Lone exhibition game tomorrow at Gersten

The Lions will play their only exhibition game of the season tomorrow at Gersten Pavilion at 7 p.m. against University of La Verne. Last year, La Verne had a 13-13 overall record which included an 8-6 mark in their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

In addition, check out a season preview written by the LMU Athletics department here.

Quotes from Good

For those who couldn't tune in, here are some quotes from LMU Basketball Head Coach Max Good from today's WCC Tip-Off event that I felt stood out.

• Concerning finding some offense while Drew Viney is out with his injury, Good said, "We're going to have to do that a little bit by committee. CJ Blackwell, JD DuBious, Anthony Ireland will have to step up along with all our post players. We have to get a little more out of each of them. From a pure shooting standpoint it'll be tough to replace him."
• About being picked to finish sixth in the pre-season coaches poll, Good said, " It's not one we're pleased with. We've got to prove them wrong. It's accurate based on our performance from last season."
• When asked if he expects to improve in terms of winning close games, Good said, " We not only expect it but we're going to demand it. We will be better at every phase of the game that we can control."

Furthermore, Good noted:

• Anthony Ireland has really improved his shooting, but still wants him to get the ball to other guys. He doesn't love the idea of the point guard position contributing a high percentage of the team's points.
• Quincy Lawson has been the pleasant surprise thus far this season in practice
• Admitted that he didn't deal with all the injuries well last year, and takes responsibility for the disappointing season
• Godwin Okonji will start at the center position

WCC Preseason All-Conference Team, Coaches Poll

To kick-off today's West Coast Conference Basketball Tip-off event, the conference announced this year's Preseason All-Conference Team.

Brandon Davies, BYU

Matthew Dellavedova, SMC

Kevin Foster, SCU

Rashad Green, USF

Elias Harris, GON

Rob Jones, SMC

Nemanja Mitrovic, POR

Robert Sacre, GON

Drew Viney, LMU

Michael Williams, USF

In addition, this year's coaches poll:

1) Gonzaga 

2) St. Marys 

3) BYU 

4) USF 

5) Santa Clara

 6) LMU 

7) Portland 

8) Pepperdine 

9) USD

WCC to hold Men's Basketball Tip-Off event at YouTube

The West Coast Conference will hold its 2011-12 men's basketball tip-off event at neighboring YouTube headquarters on Thursday. The event will give WCC fans the ability to interact with all nine head men's basketball coaches through three different mediums, all available on WCCsports.com.

Update: For the one-on-one interviews, the WCC website is now showing that Max Good will be live on-air at 2:30 p.m.

Read more here, on the WCC website.

Stover completes 2012 recruiting class

Nick Stover out of Windward High School in Los Angeles must have liked what he saw at LMU this weekend because he has officially made his commitment tonight. The 6'5" Stover rounds out a 2012 recruiting class that also includes 6'11" Tobe Okafor and Taj Adams.

According to Josh Gershon of Scout.com, "Nick Stover is one of the most improved players out west over past year. Very good scorer. Taj Adams is one of the west's biggest sleepers ... Two good ones for LMU."

Stover has a Scouts Grade of 86 on ESPN.com.

Thoughts from the Crimson/Navy Scrimmage

• Team camaraderie seems great. Of course, in a high-pressure, competitive setting is when this will be tested, but I was happy with what I saw today.
• Freshman C.J. Blackwell should be a contributor from day one. He has a nice mid-range jump shot, and has an ability to create space for a shot (very Drew Viney-like) that is very impressive for a freshman.
• I can't wait to see Anthony Ireland and Jarred DuBois play together. Jarred is more vocal than I remember him being, and Ireland will enter the season as a starter for the first time, which I think will really help him know his place. He is so quick and his ability to get to the hoop is beyond impressive.
• The big-men struggled a little offensively. Edgar Garibay, Godwin Okonji and Tim Diederichs had some trouble putting the ball in the hoop, a problem they also had last season.
• Ashley Hamilton was pretty MIA offensively, which surprised me. He played some solid defense though, and he had Godwin had a number of big-time blocked shots.
• Nice to see both Tobe Okafor and Nick Stover in attendance.

Up next, the Lions will play their lone exhibition game Tuesday, Nov. 1 against La Verne. Game starts at 7 p.m.

Nick Stover to take official visit to LMU this weekend

LMU Recruit Nick Stover will take an official visit to the bluff this weekend, according to his Twitter account. With recent commitments from Tobe Okafor and Taj Adams, the Lions have now filled two of the likely three 2012 recruiting spots.

According to Scout.com, Stover has offers from LMU, Boise State and San Francisco.

Fans first chance to see 2011-12 squad tomorrow

Freshmen Bruce English (left) and C.J. Blackwell (right)

The Annual Crimson/Navy Scrimmage will take place tomorrow at Gersten Pavilion, with the women's team taking the court at 10 a.m. and the men's squad facing off at 2 p.m. Having been the last two years, I highly encourage anyone with interest in this season to attend.

While watching the Crimson/Navy Scrimmage won't give you insight into how the team will perform this year (you need to see them compete against real competition for that), it is an opportunity to see how the coaching staff and players interact with each other and the first chance to see the freshmen take the court. This year, for the men's team, those freshmen are guard Bruce English and forward C.J. Blackwell.

After last year's scrimmage, I wrote about how impressive Ayodeji Egbeyemi and Anthony Ireland looked. The two both ended up spending valuable time on the court for the Lions, and were in the starting lineup when LMU took the court for its final game of the season at the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, NV. Even in the relaxed scrimmage setting, fans were able to see Anthony Ireland's quickness and ball-handing skills and Ayodeji's athleticism to the extent of knowing that they would be major contributors for the upcoming season. I'm hoping one or both of the freshmen leave fans with that same feeling this year.

The festivities begin tonight at 8 p.m. with the annual Madness at Midnight event, also in Gersten Pavilion. LMU will also supply lunch at 1 p.m. tomorrow before the men's scrimmage, courtesy of In-N-Out.

6'11" center, 6'6" forward commit to Lions

LMU has landed a commitment from 6-foot-11 Mount Zion Academy center Tobe Okaform originally from Nigeria. The New England Basketball Recruiting Report refers to Okafor as a "high level athlete, with a ton of physical tools."

Okafor will be visiting LMU this weekend, and will likely be in attendance for Friday night's Madness at Midnight and Saturday's Crimson/Navy scrimmage.

In addition, Taj Adams, who I wrote about last week, also committed to the Lions tonight.

Max Good speaks at annual Wooden Awards

13 head coaches gathered at the John Wooden Award College Basketball Tip-off Luncheon on Wednesday. LMU Head Coach Max Good was amongst the head coaches who gave speeches and shared insight on the 2011-12 season at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. 

Click here to watch part of his speech.

Crimson/Navy Scrimmage set for Oct. 22

The annual Crimson/Navy Scrimmage, Lions fans first chance to see both basketball teams in action, is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 22. The women's team will scrimmage at 11 a.m. while the men's team will scrimmage at 2 p.m. LMU will also be serving free lunch, courtesy of In-N-Out.

LMU makes offer to local small forward

LMU made an offer to Fairfax High School small forward Taj Adams yesterday, according to Josh Gershon of Scout.com. Adams has a Scouts Grade of 87 on ESPN.com, and is a 6'6", 170 lb class of 2012 small forward out of Los Angeles.

From what I have read, he sounds like a solid offensive player who is able to create his own shot, definitely something that could fill a gaping hole for the Lions once Drew Viney graduates.

Adams is apparently also looking into San Diego State, Nevada and USC, but is only reported to have received an official offer from LMU. 

Good expecting Viney back by Dec. 1

Jeff Goodman of CBSSports reported today that forward Drew Viney could potentially be out longer than initially reported. 

"We're hoping to get him back by December 1," Head Coach Max Good told CBSSports.com on Tuesday. "He was doing fine and all of the sudden, his foot was bothering him. He had an MRI and it was his fifth metatarsal."

December 1 would have Viney missing the first six games, so hopefully LMU sees him back on the court before then.

The article also reported, however, that Viney is the only player expected to begin the season injured, which is good news for a team that had its top six players lose 64 games due to injury last year.

Read more here.

C2CRecruiting checks in with Stover, who has narrowed his search to 3 schools

According to c2crecruiting, Nick Stover has narrowed his search down to LMU, Hawaii and UC Irvine, as of last night. 

“I most recently had a in home with Hawaii that went well," Stover said in this article. Loyola Marymount and UC Irvine have stopped by to see me in the open gym.”

As far as any visits setup, ” I only have one visit setup right now, and it's to Loyola Marymount on October 21st for an official visit," the 6-foot-4 senior out of Windward High School in Los Angeles said.

Nick Stover likely to sign with LMU

I wrote back in June that the Lions were heavily recruiting Nick Stover, a 6'5" forward from Winward high school in Los Angeles. A Los Angeles Times blog today reported that Stover could end up signing with the Lions within the next month.

Update on Drew Viney's Injury Status

As reported Sunday, Drew Viney had surgery on his left foot Monday, as is expected to be out 1-2 months.

According to a close family member of Drew's, Drew "also had surgery in April to remove bone spurs on his left ankle. His rehab from that was excellent - monitored very closely by [LMU Basketball Trainer] Keith. Drew was fully recovered, and playing well, when they noticed lingering pain in his left foot last week (not related to the ankle). An MRI showed a problem developing, which could be handled much quicker through surgery. Without surgery, he could have been down 10-12 weeks minimum, possibly an entire season, while waiting for the bone to recover. With surgery - he could be back in 4-6 weeks, and the bone is now stabilized and stronger for future play."

Today, ESPN's Diamond Leung reported on the injury, stating that Viney will likely miss the Lions' season-opener at UCLA. Read more of Leung's report here.

Check out this WCC Season Preview

Ballinisahabit.net just released their WCC Men's Basketball season preview, and it definitely has some good stuff. In addition to predicting LMU guard Anthony Ireland to be the conference's 2011-12 Breakthrough Player, they also predict Drew Viney to be First-Team All-Conference.

The website also very accurately noted LMU's greatest flaw from last season. "And while that record is ghastly -- 11 wins, 2-12 in the WCC -- LMU was not nearly that bad. They lost seven of the nine games that were one possession differences or went to overtime."

Click here to read the full preview, including a paragraph titled "So is Loyola Marymount for real?"

Drew Viney out 6-8 weeks?

According to his Twitter account (@DViney34), Lions' star Drew Viney will be out 6-8 weeks after receiving surgery on his foot tomorrow.

The fifth-year senior tweeted, "gettin surgery on Monday, out 6 to 8. I'll be good though no worries" in response to the question "hows the foot" from Saint Mary's player Kenton Walker.

No confirmation on the injury other than twitter, but 6-8 weeks would likely put Viney on the sideline for at least the Lions' exhibition game against La Verne and season-opener at UCLA.

Update, Monday Oct. 3: I can confirm that Drew is indeed having surgery today. He should be out 1-2 months.