Pepperdine basketball’s season-opening “Blue and Orange Madness” event two weeks ago served up a clear message to the capacity crowd at Firestone Fieldhouse: The Waves will compete with a purpose.
Coming off subpar seasons for both programs, the Pepperdine men’s and women’s basketball teams start the season in a couple weeks with new faces, positive attitudes and high hopes.
Here is a preview for both teams as they begin the 2013-14 season:
Men’s Basketball
Coach Marty Wilson begins his third year at the helm with seven returning lettermen while welcoming eight new players to the squad. The continuity, combined with the incoming talent, has Wilson bursting at the seams with a positive outlook.
“The biggest change is our team chemistry, along with our leadership,” Wilson said. “It’s unbelievable. It’s a big, big difference. We have really good cohesion and unselfish guys. We’ve already seen it in the first three weeks of practice of how we share the ball and guys are looking for each other.”
After going 12-18 in 2012 and 4-12 in the West Coast Conference (tied for seventh), Wilson is confident that the Waves will improve upon last season. He described the team’s expectations “as higher or higher than they’ve been before.”
“I expect us to be a lot better than we were last year in every area,” Wilson said. “I expect us to win more games because we have more skill, quickness and athleticism. My philosophy has always been, ‘We will win all of them until we lose one. Then we will win the next one until we lose one.’”
Sophomore forward Stacy Davis, 2012’s WCC Newcomer of the Year, returns to anchor the paint as one of the better big men of the conference. His averages of 11.2 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game led all freshmen in the conference as he was named to the All-WCC Honorable Mention team and the WCC All-Freshman team.
Joining Davis in the frontcourt will be UCLA transfer Brendan Lane, Malte Kramer and Jett Raines.
“Just experiencing my first year in college basketball and going through the difficulties we had last year was definitely a learning experience,” Davis said. “This year we are getting ready to show everyone what we can do. We will get after it a lot better. It’s going to be more exciting, I promise.”
An infusion of talented young guards who can defend, push the ball and score will be looked upon to make a difference early in their careers. Freshman point guards Jeremy Major and Amadi Udenyi along with sophomore Austin Mills will play alongside sharp senior shooting guard Nikolas Skouen to form an exciting backcourt.
“Our overall guard play will be a lot better with the point guards mainly,” Wilson said. “They will make better decisions and more plays for other people as opposed to them trying to create for themselves.”
Pepperdine begins its season at home on November 9 against San Diego Christian.
Women’s Basketball
The women’s team is breaking in a new coach after a rough 2013 campaign that saw the Waves finish 5-23 overall and 2-14 in the WCC. Former coach Julie Rousseau resigned following the season, and new head coach Ryan Weisenberg begins his tenure pledging an infusion of energy.
“A good friend of mine used to say it’s ‘unbridled enthusiasm’ and I think that’s the excitement I have,” Weisenberg said. “It’s an amazing opportunity. I’m coming into a very strong program. I’m really excited and it’s going to be a fun season.”
Weisenberg inherits a team with no seniors but returns a quartet of ladies who will serve as the heart and soul for the Waves: junior guards Bria Richardson and Ea Shoushtari and sophomore forwards Kelsey Brockway and Keitra Wallace.
“Bria is emerging as the face of this program,” Weisenberg said. “She wants to take this program on her shoulders and really push it to new heights. She’s basically everything we want this program to be. She has taken that responsibility and run with it.”
Weisenberg has changed the culture in favor of a more physical and demanding style of play.
“We need to be physical and tough,” he said. “Our focus is to compete and get real physical with each other. It’s a different mentality. We are going to make other teams play ugly half-court basketball.”
The Waves play at Seattle University on November 8 and have their home opener against UC Irvine on November 14.
