CC Spokane men’s team has only fours sophomores but is experienced while North Idaho brings in talented transfers

Jeremy Groth will have a young roster to develop this season.

The head coach of the CC Spokane men’s basketball team said he might only have four sophomores on his 16-man crew this year, but they were all significant contributors last season.

“We don’t have a lot of guys back, but we have a ton of experience back,” Groth said.

Returning sophomores Cameron Gay (Lakeside), Ryan Alexander (Gonzaga Prep) and last year’s All-Northwest Athletic Conference center Cesar Sandoval were all starters last season.

Groth’s fourth returning sophomore, 6-foot-6 forward George Pilimai (Shadle Park), wasn’t a starter, but he saw the floor roughly 20 minutes a game.

All four will likely fall right back into their leading roles, but Groth is still scoping out his large group of freshmen to build a deep rotation.

“We’re not exactly sure how it’s going to pan out over the next couple weeks, but we do have some guys that will come in and make major contributions as freshmen,” Groth said.

Some of those newbies include Anthony Parker, of Anchorage, Alaska, and Taron Mesropian, of Glendale, California, who are both in the run for a starting role at point guard.

Freshman Dedrick Pakootas, a 6-1 guard from Lewis and Clark High, is also expected to contribute.

NIC men

The North Idaho College Cardinals attracted a few transfers that head coach Corey Symons said could be key players in the team’s fight to redeem itself after falling in the first round of the NWAC Tournament last season.

Symons will particularly look to Idaho transfer Tyler Brimhall to step into a starting position at shooting guard and bring some of his Division I experience to the NIC floor.

The Cardinals also brought in 6-foot-2 guard Aushanti Potts-Woods, who came to NIC from College of Southern Idaho and Seth Christiaens, a 6-11 center who transferred from Northern Montana.

“We weren’t all that big last year,” Symons said. But this season “we’re a lot bigger than most teams … we recruited a little more size, and Seth was a big piece to that.”

The Cardinals have the option to be much deeper this season than NIC’s usual eight- or nine-man rotation because of this year’s strong freshman class, Symons said.

Freshman guards RayQuan Evans (Billings) and Keegan Crosby, who played for Nathan Hale High’s No. 1 nationally ranked team in Seattle last year, will likely start.

Jarod Greene, a 6-9 forward from Blackfoot, Idaho, will also have the opportunity to compete for a starting spot at the post.