WAC hoping for more than one bid
BY DARRELL MOODY
Appeal Sports Writer
There is some mild concern among the Western Athletic Conference basketball coaches that the poor showing in non-conference play may lead to the WAC getting only one bid in this year's NCAA Tournament.
Nevada, Utah State, Fresno State and Boise State are the only schools with winning records thus far, and there is a slight chance that only one or two teams could reach the 20-win plateau before the conference tournament in Las Cruces, N.M.
The conference's Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) has improved from 27 of 33 to 19 of 33, and part of that is because of Boise State's win over BYU, Nevada's win over San Diego and San Diego's road upset of Kentucky. Nevada, thanks to going 6-1 in its last seven games, had an RPI of 43 as of Jan. 6 after being 91 three weeks prior. The last four years, the WAC has been in the top 12 among the nation's conferences, and three of those years were No. 10 or higher.
"That was one of the real selling points in coming to the WAC from the Big West - because it was traditionally a two-bid conference," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "Everyone has a scheduling issue. We played eight games in 16 days so we could play Vanderbilt and Iowa on a neutral court. It backfired."
WAC commissioner Karl Benson said it's too early to surrender. He thinks there is time for a couple of teams to get hot.
"Obviously the non-conference performance wasn't what we were hoping for from a total league standpoint," Benson said. "We have improved some in the rankings. It's always been a two-team (bid) conference. It's important that a couple of teams separate themselves (like Nevada has in the past). We can't have a champion that has six or eight losses."
Boise State's Greg Graham shared Benson's optimism. Graham has the Broncos off to an 11-3 start, including 2-0 in conference play.
"I don't think so," Graham said when asked if he thought the WAC would go to a one-bid league. "We've had a slow start, but a lot of teams had to replace (key) players and we have some new coaches."
Unofficially, many teams have spent a good portion of the non-conference season on the road. Nevada has played six of its 13 games away from home, including a trip to play No. 1 North Carolina. Idaho has played seven of its 12 on the road, Louisiana Tech seven of its 12 away from Ruston. New Mexico State's non-conference schedule was one of the best in the land and included seven away games. Ditto for Utah State. San Jose State played six of its first 10 on the road.
"Losses are losses regardless of who you play," New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies said.
It's hard for teams like Nevada and Utah State to get home games against real quality teams. Both are tough to beat at home, and you rarely will get a team from a marquee conference to go to either place unless it's a 2-for-1. The exception has been Nevada and Fresno State. Nevada did get California to agree to a home-and-home as well as Oregon State, and Fresno State and Stanford have played each other the last two years.
Fresno State is involved in a key game tonight when it plays Saint Mary's. The Gaels are 12-2 thus far and are in the top 10 in RPI. A win would help the WAC's RPI immensely.
AGGIES ON THE RISE
New Mexico State, despite not playing with its full roster yet, has won its last three games to improve to 8-9 overall.
Menzies, the first-year Aggies' coach, recently suspended Hatila Passos and Paris Carter for violating team rules. He wouldn't go into detail as to whether it was academically related.
"It's still up in the air," Menzies said. "The issues could be cleared up by the time we go on the road, or possibly not at all. The ball is in their court."
And then there's the Herb Pope Jr. issue. The highly touted Pope hasn't been cleared to play by the NCAA Clearinghouse. And, to make matters worse, he was arrested over the holidays back in Pennsylvania, so his status is unclear.
The fact that the Aggies are 8-9 is a tribute to the senior leadership of guys like Justin Hawkins, Fred Peete and Trei Steward.
"No doubt," Menzies said. "Trei is one of our back-up guys. He's an inspirational type of guy. He has a team disposition. Fred (Peete) is a silent leader. He's a good anchor."
SCARY FLIGHT
Bad weather last week not only forced the cancellation of the Utah State-Nevada game, but made for some anxious moments for members of the Hawaii basketball traveling party.
The Hawaii team was flying from Salt Lake City to San Jose on Friday when high winds forced the pilot to abort his landing when the plane was less than five minutes from San Jose International and take the plane to the Fresno airport. Wind shear was a concern for the pilot.
"We had to refuel in Fresno in case we had to circle the airport," Hawaii coach Bob Nash said. "The second time through (we were able to land). It was still bumpy and scary. A lot of our players, including my son, wanted to get off and take a 3 1/2-hour bus ride instead. You've got to have faith."
According to Hawaii spokesperson Neal Iwamoto, some other passengers got off the plane in Fresno and rented cars to drive to San Jose.
According to a story in the Honolulu Advertiser, guard Matt Gibson said the plane was rocking back and forth. "Everybody was thinking, 'Is this guy even going to try to land this plane?' Yet somehow three of our guys were sleeping. I don't know how they did that."
After refueling in Fresno, the plane arrived in San Jose three hours later than scheduled.
BULLDOGS DISMISS SIMS
Rekalin Sims, Fresno State's senior center, was dismissed from the school's basketball program.
Sims, a senior transfer, had gotten into some legal difficulties and had been suspended from the team. However, he was cleared of those infractions, according to coach Steve Cleveland. Sims was dismissed for violating the school's code of conduct policy.
"I attribute it to poor decision making," Cleveland said. "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is no appeal."
It will be a big blow to the 'Dogs, who expected the 6-9 Sims to be their leading scorer and rebounder this year.
WAC AWARD WINNERS
Boise State's Matt Nelson and Fresno State's Erica Henry have been named the WAC's men's and women's players of the week.
Nelson keyed the Broncos' 2-0 start in conference action, averaging 23 points and nine rebounds in wins over San Jose State and Idaho last week. He shot 83 percent from the field in the two-game span.
Henry averaged 12 points and 6.5 rebounds in the Bulldogs' wins over Louisiana Tech. She also had six steals and three blocked shots last week.
• Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281