July 27, 2009
2009-10 Summer Preview in PDF Format 
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- As defined by Merriam-Webster, an identity is "the distinguishing character or personality of an individual." For the LMU men's basketball team, it wasn't until after the 2008-09 season had started and the arrival of Max Good as head coach the Lions finally found its distinguishing character, its identity.
For the first part of the 2008-09 season, the Lions, complete with eight newcomers and just three seniors, struggled to find any consistency, let alone an identity. Just four games into the season, the team saw Head Coach Bill Bayno step down and eventually resign due to health issues, the loss of three starters from the line-up due to injuries, and one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the West Coast Conference.
For the next six weeks, the Lions, complete with a starting line-up of three freshman and a walk-on senior point guard, fielded a roster of seven healthy scholarship players against a schedule featuring Arizona, Wyoming, UCLA, Tulsa, Arkansas-Little Rock and New Mexico State, all of whom where in the RPI top-50 when the Lions played them.
But Good, who took over the program as acting head coach on Nov. 23 and then was officially named the 25th head coach of the LMU program on Jan. 12, found himself with a team that just refused to quit.
"Each and every day, every one of those kids came to play. They never complained, they never got down and always had their head-up," said Good, who has been a head coach for 15 years and is entering his second season at LMU. "I have never had a team show as much heart as they did last year. We improved as the year went on, and the improvement was because they were committed to this team and to getting better. My hope for 2009-10 is that the team continues to build on the identity of last year's team, and plays with that same heart and commitment."
Despite the 3-28 overall record and 2-12 mark in the WCC, the Lions found themselves holding second half leads in six of the last eight games of the season, earning both of their WCC wins in that stretch.
"The injuries really hurt us last year. We had no depth to begin with and then losing three top players early, we were so limited in what we could do," said Good. "But they kept at it, and as we got a little healthier, we were able to play more of a physical style, which had us in the position to win games at the end of the year."
It was that physical style of play that added to the identity of the Lions. Good switched the Lions from a zone-based defense to an aggressive man-to-man, and the result was more opportunities for a team that struggled to score. After ranking only sixth in steals after non-conference play, LMU finished the WCC portion of the schedule tops in steals, swiping 7.43 per game.
"I believe you need to be physical to have success. I like to play offensive offense and offensive defense, meaning, try to get the other team to adjust to what you are doing, which might be a little lofty for us with such a young team, but it is our goal."
The key pieces to the Lions' new identity formed under Good return for 2009-10. Six active players and four redshirts are back from last year's squad, but the team will remain very young as the roster will have no seniors, three juniors, and 12 underclassmen.
"Our team gained a lot of confidence last year, and we will have a lot more knowing that we have additional pieces in place," said Good. "The competition will be great at every position, which was not the case last year. But we are still going to be very young. I hate to use an old cliché, but the key for our success will come down to our chemistry. It comes down to how much they come together and play as a team. Once again, the hope is they show the same heart and commitment as last year, and if they do, this team has the chance to move forward."
With all the adversity last season, freshman starters Jarred DuBois, Kevin Young and LaRon Armstead formed the nucleolus of the Lions' future and did so with record numbers. All three played in more minutes than most freshman in LMU history, including DuBois' 1,071 minutes played, second most ever by any player in LMU history for a season. In addition, Young played all 40 minutes of a game six times while DuBois and Armstead did it four times.
"We relied heavily on the three freshman last year, maybe too much," said Good. "But we really had no choice and they got better because of it. As the year progressed and through this summer they have had the opportunity to use what they learned to make even further strides."
DuBois became the first freshman in LMU history to score more than 400 points in a season, setting the freshman record with 417 points. Young, who played for Puerto Rico in the FIBA U19 World Championships this summer, did the same on the rebounding side, becoming the first freshman to have more than 200 rebounds in a season, setting the record with 224. Both set the single game freshman record in those categories, with DuBois scoring 39 against Cal State Bakersfield and Young going for 19 boards against New Mexico State. And if it weren't for Young, Armstead would have set the record for rebounds, grabbing 158.
Joining the trio of freshman back from last year's roster will be juniors Brad Sweezy and Vernon Teel, along with walk-on redshirt sophomore Griffin Reilly. Sweezy has spent more time in a Lion uniform than any player on the roster as he is in his fourth season, serving his redshirt year two years ago. He played in all 31 games last year and has played in 61 game total as a Lion, nearly double any other player on the roster.
"Brad is your perfect tough guy, he gets a lot done on pure effort," said Good. "We asked him to guard players much bigger than he is and he always got the job done. He really is an emotional leader for us."
As for Teel, he missed 15 games due to a broken foot suffered against Notre Dame. The junior college transfer led the team in scoring at 14.6 points per game in the 16 games he played. He also averaged 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.56 steals.
"Vernon has been really good this off-season into developing into a team player," said Good. "He is so competitive, he would often try to go one on three, one on four. But we are hopeful that this off season he will continue to learn that he is a better player when he is distributes the ball."
Four redshirts - Tim Diederichs, Ashley Hamilton, Larry Davis and Drew Viney - will be added to the mix this year, and will instantly give the Lions much needed depth.
"We will have more depth this season, much more flexibility and size. With Ashley and Tim healthy and the addition of size with our freshman, we will get much bigger, much deeper and will be able to play our physical defense," said Good.
Diederichs, who played all 31 games as a freshman in 2007-08, played just three games before missing the rest of the season due to shoulder surgery. Hamilton played in six games before missing the season with a back injury. Both earned medical redshirts.
"Tim gives us a great deal of intensity and toughness. While having him miss the year due to injury really hurt us in the short term in 2008-09, the year off will help us in the long term. He has gotten much bigger and stronger," said Good. "As for Ashley, he is such a terrific athlete and as he has the physical attributes to be a tough player inside. He just needs to continue to learn how to play inside. With them both back, we will be so much better inside."
As for Viney and Davis, they are coming off their transfer redshirt seasons and will finally be able to play. Davis tore his Achilles tendon in April and after surgery is expected to be cleared for practice in October. Viney, a redshirt sophomore, is a transfer from Oregon where he played 12 games in 2007-08, while Davis, a redshirt junior, came from Seton Hall where he played 61 games and averaged 6.6 points in two seasons.
"Drew has a chance to be an exceptional player, he has all the physical tools," said Good. "He took great strides in being tougher mentally in his redshirt season. The only person who can stop Drew, is Drew. We were very pleased with his mental approach as the year progressed.
"As for Larry, a healthy Larry can generate a lot of points. He is one of our few proven scorers and is very tough minded. I would be very surprised if he is not back and ready to go on Oct. 15"
Rounding out the Lions' roster for 2009-10 is a recruiting class many have rated as one of the top in the WCC. The Lions class of Edgar Garibay, Given Kalipinde, Quincy Lawson, and Alex Osborne earned an average grade by ESPNU of 85.0. The average grade was tied for second in the WCC and the Lions' were one of just two schools to have a player (Kalipinde) with a 90 grade. The Lions have also added walk-on Kevin Berardini to the roster for 2009-10.
The 6-10, 250-pound Garibay was one of the top-100 rated centers in the country by ESPNU and was an all-conference selection after averaging a double-double as a senior at Compton. He spent the previous season at college prep school in Las Vegas, Impact Basketball Academy. Garibay earned All-Conference honors his final three seasons and All-CIF honors as a junior and senior. In his final two seasons he went on to earn honorable mention All-America honors by several publications.
"Edgar is a big body who is getting more athletic," said Good. "There is a learning curve for bigs going from high school to college. As he learns to compete every play at the college level with his size, he has the opportunity going to be very good."
Also providing the Lions size is the 6-7, 240-pound Osborne. He averaged 16.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals for Pacific Hills in Los Angeles. He helped the Bruins to a 28-7 overall record and a 9-1 mark in Alpha League play. Osborne finished ranked third in the league in scoring, third in blocks, and second in rebounds.
"Alex has great size and a very high basketball IQ," said Good. "It sounds simple, but he really knows when to pass and when to shoot. He is also very versatile, showing he can play at the four or the five."
Bringing a high level of athleticism to the Lions' roster will be Lawson and Kalipinde. Lawson, a product of Vista High School in San Diego, was a two-time All-Conference selection for coach Charlie Mercado. He led Vista (from North County of San Diego) with 22.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.5 blocks, 2.0 steals and 1.7 assists per game to earn first-team All-CIF San Diego section honors. He was rated as a top-50 power forward by ESPNU.
"Quincy is very athletic and he can use his length to not only be good on the perimeter, but have a great impact inside," said Good. "His athleticism really makes him versatile as well, playing either the three or four."
Kalipinde moved to the No. 27 rated shooting guard in the country by ESPN. He averaged 22.4 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals per game as a senior, hitting a three-pointer in every game but three on the season. As a junior he averaged 19 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, 3.5 steals and two blocks. He is a two-time All-State selection and a two-time All-IAC selection.
"Given is a tough competitor and very well rounded, a stat-filler. He can do a little of everything and is also very athletic," said Good.
He hasn't just excelled in hoops. On Nov. 7, 2008 he scored two goals and had an assist to lead Episcopal boys' soccer to the Virginia State Championship. On the soccer side he was named Virginia State Co-Player of the Year, MET Player of the Year, First-Team All-MET, First-Team All-State (VISAA), and first-team All-IAC. In January, he was named USA Today Third-Team All-American in soccer.
"We are very excited about our recruiting class. All four can help us this season. I would have loved to have had them last year, as high school seniors," Good says with a smile. "All of our players are very excited for this coming year. They know we have more depth, that they will have to work even harder to find their identity on this team, and that's very healthy. We can't wait for the season to get here."
- GO LIONS -
