California State University Stanislaus Athletics

High turnover is typically found in things such as retail jobs and professional coaching positions. Although college sports incorporates some level of turnover with players graduating and newly recruited players coming in, rarely does a team lose every single one of its starters as well as all of its key backup players in one year.

Cal State Stanislaus men’s basketball head coach Keith Larsen is faced with just that as the beginning of the 2008-09 season quickly approaches. The team begun official practices last week and are set to square off against the University of the Pacific for an exhibition on Nov. 2 with only a handful of players that played limited minutes last season.

“I am incredibly excited,” Larsen said about his new team. “I think this team is going to win a lot of basketball games.”

Larsen worked during the offseason to bring in three local players, all transfers, as well as a couple other experienced players that Larsen said will compete for a starting position and change the landscape of Warrior men’s basketball.

“The chemistry is so good,” Larsen said. “With this group, we’ve never talked about last year, they’re so enthusiastic.”

Starting completely from scratch may be a good thing for Larsen and the program, as the 2007-08 squad lost 21 games, the most losses in a season by a Warrior men’s basketball team since the 1984-85 season.

“There’s a toughness to this group, where the last couple years there was more of a swooshy dance kind of (play),” Larsen said. “They shot it, ran back, scored a lot of points, there wasn’t any real toughness. We didn’t defend hard enough even though that’s all I worked on. Those guys were more of a finesse-type team the last couple years. This team is blue collar.”

Benny Koochoie, a senior transfer from Point Loma Nazarene, grew up in Turlock and attended Turlock High School before attending three different schools in three years, and now looks to land a spot on Larsen’s starting five. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior will most likely play in the forward position this season.
 
Christopher Teevan is another local player, growing up in the Modesto area and attending Modesto Junior College. The dynamic point guard led the state in assists last season and is “starter material” according to Larsen.

“We recruited both Teevan and Benny out of high school,” Larsen said. “With Teevan, it was kind of a mutual thing. We recruited him, he wanted to stay local, and I think he’s going to be really good, he really is.”

Larsen did not recruit senior Michael Dyson, but the head coach says he is more than happy to have the transfer from East Central Arkansas.

“Michael just showed up on our lap,” Larsen said. “I don’t even know who (the player) is, all of the sudden this kid shows up, he’s 6-6, 200-something pounds.”

Dyson grew up in Modesto and attended school in Stockton. He is transferring with one year left to play, and Larsen said that he is taking full advantage of his time.

“He is one of the best kids I’ve been around,” Larsen said. “He’s never missed a workout, he’s already a team leader. It’s amazing. He’s truly an amazing kid.”

Larsen has brought in two other junior college transfers to enhance this year’s team, Casey Cutts, a sophomore point guard from Yuba College and junior center Matt Ibewiro from Riverside Community College. Larsen said that both players are potential starters.

Along with a brand new roster of players on the court, Larsen has an entirely new coaching staff, led by John Saintignon and two former players in Marcus Martinez and Rick Cardoso.

“(Saintignon) knows small college basketball. He’s an incredible wealth (of knowledge),” Larsen said. “Having guys like Marcus, one of the great shooters in this conference, and Cardoso, who can help with our bigs, will help us tremendously. It’s just a really good staff and I am very excited about it.

“I’m going to go out trying to win and not afraid to lose,” Larsen added. “I’m excited. I think the fans will really like the kids, they play hard, we’ll play fast but not as fast as we’ve played in the past.”

The Warriors’ first regular season game will be at 7 p.m. on Nov. 18 against the Acadamy of Art in San Francisco. The team’s first home game will be during homecoming week on Nov. 20 against William Jessup at 7 p.m.