The men’s basketball team added six new players this season, and five freshmen joined the women’s team. The women will get their first chance to compete in an exhibition game against Westmont on Tuesday, Oct. 30 in the Firestone Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. The men will begin their season later with an exhibition game against California Lutheran on Saturday, Nov. 3 also in the Firestone Fieldhouse at 7 p.m.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Atif Russell
Freshman guard Atif Russell will not go unrecognized this 2012- 2013 basketball season. Head Coach Marty Wilson has already admitted that “he’s going to play a lot as a freshman.” Russell graduated from Seven Lakes High School in Katy, Texas in 2012. Russell holds his high school record for 143 three-pointers and scored over 1,000 career points. He also played for the Houston Hoopstars and Houston Defenders, two club basketball teams in Houston. His greatest asset to the team this season will be his confidence and “his ability to score and hit open shots,” Wilson said.
Jett Raines
Freshman forward Jett Raines joins the Waves from Coppell, Texas. As a senior at Coppell High School, Raines was named to the 2012 Texas Association of Basketball Coaches All-State 5A team. He averaged 17.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in his 2011-2012 season. The computer science and mathematics major has already displayed his potential in the first week of practices. “His energy is unbelievable … he constantly continues to work,” Wilson said. This energy will be put to great use this season in the form of defense. “I think the thing he brings the most is that he’s going to be a great defender.” The upcoming 2012-2013 season looks bright for the young player.
Brendan Lane
Senior forward Brendan Lane received his undergraduate degree from UCLA and is now working toward his master’s of science and Applied Finance on the Drescher campus. Lane appeared in 75 games during his time at UCLA averaging 2.5 points and 2.2 rebounds throughout his season. In 2012, Lane received the Elvin C. “Ducky” Drake Memorial Award for competitive spirit, inspiration and unselfish contributions at UCLA. Lane will redshirt the upcoming season, but Wilson has already seen great promise from the newcomer. He is one of the players coaches consider to be easy to coach, because “we don’t have to tell him something twice.” Wilson thinks that Lane’s greatest contribution to the team off the court will be his leadership abilities. “He’s a leader; he helps the younger guys,” Wilson said.
Stacy Davis
Freshman forward Stacy Davis came to Pepperdine from his hometown in Laveen, Ariz. As a senior at Tolleson Union High School, Davis averaged 20.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Even as a freshman, Wilson can see potential in this young player. Wilson admits that early on, Davis is “going to play a lot of minutes and have a great career here.” His greatest contribution to the team will be his ability to score inside and out. Wilson sets the bar high for the rookie saying, “He is going to be one of those guys where you look back and say ‘boy, he was one of Pepperdine’s greats.’”
Austin Mills
Freshman guard Austin Mills is from Beverly Hills and will join the men’s basketball team this season. Mills experienced a roadblock early in the team’s first official workout when he broke his thumb and found he would have to sit out for at least a month. Despite this setback, Mills will continue to work out with the team in order to stay in shape so he can be ready to play when his thumb has healed. Wilson could not stop with just one positive quality about the freshman. He summarized his admiration by saying that Mills “makes life easier for everyone” both in and out of practice.
Malte Kramer
Junior forward Malte Kramer joins the Pepperdine men’s basketball team all the way from Freiburg, Germany. Kramer is just coming off knee surgery after his first two seasons at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, Calif. After two years in college, Kramer has maintained his 4.0 GPA and has never gotten a B in a class. This extraordinary feat explains his awards for Athlete of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a sophomore at Cuesta. Kramer became the school’s fifth player to score over 1,000 career points. Coach Wilson looks forward to Kramer’s contribution to the team’s offense after the player’s injury has healed. Wilson believes “he’s going to be a big factor because of his ability to shoot the ball.” Great academic and athletic promise awaits the transfer student this season.
Marty Wilson
This season marks Marty Wilson’s second as head coach. He spent 21 years as assistant head coach before replacing Tom Asbury for the 2010-11 season. Wilson has spent a significant amount of time at Pepperdine, starting as a player from 1985-89 and then continuing as assistant coach and associate head coach prior to 2010. Wilson holds a 13-29 overall record in his two seasons at Pepperdine and has “a vision of building our basketball program back up.” In his first six seasons on the Waves basketball staff, Wilson helped lead the team to a 106-72 record and notes, “We’re not just going to focus on trying to win games. We’re in the process of building a basketball program.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Kelsey Brockway
No. 44 will certainly be turning heads this season after finishing a record breaking career at Palos Verdes High School in Rolling Hills, Calif. This 6-foot-1-inch forward set her school record for points scored in a single game with 39 points. When asked “Why Pepperdine?” Brockway responded:
“I wanted to go to a private school in California that was equally impressive academically and athletically. The women’s basketball program is on the rise and I wanted to be here to contribute to what will surprise some people over the next few years.”
Brockway was nationally ranked No. 14 for her position last year and will certainly contribute to the Waves for the next four years.
Amanda Lovely
No. 15 comes into her freshman collegiate career with four consecutive NCAL Championships, three CCS titles and two NCAL crowns. In 2012, she led Archbishop Mitty High School to win the CIF State Championship. Her impressive resume also includes playing for the Greek U18 National team at the European Championship in Romania.
After a long process of being recruited, Lovely said “Pepperdine was a no brainer” because she “loved all the coaches and the girls on the team.”
Five years from now, you can expect to see Lovely playing overseas or getting her master’s in psychology. Women’s basketball fans should look out for this forward in her first year with the Waves.
Monet McNally
Look out for No. 55, the Waves’ freshman guard, who comes in to the 2012-13 season with 1,763 points over her high school career at L.A. Baptist High School. This Santa Clarita native joins the Waves after finishing No. 5 among state scorers, with 729 points as a senior and averaging 26 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 4.5 steals per game.
McNally is successful off the court, earning academic excellence awards all four years of high school and majoring in biology at Pepperdine. She looks up to Michael Jordan as her favorite pro athlete.
Fans can expect a lot of action on the court from McNally who has been named in high school for eight all-tournament teams, including Most Valuable Player honors at several of these tournaments.
Alisha Roberts
No. 5 joins the Waves basketball team from Burnaby, British Columbia. Roberts led York House High School’s basketball team to four AA Provincial Championships and the AAA Lower Mainland Championship as a senior.
Outside of high school, Roberts was a two-time First Team All- Star. She led her U17 BC Provincial Team with an average of 15 points, four assists and four rebounds per game. She helped her U-17 team win the national title in 2010 and place second in 2011.
Her love for the sport extends “from the sound of the ball being dribbled to the feeling of victory; the way the team becomes a family to the road trips and team bonding games; running lines in practice and the feeling of accomplishment when you get a move you’ve been working on.”
Keitra Wallace
No. 51 graduated from Brea Olinda High School in Brea, Calif. She finished her senior season as an athletic scholar and with the coveted title of Century League Most Valuable Player. She finished her 2011-12 season with an average of 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Wallace led her team to state and national championships and was a four-time all-league pick. She believes basketball “is a test. A test of who’s tougher, stronger, more competitive and smarter.” Her competitive spirit and raw talent will be a strong addition to the Waves.
Coach Rousseau’s recruited class is ranked No. 43 in the country, and Rousseau is very pleased with how well the returners have meshed with the incoming freshmen. This season, the team keeps in mind Proverbs 27:17, “Let iron sharpen iron.” Coach Rousseau and the women’s basketball team have been competing and pushing each other this offseason. While they might lack in experience as a young team, Coach Rousseau said, “they do not lack in effort and talent” and that is where team are made and games are won.
Julie Rousseau
Formerly the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks, Julie Rousseau will notch her ninth season as the Waves head coach this year and is expected to lead the team to another successful season. During her time at Pepperdine, Rousseau has earned the distinction of being the only coach to win his or her first conference game. She also took the squad to the NCAA Tournament faster than any women’s basketball coach is school history, doing so during her second season. Her 100th victory as head coach was tallied on Feb. 3, 2011 and she has seen quite a few victories since then. Rousseau inspires to lead the women’s basketball team both on and off the court and is currently working on a master’s degree in psychology at Pepperdine that she believes will “continue [her] personal growth and ability to meet the needs of our young women.”
