October 17, 2004 in Sports

Zags glad to be back on court

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As expected, everyone involved in the opening day of basketball practice at Gonzaga University was happy to be back.

“It feels good,” junior guard Erroll Knight said Saturday morning, just moments after the Bulldogs’ initial 2-hour workout in the McCarthey Athletic Center had wrapped up. “The first day of practice is always exciting. You’re anxious to get going, and you don’t know what to expect.

“We were a little rusty out there today, but everybody went hard. And it was fun.”

That was easy to see in the smiles on the faces of the Bulldogs players.

It was much more difficult, however, to tell what impressed the returning veterans the most – the new $25.1 million arena in which the 2-hour workout was held, or the new faces that were in attendance.

“Awesome,” was the word most used to describe the 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic Center, which will serve as the Bulldogs new home this winter.

And some of the assessments of GU’s latest recruiting class – junior college transfer J.P. Batista and freshmen Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes, David Pendergraft and Josh Heytvelt – were almost as complimentary.

Batista, a 6-foot-8, 265-pounder from Brazil, expects to see plenty of minutes alongside Turiaf as the Bulldogs try to cope with the loss of five seniors – including two-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year Blake Stepp.

Last year, the Zags finished third in the Associated Press’ final regular-season top-25 Ratings and ended up 28-3 after being upset by Nevada, 91-72, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Turiaf, last year’s leading scorer, and junior Erroll Knight are the only two returning starters from that team, but sophomores Adam Morrison, Derek Raivio and Sean Mallon all played considerable minutes.

And much of this year’s success, Coach Mark Few insists, will depend on how quickly his talented trio of sophomores – and Knight, a second-year transfer from Washington – continue to mature.

“Derek needs to step up,” Few said of the 6-2 Raivio, who spelled Stepp at the point as a freshman. “We don’t need to be having to worry about correcting Derek on bad habits or situations that we covered with him last year. And the same with Adam.

“Those two guys have to have a maturity about them that will show they’re capable of taking care of business and doing all the little things involved with being successful. That’s a big key. Then we can spend the majority of our time getting the new guys up to speed, without having to correct Adam, Derrick and Erroll.”

The 6-9 Mallon, Few said, had a “great off-season” and “is ready.”

Still, there are major questions to be answered as the Bulldogs attempt to reload in anticipation of another brutally difficult non-conference schedule that includes neutral-site games against national powers Illinois, Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech, and a return date with Missouri on the Tigers home court in Columbia, Mo.

“We’ve got our hands full,” Few admitted. “We’ve got a lot of teaching and a lot of developing to do – all in a short time. And yet we can’t lose sight of where we’re trying to go, because by the end of the year – if our guys stay positive and listen and all of that – I think we’ve really got a lot of room to grow, just because we have so many new guys.”

Turiaf said he likes what he sees in the younger players who will be forced to step in and assume starting roles and additional responsibilities this season.

When asked about the new arena, Turiaf added, “I already have chills up my back just thinking about how 6,000 people are going to come in here and cheer for us – and cheer against the other team.”

The Bulldogs will play a home exhibition game against Emporia State on Nov. 5, before officially dedicating the new home of The Kennel on Nov. 19 with a season-opening, non-conference matchup against Portland State.

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