The bible of college BB magazines. You can also get it online at
http://www.blueribbonyearbookonline.com/
LONG BEACH STATE
LOCATION Long Beach, CA
CONFERENCE Big West
LAST SEASON 16-17 (.485)
CONFERENCE RECORD 10-6 (4th)
STARTERS RETURNING/LOST 0/5
NICKNAME 49ers
COLORS Black & Gold
HOMECOURT Walter Pyramid (4,200)
COACH Dan Monson (Idaho ’85)
RECORD AT SCHOOL 135-125 (8 years)
CAREER RECORD 305-248 (18 years)
ASSISTANTS
Rod Palmer (UC Irvine ’90)
Eric Brown (CSUN ’98)
Myke Scholl (Ohio Wesleyan ’91)
WINS (LAST 5 YRS.) 22-25-19-15-16
RPI (LAST 5 YRS.) 91-37-119-168-117
2014-15 FINISH Lost in Big West first round.
A wave of talented transfers has hit Long Beach, and veteran coach Dan Monson is reasonably confident he’s not building a castle of sand.
Three transfers are expected to help the 49ers improve on last season’s 10-6 conference record despite the fact Monson has to replace all five starters.
Watching 6-6 senior guard Nick Faust (9.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.0 apg in 2013-14/Maryland), 6-8, 230-pound sophomore forward Gabe Levin (11.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg in 2013-14/Loyola Marymount) and 6-6, 230-pound sophomore forward Roschon Prince (4.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg in 2013-14/USC) work with the scout team in practice last season was quite the cause for optimism. And Monson feels good on multiple levels about the trio of talented transfers.
“We’ve had some very high-profile transfers, but attitude wise I don’t know that they came for the right reasons,” Monson said. “But the thing I like about these three transfers that are eligible this year ... is all three transferred out of loyalty for the coach that recruited them. The other kids we had here, it didn’t work out for them. I’m hoping these guys are doing it for the right reasons, because they’re all very talented and they’ve all really fit in well. We’ll see.”
The athletic Faust was a versatile dunking machine for three years at Maryland, where he started 66 games. He racked up 47 double-figure scoring games, including a career-high 20 against Wake Forest, 17 against UConn and 17 against North Carolina in the ACC tournament.
Monson, who played pickup in high school with Magic Johnson, can feel like a kid again enjoying watching Faust play, but Faust’s decision making can still be childlike, too. “Nick has a lot of wow moments,” Monson said. “I mean Nick has NBA ability. But he also has wow moments in the other way [with poor decisions]. ... But I do feel like he’s gotten more consistent.”
Levin made the West Coast Conference All-Freshman team during coach Max Good’s final season at LMU in
2013-14. He led the Lions in rebounding and was third in scoring, and concluded the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to BYU in the league tournament.
Levin initially transferred to Marquette and received an NCAA waiver when Buzz Williams left for Virginia Tech.
Prince played in high school on some excellent teams at Long Beach Poly before signing with the Trojans. He made two starts at USC as a freshman and averaged 11.1 minutes.
The 49ers’ talent level was solid even without the fortification of the transfers. A.J. Spencer (9.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg,
1.7 apg in 2013-14), a 6-3 senior guard, is back after redshirting last season with a knee injury.
“I’m very excited about A.J.,” Monson said. “His shot is better than it was two years ago. And his knee is good. ...
He’s not hesitant on it.
“He was an X-factor two years ago. He and Nick Faust have been very good senior leaders.”
The other experienced returnees are 6-6, 225-pound sophomore swingman Travis Hammonds (6.4 ppg, 2.7
rpg) and 6-1 junior Branford Jones (7.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.1 spg). Hammonds shot 39.1 percent while making 18 3s last season and was the 49ers third-leading scorer in league play. He scored 16 points off of the bench in a win at CSUN.
Jones led Long Beach with 14 points in a win against Kansas State, scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting against Xavier and scored a team-high 13 points at No. 5 Louisville. He made 27 3s (.351) and 58 of 72 free throws (.806) on the season.
“I think Travis Hammonds is in the best shape of his life,” Monson said. “He’s kind of been that X-factor for us
for a couple of years. But Travis and Branford Jones are really the only two returners that had substantive minutes last year. Everybody else is either kind of young or new.
“This season isn’t going to be determined in a Blue Ribbon [College Basketball Yearbook ]; it’s gonna be
determined by what we do in October and November—seeing how much we can get these guys (prepared) and playing well.”
Point guard is at least a mild concern. Justin Bibbins (1.3 ppg), a 5-8 sophomore, averaged 7.8 minutes in the backup role last season.
Noah Blackwell (18.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.0 apg), a 6-1 freshman, could be seeing considerable time at the point
this season. He was a four-year starter at Woodcreek and rated by ESPN as the No. 25 recruit in California.
“Point guard is probably my biggest concern,” Monson said. “So how quickly we can get Noah going is[important]. ... Bibbins backed up Mike Caffey last year. I think he’s improved, but we’re spoiled here. We’ve had seven years of all-league point guards, and this year’s kind of an unknown for us.”
Experienced options in the frontcourt include 6-7, 260-pound sophomore forward Temidayo Yussuf (3.5 ppg,
2.6 rpg). He averaged 13.2 minutes and made 10 starts last season. His promising flashes included performances against Washington (16 points, six rebounds), Xavier (15 points, five rebounds, two blocked shots, 6-of-7 shooting) and Nevada (11 points, 10 rebounds).
Another big body with a bright future is freshman Mason Riggins (18.5 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 3.4 bpg). The 6-8, 250-pounder was a force in the paint en route to a district MVP and all-state selection at Whitewright (Texas) High School.
The impressive freshman class includes 6-3 Lorne Currie (14.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.2 spg) and 6-7 LaRond Williams , a Long Beach product from Price High that ESPN rated as the No. 39 prospect in California. Currie, a combo guard, helped Los Angeles’ Fairfax High School go 32-3 and was the top-rated
California recruit (No. 16) of all Big West programs.
The backcourt stable also features redshirt 6-1 freshman shooting guard Alex Rifkind, a product of North Broward Prep in Boca Raton, Fla., who initially committed to LMU.
Long Beach also will have the benefit of practicing against talented, athletic 6-1 transfer guard Evan Payne
(18.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg), who led LMU in scoring last year as a sophomore. Payne will have two seasons remaining, beginning in 2016-17.
“Right now I’m happy where the team is,” Monson said. “But I can’t stand coaches that tell you how good they’re gonna be after a bad year. We have to go out and prove it.
We can’t talk about it.”
http://www.blueribbonyearbookonline.com/
LONG BEACH STATE
LOCATION Long Beach, CA
CONFERENCE Big West
LAST SEASON 16-17 (.485)
CONFERENCE RECORD 10-6 (4th)
STARTERS RETURNING/LOST 0/5
NICKNAME 49ers
COLORS Black & Gold
HOMECOURT Walter Pyramid (4,200)
COACH Dan Monson (Idaho ’85)
RECORD AT SCHOOL 135-125 (8 years)
CAREER RECORD 305-248 (18 years)
ASSISTANTS
Rod Palmer (UC Irvine ’90)
Eric Brown (CSUN ’98)
Myke Scholl (Ohio Wesleyan ’91)
WINS (LAST 5 YRS.) 22-25-19-15-16
RPI (LAST 5 YRS.) 91-37-119-168-117
2014-15 FINISH Lost in Big West first round.
A wave of talented transfers has hit Long Beach, and veteran coach Dan Monson is reasonably confident he’s not building a castle of sand.
Three transfers are expected to help the 49ers improve on last season’s 10-6 conference record despite the fact Monson has to replace all five starters.
Watching 6-6 senior guard Nick Faust (9.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.0 apg in 2013-14/Maryland), 6-8, 230-pound sophomore forward Gabe Levin (11.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg in 2013-14/Loyola Marymount) and 6-6, 230-pound sophomore forward Roschon Prince (4.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg in 2013-14/USC) work with the scout team in practice last season was quite the cause for optimism. And Monson feels good on multiple levels about the trio of talented transfers.
“We’ve had some very high-profile transfers, but attitude wise I don’t know that they came for the right reasons,” Monson said. “But the thing I like about these three transfers that are eligible this year ... is all three transferred out of loyalty for the coach that recruited them. The other kids we had here, it didn’t work out for them. I’m hoping these guys are doing it for the right reasons, because they’re all very talented and they’ve all really fit in well. We’ll see.”
The athletic Faust was a versatile dunking machine for three years at Maryland, where he started 66 games. He racked up 47 double-figure scoring games, including a career-high 20 against Wake Forest, 17 against UConn and 17 against North Carolina in the ACC tournament.
Monson, who played pickup in high school with Magic Johnson, can feel like a kid again enjoying watching Faust play, but Faust’s decision making can still be childlike, too. “Nick has a lot of wow moments,” Monson said. “I mean Nick has NBA ability. But he also has wow moments in the other way [with poor decisions]. ... But I do feel like he’s gotten more consistent.”
Levin made the West Coast Conference All-Freshman team during coach Max Good’s final season at LMU in
2013-14. He led the Lions in rebounding and was third in scoring, and concluded the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to BYU in the league tournament.
Levin initially transferred to Marquette and received an NCAA waiver when Buzz Williams left for Virginia Tech.
Prince played in high school on some excellent teams at Long Beach Poly before signing with the Trojans. He made two starts at USC as a freshman and averaged 11.1 minutes.
The 49ers’ talent level was solid even without the fortification of the transfers. A.J. Spencer (9.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg,
1.7 apg in 2013-14), a 6-3 senior guard, is back after redshirting last season with a knee injury.
“I’m very excited about A.J.,” Monson said. “His shot is better than it was two years ago. And his knee is good. ...
He’s not hesitant on it.
“He was an X-factor two years ago. He and Nick Faust have been very good senior leaders.”
The other experienced returnees are 6-6, 225-pound sophomore swingman Travis Hammonds (6.4 ppg, 2.7
rpg) and 6-1 junior Branford Jones (7.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.1 spg). Hammonds shot 39.1 percent while making 18 3s last season and was the 49ers third-leading scorer in league play. He scored 16 points off of the bench in a win at CSUN.
Jones led Long Beach with 14 points in a win against Kansas State, scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting against Xavier and scored a team-high 13 points at No. 5 Louisville. He made 27 3s (.351) and 58 of 72 free throws (.806) on the season.
“I think Travis Hammonds is in the best shape of his life,” Monson said. “He’s kind of been that X-factor for us
for a couple of years. But Travis and Branford Jones are really the only two returners that had substantive minutes last year. Everybody else is either kind of young or new.
“This season isn’t going to be determined in a Blue Ribbon [College Basketball Yearbook ]; it’s gonna be
determined by what we do in October and November—seeing how much we can get these guys (prepared) and playing well.”
Point guard is at least a mild concern. Justin Bibbins (1.3 ppg), a 5-8 sophomore, averaged 7.8 minutes in the backup role last season.
Noah Blackwell (18.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.0 apg), a 6-1 freshman, could be seeing considerable time at the point
this season. He was a four-year starter at Woodcreek and rated by ESPN as the No. 25 recruit in California.
“Point guard is probably my biggest concern,” Monson said. “So how quickly we can get Noah going is[important]. ... Bibbins backed up Mike Caffey last year. I think he’s improved, but we’re spoiled here. We’ve had seven years of all-league point guards, and this year’s kind of an unknown for us.”
Experienced options in the frontcourt include 6-7, 260-pound sophomore forward Temidayo Yussuf (3.5 ppg,
2.6 rpg). He averaged 13.2 minutes and made 10 starts last season. His promising flashes included performances against Washington (16 points, six rebounds), Xavier (15 points, five rebounds, two blocked shots, 6-of-7 shooting) and Nevada (11 points, 10 rebounds).
Another big body with a bright future is freshman Mason Riggins (18.5 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 3.4 bpg). The 6-8, 250-pounder was a force in the paint en route to a district MVP and all-state selection at Whitewright (Texas) High School.
The impressive freshman class includes 6-3 Lorne Currie (14.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.2 spg) and 6-7 LaRond Williams , a Long Beach product from Price High that ESPN rated as the No. 39 prospect in California. Currie, a combo guard, helped Los Angeles’ Fairfax High School go 32-3 and was the top-rated
California recruit (No. 16) of all Big West programs.
The backcourt stable also features redshirt 6-1 freshman shooting guard Alex Rifkind, a product of North Broward Prep in Boca Raton, Fla., who initially committed to LMU.
Long Beach also will have the benefit of practicing against talented, athletic 6-1 transfer guard Evan Payne
(18.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg), who led LMU in scoring last year as a sophomore. Payne will have two seasons remaining, beginning in 2016-17.
“Right now I’m happy where the team is,” Monson said. “But I can’t stand coaches that tell you how good they’re gonna be after a bad year. We have to go out and prove it.
We can’t talk about it.”
