Coming off a disappointing 10-20 season, long time Southern Utah
head coach Bill Evans has hope
for optimism in 2006-07. The Thunderbirds return four of
their five leading scorers and Evans has a chance to
substantially add to his SUU all-time best 193 wins.
Shawn Siegel (CHN): What
will the strengths and weaknesses of
this year’s team to be?
Bill
Evans (BE):
It appears to me that we will be more athletic than we have been
in the past. I think this will be one of the most athletic teams
I’ve coached since I’ve been here, from the point to the post. I
also think we’ll be a pretty good shooting team, I don’t think
we’ll lead the country in 3-point percentage like we did last
year but we’ll be a decent shooting team. It appears our major
strength will be or athleticism, however.
I’m
concerned not so much about depth but we don’t have very much
size. We do have one big kid but we take a big drop from 7-1 to
6-6. Our post guys with the exception of Brad [Kanis, who is
7-1] will be 6-6 and our wings will be anywhere from 6-4 to 6-6
again. We don’t have a lot of size. Our point guard is 5-10, our
off-guard is 6-0; from there we get bigger. Secondly, trying to
incorporate at least 3 new starters into our lineup will be a
challenge as well; we have quite a few new guys.
CHN: Talk about one or two of your guys that stands out
as being an unheralded leader and contributor?
BE:Steve Barnes
was an honorable mention all-league guy last year, which
surprised me a little bit, not because he didn’t deserve it – he
unquestionably did – but because he hasn’t received a lot of
respect even though he’s been in the top-two in the league in
assists and in assists-to-turnover ratio each of the past two
seasons. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a guy work as hard as Steve
has since the end of last season until now in the weight room to
get stronger and better. I think he’s an underrated offensive
player, he shot over 50% from the floor (.506) and from the
3-point line (.500) last year; my challenge will be to get him
to take an open shot when he gets it. He’s a pass-first,
shoot-second guy and he has a good temperament for the [point
guard] position. Steve is incredibly strong for his size. He’s
so quiet that sometimes he doesn’t direct, vocally, like I would
like him to but he’s a guy kids will follow because of his work
ethic and the way he approaches the game. He does all the things
leaders do.
CHN: How will you deal with the losses of your graduating
seniors?
BE: I think Rand [Janes], Nate [Janes] and Esteban
were all program guys, very loyal, very hard-working, very
unselfish. Everyone talks about playing for the right reasons,
and all three played for the right reasons. On the other hand
Henry [Uhegwu] was very productive, more of a scorer, and a good
teammate, losing all of them will be a blow. They were all
high-character guys who weren’t concerned about their numbers or
themselves but were concerned about the scoreboard.
Who is ready to take their game to the next level?
Besides Seve
Barnes who I discussed, I anticipate Justin (Allen) will have a
much better year. He is one of the most athletic players I’ve
coached. We need to get him to be a more consistent defender;
he’s a good defender but if he can be more consistent on that
end of the floor he can be a difference maker
CHN: What should
we expect out of the incoming players. Who will make the biggest impact?
BE:It’s
hard for me to say because one of the young men I think will
have a real impact I haven’t ever seen play in person, but based
upon what I’ve heard, Swaney Cooper (6-4, 210, Jr, F, Cleveland,
Ohio, Highland CC) is a very talented, athletic player who will
really help us. Nuru (Nurudeen Adepoju, 6-5, 195, Jr, F, Lagos,
Nigeria, Daytona Beach CC) is a hard worker who shoots the
basketball well. I like Orlando [Griego, 6-7, 210, Jr, F,
Durango, Colorado, JC/Cochise CC] and his ability to lead, he’s
also very tough, both physically and mentally. Both Tate
[Sorenson,6-7, 215, Jr, F, Altamont, Utah, JC/College of Eastern
Utah] and Kael [Pope, 6-9, 200, Fr, Wendell, Idaho, just
returned from LDS church mission] possess the same toughness
qualities. Brad [Kanis, 7-1, 240, Jr, C, Irvine, California,
Lane CC] has size but it’s still to be determined how he will
adjust, how they all will adjust. I like them all and am excited
to see how they will fit in.
CHN: Are you pretty well settled with your starting
lineup? If not, what should be the biggest battle for a starting
spot?
BE:
We have more than one home game in November and December, which
is a plus right away, and we’re excited about that. We have 14
home games, which is more than we’ve had the past few years and
anytime you get to play at home it’s a positive. Our schedule is
tough again though. We have Washington from the Pac-10, Utah and
BYU from the Mountain West, Boise State and Idaho from the WAC,
Denver from the Sun Belt and Weber State from the Big Sky a
couple of times as well as Utah Valley who was one of the best
independents last year. Our pre-season schedule is plenty tough
and our league is always tough.
CHN: How does this year's schedule compare
to recent seasons in terms of difficulty?
BE:
We have more than one home game in November and December, which
is a plus right away, and we’re excited about that. We have 14
home games, which is more than we’ve had the past few years and
anytime you get to play at home it’s a positive. Our schedule is
tough again though. We have Washington from the Pac-10, Utah and
BYU from the Mountain West, Boise State and Idaho from the WAC,
Denver from the Sun Belt and Weber State from the Big Sky a
couple of times as well as Utah Valley who was one of the best
independents last year. Our pre-season schedule is plenty tough
and our league is always tough.
CHN: Realistically, discuss what your goals and hopes are
for this season:
BE: Goals and hopes are two different things to me. I hope
we go to the NCAA tournament and win a bunch of games. Our goals
are to continue to be a team people respect, not only in our
league but out of our league as well; to do things the right
way; to bring in good kids, continue to graduate guys, play
within the NCAA rules. We want to work extremely hard and be as
good as we can be. I don’t have any hard and fast goals as far
as number of wins but if you do the other things, do things the
right way, wins and losses take care of themselves.
CHN: Thanks Bill. Good luck.
Don't forget to check out Southern Utah's 2007 Camps:
Team camp: June 11-14, 2007, Southern Utah University campus,
Cedar City, Utah
Individual Camp: June 4-7, 2007, Southern Utah University
campus, Cedar City, Utah
Bill
Evans (BE):
It appears to me that we will be more athletic than we have been
in the past. I think this will be one of the most athletic teams
I’ve coached since I’ve been here, from the point to the post. I
also think we’ll be a pretty good shooting team, I don’t think
we’ll lead the country in 3-point percentage like we did last
year but we’ll be a decent shooting team. It appears our major
strength will be or athleticism, however.
