Kent
continued from page 3B
He is calm, always willing to trum
pet a player’s strengths instead of pick
on their shortcomings.
“He’s really patient with his players.
He lets them come, and that’s been really
good for me and my development,” Rid
nour said. “He’s got a lot of confidence
in us, and it’s really key for a player to re
alize his coach has that confidence. ”
He is optimistic.
"We feel like we’re putting together a
team that’s capable of winning the Pac
10, and if this team play’s like it’s capa
ble of playing, it could come this year,”
Kent said.
Most importantly, he is a Duck. First,
last and always.
“He’s been through this program, he
knows what it’s like to go to school here
and play here,” Oregon center Chris
Christoffersen said. “He’s got a lot invest
ed in this place.”
To hear Kent speak of it, “this place”
is now a permanent home, despite any
offers that might come his way, like the
Notre Dame contract reportedly offered
to him two summers ago.
“It allows you to handle pressure,
coaching at your alma mater,” Kent said.
“You have such a personal relationship
with the job and your community. Num
ber one, I don’t want to let my family
down, but I also don’t want to let this
community down. ”
Kent’s family is an important part of
his Oregon story. One Kent offspring,
Marcus, is a walk-on freshman Duck.
Another, highly-recruited Jordan, signed
a letter of intent to come to Oregon—for
the track and field team—next year.
Kent, it seems, has his Ducks in a row.
As he enters the winter of his fifth year,
Kent has his- accomplishments, his
records and his team marshaled around
him. But his statistical success is only half
of the success story of his fife as a Duck.
E-mail sports reporter Peter Hockaday
atpeterhockaday@dailyemerald.com.
I
Women’s
continued from page 7B
stalwarts already leaving the
team. UCLA saw Michelle Greco
leave first,
only to have
Kristee Porter
leave a little
while later for
a career in
volleyball.
UCLA has beaten up California
and Washington State — the
teams they should have — but
have been greatly outmatched by
the rest of the conference.
9. California Golden Bears
(5-8, 0-4)
Head Coach: Caren Horstmeyer,
14th year
Player to watch: Ami Forney, F/C
A team that has not been to the
NCAA Tournament since 1993
will fail to go once again. Forney
can play with just about anybody
in the conference, but as a team,
the Golden Bears are too inexperi
enced and lack the necessary
depth to remain competitive dur
ing conference play. Their five
non-conference
wins are a step
in the right di
rection, though,
as this is a pro
gram that has
not seen much
success in its history.
10. Washington State Cougars
(2-13, 0-5)
Head Coach: Jenny Przekwas,
11th year
Player to watch: Brittney Hawks, C
There can be only one success
story in Pullman, Wash., this year.
Unfortunately for the Cougar
women, that title already belongs
it to the Cougar foot
ball team. This
squad is devoid of
AKLi depth and has been
beaten by an aver
age of 24 points in
its five conference
games. Their two wins came
against Portland State and Gonza
ga. Enough said.
E-mail sports reporter Hank Hager at
hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
Men’s
continued from page 6B
Among those four starters were
the always imposing Collins twins,
Jason and Jarron, in the middle.
Still, behind the leadership of
hot-shooting junior guard Casey Ja
cobsen, the Cardinal
will always be a threat
to win any game they
play.
But they will also
lose a few that may just
keep them out of the
NCAA Tournament.
Watch out for them in the Pac-10
tourney, though.
6. Arizona Wildcats
(9-4 overall, 2-2 Pac-10)
Head Coach: Lute Olson
Player to watch: Salim
Stoudamire, G
Oregon has already feasted on
the new-look Arizona Wildcats.
Sure, Arizona’s fresh off its ap
pearance in the NCAA Tourna
ment championship game, but
much has changed since. Four of
the starters that led the ’Cats to the
Final Four left for the NBA draft.
What is left is Jason Gardner, Luke
Walton, Rick Anderson and a bunch
of younger players who will need to
play above their age for Arizona to
reach the
NCAAs. The
most notable is
freshman Sal
im Stoudamire,
a Lake Oswego
product who is
the cousin of Trail Blazer Damon
Stoudamire.
Walton may be the difference, as
without him last weekend, Arizona
lost to Oregon and nearly lost to
Oregon State at home.
7. Arizona State Sun Devils
(9-4 overall, 2-2 Pac-10)
Head Coach: Rob Evans
Player to watch: Chad Prewitt, F/C
Injuries deflated the Sun Devils a
year ago, but now Arizona State is
healthy and playing solid basketball.
Senior Chad Prewitt, a four-year
starter, recorded back-to-back ca
reer highs last week
end with 25 and 27
points in Arizona
State’s sweep of the
Oregon schools.
The Sun Devils will
also receive help
from junior college
transfer Curtis Millage, who is be
coming more comfortable with the
higher level of play, averaging 12.6
points in a team-high 28.6 minutes
per game.
8. Oregon State Beavers
(8-6 overall, 1-3 Pac-10)
Head Coach: Ritchie McKay
Player to watch: Philip Ricci, F
Having a healthy Philip Ricci at
forward is making a huge difference
for this season’s
Beavers. Ricci,
a junior college
transfer, never
played a game
last year after
undergoing
preseason arthroscopic knee sur
gery. He’s now back and has already
tallied four double-doubles.
Oregon State also has Brandon
Payton this year, after Payton sat
out last season due to his transfer
from UC-Santa Barbara. But Pay
ton, the half-brother of former Ore
gon State star Gary Payton, is aver
aging just under four points a game.
9. Washington State Cougars
(4-8 overall, 0-4 Pac-10)
Head Coach: Paul Graham
Player to watch: Mike Bush, G
A key for the Cougars will be
whether senior shooting guard
Mike Bush’s body1 can hold up af
ter playing a key role as a receiver
for Washington State’s Sun Bowl
champion football
team. In 10 games
so far, Bush has av
eraged 11 points.
The Cougars will
also be boosted by
the play of sopho
more point guard Marcus Moore,
but they’ll still have a tough time
competing with the Pac-10.
10. Washington Huskies
(6-8 overall, 0-4 Pac-10)
Head Coach: Bob Bender
Player to watch: Doug Wrenn, F
There is some promising home
grown talent on this Huskies team.
But it’s going to take another cou
ple of years for these Washington
products to
shine and win
consistently in
conference
play.
While the
play of sopho
mores Curtis Allen and Doug Wrenn
will be exciting to watch, there’s not
much that can be done to save Wash
ington from a cellar-dwelling season.
E-mail assistant sports editor Jeff Smith
at jeffsmith@dailyemeratd.com.
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