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Show The Salt Lake Tribune COLLEGE BASKETBALL Sunday,February 18, 2001 “We don’t geta lot ofattention — at least, we didn’t until the streak — but we've got an entertaining, athletic team.” — Dixie Coach Jeff Kidder \‘eaet Ghee SUNDAY SPECIAL / DIXIE STATE COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL A Rebel Gause — Dixie College takes aim at regaining No. | spot Evenif it means takingona 6-foot-8 scorer, as Col- bert —at 63,he’s often the second-tallest Rebelon the court — sometimes is asked to? “Whatever Coach asks,I try to deliver,”said Colbert, who broke his hand in Novemberand missed a half-dozen games,“If you havegood techniqueand play good team defense, ~ youcan guard anybody.” Apparently,they can.Dixie leads the league in BYPHIL MILLER E TRIBUNE steals, whichfigures for a guard-oriented team, but it’s also No.1 in total defense despite usually having No wonder Gary Colbert's stint as the University of only onepostplayeronthefloor. He’s Money: The Rebels haveplenty ofoffense, Utah’s point guard didn’tlast long. Turnsout, he’s a powerforward. Atleast, that’sthe 6-foot-3 Californian’s occasional too, with a team thatcould win track meets as well as basketball games. The Rebels’ up-tempo gameis directed by sophomore point Banks,al- assignmentfor Dixie State College's basketball team, a squad with more guards than Buckingham Palace. speed, andthat normally meansputting four guards onthefloor at once to swarm their opponent and force turnovers. Banksformed an electric backcourt onlast sea- son’s 22-1] Dixie team with another M.B., Maurice * anda leadingcandidate for Big 12 Newcomerof the Colbert saidrecently. “It’s a fun way.to play.” Ofcourse, nothingin basketball is more fun than Year. UNLV wanted Banks, who averaged 17.6 points. ) last season andis up around19 this year, to enroll there this fall, but the Las Vegas native decided he winning,andlatelythat's all the Rebels do. TheSt. George juniorcollegeis 26-1 after defeating Ricks Col- was having too muchfun at Dixieto give up his sopho-, more season. Hefinally committed in Novemberto go'* from a Dixie Rebel to a UNLV Rebelnext season. i BanksandColbert are typical of the players Kidder: lege 72-63 in Rexburg onSaturdaynight andinfirst place in the Scenic West Athletic Conference. The Rebels’success hasn't gone unnoticed nation- Guard Gary Colbert, left, says Dixie's. offense attracts to St. George. Big men, even those without a tournamentthatfeatured three ranked teams, on suits him better than the one at Utah, while Jaime Lloredais a top post-up threat. their Burns Arena homecourt, the Rebels were anointed the No. 1 JC team in the nationforthefirst school’s secondtrip to the national tournamentin at four-year schools. But guards and small forwards 4 with Division I talentoften get squeezed outuntil they’ prove themselves ata JC,particularlyif there are aca-), demic questions. timein more than adecade. Theirseason-opening winning streak stretched to 21 games. It didn’t last long; after10 days with the top ranking, the Rebels surrenderedit in Twin Falls on Feb.2, dropping an89-76 decision to College ofSouthern Idaho because “forthe first timeall year, our defense abandoned id fourth-year coachJeff Kidder. But CSI is 24-3 and rankedfourthitself,sothat loss, giving Dixie a split of the season series, was hardly a bad one thoughit has madethefinal two weeks of the SWACseasoninteresting. It droppedthe Rebels onlytoNo. behind unbeaten WabashValley College of Illinois. Regional Focus: The Rebels’ spectacular season is stirring memories around southern Utahof Dixie's 1985 team,a groupofRebels led by former BYU player and SUUcoach Neil Roberts that went 35-1 and won Photos by Jenna Isaacson/TheSalt Lake Tribune Dixie’s Marcus Banks dunks during a 70-61 victory over Salt Lake Community College earlier this season in Taylorsville. He's one of the legionsof athletic guards that the Rebels sic on opponents,in a frenzied effort to create tuovers and score easy baskets. the school's only national championship. ap a t » Hutchinson, Kan., since that 1985 title year. Kidder has guided Dixieto the Region18title game eachofhisfirst three seasons,but only in 1999 did the Rebels survive. Theyfinished sixth in the NJCAA Tournament that season. “We're not lookingpast our next game,” Colbert said. “The rankingis nice, butit doesn’t mean muchif you don’t get to the tournament. So we're just thinking about tonight's game, tomorrow’s game.” It’s the Rebels that give opponents something to think about, though. Like, how are they goingto get theball up the court, muchless score upon, Dixie’s high-energy trapping andpressing defense? The Rebels guard opponents in a mannerakin to the way autograph-seekers stalk Tiger Woods: They ambusha point guard, surroundthe ball, get in the way andcreate havoc until it seemsasif there are sevenoreight Rebels on the court. Masters ofthe 10- Don't speakoftitles around the Rebels, though; the onlychampionship they are concerned with right now is the SWAC; at13-1 in conference,they barely lead points-in-30-seconds run,they score a large portion of 11-2 CSI. Holding thatlead wouldallow Dixie to stage the Region18 postseason tournamentin St. George, a opponentsas it is energizingto the Rebels. “I don’t evenlookto score,” said Colbert, an attitudetypical at Dixie this year. “I just try to play de- large hurdle that stands between them andonly the fense as PTED! Now Through Feb. 13, WEST VALLEY DODGE Will Make It EASY TO BUYwith... A ~' Baker — now OklahomaState's starting point guard ? “It’s a style of basketball that’s a greatfit for me,” ally. Dixie opened the season ranked 20th in the country (not including California schools) by the NJCAA. andquicklyclimbed to 17th, then 11th, thenfifth. And soonafter winning the Oasis New Year's Invitational, ~' most certainly the SWAC’s mostvaluable player and a likely JC All-American as well. 2 ‘TheRebels eschew height for athleticism, powerfor their points off turnovers, which is as demoralizing to asIcan.” = great basketball skills, can generally find scholarships Academics was the reason Coach Rick Majerus cited for Colbert's departure from Utah last July, with . the coach saying he was “disappointed in Gary's 4 progress and commitmentin the classroom.” : But Colbert disputed that when hetransferred, say-ing Utah’s regimented offense played thebiggestrole. “I didn’t leave Utah because of academics.It was by = mutual consent,” Colbert said.“It was not the pro- gram for me.I couldn’t makedecisionsas the point ard.” guard. It appears he has madea good decisionat Dixie. Playing alongside Banks, with running mates Eddie Shelby and Dominique Townes on the wings — notto mention 6-9 Panamanian center JaimeLloreda,the Rebels’ mostconsistentpost-up threat — Colbert has helped makethis year’s Rebels oneof thebest, ifunknown,college teamsin the state. “He's a terrific asset,” Kiddersaid ofColbert, who’ has notrevealed his basketball intentions beyondthis season.“Wedon't geta lotofattention — atleast, we didn’t until the streak — but we've got an entertain- '’ ing, athletic team.” These days, nearly unbeatable,too. e-mail: pmiller@sltrib.com Get high-speed Internet access | in days ... not weeks ——sUSE YOUR JOB AND DOWN PAYMENT AS YOUR CREDIT! — i; wer. - | Sagi ba q <a ~~ ae 955-7448 oe vired of being turned down? ~~ WE'RE READY TO SAY i rer] Pe UCCCo Ou Ts: a Order Sprint BroadbandDirect now and save *299 a SCRMORO y OeaststOk V@| i Why Wait? aor ro Tete Ey 4) PATMF DER outa) ea Pea OTCLey) PosTt err) Cu mn eT OTenT) erasdi * Alwayson, always connected « No phoneline or cable connection needed * Simple to get, simple to use Hurry for rows of low priced vehicles starting at... 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