LBSU

LBSU Signs Former Providence G Dwain Williams

Press Release — Sat, 24 May 2008 08:53:42 -0700

Long Beach, Calif.--Long Beach State Head Men’s Basketball Coach Dan Monson announced today that Dwain Williams (Guard, 6-0, 170, San Diego, Calif., Providence College, Vista Murrieta HS) signed a National Letter-of-Intent. Williams, who attended Providence College for two years, will have two years of eligibility remaining with the 49ers.

“Dwain Williams is a great addition to our program,” said Monson. “His success in the Big East Conference demonstrates that he is a proven high-level point guard that will help solidify our backcourt.”

“I felt that Long Beach was the best place to go in that league,” said Williams. “It’s close to my mother and I have a single parent, raising five kids on her own. To come back home and be near my family and help put Long Beach on the map were the main reasons I chose Long Beach State. Coach Monson and the coaching staff are a good group of guys and good recruiters. They told me I’ll have an opportunity to come in and be a leader on the team and bring my “A” game every night and to practice every day and bring leadership. They were really real. Everything was up front. They are a good group of guys and my mom loved them.”

Williams lettered two years at Providence College. This past season he averaged 11.0 points per game, third-best on the Friar squad, while adding 2.3 assists per game. He shot an impressive .902 (46-51) at the free throw line and .407 (48-118) from three-point range. In Big?East Conference games he averaged 13.0 points and 2.1 assists per game. Williams appeared in 21 games, starting 17 times. He scored in double figures 10 times, including a career-high 23 points at Connecticut (1/17/08). He also had 21 points at Syracuse, and 20 points against both Notre Dame and DePaul.

LBSU Signs Top Oregon PG

Press Release — Wed, 16 May 2007 19:44:34 -0700

Long Beach, CA--Long Beach State Head Men’s Basketball Coach Dan Monson announced today that Greg Plater (Guard, 6-2, 170, Salem, OR, McKay HS) signed a National Letter-of-Intent with the 49ers.

“Greg Plater will be a great addition to our team next year,” said Monson. “He had an outstanding senior season and culminated his prep career with a great showing in the Oregon State Tournament. He can play either the point or the two-guard spot. Greg can score the basketball, but he also is an excellent all-around player, as witnessed by his assist and steal numbers last season. He will battle for extended playing time next season as a true freshman.”

Plater was a first team All-Class 6A Team selection this year after leading McKay High School to a 22-7 mark and a sixth place finish at the Oregon 6A State Tournament. Plater averaged 22.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game as a senior, shooting .450 from the field, .760 from the free throw line and .380 from three-point range. Ranked as the No. 1 point guard in Oregon by Northwesthoops.com, Plater was the 2007 Central Valley Conference Player of the Year, first team all-league and the Statesman Journal All-Region Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Plater led the Royal Scots to the state tournament where he averaged 26.0 points per game, including a 37-point outburst against Portland Grant in the 5th place contest. Plater had a high game of 47 points his senior season against Redmond HS and he had 43 points against North Eugene.

This spring Plater played for Oregon in the 14th Annual Northwest Shootout in Portland, an all-star game featuring the top seniors in Oregon and Washington. Although Washington won the game 96-82, Plater led the Oregon squad with 15 points. As a junior, Plater averaged 20.0 points per game, was a first team all-conference performer and honorable mention All-State.

On its run to the Oregon 6A State Tournament, McKay defeated Redmond (37-27), Clackamas (65-53) and McMinnville (65-54). At the tournament they fell to Sheldon in the opening game 60-49, defeated Westview in the consolation bracket 60-51 before falling to Grant (78-72) in the 5th place contest.

Long Beach State Signs Big Man Freeman

Press Release — Wed, 02 May 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Long Beach, CA--Long Beach State Head Men’s Basketball Coach Dan Monson announced today that Brian Freeman (Center, 6-10, 230, Albany, OR, Clackamas CC) signed a National Letter-of-Intent with the 49ers.

“We are extremely excited to sign a player of Brian’s calibre,” said Monson. “Fortunately he was still available. He adds versatility to our frontline and he’s a very good face-up shooter. Brian is a quality student-athlete who we feel is a great first recruit for our program.”

Freeman led Clackamas Community College to the 2007 NWAACC Championship with a 29-4 record and an undefeated Southern Region title (14-0). He was selected MVP of the Southern Region and was the MVP of the NWAACC Tournament. Freeman averaged 18.1 points and 14.4 rebounds per game last year for the Cougars while shooting .642 (217-338) from the field and .707 (128-181) at the free throw line. He was named the Southern Division Player of the Week on January 23, was MVP of the Clackamas Holiday Tournament and he was selected to the Lower Columbia Tournament All-Star Team. Freeman led the conference in offensive, defensive and total rebounds, was fourth in blocked shots and field goal percentage and 17th in scoring average. Of his 447 total rebounds, 137 were on the offensive glass. He also tallied 78 assists, 48 blocks and 43 steals in 31 games.

During Clackamas’ run through the NWAACC Tournament, Freeman averaged 23.3 points and 15.5 rebounds per game en route to tournament MVP honors. In an opening round 87-75 win over Blue Mountain, Freeman tallied 20 points and 17 rebounds. In the quarterfinals he had 19 points and 17 rebounds in an 87-86 win over Highline. During the semifinals, Freeman scored a career-high 36 points (14-19 fg’s) and added 18 rebounds as the Cougars defeated Walla Walla 75-65. In the championship game vs. Bellevue, a 67-56 Clackamas triumph, he had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

As a freshman in 2004-05, Freeman averaged 12.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in helping lead his squad to a 24-7 mark and a third place finish in the NWAACC. He was named to the All-Southern Division team while leading the team in rebounding and finishing second in scoring. Freeman sat out the 2005-06 season due to injury.

LBSU Releases Reynolds After Making Tourney

Press Release — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:52:29 -0700

LONG BEACH, CA -- Long Beach State Director of Athletics Vic Cegles announced today that the contract of 49er men’s basketball coach Larry Reynolds will not be renewed. Reynolds is in the fifth and final year of his original five-year contract.

“We appreciate the hard work and leadership that Larry provided,” said Cegles. “However, I believe it is in the best interest of the university and the men’s basketball program to make a change. We had a banner season, but upon an extensive review I came to the conclusion that a foundation had not been built to ensure long term success.”

A national search for a successor will begin immediately.

Daily Dribble: 3/9

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Countdown to Selection Sunday can legitimately be made in hours at this point. Less than a week to the start of the tournament. Less than a few months before we start previewing the 2007-08 season.. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: How does Tommy Amaker still have his job? Michigan's loss to Ohio State today means they'll be back in the NIT once again. Maybe they should just call it the Michigan Invitational Tournament at this point.. I don't care if Iowa beats Purdue today (which they wont), this is not an NCAA Tournament team. You can say they improved or got hot, or you can say their 9-7 record is simply an example of why the Big Ten is mediocre. If you put Iowa in the Dance, you have to include Northern Iowa who beat the Hawkeyes in Iowa City and went 9-9 in the MVC. Regardless of whether Florida State makes the tournament or not, Al Thorton's NBA Draft stock is going up by the week. He's now passed the 20 ppg scoring mark and is probably past the 20th pick in the Draft right now. Duke was somehow ranked 21st coming into the week.. but after going 8-8 in the ACC and losing in the tournament first round, they deserve to be seeded like the 41st ranked team.. Which is better than Alabama, who probably deserves to be the 41st ranked team.. in the NIT. Georgia Tech's season was almost exactly like Duke's.. except ESPN isn't in love with the Yellow Jackets. Still, I'm not sure how they gave up 114 points to Wake Forest. Harvey Hale came off the bench for the Deacons to score 22 points in just 18 minutes. That's called lighting it up. Syracuse fans were offended by an article by Adam Stanco earlier in the week saying they don't belong in the tournament. Fact is that he's right. The only chance they have of winning an opening round game if they make it, is by playing an equally overrated Big Ten team (Purdue, Illinois, etc) in the 7-10 game. Air Force has quietly collapsed, losing 4 straight to finish 23-8 overall. Not a bad record.. but they started 17-1.. that's 6-7 the rest of the way by my count. Falcons need Dan Nwaelele going strong again, he hasn't scored 20 since January and is 2 of his last 15 from three after hovering around 50% most of the season. Also in the MWC, San Diego State might have blown their season by losing to Colorado State last night. I hope Brandon Heath likes the NIT. Expect Long Beach State to beat UC Irvine tonight, and then wrap up the Big West tomorrow night. Led by Aaron Nixon, the 49ers are one of the most experienced teams in the country. They have 7 seniors who play 18+ minutes a game. Despite the experience, and despite the the fact they've won 9 of 10 games.. this will not be a hard out in the opening round of the Dance. They're extremely quick, athletic team.. but will get eaten up inside by any high seed.

USC 79 - LBSU 61

Press Release — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 12:57:48 -0800

LOS ANGELES, CA-- The University of Southern California had four players tally in double digits on Friday night en route to a 79-61 win over Long Beach State at the Galen Center. Nick Young led the USC (3-1) attack with 22 points while Taj Gibson added 10 points and 18 rebounds. Aaron Nixon led the 49ers (2-2) with 13 points.

The Trojans expanded a six-point lead to double digits early in the second half and never looked back. Lodrick Stewart added 16 points for USC and RouSean Cromwell had 13 points. USC shot .435 (27-62) from the field and out-rebounded the 49ers 58-44. The Trojans hurt themselves though by shooting just 21-35 (.600) at the free throw line.

For the 49ers, freshman Tim Island had a career-high 12 points, hitting four of seven three-pointers. Kevin Houston added 11 points and Dominique Ricks had six points and a team-high 11 rebounds . The 49ers leading scorer, Nixon at 19.3 ppg, was held to 13 points, while Sterling Byrd, who was averaging 17.0 points per outing, was held scoreless.

The Trojans took advantage of cold 49er shooting to take a 32-26 halftime lead. The 49ers shot just .281 (9-32) from the field in the first half and were 5-15 from three-point range. Young scored 10 of his 22 points in the first half and Gibson added eight points and 11 rebounds. Trailing 27-26 after a Houston three at 1:49, the Trojans closed out the half on a 5-0 run thanks to two free throws by Kevin Galloway and a three by Young. USC shot .433 (13-30) overall but hurt themselves with 10 turnovers and hitting just half their free throws (4-8).

- LSBU Media Relations -

Big West Conference Preview

CHN — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 09:46:14 -0800

Conference Previews | Top 144 | 06-07 Preview Home

Big West Preview

Conference Rank: 21st

Conference Page

All-Conference

Player of the Year - Bobby Brown, CS Fullerton, G

Aaron Nixon, Long Beach St, G

Anthony Esparza, Pacific, F

Derek Stockalper, Cal Poly, F

Chris Devine, UCSB, F

Nat'l	Team (Click for Preview)	Conf	Tourney
111	Pacific	1	NCAA
137	Long Beach St	2
156	Cal Poly	3
195	CS Fullerton	4
207	UC Irvine	5
243	UC Santa Barbara	6
263	CS Northridge	7
286	UC Riverside	8

Other Big South Articles

David Spencer - UC Riverside

Pat Douglass - UC Irvine

2006-07 Preview: Team's #131-144

Joel Welser — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:02:05 -0700

Capsules of teams ranked 131st to 144th in CHN's 144 Teams in 144 Days college preview.