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Show /port/ B2 MONDAY*OCTOBER 31 -2005 vcince Hunsaker You may not know this about Dick Hunsaker, but when UVSC men's basketball parted ways with Jeff Rienert back in 2002, they brought in a coach with some history. Hunsaker wasn't simply promoted from a quality high school program or as a Snow College Assistant, he's coached in the former CBA. He's coached in the heat of a Mountain West Conference race, and believe it or not, he's even coached in the spotlight of the Sweet 16. Jerry (Shark) the Tarkanian, built the University of Nevada Las Vegas into a national powerhouse in the 80's and early 90's. During the 1989-90 season, the Running Rebels were nearly unbeatable, going 28-3 during the regular season and destroying every opponent they matched up against in the NCAA tournament. That is, except 12th seeded Ball St. whom Hunsaker coached that year. He was a Rick Majerus protege, taking over for him after leaving the Muncie, Indiana school to begin his stint with Utah. It was then and there something fairytale started happening. After winning the Mid-American Conference Tournament, and finishing with a decent regular season record of 24-6, nobody was really positive if the Cardinals were actually capable of making noise on the headliner stage of the Big Dance. The run started with Oregon St. "Ball St? I think I heard someone say it's in Indiana," said star point guard, Gary Payton, who played for the Beavers before becoming a legend in the NBA. Payton was one of several Ball State opponents that would later make a nice living playing basketball, but the Cardinal's roster was quite the opposite. Most of them were Majerus recruits. Paris McCurdy and Curtis Kidd were both Arkansas-Little Rock transfers. Billy Butts and Chandler Thompson were hometown boys, and Scott Nichols harbored from Detroit. Guys like Emanuel Cross, Grea; Miller and Mike Spicer came off the bench. I mention their names, not because there's a chance you may recognize one of them, but so that you get the idea of what Hunsaker was working with at the time. It was a team that survived by defense. Majerus-like, sound familiar? In fact, the Cardinals hadn't let an opponent score more than 80 points all season. It wasn't an incredibly athletic unit by any means, but one that was mature and very team oriented. Against Oregon State, the Cardinals took it right to the top tier of the Pac~ 10 in a game that went See RANT-B4 Chad Clark/NotxN-wi After three strong years, what happens in year four? Morgan Vance Sports Editor U VSC's men's basketball team posted a 16-12 record last year. They were 12-1 at home, and 9-1 against the other D-l Independents. On November 27, they shocked a visiting Boise St club in a game where the Wolverines led by as many as 30 points, and won by 19. Others, including Weber St, Cleveland St. and Montana St suffered similar results inside the McKay Center, and it took Oral Roberts (who was undefeated at the time) a buzzer-beating three pointer to hand the Wolverines their only 2004/05 defeat in Orem. On top of taking the NCAA by surprise, their best player received national attention. Ronnie Price was the country's second leading scorer for a time, before settling on third at season's end. Averaging just over 24 points each time he stepped onto the hardwood, the senior was an awe-dropping highlight reel and a productive team captain. But as Price takes his game to the NBA, UVSC is left without its poster boy; and fourth year head coach, Dick Hunsaker, is left needing to generate some excitement without him. "It's very unfair to put an expectation on a team when you lose a player of Price's magnitude," said Hunsaker. "Ronnie was not only an incredibly productive player statistically, he brought every intangible that you want as a coach." With all that offense suddenly lost, Hunsaker looks to seven returnees and five newcomers to collectively pick up the load. Senior, Pierre Thomas, and junior, David Heck, should lead that effort. Thomas is one of only two players in their fourth year with the program. He remembers the junior college days playing with Price, Jamal Brown and Jim Hanchett. He remembers losing a 2003 playoff thriller to Dixie St down in St. George. He remembers winning the 2004 D-l Independent Provisional Championship in Florida, and he remembers all the highs and lows from a year ago. Thomas has played his share of minutes at the one, two and three positions, but no matter where he ends up playing in 2005/06, he'll surely be looked upon to carry an offense, currently without a leader. Heck came on strong mid-to-late season last year, often times joining Price in providing the Wolverines with a one-two offensive punch. Averaging just under ten points a game. Heck knocked down a huge three-pointer in a close win over Idaho St, and at times displayed his athleticism around the basket with his long 6'6 frame. 6'10 center, Ben Davoe, also returns to anchor the middle; as do seniors, Russell Wesley and Sylvester Allison, junior, Matt Petersen and sophomore, Richard Troyer. Davoe was highly effective at times last season with the ability of disrupting shots and taking advantage of smaller centers. In a road game with N. Colorado, Davoe scored 22 in leading the Wolverines to their first road win, but there were also other moments where the Washington transfer missed easy shots underneath the basket, and where fatigue seemed to get the best of him. "Every team takes in different characteristics, different identities," said Hunsaker. "Ronnie's role and who was going to take crucial shots, was so well defined, it's going to take the guys some time to see how they adjust. We've got a Utah Valley Soccer falls to Hawaii Phillip Morgan Sports Writer The Utah Valley State women's soccer team dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker to Hawaii on Monday afternoon. But despite falling to 3-10 on the year, the team is still in high spirits as it approaches the final stretch of the season. "I'm happy with the effort [players] are giving," said UVSC coach Justin Wagar. "They're not giving up when we're down; they're not throwing in the towel, even when we're this late in the season. It's a good bunch of girls and I'm proud of the opportunity I have to work with them this season." The Wolverines gave up their lone goal early when Hawaii scored off a corner kick in the 10th minute. The Rainbow Wahine kicked a high crossing pass from the corner and midfielder Adria Campbell, despite her relatively small height of 5'8, out-jumped a pair of Wolverine defenders and headed the ball in at the far post. Wagar says corner and set kicks have cost the Wolverines far too often. "We've given up 10-11 goals off corners and set pieces this year," he said. Despite the early deficit, however, senior Ashley Christofferson said she was proud of the way they've stayed in the game. deck "Our team has a lot of heart, and we don't give up at all," Christofferson said. Despite struggling to control the ball on offense, the Wolverines pulled together in the second half creating some quality shots on goal, but were unable to capitalize. Chelsea Arnell had a shot off a rebound that was saved by Hawaii goalie, Mahie Atay, late in the second half. "When we've struggled this year, it's the same formula," said Wagar. "We boot it long, we don't play possession, we play panicked, and we turn the ball over. In the second half, we talked about settling it down, swinging it and possessing it, and that built our attack. We just need to find a way to train ourselves, whether it be physically or mentally, to play that way for 90 minutes." For the Wolverines, this was the first game without team captain, Carolyn Theurer, who suffered a knee injury in last week's game against Nevada. Wagar said the team missed her ability as a playmaker, but the absence of her leadership was felt even more. "It's hard," said the Wolverine's first year coach. "She's been in tears. She's been the face of our program ever since we've played soccer here at UVSC, coming in and having 20 goals her freshman year, group of role players that need to develop a bit of a forefront attitude about them." Five additions join the Wolverine's roster this year. Oddly, none of them are freshman, each one having at least one year of junior college experience. "It's just where we're at," mentioned Hunsaker, in response to not bringing in one player directly out of high school. "We got the best player we could find to help us win. I don't care if they're freshman or juniors or seniors or sophomores." 6' 10 Nik Grant is a transfer from the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (a highly successful junior college program). He and Tika Wesley will assist Davoe at the center position. Wesley, brother of Russell and former BYU standout Mikeli Wesley, was a standout at Provo High School. In 2003, he was named the Utah Country all-State MVP after averaging 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists a game, as a senior. He also led the Bulldogs to an 18-3 season. He joins his brother at Utah Valley after two seasons at Salt Lake Community College. 6*5 Peter Brown averaged 17 points a game at Irvine Valley College in California and should see time at both forward positions. But at this point, the biggest question remains with the backcourt. With Price and back-up point guard Josh Cottle (now on a mission and who played significant minutes a year ago) both gone, it's still unknown who will replace them with ball handling duties. Newcomers, Chris Lang and Chris Bailey will help in that area. Lang is an Eastern Utah transfer and should provide support at the See B BALL -B3 Running in Cedar City UVSC's women's cross-country team finished 2nd in Cedar City at the SUU Color Country Invitational on Oct. 15. Freshman runner Kim Rowberry also placed second individually, finishing the 2.66 mile course with a time of 17 minutes, 10 seconds. Host, Southern Utah, won the race with both Utah Valley and Idaho St. On the men's side, Idaho St. took the team competition. The Wolverine's Peter Holm finished in 7th place. "Although we weren't totally healthy, we ran better at this course than we did last year," said UVSC head coach, Scott Houle. "We are excited now to go to the Independent Championships." price olch Former UVSC standout Ronnie Price finally got some playing time in a Sacramento King's uniform. In an Oct. 23 exhibition game with the Phoenix Suns, Price scored 12 points in 24 minutes of action. On Oct. 25, Sacramento played the Suns again, and this time he scored 10 points on 4-6 from the field, including 2-3 from 3-point land. In the first game with Phoenix, the "once Wolverine" contributed defensively as well with three boards and two steals. Over the course of the pre-season. Price has appeared in seven games for a total of 27 points. See SOCCER - B 3 flien*/ Basketball Y/. Westminster 11/01 @ 7:05 p.m. Volleyball Y/. florth Dakota St. 11/03 @ 7 p.m. Women's Basketball vs. Western St. 11/05 @ 7:05 p.m. |