WESTERN STATE COLLEGE “Mountaineers”
HEAD COACH
Mike Moskowitz enters his third season as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Western State. He led the Mountaineers to their best season in a decade in his second season last year with a 10-17 mark. ... Prior to becoming the head coach, Moskowitz was named interim head coach in 2007 and served as an assistant with the Mountaineer program from 2005-07. ... Moskowitz brings a wealth of knowledge and experience not only about the game of basketball, but the conference in which his team will compete in. He is a regular speaker and presenter at a number of camps and clinics in Colorado. Moskowitz also published an article “Let’s be Clever” in the May 2007 issue of Scholastic’s “Coach and Athletic Director.” ... Prior to arriving in Gunnison, Moskowitz served as an assistant at two fellow RMAC institutions, (Mesa State 99-00 and Adams State 00-04). In 2004 he was named the head coach at Si Tanka University where he led the Eagles to an appearance in the conference tournament after going 10-17. In 2005 he had the great opportunity to serve as an assistant on Team USA which competed in the Maccabiah games in Israel. ... Moskowitz received his B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Exercise Science from Adams State College in 2003. His wife Katie and their two sons, Myles and Elliot reside in Gunnison.
SERIES HISTORY
Despite their relatively close proximity, Western State and Weber State have never met on the basketball court. Western State is located in Gunnison, Colorado. ... The two schools have met 15 times on the gridiron. ... Western State College is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. ... Western State is the 3rd team from the RMAC to play Weber State this season. In two exhibition games, the Wildcats defeated Colorado-Colorado Springs 110-58 and Colorado Christian 75-65 earlier in November. .... In regular season game which count on the record, the Wildcats are 10-5 against teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. All five losses came to the University of Southern Colorado back in the 1960s.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
Western State is off to a 2-0 start, it’s best start since the 2006-07 season. They opened the 2009-10 campaign with a 94-79 home court win over Northern New Mexico on Nov. 15. Last Saturday they defeated UC-San Diego, 71-63 in overtime at the Al Kaly Classic in Pueblo, Colorado. ... The Mountaineers are led by 6-1 sophomore guard WEYLAN TOWNS who is one of four WSC players in double figures scoring. Towns is averaging 18.5 points per game. DAN HOBIN, a 6-7 post player from Australia, is averaging 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. DAN BIBER (6-8, 240) averages 16.0 points and 6.5 rebounds. ALEX HART (6-5, 185 Forward) is at 10.5 points per game. ... The Mountaineers are averaging 82.5 points per game and holding their opponents to just 37 percent shooting from the field. Their defense has forced an average of 17 turnovers in their first two games.
WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY “Wildcats”
HEAD COACH
Weber State’s RANDY RAHE, begins his 4th season at the Wildcat helm. ... In his three short seasons, Rahe’s teams have captured two Big Sky Conferenc regulars season championships (06-07, 08-09), the Big Sky Post-Season Tournament championship (06-07), and an NCAA post-season berth in 2006-07. ... Rahe was named Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in both 06-07 and 08-09. ... Rahe is 57-39 (.594) overall in his three seasons as Weber State, and 36-12 (.750) in Big Sky Conference games. ... Rahe’s teams have posted a HOME COURT record of 34-8 (.809) during his tenure.
2006-07 20-12 overall 11-5 Big Sky
2007-08 16-14 overall 10-6 Big Sky
2008-09 21-10 overall 15-1 Big Sky.
WILDCATS PICKED TO REPEAT IN THE ‘SKY
Weber State has been picked by both the coaches and media in the Big Sky Conference to repeat as champions. ... They received four first place votes from the coaches and had 60 points. Montana was second with three first place votes and 57 points. ... In the media poll, the Wildcats garnered 23 of the 25 votes cast and had 251 points. Portland State was picked second by the voices and scribes with two first place votes and 202 points. ... Idaho State and Portland State each had one first place vote in the coaches poll and Montana had two in the media poll.
48TH SEASON OF DIVISION I BASKETBALL
Weber State begins its 48TH season playing men’s basketball on the NCAA Division I level. ... In 1962-63, Weber State became the first junior college in the country to move from the juco ranks directly into Division I basketball. ... This will be WSU’s 47th season as a member of the Big Sky Conference. Weber State became a charter member of the league formed in 1963-64. ... The Wildcats have won 18 Big Sky Conference titles and made 15 appearances in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship. ... WSU has also made two NIT Post-Season Tournaments and two pre-season NIT’s.
ALL - TIME RECORD
Weber State has an overall record in 47 seasons of 853-497 (.6318). ... In those 47 seasons, the Wildcats have had just EIGHT LOSING campaigns! ... The Wildcats have won 20 OR MORE games in 22 of those 47 seasons.
HOME UNDER THE DOME OF THE DEE
The 2009-10 season marks the 31st season of Wildcat basketball inside the 12,000 seat Dee Events Center which opened on Nov. 1, 1977. ... WSU defeated Long Beach State, 99-96 OT in the first game ever played under the dome. ... The Wildcats are 352-97 (.784) playing in the Dee Events Center. . . . Weber State’s overall home court record, counting the 15 seasons in the old Swenson Gym is a solid 532-114 (.823)!
STAFF RETURNS
Head Coach Randy Rahe has his current staff back for a second season. Last Spring, Rahe elevated Coach Eric Duft to Associate Head Coach. Duft has been with Rahe all four seasons at WSU as has Tim Gardner. ... Charles Harral is back for his 2nd season as is Director of Basketball Operations, Phil Beckner.
WHO IS BACK?
The Wildcats return six lettermen and four starters off of last year’s team which posted a 21-10 record overall and had a near perfect 15-1 mark in Big Sky Conference regular season play. ... Gone are Kellen McCoy (5-6, 180 Sr. Guard) who was the 2009-09 Big Sky Conference MVP. McCoy averaged 14.0 points and 2.7 assists per game last season. ... Also gone is Daviin Davis (6-4, 200 Sr. Forward) who was named the 2008-09 Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Davis averaged 9.5 points a game. ... DAMIAN LILLARD (6-2, 185 Soph. Guard) is WSU’s top returning scorer. Lillard became the first TRUE FRESHMAN in Big Sky Conference history to earn First Team All-Big Sky Conference honors. He also was named the 2008-00 Big Sky Conference Freshman of they Year. ... Lillard started in 26 of WSU’s 31 games, averaging 11.5 points a game and shooting 84 percent from the free throw line. ...STEVE PANOS (6-8, 245 Sr. Center) is the only player on the team with three varsity letters, and joins NICK HANSEN (6-4, 205 Sr. Guard) as one of only two seniors on the team. Panos started all 31 games in the post last season averaging 9.4 points and 4.4 rebounds, while Hansen averaged 8.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per game knocking down 67-175 three-pointers (.383). ... KYLE BULLINGER (6-6, 215 Soph. Forward) is the other returning starter. Like Panos, he started in all 31 games averaging 8.7 points and 4.5 rebounds a contest.
GETTING RIGHT AT HOME
The Wildcats will be looking to right the ship on a couple of sides when they face Western State on Tuesday night. The ‘Cats have a current five-game losing streak dating back to the last two games of the 2008-09 season and the first three games this year. That is the longest losing streak in Coach Randy Rahe’s four seasons. ... The Wildcats have also lost two straight games in the Dee Events Center. They lost to Montana State in the semifinals of the 2008-09 Big Sky Tournament and to Utah State on November 14. That is also the first time under Coach Randy Rahe the ‘Cats have lost two games in a row at home.
SHOOTING TOUCH RETURNS
The Wildcats regained their shooting touch this past Sunday in the game at Seattle University. After shooting just 37 percent vs. Utah State and 30 percent at UC Santa Barbara, the ‘Cats made 31-60 (.517) vs. the Redhawks and were 17-20 (.850) from the free throw line. ... LINDSEY HUGHEY (6-3, 200 Jr. Guard) benefitted the most. After going a combined 0-8 from the field in the first two games, he came off the bench at Seattle U. and made 6-8 from the field scoring 12 points. He also had five assists and four steals in 32 minutes.
NEXT GAME
The Wildcats go back on the road, albeit just 75 miles down, this Friday, November 27 to face the Brigham Young University Cougars inside the cavernous Marriott Center. ... Tip off is set for 7:35 p.m. (MST). The game is being televised on The mtn.
RANDY RAHE QUOTES
ON WESTERN STATE. “They have good, solid team with a lot of weapons. Their scoring comes from all over the floor, so defensively we will need to find and locate our man in a hurry. I am impressed with their defense. It’s never ending. You have to keep the ball moving in order to overcome their quickness.”
ON THE WILDCATS: “First off, we’ve played a pretty tough schedule to start the season, but I made it that way to see how we were going to react. We’ve played hard in all three games and stayed together as a team and that’s very important to me and our staff. The shooting issue will take of itself. I believe in this group and if they continue to work hard and commit themselves to team first, they are going to be successful.”
Courtesy: Robert Casey