Locally: Eastern Washington assistant Bobby Suarez named to Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team
Bobby Suarez, an assistant at Eastern Washington for three seasons, has been selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to the Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team.
The list represents those the NABC considers 30 of the most outstanding men’s college coaches younger than 30.
A 2012 graduate of Florida Gulf Coast, who spent four seasons on the staff at Florida State before arriving at Eastern, Suarez is the second member of head coach Shantay Legans’ staff to be named to the 30-under-30 team. David Riley was honored in 2016-17.
“Bobby is a shooting star; the sky is the limit for him as his career keeps moving forward,” Legans said. “He has a great ability to relate to our players and also all of our recruits. His work ethic is incredible and we are lucky to have him on our side.
“What impresses me the most about Bobby is his attentiveness and desire to work hard and win. He has been around winning basketball programs all his career.”
Suarez started as a director of operations intern and head student manager at Florida Gulf Coast from 2009-13. The Eagles became the first No. 15 seed to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 2013.
In three seasons, Suarez has helped the Eagles win 59 games and the outright Big Sky Conference regular-season championship in 2019-20. EWU also appeared in the Big Sky Tournament championship game the previous two seasons.
Suarez assists with player development with emphasis on the guards. His other responsibilities include recruiting, in-season scouting of opponents, on-court coaching and summer camps coordination.
Awards
Kelly Graves, the former Gonzaga women’s basketball coach who guided the Oregon women to a 31-2 record and a final No. 2 national ranking, was named the 2020 Oregon Sports Awards Sportsperson of the Year.
Graves, who tied for the award in 2019, was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the second straight season after guiding the Ducks to the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament championships. Oregon finished the abbreviated season on a 19-game win streak.
In six seasons at Oregon, Graves has a 155-54 record, bringing his 25-year head coaching record to 582-256.
On top of Graves’ award, the Ducks were the Female Team of the Year and senior Sabrina Ionescu, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, won a third straight Female Amateur Athlete of the Year award.
College scene
Washington State landed 10 players on the Athlon Sports Preseason All-Pac-12 football team.
Running back Max Borghi was listed as an all-purpose player on the first-team offense, where he was joined by right tackle Abraham Lucas, with Blake Mazza the first-team kicker.
The second team had linebacker Jahad Woods on defense. Wide receiver Tay Martin and left tackle Liam Ryan landed on the third-team offense, safety Skyler Thomas on the third-team defense, with punter Oscar Draguicevich and kick returner Travell Harris are third-team specialists.
Defensive lineman Will Rodgers was on the fourth-team defense.
• Eastern Washington is 20th, the fifth of five Big Sky Conference schools ranked in Athlon Sports Preseason FCS Top 25 football poll.
Weber State is third, Montana State fifth, Montana seventh and Sacramento State 12th. All were ranked in the top 25 of the final 2019 poll and are in the top 25 of the 2020 HERO Sports FCS preseason poll. Defending national champion North Dakota State is No. 1.
• Zach Stocker, a sophomore from Central Valley with a 3.70 grade-point average, and junior Matthew Ruel (3.64) were named to the West Coast Conference Men’s Golf All-Academic Team. Three Bulldogs earned honorable mention honors for a second time.
Ruel, who was honorable mention in 2019, was joined on that list this year by senior Nick Nolan (3.42) and juniors Robert Backes (3.90) and Charlie Magruder (3.47).
• Gonzaga landed sophomores Quynn Duong (3.50) and Federica Torre (3.48) on the WCC Women’s Golf All-Academic Team.
• Seniors Simon Homedes Dualde and Kyle Everly led a contingent of six Gonzaga Bulldogs named to WCC All-Academic Teams in men’s tennis.
Everly (3.85) is a three-time All-Academic selection while Homedes Dualde (3.90) was honored for a second straight year following an honorable mention accord in 2018.
Senior Vincent Rettke (3.25) and junior Hunter Egger (3.31) earned honorable mention for a second time and senior Sam Feit (3.37) and junior Matthew Perkins (3.81) for the first.
• After earning honorable mention each of the past two seasons, junior Kate Ketels of Gonzaga was named to the WCC All-Academic Team in women’s tennis with a 3.57 GPA.
Zags earning honorable mention were senior Haruna Tsuruta (3.25) and sophomore Vlada Medvedcova (3.41).
Golf
The Creek at Qualchan yielded two holes-in-one in a three-day period last week. Eric Pinick used a 4-iron to ace the 209-yard fourth hole on Friday after Terry Kelly aced the 142-yard seventh hole on Wednesday with a 5-iron.
• Jim Carothers scored a hole-in-one on the 155-yard 10th hole at Sandpoint Elks Golf Course using a 6-iron.
• Braxxton Barker scored a hole-in-one on the 130-yard first hole at Prairie Falls Golf Club in Post Falls using a 9-iron.
• Scott Erickson scored a hole-in-one on the 200-yard eighth hole at Downriver on Wednesday with a 4-iron.
• Raul Vijil scored a hole-in-one on the 185-yard 17th hole at the Links Golf Club in Post Falls on May 30.
Hockey
Canadian Hockey League postseason award winners:
Andre Tourigny, Ontario Hockey League champion Ottawa 67’s, Coach of the Year; Xavier Simoneau, Drummondville (Quebec) Voltigeurs captain and forward, Humanitarian of the Year; Cole Perfetti, Saginaw (Michigan) Spirit forward, Scholastic Player of the Year; Nick Robertson, Peterborough (Ontario) Petes forward, Sportsman of the Year; Shane Wright, Kingston (Ontario) Frontenacs forward, Rookie of the Year.
The final three CHL awards will be announced this week, with Spokane’s Ty Smith (defenseman of the year) and Adam Beckman (player of the year) among the finalists.
• Dustin Wolf of Everett was the 2019-20 Western Hockey League Goaltender of the Year. The Calgary Flames prospect had a 34-10-2-0 record, 1.88 goals-against average, .935 save percentage and nine shutouts. He led the league in GAA, save percentage and shutouts and tied for first in wins.
Letters of intent
Hawaii Pacific acrobatics and tumbling: Jaylyn Oka, Lake City HS, 4.0 GPA, Northwest Gymnastics Academy of Spokane, Level 9 gymnast, first uneven bars, second vault, balance beam and all-around in Senior B at Fiesta Bowl 2020, three top-three all-around finishes in four 2020 meets, tie for first vault, fifth all-around in Junior B at 2019 Washington State Optional Championships.
Idaho men’s golf: Matthew McGann, Gonzaga Prep, first-team All-GSL in 2019, tied for 13th at 2019 State 4A meet, tied for sixth at 2019 WJGA State Championships, helped lead G-Prep to 2018 State 4A championship.
Miscellany
Washington State University senior associate athletic director and chief operating officer Bryan Blair has been selected to the National Sports Forum Steering Committee that brings together professional and collegiate sports to discuss trends, ideas and innovations throughout the industry.
In February, Blair was named to the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association Board of Directors for 2020-21.
• Eastern Washington University athletic director Lynn Hickey and senior woman administrator Sarah Adams were appointed by the Big Sky Conference president’s council to be co-chairs of the joint athletic council.