Keating turns to youth this season
By Gabe Taylor and Nick Pinkerton
The Santa Clara men's basketball team returns to the floor after a 2008-2009 season led by West Coast Conference Player of the Year John Bryant.
With Bryant having graduated, Santa Clara will put the ball into the familiar hands of 2008-2009 Freshman All-American guard Kevin Foster.
However, third-year Head Coach Kerry Keating will integrate six new players into his team's make-up, including five freshman and transfer student Troy Payne.
Santa Clara will gain a greater sense of its identity once they begin play on Nov. 6, but for now they have reflected on the emerging positives in practice and the areas in which they aim to improve.
With no seniors on the roster, five freshman ready to earn significant playing time and the departure of John Bryant's 18.1 PPG and 14.2 RPG last season, Santa Clara must now turn to a new leader.
Despite a roster filled with youth, sophomore Kevin Foster looks to emerge as a mentor that will help guide the young team.
"I'm working with Coach Keating to try and help the freshmen out, get through a lot of the bumps and bruises they're hitting right now," said Foster.
Foster broke out of his shell midway through last season, when he sparked Santa Clara's 70-52 blowout over Saint Mary's, scoring 26 points.
After finishing last season averaging 14.7 points-per game, he has put himself in a position to be the 2009-2010 Broncos scoring leader.
When it comes to veteran leadership, however, juniors Ben Dowdell, Nate Mensah and Michael Santos are expected to lead by example, according to Keating.
Over the offseason, Santa Clara acquired Troy Payne, a junior transfer from Citrus College. Payne was successful in his seasons at Citrus, where his team excelled to 66-5 record under Head Coach Rick Croy.
"I want to bring toughness and leadership and winning experience," said Payne, noting that he understands that if he leads by example, the younger players will follow.
With a younger and quicker team, Keating hopes to see the team have more possessions that will, in turn, lead to more than the 65.6 PPG that the Broncos averaged last season.
"We're trying to get the ball up and down the court," said Payne, commenting on the team's effort to expand the court and play at a slightly quicker pace than they did last season.
This game plan to run the basketball more frequently is possible, primarily due to the absence of Bryant.
With sharpshooters like Foster, Santa Clara's offensive strength is in their perimeter game. Foster sank a team-high 85 three pointers last season and finished shooting just under 37% from beyond the arc.
However, even with a strong offensive presence, defense and rebounding remain as the focuses for Keating and the Broncos.
The loss of Bryant and his ability to block shots (2.55 per game in 2008-2009) has forced the defense to adapt to playing with a smaller team.
"(Bryant) had a presence on defense in a lot of different ways that we have to make up for," said Keating.
In turn, Santa Clara will embrace a style that limits the number of quality scoring opportunities that opponents have, while balancing that with an offense that values every possession of the ball.
"Coach Keating has prepared us to play very tough defense and focus on taking care of every possession," said freshman Chris Cunningham.
As far as turnovers go, Keating has been impressed with the team's improvement of controlling and handling the ball with care.
Santa Clara averaged just under 13 turnovers last season, an average that Keating would like to see drop this coming season.
"We've really done a better job of handling the ball in practice, way better than we have the first years," he said.
Although the season is around the corner, Keating is making sure to emphasize the skills and knowledge needed to win basketball games, rather than the structure of game play.
"We don't have many plays in right now; it's just defense and playing hard, playing together, playing unselfishly," said Foster.
Santa Clara will have its hands full with their West Coast Conference opponents in 2009-2010, most notably with the WCC perennial favorite Gonzaga University.
The Bulldogs received six of eight first-place votes in a WCC preseason coaches poll and are often ranked in the top-25 nationally.
The Portland Pilots look to carry their momentum forward from last season when they finished behind NCAA Tournament-bound Gonzaga and Saint Mary's with a 19-13 record.
Despite losing standout Patty Mills to the NBA draft, the St. Mary's Gaels are still a threat to claim the conference title with senior Omar Samhan.
Santa Clara engaged in many close battles with quality opponents last season, coming up short in a few.
The most notable of these were a 63-62 loss to Saint Mary's on Jan. 9 in Moraga and a 81-73 heartbreaker at home to Gonzaga on Feb. 26.
Contact Nick Pinkerton or Gabe Taylor at sports@thesantaclara.com or (408) 551-1918.
href_fmt="Reid)_fmt.jpegRobbie Ried pulls ahead of his competitors during the West Coast Conference finals.photo provided by Donald Jedlovec