Sacramento State Starts Anew as a School-Record 10 Newcomers Dot the 2001-02 Roster
Carolyn Jenkins promised changes when she took over the head coaching position at Sacramento State prior to last season. And if this year's roster is any indication, the second-year head coach wasn't kidding.
The 2001-02 roster features a school-record 10 newcomers as nary a player from last season's 3-23 team will be back in uniform. Sophomore Sydney Gatson, who redshirted last year after back surgery, returns to the active roster after playing in all 27 games as a freshman during the 1999-00 campaign. Sophomore Tola Tallman, who was supposed to be a main cog in the Hornet lineup this year after averaging 7.4 points and 5.8 rebounds as a freshman, will redshirt this season due to medical reasons.
"It's really unfortunate that Tola can't play this year," Jenkins said. "She adds another dimension to the team with her athletic ability, especially in terms of us being a transition team this season. That's where Tola shows her strengths (on the open floor) and she does a good job defensively and rebounding. "But with the players we have now, we should be able to make up for the loss of Tola." Jenkins' blueprint for success in 2001-02 starts with defense as the coaching staff has been stressing it throughout fall practice. "Our primary goal is to get the team to play well defensively," Jenkins said. "Our personnel is geared towards being a defensive team, and that's important because we need to play solid defense in order to be successful. "If everyone communicates on the floor and plays well together defensively, we'll be alright."
Health will also be a factor if the Hornets want to reach the Big Sky Tournament for the first time since 1997. Sacramento State players missed a combined 66 games last season as the team was forced to use a roster of just eight players for the remaining 15 contests. The team can ill-afford to be plagued by the injury bug again as the 2001-02 roster features just 11 players. Gatson (back) and freshman Ebonie Kerley (anemia) have already been held out of fall practices, but both should be cleared to play in time for the season. If the team is healthy, Jenkins plans to use an up-tempo brand of offense. The team will also look to create high percentage shots off its halfcourt offense whether it be kicking the ball into the post or penetrating and finding an open shooter, according to Jenkins. "We'll play up-tempo because of the makeup of our team," Jenkins said. "We have a lot of players who can face up, shoot the ball and put it on the floor. We'll try to spread the court offensively and isolate one post player on the block."
The Guards
A total of seven guards dot the Sacramento
State roster as the position is stacked with
depth. Jenkins has even hinted at going with a
four-guard look throughout the season. Gatson,
freshman Tamica Estrella, sophomore Alyson
Thurman, juniors Crystal Conley, Dolores
Olivarez and Kendra Yancey, and senior Ciara
Jenkins fill out the position.
Leading the way, if healthy, will be Gatson. The 5-9 point guard took a redshirt last season after undergoing back surgery but is still not 100 percent. A native of Concord, Calif., Gatson can play at the point and on the perimeter while also posting up other players. She played every game during the 1999-00 season while finishing second on the squad in assists and sixth in scoring. "We're still a little uncertain as to how many minutes Sydney can give us this season," Jenkins said. "She's very strong physically and has the ability to create off the dribble, which is a skill not many players are blessed with."
The only other true point guard on the team (besides Gatson), Olivarez will look to make an impact after transferring from Sacramento City College. The Sacramento native was an all-Bay Valley Conference selection as a freshman and finished her sophomore season averaging 12 points, six assists and four steals per game. "With Sydney's health still being a factor, Dolores is going to play a lot of minutes at the point," Jenkins said. "Like Sydney, Dolores is very unselfish and is always looking to create shots for her teammates."
Yancey is the most versatile player on the team in that she can play either of the guard or forward positions. A 6-0 junior out of Fresno, Calif., Yancey led Fresno City College in both scoring and rebounding until suffering a knee injury 10 games into last season. However, Yancey has recovered well from the injury and coaches are expecting her to be one of the team's top scoring threats. "Kendra has the ability to score a tremen-dous amount of points," Jenkins said. "She has extended three-point range and can score from anywhere on the floor. Defensively, she can match up with a variety of players and positions."
Thurman, who can also play both small and power forward if called upon, comes to the Hornets after receiving first team all-conference honors at Lassen College last season. The Carson City, Nev., native posted 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while leading the Cougars to the Golden Valley championship and a perfect 10-0 conference record. "Alyson is a great shooter who can spot up from almost anywhere on the perimeter," Jenkins said. "She is also a very good defender who will do whatever it takes on both ends of the floor."
A 5-10 native of Santa Monica, Calif., Conley enters her first season with the Hornets after starring at Santa Monica Junior College. As a sophomore, Conley was named first team all-conference, team MVP and was Santa Monica's Female Athlete of the Year after posting 18.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Like Thurman, Conley can also play the two, three and four positions. "Crystal brings versatility to the team and has great athletic ability," Jenkins said. "She is a good shooter, has three-point range and could be one of our best defenders on the perimeter." Estrella and Ciara Jenkins (no relation to Carolyn Jenkins) will provide depth at the position.
The lone senior on this year's squad,
Jenkins comes from the City College of San
Francisco where she was an all-Coast Conference
selection in 1999 after leading the Rams
to a conference championship.
Estrella, who
walked on to the team, prepped at Scripps
Ranch High School in San Diego. While there,
Estrella was named all-conference as a senior
after averaging 14 points, 7.5 assists and 4.5
steals per game.
"Ciara and Tamica will be very important to the team as far as being good supportive role players and giving us key minutes off the bench," Jenkins said. "Both have great attitudes and they've worked just as hard, if not harder, than anyone else on the team."
The Forwards
Other than the aforementioned Conley,
Thurman and Yancey, who can each play both
guard and forward, two additional players
(Kerley and junior Samantha Miller) round out
the group of forwards.
Kerley, who has been hindered by injuries during the fall, comes to the Hornets from San Diego's Hoover High School. The 6-0 freshman was a three-time all-Harbor League se-lection and led Hoover to a pair of league championships in 2000 and 2001. She averaged 13 points, nine rebounds, six steals and three blocked shots per game as a senior. If healthy, Kerley will play power forward and could be one of the team's top scoring threats. "Ebonie can score from the inside and outside, and has the ability to put up a lot of points," Jenkins said. "If she's healthy, we'll play her primarily at the four, but she can play the three as well."
Miller enters her first season with the team after spending one year (2000) with the Sacramento State rowing team. Prior to that, the 6-1 native of Vacaville, Calif., played one year (1998-99) of basketball at San Francisco State. Miller, who will play power forward for the Hornets, finished her campaign with the Gators averaging 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists per game. "Offensively, Samantha can extend the defense with her shooting range," Jenkins said. "Once she establishes her range, she'll see a lot more pressure on the outside. So what she's been working on now is putting the ball on the floor and going by defenders."
The Centers
Two centers dot the Sacramento State roster
as freshman Kristine Knowlton and junior
Danielle Iceman round out the list.
At 6-3, Knowlton is the tallest post player the Hornets have had in three years. Only a freshman, Knowlton comes from Forest Grove High School in Oregon where she was a first team all-Pac 9 conference selection during her final two seasons. During that time, she guided the team to back-to-back conference championships (2000 and 2001). As a senior, she averaged 9.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.8 blocked shots per game while also winning the conference high jump championship with a mark of 5'5". "Kristine runs the floor extremely well, has an abundance of post moves and is tremendously physical underneath," Jenkins said. "She's a good rebounder and a good defender on the low block, and she will block a lot of shots."
Iceman begins her first season with the Hornets after being named all-conference as a sophomore at Shasta Junior College in Redding, Calif. "Danielle is a very smart player underneath," Jenkins said. "She compliments Knowlton nicely in that she can provide an advantage to our rebounding by being physical with other low block post players."
The Big Sky Conference
Two changes to the Big Sky Conference will
impact the Hornets this season. The first is the
departure of Cal State Northridge from the
league. With the Matadors gone, six of the
league's eight teams will now qualify for the
conference tournament, which will be held from
March 7-9 at the site of the regular-season
champion.
The second change could play a major role as the season develops. The Big Sky has opted to switch to a Friday-Saturday schedule for all of its league games. That change will force teams to travel from Flagstaff, Ariz. (Northern Arizona) to Sacramento and vice-versa in just one day. The other travel pairings (Eastern Washington-Portland State, Weber State-Idaho State, Montana-Montana State) are a little easier to manage but will likely give a greater edge to the home team.
Idaho State, who finished with a perfect 16-0 conference record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season, will again be the front-runner to take the title. The Bengals were selected to finish first in the Big Sky coaches' poll along with Montana. Northern Arizona was selected to finish third, followed by Weber State, Montana State, Portland State, Eastern Washington and Sacramento State. "Idaho State and Eastern Washington have new coaching staffs so it will be interesting to see how that develops," Jenkins said. "Our conference has so many question marks, I think the team that stays the healthiest and plays consistent throughout the year has the best chance to finish on top.
"As long as we stay healthy, I truly believe we are one of the top six teams in the confer-ence and I look forward to playing in the Big Sky Tournament."
**Information from the Sacramento State Media Guide.