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LOCATION: Sacramento, CA
CONFERENCE: Big Sky
LAST SEASON: 3-23 (.115)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 3-13 (9th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Hornets
COLORS: Green & Gold
HOMECOURT: Memorial Auditorium (2,803)
COACH: Tom Abatemarco (Dowling College '73)
record at school 4-48 (2 years)
career record 59-95 (6 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Gregg Gottlieb (UCLA '95)
Jerome Jenkins (Regis '90)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 6-7-3-1-3
RPI (last 5 years) 294-281-283-305-297
1998-99 FINISH: Did not qualify for postseason.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Success is measured in relative terms at Cal State Sacramento. The Hornets won just three games last season, but that was two more than the season before. And victory No. 1 last season couldn't have come at a better time. Sacramento lost its final 17 games of the 1997-98 season and its first 17 of the '98-99 season, leaving the Hornets just three games shy of the Division I record for consecutive losses. And that explains the jubilation when the final horn sounded in the Hornets' 60-57 victory over Montana in late January. That victory began a stretch that saw the Hornets win three of five games, including two against Big Sky Tournament teams Portland State and Eastern Washington. "The people here understand we're building from scratch," said third-year coach Tom Abatemarco, who was recently given a contract extension. "Our new athletic director, Debby Colberg, has really helped me."
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT D BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT D INTANGIBLES C
In order for the Hornets to reach coach Tom Abatemarco's goals of double figures in victories and a berth in the Big Sky Tournament, the six recruits joining the program this season must make an immediate impact. After having five underclassmen leave the program for various reasons after last season, blending that many new faces successfully seems unlikely. Rene Jacques is a talent and Anthony Flood and Thomas Wieck are hard workers, but they're really the only proven commodities, and proven commodity is a relative term on a team that won just three games. Double figures in victories seems a little lofty. Doubling last year's total might be within reach. |
To understand what Abatemarco is up against, consider that Cal State Sacramento has won just 40 games in the '90s, and 11 of those came in 1990-91. The team competes with the NBA's Kings for attention and plays its home games in Memorial Auditorium, an aging facility more suited for the Three Penny Opera than three-point shooting. In an effort to fill the men's basketball coffers, the Hornets did not play a team below the Division I level last season. The overly ambitious schedule resulted in losses of 30-plus points to the likes of Fresno State, New Mexico and Minnesota. The schedule will soften some this season, but it still includes just one team (Menlo College) below the Division I level. In one three-game stretch in December, the Hornets will play road games at Saint Mary's, Stanford and Houston. "The schedule was made out way ahead of time," Abatemarco said. "The schedule is a big problem. We had to make money. It's ridiculous, but that's what we had. The schedule is still not toned down enough, to be honest with you." The schedule and the losing streak weren't the only hardships the Hornets faced last season. Anthony Flood (10.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 25 blocked shots), a 6-6 senior forward, hit double digits in points in seven of his first eight games, then broke a foot in late December. Forward Arinze Anouro (3.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg), a 6-6 sophomore, missed eight games in the middle of the season after the death of his father. "Losing those two big kids early along with our young backcourt hurt us," Abatemarco said. Flood returned in late January, but never really regained his form. Flood and 6-7 senior Thomas Wieck (5.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg) will give Abatemarco two experienced options at power forward. Abatemarco brought in four junior-college players to bolster a lineup that saw starting center Sean Houston graduate, and five other lettermen leave school before their senior years. One of those, point guard Nate Murase, was the team's leading scorer. Another, guard Antoine Bailey, started for half the season and was the team's fourth-leading scorer. Taking the place of Murase will be either 6-3 junior Jim Brewer Jr. (11.4 ppg, 3.1 apg) from Long Beach (Calif.) Community College, or 6-0 Rame Batta (13. ppg 3.0 apg) from Riverside (Calif.) Junior College. Rene Jacques, a 6-1 sophomore, figures to return to his slot on the wing where he was the team's second-leading scorer as a freshman. Jacques (9.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 51 assists, 31 steals) shot .370 from three-point range last season, but only .360 percent overall. Another transfer, 6-5 junior Pablo Gonzalez (18.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg) of American River Junior College, could earn a slot on the wing as well. "Gonzalez is a great shooter," Abatemarco said. "He was the second-leading shooter in California JCs last year." The fourth transfer is 6-6 junior forward Ricky Glenn (24.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.3 spg) from Lassen Junior College, who along with Anouro, gives the Hornets an abundance of forwards. Two freshman recruits, 6-9 Tony Champion (13.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg) of Bishop O'Dowd High in Oakland, Calif. and 6-9 Bo Segeberg (18.3 ppg, 14.6 rpg) of Serrano High in Wrightwood, Calif., could be asked to compete right away for the starting center's job along with 6-8, 225-pound sophomore Troy Selvey (2.0 ppg, 1.6 rpg). Wieck could also slide over from power forward to play some minutes in the post. "We're deep up front," Abatemarco said. "We have a lot of bodies, but not a lot of proven bodies."
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