Brush up on the nine Big West men's basketball teams and the upcoming 2009-10 season through the summer preview, which is now available online.

CAL POLY NOTES

• The Mustangs enter the first season of the Joe Callero era.  Callero became the fourth head coach at Cal Poly since the school transitioned to Division I in 1994.  He led Seattle University to a 21-8 record in 2008-09 in the school’s first year of transition back to Division I.  In eight seasons with the Redhawks, Callero compiled a record of 117-105.

• Callero inherits two starters and seven letterwinners from last year’s team that finished 7-21 overall and missed qualifying for the Big West Tournament.  He also brings in seven newcomers.

• Cal Poly returns top scorer Lorenzo Keeler to the lineup.  The 6-2 senior guard averaged 12.7 points per game in 2008-09, ranking eighth in the league in scoring.  He also was second-best in the conference in free throw accuracy (.849).

• Keeler made a team-high 52 three-pointers, nearly half of the total of 107 field goals made.

• In addition to Keeler, junior Shawn Lewis started all 28 games last season.  Lewis, a 6-4 guard, posted 11.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.  He also knocked down 50 three-pointers and was No. 10 in the conference with 1.8 threes made per game.

CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTES

• Five letterwinners return from the 2008-09 squad that posted a 15-17 record.  The Titans look to replace the production of departed standout Josh Akognon, who ranked sixth in the nation in scoring last year at 23.9 points per game.

• The leader on the roster appears to be sophomore point guard Jacques Streeter.  He averaged 10.4 points per game to rank second on the squad in 2008-09.  A member of the Big West All-Freshman Team, Streeter also dished out 142 assists (4.4 apg) for the second-best conference total.

• Senior Gerard Anderson is another of the main returnees.  The 6-6 forward averaged 9.0 points and led the team in rebounds (5.8 rpg) and steals (1.5 spg).  In fact, Anderson was fourth in the Big West in steals.

• Nine newcomers dot the Titan roster.  Two are transfers from Division I programs, including 6-7 forward Orane Chin (South Florida) and 6-6 forward Jer’Vaughn Johnson (San Diego State).

• Head coach Bob Burton surpassed the 100-win mark as the Titan mentor last year.  He is 107-77 in six seasons at the helm.  Burton’s .582 winning percentage at CSF is just slightly behind Bobby Dye (.583) as the winningest coach in school history.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE NOTES

• The Matadors lived up to expectations in 2008-09.  After being picked to win the league in preseason coach and media polls, they delivered with an 11-5 first place Big West finish and followed that up with their first-ever conference tournament title.  CSUN advanced to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed and nearly shocked Memphis in the first round.

• Mirroring last season’s success could be challenging for the Matadors.  They lost five of their top six scorers and return only 43 percent of their offense from 2008-09.

• CSUN has won outright or tied for the league title in each of the last two years.

• Senior Willie Galick is the team’s top returning scorer (9.3 ppg) and rebounder (5.5 rpg).  He started 25 of 31 games last season.  Galick did not make enough field goals to qualify for the Big West top 10 in field goal percentage, but shot a robust 57.7% (105 of 182) from the field.

• Cal State Northridge looks solid at the point guard position.  Senior Mark Hill started the final 11 games of last season, finishing with 8.2 points per game.  He is joined by Sacramento State transfer Vinnie McGhee, the 2007-08 Big Sky Freshman of the Year.

LONG BEACH STATE NOTES

• The 49ers improved by nine wins from the 2007-08 to 2008-09 seasons, finishing last year at 15-15.  Long Beach State also tied for second in the regular season conference standings with a 10-6 record.
 
• Youth displayed enormous talent for the 49ers as three of Long Beach State’s top five scorers were freshmen last year.  T.J Robinson, Larry Anderson and Casper Ware all earned Big West All-Freshman Team status as the trio accounted for 44 percent of the team’s scoring. 
 
• Anderson became only the second player in Big West history - and first in 35 years - to earn all-conference first team honors as a freshman.  Former LBSU standout Clifton Pondexter was the first to do so in 1974.  Anderson averaged 10.8 points while shooting 54.6% from the floor.

• Perimeter production came largely from the abilities of guard Stephan Gilling.  The 6-3 senior made 83 three-pointers, ranking him second all-time in a single season at LBSU.

• The 49ers are still a young team with nine of the 15 roster players either freshmen or sophomores.  Kyle Richardson, a 6-7 incoming freshman, earned Press Telegram “Dream Team” First Team accolades.

UC DAVIS NOTES

• The Aggies are coming off a 13-19 campaign in 2008-09 in which they qualified for their first Big West Tournament.  UC Davis edged UC Irvine by one point in the first round before falling to Pacific in the quarterfinals.

• UC Davis returns three players who averaged double figures in scoring in 2008-09.  Joe Harden (14.8 ppg), Dominic Calegari (11.0) and Mark Payne (10.4) were huge reasons the Aggies averaged 73.1 points per game to rank third in the Big West in offense.

• Harden and Payne are the cornerstones of this year’s Aggie outfit.  The juniors garnered All-Big West Second Team honors.  Harden was sixth in the Big West in scoring while finishing third in rebounding (7.2 rpg).  Payne led the league in assists (5.1 apg) and finished fifth in steals (1.45 spg).

• Payne, the 2007-08 Big West Freshman of the Year and CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Freshman of the Year, shot an impressive 67.5% (106 of 157) from the field.

• UC Davis finished second in the Big West in three-pointers made (244).  Calegari played a large role in the perimeter production, making a team second-best 44 three-pointers.

UC IRVINE NOTES

• The Anteaters overcame a 2-11 start to win 10 of their final 18 games in 2008-09.  UCI went 8-8 in Big West play to finish tied for fourth place.

• UC Irvine welcomes back top scoring threat Eric Wise.  Wise, a member of the All-Big West Second and Freshman teams, averaged 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds last season.  He ranked seventh in the Big West in scoring and was UCI’s highest scoring freshman in the last 14 seasons.

• The lone three-year letterwinner on the roster is senior Michael Hunter.  The 5-10 guard averaged a team second-best 11.9 points per game and led UCI with 67 three-pointers.  He ranked 10th in the Big West in scoring, second in steals (1.5 spg) and third in three-point field goals made (2.2).

• UCI ranked seventh nationally last year in three-point field goal percentage at .403.

• The Anteaters beefed up the frontline with the additions of Butte College transfers 6-8 Pavol Losonsky and 6-9 Peter Simek.  The added bulk looks to help a team that finished seventh in rebounding margin (-3.2) last season.

• Head coach Pat Douglass needs 17 wins to reach No. 200 for his UCI career.

UC RIVERSIDE NOTES

• The Highlanders come into the 2009-10 campaign with optimism, returning three starters and 10 letterwinners from a squad that won a school Division I record 17 games last season.  The final record of 17-13 gave the Highlanders their first winning season in Division I history as well.

• UC Riverside set another program record with eight conference wins in 2008-09.  The former high of seven was set in 2003-04.

• Junior Kyle Austin infused the Highlanders with excitement after sitting out the first seven games of 2008-09 following his transfer from USC.  The 6-7 forward posted 16.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.  He was second in the Big West in scoring and eighth in rebounding.  Austin became the first-ever Highlander to earn All-Big West First Team honors.

• Senior Javon Borum started 29 games at the point guard position and performed well.  He was UC Riverside’s second-leading scorer (9.7 ppg) and led the team with 43 steals.  Borum also made 43 three-pointers to top the team in that category.

• UCR finished No. 38 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.377) last year.  The Highlanders return players who accounted for 173 of the 175 threes made.

UC SANTA BARBARA NOTES

• The Gauchos bring back three starters and 10 letterwinners from a 16-15 squad in 2008-09.

• The Gauchos have finished above .500 in seven of the last eight seasons under head coach Bob Williams.  Williams is 21 victories shy from milestone win No. 200.  He enters the 2009-10 season 179-146 at UCSB.

• Sophomore Orlando Johnson may make the biggest impact on the UCSB squad.  A transfer from Loyola Marymount, he led the Lions in scoring (12.4 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 rpg) as a freshman in 2007-08.

• UCSB committed the second-most turnovers (15.6 pg) of any Big West team last season.  That stemmed in part from the absence of point guard Justin Joyner, who redshirted the year with a wrist injury after starting in 2006-07 and 2007-08.  Joyner accumulated 197 assists and just 110 turnovers in his first two years with the club.

• The Gauchos received key contributions from a freshman foursome last season that hopes to be even better in 2009-10.  James Nunnally ranked third on the team in scoring (7.9 ppg), Jaimé Serna started 16 of 31 games, Will Brew, Jr. started 23 of 31 games, and 7-2 center Greg Somogyi blocked 37 shots while averaging just 11.1 minutes.

PACIFIC NOTES

• The Tigers continued their streak of consistent success after finishing 21-13 in 2008-09.  It was the second straight season Pacific recorded 21 wins, and the fifth time in the last six seasons that the Tigers reached the 20-win mark.

• Pacific returns three starters and five letterwinners, but needs increased production to offset the loss of its top four scorers from a year ago.  Junior Sam Willard, a 6-9 junior forward/center, may be poised for a breakout year.  He posted 7.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while hitting at a 51.8% (101 of 195) from the field.  

• Senior Joe Ford was the 2008-09 Big West Defensive Player of the Year.  He led the Tigers with 44 steals and was eighth in the league (1.3 spg) in that category.  An all-around contributor, Ford also produced 11 blocked shots and a team-best 87 assists.

• The Tiger frontline gets a boost with the return of 6-8 senior center Michael Nunnally.  He provided the Tigers 7.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 2007-08.  Nunnally shot 55.7% (93 of 167) from the field while starting 29 of 31 games.

• Pacific must replace a majority of its perimeter shooting, as the returnees account for only 25 of the 243 threes made last season.



OTHER NOTABLES

COACHING MILESTONES ON THE HORIZON
A pair of head coaches are poised to enter the top five in all time victories while a member of the Big West coaching fraternity.  Pat Douglass, in his 13th year at the helm of UC Irvine, is currently No. 6 all-time with 183 victories.  He is the all-time winningest coach at UCI.  He needs 12 wins to surpass Fresno State’s Boyd Grant (1978-86) in the No. 5 spot with 194 wins.  A 17-win season for Douglass would make him just the fifth coach to reach the 200-win plateau.

UC Santa Barbara’s Bob Williams enters his 12th season on the Central Coast campus just four wins behind Douglass in the record book.  He is 179-146 with the Gauchos.  Williams has posted two 20-win seasons (2001-02, 2007-08) during his tenure, so the 21 wins he needs to collect 200 for his career is within reach.

ALL-TIME VICTORY LEADERS - BIG WEST TENURE
Rk.    Coach, School                                   No.
1.      Jerry Tarkanian, LBSU & UNLV         405
2.      Bob Thomason, Pacific                   364
3.      Neil McCarthy, New Mexico State      248
4.      Jerry Pimm, UC Santa Barbara          222
5.      Boyd Grant, Fresno State                  194
6.      Pat Douglass, UC Irvine                   183
7.      Bob Williams, UC Santa Barbara    179
8.      Stew Morrill, Utah State                      167
9.      Bill Mulligan, UC Irvine                       163
10.    Rod Tueller, Utah State                      158

Bold denotes active Big West head coach

THOMASON CONFERENCE WINS KING
In 2008-09, Pacific’s Bob Thomason became the all-time leader in victories in Big West games only.  A 10-6 conference campaign pushed his Big West win total to 209, which surpassed the former top mark of 205 held by Jerry Tarkanian during his tenures at Long Beach State and UNLV.  Thomason has served the longest tenure of any Big West coach, past or present, at 22 seasons and climbing.

AND SPEAKING OF THOMASON...
Bob Thomason became the holder of another record last season when his Tigers appeared in three Big West Tournament games.  He coached in a record 25th Big West Tournament game when Pacific reached the championship game against Cal State Northridge.  He once again supplanted Tarkanian, who had been the leader with 24 tournament game appearances.

MONSON HUNTING FOR COACHING MILESTONE
Dan Monson of Long Beach State has not resided in the Big West for long, entering only his third season as head coach.  But that doesn’t preclude him from potentially reaching a milestone of his own.  During his stints at Gonzaga and Minnesota, Monson collected 170 victories.  Add in the 21 wins he earned in his first two seasons at LBSU, and he is 191-163 for his career, just nine victories short of No. 200.

EYEING THE 1,000-POINT MARK
The active career scoring leader entering the 2008-09 season is UC Santa Barbara senior James Powell.  In three seasons with the Gauchos, Powell has scored 910 points.  He looks to become the 23rd player in school history to hit the millenium milestone.  UC Irvine senior Michael Hunter is also well within range of the 1,000 point mark.  He needs 133 points to become the 19th Anteater to accomplish the feat.  The chart below lists the top 10 active career scoring leaders in the Big West entering the 2009-10 season.

Points
Rk    Player, School                    Year      No.
1.      James Powell, UCSB         Sr.        910
2.      Michael Hunter, UCI           Sr.        867
3.      Lorenzo Keeler, CP            Sr.        656
4.      Mark Payne, UCD              Jr.         589
5.      Dominic Calegari, UCD      Sr.        574
6.      Sean Cunningham, UCR    Sr.        474
7.      Joe Harden, UCD               Jr.         472
8.      Shawn Lewis, CP               Jr.         459
9.      Eric Wise, UCI                    So.       434
10.    Kyle Austin, UCR                Jr.        373

DON’T FOUL THEM
For the second straight season, UC Davis set the Big West record for free throw percentage.  The Aggies shot .779 (508 of 652) from the charity stripe in 2008-09, breaking the mark of .7786 (401 of 515) set in 2007-08.  The Aggies have ranked in the top five nationally in free throw percentage in each of the last two seasons.  UCD was No. 2 in the country in 2007-08 and No. 4 in 2008-09.

NORTHRIDGE GOING FOR THIRD STRAIGHT
Cal State Northridge looks to become only the fourth program in Big West history to capture three straight regular season titles - shared or outright.  The Matadors earned a three-way share of the title in 2007-08 at 12-4.  CSUN boasted the outright championship last season with an 11-5 mark.  Former Big West member UNLV owns the league record of 10 straight regular season titles (1982-92).  Long Beach State ran off eight straight championships from 1969-77.  Most recently, Pacific earned three straight crowns from 2003-06.

TENTH YEAR IN ANAHEIM
The Big West will stage its postseason basketball tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center for the 10th straight year.  The tournament was held in Anaheim from 1977-82, then moved to other venues such as The Forum (1983-88), Long Beach Arena (1989-93), Thomas & Mack Center (1994-95) and Lawlor Events Center (1996-2000).  Here are some facts during the Big West’s second stint in Anaheim.

• In the last nine years at the ACC, six different teams have won the tournament title. 

• A different team has won in each of the last five years. 

• Either a No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 seed has worn the crown all nine years.

• No team has won the title in consecutive seasons.

BIG WEST TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS AT THE
ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTER (2001-09)

Year     Champion                    Seed
2009    Cal State Northridge    #1
2008    Cal State Fullerton       #3
2007    Long Beach State        #1
2006    Pacific                          #1
2005    Utah State                    #2
2004    Pacific                          #2
2003    Utah State                    #3
2002    UC Santa Barbara       #3
2001    Utah State                    #2

STEALING THE LIMELIGHT
Cal State Northridge owns a streak of eight consecutive seasons in which it has led the Big West in steals.  The Matadors averaged 8.9 steals per game last season.