Spartans report: Strategy and personnel
 

The Sports Xchange
 
 
Strategy and personnel · Notes, quotes · Getting inside
 

THE GOOD NEWS
Freshman point guard Justin Graham averaged 10.7 points and 2.9 assists. Those numbers likely would have been better if not for an elbow injury in mid-January that caused him to miss several games and then re-start when he came back. Sophomore posts C.J. Webster and Chris Oakes have two more seasons of playing together -- could they eventually be like Boise State's Matt Nelson and Reggie Larry were this season? Washington transfer guard Adrian Oliver, who will have three seasons of eligibility left, is on the program's most highly touted recruits ever.

THE BAD NEWS
The long-term future of the program looks good, as coach George Nessman looks to build through high school recruits and a smattering of transfers. In the short term, what SJSU needs for next season is more outside shooting. The Spartans were last in the WAC in three-point percentage (32.2) and in three-pointers made per game (4.06).

KEY RETURNEES
Eight of the team's nine top scorers are scheduled to return next season. The biggest lost will be guard Jamon Hill, who averaged 6.7 points and started 15 games. But SJSU can claim to return all five starters who share the wealth on offense. Check out the scoring averages: C C.J. Webster (11.3), F Tim Pierce (11.2), PG Justin Graham (10.7), PF Chris Oakes (10.3), G DaShawn Wright (10.1). SJSU would like to see more next season out of post backup Oliver Caballero.

ROSTER REPORT

--Sophomore C C.J. Webster, a transfer from Texas State, was selected to the five-man WAC All-Newcomer team. Webster led the Spartans in scoring at 11.3 points and was second with 6.8 rebounds. He shot 50.5 percent from the field and also was one of the better passing post players in the league, with 68 assists and just 56 turnovers.

--PG Justin Graham, who averaged 32.0 minutes as a freshman, set a school freshman record with 29 points against Hawaii on Jan. 5. He is one of three SJSU freshmen ever to average double-digit points.

--G Adrian Oliver, a Washington transfer, enrolled at SJSU for the spring semester and will be eligible in December of next season. He was a top 100 recruit out of Modesto, Calif., who also had offers out of high school from Kentucky and Kansas. He started 13 games at UW as a freshman in 2006-07. "We have a lot of confidence that he'll be able to make a substantial contribution while he is here" SJSU coach George Nessman said.

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