SAN ANTONIO ? The UTSA men’s basketball team will hold its first official practice on Friday, Oct. 17, signaling the start of the 2008-09 season.
The first practice is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the Physical Education Building Gymnasium on the 1604 Campus. Roadrunner Ruckus, the annual tipoff event for the UTSA men’s and women’s basketball programs, will follow in the Convocation Center. A tailgating party begins at 6 p.m. and doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Most practices are open to the public.
| Brooks Thomspon |
2008-09 Season Outlook
Optimism and excitement surround the UTSA men’s basketball program with the approach of the 2008-09 season.
Third-year head coach Brooks Thompson welcomes back his top three scorers from last season in seniors Travis Gabbidon and Joey Shank and sophomore Devin Gibson.
That trio will join forces with a pair of players who sat out last season ? junior Omar Johnson and sophomore Sei Paye ? and a highly-regarded crop of nine newcomers that includes juniors Chris Allen, Josh Bonney, Terry Fields, Richie Frohlich, Leslie Jackson, Morris Smith IV and Demarco Stepter, sophomore A.J. Gasporra and walk-on Chip Ivany, who must sit out the year per NCAA transfer rules.
“The three guys we have coming back all played very large roles on the team last year,” Thompson said. “Travis probably was our most consistent scorer until he went down with his injury, Joey emerged as our best outside shooter and Devin had about as good of a freshman campaign as any player I have ever been around.
“With the new guys coming in, we have added talent, depth, experience and versatility to our roster, but more importantly, we have added high-character student-athletes from winning programs. They will have an immediate impact on our program and, because of that, we are more optimistic about this season than any in our tenure at UTSA.”
Gabbidon’s season-ending injury suffered in the Southland Conference opener at Lamar on Jan. 12 was just one of many that plagued the Roadrunners during their 13-17 campaign. Nine players missed at least one game because of various ailments and another possible starter, Johnson, never stepped foot on the court due to a leg injury in what Thompson called, “the most unusual thing he’s ever been around.”
“In all of my playing and coaching days, I have never seen one team hit by as many injuries as we had last season,” he said. “Obviously, Travis hurting his foot was a huge loss, but we had everything from concussions to broken wrists to knee sprains. Injuries happen to every team, not just UTSA, so we made it a point to tell them ?we’re dealt these circumstances, so it’s up to us to make of it what we will.’ They responded better than we could have hoped.”
The team was put to the ultimate test in mid-February. Trying to snap a five-game losing streak, the Roadrunners only had eight scholarship players available for road games at Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls. UTSA responded with a pair of narrow victories that kick-started a three-week stretch that saw the squad win five of six games, eventually finishing tied for third in the SLC West Division at 7-9.
| Devin Gibson was the 2007-08 SLC Freshman of the Year. |
A key figure in that season-turning stretch was Gibson, who averaged 19.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.2 steals in playing all but 12 minutes of those six contests. The Houston native went on to lead the team in scoring (14.1 ppg), assists (142), free throws (162) and minutes per game (33.5) and added 116 boards. Gibson, who missed two games with a concussion and was hobbled by a bad foot for the first half of the season, also became just the third freshman in history (Jason Kidd is one of the other two) to lead the NCAA in steals, coming away with 93 thefts (3.3 pg).
“Devin had an absolutely amazing freshman year,” Thompson said. “He was playing 40 minutes a game down the stretch and carrying the burden of our offense on his shoulders. Ideally, we would have brought him along throughout the course of the season, but with Omar’s injury, he was forced to play the majority of the minutes at the point. He even played through injuries, because he knew the team needed him. His will to win is outrageous. Last year showed what kind of a player and what type of a competitor he really is.”
Gibson was the landslide choice for SLC Freshman of the Year and also earned second-team all-conference and Mid-Major Freshman All-America accolades from collegehoops.net and collegeinsider.com.
Heading into this season, Gibson, a preseason first-team all-league selection, and Johnson form what could be the strongest position on the team ? point guard.
Johnson was a first-team all-conference and all-region performer and an honorable mention junior college All-American at Barton County Community College in 2006-07. The Philadelphia native averaged 17.3 points, 6.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game and posted 95 steals to lead the Cougars to a 27-7 record and regional championship game. He has fully recovered from last year’s injury.
“Omar is the consummate leader,” Thompson said. “He is a student of the game and understands where everybody else needs to be. He can shoot the ball, is as fast a player as you’ll ever see and can orchestrate the offense. If we need to push the ball, he knows when to do that. If someone is not in the right spot, he’ll let them know. People are going to love watching him play.
“For us to be as good as we want to be, Devin and Omar will be on the floor at the same time for quite a few minutes. We feel that at any time, both of those guys can get by their man and wreak havoc on the defense.”
| Joey Shank drained a team-high 67 3-pointers last year. |
Shank was the starter at shooting guard for the majority of last season, draining a team-high 67 3-pointers, the sixth-best campaign in school history. The 6-3 Folsom, Calif., native poured in 9.2 points per game, shot 81 percent from the free throw line and recorded 25 steals in his first season with the Roadrunners.
“Anyone who watched film on us last year knew that Joey was the guy you couldn’t allow to get those outside shots off,” Thompson said. “This year, the difference is we have a lot of other guys who can shoot the three. He should be able to get better looks due to his experience and the fact that we have other outside shooters that our opponents will have to respect.”
Allen, Gasporra, Paye and Smith are some of the new outside shooting threats to which Thompson is referring.
Allen is a 6-2 transfer from Moberly Area Community College, where he earned NJCAA All-Region 16 honors both seasons. The Kansas City, Mo., product ranked third in the region in scoring at 14.3 points per game and shot 49.3 percent from the field last year.
Gasporra may remind some of Shank, as he is a 6-2 left-handed sharpshooter from California (Cerritos) and he has three years of eligibility remaining. He poured in a team-best 71 treys on 43.3-percent shooting and averaged 10.8 points per contest to help lead Citrus College to a 35-1 record and the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Championship last year.
Paye transferred to UTSA from Louisiana-Monroe last season, but the 6-3 Houston native will be eligible to play immediately this fall. He posted 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals per game as a senior at Strake Jesuit College Prep and was an AAU teammate of Gibson on the Houston Heat.
Smith IV is a 6-4 transfer from Missouri State-West Plains Community College, where he earned all-region accolades last year. He was ninth in Region 16 in scoring at 12.7 points per game and he shot 80.1 percent from the free throw line to help lead the Grizzlies to a 27-5 record and the third round of the regional tournament.
“I really like what we have added in the backcourt,” Thompson said. “Mo Smith is long and can shoot really well. Chris Allen is as fast with the basketball as almost anyone on our team. He’s an off guard, but he can push the ball and attack. A.J. is a hard-nosed and savvy basketball player who can flat out light it up from outside. Sei has a bright future. He can really shoot the ball, is very long and can really defend.”
| Travis Gabbidon was leading UTSA in scoring and rebounding before missing the final 16 games with an injury. |
Gabbidon is a picture of the versatility among the backcourt players. As a junior, he led the team in scoring (13.9 ppg) and rebounding (5.8 rpg) before suffering the season-ending injury in his 14th game. A 6-7 Phoenix native and JUCO All-American at College of Southern Idaho, he also shot 41 percent from the floor and 75.9 percent from the charity stripe last season.
“With the adversity Travis has gone through, I really believe he’s going to have a great impact on our team,” Thompson said. “He has given so much to our program on and off the floor. He has great character and is an outstanding person, so you always want to see a senior like him go out on top. He wants to help this team win but can’t worry about re-injuring himself. He just needs to go out and play and let everything else work itself out.”
It is anticipated that Fields and Jackson will have plenty of time to show off their versatility in the backcourt.
Fields is a 6-6 transfer from College of Southern Idaho, where he averaged 6.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, helping the Eagles to a 30-2 record, the Scenic West Conference Championship, the Region 18 Championship Game and a No. 3 final ranking in the NJCAA Division I Poll.
Jackson, a 6-4 transfer from Blinn College, posted 9.2 points, 7.3 rebounds per contest and shot 52.8 percent from the floor and 78.9 percent from the free throw line last season. He was a three-time all-district, all-region and All-Brazos Valley selection for Bryan High School.
“Terry is a fierce competitor who can play more than one position for us,” Thompson said. “He can shoot the ball and get by people, but his strength is getting on the glass and making the hustle plays. Leslie is a lot like Terry in that he can play the three or four. He’s really versatile and athletic and can score and rebound. We think he has a high ceiling.”
Providing the muscle up front will be a trio of newcomers in Bonney, Frohlich and Stepter.
Bonney is a 6-6 transfer from Navarro College who averaged 10.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest for the Bulldogs last season. An all-district performer at White Castle (La.) High School, he helped Navarro reach the Region 14 Championship Game in each of the past two seasons.
Frohlich, a 6-9 transfer who hails from Oldendorf, Germany, averaged 6.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest, blocked 22 shots and shot 55.8 percent from the field last season for the CCCAA champion Citrus College Owls.
Stepter is a 6-7 transfer from Motlow State Community College, where he posted 12.2 points and a team-high 11.3 rebounds per game to help the Bucks to a 25-4 record and Region 7 Tournament Championship Game last season. He pulled down a school-record 28 boards to go along with 40 points in a victory against Cleveland State College last January and was an all-state performer at Northside High School in his native Memphis.
“We are elated about what we have added in the frontcourt,” Thompson said. “They all bring different things to the table, but one thing they all do well is rebound the basketball. That’s going to be a big key for us to be successful.”
Adding depth and talent across the board was the priority following last season and the recruiting process solved the equation.
“Overall, we are two-deep at every position, but we have the versatility to put some different combinations on the floor and create some match up problems for our opponents. That has us excited. If I have a concern, it’s the lack of Division I experience, but I think these guys will shake that off pretty quickly. The biggest surprise is that even though we do have a number of new guys, the team is very cohesive. They have gone above and beyond what we have asked them to do in order to get ready for this season.”