2008-09 ALASKA ANCHORAGE MEN'S BASKETBALL SEASON REVIEW
BRIEF SEASON RECAP: The Seawolves overcame an 0-5 start to finish with the program's fourth straight winning record at 15-14, while going a solid 9-7 (5th place) in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. UAA prevailed in several big contests, including a road win over eventual GNAC champ Western Washington, home wins over playoff-bound Seattle Pacific and Central Washington, and a Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout victory against Division I Louisiana Tech. The team got major contributions from its two seniors, as guard Kenny Barker was the only unanimous choice on the All-GNAC squad, and center Jeremiah Trueman was the lone player in NCAA Div. II to rank in the nation's top 25 in both field-goal and free-throw percentage.
UAA SEASON-ENDING STARTERS
G?Kenny Barker, 6-3, 210, Sr. (18.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.3 spg, .838 FT, 35.8 mpg)
G?Brandon Walker, 6-3, 195, So. (11.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg, .474 FG, .423 3FG, .768 FT)
G?Kevin White, 6-4, 195, So. (8.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.9 apg, .457 FG, .435 3FG, .757 FT)
G?Darren Nye, 6-1, 175, Jr. (4.5 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, .510 FG, .474 3FG)
C?Jeremiah Trueman, 6-9, 210, Sr. (15.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, .597 FG, .870 FT)
TEAM NOTES: UAA got two resounding victories in the season's final week to avoid its first losing season since 2004-05 and just the seventh in the program's 32 years ... UAA finished No. 2 in the NCAA Div. II statistical rankings for team FT% with a school-record .782 mark ... the Seawolves were also No. 6 nationally in 3FG% (.411), ranking among the top 10 three-point shooting teams in Div. II now for four straight seasons (2nd in '05-06; 5th in '06-07 & '07-08) ... in the GNAC rankings, UAA was No. 1 in 3FG%, scoring defense (67.3 ppg) and FG% defense (.425) ... as far as significant single-game performances, UAA's .765 3FG shooting against CWU on Jan. 10 was a school record and tied for the second-best percentage in GNAC history.
TRUE TO FORM: Sr. C Jeremiah Trueman earned Team MVP and GNAC honorable mention all-conference honors after pacing the Seawolves in FG% (.597), FT% (.870), blocks per game (1.0), and offensive rebounding (2.3 orpg) ... ?Kiwi' ranked second on team in scoring (15.8 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.5 rpg) ... Trueman was only player in NCAA Div. II to rank in top 25 of national stats in both FG% (23rd) and FT% (24th) ... in the GNAC stats, he ranked of 9th in scoring, 3rd in FT%, 5th in FG%, 7th in blocks, and 6th in offensive rebounding ... Trueman's career FG% of .603 ranked No. 2 in program history, while his FT% of .822 ranked 11th; on the single-season lists, he ranked 8th in both FG% and FT%, plus 15th in blocked shots (27) ... Trueman scored in double figures in 24 of 28 appearances, including 10 games with 20 or more ... he averaged 17.1 ppg in GNAC affairs, 7th-best in the 9-team league.
BEWARE OF BARKER: In his lone season as a Seawolf, Sr. G Kenny Barker led the team in scoring (18.7 ppg), rebounding (6.3 rpg), assists (4.2 apg) and steals (1.3 spg) ... in the overall GNAC stats, Barker was the only player to rank in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and assists ... the Division II Bulletin honorable mention All-American also ranked 2nd in minutes per game (35.8), 6th in FT% (.838), 7th in steals, and 9th in 3FGs per game (1.9) ... in league games only, Barker ranked 2nd in scoring (20.4 ppg) and minutes (36.9 mpg), 5th in assists (4.9), and 7th in steals (1.4) and 3FG% (.462) ... on UAA's single-season lists, he ranked 14th in scoring average, 12th in FT%, and 4th in minutes per game ... a 3-year letterwinner at UAF before transferring to UAA, Barker also finished in the top 20 on several GNAC career lists, including 5th in minutes played (3,559), 6th in games started (109), 9th in games played (115), 13th in assists (341), 14th in scoring (1,501 pts), rebounds (589), 3FGs made (161) and FTs made (350), and 16th in steals (134) ... Barker was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout, and he was the GNAC Player of the Week for Dec. 8-14 after his performance at the Glacier Classic ... on Jan. 31 against UAF on Saturday, Barker burned his former team for a GNAC-season-high 38 points, equaling Andre Boudreaux (Feb. 13, 1993) for the most a Seawolf has scored against the Nanooks and the 9th-highest single-game total in program history; it was the most points by a Seawolf since Peter Bullock had 40, Jan. 26, 2002 (vs. St. Martin's).
MORE PLAYER NOTES: So. G Kevin White earned 27 starting assignments in 28 games during his second season, leading the Seawolves in 3FGs (60) and ranking 2nd in assists (2.9), asst-TO ratio (1.59) and 3FG% (.435) ... the Aussie had even stronger offensive numbers in 16 GNAC affairs, posting 9.4 ppg, 3.0 apg, and shooting .471 (41-87) ... White will enter his junior season ranked No. 7 on UAA's career 3FG% list (.432), plus No. 19 in 3FGs made (86) ... in the GNAC overall season stats, White ranked 5th in 3FG%, 6th in 3FGs per game (2.1) and 14th in assists (2.9 apg) ... the Seawolves went 5-1 in GNAC games when White scored double figures ... So. G Brandon Walker ranked 7th in the GNAC with his .423 3FG%, while holding other league ranks of 13th in rebounding (5.7 rpg), 15th in blocks (0.7) and 18th in FT% (.768) ... the Div. I transfer from Loyola Marymount was UAA's third-leading scorer (11.4 ppg), tallying double digits on 17 occasions ... Walker also led the Seawolves with three double-doubles ... So. G Lonnie Ridgeway had 14 double-digit scoring efforts after posting none as a redshirt freshman on UAA's 2007-08 Final 4 squad ... the Anchorage native ranked 19th in the GNAC in both FG% (.512) and FT% (.767) ... Ridgeway improved his offensive numbers to 10.0 ppg and .542 FG% in GNAC contests ... Jr. G Darren Nye led the Seawolves with a 1.62-1 assist-turnover ratio ... the JC transfer was also one of the team's top percentage shooters (.510 FG, .474 3FG).
INJURY REPORT: UAA was bit hard by the injury bug early in the season, losing Jr. F Casey Robinson (knee) for the year and learning Jr. G/F Chris Neal would be severely limited due to a chronic back condition ... Robinson, who led UAA with 15.0 ppg through the first three contests, hurt his MCL in a mid-November practice and had surgery Nov. 26 ... Sr. C Jeremiah Trueman missed the GNAC opener against Northwest Nazarene with an ankle sprain.
PRESEASON PREDCITIONS: UAA was picked to finish third in the 8th annual GNAC preseason coaches' poll. The Seawolves, who were correctly picked to win last year's title, came in behind Central Washington and Western Washington:
Pl Team (1st place votes) 07-08 Records Pts Actual Finish
1. Central Washington (7) 21-7, 15-3 86 2
2. Western Washington (2) 15-12, 8-10 61 1
3. Alaska Anchorage 29-6, 16-2 58 5
4. Seattle Pacific 21-8, 12-6 53 3
5. Northwest Nazarene 17-10, 9-9 50 6-t
6. Saint Martin's 13-14, 8-10 40 4
7. Western Oregon 15-12, 8-10 29 8
8. Montana State Billings 1-28, 1-17 22 6-t
9. Alaska Fairbanks 5-22, 2-16 17 9
SEAWOLVES 7th AT SHOOTOUT: The Seawolves finished 1-2 at the 31st annual Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout, suffering narrow losses to Hampton and Northern Illinois before beating Louisiana Tech for 7th place ... in the first game, UAA was led by career-high scoring efforts from So. G Brandon Walker (23 pts, 7-12 FG, 4-7 3FG) and Sr. C Jeremiah Trueman (21 pts, 9-11 FG, 6 reb), while Sr. G Kenny Barker grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds in the 69-61 loss ... in the consolation semifinals, UAA led for the middle portion of the game until Huskies F Sean Smith nailed four 3FGs in 3-plus minutes to down the Seawolves 71-68. UAA was paced by 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists from Barker, while Walker scored 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and 4 steals. So. G Kevin White (12 points) and Jeremiah Trueman (10 points) also reached double digits ... on the final day, Barker scored 17 of his game-high 23 points after halftime to lead UAA to a 62-57 victory over the Bulldogs in the 7th-place game. Barker also tallied 11 rebounds, 5 assists and sank the game-clinching free throws with 8 seconds left. Meanwhile, So. G Lonnie Ridgeway added a career-high 13 points, and Trueman added 7 points (3-6 FG) and a season-high 3 rebounds. The smaller Seawolves were able to outrebound the Bulldogs by a significant margin, 46-32, and shot 9 of 21 on 3FGs ... the victory over La. Tech meant the Seawolves avoided going winless in back-to-back Shootouts for the just the second time in 31 years (1981 & '82).
SEAWOLVES IN THE SHOOTOUT: The Seawolves, the only Division II team and the only school to appear in every Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout, now sport a 29-64 (.312) all-time mark in the tournament, including 7-14 in the last seven years ... the Seawolves have won at least one game in 25 of the 31 Shootouts, including a string of 13 straight from 1985-97 ... UAA's best finish has been 4th place, accomplished four times (1986, 1987, 1991, 2003) ... UAA has pulled first-round upsets four times (Maine 1996, Wake Forest 1993, Texas Tech 1990, and Pacific 1979) ... here is a list of the other teams UAA has beaten at the Shootout: Auburn (1989), Canisius (2003), Dayton (1992), Grambling State (1999), High Point (2004), Idaho (1991), Iona (1988), Jackson State (1994), Louisiana Tech (2008), Miami, Fla. (1987), Missouri (1985), Missouri-Kansas City (2006), Montana (2002), New Mexico (1983), Nicholls State (1980), Notre Dame (1998), Penn State (1978), Rhode Island (2000), Santa Clara (1991), Southern Illinois (2005), Texas State (1987, 2003), Texas (1986), TCU (1995) and Washington (1986).
LOOK OUT, GOLIATH: After going 1-2 this year, Division II UAA now owns a 49-129 all-time record against Division I opponents ... the Seawolves' biggest upset came during the 1988-89 campaign when they beat then-No. 2 and undefeated Michigan, 70-66, at the Utah Seiko Classic. The Wolverines went on to win the NCAA title that year ... UAA has beaten at least one Division I school in 22 of the last 24 seasons.
2008-09 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Kenny Barker
Preseason Honorable Mention All-American, Division II Bulletin
Carrs/Safeway Player of the Game vs Louisiana Tech, 11/29
Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team, 11/29
GNAC honorable mention Player of the Week, 11/30, 2/1 & 2/22
GNAC co-Player of the Week, 12/15
All-GNAC First Team, 3/9
Jeremiah Trueman
GNAC honorable mention Player of the Week, 1/5
All-GNAC Honorable Mention, 3/9
Kevin White
GNAC honorable mention Player of the Week, 3/8
2008-09 DOUBLE-DOUBLES
(points/rebounds unless otherwise noted)
Brandon Walker (3): 18/11 vs Saint Leo, 12/17
23/17 vs Lincoln Christian, 1/3
13/10 vs Central Washington, 1/10
Kenny Barker (2): 23/11 vs Louisiana Tech, 11/29
29/11 vs Virginia State, 12/12
Jeremiah Trueman (1): 25/10 vs Saint Leo, 12/16
