” said Wilson. “Gotta keep playing my game, being unselfish, trying to make plays for teammates. When the ball is there to score it, I’ll try to score it, but nothing really changes about the way I approach the game. Just going out there trying to win. Play defense, be unselfish.”
Wilson, a native of Australia, will slide over to the shooting guard position this year after primarily handling point guard duties last season.
The change allows ISU to get more speed and ball-handling on the floor at one time.
“We have a lot of better shooters and are a little quicker from the guard position,” stated Wilson. “Last year we were a lot bigger. I played point guard at 6’6” while Ethan [Telfair] is 6’0” and a little quicker and better ball-handler than myself. Through the two and three guards we have more depth. Those are the biggest changes. We won’t be as big, but hopefully we’ll be a lot more mobile and able to run the floor better.”
Telfair, a transfer from Redlands Community College, fits the new up-tempo style employed by Evans perfectly.
“Up and down is my type of game,” said Telfair. “I like to get into people on defense and speed them up, and on offense get into transition and push. I’m good at creating for teammates and creating a shot for myself if I need to. Really fits my style well.”
Finding players that can help create a style unique to ISU basketball was the mission for Evans and his coaching staff during the recruiting process.
“We recruited guys to fit the way that I think will be best for us to play,” Evans said. “We need to be a little more unique. Playing the combination of zone and man will be unique and playing as fast as I want to play will be unique. That doesn’t mean we are going to shoot 30 3’s, but we will play fast.”
Down low, Kyle Ingram, Spencer Nicolds and Novak Topalovic will be asked to provide a big impact, with Topalovic the lone 7-footer on the squad, and also the only member above 6’8”, giving the Bengals a height disadvantage most nights.
Newcomers Clint Nwosuh and Brandon Boyd, along with returners Erik Nakken and Geno Luzcando will be asked to bring scoring and distribution abilities to the guard line for Evans and ISU.
“The vibe is a little different: not a lot of people used to winning,” said Telfair. “So there is no expectation for us, but our team, we bring a high level to practice, high level to the weight room and everything we do.”
For Smith, he believes the defensive side of things is where there has been the most improvement during the offseason.
“We can really defend man-to-man. That will be good for us this year to be able to play man-to-man, but also play our zone. We’ll be able to switch up a little bit more.”
The Bengals begin the season with four consecutive home games, starting on Friday at Reed Gym against Montana Tech. Following that is a stretch of five contests on the road, spanning across five different states.
“Good teams find out they are good on the road, but we’re trying to handle business everywhere,” stated Telfair. “I don’t care if we are in Pocatello or Utah, we are trying to handle business. We’re coming out for the win, it doesn’t matter where we play.”
