CSU Stanislaus basketball teams hoping to build on last season’s momentum

There is a downside to the California Collegiate Athletic Association championship won last season by the Cal State Stanislaus men’s basketball team.

The Warriors won’t be sneaking up on anybody this season.

The CCAA coaches chose Stanislaus to finish third this year, which is the highest predicted finish in program history. So now it’s on the Warriors to live up to their fresh reputation.

“It’s always a little harder when people have high expectations, to meet them,” said Warriors coach Larry Reynolds, who is entering his sixth season at the helm. “It takes a better effort than the year before because people are shooting for you now instead of not paying much attention. But the guys are working hard in practice and have a sense of wanting to be better than we were last year.”

Stanislaus is off to a solid 2-0 start, defeating Division II schools Dominican (60-58) and Montana State Billings (75-68) last week. They’ll return to the court Nov. 28-29 at Cal Baptist with games against the host school and Dixie State, open conference play Dec. 5-6 with the Cal State Los Angeles-Dominguez Hills trip and finally get a home game Dec. 10 against Notre Dame de Namur.

The Warriors are quicker than last year’s team, and have depth inside. Wes Bartole, a powerful 6-foot-5 forward who missed all but last year’s exhibition games with a broken foot, averaged 12.5 points and pulled down 19 rebounds in the opening two games. He’ll join fellow 6-7 senior Rob Walters, who emerged as an inside force and on-court leader during Stanislaus’ postseason run.

And for the second consecutive season, Stanislaus welcomes a Division I transfer to man the low post. Last season it was 6-9 Enochs High School graduate Marcus Bell, who bounced back from the University of Idaho to average 17.4 points and 10.5 rebounds. Bell was drafted and signed by the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA Development League on Nov. 1 and was waived six days later.

This season, the Warriors have added Raphael Carter-Nowling, a 6-9 center/power forward from Columbus, Ohio. He played two seasons at Diablo Valley College, was a part-time starter in 2012-13 at Oakland University in Michigan, and redshirted last season after having groin surgery. He will make his Stanislaus debut at Cal Baptist.

“Raphael might not be quite the athlete Marcus was, but he’s a very good athlete,” Reynolds said. “As far as length and defense are concerned they’re pretty close.”

The senior-filled team also features forward Tyler Barber and guards Chris Read and Clinton Tremelling, and guard Shey Mataele – who has one semester of athletic eligibility remaining – will join the team Dec. 20, giving the Warriors exceptional depth and quickness in a league that thrives on both.

“We can put three or four athletes on the floor at the same time, even five with certain lineups,” Reynolds said. “I was pretty happy with the group defensively for the first time out, but we have to sort things out offensively and that will take 2-3 games.”

Women

When asked last season what it meant to jump from a 2-25 record to 13-13, coach Wayman Strickland said “It means we’ll never be picked to finish last in the conference.”

The CCAA coaches projected the Warriors ninth of the 12 teams this year. Baby steps, but big ones.

“Goal Number One accomplished,” Strickland said. “That’s one way for me to measure our progress.”

Perceptions aside, Stanislaus still has a lot of work ahead in its effort to move into the CCAA’s upper echelon, and Strickland believes this year’s team is capable of making that jump.

“We’re still probably going to be the youngest team in the conference, but we have a good, young nucleus,” Strickland said. “Looking at our lineup we’re a little taller and longer, bigger, faster and stronger, which is what you always want in athletics.”

Stanislaus opened with a 98-67 exhibition loss at Pacific, and traveled for another exhibition against a Division I foe Wednesday night when it met Fresno State. The games start to count today when the Warriors play at Fresno Pacific, and the home opener is Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against Academy of Art.

But the biggest upgrade this season might be inside depth. In addition to Sanders-Curry, Stanislaus can count on freshman Aleseana Whitney, a 6-foot freshman from Vanden High, Erika Larsen, a 6-3 sophomore from Sutter High, and freshman Emilee VanDyke, who at 6-3 was a multi-sport athlete at Gregori.

With former Pitman standout Jasmine Washington – now a junior – at one of the wings, the Warriors could be formidable.

“We can score the ball, but it comes down to defending and rebounding, if you want to make the next leap to being a good team,” Strickland said. “We’ve taken the leap to becoming competitive in the conference and now we want to be a top team.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2014 at 3:57 PM with the headline "CSU Stanislaus basketball teams hoping to build on last season’s momentum."