College basketball 2012-2013

They know what to expect from Brock Motum. That much, at least, is certain. Otherwise, the Washington State men’s basketball team leaves much to the imagination. Four seniors are gone from last year’s team, as well as dismissed starting point guard Reggie Moore.

It’s been a while since Gonzaga navigated through a preseason without encountering some turbulence. Two years ago it was forward Elias Harris battling a shoulder injury, followed by an early season issue with his Achilles tendon. Last year it was Guy Landry Edi’s eight-game suspension handed down by the NCAA. This season, junior forward Kelly Olynyk will sit out the first three games for a violation of the Student Code of Conduct.

Fans once needed a roster to learn about their favorite college basketball players. Nowadays, a map would come in handy. One of those spinning global maps. Area Division-I schools continue to reach across borders and oceans in search of talent. Five of Gonzaga’s 12 scholarship players were born outside the U.S. Eastern Washington has six international players – three Germans and three Australians. Washington State has a trio of Aussies. Idaho doesn’t have a foreign player this year, a first in coach Don Verlin’s five seasons.

Christmas will be a little different at the Verlin household this December. Idaho basketball coach Don Verlin has invited foreign players over to his house the last four Christmases because there wasn’t enough time for them to travel back home. Verlin’s previous rosters have included Brazilians Luis Augusto, Luciano de Souza and Luiz Toledo, and Canadian Djim Bandoumel, but the current roster doesn’t have an international player.

Eastern Washington basketball coach Jim Hayford was on a recruiting trip in Germany and feeling a bit jet-lagged from a long flight. “We’re on an express train and if you miss your stop on one of those, like I did, the next thing you know you’re an hour down the road,” Hayford cracked. “After that happened I made sure the phone alarm was very loud.”