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McDermott optimistic heading into this season The fifth-year coach has perhaps his best team since taking over Raider program By DON HUNT Mail Tribune ASHLAND - Since he took over the Southern Oregon University basketball program five years ago, Brian McDermott has never been so optimistic. He's got talent. He's got depth. And he's got a group of players whose work ethic is the best he's seen since he first slipped on his coaching shoes in 1979. "I've never had a team practice as hard as this one does," says McDermott, whose Raiders open their season today against Rocky Mountain College at a tournament at Albertson College in Caldwell, Idaho. "We've had 29 practices and only one bad one. That's a good ratio." The Raiders lost all-time leading scorer Tom Chipps to graduation but return three starters from last season's team that went 18-13 and finished fourth in the Cascade Conference. They also have three players who saw significant playing time in 2000-2001, two talented transfers have arrived from Oregon State, and McDermott landed one of the state's better recruits in 6-foot-7, 235-pound James Tharp from Pleasant Hill. "We're probably never going to have the best talent in the league, one through five, but we're very tough six through 10, and that's what can separate us from the teams on our schedule," McDermott says. "I'm hoping we can wear teams out." The returning starters are 5-9 junior point guard T.J. Caughell, 6-5 senior strong forward Matt Zosel and 6-7 small forward Martin DeGroot. Zosel averaged 9.1 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Raiders last season while shooting 66 percent from the field. Caughell, who is again expected to share time at the point with senior Hamilton Barnes, averaged 6.6 points and DeGroot 5.4 Jeff Tacheny, a 6-7 senior, started 14 games at center and averaged 5.7 points and 3.3 rebounds. "The reason Tacheny took over the job was because we weren't scoring enough in the post," McDermott says. "He's a nice shooter from 17 feet in, he's got a nice jump hook and a bump fade." Tharp is expected to become one of McDermott's top SOU recruits by the time he graduates. "He's got some very nice post moves and he's a big, physical kid," McDermott says. "I'd be surprised if he wasn't starting by the end of the year." The transfers from OSU are 6-4 junior guard Moses Olson and 6-5 freshman guard/forward Brad Coen. Olson brings a physical presence rarely seen at the guard position, McDermott says. He can post up smaller guards but is also a good outside shooter and an excellent defender. "Moses is just a very fundamentally sound player, and he brings a competitive spirit to the team," McDermott says. "He doesn't like to lose." Coen, meanwhile, is perhaps the team's most versatile player. He can play shooting guard, small forward and power forward with equal prowess, McDermott says. "He was initially going to go to Colorado to play soccer - he's got great feet," McDermott says of Coen. "When he visited here last spring, he guarded our point guards in a pick-up game and did a great job." The Raiders have another notable newcomer in Matt Brown, a 6-4 sophomore guard who transferred from Wyoming. Brown, who played high school ball at Crater, might be the best shooter on the team. "He'll play a bunch before it's over," McDermott says. "He missed four or five days of practice, and that put him behind, but he's a good player." Others expected to contribute are Reed Sorensen, a 6-6 junior holdover, and Barron Lacy, a 6-3 senior who played 17 minutes a game two years ago before going on an exchange program at Bowie State in Maryland. McDermott's biggest concerns are post defense and shooting. "Tacheny is a little undersized in the middle - he's going to need some weakside help," McDermott says. "And Tharp is a typical freshman in that defense isn't his strongest area." The Raiders shot only 46.9 percent from the field, 35.0 percent from the 3-point line and 66.4 percent from the free throw line last season, numbers that McDermott would like to see go up by four or five percent each. SOU was picked to finish fourth in the Cascade Conference behind Oregon Tech, Albertson and Western Baptist. Like the Raiders, all three of those teams welcome back a bushel of veterans. "The league is as good as it's been since I've been here," McDermott says. "We could have our best team and still finish fourth or fifth." Then again, the Raiders could challenge for the league title if all the pieces fall into place. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.