Griz hoop team begin practice Oct. 14th
10/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 13, 2011
Sixth-year University of Montana head basketball coach Wayne Tinkle's 2011-12 Grizzlies begin their season tomorrow (Friday, Oct. 14th), with their first practice.
The team will make its public debut on Thursday, Oct. 27th in the annual Silver-Maroon Scrimmage, which begins at 6:00 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena. They are back in action a week later, on Thursday, Nov. 3, when they host Montana Tech in an exhibition contest.
The Griz are coming off their second straight 20-win season, as they were 21-11 last year and 22-10 two seasons ago. The Griz went 12-4 in league last year to finish second in the regular-season.
The Grizzlies were close to another prestigious NCAA berth last season, losing 65-60 in the league's post-season tournament to the host Northern Colorado Bears.
Coach Tinkle and his staff of Bill Evans, Freddie Owens, and Jono Metzger-Jones have a solid nucleus returning, including four starters and a total of eight lettermen.
Montana has six players back who started at least 15 games last season. Leading the way are 6-1 junior guard Will Cherry (30 starts) and 7-foot senior center-forward Derek Selvig (32 starts), two of Montana's three double-figure scorers last season at 14.1 and 10.1 points a game, respectively. Will was a first team all-conference selection, while Derek was an honorable mention pick.
"We've got a lot back and we are excited about that, and our returners have improved over the off-season," Tinkle said. "We've got some good experience there and some scorers, and we've added some shooters."
Other starters back, are 6-4 senior forward Art Steward (18 starts), 6-5 sophomore guard-forward Kareem Jamar, and senior guards Shawn Stockton (15 starts) and Jordan Wood (16 starts).
Last season Steward was fourth on the team in scoring (8.6 ppg), while Jamar was fifth (8.1 ppg).
"I am really excited about our backcourt, with Will arguably one of the best guards in the West and for sure in our league," Tinkle said. "And then Kareem and Art, along with Shawn Stockton and Jordan Wood, and you add our new guys - it's going to be fun. I know our practices are going to be competitive, and that's always a real good thing because that carries over come game time."
Junior Mathias Ward, a 6-7 forward, is a major contributor off the bench, and was sixth on the team in scoring (4.5 ppg) a year ago, and has played in 62 career games.
Sophomore center Eric Hutchison (6-9), and redshirt freshmen Billy Reader (6-9 center) and Mike Weisner (6-7 forward) also return.
Coach Tinkle signed an impressive trio of players from the high school ranks in guards (6-2) Keron DeSheilds (Vermont Academy) and (6-2) Jordan Gregory (Pueblo East High School, Colo.), and (6-5) guard-forward Kevin Henderson (Auburn HS, Wash.). Also three prep additions were prolific scorers in high school, averaging 20 or more points a game as seniors.
"They all have some offensive fire-power, but your concern with freshmen is how long it will take them to learn your system offensively, but more importantly on the defensive side and how to guard people," Tinkle said. "They know that they have to play a role, and they're not going to score 20 a game their first year out, but I like what they bring to the table and what they offer."
UM also has a pair of walk-ons on the team in 6-0 guard Morgan Young (Lustre HS, Mont.) and 6-5 forward Nick Emerson (Columbia Falls HS, Mont.).
Montana has a huge void to fill with the graduation of record-setting center Brian Qvale. Qvale not only set Big Sky records in career blocks (247) and single-season rejections (95), but he was also named first team all-league and was tabbed the conference "Defensive Player of the Year."
"We are a little bit concerned about that five-hole spot," Tinkle said. "Brian was arguably the best center maybe that ever played here," Tinkle said. "I know we've had a lot of great post players, but those are big shoes to be filled. We've got to put some pressure on our young bigs to perform. The thing I like, is that we've got some versatility and maybe we'll move Derek to that center position and kind of go from there. With Mathias and Derek and their maturity, we should be okay."
This week's tentative practice schedule:
Saturday, Oct. 15: 9:00-11:30 a.m., West Axillary Gym (WAG)
Sunday, Oct. 16: 11:00 a.m. -2:00 p.m., Dahlberg Arena
Monday, Oct. 17: 2:30-5:00 p.m., Dahlberg Arena
Tuesday, Oct. 18: Off Day
Wednesday, Oct. 19: 2:30-5:00 p.m., Dahlberg Arena
Thursday, Oct. 20: 2:30-5:00 p.m., Dahlberg Arena
Friday, Oct. 21: 4:15-7:00 p.m., Dahlberg Arena
2011-12 MONTANA GRIZZLY NUMERICAL ROSTER
PLAYER-POS. HT. WT. YR.-EXP. HOMETOWN (SCHOOL)
0-Morgan Young-G 6-0 180 Fr.-HS Lustre, Mont. (Lustre ChristHS)
1-Art Steward-F 6-4 210 Sr.-1V Casper, Wyo. (Casper College)
2-Kevin Henderson-G-F 6-5 190 Fr.-HS Auburn, Wash. (Auburn HS)
5-Will Cherry-G 6-1 177 Jr.-2V Oakland, Calif. (McClymonds HS)
10-Jordan Gregory-G 6-2 185 Fr.-HS Pueblo, Colo. (Pueblo East HS)
12-Jordan Wood-G 6-3 200 Sr.-1V Cedar City, Utah (Snow College)
15-Nick Emerson-F 6-5 200 Fr.-HS Col. Falls, Mont. (C-Falls HS)
20-Keron DeShields-G 6-2 177 Fr.-HS Baltimore, MD (Vermont Academy)
22-Shawn Stockton-G 6-1 191 Sr.-3V Spokane, Wash. (Ferris HS)
24-Derek Selvig-F/C 7-0 230 Sr.-3V Glendive, Mont. (Dawson Co. HS)
32-Kareem Jamar-G-F 6-5 210 So.-1V L.A., Calif. (Westchester HS)
33-Mike Weisner-F 6-7 185 Fr.-RS Walla Walla, Wash. (W.Walla HS)
40-Mathias Ward-F 6-7 236 Jr.-2V Gig Harbor, Wash.(Gig Harb.HS)
45-Eric Hutchison-F 6-9 230 So.-1V Longview, Wash.(Mark Morris HS)
50-Billy Reader-C-F 6-9 217 Fr.-RS Lake Oswego, Ore. (L.Oswego HS)
