Conference preview: Big Sky

When you talk Big Sky Conference, you start with Rodney Stuckey.

As a freshman in '05-06, the Eastern Washington guard led the league in scoring with 24.2 points per game, earning Big Sky Player of the year honors -- a conference first for a freshman.

And that was with Stuckey playing out of position.

Eastern Washington coach Mike Burns, whose Eagles went 15-15 (9-5 Big Sky) last season, responded by installing a more up-tempo offense, not to mention finding a point guard so Stuckey could play his more natural position, the two.

But Stuckey, Burns and the Eagles have to get by Big Sky stalwarts Montana and Northern Arizona for the coveted NCAA berth.

Montana returns three starters from a team that made its second consecutive NCAA appearance. And the Grizzlies (24-7, 10-4 Big Sky) didn't just get there, they did some damage. They knocked off No. 5 seed Nevada 87-79 in the first round before losing to Boston College by 13 in the second. The Grizzlies, who went 13-1 at home, welcome back Andrew Strait (6-feet-8, 245 pounds). The junior forward put up 16.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season. His teammate on the block, Jordan Hasquet, is also solid and looking to improve upon his 8.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg numbers as a freshman.

But success came with a price as Montana lost its high-profile coach. Coach Larry Krystkowiak, a former NBA veteran, accepted a position with the Milwaukee Bucks. His successor is assistant Wayne Tinkle, one of five new coaches in the league along with Weber State (Randy Rahe), Idaho State (Joe O'Brien), Northern Colorado (Tad Boyel) and Montana State (Brad Huse). Montana State coach Mick Durham stepped down after 16 seasons, retiring with more conference and overall victories than any coach in Big Sky history.

Northern Colorado joins the Big Sky in '06-07 to make the conference nine strong. But under NCAA guidelines, Northern Colorado won't be able to win the regular season or claim the conference berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Bears went 5-24 as a Division I independent last season.

In the middle of the Big Sky there's a three- to four-team logjam with Portland State, Sacramento State, Weber State and Montana State all vying for attention. Portland State, despite coming off a disappointing 12-16 season, has senior leadership with sharpshooter Juma Kamara (48-for-91 from behind arc, 11.4 ppg) and center Anthony Washington (10.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg). Weber State's program got turned on its head with the hiring of Rahe with many player departures; he has just two players returning from the '05-06 roster.

Sac State will lean on All-Big Sky forward Alex Bausley (13.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and sophomore Loren Leath (11.6 ppg, 38 percent from 3-point range). Montana State has to replace three starters, returns just four letter winners and will look to JC guard Mecklen Davis (Cuesta College).

Team to beat

Northern Arizona: NAU returns nine players from last season's 20-11 (12-2 Big Sky) team, and while the Lumberjacks lost the school's all-time leading scorer, Kelly Golob, senior sharpshooter Steven Sir (11.1 ppg) returns after he was granted another year of eligibility. Sir, the nation's leader in 3-point field goal percentage last season, was given an extra year after a sports hernia shut him down in 2003-04. Sir hit 98 3s at a 48.9 percent clip in '05-06.

The Lumberjacks also return a pair of experienced seniors, Big Sky Newcomer of the Year Tyron Bazy (11.5 ppg) and conference leading rebounder Ruben Boykin Jr. (13.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg).

All this from a team that won the regular-season title before losing in the Big Sky Tournament title game 73-60 to No. 2 seed Montana, despite playing at home as No. 1.

But the experience isn't limited to the players. Mike Adras enters his eighth year as coach, and he signed a three-year extension in the offseason that will keep him in Flagstaff until 2009. Given the turnover elsewhere in the conference, the Lumberjacks are somewhat a model of consistency.

That experience will come in handy in early-season tests. NAU opens the season at Kansas before playing at Arizona State and Arizona in a quest for its first NCAA berth since 2000.

Watch out for

Weber State: Weber State is a team to look out for because of its major rebuilding project. While NAU, Montana and Eastern Washington return key players from last season, the Wildcats are basically a new team, a new quagmire -- coming off a horrible season (10-17, 4-10 Big Sky).

Cue new coach Rahe, a former assistant at neighboring schools Utah State and most recently Utah, who cleaned house in the offseason. After explaining his tough-love, student-athlete philosophy, only three players decided to stick around Ogden, Utah, including two with any court time. Much-hyped St. John's transplant Melvin Tyler-Jones, who sat out last season due to transfer rules, wasn't one of them, and that absence of a true five could be troublesome.

Weber State returns veteran forward David Patten, who started 18 games with averages of 10.8 points and 5.1. Other than that, it's an amalgamation of juco transfers, namely Daviin Davis (Midland CC), Eric Turner (City College of San Francisco) and Jamaine Nance (Central Florida CC).

While the Wildcats can't get much worse in conference play -- their 4-10 mark tied Idaho State for worst in the conference, missing the postseason tourney for just the second time in school history -- a strong foundation is being set for the future. Sooner or later? It's anybody's guess.

Player of the Year

Rodney Stuckey, Eastern Washington: This is an easy call. In his first year of college ball, Stuckey showed NBA skills, working through double teams and box-and-ones en route to that 24.2 scoring average.

Stuckey scored a school-record 45 points against Northern Arizona in his Big Sky debut. He put up 38 in the Eagles' first-round win vs. Portland State in the Big Sky Tournament before Montana bounced Eastern Washington by two in overtime; Stuckey missed a jumper at the end of regulation that would have won it. Still, the Eagles won seven of their last nine Big Sky games to close out the year.

Ranked No. 6 in the nation in the CBS SportsLine.com shooting guard rankings, Stuckey was the Washington high school player of the year in 2004. He sat out the 2004-05 season due to academic issues, which also kept him from being recruited by in-state powers Washington and Washington State.

If the Eagles make it to the Big Dance, it will be because of the 6-5 guard from Kent, Wash. But before that, Stuckey will be tested in EWU's biggest nonconference games: at Gonzaga on Nov. 10, at Washington on Nov. 24 and at Oregon on Dec. 15.