eae me’s aseta 2015-16 · eae me’s aseta 2015-16 2 2015 caa turamet 2015 sy turamet champs 2015...

EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2015-16

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2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS • 2015 BIG SKY REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS

No. Name Pos Ht Wt Yr Ex Hometown (Previous School)0 Julian Harrell G 6-5 195 Jr. TR/JC* Los Angeles, Calif. / Loyola HS ’12 / Penn / City College of San Francisco2 Ty Gibson G 6-3 190 Fr. HS Issaquah, Wash. / Issaquah HS ‘154 Sir Washington G 6-3 180 So. 1L* Las Vegas, Nevada / Clark HS ’135 Austin McBroom G 6-0 170 Sr. TR* Los Angeles, Calif. / Campbell Hall School ’11 / Central Michigan / Saint Louis10 Michael Wearne G 6-2 175 Fr. HS Croydon, Australia / Box Hill HS ‘1511 #Bear Henderson F 6-6 215 Fr. HS* Mission Hills, Calif. / Village Christian HS ‘1412 %Grant Gibb G 6-5 185 Fr. HS Longview, Wash. / Mark Morris HS ‘1515 #Will Ferris G 6-1 175 Fr. HS* Bellevue, Wash. / Newport HS ‘1420 #Cody Benzel G 6-4 175 Fr. HS* Spokane, Wash. / Ferris HS ‘1422 Rico Nuno F 6-8 250 So. JC Half Moon Bay, Calif. / Half Moon Bay HS ’14 / Diablo Valley College23 Kyle Reid F 6-8 215 Sr. 1L/JC* Los Angeles, Calif. / Bishop Montgomery HS ’11 / L.A. Trade Tech32 Bogdan Bliznyuk F 6-6 215 So. 1L Lutsk, Ukraine / Todd Beamer HS ‘14 ’15 Big Sky Conf. Freshman of the Year34 Jesse Hunt F 6-7 210 Fr. HS Geraldton, Australia / Sir Francis Drake (Calif.) HS ‘1540 &Geremy McKay F 6-7 225 Fr TR* Melbourne,Australia/CaulfieldGrammarSchool’13/Univ.ofAlbany42 %Mario Soto G 6-6 205 So. TR Irvine, Calif. / Saddleback Valley Christian HS ’14 / Concordia (Irvine, Calif.)44 Felix Von Hofe F 6-5 200 Jr. 2L Melbourne, Australia / Wesley College ’12 / Australian Institute of Sport55 ^Venky Jois F 6-8 230 Sr. 3L Boronia, Australia / Box Hill HS ’11 ’15 All-Big Sky Conf. First Team*Has used redshirt year. ^2014-15 Starter. #Redshirted 2014-15 season. %Expected to redshirt the 2014-15 season. &Will have to sit out 2015-16 because of NCAA transfer rules.

Head Coach: Jim Hayford(FifthSeasonatEWU;AzusaPacific‘90)Associate Head Coach: Shantay Legans (Seventh Season; Fresno State ’04)Assistant: Chris Victor (First Season; Concordia/Irvine ’05)Assistant: David Riley (Second Season as assistant; previously Director of BB Operations; Whitworth ‘11)Dir. for Ath. Performance: Amir Owens (Second Season; Idaho State ’10)Athletic Trainer: Shawn Edgerly (First Season with MBB, Ninth Year at EWU; Central Washington ‘03)Graduate Asst. Managers: Tyler Goldman (Second Season; DePaul ’10)Student Managers: Thomas Moore, R.J. Salib

TABLE OF CONTENTS2015-16 Roster .................................... Meet the Eagles ............................................ 2Eagle Basketball Highlights/Schedule .......... 32014-15 Review ......................................... 4-7Head Coach Jim Hayford .........................8-11Assistant Coaches ................................. 12-132014-15 Statistics/Quick Facts .............. 14-15Season Outlook ..................................... 16-18PlayerProfiles ....................................... 19-352015-16 Opponents ............................... 36-38Tyler Harvey/Rodney Stuckey ............... 39-41Eagles in the Pros ................................. 42-45Eagle Honors ......................................... 46-49Year-by-Year/Coaches Records ................. 50Team and Individual Records ................ 51-53Game, Season & Career Leaders ......... 54-58Year-by-Year Statistical Champions ........... 59All-Time Letterwinners/Hall of Fame ..... 60-62

WWW.GOEAGS.COM

PronunciationsVenkatesha (Venky) Jois . . . . . . .Ven-kuh-tay-shuh (Ven-key) JoyceVon Hofe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Von-hoff

Bogdan Bliznyuk. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bawg-dun Bliz-nookMichael Wearne . . . . . . . . . . . . . .WernShantay Legans . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Shawn-tay Leg-uhns


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#20 Cody Benzel #32 Bogdan Bliznyuk #15 Will Ferris #0 Julian Harrell Spokane, Wash. Lutsk, Ukraine Bellevue, Wash. Los Angeles, Calif.

#11 Bear Henderson #55 Venky Jois #5 Austin McBroom #22 Rico Nuno Mission Hills, Calif. Boronia, Australia Los Angeles, Calif. Half Moon Bay, Calif.

#40 &Geremy McKay #34 Jesse Hunt #12 %Grant Gibb #2 Ty Gibson #10 Michael Wearne Melbourne, Australia Geraldton, Australia Longview, Wash. Issaquah, Wash. Croydon, Australia

#23 Kyle Reid #44 Felix Von Hofe #4 Sir Washington #42 %Mario Soto Los Angeles, Calif. Melbourne, Australia Las Vegas, Nevada Irvine, Calif.

%Expected to redshirt the 2015-16 season. &Will have to sit out 2015-16 because of NCAA transfer rules.


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Eagle Basketball Highlights . . . • NCAA Tournament berths in 2015 & 2004.

• Big Sky Tournament champions in 2015 & 2004.

• Big Sky regular season champions in 2015, 2004 and 2000.

• NIT Tournament berth in 2003.

• Eagle sharpshooter TYLER HARVEY was selected by Orlando in the second round as the 51st pick overall in the National Basketball Association Draft on June 25, 2015. Harvey was a walk-on to the Eastern program in the fall of 2011, then developed into a honorable mention All-American in the 2014-15 season when he led NCAA Division I in scoring (23.1)

and 3-pointers made per game (4.00). He set Big Sky Conference and school records with 128 3-pointers in the 2014-15 season.

• VENKY JOIS wasselectedtotheAll-BigSkyConferencefirstteamasajuniorinthe2014-15 season, and then was named to the Big Sky Conference All-Tournament team. He was the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year in the 2013-14 season, and earned honorable mention All-Big Sky accolades as both a freshman and sophomore. He enters his senior season with a school-record 184 career blocked shots, as well as 1,278 total points (10th) and 737 rebounds (fourth).

• BOGDAN BLIZNYUK was the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year in 2014-15, an honor now won six times in the past 14 seasons by Eastern players.

• The Eagles closed a monumental 2014-15 campaign with a 26-9 record overall after finishing14-4intheBigSkyConferencetosharetheregularseasontitlewithMontana.Eastern swept through three games in the Big Sky Conference Tournament to garner the school’ssecondNCAATournamentappearanceinschoolhistory.TheEaglesfinishedwithprogram bests for victories overall (26), in the Big Sky (14), on the road (11) and in non-conference play (9) in 32 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I. Eastern set a total of 18 school records during the year.

• Head coach JIM HAYFORD took over an Eastern team four years ago that had been to the BigSkyConferenceTournamentjustonceinfiveseasons,butinthe2014-15seasonhetookthe Eagles to new heights. With 66 victories overall and 39 league wins under Hayford, this is the best four-year stretch since 2000-04 when Eastern had 69 wins overall and 41 in the Big Sky.

* Eastern’s heart-stopping 88-86 victory at Big Ten Conference member Indiana Nov. 24, 2014, will go down as one of the greatest victories in school history after the Eagles snapped the nation’s third-longest non-conference home court winning streak at 43 in front of 11,636 HoosierfansatAssemblyHallinBloomington,Ind.Itwasthefirst-everwinfortheEaglesin14triesagainstaBigTenConferenceopponentandwasthefirstBigSkywinonaBigTenhome court.

•Streakofnine-straightBigSkyConferenceTournamentberthsfrom1998-2006(fifth-beststreak in league history).

•SecondorbetterinBigSkyregularseasonstandingsfive-straightseasonsfrom2000-2004.

2015-16 Schedule

AS OF OCTOBER 20, 2015

Date Opponent TimeN 13 at +Mississippi State 6 p.m.N 15 ^George Fox 3:30 p.m.N 17 Seattle 6:05 p.m.N 23 at Seattle 7 p.m.N28 vs.=Univ,ofthePacific 6:30p.m.N 29 vs. =South Dakota 2:30 p.m.D 1 at San Francisco 7 p.m.D 6 Great Falls 2:05 p.m.D 9 at &Davidson 5:30 p.m.D 11 at &#Pittsburgh 4 p.m.D 14 at &Western Carolina 4 p.m.D 17 &Morehead State 6:05 p.m.D 20 at Denver NoonD 31 at *Northern Colorado 4:05 p.m.J 2 at *North Dakota 12:05 p.m.J 9 *Idaho 12:05 p.m.J 14 *Southern Utah 6:05 p.m.J 16 *Northern Arizona 12:05 p.m.J 21 at *Montana State 6:05 p.m.J 23 at *Montana 6:05 p.m.J 28 *Portland State 6:05 p.m.J 30 *Sacramento State 12:05 p.m.F 4 at *Northern Arizona 5:35 p.m.F 6 at *Southern Utah 6:05 p.m.F 11 *North Dakota 6:05 p.m.F 13 *Northern Colorado 2:05 p.m.F 18 at *Sacramento State 7:05 p.m.F 20 at *Portland State 7:05 p.m.F 27 at *Idaho 1:05 p.m.M 3 *Idaho State 6:05 p.m.M 5 *Weber State 2:05 p.m.M 8 $Big Sky Tourn. First Round TBAM10 $BigSkyTourn.Quarterfinals TBAM11 $BigSkyTourn.Semifinals TBAM 12 $Big Sky Tourn. Championship TBA

All Times Pacific. %Exhibition Game. ^Doubleheader with EWU women’s team. *Big Sky Conference Game. &Gotham Classic presented by the Gazelle Group. =Sacramento State Tournament in Sacramento, Calif. +Televised by the SEC Network. #Televised on ESPN3. $Big Sky Conference Tournament at Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada.

2014-15 First Team All- Big Sky Conference Forward

VENKY JOIS


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2014-15 REVIEW: Eagles Finish With 26 Wins & NCAA Berth

Eastern sets 18 school records and one Big Sky mark, as Eagles enjoy their best season ever as a member of NCAA Division I

A mere minutes after the 2014-15 season ended, Eastern Washington University

men’s basketball coach Jim Hayford was ready for more.“Ijustwishpracticefornextyearcouldstartto-

morrow because I really, really love the heart and fightoftheguysonmyteam,”saidHayfordafterhis team’s 84-74 loss to Georgetown on March 19intheNCAATournament.“Wedon’thavejustagoodteam,butwe’vebuiltagoodprogram.”

The Eagles closed the year 26-9 on the seasonafterfinishing14-4intheBigSkyConference to share the regular season title with Montana. Eastern swept through three games in the Big Sky Conference Tournament to garner the school’s second NCAA Tournament appear-anceinschoolhistory.TheEaglesfinishedwithprogram bests for victories overall (26), in the Big Sky (14), on the road (11) and in non-conference play (9) in 32 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I.

Eastern’s national resume featured the 22nd-most wins in NCAA Division I, plus 28th in winning percentage at .743), a marquee win at Indiana and the nation’s leading scorer in Tyler Harvey. Harvey led NCAA Division I with a 23.1 scoring average, and closed the year with Big Sky and EWU single season records for season

3-pointers with 128. His 738 points were a school record and ranked fourth in league history. Harvey would declare himself eligible for the NBA Draft and was eventually chosen in the second round (51st pick overall) by the Orlando Magic.

Eastern had three seniors on its roster, including a pair of starters in point guard Drew Brandon and guard Parker Kelly. Underclassmen included starters Venky Jois and OgnjenMiljkovic,aswellastheteam’stopthreesubs in Bogdan Bliznyuk, Felix Von Hofe and Sir Washington. HarveyjoinedJoisasfirstteamAll-BigSky

selections, with Jois setting the school’s single season blocked shots record with 69 and averag-ing 16.7 points and 7.7 rebounds on the season. Bliznyuk was the league’s Freshman of the Year and averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds.

Harvey, Jois and Kelly all went over the 1,000-point mark in their careers during the 2014-15 season to rank in the top 18 in school history. Harvey is second all-time with 1,564 points (177 behind the school record of 1,741 set by Ron Cox from 1974-77), with Jois 10th with 1,278andKellyfinishinghiscareerwith1,006torank 18th. Kelly, who played a school-record 126 games,alsofinishedwith210career3-point-ers to rank only behind Harvey’s 260 in school history and 16th in all-time in the Big Sky (Harvey isfifth).

In all, 18 school records and one Big Sky mark were broken in the 2014-15 season, thanks to a productive offense that ranked third in NCAA Division I with an average of 80.6 points per gameandfifthin3-pointerspergamewitha9.8average.“Weplayawide-openstyleofoffense,”said

Hayford. “It’s a style that’s fun to play, fun to re-cruit to, fun to coach and fun to watch. I think it’s a style that is scary because we can go out and make 15, 16 or 17 3-pointers in a game. That’s reallyhardtodefend.”

EWU’s Postseason Notes . . . •Easternjoinedthe2003-04EWUsquad

in advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The 2002-03 team advanced to the NIT for EWU’s only other national postseason appearance in 32 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I. EasternlosttoWyoming78-71inthefirstroundof the NIT in 2003, and lost 75-56 to Oklahoma State in the NCAA Tournament a year later.

• In beating Montana 69-65 in the Big Sky Conference Tournament Championship game, Easternwonthetitlegameforthefirsttime


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• Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (Nov. 18). In wins over NCAA Tournament participant Texas Southern (86-62) and NIT selection Utah Valley (75-50), Harvey averaged 19.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0assistsand1.0stealspergame.Hehadjustone turnover in 71 minutes of action while making 11-of-22 3-point attempts and 48 percent overall from thefield.

• Preseason Big Sky MVP & First Team All-Big Sky (Lindy’s Magazine)

• Preseason First Team All-Big Sky (Athlon Magazine)

• Preseason First Team All-Big Sky (College Sports Madness)

• Preseason Big Sky’s Best Shooter (Lindy’s Magazine)

Venky Jois• NABC All-District 6 First Team Selection

• Big Sky Conference All Tournament Team. H-e averaged 12.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game whilemaking16of24shotsfromthefieldfor66.7percent).

• First Team All-Big Sky Conference Selection as chosen by the league’s head coaches.

• College Hoops Daily First Team All-Big Sky Conference Selection.

• Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (March 9). Jois had two double-doubles in EWU’s road sweep to end the regular season and help the Eagles capture the Big Sky co-championship. He had 21 points and 10 rebounds against Idaho State, then had 22 points and a career-high 16 boards versus Weber State.

• Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (Dec. 9). He made13-of-18shotsfromthefieldand12-of-15freethrowstofinishwith38points--sixth-mostin

recorded school history -- for the second-straight game in an 87-75 win at

Seattle on Dec. 6. He earned the same honor from College Sports Madness.

• College Sports Madness Mid-MajorPlayeroftheWeek&CSM

Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (Dec. 1). Eastern was 3-0 for the week,

including an 88-86 win at

Indiana. He had 72

2014-15 HonorsHead Coach Jim Hayford• Big Sky Conference co-Coach of the Year as chosen by the league’s head coaches.

• College Hoops Daily Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year.

Tyler Harvey• Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America

• NABC All-District 6 First Team Selection

• Big Sky Conference Tournament MVP. He averaged 23.0 points, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals in three games while making 10-of-24 3-point shots for 41.7 percent and 22-of-43 shots overall for 51.2 percent. He tied a tournament record with a career-high 42 against Idaho to rank third in school history. He scored 18 in thechampionshipgame,includingeightinrthefinalfourminutesasEWUralliedfroman11-pointdeficitinthefinalsixminutes.

• Unanimous First Team All-Big Sky Conference Selection as chosen by the league’s head coaches (repeatfirstteamselection).

• College Hoops Daily First Team All-Big Sky Conference Selection.

• Capital One/CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America (3.60GPA/CommunicationStudiesMajor)...EWU’sfirst-everfirstteamselectionin32yearsasNCAADivision I member and fourth selection overall in school history. Also Academic All-District VIII.

• One of 16 Finalists for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year . . . www.hoophallawards.com

• One of 31 Finalists for the Lou Henson Award (top mid-majorplayer)...www.louhenson.com

•Bleacherreport.com“Deadliest3-PointAssasin”incollege basketball (Jan. 23).

• College Sports Madness Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (March 9). Scored 24 points against both Idaho State and Weber State in an EWU road sweep to end the regular season and help the Eagles capture the Big Sky co-championship.

• Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (Jan. 26) & College Sports Madness BSC POW (Jan. 26). Harvey scored 61 points on 59 percent shooting fromthefieldwithseven3-pointersand22-of-25free throws in home sweep, including 35 versus Northern Colorado.

• USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week (Jan. 6) & Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (Jan. 5). In two wins to open league play, Harvey averaged 27.5 points, made 10-of-19 3-pointers and sank all 13 free throws. He had a career-high 39 points in an 84-78 win over defending champ and BSC favorite Weber State.

• College Sports Madness Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (Nov. 24). In leading EWU to a 3-1 record to open the season, Harvey averaged 19.5 points, 4.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds while making 11-of-22 3-point attempts.

points, 27 points and 13 blocked shots in three games, including a double-dpouble versus IU with 20 points and 14 rebounds, and a career-high 38 points versus Eastern Oregon.

• Pick and Roll (pickandroll.com.au) Australian Mid-Season Player of the Year (has also been player of the week 5 times, including 4 consecutive weeks in November and early December)

• Preseason Pick and Roll (pickandroll.com.au) All-Australian Team (10 members)

• Preseason First Team All-Big Sky (Lindy’s Magazine)

• Preseason Second Team All-Big Sky (College Sports Madness)

Drew Brandon• Honorable Mention All-Big Sky Conference Selection

as chosen by the league’s head coaches.

• Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (Feb. 9). In leadingtheEaglestotheirfirstBigSkysweepontheroad in 11 seasons, Brandon averaged 21.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 2.5 assists in Eagle wins over Montana (75-69) and Montana State (61-51). He alsohadjusttwoturnoversin79totalminutes,andhelped secure Eagle wins down the stretch by making 11-of-14 free throws (78.6 percent).

• Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (Feb. 2) & College Sports Madness BSC POW (Feb. 2). Brandon had 18 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in a 98-95 victory over Idaho, including a driving layin at the buzzer that sent the game into overtime. He alsohadjustoneturnoverin44minutesofaction.

• Big Sky Conference Player of the Week (Nov. 25). In an epic 88-86 win at Indiana, he made 10-of-16 shots fromthefield(0-of-2fromthe3-pointline)and7-of-8freethrowstofinishwithacareer-high27points,togoalongwitheightrebounds,fivestealsandfourassists.InrecordingtheBigSky’sfirst-everroadwinat a Big Ten opponent, EWU snapped the nation’s third-best non-conference home court winning streak at 43 games at famed Assembly Hall.

• Preseason Second Team All-Big Sky (Lindy’s Magazine)

• Preseason Second Team All-Big Sky (College Sports Madness)

• Preseason Big Sky’s Most Versatile Player (Lindy’s Magazine)

Bogdan Bliznyuk• Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year as chosen

by the league’s head coaches. Becomes the sixth EWU player to earn the award in the last 14 seasons.

Big Sky Conference All-Academic Honors

BogdanBliznyuk•TylerHarvey•VenkyJois•OgnjenMiljkovic•KyleReid

SeniorPoint Guard

DREWBRANDON



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Front Row (left to right): Daniel Hill, Nate Galgalo, Parker Kelly, Tyler Harvey, Bear Henderson, Will Ferris, Garrett Moon, Sir Washington, Drew Brandon, Cody Benzel.

Back Row: Student Manager Thomas Moore, Athletic Trainer Kristin Barnett, Graduate Assistant Manager Chase Grabau, Assistant Coach David Riley, Assistant Coach Alex Pribble, Bogdan Bliznyuk, Kyle Reid, Venky Jois, Head Coach Jim Hayford, Frederik Jorg, Ognjen Miljkovic, Felix Von Hofe, As-sistant Coach Shantay Legans, Director for Athletic Performance Amir Owens, Graduate Assistant Manager Adam Bennett, Graduate Student Manager Tyler Goldman, Student Manager R.J. Salib.

since 2004. It was EWU’s sixth appearance in the championship game overall with a record of 2-4.ItwasthefifthtimetheEagleshaveplayedthe Grizzlies in the tournament, with EWU losing thefirstfourmeetings.Thetwoteamsmetinthechampionship game in 2002, which was won by UM 70-66. Eastern advanced to the title game with a pair of 91-83 victories – against Idaho in thequarterfinalsandSacramentoStateinthesemifinals.

• Junior Tyler Harvey was selected as the MVP of the Big Sky Conference Tournament after averaging 23.0 points, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game in three games while making 10-of-24 3-point shots (41.7 percent) and 22-of-43 overall (51.2 percent). Junior Venky Jois was also selected to the all-tournament team after averaging 12.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per outingwhilemaking16-of-24shotsfromthefieldfor 66.7 percent.

• Eastern head coach Jim Hayford coached in his seventh NCAA Tournament in the 2014-15 season, including six (2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) at NCAA Division III Whitworth. He is now 6-7 in tourney games, including an Elite Eightappearanceinhisfinalseason.Whitworthis located in nearby Spokane, Wash., which is also home to perennial NCAA Tournament participant Gonzaga. Hayford was selected as

the 2014-15 Big Sky Confer-ence Coach of the Year by the league’s head coaches, and received the same honor from College Hoops Daily. A 104-87 victory over Eastern Oregon on Nov. 30 gave Hayford an even 300 victories in 16 seasons as a collegiate head coach. He currently is 320-147 in 16 seasons as a head coach for a .685 winning percentage. He is 66-63 in four seasons at EWU, was 217-57 at Whitworth and was 37-27 in two seasons at Sioux Falls.

• In equaling the Big Sky Tournament record with42pointsagainstIdaho,juniorTylerHarveyhadhisfifthgameoftheseasonand11thofhiscareer with at least 30 points, and his 40th-straightgamescoringindoublefigures(snappedwhen he scored nine versus Sacramento State the next night). His 42 ranks third in school history behind the 45 of Rodney Stuckey (versus Northern Arizona on 1/5/06) and 44 of David Peed (versus UC Irvine on 12/13/88). His 42 points tied the tourney record of 42 set by An-thony Johnson of Montana in 2010, and passed the 38 Stuckey had versus Portland State in 2006, which now ranks fourth all-time.


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At the Moda Center in Portland, OregonHosted by the University of Oregon

South Region - Second Round - Thursday, March 19#5 Utah 57, #12 Stephen F. Austin 50

#4 Georgetown 84, #13 E. Washington 74Third Round - Saturday, March 21

#5 Utah 75, #4 Georgetown 64

At Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, MontanaFirst Round - Thursday, March 12#2 E. Washington 91, #7 Idaho 83

#3 Sacramento St. 70, #6 Portland State 60#4 No. Arizona 63, No. 5 No. Colorado 57

#1 Montana 76, Weber State 73 (ot)Semifinals - Friday, March 13

Eastern Washington 91, Sacramento State 83Montana 61, Northern Arizona 59

Championship - Saturday, March 14Eastern Washington 69, Montana 65

2014-15 BIG SKY STANDINGS(FINAL) Big Sky OverallTeam W L Pct. W L Pct.Eastern Wash. 14 4 .778 26 9 .743 BSC Co-ChampMontana 14 4 .778 20 13 .606 BSC Co-ChampSacramento St. 13 5 .772 21 12 .636Northern Arizona 13 5 .722 23 15 .605Northern Colorado 10 8 .556 15 15 .500Portland State 9 9 .500 15 14 .517Idaho 8 10 .444 13 17 .433Weber State 8 10 .444 13 17 .433Southern Utah 7 11 .388 10 19 .345North Dakota 4 14 .222 8 22 .267Montana State 4 14 .222 7 23 .233Idaho State 4 14 .222 7 23 .233National Invitational Tournament: Texas A&M 81, Montana 64.CollegeInsider Tournament: Sacramento State 73, Portland 66; Northern Arizona 75, Grand Canyon 70; NAU 78, Sacramento State 73; NAU 74, Kent State 73; NAU 68, NJIT 61; Evansville 71, NAU 65 (championship game).

Eagle Records BrokenBelow are the 18 team and individual records set by Eastern during the 2014-15 season:

Single GameTeam - FG Pct./72.5 percent vs. Walla Walla 11/19/14Team - 3-Point Attempts/44 vs. Idaho 1/31/15

Single SeasonTeam - Points/2,220 (old record 2,610 set in 1972)Team - 3-Pointers Made/344 (old record 283 set in 2012)Team - 3-Pointers Attempted/ 860 (old record 793 set in 2012)Team - 3-Point Percentage/.400 (old record .385 set in 1987 and 2002)Team – Fewest Turnovers Per Game/10.7 (old record 11.8 in 2012)Team – Fewest Personal Fouls Per Game/17.8 (old record 18.4 in 2013)Tyler Harvey - Points/738 (old record 726 by Rodney Stuckey in 2006)***Tyler Harvey - 3-Point FG Made/128 (old record 109 by Tyler Harvey in 2014)Tyler Harvey - 3-Point FG Attempted/297 (old record 264 by Shannon Taylor in 1999)Venky Jois - Blocked Shots/69 (old record 68 by Martin Seiferth in 2013)Venky Jois - Dunks/53 (old record 41 by Paul Butorac in 2007)***Also Big Sky Conference Record.

CareerParker Kelly - Games Played/126 (old record 121 by Jeffrey Forbes 2010-13)Tyler Harvey - 3-Point Field Goals Made/260 (old record 184 by Marc Axton 2002-05)Tyler Harvey - 3-Point FG Attempted/602 (old record 499 by Marc Axton 2002-05)Venky Jois - Blocked Shots Per Game/2.0 (record is 1.8 by Martin Seiferth 2013-14)Venky Jois - Blocked Shots/184 (old record 112 Martin Seiferth 2013-14)

Senior Guard PARKER KELLY


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Head Coach

JIMHAYFORDBig Sky Confeence Coach ofthe Year

Fifth SeasonAzusa Pacific ‘90

A four-year climb for Jim Hayford and his Eastern Washington Universitymen’sbasketballprogramwasconfirmedwiththeregular season co-championship in the Big Sky Conference. But

the Eagles scaled one more peak under Hayford, who was selected by the league’s head coaches as the co-Coach of the Year, by winning three games and capturing the Big Sky Conference Tournament title.

Eastern beat Idaho and Sacramento State by identical 91-83 scores before rallying from 11 points down with six minutes to play to stun host Montana 69-65 in the title game. The win advanced Hayford to his seventh NCAA Tournament, including the previous six (2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) at NCAA Division III Whitworth. After an 84-74 loss to Georgetown, Hayford is 7-8 in NCAA postseason games.

Hayford,whoseteamfinishedthe2014-15seasonwithitsmostvictoriesin NCAA Division I history with a 26-9 record, shared the coach of the year honor with Sacramento State’s Brian Katz. Just two short seasons earlier, Hayford’steamwastheyoungestinNCAADivisionIandfinished10-21over-all and 7-13 in the Big Sky. And in 2013-14 his senior-less squad was edged outbytheHornetsforthesixthandfinalberthinthetourneywhenbothteamsfinished10-10inBigSkyplay.

“Thisisagreathonor,”saidHayford,whoisnow320-146(.687)inhis15-plus seasons as a collegiate head coach. “What makes it very special is that I am sharing it with one of my best friends and colleagues, Brian Katz. I am also pleased that it shines a light on the great work done by the members of our coaching staff, who are tireless workers. Above all, players win games and our players won enough games that we could be recognized. They earnedthisawardforEWU,mystaffandI.”

Steve Aggers (1998, 2000) and Ray Giacoletti (2004) have previously won BigSkyCoachoftheYearhonorsfortheEaglessincejoiningtheBigSkyConference in the 1987-88 season. The 2000 and 2004 teams are the only others to win regular season Big Sky titles in school history, and the 2004 squad is the only other BSC Tournament winner.

Easternjoinedthe2003-04EWUsquadinadvancingtotheNCAATourna-ment. The 2002-03 team advanced to the NIT for EWU’s only other national postseason appearance in 32 seasons as a member of NCAA Division I. With 66 victories overall and 39 league wins under Hayford, this is the best four-year stretch since 2000-04 when Eastern had 69 wins overall and 41 in the Big Sky.

Eastern clinched its third Big Sky regular season title in 28 seasons as a

Big Sky member when it rallied from 19 points down to beat Weber State 79-71 in overtime on March 7. With a 14-4 league record, Eastern won its most games in 28 seasons as a member of the Big Sky. Eastern’s 11-6 record on the road and 9-4 non-conference record in the 2014-15 season were also program bests in the school’s NCAA Division I history.

“Therearealotoffamiliesbehindourplayerswhobelievedinthevision,”said Hayford, whose team was the 22nd most improved in NCAA Division I. “We weren’t selling them success, we were selling them a vision and they trusted their boys to us. I credit them. And my own personal family has made alotofsacrifices,somyheartisouttoRobin,JaymeandJoeforalltheirsupport.”

The triumphs in 2014-15 included victories over six different NCAA Division I conferences, including road wins at Indiana, San Francisco and Seattle.Easternwasrankedashighas12thinthenationalmid-majorpoll,and as high as 50th in the RPI. The Eagles concluded its home schedule with a crowd of 4,621 against Montana to rank as the fourth-most in school history and the most in 15 years.

Eastern’s heart-stopping 88-86 victory at Big Ten Conference member Indiana Nov. 24 will go down as one of the greatest victories in school history after the Eagles snapped the nation’s third-longest non-conference home court winning streak at 43 in front of 11,636 Hoosier fans at Assembly Hall in Bloomington,Ind.Itwasthefirst-everwinfortheEaglesin14triesagainstaBig Ten Conference opponent.

In all, 18 school records and one Big Sky mark were broken in the 2014-15 season, thanks to a productive offense that ranked third in NCAA Division I withanaverageof80.6pointspergameandfifthin3-pointerspergamewitha 9.8 average.

Entering the 2015-16 season, Hayford was selected by College Sports Madness as its preseason Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year. Addition-ally, Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports rated him as one of the top 21 offensive coaches in all of NCAA Division I.

“Weplayawide-openstyleofoffense,”saidHayford.“It’sastylethat’sfunto play, fun to recruit to, fun to coach and fun to watch. I think it’s a style that is scary because we can go out and make 15, 16 or 17 3-pointers in a game. That’sreallyhardtodefend.”

Individually, Tyler Harvey led NCAA Division I in scoring (23.1) and 3-point-ers (4.0) per game, and was eventually taken in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic as the 51st pick overall. He also earned honor-ablementionAll-AmericahonorsandwasafirstteamAcademicAll-Americaselection.HehadVenkyJoisearnedfirstteamAll-BigSkyaccoladesfortheEagles, and point guard Drew Brandon was honorable mention. Harvey was also MVP of the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

After spending 10 seasons building nearby Whitworth University in Spo-kane, Wash., into a NCAA Division III powerhouse, Hayford was announced


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2011-12. He led the school to its most successful season in six years and concluded the season 15-17 overall and 8-8 in the Big Sky Conference to place fourth.

Histeamimprovedbyfivevictoriesfromtheyearbefore,astheEaglesequaledtheirmostwinssinceEasternmadeitsfirst-everNCAATournamentappearancein2004.TheEagleswontheirfirstpostseasongamesince2006,beatingIdahoStateinthequarterfinals(81-75)beforefallingtoeventualchampionMontana(74-66)inthesemifinals.

In addition, Eastern won six road games – its most since EWU won seven in the 2002-03 season and six the year after. And Eastern’s average attendance of 2,286 was double the 1,101 average of the 2010-11 season whenEWUfinished10-20overalland7-9intheleague.Eastern’scrowdsof3,617 versus Montana State on Jan. 28 and 3,512 against Montana on Jan. 26 ranked ninth and 10th, respectively, on EWU’s all-time list of single game recorded attendance.

Andforthefirsttimesince2006,theEaglesalsohadtheirfirstnon-losingconferenceseasonandhostedandwontheirfirstgameintheBigSkyCon-ference Championship.

“I’mreallyproudofourplayers,andproudoftheseasonwehad,”saidHayford, who has also had tremendous fund-raising success through his Sixth-Man Club. “We advanced Eastern Basketball further than it had in a longtime,andthat’swhatIwantourplayerstohangtheirhaton.”

Inhisfirsttwoyears,Hayfordhadplayersearnsomeofthehighesthonorstheycanwinintheleague.Inhisfirstseason,hisplayerswerehonoredontheAll-BigSkyConferencefirstteam(CliffColimon),BSCAll-Tournamentsquad (Colimon) and Big Sky Newcomer of the Year (Collin Chiverton) – only thethirdsuchhonorforanEagleandthefirstsince2002.

The continued development of young players was the focus in the 2012-13 season, including six freshmen/sophomores who each started at least three games with a collective total of 97 starts. In 2012-13, freshman sensation VenkyJoiswasselectedastheBigSkyFreshmanoftheYear,becomingjustthefifthEagletowintheaward.HealsoearnedhonorablementionAll-BigSky honors from the coaches.

After 10 Years at Whitworth, Relationships Continue . . .

In his 10 years at Whitworth, Hayford developed solid relationships on a number of levels. Most notably, with his players.

“Thebasisofmycoachingisahighly-relationalstyle,”heexplained.“Wewant our players to be solid and comfortable in their relationship with me – there needs to be give-and-take, feedback and communication going both ways. The days of a coach doing all the talking and the players doing all the listening is over.

“I’mconsistentatfindingoutwhatistheirbestandwhattheyconsiderexcellence,andthenholdthemtothateverydaythatIcoachthem,”hecon-tinued. “By developing consistency and relationships, insisting on excellence and being able to do things together, we’re going to create a culture where this is a true team. We need to be sold on each other, committed to each other and we need to be able to count on each other. That will be the strength ofourprogram.”

Those relationships extend to the high school coaching community.“When you live in one place for 10 years, you get to know all of the high

schoolcoachesinthestateandtheregion,”hesaid.“Thoserelationshipstransfer. While teams at the Division I level were recruiting one player on a particular team, I was building a great relationship with that coach recruiting anotherplayeronthatteam.”

as Eastern’s new head men’s basketball coach on March 29, 2011. He is Eastern’s 17th head coach in history and ninth at the NCAA Division I level (since 1983-84).

In his tenure at the helm of the Pirates, Hayford had a record of 217-57 and a winning percentage of .792. He was the Northwest Conference Coach oftheYearfivetimes,andtwicewashonoredbytheNationalAssociationofBasketball Coaches as the West Region Coach of the Year.

Hayford coached the Pirates to eight 20-win seasons, six appearances in theNCAADivisionIIITournament(includingthelastfiveseasonsinarow),fiveNorthwestConferencetitles,threeNCAADIIISweet16appearances(2008, 2010, 2011) and one Elite Eight appearance (2011).

InHayford’sfinaltwoyearsatWhitworth,thePirateswere54-5overalland 31-1 in league play. Whitworth was ranked 21-consecutive times in the D3hoops.comNCAADivisionIIIrankingsoverHayford’sfinalthreeseasonsat Whitworth. At the time he left Whitworth, his career winning percentage ranked among the top 10 among all active NCAA Division III coaches.

Hayford and his wife, Robin, have a daughter, Jayme (20), and son, Joseph (17). Jayme is a college student in Arizona, and Joseph attends Gonzaga Prep in Spokane.

Steady Progress Made in First Three Seasons at EWU . . .

Even before the breakthrough 2014-15 season, the Eagles were on the cuspofgreatness.DespitefinishingavictoryshyofaBigSkyConferenceTournamentberth,theEaglesfinishedthe2013-14seasonwiththreemoreleaguewinsandfivemorevictoriesoverallthantheyearbefore.Easternestablished eight school records in the 2013-14 season, including one league mark.

Easternwas7-4initslast11leaguegamestohelpEWUfinish15-16over-all and 10-10 in the league. The 15 victories equaled the most for the Eagles in10yearssinceEWUfinished17-13inthe2003-04season.

The Eagles had no seniors on its 2013-14 roster, and were led by sophomoresHarveyandJois.HarveywasafirstteamAll-BigSkyselectionand earned second team honors on the National Association of Basketball CoachesAll-District6team–EWU’sfirstplayerhonoredonthatteamsinceRodney Stuckey in 2007. Jois earned honorable mention accolades for the second-straight year, as well as being the 2012-13 Freshman of the Year in the league.

TheEaglesmadegreatstridesinHayford’sfirstseasonatthehelmin


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Hayford’s 2010-11 Whitworth Squad led by EWU Assistant David Riley & Former Eagle Michael Taylor . . .

Whitworth spent three weeks in the 2010-11 season ranked No. 1 in the D3hoops.com NCAA Division III rankings, including the top ranking at the end of the regular season. The Pirates set a school record for victories and winningpercentageinfinishing28-2 (.933), and ended the season rankedfifthnationallyafterlosingatWooster 76-66 on March 12, 2011. Whitworth advanced to the NCAA Division III Sectional Final (Elite Eight)forthefirsttimeinschoolhistory,whilemakingitsfifth-straightNCAA DIII Tournament appearance. ThePiratesalsoclaimedtheirfifth-straight NWC Tournament title.

Leading the way in Whitworth’s sensational 2010-11 season was David Riley and Michael Taylor. Riley, now an Eastern assistant coach, played for Hayford from the 2007-08 season through 2010-11, earning All-Northwest Conference accolades all four years. Riley earnedfirstteamAll-NWChonorshisfinalthreeseasonsasaPirateafter starting 112 of 114 games inhiscareer.Hefinishedwith1,664points(14.6pergame)torank fourth in Whitworth history and made 43.1 percent of his three-point attempts (300-of-696). He averaged 16.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game as a senior when he earned third team All-Region (D3hoops.com) honors.

Taylor is a former Eastern player who averaged 5.7 points and 1.9 assists when he started for EWU as a true freshman in the 2006-07 season. In his lone season playing for the Pirates in 2010-11, he was named the D3hoops.com Men’s Player of the Year and wasnamedafirst-teamAll-AmericanbyD3hoops.comandtheNational Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).

In addition, Taylor was previously named the NABC West Region Player of the Year, D3hoops.com West Region Player of the Year and Northwest Conference Player of the Year in his only season with the Pirates. He led the team in scoring average (20.3 points per game to rank second in the NWC) and led the Northwest Conference in both free throw percentage (.884) and three-point percentage (.528). He also led the Pirates in assists (3.5 per game to rank third in the NWC). After playing one season at EWU, Taylor transferred to the University of Montana where he was a key contributor off of the bench in two seasons.

In 2009-10, the Pirates put together a school-record 25-game winningstreakandfinishedunbeatenintheNorthwestConfer-ence(16-0)enroutetoafinalrecordof26-3.ThePiratesfinishedranked seventh in the D3hoops.com poll.

In 2008-09, Hayford led the Pirates to a 23-6 record and a runner-upfinishintheNWCstandings.Whitworththenmadetheirfourth national tournament appearance by virtue of winning the

NWC Tournament championship game. Whitworth accomplished that despite thegraduationoftwofirst-teamAll-NWCselections,includingtheconfer-ence’s Player of the Year (Ryan Symes), following the ‘07-’08 season.

During the 2007-08 season, Hayford coached Whitworth to its second-con-secutive Northwest Conference title and second-straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament, where the Pirates advanced to the Sectional Semifinals(thirdround).Whitworthfinished21-7overallandHayfordearned

his third NWC Coach of the Year award. In 2006-07, he led Whitworth to a 24-4 re-

cord and a conference title, earning his second NWC Coach of the Year honor. His team set the school record for single-season winning per-centage (.857), which was later broken by the 2009-10squad(26-3,.897)andhisfinalteamin 2010-11 (28-2, .933). The Pirates advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, losingattheeventualthird-placefinisherbyonly two points.

He coached the Pirates to a 20-7 record and to within a game of the NCAA Tournament in the 2005-06 season. The 2004-05 season may have been Hayford’s greatest challenge, but also possibly his greatest accomplishment. Rebuilding his team with only one returning starter,HayfordcoachedthePiratestofive-straight wins to end the season, turning an overall record of 8-11 and an NWC mark of 4-7 into13-11and9-7finishes.

ThePiratesalsojustmissedoneofsixat-large bids to the 2003-04 NCAA Division III

Tournamentaftertheteam’sthirdstraighttop-twofinishintheNWCanda19-6 overall record.

In his second season (2002-03), he led Whitworth to a 23-4 record, a Northwest Conference title and an appearance in the 2003 NCAA Division III Tournament,earninghisfirstCoachoftheYearaward.Inhisfirstseasonasthe head coach at Whitworth in 2001-02, Hayford led the Pirates to a record of 20-7andasecond-placefinishintheNWC.Itwasthesecond-bestcoachingdebut in Whitworth men’s basketball history. The only coach to start better wasArtSmith,whose1954-55teamfinished21-4andadvancedtotheNAIATournament.

The Pirates were 13-12 the season before he arrived.


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Hayford 37-27 at Sioux Falls in First Collegiate Head Coaching Stop . . .

Prior to coming to Whitworth, Hayford was head coach at the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.), where he compiled a 37-27 record in two seasons. During his inaugural season (1999-2000), he led the Cou-garstotheirfirstconferenceplayoffappearanceinfiveyears.Theteamfinished15-15afterlosinginthe

SouthDakotaIntercollegiateConference(SDIC)championshipgame.Hayford’sCougarsfinishedthe 2000-01 season at 22-12 and lost to the eventual NAIA Division II champions (Northwest-

ern College of Iowa) in double overtime in the Great Plains Athletic Conference champion-ship game. His team set a school record for wins in a season. Prior to Hayford’s arrival, USF was 9-17 in 1998-99.

HayfordservedasthetopassistantcoachatAzusaPacificUniversity(Calif.)from1990-99, including eight seasons under Bill Odell. APU won seven consecutive Golden State Athletic Conference titles during that time and advanced to the NAIA Division I FinalFourineachofhisfinaltwoseasonsthere.

Hayford also coached at the high school level, leading Contra Costa Christian High School in 1987 and Berean Christian High School from 1988-1990.

Hayford earned his master’s degree in education from Claremont Graduate School in 1991. He earned his bachelor’s degree in social science from Azusa Pa-cificin1989.Heisa1985graduateofBereanChristian,whichislocatedinWalnutCreek, Calif.

Jim Hayford’s Head Coaching CareerYear School Overall Pct. Conference1999-2000 Sioux Falls 15-15 .500 2000-2001 Sioux Falls 22-12 .647 Totals at Sioux Falls (2 seasons) 37-27 .578 2001-2002 Whitworth 20-7 .741 12-4/2nd2002-2003*** Whitworth 23-4 .851 13-3/1st2003-2004 Whitworth 19-6 .760 12-4/2nd2004-2005 Whitworth 13-11 .542 9-7/4th2005-2006 Whitworth 20-7 .741 13-3/2nd2006-2007*** Whitworth 24-4 .857 13-3/1st2007-2008*** Whitworth 21-7 .750 12-4/1st2008-2009*** Whitworth 23-6 .793 12-4/2nd2009-2010*** Whitworth 26-3 .897 16-0/1st2010-2011*** Whitworth 28-2 .933 15-1/1stTotals at Whitworth (10 seasons) 217-57 .792 127-33 .7942011-2012^^^ Eastern Wash. 15-17 .469 8-8/4th2012-13 Eastern Wash. 10-21 .323 7-13/8th2013-14 Eastern Wash. 15-16 .484 10-10/t-6th2014-15### Eastern Wash. !!!26-9 .743 !!!14-4/t-1stTotals at Eastern (4 seasons) 66-63 .512 39-35Totals as Head Coach (16 seasons) 320-147 .685

***Season concluded with NCAA Division III Tournament berth.^^^Season concluded with Big Sky Conference Tournament berth.###NCAA Tournament participant, Big Sky Conference Tournament

Champions & regular season co-Champions.!!!School record for NCAA Division I & Big Sky Conference victories.


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Assistant Coach

SHANTAY LEGANSSixth SeasonFresno State ‘04

Shantay Legans, a former point guard for win-ning basketball programs in high school and col-lege, begins his seventh season as an assistant basketball coach for the Eagles in the 2015-16 school year. Following the 2014-15 season, he was also given the additional title of associate head coach.

Legans assists in recruiting, scouting and game preparation for the Eagles, as wellason-the-floorcoachingandthedevelopmentofEWU’sbackcourtplayers.Hehelped coach Eastern to a 26-9 record overall, Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament titles and a NCAA Tournament appearance in the 2014-15 season.

While at Eastern, he has helped developed a trio of All-Big Sky Conference guards in Glen Dean, Cliff Colimon and Tyler Harvey. Dean was the league’s Freshman of theYearin2010andanAll-BSCguardin2011;Colimonearnedfirst-teamall-leagueand All-Big Sky Conference Tournament honors as a senior in 2012.

Legans helped develop Harvey from an Eastern walk-on to NBA draftee, including Harvey’s transition to a starting position late in the 2012-13 season. Harvey averaged 16.5pointson55percentshootingfromthefield(including20-of-443-pointattempts)inEWU’slasteightgamesthatyearafterscoringjust17pointsinthefirst13gameshe played.

Inthe2013-14season,HarveywasafirstteamAll-BigSkyselectionandearnedsecond team honors on the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 6 team–EWU’sfirstplayerhonoredonthatteamsinceRodneyStuckeyin2007.Hefollowed that by leading NCAA Division I in scoring (23.1) and 3-pointers (4.0) per game in the 2014-15 season, and was eventually taken in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic as the 51st pick overall.

HarveyalsoearnedhonorablementionAll-AmericahonorsandwasafirstteamAcademic All-America selection. Harvey was also MVP of the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

“HavingShantayonourstaffisahugeplus,”saidEasternheadcoachJimHay-ford. “He’s very loved by the players, and is known all through West Coast basketball circles because of his own playing career. He’s dialed-in to the AAU circuit and knows highschoolandjuniorcollegecoachesthroughouttheregion.”

Legans came to Eastern after serving as an assistant coach for two seasons at Laguna Blanca High School in Santa Barbara, Calif. Previously, he was a student as-sistant coach for Ray Lopes at Fresno State for two seasons before embarking upon a more than three-year career playing professional basketball in Europe. Legans also

has experience coaching various AAU teams in California and serving as a personal trainer.

He played at California for three seasons from 1999-2002, helping lead the Golden Bears to a collective record of 61-35 (.635). He then spent his senior season (2003-04)atFresnoState,whichfinishedwitha14-15recordoverallanda10-8markintheWestern Athletic Conference. He averaged 15.0 points and 5.6 assists while averag-ingmorethan38minutespergameinhisfinalcollegiateseason.Hewasteamcaptain at Fresno State and received his bachelor’s degree in ethnic studies in 2004.

Formerly from Goleta, Calif., and Dos Pueblos High School, Legans averaged 4.4 assists, 10.4 points and 1.4 steals per game during his 124-game collegiate career, making83.9percentofhisfreethrows,40.2percentofhisfieldgoalsand36.6percent of his three-point shots.

While at Dos Pueblos High School, he was named league MVP and Player of the Year for Santa Barbara County. He also earned All-California Interscholastic Federa-tion (CIF) honors, and was rated as the seventh-best point guard in the country by Recruiting USA and the No. 19 point guard by PrepStar. His high school team advanced to the CIF Playoffs each of his four seasons on the squad.

Legans was born July 30, 1981, in Ventura, Calif. He was married on May 10, 2014,toformerEasternwomen’sbasketballplayerTatjanaSparavalo.Hismother’sname is Susan Legans and he has two brothers, Dominic and Calisto Plurde, and one sister, Lisa Legans.

Assistant Coach

CHRIS VICTORFirst SeasonConcordia (Irvine, Ca.) ‘05

ChrisVictor,aheadcoachthelastfiveseasonsforCitrusCollegeinGlendora,Calif.,isinhisfirstseason as an assistant coach at Eastern Washing-ton. His hiring was announced by Eagle head coach Jim Hayford on June 8, 2015.

VictorledtheOwlsto103victoriesinhisfiveseasons at Citrus, a member of the Western State Conference and the California Community College Athletic Association. He won 73 percent of his games overall (103-39) and 73 percent in league play (44-16) with a pair of CCCAA Final Four ap-pearances and one league title.

“Weareaddingaprovenwinnertoourcoachingstaff,”saidHayford,whofilledthe position created when Alex Pribble left to become head coach at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Wash. “I have known Chris since he was a player on a national championship team under one of my best friends, Ken Amman at Concordia in Irvine. Chris has always impressed me with his maturity, competitiveness, and ability tocoach.Chriswillstrengthenourprograminmanyways.”

Citrus was 16-12 overall and 9-5 in the league this past year, but in the 2011-12 season he guided the Owls to the WSC South Championships, an appearance in theCCCAAFinalFouranda28-2overallrecord.Duringhisfirstseasonin2010-11,the Owls were 27-6 and lost 83-81 to San Francisco City College in the CCCAA championship game.

Seven sophomores and a freshman from his initial team went on to four-year universities,thehighestnumberinCalifornia.Nineofhisplayersinhisfiveseasonsat Citrus went on to play at NCAA Division I.

“I am very excited to be a member of such an outstanding basketball program, uni-versityandcommunity,”Victorsaid.“IamgratefulforthisopportunitytoworkunderCoachHayford,andIameagertojoinhisstaffandtheculturehehasestablished.”

Victor spent four previous seasons as a top assistant at Concordia University in Irvine under head coach Ken Amman. In that span, Concordia went 118-23, won three out of four Golden State Athletic Conference Championships and made four-straight appearances in the NAIA National Tournament, even appearing in the national title game in 2006-07.


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Prior to that, Victor started his coaching career at Citrus after a playing career at Concordia.Victorjoinedformer head coach RickCroy’sfirststaffatCitrus, helping guide the Owls to a 17-win season -- their second highest win total in over a decade.

Prior to his coaching career, Victor was a decorated player at Concordia, playing a key role in helping the Eagles advance to the NAIA championship game in both 2003 and 2004. In the 2003 title game, Victor scored a season-high 26 points and dished out nine assists as he helped leadConcordiatoitsfirstnationalchampionshipinprogramhistory.Victorhelpedhisschool to a 90-21 record, and is ranked in the top 10 all-time in points and 3-pointers, and is third all-time in assists and steals for Concordia.

Hereceivedhisbachelorofartsdegreein2005asabusinessmarketingmajorwith a mathematics minor. He earned his master’s degree from Concordia in 2010 in coaching and athletic administration.

Assistant Coach

DAVID RILEYSecond SeasonWhitworth ‘11

David Riley begins his second season after being elevated to an assistant men’s coaching position at EWU in May of 2014. He was previously Eastern’s director of basketball operations at Eastern, and hasretainedsomeofthosedutiesaswellashison-floorcoachingofpostplayersandrecruiting.

Riley played for EWU head coach Jim Hayford at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash., from the 2007-08 season through 2010-11, earning All-Northwest Conference accolades all four years. Whitworth teams were a collective 98-18 while Riley was there, with three NWC titles (55-9 in league play) and four appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Hegraduatedin2011fromWhitworth,thenjoinedHayfordatEWUthefollowingseason. Riley, whose uncle, Mike Riley, is head football coach at Nebraska (formerly at Oregon State), helped as a manager and team operations assistant three previous seasons,includingthefirsttwoasagraduateassistant.Hereceivedhismasterofscience degree in physical education from EWU in 2013.

“Davidhasbeenapartofbuildingourprogram,firstasagraduateassistantandthenasanexcellentdirectorofbasketballoperations,”saidHayford.“IampleasedthatDavidjoinedourcoachingstafftoadvancehiscareer.Davidhastherespectofthe players. The players love him and I love him. He was fun to coach and that brings an added dimension -- he can relate to players as a former player of mine. Coaching runsinhisblood.”

Inhisfirstthreeseasonsintheprogram,Rileywastheteam’svideoandanalyticscoordinator, managed the team’s recruiting database and handled facility scheduling. He also assisted with player academics and summer camps.

RileyearnedfirstteamAll-NWChonorshisfinalthreeseasonsasaPirateafterstarting112of114gamesinhiscareer.Hefinishedwith1,664points(14.6pergame)to rank fourth in Whitworth history and made 43.1 percent of his three-point attempts (300-of-696).

He averaged 16.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game as a senior when he earned third team All-Region (D3hoops.com) honors. He made 45.6 percent of his shots fromthefieldand41.6percentfromthree-pointrange(82-of-197).Rileydrainedaschool-record10three-pointersandfinishedwith33pointsina115-69triumphoverWillametteonFeb.11,2011.ThePiratesfinished28-2andadvancedtotheEliteEightoftheD-IIITournamentforthefirsttimeinschoolhistory.

Inhisjuniorseason,heaveraged13.4pointsand3.8reboundspergameandmade 40.9 percent of his 3-point shots (65-of-159). Riley scored 34 points in a win over Whitman on January 19, 2010. He helped Whitworth to a 26-3 record that included a perfect 16-0 mark in the NWC and a trip to the Sweet 16 of the D-III Tournament.

He averaged 16.4 points and 4.1 rebounds as a sophomore while making 84-of-180 3-pointers (46.7 percent). He scored a career-high 37 points in a win over PLU onJan.17,2009.WhitworthfinishedsecondintheNWCduringtheregularseason,but upset Puget Sound in the conference tournament and advanced to the D-III secondround.ThePiratesfinished23-6.

He averaged 11.9 points and 69-of-160 3-pointers (43.1) in his freshman cam-paign.Hescored29pointsinawinoverCaltechonNov.24,2007,injustthesecondgameofhisPiratecareer.HehelpedthePiratesfinish21-7,wintheNWCregularseasonchampionshipandadvancetotheD-IIISweet16forthefirsttimeinschoolhistory.

Riley is formerly from Palo Alto, Calif., and graduated from Gunn High School in 2007. He earned All-Central Coast Section honors as a senior at Gunn.

He was born Nov. 28, 1988, in Seattle Washington. His father, Edward Riley, is a Whitworth gradu-ate and is currently a physician and professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Edward’s brother, Mike Riley, grew up in Wallace, Idaho, and began his coaching career in 1976 at Whitworth. He received his master’s degree in 1977 and has since gone on to head coaching positions at Nebraska (2015), Oregon State (1997-98, 2003-2014), the San Diego Chargers (1999-2001) and the Win-nipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (1987-1990). Mike and Edward’s father, Bud Riley, was an assistant football coach at Idaho (1962-65), Oregon State (1965-72) and the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1974-77).

David Riley’s mother, Rev. Renee Riley, also graduated from Whitworth and was ordained in 1986. She was the Moderator of the Presbytery of San Jose in 1998. She passed away on April 6, 2005, at the age of 45 from a brain tumor.


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Date Opponent Time/ResultN 9 xPuget Sound W, 89-55N 14 Texas Southern W, 86-62N 17 Utah Valley W, 75-50N 19 Walla Walla W, 95-34N 22 at SMU (#22 ranked) L, 68-77N 24 at @Indiana W, 88-86N 26 ~Northern Kentucky W, 81-60N 30 Eastern Oregon W, 104-87D 6 at Seattle W, 87-75D 11 at San Francisco W, 81-76D 14 at ^Washington (#17 ranked) L, 77-81D 16 at Sam Houston State L, 52-76D 19 at ^California L, 67-78D 22 Lewis-Clark State (#22 NAIA) W, 87-81J 1 *Weber State W, 84-78J 3 *Idaho State W, 65-57J 10 at *Idaho W, 89-86J 15 at *Portland State W, 92-85J 17 at *Sacramento State L, 77-90J 22 *Northern Colorado W, 95-85J 24 *North Dakota W, 102-80J 31 *~Idaho W, 98-95 (ot)

F 5 at *Montana W, 75-69F 7 at *Montana State W, 61-51F 12 *Sacramento State W, 64-61F 14 *~Portland State L, 66-68F 19 at *Southern Utah W, 78-75F 21 at *Northern Arizona L, 69-73F 26 *Montana State W, 92-68F 28 *~Montana L, 76-77M 5 at *Idaho State W, 85-81M 7 at *Weber State W, 79-71%M12 Idaho (quarterfinals) W, 91-83%M13 Sacramento State (semifinals) W, 91-83%M14 at Montana (championship) W, 69-65+M19 Georgetown (#22 ranked) L, 74-84

Times Pacific. *Big Sky Conference Game.^Televised on Pac-12 Networks. ~Televised by SWX - SWX Digital 6.2 in Spokane, 25.3 in the Tri-Cities & 23.3 in the Yakima area; Comcast 306/112; Davis Cable 514/81.2/12; Time Warner 306; Charter 287, Cable One 466; Northland Cable 115. $Televised on Fox Sports 1. @Televised by ESPNews. %Big Sky Conference Tournament in Missoula, Montana (Dahlberg Arena). +NCAA Tournament on truTV and played in Portland, Ore. (Moda Center).

TOTAL 3-PTS REBOUNDS## Player GP GS Min Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO A TO Blk Stl Pts Avg01 HARVEY, Tyler 32 32 1182 36.9 230 490 .469 128 297 .431 150 176 .852 20 96 116 3.6 60 1 82 64 4 36 738 23.1 Big Sky 15 15 564 37.6 100 235 .426 53 142 .373 93 107 .869 9 49 58 3.9 27 0 36 30 2 15 346 23.155 JOIS, Venky 31 31 966 31.2 210 344 .610 3 10 .300 95 176 .540 82 156 238 7.7 75 1 63 71 69 37 518 16.7 Big Sky 14 14 420 30.0 86 143 .601 0 2 .000 38 71 .535 35 66 101 7.2 39 1 32 33 35 17 210 15.012 MILJKOVIC, Ognjen 34 33 812 23.9 111 270 .411 55 146 .377 52 70 .743 26 81 107 3.1 90 2 32 58 22 21 329 9.7 Big Sky 18 18 444 24.7 59 146 .404 29 77 .377 26 34 .765 16 45 61 3.4 42 1 17 25 9 10 173 9.622 BRANDON, Drew 34 34 1139 33.5 113 273 .414 22 89 .247 81 100 .810 67 169 236 6.9 79 3 160 62 10 61 329 9.7 Big Sky 18 18 624 34.7 61 152 .401 16 53 .302 58 72 .806 42 93 135 7.5 39 1 92 34 6 33 196 10.932 BLIZNYUK, Bogdan 35 0 665 19.0 112 191 .586 24 43 .558 57 72 .792 45 96 141 4.0 84 1 39 47 14 19 305 8.7 Big Sky 18 0 438 24.3 80 138 .580 17 33 .515 39 51 .765 30 71 101 5.6 49 1 26 32 8 13 216 12.010 KELLY, Parker 34 34 1059 31.1 78 202 .386 65 149 .436 42 53 .792 11 77 88 2.6 62 0 36 14 10 11 263 7.7 Big Sky 18 18 600 33.3 49 120 .408 40 87 .460 15 18 .833 3 49 52 2.9 42 0 19 9 7 6 153 8.544 VON HOFE, Felix 33 4 511 15.5 58 141 .411 42 102 .412 11 19 .579 11 36 47 1.4 43 2 20 17 10 9 169 5.1 Big Sky 17 3 264 15.5 29 71 .408 22 54 .407 8 13 .615 6 10 16 0.9 20 0 10 7 8 7 88 5.204 WASHINGTON, Sir 22 1 218 9.9 17 42 .405 4 14 .286 20 24 .833 3 27 30 1.4 39 0 9 9 1 11 58 2.6 Big Sky 9 0 79 8.8 7 16 .438 1 6 .167 5 8 .625 0 10 10 1.1 14 0 5 6 0 1 20 2.221 JORG, Frederik 15 4 68 4.5 13 19 .684 0 0 .000 7 12 .583 8 9 17 1.1 19 0 3 5 5 0 33 2.2 Big Sky 5 2 14 2.8 3 4 .750 0 0 .000 1 2 .500 0 3 3 0.6 3 0 2 0 0 0 7 1.433 MOON, Garrett 31 1 176 5.7 19 34 .559 1 2 .500 1 6 .167 20 17 37 1.2 33 0 3 11 14 6 40 1.3 Big Sky 16 1 122 7.6 11 23 .478 0 0 .000 0 4 .000 16 11 27 1.7 15 0 3 7 11 4 22 1.423 REID, Kyle 31 1 198 6.4 14 28 .500 0 1 .000 4 9 .444 10 27 37 1.2 29 0 5 11 8 6 32 1.0 Big Sky 16 1 75 4.7 6 11 .545 0 0 .000 2 4 .500 4 8 12 0.8 15 0 0 3 2 3 14 0.902 HILL, Daniel 15 0 49 3.3 2 9 .222 0 6 .000 2 2 1.000 0 3 3 0.2 7 0 2 3 0 2 6 0.4 Big Sky 5 0 5 1.0 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 2 2 1.000 0 1 1 0.2 3 0 0 1 0 1 2 0.405 GALGALO, Nate 5 0 7 1.4 0 2 .000 0 1 .000 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 Big Sky 2 0 1 0.5 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 Team 48 38 86 2.5 3 4 0 Big Sky 22 17 39 2.2 1 4 0 TEAM TOTALS 35 977 2045 .478 344 860 .400 522 719 .726 351 832 1183 33.8 624 10 454 376 167 219 2820 80.6 Big Sky 18 491 1059 .464 178 454 .392 287 386 .744 183 433 616 34.2 309 4 242 191 88 110 1447 80.4OPPONENT TOTALS 35 901 2001 .450 279 720 .388 507 708 .716 363 822 1185 33.9 661 10 516 431 133 192 2588 73.9 Big Sky 18 480 1044 .460 153 368 .416 237 333 .712 181 441 622 34.6 361 6 277 225 71 102 1350 75.0

FINAL 2014-2015 STATISTICS – NCAA TOURN. PARTICIPANT & BIG SKY TOURN. CHAMPS26-9 (13-2 Home, 11-6 Away, 2-1 Neutral), 14-4 Big Sky Conference/CO-CHAMPIONS (7-2 Home, 7-2 Away)

Statistical Game Leaders SCORING – Tyler Harvey 21 (46 in career), Venky Jois 5 (19 in

career),OgnjenMiljkovic2(3incareer),BogdanBliznyuk2(2in career), Drew Brandon 3 (3 in career), Felix Von Hofe 1 (1 in career), Frederik Jorg 1 (1 in career), Parker Kelly 0 (6 in career).

REBOUNDS – Venky Jois 17 (53 in career), Drew Brandon 14 (22 in career), Bogdan Bliznyuk 4 (4 in career), Felix Von Hofe 1 (1 incareer),OgnjenMiljkovic1(1incareer),ParkerKelly1(3incareer), Garrett Moon 1 (1 in career), Frederik Jorg 1 (1 in career), Tyler Harvey 1 (4 in career).

ASSISTS – Drew Brandon 22 (45 in career), Tyler Harvey 5 (14 incareer),VenkyJois7(16incareer),OgnjenMiljkovic3(3incareer), Parker Kelly 2 (6 in career), Bogdan Bilznyuk 2 (2 in career), Felix Von Hofe 1 (1 in career), Sir Washington 1 (1 in career), Daniel Hill 0 (5 in career).

STEALS – Drew Brandon 22 (32 in career), Tyler Harvey 11 (31\2 incareer),VenkyJois10(31incareer),OgnjenMiljkovic5(5incareer), Bogdan Bliznyuk 5 (5 in career), Sir Washington 2, Parker Kelly 2 (14 in career), Garrett Moon 2 (3 in career), Felix Von Hofe 2 (2 in career), Kyle Reid 1 (1 in career), Daniel Hill 0 (8 in career).

BLOCKED SHOTS –VenkyJois22(58incareer),OgnjenMiljkovic6(6 in career), Bogdan Bliznyuk 6 (6 in career), Garrett Moon 4 (5 in career), Parker Kelly 3 (6 in career), Drew Brandon 2 (3 in career), Felix Von Hofe 2 (2 in career), Frederik Jorg 1 (1 in career), Kyle Reid 1, Tyler Harvey 0 (4 in career).

SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT TotalEastern Washington 1319 1479 22 2820Opponents 1169 1408 11 2588

eae me’s aseta 2015-16 · eae me’s aseta 2015-16 2 2015 caa turamet 2015 sy turamet champs 2015...

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