Men's Basketball Weekly Report
November 3, 2005

Complete Release in PDF

About the 2005-06 Toros: The 2005-06 Toros welcome 11 newcomers to a team that went 7-20 last season in head coach Damaine Powell’s first season as CSUDH head coach. With those losses, however, came knowledge and experience, and an understanding of what’s needed in a program that’s rebuilding in a tough conference.

“One thing that sticks out the most is how competitive the conference was,” Powell reflects. “I think a lot of people have a misconception that Division II consists of players not talented to play Division I, but that’s not the case. That’s one of the things I learned from last year, the talent we needed to get to be competitive with the top teams, and that’s what I took away from it.” Though Powell has upped the ante with his new squad, however, he knows it’ll take time for all the pieces to come together. “Everybody’s excited because we’ve got a fusion of new talent, but it’s going to be a process. But even this year, we’re going to keep getting better.”

Upcoming Exhibitions: The Toros travel to local Division I programs USC and Cal State Northridge these two weeks before hosting Vanguard University in its season opener on Tuesday, November 22, at 7:30 p.m.

About USC: This will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools that don the same color scheme. The Trojans begin the Tim Floyd era equipped with three returners, including 2004-05 All-Pac 10 Freshman First-Team Gabe Pruitt, who averaged 12.3 ppg in his freshman campaign. Last season, USC went 12-17 overall and 5-13 in the Pac-10 (10th), but returns its top three scorers from 0405.

On USC, from Coach Powell: “Their strength is their guard play. Gabe Pruitt and Nick Young are their two best players. We’re just going to try to make them work. We’re going to try to keep them out of transition, keep them off the offensive glass, take away the 3-point shot, make them work against our half-court defense for 2-pointers and grind it out against them. Offensively, our strength is our inside game with Mario Malave and Trevon Bryant. We’re going to be who we are and go to our strength and see how they match up, and diversify from there.”

On a personal note, Powell has additional thoughts about competing against his alma mater, “It’s going to be fun, not only because it’s my alma mater, but also because we have an opportunity to do something special and hopefully start our own tradition here. Hopefully, we can have a good showing.”

About Cal State Northridge: The Toros visit the Matadors one season after CSUN reached the Big West semifinals, eventually falling to Pacific, 63-61. This season, the Matadors will be young, with six freshmen and three sophomores on its squad. Only three CSUN players, juniors Thomas Shewmake, Austin Waggener and Terrell Jones, have earned more than one varsity letter as a Matador. As the only senior on the 2005-06 roster, point guard Bakari Altheimer averaged 4.8 points per game last season.

On CSUN, from Coach Powell: “Come Friday night, I’ll start looking at Northridge. They’re very organized, very disciplined, and will be good, but right now I’m just focusing on SC. But come Friday night, I’ll start looking at tape on Northridge. That’ll be another big game, a fun game, and it’ll be a good test for us, definitely.”

Last Season: The 2004-05 campaign welcomed Powell to the sidelines on August 19, 2004, less than two months before the official first practice of the season. Taking a team he inherited, the Toros posted an overall record of 7-20, and CCAA record of 6-14, good for a 9th place conference finish. Then-senior Les Norman led the team in points and rebounds, and was second in assists and steals en route to being selected a First-Team All-CCAA selection.

Change ... Is A Good Thing: The 2005-06 squad features 11 new players and three returners donning the Cardinal & Gold, and will look to bring the Toros back to its winning ways. Three of those newcomers, Murphy Cooper, Eric Montgomery and Trevon Bryant, are familiar faces for coach Powell as he coached them to a state title as freshmen in 2003-04, one of two championships he led Compton Community College to in his seven years at the helm of the program.

A Matter of Size: In addition to having 11 new faces, this year’s Toros squad also will have an influx of size. Four of the newcomers stand at least 6’7”, compared to last year’s squad, whose tallest player stood at 6’7”. Junior transfer Trevon Bryant tops the Toros with his 6’9” frame, while fellow junior transfer Joe Johnson stands in at 6’8”. Two other juniors make the 6’7” height, as Mario Malave and Durwin Williams will give CSUDH both a presence and depth in the paint the Toros have not seen for a while. For good measure, senior Eric Montgomery comes in at 6’6”, while freshman Jonathan Toliver is at 6’5”.

Powell’s Thoughts on the Returners:

• #5 Phillip Givens (6-2, G): “He’s very talented and a good scorer. He’s getting better at his commitment to defense and his decision-making on the court, so we’re really excited to see the strides he makes in those areas.”
• #11 Mike Steed (6-3, G): “He’s developed from last year. He’s practicing well. He’s still not as good as I think he can be but he’s a lot better than last year so we’re really excited about the work he did over the summer.
• #33 Nonso Nibo (6-4, F): “Nonso has potential but is still young. He’s very athletic.”

Powell’s Thoughts on the Newcomers:

• #3 Murphy Cooper (6-0, G): “He’s a hard worker who brings a lot of character.”
• #4 Mario Malave (6-7, F): “Mario’s very talented and can play on inside and outside. He’s going to be a load for people to deal with this year.”
• #10 Josh Dillon (5-11, G): “Very mature and intelligent. We’re really lucky to have him and he’s going to contribute in a major way.”
• #12 Carlos Rivers (5-10, G): “A real good point guard. He’s a talent. He’s a real talent.”
• #20 Shamont Brown (6-4, G): “He’s a coach’s dream, a very mature leader. The best thing he brings is a winning attitude and a maturity of how to carry yourself in good times and bad.”
• #21 Kevin Crockett (6-1, G): “Kevin’s our best shooter. He can flat out shoot the ball.”
• #32 Jonathan Toliver (6-5, G): “We’re really happy to have him. He’s very intelligent and probably our second best shooter, but the best thing about him is that he won a couple of state championships in high school, so he’s used to winning.
• #34 Joe Johnson (6-8, F/C): “Joe’s very long, and very intelligent. He’s really good around the basket blocking shots, and can go inside and outside.”
• #40 Eric Montgomery (6-6, F): “He’s very strong and very athletic, and probably our best defender and our best rebounder. Eric’s definitely our best athlete and could be one of the best athletes in the conference.”
• #44 Durwin Williams (6-7, F): “Durwin is probably my hardest worker and one of my toughest kids. He’s a natural leader, very unselfish and a great character guy. And he’s big.”
• #50 Bryant (6-9, C/F): “He’s big and has a world of talent. Trevon has unbelievably long arms and blocks a lot of shots. His talent level can be unbelievable.”

Patience is a Virtue: An early congratulations go to assistant coach Max Ward and his wife, Diane, as they are expecting a new son to be born on Friday, November 4, after labor is induced at approximately 6:00 p.m. Sources say the reason for the full term birth is that baby Ward refuses to straighten up from his defensive crouching position. Congrats, coach Ward!

The CSUDH - USC Connection: The similarities between the color scheme of Cal State Dominguez Hills and USC are uncanny. The facts are even more so.

In the late 1960s, when men’s basketball was first played at CSUDH, the Toros were scheduled to play USC in men’s basketball. Because the original jerseys bearing the color scheme of green/black failed to arrive, then Athletics Director Dr. John Johnson called the USC Athletics Director, who did his good friend a favor by lending the Toros one set of uniforms for the contest. The colors stuck.

Toros Announce 2005-06 Basketball Web Cast Schedule With Waldcast.net: CSUDH and Waldcast.net have announced the broadcast schedule for the upcoming Toros 2005-06 men’s and women’s basketball seasons. A total of 14 men’s games will be webcast, including two preseason exhibition contests, all of which can be heard on the Cal State Dominguez Hills Athletics web site - The Toros Online.

The men’s webcast schedule kicks off on Friday, Nov. 4, as the Toros battle Division I school USC at 7:00 p.m. in Los Angeles, and is followed by the final exhibition contest one week later in Northridge as the Toros take on the Matadors at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11.

Longtime southland broadcaster Ronnie Wald, who begins his third year as the basketball broadcast voice of the Toros, will be calling the play-by-play.