Basketball looks to turn it around

By Tom Schreier

Head coach Kerry Keating has yet to have a winning season in his three years with the Broncos.

Since replacing longtime coach Dick Davey, who led Santa Clara to their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 1996, Keating's promise to turn the program around has yet to come to fruition.

His team, which went 0-3 against ranked opponents and 3-11 in the conference last season, knows lackluster play will not fill the Leavey Center.

There was a sense of urgency in their step as they competed against each other in an inter-squad scrimmage last Saturday.

Players typically improve most during the summer between their freshman and sophomore seasons. With a full year of Division I experience under their belt and an entire summer to work on their fitness, players are better able to handle more responsibilities within a coaching system and are less likely to panic in pressure situations.

"There were times last year when there were four of our freshmen on the floor at one time," said Keating as he signed the shirt of a young admirer after the scrimmage.

"That experience helped them understand what's important and now it's just a matter of translating that (into their game)."

Robert Smith, Kevin Foster and Marc Trasolini have emerged as Santa Clara's "Big Three." While they have not made headlines like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh during the offseason, these three players have the ability to terrorize their opponents this year.

During the scrimmage, Smith, who set a freshman record for minutes played last season, darted through the lane with ease and with improved court vision, was able to find open teammates on the wing, enabling them to effortlessly rain threes upon their opponents.

"Experience helps," said Smith, a soft-spoken player, in reference to his court vision. "I (was here) last year and it's all paying off."

Foster, who was recently named to the preseason All-WCC team, looked healthy after missing most of last season due to injury. One year after breaking Steve Nash's single-season record with 85 three pointers and Kurt Rambis' freshman scoring record with 815 points, the All-American looked comfortable shooting contested threes.

During both scrimmages, which lasted 20 minutes apiece, he was paired with Trasolini, who was also named to the preseason All-WCC team. The junior forward and redshirt sophomore guard were both productive in the scrimmage.

Trasolini has added a three-point shot to his arsenal, which will force defenses to guard him along the perimeter.

"They've been playing with each other now for three years," said Keating, noting that although Foster redshirted last season, he continued to practice with the team. "Just to be around, to know what our program's about, knowing what's important on both ends of the floor."

The team has depth this year. While Niyi Harrison was found in Santa Clara's backyard (Bellarmine Prep), Keating has brought players from Katy, TX (Foster) to Minneapolis, MN (sophomore Ray Cowels) to fill out his roster.

The former UCLA assistant has not restricted his recruiting efforts to the United States. Trasolini (Vancouver, British Columbia), senior Ben Dowdell (Australia), and freshmen Julian Clarke (Toronto, Ontario) and Yannick Atanga (Cameroon) needed a passport in order to play for coach Keating.

Younger players like Clarke and Atanga are still figuring out the nuances of Keating's system and are getting used to playing Division I players. Clarke got flustered twice when a player hedged on a pick and turned the ball over. Atanga had to be frequently reminded of what offense he was in and where he was supposed to be.

"Some of the guys are going to take a little more time and... the people who have been here before (need) to help them out," said senior Michael Santos, who serves as a vocal leader on the team. "They've done a good job so far going through a week-and-a-half of practice, but the main thing is studying, watching film, (and) taking extra time to make that learning process come quicker."

On the court, Santos reminds his young teammates to pay attention to detail.

"One of the things we've implemented is a new rebounding technique: hit, find and fetch. Doing things like that," said Santos, offering an example of what he wants to see from the young players.

"Paying attention to detail as far as hedging, what defensive schemes were doing, and offensively it's making plays and knowing which offense to run and making reads."

The Broncos have two weeks to pull everything together. They begin the regular season in the Leavey Center against CSU-Bakersfield on Friday, November 12.

Contact Tom Schreier at (408) 551-1918 or tschreier@scu.edu.