Even in the offseason, basketballs can be heard bouncing in Mott Gym. While the Cal Poly men’s basketball team can’t officially practice as a unit until next school year, the players take it upon themselves to hit the gym.
“Even though the season just ended two months ago, I can’t wait to get back out there because I miss the fans, I miss the students and I miss the band,” said redshirt sophomore forward Chris Eversley. “I miss the whole experience, and I’m kind of itching for that already.”
And as spring turns to summer, the 2012-13 team roster is set. After posting its second highest win total in program history with 18 victories last season, Cal Poly will look to improve upon its 18-15 record and a fourth-place finish in the Big West Conference.
It’s a tall order considering the Mustangs will have to do it without the six seniors graduating this year, but head coach Joe Callero said next year’s team will have a completely new identity, one that will hopefully propel the program to its first ever conference title.
“We don’t want a rebuilding year,” Callero said. “We want a ‘re-invent yourself’ year.”
So throughout the spring Callero addressed concerns raised about the size of his team — Cal Poly only had two active players taller than over 6-foot-6 last year — by recruiting four incoming freshmen over 6-foot-7.
Brian Bennett, who will become the tallest player at 6-foot-9 , will likely anchor the frontcourt for the Mustangs. Bennett averaged 15.6 points per game, shot 59.7 percent from the floor and helped his school to a 27-2 record as a senior at Plainfield East High school in Romeoville, Ill.
“Personally, I want to contribute to the team and help the team win because one of the main goals is to get to the dance eventually as a team,” Bennett said. “And individually, I want to help my teammates in any way possible.”
Joining Bennett will be 6-foot-8 forward Zach Gordon from Everett, Wash., 6-foot-8 Josh Hall from St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy in Brush Prarie, Wash., and 6-foot-7 Zach Allmon, a local, from Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School.
All four players will have the option to redshirt in 2012-13, but each has a “high basketball IQ” and the potential to make an immediate impact on the floor with their athleticism, according to Callero.
“It’s a really good solid recruiting class, but it has such a high upside because (the incoming freshmen) are all such big, athletic, aggressive guys,” he said.
In losing senior forwards David Hanson and Will Taylor, the Mustangs will also lose their interior scoring touch. Hanson led the team a season ago averaging 11.8 points per contest while Taylor boasted a 53 percent shooting figure from the field. Hanson ranks eighth in program history in career points scored as a Mustang.
The new-look Cal Poly offense will be more guard-oriented to complement the youth gained in the frontcourt, but the Mustangs will stick to their defensive-minded principles to stifle teams in 2012-13. Callero’s squad finished 24th in the country, allowing 60.5 opponent points per game last season.
Cal Poly returns most of its guards from a year ago in addition to welcoming back junior Chris O’Brien from injury and redshirt freshman Reese Morgan for his first game action as a Mustang.
Junior Dylan Royer will also receive added minutes after recently receiving a full-ride scholarship from Callero for his esteemed play on both offense and defense. Royer made 47 percent of his 3-pointers last year, a figure that would have put him 26th among Division I players had he averaged more than two 3-pointers a game.
“All the hard work (Royer) has put in and being one of the more consistent scorers on our team throughout the season and then being one of the top 3-point shooters in the country, it was good to finally see it all pay off for him,” Eversley said.
Eversley will handle much of the offensive burden at the power forward position following breakout performances during conference play in 2011-12. He scored in double-digits in 12 of 18 Big West games for the Mustangs, who will have a chance to go deep into the conference tournament if he can provide a consistent scoring touch next season, Callero said.
Eversley will look to lead the Mustangs through another demanding non-conference schedule for next year, including games at Pac-12 powers UCLA and Washington. The Bruins own the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class according to multiple sources, while the Huskies are the defending Pac-12 regular season champions. Cal Poly will also travel to St. Mary’s in Moraga and visit TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, before playing a 17-game Big West schedule that features newly-added Hawaii to the conference.
“I want a conference ring, and I want to be able to go play in the NCAA Tournament,” Eversley said. “I don’t want to just go to the NCAA Tournament — I want to actually make some noise in the tournament and put Cal Poly on the map.”