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LOCATION: Moraga, CA
CONFERENCE: West Coast
LAST SEASON: 13-18 (.419)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 5-9 (6th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Gaels
COLORS: Blue & Red
HOMECOURT: McKeon Pavilion (3,500)
COACH: Dave Bolwinkel (Cal '72)
record at school 25-33 (2 years)
career record 83-116 (7 years)
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ASSISTANTS: David Carter (Saint Mary's '89)
Kyle Manary (Stephen F. Austin '95)
Tim Murphy (Colorado State '84)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 18-12-23-12-13
RPI (last 5 years) 96-146-92-187-204
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference semifinal.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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At 7-3 and 345 pounds, Brad Millard is the largest player in Division I basketball. He's also a larger-than-life figure on the Saint Mary's campus. When Millard is healthy, there is magic in Moraga. The Gaels went to the NCAA Tournament in 1996-'97. Millard averaged 12.4 points and fought Wake Forest's Tim Duncan to a draw. Then he all but disappeared, and that isn't easy when you are roughly the size of a Ford Explorer. Millard's nagging foot injuries kept him out of all but two games in 1997-98 and all but three games last season. That's five games in two years for the school record-holder in career blocked shots (113) and single-season blocks (92 in '96-97). Given all that, coach Dave Bollwinkel understands the constant questions about Millard's twice-broken, size-26 left foot. "That is the big question," Bollwinkel said. "He stayed off of it in the spring and summer to make sure everything is healed to the max. He's told me he can do anything he wants to do." Pete Newell, the venerable ex-Cal coach, stuck Millard with the nickname "Big Continent." Bollwinkel can't help but laugh. "If that's true, then he's Atlantis, because he's been lost for years," Bollwinkel said.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C+ BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT B INTANGIBLES C+
Brad Millard is the most dominant force in the league, but he has to remain standing on two healthy size-26 feet for the Gaels to contend. Even if the big guy is completely injury-free, Saint Mary's probably lost too much scoring to reload for a title push. The league is simply too strong at the top. On the other hand, if you were a top-seeded Gonzaga, or a top-seeded Santa Clara, would you want to face Saint Mary's in the first or second round of the tournament? Didn't think so. Millard's up-and-down college career is coming to a close. He wants to go out in style, and at 7-3 and 345 pounds, it's wise to let him go wherever he wants. |
Now he's back. And Bollwinkel, understandably, is crossing his fingers and toes. This is a Bay Area version of My Left Foot that could have dramatic repercussions in his coaching career. "Is he 100 percent?" Bollwinkel asks rhetorically. "No. . . . Do I want him to be? No. Not yet. We're going to be patient with him. But assuming he's healthy and there's nothing to indicate he won't be then obviously he's the most dominant player in the league and it's nice to have him back. He changes the game." And he changes the Gaels' season outlook. Saint Mary's is picked fourth, but this could be a formidable team with four starters back, including outstanding 5-10 senior point guard Frank Allocco (12.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 152 assists, 26 steals). Millard has already demonstrated a flair for the dramatic. Late last season, Millard approached Bollwinkel about playing in the Gaels' final regular-season game and the conference tournament. "Basically, the doctor and everyone else told me I shouldn't try to play," Millard said. The doctor's advice was ignored. "I was impatient," Millard said. "I hadn't played in two years. The seniors that I came in with were playing their last home game, and I wanted to play for them. There were a lot of reasons to do it." Millard wasn't in basketball shape. He told writers he wasn't "within 50 percent" of his normal ability. But he gutted it out and helped Saint Mary's reach a tournament semifinal. The Gaels lost 6-9 forward Eric Schraeder (19.8 ppg) and 6-2 guard Frank Knight (10.2 ppg) to graduation. They return Millard, Allocco, 6-7 senior forward Josh Greer (9.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg), 6-6 senior forward Seth Dahle (3.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg), 6-1 junior guard Frankie King (1.7 ppg) and 6-9 senior center Jesse Bond (1.8 rpg). Allocco scored a career-high 31 points against Gonzaga in the WCC semifinals. As SMU's top returning scorer, he ranked second in the conference in total minutes (1011) and he was in the WCC's top five in three-pointers (77) and assists. In any other year, Allocco is the conference's top point guard. But Gonzaga has Matt Santangelo and Santa Clara returns Brian Jones. Still, Bollwinkel wouldn't trade his guy. "We may not be as potent offensively with Schraeder gone, but with the ball in Frank's hands we're pretty good," Bollwinkel said. King is a tough, 193-pounder who Bollwinkel calls, "Frank's body guard." Dahle is the Gaels' best defender. "And he's really improved facing the basket," Bollwinkel said. The new faces are 6-10 freshman Ross Benson, who averaged 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds last year at Cascade High in Everett, Wash.; 6-3 freshman guard Jovan Harris (15.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.0 apg) and 6-4 junior transfer guard K.T. Turner (13.4 ppg). Harris, who played for El Ceritto High, was All East Bay as chosen by the Oakland Tribune. Turner comes from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, where he led his team to a 50-14 record in two years. "We'll be better in the second half of the season as the young guys mature," Bollwinkel said, noting the versatile Turner can fill big-guard and small-forward roles. There is no question Saint Mary's will be a better defensive team with Millard swatting shots away in the middle. If Big Continent gets his offensive game back and throws a few jump-hooks in, all the better.
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