Photo by Marissa Padilla
Few people outside of the coaches and players understand the blood, sweat and tears behind this season of men’s basketball.
The team closed the 2012-13 season with a dismal 4-12 record in conference play, which left a bitter taste in the hearts and minds of Waves members and supporters. To add insult to injury, Pepperdine was ranked 10th and last in their conference in the pre-season poll.
The young men who make up the Waves’ roster bring to mind the medieval heroes who looked to revive the glory days of yesteryear. They are carrying the hopes of both the program and the school on their shoulders.
Following the shining legacy of Pepperdine’s former orange-clad men - who once spread the name of Pepperdine basketball far and wide – was a successive fall into disrepute, particularly the less-than-ideal performance of the team in the past decade. However, new hope arises in the young blood that Wilson pumped with a grueling training program.
A preliminary result of Coach Wilson’s regimen has already seen the same number of conference wins to date as the entirety of last season. It might be too early in the season to draw conclusions, but at the very least, the No. 2 Waves, who are currently at 4-2 in conference play, have proven that they will settle for nothing less than a good fight on the courts.
“It will be an exciting game. Fans are going to walk away — win, lose or draw — saying ‘I liked watching that game,’” Wilson said about the upcoming match up tonight against No.-1 ranked conference rival Gonzaga University.
Like Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Six Hundred in the Charge of the Light Brigade,” the time has come for the Waves to ride into the battlefield. But whether their ends will be like that of the Six Hundred or whether they will fare differently under their valiant leader, only time will tell. The course of the upcoming season will show the fruit of the Waves’ tough training regimen since spring and months of preparation.
The Waves have five clear goals for the season, according to Wilson: “to finish in the top half, get to the post-season, finish above 500 on the road, have a winning record at home and win as many as we can.”
The key to the first four just might be in the fifth. However, the Achilles’ heel of the team is it’s youthfulness.
The team’s success thus far is due in part to sophomore forward Stacy Davis, one of the key returning players who brought home the WCC Newcomer of the Year award last season.
“We go into every game knowing that everything we’ve done so far doesn’t matter until the end of the regular season … [and] with the mindset that we were projected 10th, we play with a chip on our shoulder. As far as the game goes on Thursday, it’s just another game. No need to make it more than what it is. It’s a conference game between two pretty good teams. The positive of the team so far is our way to handle adversity and battle through whatever the game throws at us,” Davis said about the season and the upcoming game against Gonzaga.
Perhaps they will rewrite Tennyson’s tragic tale after all. But they can’t do it alone.
“We need our fans. We need them all, we need to pack this place, we need more people than we can fit in here … not just for Gonzaga, but for Portland as well. It’s important for our fans to help us to build this thing,” Wilson said.
Featured Athletes:
Brendan Lane
Lane was selected by Wilson as one of the team captains not just for seniority, but also for his skill as a player and his ability to lead.
“Brendan as a senior is our team leader; what he’s done for our team on and off the floor is unbelievable. He settles the team, finds his opportunity to score, rebounds, blocks shots … he brings a lot of value to our team,” Wilson said.
Lane has seen plenty of playing time so far this season and had a huge impact in the game against Santa Clara, where he dominated with 26 points and 17 rebounds, a career high. In the game against San Francisco on Jan. 4, Lane suffered a knee injury, and most recently he received 15 stitches under the eye after an accidental jab to the face in a game against San Diego.
“I’m really confident [about the game against Gonzaga]. It’s going to be a tough game but I’m confident in our team and that we can win the game,” Lane said.
Jeremy Major
“Jeremy as a freshman is being really solid, shooting the ball well, running the team well, getting assists, starting to get more steals than we thought he could,” Wilson said.
Major was one of Pepperdine’s star recruits, with an impressive track record as a scorer (averaging 25.8 points per game) and a three-time All-CIF Southern Section first team selection. Major has consistently performed well with scoring and assists as a Wave this season.
“We’re a young team hoping to prove a lot of people wrong. I’m excited there’s still a long season ahead of us and we want to finish strong,” Major said.
Malcolm Brooks
Brooks joins Pepperdine after two years at Lamar Community College, a D1 college program that saw a drastic improvement during his two seasons. Brooks took off running in his first game as a Wave, breaking out with 20 points, followed by 24 in his second game. An unfortunate twist to the ankle in the game against San Francisco, after going 4 for 4 from the field, contributed to the weakened team performance in the second half of the game that Pepperdine eventually lost. The team’s second loss to BYU also occurred when Brooks was absent, but fortunately he was able to come back against San Diego in a game Pepperdine eventually won.
“I’ll be 100 percent for the Gonzaga game,” Brooks said.
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As published in the Jan. 16 issue of the Pepperdine Graphic.
