PSU Magazine Fall 1996

< ..... 0 ~ 0 "' > ~ "' such as passing, scoring and rebounding. •Jamaal Sanford, a 6-foot-8 junior forward and center from San Jose, California. Sanford, the tallest on the team, is a good inside player, with strong skills in rebounding and scoring on the post. • Matt Ambrose, a 6-foot-6 junior forward from Huntington Beach, California. "Matt will provide great leadership and impact on the offen– sive end," McKay says. As for himself, McKay says coming to PSU gives him the unusual oppor- By John Kirkland tunity of building a program from scratch. "It's unique in college basket– ball," he says. He also conveys this idea when recruiting players. "Rarely do you get a chance to step right into a Division I program and make an immediate impact. It's a chance for a young man to be in on the beginning of something big." McKay himself played three seasons at Seattle Pacific University and was named most valuab le player during his senior year. He also played and coached professional basketball in New Zealand for two years, averaging Vikings' Rose Garden and home court schedule The first men's basketball team at PSU since 1980-81 opens play Sunday, Nov. 10, in the Rose Garden against the Chinese National Team. Following a trip to Mississippi, Tulane, and Washington, the Vikings play the University of Oregon in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Coach Ritchie McKay's Vikings also play at Oregon State on Dec. 14. Call 725-5635 for a complete schedule and ticket information. The home game schedule is as follows: Nov. 10 Chinese National Team Rose Garden 1:05 Nov. 15 Blue Angels Exhbtn. Team PSU 7:05 Dec. 4 University of Oregon Rose Garden 7:05 Dec. 17 Eastern Oregon PSU 7:05 Dec. 28 Whitman PSU 7:05 Jan. 11 Idaho State PSU 7:05 Jan. 16 Montana Rose Garden 7:05 Jan. 18 Montana State Rose Garden 7:05 Jan. 25 Eastern Washington Rose Garden 1:05 Jan. 29 Southern Oregon Rose Garden 7:05 Feb. 3 Weber State Rose Garden 7:05 Feb. 6 Sacramento State Rose Garden 7:05 Feb. 13 Northern Arizona Rose Garden 7:05 Feb. 15 Cal State-Northridge Rose Garden 1:05 25 points per game and leading his league in three-pointers. All of which will be crucial for PSU as it enters the Big Sky Conference and begins its Division I compliance period. PSU basketball had been big in the 35 years before budget cuts forced its elimination in 1981. The most famous of all PSU basket– ball players was Freeman Williams (1973-77), who became the second– highest scorer in the hi tory of men's college basketball (behind Pete Maravich). Williams averaged 30 points a game and went on to play for the San Diego Clippers. He also had a cameo role in the movie White Men Can't Jump. In the '60s, Marion Pericin coached high-scoring brothers Willie and Charlie Stoudamire, who packed crowds into the PSU gym several seasons in a row. Willie's son, Damon Stoudamire, is with the Toronto Raptors and was named NBA Rookie of the Year last year. Perkin's teams were among the nation's first to consistently score over 100 points a game, and this was before the three-point shot. In the '50s and early '60s, Sharkey Nelson was the coach for such lumi– naries as Paul Poetsch, Jack Viskov, Jack Parker, and John Nelson. One thing the new Vikings will have that the old ones didn't is the Rose Garden, the Portland Trailblazers' new arena. With a seating capacity of 21,401, it will be the largest home arena for college basket– ball on the West Coast. The Vikings will play 10 of its 14 home games there; the rest will be at the PSU gym. The next challenge is to fill up the seats. More than 850 people have purchased season tickets, says Sales Director Mike Rogers. At $40 to $100 per season ticket, it's a bargain, and Rogers is hopeful of reaching his goal of 2,500 season tickets. "Basketball sales have been solid because there's been a vacuum for 15 years," he says. D (John Kirkland, a Portland freelance writer, wrote the article "Life in the Middle," which appeared in the spring 1996 PSU Magazine.) FALL 1996 PSU MAGAZINE 9