Pridgett ready to carry the load

By Glenn Junkert
For GoGriz.com

Sayeed Pridgett knows it can be easy to rest on past laurels. When his Montana Grizzlies won the Big Sky tournament title and advanced to their second straight March Madness appearance last spring, they joined an elite group of only six previous Big Sky Conference teams to win back-to-back regular season and tourney titles.

But there will be no resting for Pridgett, a 2019 All-Big Sky first-team selection. The Montana senior guard and his senior co-captain teammate, guard Kendal Manuel, the 2019 Big Sky Newcomer of the year, are firmly focused on the road ahead.

"We won't sit here and relax because we've won back-to-back championships," Pridgett said emphatically. "We've won two, we're going to push for three in a row. We're going to use those past championships as motivation for the next one.

"Because… it's all still on the line."

Furthermore, Pridgett knows that Travis DeCuire, his coach, wouldn't have it any other way.

"You know, Coach DeCuire is the fastest to 50 wins in the Big Sky for a reason," Pridgett said. "And what he has been teaching us, it works. So once you figure out how to stick with the coach's plan, you learn you'll get what you want."

It is precisely his awareness of the Montana Griz team identity that has earned Pridgett the respect of his Montana coaches. Of course his progress over his freshman through junior seasons has had occasional bumps and setbacks. But each year Pridgett hit the gym armed with renewed mental toughness and a basketball physique honed by hours of individual practice.

"This past summer I tried to fine-tune my game quite a bit by working on my left hand a lot more," Pridgett said. "But I also worked on both off-ball shooting and off-the-dribble shooting as well. I shoot about 300 perimeter shots every day on my own, and I really concentrated on off-ball screens and getting shots coming off of flares.

"I've learned that basketball is a mental game. I feel like you have to learn how to imagine yourself in a game and prepare for situations mentally before you get to practice. Then you need to prepare mentally in practice before you get into competition."

To a man, Pridgett's four coaches agree.

"Sayeed is what college basketball is all about," associate head coach Chris Cobb said. "I think in a day and age where kids transfer so much, and when things get hard kids want to change or blame others, Sayeed's been one of the few who has been able to buckle down, take on adversity, take on tough games and challenges and make it better for himself and his team."

Pridgett's coaches are unanimous in saying the senior's on-and-off court leadership will be critical for a Montana team trying to figure out how to replace departed seniors Ahmaad Rorie, Michael Oguine, Bobby Moorehead and Jamar Akoh.

Where Pridgett thrived as an underclassman, Cobb said, was in how he learned to play in support of those older teammates.

"The one thing that Sayeed was always good at was to fulfill any role we asked him to fill," Cobb said. "His freshman year he scored a lot, his sophomore year he took on more challenges as the sixth man by fulfilling defensive assignments, which meant that by year's end he was playing 30 minutes a game. Then last year, fans saw that when Jamar (injury) went out of the lineup for good. Sayeed stepped up and took on a huge load in scoring that we needed him to do."

Assistant coach Jay Flores agreed: "Literally, Sayeed is the heart and soul of everything we do as a team right now.

"I think that when this team needed a voice, it was Sayeed who looked into a mirror and said: 'OK, this can be done by me.'"

Pridgett has developed each year he has been at Montana, but he has specifically caught his coaches' attention over the past several months.

"Within the past 12 months especially, I think a switch went off inside him with the realization that: 'This team needs me to be this guy who has to, every day, without fail, bring my best,'" Flores said.

Flores also emphasized Pridgett's growth and leadership off the court, in ways fans don't often see. Things like the way he eats and lifts weights. How he mentors underclassmen and handles responsibilities in the classroom.

First-year assistant coach Zach Payne has observed Pridgett from an entirely different perspective. Payne, who was hired this past June, watched the Griz last season from the Portland State Vikings bench.

"When I was at PSU last year I had the Montana scout, so I learned that Sayeed's versatility makes him really, really unique," Payne said. "The scouting challenge Pridgett imposed forces opposing teams to decide whether to have a larger, more-physical, or a smaller and quicker player guard Sayeed.

"Of course, both answers are wrong."

If a smaller player guards Pridgett, he'll be able to take the defender down low and bully him with his size. When you put a bigger defender on him, Pridgett's quickness and talent from the perimeter will become on display.

"There's never really a good matchup against Sayeed," Payne said.

An attribute bound to make Pridgett an even tougher matchup this season is that his coaches have asked him to be the senior team leader.

According to DeCuire, Montana's success may well flourish as much on Pridgett's leadership skills as on his formidable hoops athleticism.

"Last year, Sayeed was vocal when the time was right," DeCuire said. "So I think he actually assumed a leadership role last year. This year, he might be the one guy who's the leader, so it's important we get that from him."

DeCuire is confident his senior can do just that.

"What people don't often see is Sayeed's passion for the young guys," DeCuire said. "Each year he's done a phenomenal job of taking in the freshmen, giving them confidence and sharing himself with them. That's very difficult to do, and he's done it both in competitive situations and off the court."

It's something that Pridgett knows is important, and he makes an extra emphasis to do so.

"I want to be the best leader I can be," the senior said. "One of my goals this year is to get all the Griz players to buy into our coaches' system. My goal is to help the coaches from a player's point of view instead of from a coach's point of view. It comes from my experience. I know, because I've been in their shoes."

Despite graduating a large amount of talent from last year's championship roster, several experienced players will join Pridgett.

Kendal Manuel, senior shooting guard: "Kendal is a deceptive player," Pridgett said. "He can shoot from deep, but this year he'll be getting a lot of drives and shots off of drives. He's really improved defensively and has built himself up in strength this year. It'll be a very tough year for people to handle Kendal."
Timmy Falls, junior guard: "Timmy is probably the best play-maker I've ever played with," Pridgett said. "He sees the floor better than almost anyone I've ever played with. When you're playing with Timmy you have to be aware of where he is on the court, because you might suddenly get a half-court pass from him."
Mack Anderson, sophomore forward: "Mack is a very athletic post," Pridgett said. "He's long and athletic and a very smart player, and I think he's going to develop this year to deliver what we need with his athleticism."
Eddy Egun, redshirt freshman guard: "Eddy is like a Swiss Army knife," Pridgett said. "He has so many weapons, both offensively and defensively. He can get transition buckets or shots off of screens. What I really love is that he plays his butt off."

Add to the lineup, senior transfer forward Jared Samuelson, sophomore shooting guard Freddy Brown III, redshirt sophomore forward Peter Jones and sophomore transfer Yagizhan Selcuk, who gains eligibility in January.

That's not everyone, Pridgett emphasized. Montana signed a trio of highly touted prep players from the state of California – 6-5 forward Derrick Carter-Hollinger, 6-8 combo Kyle Owens and 6-3 point guard Josh Vazquez – in addition to walk-on Jett Briceno:

"This team is so versatile, it's crazy," said an enthused Pridgett. "I don't think we'll know who will play when. It might change from game to game, and it might depend upon who we're playing."

That versatility, said Pridgett, may have an impact as the season progresses. We have a lot of guys who can play two or three different positions. Part of that versatility is that this year I think we can have more balance with a lot of speed on the open court with some running and gunning, but we'll still be able to slow things down with set plays.

It won't be easy for Pridgett, Cobb predicted.

"It's going to be a tough challenge this year because everyone is going to be so keyed on him." Cobb said. "This year a new big challenge for Sayeed will be to identify double teams and get other people involved, while still continuing to be the guy who can score."

Pridgett's head coach expressed trust and confidence.

"In all honesty, if we can get the same Sayeed we had over the last 10 games of last season, we'll be fine," DeCuire said.

One thing's certain. Montana fans can expect Sayeed Pridgett to do everything in his power to lead his team to what Montana has never done: win the Big Sky Conference back-to-back-to-back.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Jamar Akoh

Mack Anderson

Jett Briceno

Freddy Brown III

Derrick Carter-Hollinger

Eddy Egun

Timmy Falls

Peter Jones

Kendal Manuel

Bobby Moorehead

Michael Oguine

Kyle Owens

Sayeed Pridgett

Ahmaad Rorie

Jared Samuelson

Yagizhan Selcuk

Josh Vazquez

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