Aggies set at point guard
Editor’s note: This is part one of a four-part series previewing the men’s basketball team. This article will preview the point guard position.
With all the unknowns the Utah State men’s basketball team faces heading into the 2011-12 season, the point guard looks to be the most solid position.
Brockeith Pane — who was tabbed by media members as the Preseason Player of the Year — will most likely keep the starting point guard position he earned as a junior. The 6-foot-1 senior from Dallas averaged nearly 12 points and four assists per game and earned the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player award.
“That’s pretty accurate with Brockeith getting so many minutes last year,” said associate coach Tim Duryea.
Despite losing six seniors, Pane said he’s confident the newcomers and those who took a red shirt last season will be ready to perform at a high level.
“This school is accustomed to winning, so not much has changed,” he said. “We’re young but we’re accustomed to winning. Nothing has really changed. We lost six seniors that we’re going to miss in key ways, but we’ve got a lot of guys that are going to step up and be ready to play.”
Pane also noted the ability of several players on the squad to be talented at different positions.
“We have a lot of people that can play multiple positions,” he said. “Preston Medlin is playing the one and two, Antonio (Bumpus) is playing the two and three. We have a lot of key guys that have been in the system and haven’t gotten to play. They are excited to be ready to play. We’ve got new guys excited to be in the Spectrum excited to be on the road and face other opponents. We’ve just got to be ready to play.”
One question that is still left to be answered is: Who will back up Pane at the point guard position? Junior guard E.J. Farris constantly battled with true-freshman James Walker last season for the back up position, but USU head coach Stew Morrill ended up using both Walker and Farris in the rotation often.
“There is still a question at back up, but hopefully with a year under E.J. Farris’s belt — guys usually make a huge improvement in the second year in our system — we’re looking for some more consistent play,” Duryea said. “He had some bright spots last year, but he was also really inconsistent.”
Walker left the team shortly after the end of the season, which seemed to leave the back up locked up with Farris. But the addition of freshman Sam Orchard, who was last year’s Utah 4A State Player of the Year and lead his team to the state championship, along with the eligibility of Preston Medlin, who red shirted last season, has brought up the question: Who will play the position?
“He’s battling for minutes, and if he’s the guy that ends up earning some minutes, then I don’t think Coach will hesitate to play him,” Duryea said, of Orchard. “On the other hand we do have some experience, so it’s probably in his best interest in the long term to red shirt.”
Medlin learned the shooting guard and small forward positions last year during practice as a red-shirt sophomore and according to Duryea, Medlin looks to be a great combo guard, who can run the point guard position or play the two-guard position.
“He is really comfortable,” Duryea said, of Medlin at the point guard position. “He red shirted last year, but we did the same with him. In practice, we made him learn the two and the three. He really knows our system well. He’s been here for two years. He’s got a high basketball IQ. He’s just a guard. He’s kind of an old-time guard. He can dribble it, pass it, shoot it — he doesn’t really have a number.”
Farris also battled with Pane and Walker — part of a three-man battle to replace former Aggie Jared Quayle last season — and received limited playing time after Pane won the starting position. The sophomore averaged nearly two points per game and shot 33 percent from the field and 3-point range.
“He’s a much better shooter than what he showed in games last year,” Duryea said, of Farris. “You look at his percentages at the end of the year and they are not indicative of really how good of a shooter he is from three. We need his floor game to be solid — run the team, don’t turn the ball over, make really simple plays and when you have open shots, you need to knock those down. From 3-point range he needs to be a 40-percent-plus shooter.”
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu