Nov. 22, 2006
Next Up for the Broncos
Santa Clara University returns home to the Leavey Center to play the Nevada Wolf Pack Saturday night in the first of three straight games against Western Athletic Conference opponents. The game against the Wolf Pack tips off at 7:00 p.m. PT at the Leavey Center. The Broncos are looking for their third straight home win after beating Holy Names and Utah in their first two home games of the season. Santa Clara won the last meeting between the two teams 67-62 in 2002.The game will be aired on tape delay on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 4:00 p.m. PT on Comcast SportsNet.
Last Game for the Broncos
The Broncos got off to a quick start against Cal on Monday night at Haas Pavilion but a 23-4 Cal run to end the first half put the Bears in control and they won going away 73-48. Sean Denison had another strong game for the Broncos, pouring in 16 points and grabbing seven rebounds. SCU got out to a seven-point first half lead, but Cal took control at the end of the half to lead 38-24 going into the locker room. In the second half, the Broncos could not get closer than 12.
SCU vs. Nevada
Series Record: SCU leads 34-24
First Meeting: Nevada 30-24 win on Mar. 1, 1913
Record at SCU: SCU leads 21-7
Record at Nevada: Nevada leads 17-12
Record at Neutral Site: SCU leads 1-0
Biggest SCU Win: 98-54, Jan. 8, 1972
Biggest Nevada Win: 92-61, Dec. 16, 1985
Dick Davey vs. Nevada: 4-2
Notes: Nevada played in the WCC from 1969-79 ... SCU won the last meeting 67-62 on Dec. 14, 2002 at the Leavey Center ... SCU has won eight straight games over Nevada at home, last losing to the Wolf Pack at Toso Pavilion/Leavey Center 72-71 on Dec. 13, 1980 ... Nevada won the WAC last season and reached the NCAA Tournament ... the Wolf Pack had a 27-6 record in 2005-06 ... Wolf Pack senior Nick Fazekas recently became the school's all-time leading scorer passing Edgar Jones' 1,877 for first all-time ... Fazekas is the two-time defending WAC Player of the Year ... Wolf Pack assistant coach David Carter played for Saint Mary's from 1985-89, while Bronco head coach Dick Davey was an assistant at SCU ... Carter was also an assistant at Saint Mary's from 1997-99.
Denison Continues To Post Big Numbers
Senior power forward Sean Denison has had a great start to the 2006-07 season. Moving over to the power forward spot this year, he has averaged 16 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He had a career high 20 against Utah on Nov. 18 and followed that up with 16 against California on Monday. He missed 11 games last season due to a stress fracture in his foot, but healthy once again he is leading the Broncos in scoring. He is also shooting .622 from the field.
Rebounding Guards, Passing Forward
Despite the loss to Cal on Monday night, three Broncos did show some versatility against the Bears. Junior guard Brody Angley tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven, while fellow guard Danny Pariseau had six. Small forward Mitch Henke led the Broncos in assists with five against the Bears. On the season, Henke is second on the team with 13 assists.
New Backcourt
After starting Brody Angley and Calvin Johnson in the backcourt in the first game of the year, Bronco head coach Dick Davey inserted senior transfer Danny Pariseau into the lineup in place of Johnson on Nov. 18 vs. Utah. SCU now has two excellent ballhandlers under six-feet tall in the backcourt. The move has worked for both Johnson and Pariseau. In his first game coming off the bench, Johnson scored 18 points against Utah on 6-for-10 shooting. Pariseau got off to a great start also as the senior transfer had 12 points and eight assists in his first start.
Pariseau Takes Care Of Ball
Senior transfer Danny Pariseau has made an immediate impact this season for the Broncos. Through three games, the former Eastern Washington point guard has dished out 17 assists and committed only four turnovers, while also averaging 7.3 points per game.
Home Start
The Broncos are looking to open up 3-0 at home for ths second straight season on Saturday night against Nevada. Last year, SCU won its first four home games before losing to Montana. The team finished the season with a 9-5 record at home.
Home and Away
The Broncos have started the season with a stretch of five out of six games at home, including three home games in five days beginning Saturday night against Nevada. Following the game against Hawai'i on Nov. 29, SCU then plays five out of six games on the road, beginning with the Price Cutter Classic in Springfield, Mo. on Dec. 1 and 2.
WAC Week
The Broncos will take on three Western Athletic Conference teams in five days at the Leavey Center. Following the game against Nevada on Saturday night, the Broncos will face the San Jose State Spartans on Monday, Nov. 27 and then take on the Rainbow Warriors of Hawai'i on Wednesday, Nov. 29. Last season, the Broncos split two games against WAC opponents, beating San Jose State 47-46 and losing to Hawaii 67-57.
Man in the Middle
Bronco center John Bryant had a tough match-up Monday night going up against Cal's Devon Hardin. However, the San Pablo native had a solid game scoring eight points, grabbing seven rebounds and blocking three shots. He is second on the Broncos in rebounding and first in blocks this season.
Kaempf Sees First Action
Senior guard Joey Kaempf made his first appearance of the season at California on Monday night. He missed the season-opener on Nov. 14 against Holy Names due to a concussion suffered in the team's exhibition game on Nov. 12 against Notre Dame de Namur. While medically cleared to play on Nov. 18 against Utah, he did not see any action. Kaempf played eight minutes against Cal.
Hitting the Boards
Despite the loss to Cal, the Broncos showed that they will be a tough team in the paint as they outrebounded the Bears 41-33 for the game. SCU got 17 offensive rebounds in the game giving them 43 for the season. Small foward Mitch Henke leads the team with 16 rebounds this year.
Welcome Back
The Broncos welcome two key players back for the 2006-07 season as both Scott Dougherty and Trsitan Parham are healthy again after injuries wiped out their 2005-06 campaigns. A foot injury kept Dougherty out all season. As a sophomore in 2004-05, he saw action in 29 games. Parham played only two games last season in what was to be his final season, but he was granted a medical redshirt due to a knee injury.
First Double-Double
After a breakout sophomore season, junior Mitch Henke continued his strong play in season opener against Holy Names as he scored 11 points and hauled in 11 rebounds to post his first career double-double. The 11 rebounds were also a career high for Henke.
Familiar Face
Bronco fans may recognize a familier face on the Broncos staff this season. Jamie Holmes, who played four seasons for the Broncos before graduating in 2001, is now the team's director of basketball operations. Holmes averaged 9.8 points per game for his career, including 13.6 his senior season. In his final year, he helped lead SCU to a 20-win season playing alongside the school's No. 3 all-time leading scorer, Brian Jones. Following his time at Santa Clara, Holmes played professionally overseas, including stops in the Netherlands and Australia.
Television Appearances
Santa Clara will be making 11 television appearances in 2006-07 both regionally and nationally. The Broncos are scheduled to appear three times on ESPN channels. SCU appears on ESPNU on Jan. 29 against the Pepperdine Waves and on Feb. 5 against the University of San Francisco Dons. Both games tip off at 8:00 p.m. PT. Santa Clara will then appear on ESPN2 on Feb. 12 at Gonzaga at 9:00 p.m. PT. Locally, Santa Clara has six television appearances on Comcast SportsNet, a package which includes non-conference games against California and Pacific and West Coast Conference games against Saint Mary's (twice), San Francisco and San Diego. SCU will also make one appearance on CSTV on Feb. 24 at Loyola Marymount and one appearance on Fox Sports Net (Bay Area) on Jan. 13 vs. Gonzaga. The total package is one of the most comprehensive in recent history for the Broncos.
Moving to the Four
After three seasons playing center for the Broncos, senior Sean Denison makes the shift this season to the power forward position, while sophomore John Bryant and junior Josh Higgins man the middle. Denison is looking for a big final season at SCU after increasing both his scoring and rebounding averages in each of his first three seasons. He has gotten off to a good start, averaging 16 points per game through three games this season.
Experienced
The Broncos are lucky to count on five fifth-year players on this season's roster. Scott Dougherty, Joey Kaempf, Tristan Parham, Danny Pariseau and Brandon Rohe all entered college in the fall of 2002. Due to injuries or redshirting, all five players still remain and hope to make an impact in their final season at SCU. While Dougherty technically has another year of eligibility left, he will likely finish his career this season.
Angley Aims For Top 10
Junior point guard Brody Angley has 11 assists on the season, giving him 234 career assists and leaving him less than 100 assists away from cracking the Broncos all-time top 10 in that category. He needs 75 assists to pass Chris Lane (1984-88) and move into 10th all time.
Henke Makes the Leap
Of all the players that showed considerable improvement last season, Mitch Henke stands out above the rest. From his freshman to sophomore season, Henke improved his scoring average from 2.1 to 9.4 and started all 29 games after starting just one game as a freshman. Henke also bumped his rebounding total up from 1.9 to 5.6 while handing out 68 assists as a sophomore. He nearly posted a triple-double against Loyola Marymount at home, putting up 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. He was the team's third leading scorer and one of the top three-point shooters. The Edina, Minn. native will look to have an even better year as a junior in 2006-07.
Brother in College Basketball
Junior Mitch Henke has a brother that is also competing in Division I college basketball. Henke's brother, Andrew, is a sophomore on the Air Force Academy men's basketball team. He appeared in 25 games as a freshman last year. Air Force is one of the teams in this year's Cable Car Classic, so if both the Broncos and the Falcons win their first game, Mitch and Andrew will go head to head in the championship game on Dec. 29 at the Leavey Center.
WCC's Best Backfield?
The Broncos guard duo of Brody Angley and Calvin Johnson just might be one of the best football backfields in college basketball once again. The two combined for more than 11,000 yards of total offense in high school. Angley was the Northern Section's career leader with 4,650 total yards at Enterprise (Redding, Calif.) HS. Angley was recruited in high school by California's head coach Jeff Tedford. Johnson was an all-state quarterback and defensive back at Class A Morton (Texas) HS. He passed for 3,661 yards and rushed for 2,766 in two seasons and led the Indians to two playoff appearances.
Four Starters Back
Santa Clara has four out of its five starters back for the 2006-07 season as Brody Angley, Sean Denison, Mitch Henke and Calvin Johnson are all back after starting most of the games last year. This year's expected fifth starter, John Bryant, does not lack experience as he appeared in 29 games and started 14 as a freshman in 2005-06.
Kaempf Back Again
Last season, walk-on Joey Kaempf was one of the feel-good stories of the year, earning a spot on the team after impressing coaches in a preseason game pitting a group of current students against some aspiring walk-ons. Kaempf impressed the coaches so much that they invited him to join the team even though he was not officially trying out. In his first season as a senior, Kaempf appeared in 24 games and started five. In the final game of the year against Saint Mary's at the WCC Tournament, he scored 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds. After such an inspiring season, the political science major opted to return to SCU for a fifth year in 2006-07.
Back With KNTS
The Broncos and KNTS have partnered for the third straight season to bring Bronco basketball to the Bay Area airwaves. Santa Clara will have most of its men's basketball games broadcast live on KNTS, including a 30-minute pre-game show. All games will be available on the Internet at SantaClaraBroncos.com.
Davey Wins At Home
Dick Davey owns a 131-58 home record in his 15-year career at Santa Clara for a .693 winning percentage. He recorded a 73-27 (.730) record in Toso Pavilion and has a 58-31 (.652) mark in the Leavey Center since the state-of-the-art building "re-opened" on Dec. 13, 2000.
Davey is "Dean" of Coaches
In his 15th season at Santa Clara, Dick Davey owns the distinction of being the longest-tenured coach in the WCC as well as the longest among Division I college coaches in the Bay Area. He is also the second-longest tenured coach among Division I institutions in the state of California behind Bob Thomason of Pacific (19th). Behind Davey in the WCC is San Diego's Brad Holland (13), while California's Ben Braun (11) is the next highest in the Bay Area. Davey's 232 total wins are also a league-high and his 112 league wins are tied for the second-most in WCC history.
Davey Among Best Ever
Dick Davey owns the second-most wins for a Bronco head basketball coach in Santa Clara history. Davey, who surpassed Bob Feerick last season, owns a 232-181 overall record in his 15th season at SCU. Carroll Williams is the all-time Santa Clara leader with a 344-274 mark in 22 seasons. Davey is also the second-longest tenured coach in SCU history, behind Williams and just ahead of Feerick.
Former Santa Clara AD to Chair Division I Basketball Committee
Former Santa Clara University Director of Athletics Tom O'Connor has been named the chair of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee, pending approval from the Division I Championship/Competition Cabinet in February. O'Connor is currently the assistant vice president and athletics director at George Mason University in Virginia. O'Connor served as the athletic director for the Broncos from 1986-1992 before moving on to Saint Bonaventure. Carroll Williams succeeded O'Connor in 1992 and stayed in that role until 1999.
