Wildcats are coming on

Kevin McCarthy
 

Chico has generally not been considered ground zero for basketballers searching for their mecca. But that was pre-GC. Greg Clink came over from UC Davis a year ago and has put Chico State on the map as a hoops destination for local and regional players. So much so, the Wildcat roster is overflowing with northern Californians.

Parker will be the scoring guard the Wildcats need

Chico State is a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), along with Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State San Bernardino, Humboldt State, UC San Diego, Cal State Monterey Bay, San Francisco State, Sonoma State, Cal State L.A., Chico State and Cal State Stanislaus.

It’s basketball history is relatively uneventful, especially so of late. Clink himself is a Chico State alum, having graduated in 1994. He left an associate head coach position at UC Davis, believing success was achievable at his alma mater since he played on Wildcat squads that won conference titles back in the early 1990s.

But there’s been a drought since then.

However, Clink and his assistants -- Gus Argenal, Colin Carr and Lucas Gabriel -- have a master plan. That is, convince talented basketballers, albeit ones who are serious about their studies, to consider and then decide to play Wildcat basketball in one of the best small town college settings in California.

The initial result?

Their 2008 recruiting haul included:

• Cam Fenley, 6-foot-7, Monte Vista
• Jay Flores, 5-foot-10, Jesuit (Sonoma State transfer)
• Powell Lee, 5-foot-11, Fremont-Oakland
• Jake Lovosolo, Del Oro
• Damario Sims, 5-foot-11, McClymonds
• Ethan Stone, 6-foot-4, Rancho Cordova

Former Kennedy of Sacramento guard Zach Graves is a key contributor for the Wildcats

Each of these student-athletes redshirted this recently concluded season. But what’s especially worth noting is that Sims, a partial qualifier, has taken to college so well that he currently sports a 3.0+ grade point average.

Two other recruits from the class -- Chris Sharp, 6-foot-6 (Santa Cruz, Cabrillo College) and 6-foot-3 Zach Graves (Kennedy-Sacramento, Montana transfer) played in 2008-2009. Sharp supplied 5.5 points each time out while Graves averaged 7.4 points a game while nabbing 3.4 rebounds a contest.

This recruiting season produced another bountiful harvest, again loaded with local and regional talent.

• 7-foot Jason Conrad (Gilroy) has transferred in from Portland State
• Brian Seals, a 6-foot-8 transfer from Fresno State and formerly of Valley High and Consumnes River College, is heading north
• Backcourt point producer Rashad Parker is moving up from Castro Valley after averaging 18 points per game as a senior
• 6-foot-5 Amir Carraway moves over after a solid career at Franklin-Elk Grove
• Darren Nye, with stops at College of the Redwoods and Alaska Anchorage after graduating from Corning High, is back to add his ballhandling and long-range shooting
• 6-foot-6 Terence Pullum is coming in after two seasons at Foothill College, a program headed by former Chico State assistant Shanan Rosenberg

The Wildcats are coming off an 8-19 season. Nobody has an infallible crystal ball but the initial pair of Chico State recruiting classes are undoubtedly the best in decades, with the 2009 group possessing even greater potential than that of the previous year.

The lights are definitely getting brighter in Chico.

Plus, the accent is on California kids minus the mercenary-type import emphasis, players with no local connection who depart back to the states they came from as soon as athletic eligibility is completed.

Chico State was out-shot, out-scored and out-rebounded this past season. The 2009-2010 Wildcats, version 2.0, are going to be much different, to the chagrin of the other CCAA members.