I’m going to do as many leagues as possible before July hits. We’ve gone through the ACC and America East, but now we’ll go to the other side of the country today and do the WAC offseason conference rundown.
Feel free to send any questions, corrections or even rants to me at jngoodman@aol.com.
WAC Offseason Rundown
BOISE STATE – New coach Leon Rice hired Dave Wojcik (Wake Forest), Jeff Linder (San Francisco), Shaun Vandiver (Wyoming) and John Rillie as the director of basketball operations. The Broncos won’t play in any tournaments. Tyler Young transferred out and landed at the College of Idaho while Drew Wiley came in from Oregon.
FRESNO STATE – Steve Cleveland had no staff changes and won’t play in any tournaments. The Bulldogs will play at BYU (11-12), against Washington State (11-26), at Utah (11-30) and at Colorado State (12-4) in the non-conference. Three players – Taylor Kelly, Mychal Ladd and Brandon Sperling – will transfer out.
HAWAII – New coach Gib Arnold has hired Walter Roese (Nebraska) and Benjy Taylor (Chicago State) thus far. The Rainbows will play in the Diamond Head Classic and also the Rainbow Classic – and also have non-conference contests at BYU (12-4), at Utah State (12-29) and at Nevada (12-31).
IDAHO – No changes on Don Verlin’s staff. The Vandals will host the Basketball Travelers Invitational from 12-3 to 12-5 with North Dakota, Monmouth and Eastern Michigan. They will also play at Oregon (12-22), at Washington State and at home against Portland (11-20) in the non-conference slate. Corey Stern (Howard JC) and Marcus Lawrence are both leaving the program.
LOUISIANA TECH – Kerry Rupp lost assistant Nikita Johnson (Louisiana-Lafayette) and replaced him with Derrick Jones (New Orleans). The Bulldogs will play in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament and also have a non-league contest at Iowa (12-21). Two players – Yonas Berhe and Troy Felder – have transferred out of the program.
NEVADA – The Wolf Pack staff hasn’t altered. David Carter’s team will play in the UCLA pod of the Preseason NIT and also have a non-league slate that includes the following: at UNLV (12-4), at Arizona State (12-17), at Houston (12-6) and at Washington (12-21). London Giles has transferred out of the program and both Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson decided to leave school early for the NBA. Also, Indiana transfer Malik Story is eligible at the start of the year while Duke transfer Olek Czyz will be eligible after the first semester.
NEW MEXICO STATE – Marvin Menzies has not yet replaced Chris Pompey (Seton Hall). It’s still uncertain whether New Mexico State will play in any tournaments or go on a tour. Da’Shawn Gomez transferred out of the program. The Aggies will play non-conference games against New Mexico, UTEP, St. Mary’s and Pacific.
SAN JOSE STATE – George Nessman hired Talvin Hester to replace Gary Stepan – who retired. The Spartans don’t have anyone transferring in or out of the program and won’t play in any tournaments. Non-league games include at home against USF (11-17), at Oregon (11-20) and at home against Santa Clara (12-11).
UTAH STATE – The Aggies didn’t have any staff changes, but four players transferred out: Tyrone White (North Idaho), Anthony DiLoreto, Modou Niang (Seattle Pacific) and Jaxon Myaer (MSU-Billings). Stew Morrill’s team will host the World Vision Basketball Invitational from Dec. 21-23 – which includes Idaho State, Troy and Western Michigan. Non-league games include against Utah (11-24), at BYU (11-17) and against Northeastern (11-27).