With a healthy chunk of the scoring gone,
Pepperdine will have a new look on the floor. After an
underachieving season of 6-8 in the West Coast Conference, a
fresh start might be just what the Waves need.
Who’s Out:
Glen McGowan, Alex Acker and Yakhouba Diawara were by far the
top three scorers and rebounders at Pepperdine last year.
McGowan led the way with 19.2 and 7.6, Acker with 16.6 and 6.5
and Diawara 14.0 and 5.7. Jesse Pinegar started 11 games at
center, averaging 4.8 points and 2.1 rebounds per contest.
Forward Robert Turner earned three starts but never saw too many
minutes for Head Coach Paul Westphal.
Who’s In:
The backcourt receives plenty of depth with the addition of
redshirt freshman Michael Nash, junior college transfer Gregg
Barlow and incoming freshmen Michael Gerrity and Tomas
Pranciiauskas. Barlow, who earned the Northwest Athletic
Association of Community Colleges “Most Valuable Player” award,
has the experience to be an immediate impact. The 6-3 junior
averaged 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals
last year at Mount Hood (OR) Community College. Gerrity is a
tough minded point guard, but shouldn’t see too much action this
year behind returnees Kingsley Costain and Marvin Lea.
Pranciiauskas might prove to be the best of the bunch. The 6-4
shooting guard was a member of the Lithuania Junior National
Team and should use that experience to immediately help the
Waves. Forward Willie Galick, along with Waves teammate Costain,
spent their summer helping the Canadian Young Men’s National
Team win the Gold Medal at the 2005 Jack Donohue Tournament and
competed in the FIBA Young Men’s World Championship in
Argentina. The 6-7, 230 pound forward will compete for a
starting role in a depleted frontcourt. Chris Oakes has more
potential to develop into a big time player. The 6-9, 195
pounder is long and slender but is extremely efficient under the
basket. Center Derick Grubb only played in five contests last
year before going down with an injury. His return is vital to
the depth of the frontcourt.
Who to Watch:
Kingsley Costain, the little 5-7 point guard,
will have the unenviable job of trying to hold together the team
through a tough schedule. Although only a sophomore, Costain has
tons of experience playing with the Canadian National Team. Last
year he averaged 7.4 points and 1.8 assists per contest. Junior
Marvin Lea led the squad averaging 3.7 assists, but the two
point guards might be asked to play side by side. If not, either
would be a great asset off the bench. Last year they split time,
this year it might be more important to stick with one starter
to develop into the team leader on and off the court.
Projected Conference Rank:
An extremely difficult non-conference
schedule should prepare the Waves for conference play and a 3rd
place finish in the WCC. While that seems like overachieving at
the moment, by January the team should be coming together. If
they don’t and the non-conference schedule tears the morale
down, it will be a long year in the basement of the WCC
standings on the beaches of Malibu. There will be a lot of
experimenting with the starting five. The newcomers, especially
Willie Galick, Gregg Barlow and Tomas Pranciiauskas, could earn
a starting spot or at least be given a chance to crack the
starting five.
Projected Post-season Tournament:
NIT
Projected Starting Five:
Kingsley Costain, Junior, Guard, 18.8
points per game
Marvin Lea, Senior, Guard, 4.3 points per
game
Chase Griffin, Junior, Guard, 2.3 points
per game
Willie Galick, Senior, Forward, 7.2 points
per game
Russell Hicks, Senior, Center, 3.5 points
per game
