BIG WEST MEDIA DAY ON WEDNESDAY
Beach Takes On CS San Bernardino On Friday
November 4, 2002
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LONG BEACH STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Overall Record: 0-0
Big West Record: 0-0
UPCOMING ACTION | Friday, Nov. 8 | | | | vs. CS San Bernardino
(Exhibition) | 7:35 pm | The Pyramid | Broadcast on
www.kbeach.org | | Wednesday, Nov. 13 | | | | vs. Global Sports
(Exhibition) | 7:35 pm | The Pyramid | Broadcast on
www.kbeach.org |
49ER PROBABLE STARTERS
| F | 30 | Kevin Roberts | (6-7, 235, Jr., 7.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg) | | F | 52 | Chris Jenkins | (6-7, 190, So., 5.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg) | | C | 32 | Vance Lawhorn | (6-8, 230, Sr., 4.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg) | | G | 1 | Jibril Hodges | (6-2, 170, Fr., Rich East HS) | | G | 10 | Cody Pearson | (6-3, 185, So., 2.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg) |
Check out the 2002-03 Roster Check out the 2002-03 Schedule
Big West Media Day: All 10 Big West Conference men's basketball coaches will be on hand Wednesday, November 6 at the Irvine Marriott for the Big West Basketball Media Day. Long Beach State Head Coach Larry Reynolds will be making his first appearance at Media Day as he is the lone "first season" coach in the league this season. All 10 coaches will meet with print and electronic media. Both the coaches and media will also reveal their picks as to who will win the Big West Conference Championship in 2003.
The Teams: The 49ers are coming off a 13-17 season in 2001-02 and a 9-9 mark in the Big West. The 49ers fell in the first round of the Big West Tournament to UC Irvine. CS San Bernardino was 28-2 last season, won the CCAA title, won the NCAA West Regional and advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
The Coach: Larry Reynolds (UC Riverside, 1976) enters his first year as the head man at Long Beach State. Reynolds compiled a career mark of 110-35 (.759) in five years as the head coach at Cal State San Bernardino. He led the Coyotes to two NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearances (1998-99, 2001-02) and four CCAA Championships. Last year CSUSB was 28-2 and advanced to the Elite Eight. He was named the CCAA Coach of the Year four consecutive seasons.
Beach Welcomes Eight Returnees: The cupboard is not bare as Larry Reynolds welcomes back six letterwinners and two redshirts from last year. Returnees include seniors Tony Darden, Vance Lawhorn and Tadeu Souza, junior Kevin Roberts, sophomores Chris Jenkins and Cody Pearson. The two redshirts are senior Lemi Williams and freshman Alex Graham. Darden is the leading scorer among that group after averaging 10.1 points per game last year. Roberts checked in at 7.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, Jenkins at 5.3 ppg, Lawhorn 4.5, Pearson 2.3, and Souza at 1.5.
Four Newcomers: There are four newcomers, plus two walk-on's, on the 2002-03 roster. Freshman guard Jibril Hodges, junior center Marcel Jackson, junior forward Antoine Jackson and junior guard Darnell Thompson. Hodges comes to LBSU from Rich East High School in Park Forest, IL. He is the son of former 49er great Craig Hodges. Hodges averaged 19.5 points and 5.7 assists per game last season at Rich East High School in Park Forest, IL. Marcel Jackson played last season at San Jose City College where he averaged 8.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting .570 from the field. Antoine Jackson played at South Plains College in Lleveland, TX, averaging 4.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game and shooting an impressive .674 from the field. Thompson, who is from Los Angeles, played the past two years at Riverside Community College. Last season he led RCC to the State JC Elite Eight Tournament, averaging 9.2 points and 5.2 assists per outing.
Two Walk-On's: Two walk-on's join the 49ers this fall in Travis Clark and Ulric Pattillo. Clark played two years at Mira Costa College in Oceanside where he averaged 12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game as a sophomore. He was a second team All-Pacific Coast Conference selection last year and a two-time league Player of the Week. He prepped at Carlsbad High School where he lettered three years in basketball and one year in volleyball. As a senior he averaged 19.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, scoring in double digits in all 31 games, earning first team All-Avocado League, All-North County and earned All-CIF honors as a senior. Pattillo prepped at Narbonne High School where he lettered two years in basketball, averaging 8.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game last season as a senior. He helped lead the Gauchos to the 2002 Marine League championship and the 2001 Los Angeles City Invitational title. His uncle, Darrell, played football at Long Beach State in 1981-82.
Bowens Out For The Year: Sophomore guard Mark Bowens (Peoria, AZ) will miss the entire 2002-03 season due to a torn ACL in his left knee. Bowens suffered the injury on October 27 at the Fan Fest scrimmage game at The Pyramid. Bowens, a point guard, played in nine games last season as a true freshman, averaging 1.4 points per game.
Tough Schedule: The 49er non-conference schedule is extremely tough as five of the nine teams competed in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Charlotte, UCLA, Gonzaga, Pepperdine and San Diego State are all on the schedule and all advanced to the NCAA's last season. Also on the docket are Southern Utah, Loyola Marymount, Portland and CS Monterey Bay. The five teams which went to NCAA play last year had a combined record of 110-49 (.692). Toss in UCSB, UC Irvine and Utah State, who all went to post-season play last year, and the 2002-03 schedule is one of the toughest in 49er history.
Nationally-Ranked Opponents: The USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25 Poll was released on November 1 and the 49ers will face two teams which are ranked in the Top 25 and three others which received votes. The 49ers will face #12 UCLA on December 8 at Pauley Pavilion and later that month, on the 20th of December, face #22 Gonzaga in Spokane, WA. Teams that received votes are Pepperdine (7), UC Santa Barbara (3) and Utah State (1).
TV Exposure: The 49ers will have 10 games which will be televised during the 2002-03 season, beginning on December 8 at UCLA. The 10 games are the most in recent history. Five games will originate from The Pyramid, beginning with the Dec. 10 game vs. San Diego State which will be televised in San Diego by Channel 4, an independent station in San Diego. Other home TV games are: Jan. 16 vs. Idaho (Fox West 2), Jan. 29 vs. Cal Poly (KDOC), Feb. 6 vs. CS Fullerton (Fox West 2) and Feb. 19 vs. Pacific (KDOC).
Replacing The Scoring Punch: The 49ers will have to replace a lot of scoring from last year's team as 62.6 percent of last season's points have graduated. Travis Reed (14.7), Ron Johnson ( 12.5), Rudy Williams (11.0) and Michael Darrett (6.4) accounted for 1,248 points and 536 rebounds last year. helping to lighten that load will be Lemi Williams, who averaged 11.7 points per game in 2000-01, but missed last year due to injury. After Williams, the top returning scorer is senior Tony Darden who concluded the season averaging 10.1 points per game.
49ERS ON THE RADIO
Listen to all 49er road games on KRLA (AM 870) or KRLH (AM 590). All home games can be heard live on the internet at www.kbeach.org.
49ERS ON TELEVISION
Dec. 8 at UCLA--Fox West 2
Dec. 10 vs. San Diego State (Channel 4, San Diego/Independent Station)
Dec. 20 at Gonzaga--KHQ-TV (Channel 6, Spokane/PAX Network)
Jan. 16 vs. Idaho--Fox West 2
Jan. 22 at CS Northridge--KDOC
Jan. 29 vs. Cal Poly--KDOC
Feb. 6 vs. CS Fullerton--Fox West 2
Feb. 19 vs. Pacific--KDOC
Feb. 27 at UCSB--Fox West
Mar. 1 at UC Irvine--KDOC
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