Full flock of Eagles

Kirk Earlywine is ecstatic about having his favorite motivation tool – the bench – back in play.

Last year, in his first season as men’s basketball coach at Eastern Washington University, Earlywine was forced to make do with an abridged roster that included only nine eligible players and played a major role in the Eagles’ 11-19 record, which included a 6-10 mark against Big Sky Conference foes and a seventh-place finish in the league standings.

But this fall, he has assembled a full roster of 15 players – including six returning letterwinners – that he hopes will greatly enhance not only the quality of his practices, but his team’s effort and execution during games.

“It allows us to have better practices, because guys can get some rest now, as opposed to last year when we pretty much had everybody on the floor the whole time,” Earlywine said recently while ticking off the advantages of having a full complement of players. “And from a game perspective, it allows me to use what I believe is the best motivator there is, and that’s the bench.

“A year ago, when I’d sit guys down for not playing hard or making bad decisions, they knew in the back of their minds that somebody else out on the floor would eventually make a similar mistake and they would be going back into the game. But this year, if I have to take someone out – especially for lack of effort – there’s a distinct possibility he won’t be going back in.”

Among the top returning players on this year’s roster are senior point guard Adris DeLeon, who averaged 12.5 points as a part-time starter last winter after transferring in from College of Southern Idaho, and junior center Brandon Moore, who averaged 7.3 points and 5.8 rebounds as a sophomore and played his best basketball in the final month of the season.

Sophomore shooting guard Trey Gross, who started 26 games and averaged 7.3 points as a true freshman, is also back, along with backcourt regulars Gary Gibson, a junior who averaged 5.7 points, and senior Milan Stanojevic, who averaged 7.9 while shooting a team-best 36.5 percent (64 of 174) from 3-point range. Junior forward Matt Brunell (3.2 ppg) also returns after starting 14 games as a sophomore.

But the Eagles’ fortunes might well hinge on the contributions of five newcomers, three of which sat out the 2007-08 season under the NCAA’s transfer rule.

Bennie Valentine, a 5-foot-7 junior guard who redshirted last winter after transferring from Texas Tech, should be among the quickest and most exciting players in the Big Sky, while senior Andy Genao, a transfer from Prairie View A&M, and senior Jeff Christensen, an invited walk-on who also redshirted last year after transferring from Lewis & Clark College, are expected to add depth on the wings.

First-year junior college transfers Chris Busch and Mark Dunn will also contend for playing time this winter, with Earlywine hoping to redshirt his two true freshmen, Abebe Demissie and Kevin Winford, along with John Clark, a 6-10, 215-pound JC transfer, who, according to Earlywine, still needs some work in the weight room.

“The new guys who are older are the ones we’re counting on,” said Earlywine, whose Eagles lost last Saturday’s exhibition opener 58-56 to Carroll College. “Benny Valentine is a guy who’s capable of being one of the better guards in our league, but that dirty word ‘potential’ certainly applies to him, because he hasn’t proven he can do it at this level yet.”

Valentine averaged 17.6 points per game as a freshman at Howard College before transferring to Texas Tech, where he played in 20 games and averaged 3.5 points as a sophomore under coach Bobby Knight during the 2006-07 season.

Genao and Christensen have both been impressive in practices, according to Earlywine, and Busch is expected to be in the starting lineup after averaging 20.9 points and 8.9 rebounds for Merritt College last winter.

Still, there are major leadership issues that must be addressed following the graduation loss of last year’s top scorer and rebounder, Kellen Williams.

“One of the biggest questions we have is who’s going to fill the void left by Kellen,” Earlywine said. “If there’s one guy who can do it, or a group of guys, I just don’t know, because it certainly hasn’t happened yet.”

Also gone from last year’s roster are Marcus Hinton, another graduation loss; Jack Loofburrow, who gave up basketball; and Petar Milasinovic, who transferred to Blinn College in Texas after redshirting last winter because of a foot injury.