Bobcats are thankful for NCAA ruling
By JEFF WELSCH, Chronicle Sports Editor
Should the Montana State men's basketball team defy the experts this winter and finish No. 1, as three daring prognosticators assert, remember these two numbers.
Five.
And eight.
They are the most talked-about figures of the preseason, much more so than points and rebounds and assists, which will begin to take center stage Friday when regular-season play begins for Big Sky Conference teams.
Five is the maximum number of scholarships the NCAA allowed teams to distribute in a given year.
Eight was the most allowed over two years.
The so-called "five-eight rule" received notoriety nationally because of its impact on such perennial powers as Arizona, Duke and Michigan State, who are regularly hurt by early defections to the NBA.
But the ramifications were felt just as acutely at places like Montana State and Montana, also known as the "mid-majors."
"The mid-majors were really being stung by the five-eight," 15th-year MSU coach Mick Durham said. "We were definitely one of those programs."
Places like Bozeman, Missoula, Pocatello and Flagstaff, Durham concedes, "aren't for everybody."
Many players, especially from larger cities and warmer climes, would spend a year in the Big Sky and then depart before dying of frostbite or boredom. Or, because recruiting at this level is such a guessing game, programs were stuck with players that didn't fit.
Trouble was, under the five-eight rule, coaches couldn't replace athletes who bailed, and they were reluctant to banish others whose talent or personality they misjudged.
The upshot: MSU would've had but nine scholarship players this winter instead of the allowed 13, and an almost certain date with the Big Sky cellar.
That gloomy picture changed overnight when the NCAA rescinded the rule this past offseason. The Bobcats suddenly had four more scholarships to offer.
"Obviously," Durham says, smiling, "we went out and used them."
The Bobcats, who were 14-13 overall and 6-8 in the Big Sky, have added six players, five from junior colleges.
The kicker, and what makes the 2004-05 season as intriguing as any in recent memory, is that three other Big Sky schools have re-tooled as well.
Most notable is Weber State, which signed six players after a 15-14 overall year and 7-7 Big Sky mark.
"In five years here I had never let anybody go," Wildcat coach Joe Cravens said. "Never felt like I had a need to. Last year, I let four kids go, and they were going to be let go regardless of the five-eight. Not awful kids, just kids who didn't quite get it.
"After that happened (five-eight), we were able to recoup those scholarships."
Adding to the intrigue is lower-echelon programs Sacramento State and Northern Arizona, which also added a bevy of transfers, and senior-laden Portland State, which finished last a year ago but appears poised for a title run.
Further muddling the picture is the question marks surrounding defending champion Eastern Washington, which ran away with the league at 11-3 but lost coach Ray Giacoletti, league MVP Alvin Snow and seasoned point guard Brandon Merritt.
The Eagles are picked first again by the coaches and media, in part because they return all-conference forward Marc Axton and Freshman of the Year Matt Nelson, but also simply by default.
"Nine-and-five might get it done," first-year EWU coach Paul Burns said. "It will be very interesting. I really think it will be a dogfight. You go right down that list ... I look at the list and I see Montana State picked last. I know a couple of the kids who they recruited.
"They are a group that probably feels pretty good about themselves."
They are.
"I think we got the best recruiting class in the conference," said 6-foot-7 forward Marvin Moss, one of three JC transfers who will start in the Bobcats' season opener Friday night at Washington State.
"They told me you've got to trust us to get a good recruiting class. They picked the people they wanted. They picked a lot of good people."
Certainly the ingredients are there to challenge for the upper division, perhaps even the regular-season title.
For all of their newness, the Bobcats have a veteran at point guard, any team's most vital position. Frank Brown is eager to take the reins from Jason Erickson, whose departure, along with his 17.3 scoring average, is the primary reason MSU is picked to finish last.
MSU's other returning starter is the conference's highest-scoring freshman of a year ago, 6-4 forward Nick Dissly (9.1 ppg). The Bozeman High graduate has added muscle, which has enhanced his leaping ability and shooting range.
They are joined in the starting lineup by transfers Moss, 6-1 guard Branden Miller and 6-11 center Alione Beye, though all three will be pushed at their positions by 6-7 transfer Taylor Pratt, 6-foot transfer Ja'Ron Jefferson and 7-foot returnee Matt Towsley.
Also seeing substantial playing time will be freshman guards Casey Durham and Ryan Holmes, as well as senior forward Dennis Woodall and sophomore forward Carson Durr.
That's as many as 12 players in the rotation.
When last year the Bobcats often struck the MDOT pose - one guy, Erickson, working and four guys standing around, leaning on shovels - now every player must be involved.
"I think we can win the whole Big Sky if everything clicks," Dissly said. "We're not just a one-option team anymore. Last year, they pretty much just tried to stop one guy. This year I think we have a couple of guys."
Agrees Miller: "I think we can be the best team in the conference."
Durham says he has precious little idea how the Bobcats compare to the rest of the Big Sky, and won't pay much attention until January, but he does like having a team created in the image he prefers.
Quick. Agile. Active.
And deep.
The Bobcats will run the floor, much the way they did in winning the conference title in 2002, and won't be shy about shooting.
His only concerns for now are the learning curve and Towsley's nagging back, which will keep him sidelined until early December.
"We're a little bit thin inside, but we have a little better sense of defense," Durham said. "I like how things are coming together."
Truth be known, Durham can't find one area in which the Bobcats are weaker than a year ago, when an injury to Brown in the season-ending loss at home to Sacramento State cost them a tie for second and chance to play on.
"We've got a complete team right now," said Beye, a rail-thin center from Senegal who has already become a crowd favorite with his shot blocking, dunks and enthusiasm.
"I can see the hunger in my teammates."
That hunger was only reinforced by the news that MSU is picked to finish last, though probably for no better reason than Eastern Washington was picked first.
Somebody had to be put there.
"I want to win games by big margins," Moss said, adding with a grin: "But I guess we shouldn't beat nobody."
Are the forecasts bulletin-board fodder?
Naw.
"We talked about it a little," Durham said. "I really wasn't looking forward to it coming out because I expected it.
"I do hope we can prove everybody wrong. I think this team is very capable."
For that, Durham can thank the end of the five-eight rule.
At the very worst, the forecast is uncertain. Under the five-eight rule, last seemed a certainty.
Now, as Durham watches practice, he looks out upon the athleticism, the depth and the chemistry, his emotions range from relief to as much giddiness as the low-key Three Forks native can emit.
"I sure don't feel like I'm watching a last-place team," he says, smiling.
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