No tall tales

It’s not that Kirk Earlywine minds asking his Eastern Washington Eagles to rebound by committee. Such an approach has become the norm in college basketball these days, as the 14-boards-a-game species nears extinction.

It’s just that Earlywine wishes his “committee” members were a little taller.

“It’s going to have to be gang tackling – everybody to the boards – as far as rebounding is concerned,” said EWU’s first-year coach, whose guard-heavy roster includes only three players taller than 6-foot-6 and none taller than 6-9.

“We don’t have anybody who’s going to average 12 rebounds a game, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be a good rebounding team.”

What it does mean, however, is that the Eagles will encounter some major matchup problems on the front line this winter as they attempt to overcome a turbulent off-season that resulted in the firing of Earlywine’s predecessor, Mike Burns, and a mass exodus of players – including last year’s top scorer and third-leading rebounder, Rodney Stuckey, who left school early for the NBA draft.

“We’re definitely not going to be very big,” said 6-9 sophomore center Brandon Moore, who averaged 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds as a redshirt freshman and backup post player on last year’s 15-14 team that failed to qualify for the Big Sky Conference tournament for the first time since 1997. “But I think I’m ready for the challenge.”

As one of only three returning letterwinners and the biggest player on Eastern’s roster, Moore’s minutes are likely to increase dramatically from the 14.3 he averaged last season. He will be asked to steer clear of the foul problems that plagued him as a freshman – especially if 6-6 redshirt freshman Jack Loofburrow, who will start the season in street clothes because of a stress fracture in his foot, is unable to make it back on the court.

“He’s going to have to be a workhorse,” Earlywine said of Moore, who joins senior wing Kellen Williams and senior guard Marcus Hinton as the only three returning players from last season. “He, Kellen and Matt Brunell (6-8 sophomore transfer from Big Bend Community College) are going to have to shoulder a big load and play long minutes.

“And we’ve got to make sure any fouls those guys commit are good fouls – not silly ones or useless one. They can’t play as hard and as physical and as aggressive as I want them to play without fouling some, but we’ve got to eliminate the bad fouls.”

Williams, a 6-4 small forward who started 16 games and averaged 8.4 points and 5.6 rebounds last year, will also be asked to greatly increase his production this winter. Moore is certain his team captain will do just that.

“Kellen’s probably going to snag a bunch of rebounds from me, because he can jump out of the gym,” Moore said. “But because of our lack of size, we’re going to have to have all our guards coming to the boards, as well.”

Earlywine said he would prefer to redshirt Petar Milasinovic, a 6-8 freshman from Serbia, but said he might not have that luxury unless Loofburrow makes a quicker-than-expected recovery.

“It’s a tough situation,” Earlywine said of the lack of big men on his roster – a problem stemming from the many player defections and the late recruiting start he got after being hired in mid-June.

“As is always the case, there were more guards available in June, July and August than big guys, and I wasn’t going to compromise and take a guy I didn’t think was good enough, just to take a big guy. So, we ended up – partly because of a (university-imposed) reduction of scholarships from 13 to 12, and partly because of the time – very shorthanded on the front line.”

The backcourt, however, is a different story, with Hinton heading a long list of guard types who are dreadfully short on Division-I experience. Still, the Eagles will probably be forced to play with at least three of them on the floor at all times.

Earlywine has been particularly pleased with the practice performances of newcomers Milan Stanojevic, another Serbian and 6-2 junior who averaged 17.8 points per game for Northwest (Wyo.) College last year, and 5-11 junior Adris DeLeon, who averaged 8.4 points, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals for College of Southern Idaho last winter.

“Milan has been very, very good in practice,” Earlywine said, “and Adris has been spectacular at times – especially defensively. He’s a much better defender than what I anticipated.”

Earlywine has also liked the effort of Gibson, a first-year transfer from Miami Dade (Fla.) College, but would like to see the 6-1 sophomore become more assertive.

“We’ve got to get Gary to talk more and give more to the team,” Earlywine said. “He’s a quiet guy, by nature, off the floor, but we need him to come out of his personality on the court and give more, verbally and in terms of direction.

“For us to be good, we’ve got to have some leadership from the backcourt – verbal leadership.”

Among the other guards who will be looking for playing time are Blake Solomon, a 6-2 junior transfer from Big Bend, and Trey Gross, a 6-2 freshman out of Edison High School in Stockton, Calif.

Another pair of backcourt prospects, first-year transfers Benny Valentine (Texas Tech) and Andy Genoa (Prairie View A&M) will redshirt this winter, along with walk-on junior forward Jeff Christensen (Lewis & Clark College), under the NCAA’s transfer rule.

EWU plays a home exhibition game Friday against Pacific University before opening one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in recent memory on the road against Washington State on Nov. 9.

“Whew!” Earlywine, a former longtime Weber State assistant, said of the schedule, which also includes a trip to the Great Alaska Shootout and stops at Washington, New Mexico and Kansas.