Men's Bronco Basketball Ready to Hit the Hardwood

By Nick Ostiller

The Santa Clara men's basketball team is ready to embark on its 2011-2012 campaign in the hope of building upon last season's success. Crowned champions of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament in March, the Broncos have their sights set on bigger and better destinations this time around.

In order to reach goals such as qualifying for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship tournament, also known as March Madness, Santa Clara will have to rely on the leadership of players such as redshirt junior Kevin Foster and sophomore Evan Roquemore.

Not only did Foster average over 20 points per game last season, he also sunk more three-pointers than any other player in the nation en route to being named to the honorary West Coast Conference First Team.

Head coach Kerry Keating, who is returning for his fifth year at the helm for Santa Clara, knows that he has quite an offensive weapon in Foster.

"He's about as good a shooter, and as a good a scorer as there is," said Keating.

Foster's 140 three-pointers last season obviously meant that the marksman heaved many attempts from behind the arc, something that Keating wants his star player to keep in check this year.

"He's certainly going to get his amount of shots," said Keating. "(But) he's got to be more efficient."

Efficiency will be a major theme for the Broncos, who will have to find a way to fill the void left by the injured Marc Trasolini.

"We have to establish who is going to be able to score for us knowing that Marc was a proven scorer over the last two years," said Keating.

One of the players that will be counted on to step up this season is Roquemore. The sophomore point guard was named to the WCC All-Freshman Team last season, and he must assume a leadership role relating to the incoming freshmen on this year's squad.

"(The freshmen) need a little bit of guidance for what is going to come this year (and) what's going to be expected of them," said Roquemore. "So trying to get them ready for the season is definitely a big part of my role right now."

Santa Clara has six true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen on the roster. Keating called this lack of experience "daunting," admitting that these younger players will most likely have to assume larger roles. The challenge for Keating and the Broncos is the natural learning curve for freshmen players making the transition from high school to college.

"The biggest change for freshman in college is the speed of the game," said Keating. "Every player on the floor is a good player. (The freshmen are) used to being the best player on their (high school) team, maybe the only player that can play at a high level. So they have to make the adjustments (in college)."

Among the team's youthful abundance is Julian Clarke, who sat out all of last season after deciding to redshirt following an injury. This season, the Canadian native will be expected to step in and contribute to the team. Although he hasn't experienced the atmosphere of playing in a meaningful game, Clarke believes he is ready to perform on the big stage.

"Sitting on the bench and sitting on the sideline in practice opened my eyes to different parts of the game I hadn't seen before," explained Clarke. "I really learned a lot from the coaches, from the upperclassmen last year. Coming in this year, I kind of knew what I had to do based on what I saw last year."

Besides the adjustments that some of the players will have to make, Santa Clara's schedule has also undergone a transformation. The first notable change is the addition of Brigham Young University to the WCC. BYU has been a perennial powerhouse in college basketball for the past few years, and made easy work of Gonzaga in the national tournament last season. This addition means that the Broncos will now have another formidable opponent to deal with in their conference. Yet Santa Clara welcomes the challenge, as Keating has intentionally increased the strength of the schedule from last season.

"It's probably the toughest schedule that we've had since I've been here and it can still get tougher and we're trying to make it harder," said Keating. "With the type of team we're building to have, its only going to help us."

The Broncos will be tested early on this season when they participate in the ESPNU 76 Classic in late November. This tournament, which will be held in Anaheim, Calif., will feature traditional powers Villanova, Oklahoma and New Mexico among others.

"As the years have gone on, our strength of schedule has definitely progressed, and that's kind of the goal," said sophomore forward John McArthur. "That's the reason why a lot of us have come (to Santa Clara). We want to play the best and we want to develop this program. We're not going to back down from anybody."

The Broncos will begin their quest towards a NCAA tournament berth when they host UC Merced at the Leavey Center on Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Contact Nick Ostiller at nostiller@scu.edu or (408) 554-4852.