‘Niners picked 8th in Big West coaches’ poll

At Big West Conference Media Day, league coaches continually used one word: "parity."

In a conference where traditionally just one team has a real shot at an NCAA tournament bid, coaches are going out of their way to schedule tough non-conference opponents in an effort to boost their school's national recognition and make their team ready for league competition.

Long Beach State is no exception. The 49ers open with two very tough opponents on the road traveling to BYU and Wisconsin. They also travel to Syracuse and Oregon and host Temple before playing even one Big West game.

Other schools in the conference will take on some big-time programs, as well. CS Fullerton plays Wake Forest and LSU, UC Irvine opens up at Southern California and CS Northridge plays at Stanford.

The Big West was 0-11 against the Pac-10 last season.

The biggest non-conference game by far takes place in Santa Barbara where the Gauchos host unanimous preseason No. 1 North Carolina in a rematch of a UNC blowout win last year in Chapel Hill.

School (2007-2008 Records - Overall, Big West)

No. 8 Long Beach State (6-25, 3-13)

With the departure of Larry Reynolds and nearly all of the talent from Long Beach's run to the NCAA tournament in 2006-07, new coach Dan Monson and the 49ers had a very rough go of it last season.

The one bright spot was the emergence of Donovan Morris. The transfer guard from Fresno State led the league in scoring and is the only first-team All-Big West selection to return from last season.

The one-man wrecking crew averaged 21.2 points per game but could be even more effective with a better team around him that demands more defensive attention elsewhere.

This year's squad looks to be a much more balanced group and the freshman recruiting class has a ton of promise.

Point guard Casper Ware is "one of the two or three strongest guards I have ever played with," according to Morris and he joins Maurice Clady and Greg Plater, a Big West freshman team selection a year ago, in the 49er backcourt.

Also in the mix is Colorado State transfer Stephan Gilling. The sharp shooter sat out last season after transferring but has great range.

Where LBSU could really thrive is at the forward position. Three new, big and athletic freshmen look to light up the Walter Pyramid.

Led by Larry Anderson, a 6-foot-6-inch Long Beach native, the 49ers are going to take on another dimension this season. Eugene Phelps and T.J. Robinson should be able to play inside and out, score and most importantly rebound. Along with Anderson, the tremendous trio should make some serious noise the next four years in the Big West.

Senior forward Cornel Williams will probably get the nod early on as Monson eases in the young guys and he provides a steady leadership and outside touch. Junior forward Arturas Lazdauskas got some valuable playing time last season and should be a solid contributor off the bench.

Down low, 6-foot-10-inch senior Brian Freeman and 7-footer Andrew Fleming provide the size in the middle. Mike Vantrimpont, listed as a 7-foot freshman center, joins the 49ers after two years of playing overseas in France.

Sound off: Head coach Dan Monson on last year's struggles and building on them ... "I think last year — and this sounds funny to say — I was hoping we could win more games than that but I wasn't disappointed in where our program was ... I think guys learned what I expected of them and they gave that effort every night. The expectations I have, the guys are meeting those right now."

The rest of the Big West, in order of preseason coaches' poll ranking:

No. 1 CS Northridge (20-10, 12-4)

Northridge was easily the pick du jour at Media Day. Coming off another 20-win season, the Matadors bring back a trio of talented players.

Tremaine Townsend led the conference in rebounding and blocked shots last year while Cabrillo grad Deon Tresvant was named the Best Sixth Man in the league and drained almost three 3-pointers per game.

Both were second-team all-league selections last season and were picked as preseason first-team performers. Josh Jenkins, the conference leader in assists, returns to an experienced team that features five seniors and eight juniors who are hungry after falling short last spring.

Sound off: Head coach Bobby Braswell on LBSU ... "By the end of the year, Long Beach State was playing as well as anybody and they could beat anybody. I think that they are gonna be a whole lot better than last year."

No. 2 UC Santa Barbara (23-9, 12-4)

The Gauchos had a tremendous season in 2007-08. Led by great 3-point shooting and a stingy defense that was tops in the league, UC Santa Barbara won a school record 23 games.

The Gauchos fell to Mississippi in the opening game of the NIT.

Sixth-year senior Chris Devine has tallied over 1,000 points in his career at Santa Barbara and the three time All-Big West honoree is the leader of the team. Junior guard James Powell scored over 12 points per game last year.

There will be some strong competition for playing time between some of the younger guys including transfers and freshman.

Sound off: Head coach Bob Williams on his team's outside shooting ... "We are concerned with perimeter shooting. We were one of the better perimeter-shooting teams in the country last year ... With the 3-point line being moved back, we really have two guys that are very good shooters in Jordan [Weiner] and James [Powell] and then we have some capable shooters but the 3-ball won't be as big a part of our game."