Future Lion wins state title

Bruce English, who will become a Lion in the fall, will bring a winning background to LMU as his La Verne Lutheran High School team won the California Division-III state title Saturday night. English's team pulled out a 64-59 victory over Northern California champion Bishop O'Dowd of Oakland.

English is the only recruit to commit to the Lions for next season. There appears to be one more roster spot available.

Drew Viney will return to the Lions next season

I have just learned from a close family member of Drew Viney's that he will indeed return to the Lions next season. Redshirt junior Viney, who has led the Lions in scoring the last two seasons, is an academic senior this year but has one season of NCAA Division-I eligibility remaining. Many thought that after a disappointing season in which the Lions went just 2-12 in West Coast Conference play that Viney would forego his final year of eligibility.

With the news that Viney is staying, LMU will only say goodbye to seniors Vernon Teel and Larry Davis, as well as walk-on Griffin Reilly. Teel was the Lions second-leading scorer.

Viney will likely return to the starting lineup next season along with point guard Anthony Ireland, small forward Ayodegi Egbeyemi, center Godwin Okonji, and power forward Ashley Hamilton.

In addition, the Lions will welcome freshman shooting guard Bruce English, who committed to join the Lions in the fall.

Ajayi returns from visit to LMU

LMU's number one recruiting target for next season, 6'11" center Lekan Ajayi, just returned to the east coast after visiting LMU on an official recruiting visit.

“I went to California,” Ajayi said to Adam Zagoria of zagsblog.com. “It was nice. They have a good business management course. The school is not a big population school, it’s a medium school, with 14-20 [students] per class. It’s good out there, very close to the Los Angeles Lakers arena. It’s nice. The L.A. weather is nice, like Nigerian weather. I like it out there, too.”

Ajayi had already visited Seton Hall and Tennessee.

According to Zagoria, Florida State is next on the list for Ajayi, and he plans to visit the program once they are done playing in the NCAA Tournament.

Only two questions really matter

                                                                        Photo taken by Julia Pine

I was going to write a column as we head into the off-season, but I realized there are two unanswered questions that make that impossible to do right now. They are as follows.

1. Will Drew Viney return?
     From what I'm hearing from multiple sources, it doesn't seem like it. If Drew decides to forgo his final year of eligibility, it will be a HUGE blow to the Lions. Drew has led the team in scoring and rebounding in both of his seasons in an LMU jersey, and is a potential WCC Player of the Year. The saddest part about Drew leaving would be the fact that Lions fans never got to see his true potential, just flashes of it.
2. Will there be a coaching change?
    Many fans are calling for it, but I don't think it's going to happen. I like and respect Max Good a lot, but in the end head coaching jobs come down to winning and losing, and the losing that went on this year was inexcusable. I'm not saying I want Good gone, but I would understand if a change was made. Like I said, I don't think it will happen.

Despite controversy, end of Teel's career should be honored

Flashback to Nov. 21, 2008: There's a sellout and record-setting crowd of 4,534 in Gersten Pavilion, much because brand new Head Coach Bill Bayno is set to coach his first game on the bluff. Bayno, however, is nowhere to be seen. Despite the confusion in the building about where "the savior" of our program is, the 0-3 Lions are hosting No. 8 Notre Dame, a big task any year. But despite never holding a lead, LMU hangs in throughout the game. With a starting lineup of Ashley Hamilton, Marco Deric, Kevin Young, Jarred DuBois and Kevin Young, the misfit Lions are down only four with five minutes to play.

The energy in the building was different than it had been in years, with lofty expectations set for the program with an NBA-worthy head coach at the helm. The players can sense the transition, and one in particular is willing to do whatever it takes to meet these new expectations set by the 4,534 in the building.

In just the fourth game of his Lion career, then-redshirt sophomore Vernon Teel is the Lions' leading scorer and rebounder after three games. But after a bad-step midway through the first half, he heads to the bench in obvious pain. Not wanting to leave the court in such an important game, he returns, and with ten minutes to play pulls down a huge offensive board and scores, pulling the underdog-Lions to within one. He plays just three minutes the remainder of the game; Teel has a broken foot.

“He told [the trainer] to tape it up and days later he ended up having to have a screw put in his foot,” Head Coach Max Good told me last season. “There’s no doubt about it, Vernon will compete.”

With the timing and severity of his injury, a medical redshirt could have been in the cards for Teel, who ended up appearing in only 16 games in the 2008/09 season. But watching his team struggle mightily on the court, Teel felt he had to come back.

“I was just trying to make our team better,” Teel said to me last season when asked about his decision not to sit out the remainder of that year. “It wasn’t about me getting another year, it was about the team and making us better. I didn’t want us to win just one game the whole year. I told Coach Good that I wanted to come back and play. I felt like I started the year with the team, I wanted to end the year with the team.”

In the Lions first conference win of the season, Teel narrowly missed a tripe-double, going for 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. The Lions would go just 3-28 on the season.

There were turnovers. There were missed free throws. But in Teel's LMU career there was always the heart of a Lion. There is nobody who played harder for the LMU these past three years, and who stepped up to so many different challenges asked of him. Teel deserves nothing but applause and respect from Lions fans, and I am disappointed that is not what he received this season.

Teel would be the first to admit that this season wasn't what he had hoped it would be, both for himself personally and the team, but if you watched him play the one thing Teel never lacked was effort. Considering Lions fans envisioned a starting lineup of Jarred DuBois, Vernon Teel, Drew Viney, Ashley Hamilton and Edgar Garibay this year, it is easy to see why Teel, at times, felt he had to carry the weight of the team on his shoulders. By mid-season, the rest of the starting lineup wore street clothes more often than not, and instead of being able to be the facilitator that led us to a turnaround season just one year ago, he was instead forced to change his game to fit the team's needs, and attempt to lead a stagnant offense. While it didn't always provide winning results, I thank Teel for stepping up when everyone else was down.

What happened at the end of the season happened, and I respect the coaches for making the decision they felt they had to make. But Vernon played with emotion and passion that was unmatched by any other Lion, and the mistakes he made were reflective of that. In the end, he finished the last three years with more points (1,140), minutes (2,566), games played (80) and assists (353) than any other LMU player during that span. He will be missed on the court next season, and as a Lion fan I wish him the best.

Lekan Ajayi to visit LMU next week

6-foot-11 center from Quality Education (N.C.) Lekan Ajayi will visit LMU on an official recruiting visit next week. Ajayi recently visited Seton Hall and Tennessee and will also visit Miami before reaching a decision.

“I just want to do those four and then make a decision,” he by phone on Friday to Adam Zagoria of zagsblog.com. According to Zagoria, Ajayi hopes to make his final decision by April 1.

Ajayi is the Lions' No. 1 recruiting prospect for next season.

2012 WCC Tournament format announced

With the addition of BYU to the West Coast Conference next season, the conference is forced to change the format of its basketball championship with a unconventional nine teams set to play in the conference. WCC Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich announced next year's bracket format this afternoon.

The 2012 Zappos.com WCC Tournament will begin on Wednesday, February 29 with the eighth and ninth seeds facing off against each other. The winner will then face the fifth seed on Thursday (and basically be on track to play the same bracket track that the eighth seed has played in the past). The sixth and seventh seeds will also face off Thursday.

Games will continue Friday and the semifinals will be held Saturday. Sunday will be a dark day, and no basketball will be played. This allows BYU to not have to play on a Sunday (which is against their school's rules) and keeps the eighth or ninth seed from having to play five games in five days to win the championship.

The championship game will be held Monday, March 5.

WCC Tournament Live Chat - Round 2

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Disappointing news breaks after great win

I wasn't able to post after last night's exhilartating win, but to say it was a great moment would be an understatement. One of Head Coach Max Good's comments from the press conference sums it up: "I think everybody who played in the game made a major contribution," he said.

The win was trully a team win. Drew Viney led the offense with 25 points, but didn't score in the final ten minutes of the game. Larry Davis played spotty minutes, but came up huge to close out the game with the Lions final four points. Ashley Hamilton pulled down an offensive rebound with 25 seconds to play that may have been the play of the game. And Vernon Teel played one of his best games of the season, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds, five assits and just two turnovers.

But breaking news this morning dampens the celebratory feeling. According to The Los Angeles Loyolan, Teel has been kicked off the team due to conduct detrimental to the team. His NCAA Division-I basketball career is over. You can read the full Loyolan story here.

As someone who hasn't heard much more than is in that story, here are some facts from the past 15 or so hours.

• Vernon didn't start yesterday's game, but did play 26 minutes. He started 23 of the team's 30 games this season.
• With the game tied down the stretch, Vernon was pulled with about two minutes remaining.
• After the game, a tweet coming from Vernon Teel's twitter account referenced "being hot" and upset with Asst. Coach Levy. His twitter account has since been deactivated.

I am in no way stating that these three factors had anything to do with Teel's dismissal, just sharing the facts. Vernon's attitude during the game last night seemed positive as always. Despite not starting, Vernon was coaching freshman point guard Anthony Ireland from the bench early in the game. Even when being pulled late his demeanor still seemed positive/excited as the Lions pulled out the victory.

Good released the following statement to ESPN. ""This was an internal decision that we felt was best for our team and our program," Loyola Marymount coach Max Good said in a statement. "This was strictly based on internal issues and was not attributed to behavior in or around the WCC tournament."

The Lions play their second-round game today against Santa Clara at 6 p.m. Vernon Teel's absence will negatively affect the Lions on the court, as he was definitely a positive factor yesterday, but they can win without him, especially with Larry Davis back in the lineup. I will live chat beginning at 5:45 p.m. with live game news and Vernon Teel updates as they come.

WCC Tournament Live Chat - Round 1

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Follow along with coverage from Vegas

Here in Vegas. Will be living chatting here during the men's game at 6 p.m., but in the meantime you can follow along at www.twitter.com/thebottomlineJP.

Remembering Hank Gathers

In honor of the 21st anniversary of the death of Lion-great Hank Gathers, I'd like to re-post below a column I wrote for the 20th anniversary of his death. This column ran in the Los Angeles Loyolan in a special Hank Gathers 20th Anniversary special section.

March 4, 2010 - Los Angeles Loyolan

Dear Hank,

I never met you. In fact, I was less than three years old when you died, but your story is one that has captured my attention and my heart.

I was fortunate enough to be in Gersten Pavilion earlier this year for your team’s 20th anniversary celebration, and was blown away by the emotion and energy in the room. I have never been one to believe in ghosts or spirits, but the energy between people in Gersten that night in January was out of the ordinary. You may not have been there, but you were still doing something to those 4,000 people. They felt like they were with you, and with that, it is clear that the memories of you alone are the most powerful thing that gym has ever held since your passing.

There has been much talk over the past 20 years about a curse. While their may have been some tough losing moments for Lions teams since your death, there is no way I could believe in any kind of curse after what I’ve witnessed this season. While your death was unbelievably tragic, the effect it has had on this program has been so much more of a blessing than a curse. It is clear that starting with your 1989-90 team, all men who step out onto the court as Lions want to do you proud.

I can’t imagine how rough it must have been for your good friend Bo Kimble and the rest of your teammates to pursue their NCAA Tournament run without you, but it was clear that they had to because they were also playing FOR you. I believe the same could be said for the team today. You live on in Gersten as the caliber of basketball player every Lion strives to be like, and for that, we must all thank you. You and your teammates set the bar high, and as Lions fans we should expect nothing less from our program each and every season.

Thank you for all that you did. Because of you, our program will always have the heart of a Lion.

Sincerely,

Julia Pine

Lions hope to make surprising WCC Tournament run

The Lions left for Las Vegas this morning, and in about 31 hours will be taking the court at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas to kick-off the men's portion of the West Coast Conference Tournament. The Lions have gone 2-2 on that court since the WCC Tournament moved there two seasons ago.

This season was, as many Lions fans know, a huge disappointment. Expected to finish in the top-three of the conference, LMU instead went just 2-12 in WCC play and will enter the tournament as the eighth, and last, seed. To make matters worse, they will face an unlikely draw of Portland - Santa Clara - Saint Mary's if they wish to get to the WCC Tournament finals. Portland and Saint Mary's have been the two toughest teams for the Lions to match-up against, as they have deadly three-point shooters.

But first up for LMU is the Portland Pilots, who have beaten the Lions twice this season. The first time the two teams matched up, LMU forced the Pilots into double-OT, before falling 79-78. Drew Viney came up huge for the Lions in that game, contributing 24 points.

In that initial game, the Lions did a nice job defending the three against a Pilots team that is one of the best long-range shooting teams in the nation. Portland went just 7-22 from three in the game. The Lions interior defense, however, left a little to be desired, as they allowed WCC All-Conference player Luke Sikma to score 24 points, the majority of which came in the paint.

The second meeting between the two teams was a game the Lions would like to forget, as they fell 71-48 in what many feel was the Lions' worst game of the season. Playing without leading scorer Drew Viney, LMU struggled to score. Freshman Anthony Ireland and senior Larry Davis were the only two Lions to score in double figures, with 10 and 11 points respectively.

LMU's three-point defense was again stellar, holding the Pilots to just four threes, but was outscored in the paint 32-16.

Facing the Pilots tomorrow, LMU is going to have to find a way to shutdown Sikma, who has topped 20 points in both meetings against the Lions this season. A combination of Drew Viney, Ashley Hamilton, and Tim Diederichs should get the nod against Sikma, and are going to have to do their best to stay out of foul trouble, something that has been difficult for Hamilton all season long. 

Another key for the Lions is going to be to continue shutting down the Pilot's long-range shooters, Jared Stohl and Nemanja Mitrovic, who had all four of the Pilot's threes in the two teams last meeting. LMU again did a good job in the majority of the team's last game against San Francisco in defending the three, before giving up two to lose the game in the closing minutes. Defensive rotations, and not leaving Mitrovic or Stohl open for a three, will be key.

On the offensive end, the Lions need to play better team ball. Moving the ball around more and playing less one-on-one isolation is extremely important to LMU's offensive success.

The game tips off tomorrow night at 6 p.m., and can be seen live on ESPN3.com and byutv.com. You can also keep it here for a live chat from press row.

Recruit Lekan Ajayi sets more official visits

Photo Courtesy of MaxPreps

LMU's most-wanted recruit for next season, Lekan Ajayi, has scheduled two more official visits. Ajayi will visit Seton Hall and Tennessee in the coming days, according to basketball blogger Adam Zagoria.

Ajayi, a 6'11" center,  is also considering LMU, Miami and Florida State.

Seton Hall is said to be favored by Ajayi, as he unofficially visited earlier this year and stated that he liked the program because of its need for a big man next season and its proximity to where his brother lives.

The Lions thus far have one recruit committed for next season, Bruce English. However, with the departure of both Larry Davis and Vernon Teel the Lions will be looking to fill one more scholarship spot.

Three Lions honored with conference awards

Three Lions were honored today by the West Coast Conference as it announced its end of the season conference awards. Freshman Anthony Ireland was named to the WCC All-Freshman team, while Drew Viney and Vernon Teel were both named to the Honorable Mention team. Both Viney and Teel were on last season's All-WCC First Team.

Ireland is averaging 10.1 points per game, second best in the league among freshmen. He is also eighth in the league in assists per game at 3.1. The Lions have now placed someone on the All-Freshmen team three years in a row, with Ashley Hamilton being named last year and Jarred DuBois being named the year before.

Viney is tied for second in the league in scoring, with 16.8 ppg, and was obviously hurt by the fact that the Lions finished the season just 2-12 when it comes to the conference awards. He also missed two and a half games due to migraines.

Teel stuffed the stat sheet once again this season, averaging 12.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game in his final season.

Saint Mary's Mickey McConnell won Player of the Year while his Head Coach Randy Bennett won Coach of the Year.

WCC All-Conference Awards to be announced today at noon

The WCC will announce its All-Conference basketball awards today at noon. Stay tuned here, and to The Bottom Line's Twitter, for up-to-the-minute information.


Here are my picks for some of the conference awards:
Player of the Year: Mickey McConnell (SMC)
Coach of the Year: Randy Bennett (SMC) or Rex Walters (USF)
Newcomer of the Year: Evan Roquemore (SCU)


I'm trying to put my obvious bias to the side, but I really do hope to see Drew Viney on the All-WCC First Team. Despite missing three games, he is tied for second in the league with 16.8 ppg and is fifth in rebounds per game. Furthermore, I think other coaches in the league have a tremendous amount of respect for him, and despite LMU's 2-12 conference record still understand that he is one of the most talented players in the league.


Furthermore, I fully expect to see Anthony Ireland named to the All-Freshman Team.


Awards will be announced in a couple of hours. The Lions next game is Friday against Portland at the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas.