Like, for instance, Thursday.

The Wildcat women host Alaska Fairbanks to open up their season, and I’m trying everything in my power to cover it. I’m scheduled to be anchored to my desk tomorrow, but I think I can finagle a way out of here. It involves bribery and probably some yelling, but if you’re not doing those things in your daily life anyway, you’re just not trying hard enough.

Even if I can’t make it, I think you should. Come on, it’s Thursday. It’s not like you’re going to be playing disc golf at Bidwell anyway...

Keep an eye on these things in the first of Chico State’s dress rehearsals for the CCAA season; I know I will:

The hosts’ posts.
At some point, something is going to stop rhyming, and then I’ll probably be done blogging forever. Until then, Renee Goldoff and Christine Vest should be getting most of your attention as the Wildcats try to make the transition to a big, bad post team. Coach Brian Fogel has repeated that the blocks is where his team has the chance to shine, and if Goldoff can get off to the same start she did last year — and if Vest can carry over her strong finish — I think you’ll see Fogel proven right.

Natasha Smith.
Yep, I still think she has to be Jade Smith-Williams of a year ago. Or somebody does. If a player of that quality and leadership level doesn’t step forward early in the season, even the strongest of defenses will struggle to win games without a leader on offense. The good news is that Smith’s shown she has the tenacity to do it before. Defensively, I think the backcourt could be very strong with her as its focus.

Whoever’s singing the national anthem.
In my personal opinion, it should always be Vest, who did it last year beautifully. It would make her look that much more impressive before she went out and elbowed someone in the teeth.
Yes, Chico State does get some good anthems from time to time, and yes, I know how hard of a song it is. And I don’t particularly like laughing during it, but there was one that was so overly ridiculous last year that I couldn’t help it.

Just got penciled in to cover this game. It was about as painful as I thought it would be.

I immediately ran into ESPN Radio's Mike Baca, who himself had been stopping in to see the Wildcat men after a close six-point loss to Division I Pacific. It would take me an hour's worth of watching, but it's easy to confirm what Baca saw:

"I can't believe how good they are on defense."

"Defense" and "Chico State" don't usually go in the same sentence, at least not in the men's arena. But I can vouch for it, based on what I've seen. Junior Russell is stupid-quick, and the quick recognition and weakside help on post entry is better than I remember it being all of last year. Roderick Hawkins might be an undersized 4 offensively, but he's looking like a good on-the-ball defender for either forwards or 3s. I can see him grabbing somewhere around six or so rebounds nightly.

Coach Greg Clink couldn't understate the importance of Chico State's ability to defend in the half-court.

"It's huge. It's probably the most important thing for us," Clink said. "That's how we want to be identified in the CCAA — as the toughest defense to play against, every night."

Also impressed was newcomer Zach Graves, who put up 13 points against UoP.

"We look like we could be a real defensive force. We just have so much athleticism and quickness," Graves said. "That's what we want. We're not going to have too much trouble scoring points, but we want to be the team that holds you down."

He rolled an ankle early in practice after coming down on a foot in traffic, and was watching the rest of it on crutches and a boot, but he said it was just precautionary. He's broken three ankles before (well, he's broken one once and the other twice), so he seems like a reasonable expert, and he said it just needed a night of sleep and a day off it.

"I don't really care if it's broke, I'll play," Graves said. "But it's nothing. Nothing that will keep me out."

Here's a bold prediction:

Chris Sharp will lead the Wildcats in rebounding this year.

Or, at the very least, he'll be close to Andy Bocian. I just think Sharp has a really strong sense of where the ball is going, and he's an intelligent rebounder in a big body. A handful of times, if he couldn't get both hands on the ball, he had the court awareness to knock it to a teammate who could. Those extra two possessions a game so often prove to be critical.

One other thing about Sharp: The dude can hit 3s. I saw him go 3-for-3 from the corner. He'll be a force, methinks.

So, there's some changes to this club, and now the exhibition season is over. Chico State gets going against Seattle on Saturday, and it should be interesting to see how this team handles its new rotation. The starting lineup against UoP was Bocian, Sharp, Graves, Russell and Justin Argenal, and if Graves' ankle is fine, I'd bet that's what it will be most the year. Argenal appears to be in position to shoot more, which is nice, because the last three years he's been almost forced to pass just because he was one of the few Wildcats who could do it effectively.

His role probably won't change too radically, he said; he still wants to distribute. But with Russell providing a solid passing option as well, Argenal won't be depended upon as exclusively to handle the ball. But that 1-2 (or is it 1-1 ... ha ha, back-court joke!) punch should be tough defensively and potent offensively.

"Really, it's not that different. It's still about making good decisions and finding a way to help the offense," Argenal said. "But Greg (Russell) is such a good defender that I think we'll get a lot of points off our defense."

That part had Argenal particularly excited. Defense in theory is always nice, but to see it executed is a thing of beauty. He thinks the Wildcats can be stoppers.

"It's a great thing to see, just guys flying everywhere and denying," Argenal said. "I really love our defense."

Granted, after seven straight wins to open up the season, there were probably not too many doubters of Felipe Restrepo and what he could provide for the Chico State men’s soccer team. But 9-5 in the CCAA and a conference championship tournament berth have helped him earn the CCAA’s Coach of the Year award.

I was interested when the Wildcats hired Restrepo to see what he’d do with a young, talented team (Zac Crim and Kyle Crain, both midfielders, also earned All-First Team honors, by the way). I’m not so sure it was a soccer knowledge kind of thing; Mike O’Malley had the experience, so that wasn’t the issue. I think Restrepo’s biggest asset is his youth, and the ability to connect with younger players. The dude gets out and practices with them, from what I hear.

Speaking of getting out, I dragged myself over to Bidwell Park on Sunday to cover the Almond Bowl run, and it was pretty sweet. E-R photographer Ty Barbour got a few shots showing just how many people were there (participation was estimated at about 1,000); unfortunately I just can’t be bothered to upload them right now. Take my word for it, though, they’re cool.

Among those participants was a host of Chico State distance runners, and that’s precisely who won the top male and female spots in both the 5k and the 10k. If you ever want to feel really lazy, stand around at a distance race with no intention of joining it.

Joey Kochlacs, a redshirt freshman, won the men’s 10k, while Anthony Solis took the 5k. I walked up the the 5k finish line right as Kayla Silva was the first woman to cross, and it was kind of neat because the Wildcats were starting their chanting ruckus on the other side of the park to start the 10k. Or, maybe they have really good vision. And poor Julie Shaw, the winner of the 10k for the women, looked like she’d accidentally stepped feet-first into a chipper shredder. She’d put on booty socks, then subsequently saw her shoes rub the skin off her Achillies’.

Quick sidenote to this whole blog: One of the cooler places to be during an election is a newspaper office, if only because of the constant pressure to inform, inform, inform in the room. We sports writing folks don’t have to really deal with it, but it’s one of the rare times the TV in the office is actually turned up.

I, unfortunately, was stuck in class for most of the exciting stuff and actually had the day off (so I missed out on election night pizza, too). Right now there’s a bunch of fallout TV and I think everyone’s emotions are still pretty raw from last night. I had predicted that it would essentially be over before I was scheduled to get out of class at 9 (Obama passed 270 at 8:05, but won Ohio well before that, so my 7 p.m. victory prediction didn’t look so silly to pundit-friends of mine).

I did get out of class early enough to see Obama’s speech, and it rocked my world. If you’re looking for a Wildcat tie-in somewhere, there really isn’t one. Unless you count me running into Dave Taylor on my walk home. He’s a nice guy.

Clearly, I walked into the Wildcat women’s practice at precisely that time as they were going through possession scrimmages.
I think it’s safe to say right now that once they get the basics down — spacing, positioning, etc. — they’ll be much better off. Right now, it’s still a very new group to each other, and coach Brian Fogel said that’s what the holdup is.

“What you saw was just the introduction, just trying to get everybody on the same page,” Fogel said. “Defensively, we really want to tune it up.”

If there’s one thing I’ve caught Fogel raving about, it’s last year’s defense. The Wildcats allowed the fewest points per game of any team in the CCAA, which was admittedly a nice crutch for an undersized team that also was last in rebounding. It will be interesting to see if that defensive mentality and performance come back.

“We got to a point last year that we knew when we got to 50, it was a win,” Fogel said. “If we got to 60, it was just cushion.”

Here’s what I saw from Thursday’s practice:

Christine Vest looks like a new player. She has developed some very nice low-post skills and will serve as a nice complement to Renee Goldoff, who looked like she can be dominant. Both have come in in good shape. I really like how all of the Wildcat bigs can pass in the post, too. Cory Edwards proclaimed to be healthy and looked like it. I like her more as a tall body and good passer in the key than any kind of mid-range shooter, but she can get some tough looks down low and be effective that way too. Ashley Washington, a freshman last year who really didn’t play much, made two particularly pretty high-to-low passes to set up easy buckets.

I knew it wouldn’t take long for me to do this...but Synchro Bull is still getting in synch.

OK, no more of those for awhile.

But she did look a little lost at times in the offense and defense; it sounds like Fogel will want the most out of her when the Wildcats don’t have the ball. Remember that Natasha Smith was exactly that kind of player last year, who always seemed to end up with four steals. I think Bull might be that player, but I didn’t get too much of a chance to see her athleticism.

One player that for some reason consistently goes underappreciated and undernoticed is Melissa Richardson, who I really like as a sharp-shooting wing. I know, she had a couple stretches last season where her shot was absent, but she’s a good fit in this system, and without a certain No. 24 in there, 3s are going to have to come from somewhere.

Fogel had some general thoughts. I’ll share ‘em:

“I wish we didn’t turn the ball over so much in the halfcourt work that we’ve done, but that’s part of us getting to feel each other out. Defensively, we need to do a better job of guarding the ball. We’re still learning a little bit.”

On the potential starters situation, which I can, in my own assuming and not-as-educated-as-Fogel’s brain, figure to include Smith, Goldoff, Vest, Richardson and Bull. He didn’t say it’s set, but it sounds close:

“It’s still a little murky, but I think Renee obviously will be in there. She and Christine in the post will kind of be our bread and butter and where we can probably exploit somebody. System-wise, not a lot will change. Natasha will be in there, and so will Mel (Richardson) probably. We’re getting to a point where we’ll try to see what works, but it’s not all decided yet.”

From what I’ve seen, there is a bunch of athleticism on this team and some very good post possibilities. Yes, it’s just scrimmage so far, but Chris Sharp looks promising as a guy who will be the most physically impressive for the Wildcats on the floor. He appears to have great post moves, a good understanding of how to move the ball from anywhere on the blocks and has great hands. I like ‘im.

What will be fun to watch is if he and Andy Bocian can be the solid 4-and-5 combo Wildcat basketball has been so desperate for the past few years. At first glance, he’s a good passer with good floor vision, something that is easy to overlook when gauging post players. He’s also a guy that has shown the ability fill it up, though it remains to be seen if he’ll be that same player after a one-year hiatus. Head coach Greg Clink said the Wildcats will be well-served to get Bocian as many touches as they can, and I tend to agree with him.

“We’ve got to get the right guys the ball in the right spots, and it will come soon,” Clink said after Wednesday’s practice. “Those guys, Bocian and Sharp, need to be the emphasis in our half-court game.”

No kidding. Last year, with tall-but-skinny-and-raw post players, Chico State was usually overplayed in the paint by a more savvy CCAA. I’m not so sure that will be the case now. Bocian and Sharp aren’t 7-footers, but they look to be strong, skilled and intelligent; Sharp impressed me from slight range with a couple short floaters.

The best part about it is the Wildcats look like they’ll have the guards to complement the post. Junior Russell, a transfer from Cal State Fullerton, appears to be an explosive second point guard to incumbent Justin Argenal, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be on the floor most the time.

“I’ve got to think that we’re set up better at the point than a lot of teams,” Clink said.

I can easily see Clink running a two-point system with those guys, just because they take care of the ball so well and create opportunities. Russell sounds like he is ready to pursue a prominent role in the Wildcats’ plans with aggression. Argenal has been the cream of the CCAA point guard crop, but Russell said he thinks there’s room for his play as well.

“Coming from D-I (at Fullerton), I think I’ll be able to blend in well. I have a chance to show what I learned on that level,” Russell said. “It will be about taking care of the ball, taking the steps to win. Justin is a type that likes to slow it down and play really effective in the half-court. I like to push and be aggressive, take shots. It’s going to be us on the floor a lot together, and I think it can be really good.”

Speaking of good, there was a moment during Wednesday’s scrimmage where one of the many new faces I didn’t recognize made me regret not having brought a roster. No. 22 jumped out from hedgeing his man on the wing to deflect a post-entry pass, knocking it the other way, streaking down the floor and throwing it down. I would soon find out that it was Zach Graves, the transfer from University of Montana, and that kid is impressive. What’s funny about it is Clink’s introductory statement about Graves when the Wildcats picked him up: He is an aggressive defender and loves to attack the rim offensively.” Huh. See, oh, about two sentences ago.

Clink hasn’t officially set a starting five yet, but if I were to make an assumption right now, I think you’ve just read about all of them. I can see Argenal, Russell, Graves, Sharp and Bocian being a formidable starting lineup in the CCAA as they start to gel some. We’ll see whether or not I can give you an account on how my foot tastes in a few weeks, but I’m sticking with that guess for now. Graves stands out as a player with a ton of upside, and a lot of it has to do with the attitude he presents. He makes it pretty clear he’s willing to work for wins.

“The best thing I can bring here is toughness and just playing hard,” Graves said. “Going as hard as I can is how I can get the most out of my ability.”

I also liked his unabashed desire to get the Wildcats to run on offense, an area that’s suffered for the program lately. I’m sure he didn’t know that Chico State shot the lowest percentage of any CCAA team last year, or that the Wildcats had the greatest margin of defeat (on average, they lost by 10), but he surely knows that the close, wide-open shots fall a lot more than the long ones with dudes in your face do. He also recognizes that Clink’s brought in the athletes from some high-pedigree pipelines in order to make it all work.

“Half-court offense is big, but we want to push it. We want to get teams on their heels and get out and run,” Graves said. “We’re real athletic, real quick, and that’s a place we can be solid. With the athletes on this team, there’s no reason not to run.”

Of course, that’s exactly what Clink wants to defend against, and half-court defense is the top area of concern for him right now. I can frankly only use last year as a reference point of what not to do anymore, especially since most of that team is gone, but there were times in the 2007-08 season that the Wildcats just refused to stop anybody in the half court, particularly against big, strong guards.

Another point that I really liked with Clink was a very positive attitude. I’m not necessarily a rah-rah kind of guy, but there was a lot to appreciate about how he and assistant coach Gus Argenal approached the practices. What stood out to me was a full team huddle in the middle of a scrimmage in which Clink explained the importance of a short memory. From hurriedly scribbled notes:

“What we can’t do is make a mistake and then react to it. We’re going to make mistakes, I promise you, and it’s OK to make them — but don’t dwell. If you turn the ball over, we can’t afford to roll our eyes about it. Get back down the floor and defend. Don’t think about a mistake and forget about playing the game. If you do that, one mistake turns into two mistakes.
You guys don’t do it when you make defensive mistakes, and I’ve seen a lot of those. So don’t do it when you make mistakes on offense. Just turn around and play. Stay in the moment, stay on your man.”

My initial feeling tells me that by the time the men get down to Rohnert Park for preseason-ranked No. 6 Sonoma State — Nov. 2, to be exact — Chico State will be on the fringe of competition and needing to win that game. I don’t see the Wildcats, at first glance, mowing through the CCAA, not with the Seawolves in the North Division and No. 11 Cal State Dominguez Hills also in the mix.

I was right, but not in the way I thought. The Wildcats are on the fringe, all right, but could conceivably win the North Division if Sonoma State chokes itself out the next two games. I was wrong in asserting that Chico State wouldn’t cut through the CCAA, though; they’re already locked into the CCAA championship tournament at 8-4 and five points behind the Seawolves.

Where a lot of people (including most coaches in the CCAA) surely were wrong was in picking the women to win the conference. I want to say that I don’t really know what happened to this team, but I feel like I probably do. The Wildcats lost a lot of impact seniors, including Katherine Bagwell, Ashley Gunther and Whitney MacDonald, and maybe some of the team’s offensive struggles have been due to a lack of that quality senior leadership. I honestly don’t know.

Keep your eyes open before Thursday; The Litter Box will have links to some regular-season reviews coming up (theoretically) and, for the men, a postseason preview. Hopefully Kim Sutton can offer some insight on a disappointing year from a wins-losses standpoint, and Restrepo can let us in on the experiences behind this impressive first season.

After seven practices, it’s not quite a case of identity crisis; it’s just that tryouts now are auditions for three parts that had been secured for the past two years.

“The roles will get defined as we get closer to games, but the experience is really hard to replace,” Fogel said. “There are things about all of them that just go overlooked. With Audi, I can’t tell you how many shots she made when there were 10 seconds or less on the shot clock, or she’d make a 3 in a five-point game to stretch it to eight, that kind of thing. Just really good with those clutch baskets. With time, something will have to happen and someone will step up.”

Fogel concedes that the toughest tangible for the Wildcats to replace that those three took with them will be defense. Monteith probably was the CCAA’s most underrated defender and the only true post in Chico State’s regular starting lineup (remember that Goodenbour went with a four-wing, one-center rotation).
Are the Wildcats hurting for defense?
“We are, right now, we really are,” Fogel said Thursday. “I think what people kind of underestimate was just how good a defender Amanda was last year. She could guard just about anybody, from the 2 through the 5, and Audi was pretty good at it as well. I don’t know if we’ll get back to that level, but obviously that’s the goal, and we’re a ways away from that right now. Last year we basically hung our hat on our defense; that was our identity. We have to get it back.”

The good news is that it’s just one week in.
“That’s the thing from a coach’s standpoint you have to remember: We didn’t start at the same level we finished at last year, either,” Fogel said. “We just have to get everybody on the same page. Right now, we’re doing a lot of teaching.”

That’s more in reference to getting the standbys and newcomers to mesh, which will be quite a task in all likelihood. Because Fogel played a large part in scheming as an assistant, don’t expect too much to change in terms of offensive or defensive planning this year, with the possible exception of a more traditional two-post setup. But getting everybody to synch up will be the challenge.

“On one hand, if you took all the returners and said, ‘Pick a lineup,’ we’re OK. When it gets funny is when you mix in the new people,” Fogel said. “We’re trying to balance that out right now. As we get closer to playing, the separation between everybody will come.”

There will likely be one big difference in gameplay this season, though, and that’s the involvement of center Renee Goldoff.

POSTS WITH THE MOST
Goldoff was envisioned last year as being a dominant CCAA center, and she had her moments, but injuries, a wealth of guards and a sometimes-apparent mini-clash with Goodenbour cut into her minutes and severed her starts. In her senior year, she has as big of an opportunity as anybody on this team to be the new leader, and she’s reportedly showed up to camp in that mindset.
“I’ve been really pleased with her efforts. She’s been more than solid,” Fogel said. “We’d ideally like to be a half-court team and pound the ball into Renee. I just think she has to get touches down low. If the ball can go through her, good things will happen. If teams decide not to double her, she’s confident and skilled enough to attack the basket.”

She’s probably one of two guaranteed starters (I’m going out on a limb and putting Natasha Smith at the point; she started at the 2 last year and spelled Smith-Williams occasionally), and I would also bet that Christine Vest will get some quality minutes on the block as well. Fogel was quick to name her as one of the biggest surprises of the early practice season, and Vest really came on late in the year in 2007-08.

“She really worked hard in the offseason and came in in really good shape. I’m really impressed with her,” Fogel said. “Ultimately, with her and Renee, I think the post is where we have the chance to be very good.”
Cory Edwards, who played a key sixth-or-seventh player role last year before hurting her back, is still apparently banged up a little but has made progress. If she’s healthy, she can be very valuable as a defender and passer from the post. Ashley Washington had a nice freshman showing last year in limited minutes and has made improvements.

SPREADING THEIR WINGS
E-R sports editor Dave Davies hates this phrase, but the way Chico State’s run its offense the past few years, there’s nothing else to call it. They’re not quite guards; they’re not quite forwards. The Wildcats seemingly have a legion of midsized shooters who can occasionally run into a rebound and won’t slow down the fast break. Melissa Richardson is the prime example of this; her shooting ability alone makes her a good player to have on the floor. She logged a ton of minutes, sometimes even at the 2 — whatever that means in Chico State’s offense anymore — and started most of the Wildcats’ games. I’m not sure if she will still, but I can’t imagine she won’t be in the competition for it.

Molly Collins blew up an ACL in last year’s nonconference schedule and obviously missed the rest of the season; she’s back and is said to be impressive. Taylor Lydon, another quintessential 3-type, has good shooting range to go with size. Annelise Miller (who, it’s interesting to note, is wearing No. 24 ... if you have to question that number’s significance, you’ll never know) is a junior transfer from Sierra College, and Fogel said she will tussle with Collins and Lydon for playing time.
“They are all versatile players that can be both on the wings and the post,” Fogel said. “How they help us will probably show up by the time we get to playing some games.”

EN GUARD
Aside from Goldoff, this might be the most set aspect of the team. Smith is lightning quick, an extremely pesky defender and can shoot the 3. She’s basically going to be expected to be what Smith-Williams was last year. So who’s going to be this year’s version of Smith?
Fogel says it’s Synchro Bull, who brings not only the new coolest name in the CCAA but a similar skill set as a freshman out of Emeryville High.
“She’s in that same mold as Jade and Natasha, that’s fair to say,” Fogel said. “What made it nice for Natasha was that Jade had a year to pick it up and was there last year. What makes it nice for Synchro is that Natasha’s there now. Having those two out on the perimeter ... they can really bother the basketball and create pressure.”
Brandi Foster has been putting in a solid body of work so far, as well, and the sophomore could see more playing time after being limited behind a stacked lineup in 2007-08.

Just as anybody could have expected, not too much is for sure at this point in the season. But Fogel likes the competition and the attitude so far.
“I couldn’t pick five to start right now,” he said. “Everybody’s doing a pretty good job. For now it’s going to be getting everyone into the system and familiar, and we’ll go from there as we see more things.”

CCAA coaches have picked the Wildcats to finish eighth in the conference, though they’ve fared no better than 10th in the last three years.
“I look at how we’re picked in the league, and to me, it’s hard to pick where to put us,” Clink said. “We just don’t know too much yet. It’s a totally new team. It’s a building year for us, and that’s the truth of it. It’s not something where we’ll shock the world in the first year with a new coach, a bunch of new players.”

Well, kind of. There are several guys that are obvious in the lineup, but Clink couldn’t offer a gun-to-the-head starting five just yet (although I didn’t actually put a gun to his head. That’s not nice). Fair enough; it’s absurdly early.

CHANGE OF THE GUARD
Two givens, though, are at the guard, and they’re senior point guard/security blanket ballhandler Justin Argenal and Cal State Fullerton senior transfer Junior Russell, who will be the 2-guard. Argenal is legit as arguably the CCAA’s best point; nobody’s averaged more assists per game than he has in three years.

Fighting for guard minutes will be Josh Jackson, who picked up the bulk of his playing time down the stretch last year as a freshman. He’ll need to up his aggressiveness, Clink said, to raise his stock, but he should figure to get a fair share of clock. He’s a player I held up last year as a guy who needed to be in the lineup only to the extent that he used his athletic ability to get to the cup. Clink, a much more knowledgeable basketball mind than myself, basically said the same thing.
“The area we’ll really need him to step up is rebounding and sticking his nose in some plays,” Clink said. “He runs the floor well, he’s very athletic. He has the potential to be in that mix.”

Jackson will probably battle with Central Arkansas transfer York Sims, who has been drawing high praise from several Wildcat basketball minds who have seen him play, and Clink said he eventually could start himself.
“He’s really, really explosive and is a tremendous defender. He’ll be really important to how we defend, I think,” Clink said.
That sounds like a prototypical 2-guard, but a three-wing rotation isn’t outside the realm of feasibility. Whether that means a shift to the 3 isn’t for sure yet, Clink said, but Robert Ash has had an impressive week and could log minutes on the wing, too.
Mendocino C.C. transfer Canyon Miller has stood out to Clink as one of the team’s better shooters, which will probably assure him a chance to play. Roderick Hawkins (you know him as Rod from last season) will move solely to the power forward spot, where he is much more effective offensively.

FORWARD THINKING
If there’s one area in which Clink feels the Wildcats are thin, it’s on the blocks. But the return of Andy Bocian has been a nice one and one of the bigger surprises for the first-year coach. Bocian, back after a year off, came into the preseason in better shape than Clink expected and his level of play has been a plus, too.
“He’s in much better position to help us than I would have given him credit for,” Clink said.
Bocian and Chris Sharp, a 6-foot-6 center from Cabrillo College, are looking like the early favorites for the Wildcats’ front line, but Hawkins is on the fringe because of his rebounding and physicality, spots sorely missed on recent Chico State teams. Still, this competition can only be good. Hawkins will probably be outsized (he’s 6-4 at the 4, not an ideal height for a big man), but he still can play offensively on the post. From what I saw last year, he’s marginal when shooting the ball at range, so the move to the blocks makes sense.
A player who sounds similar is Nick Lonnegren, who jumped over from Butte College. He’s a 3/4 type with basically the same body as Hawkins, and like him, Clink thinks he’ll be able to defend the post well.

FRESHMAN FOCUS
What was most interesting — and admittedly, it doesn’t necessarily relate to this season — was Clink’s take on the program’s future.
“We’ll build this program, and we’re going to build it the right way. We’ve got some great guys for our future,” Clink said. “We’re going to establish a culture, from how we play to how we conduct ourselves. We didn’t pick up a bunch of freshmen just to get them here and not have them help us.”

He’ll be redshirting many of his freshman talents, and there seems to be a good deal of upside there. Here’s the batch:

Ethan Stone: I saw this guy play as a prep twice in the Chico High Nichols Shootout, and he impressed both times as a swingman type. He’s gained two inches since I watched him, but not much weight, apparently. Clink wants him to add some size and strength, but likes his athleticism. The Cordova High grad stands 6-foot-5, but weighs less than I do. Assuredly, his grasp on the speed of collegiate basketball is better than mine, but not quite at the right level yet. Still, he’s one to watch down the road.

Clink’s take: “I have high hopes for him. He’s a big part of what we’ll be doing here, I’m sure. As soon as he gets a feel for the speed of the game on this level and gets a little stronger, he has the potential to be a very good player for us.”

Cam Fenley: The Wildcats are seemingly always lacking for size, and Fenley brings a 6-foot-7, 225-pound frame into the equation. The guy’s been a big part of winning teams in his prep career at Monte Vista in Danville; now, Clink is enamored with the post plans Fenley could make possible. Clink said he would have liked to have seen what Fenley could do this year, as a freshman, but redshirted him with Andy Bocian, Roderick Hawkins, and Chris Sharp expected to battle for minutes on the block.

Clink’s take: “There’s a kid we really like and has a world of talent, but it would just be a matter of getting him in. He’ll be a force. I mean, he already is showing that so far after just a week. He’s jumped out at us.”

Damario Sims: A 5-foot-11 sharpshooter guard, Sims helped his McClymonds High team go 32-0 as the top Division I school in California. Talk about coming from a winning background. Notice a theme yet? Clink’s finding winners anywhere he can, and he seemed pumped on Sims, though he still said he’s got the transition to make from a prep standout to a viable collegiate guard.

Clink’s take: “He’s much, much better than I thought he would be, and we already knew he was good, so that’s saying a lot. His biggest thing right now is picking up the speed of the game. As it comes to him, he’s got a lot of great tools that we’re excited about.”

Spencer Moyer: CCAA followers from the past couple years will recognize the last name of Grayson Moyer, a 2008 Humboldt State all-conference pick, so the family pedigree is there. Spencer’s a 5-11 point guard out of La Jolla High and a D-III Southern Section champion, lauded for his quickness, on-the-ball defense and shooting ability. He’s just not quite basketball size yet, though he’s got a good mentor to watch in Argenal as he gains some pounds.

Clink’s take: “Spencer’s been doing good. He’s just another guy that needs to spend a year in the weight room getting stronger. I think a year of competing against Argenal and Junior (Russell) will do him a lot of good. If he puts in the work, he can be a very good guard in this league. How he develops is based on how much stronger he gets.”

Keep your eyes open for a take on the women’s squad in the next few days (as if you don’t check The Litter Box daily anyway).

I’ll probably check it out before my prep volleyball game Thursday; the first game of the best-of-five series starts at 3:12 p.m. Even if I don’t take a notepad — ah, who am I kidding? I will — it will be totally worth it just to get my butt back in the bleachers for a few more days. Maybe try to get a nice sunburn, for old times’ sakes.

It’s being billed as the first look at the 2009 team, which is what it is, but I really like that Chico State’s whole rotation is coming back and is also getting some help. One of the more interesting pickups is Mike Gleason, who was at Butte College last year. I’m not sure which direction Dave Taylor will go, but the rotation last year was not so much a four-man operation as it was a three-plus-one deal, meaning that Pete Mickartz, Mike Robbins and Andrew Pluta were all givens, while the No. 4 was a carousel. I wonder if Gleason will be the new constant there. And is it ever too early to think about who will be in the bullpen?

After this, though, it will be time to let baseball go, and that means basketball season, the entity to which this medium is really best designed to cater. Soon games will start, and it will be Report Card time, but first, we’ll get preseason practice updates. I need to think of a catchy name for these. You’ll get your first look at the 2008-09 Wildcats from The Litter Box, unless you are so hardcore that you’ve been dropping by the gym already. In that case, you’ve had me scooped ever since I had to leave town last week for my sister’s wedding.

One more thing: Gary Towne and the cross country teams are feeling confident heading into Saturday’s CCAA Championship races.

I lied; two more things: the men’s golf team got some revenge in Santa Rosa on Tuesday; the women suffered a bit of a drop-off.

I’m just getting gluttonous now; I’ll also be at the volleyball match Friday against Cal Poly Pomona, which should be a great one. Praise intercompany coverage of prep football games when it allows me to see big CCAA tilts. Don’t believe me? The Wildcats can move into second place with a win over the Broncos, setting them up with a chance to face big, bad Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday with a one-game deficit. If you’re not aroused by that, check your pulse.

I'm not sure what else the Wildcats can do to make their case that they're a national program, not after a 3-1 victory over No. 7 Cal State Dominguez Hills. I don't particularly care one way or the other, except for that I just want to see some kind of consistency or reason in these polls. Apparently, Chico State didn't even get top 25 votes last week, probably because of a loss at Cal State L.A.

That's kind of the way journalism people are. Yes, we work with people and we understand the importance of subjectivity sometimes, but the nonlinear freaks us right out. Formulas are good. Black and white is good. Maybe I'll shoot those pollsters an e-mail and get to the bottom of this. But probably not.

Speaking of polls, I'm not sure if the volleyball team's five straight wins are enough to vault them into the top 25, especially the most recent of those came against San Francisco State. I would guess that if last week's upset of UC San Diego didn't do it, this probably won't be the camel-back-breaking straw.

However, don't be so glum. It's just rankings. More important than those are the CCAA standings, which are starting to flesh out. Sonoma State, specifically, is coming down to Earth and now has third place all to itself. Funny about them — they seem to have the same affliction Chico State did last year, that being a propensity for losing on the road. The Seawolves are 10-0 at home but 3-4 away. Cal State San Bernardino is tops, followed by the Tritons. The Wildcats' recent hot play has gotten them up to fourth place.

Also, if you missed it — which I know for a fact that you did — the live chat on Thursday afternoon was a crash-and-burn failure, miserable and complete. I blame it on two reasons: First, this beat is extremely narrowly followed and second, 1 p.m. on a Thursday is a popular time for classes, work and lunch. And, maybe it's just that nobody wants to talk to me. I've been told I come across as standoffish, so it makes sense.

For me, the chat interrupted a nap. Basically, it was a big-time bust that I probably won't try again.

As a sidenote, I'll be the guest on the E-R's new live chat feature Thursday, Oct. 9 (tomorrow) at 1 p.m. to entertain your Wild(cat)est thoughts. Ouch, that was bad. Anyway, check it out. You can ask about or give your opinions on Chico State sports, and I'll do my best to be your expert.

At least I'm not bitter about it.

What will be interesting now is to see what the Wildcats can do from here. They've basically needed each of the last four matches they've played, and have gotten wins in each to put themselves back in CCAA contention. I know it's early; however, just like in fantasy-league baseball (damn you, Travis Hafner), you might not be able to win your league early, but you can definitely lose it. Cody Hein had said after the win over Cal State Stanislaus that Chico State was in danger of letting the season slip away, just because of the amount of talent in the conference. The Wildcats dodged that bullet for now. Let's see if they can jump back into the top 25.

I'm going to guess that Sonoma State will lose its grip on first today and fall to Cal State San Bernardino, and I'll put money on UC San Diego taking care of Cal State Stanislaus in three. Cal Poly Pomona should also beat Humboldt State. If my skills as a prognosticator are any good (we'll know in a few hours), that would translate to a three-way tie for second place at 6-2, while Chico State is at 5-3 with its next two matches at home against those underachieving Bay teams next week (I won't see it. More football). Realistically, the Wildcats could reel off six in a row.

I'm going camping.
Well, it's not quite training camp once cuts are made, but it will be the beginning of preseason practices for the basketball teams soon — more specifically, Oct. 15 is when the men will start. The Litter Box and the E-R (I just referred to myself in the third person from two mediums) will be stopping in routinely to see how those teams shape up with a host of new players and new head coaches Greg Clink (men) and Brian Fogel (women). Keep your eyes on this URL for more info as it comes along.

Names of fame.
A week from today (Oct. 11), Chico State will hold its 2008 Hall of Fame banquet and 23rd induction ceremony at the BMU Auditorium. The last time I was there for any reason was my freshman year, when I saw Jim Breuer. This might not be as funny or smell like liquor-breathed undergrads as much, but it should be pretty cool. Among the personally interesting highlights for me will be the honorary induction of Puck Smith and the honoring of the Chico State Athletes of the Year, Scott Bauhs and Audriana Spencer. As is usually the case with these things, the old-timers don't necessarily mean a lot to me because I don't really know who they are, with the exception of Antone Curtis. If anything, it could be a chance to get some old-school Wildcat knowledge.

Speaking of Audi Spencer, the former Wildcat great was officially named to join departed coach Molly Goodenbour's coaching staff at UC Irvine last week, where the two will also be reunited with Jade Smith-Williams, although on a redshirt basis. Kind of a cool Chico angle, if you're not the kind of Chicoan who holds grudges against people for leaving town in search of awesome opportunities.

They’ll get UC San Diego; the Tritons are the team that knocked off then-No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino last week. Obviously, they’re good, although that 3-0 loss to Cal State L.A. in early September is pretty inexplicable. Interestingly enough for UC San Diego, it’s the only team in the CCAA that hasn’t lost on the road yet.

The Wildcats, at 3-3 in CCAA play, sit squarely in the middle of the conference standings, three games behind upstart Sonoma State, which stands to face a strong possibility of dropping games this weekend with two road matchups at Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino. It’s early, but theoretically, Chico State appears to be in great position to make up at least a game in the standings.

It’s never too early to talk basketball.
At least not for me. Wildcat men’s coach Greg Clink has tentatively agreed to let me update The Litter Box with a running look at his tryouts after first cuts as the first-year coach shapes the team to his liking. I’m excited for this, obviously, and I think it will be interesting to get a glance at who will be the main players for this group moving forward.

Clearly, senior point guard Justin Argenal likely had a spot secured before practices even began, but with the influx of new talent to the Wildcats, I’m guessing there will be a lot of decisions for Clink to make. A look at that process will be the focal point of this, and possibly the women’s team, as well.

Chat with me.
Also, E-R online content editor Ryan Olson has offered to moderate chats with the paper’s assorted columnists, including three of the sports section’s writers, soon. I’ll be one of them, and there will be the chance to give me a piece of your mind on all things Chico State coming Thursday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m. I’m looking forward to hearing others’ thoughts on Wildcat athletics, and I'll do my best to answer your questions. Definitely check it out; you'll want to bookmark the E-R Web site (as if you haven't already) and visit it to join the chat. Hope to hear from you then.

First, there’s the volleyball team, victims of the Enterprise-Record feature curse. Basically, any time an E-R writer decides to write any kind of non-news piece about a player or team, failure is inevitable. Now, admittedly, I don’t believe in curses or jinxes. Or unicorns. But the Wildcats have lost three straight (two since last Friday’s feature ran) and haven’t been the upstart group that last year’s club was. Curious, since basically every player from that team has returned. Is the CCAA really that much better? Well, yeah.

Cal State San Bernardino is No. 1 in the nation, so a loss there really wasn’t a surprise. Sonoma State, which middled around at 13-14 last year, is the biggest early shocker in the conference at 12-1 and 4-0 in CCAA play. And Cal Poly Pomona and UC San Diego are always tough. Chico State is only 1-3 in conference games, and probably more disconcerting, is 0-2 in road games. Both the Sonoma State and Cal Poly Pomona games were winnable contests — the one against the Seawolves even more so as it was at home — so the early losses will definitely hurt. There’s more pressure now for the Wildcats to beat quality teams, and even Humboldt State has joined that discussion. The CCAA is no cakewalk this year, for anybody.

Also, I’m not quite sure how the NCAA does its rankings, but the No. 17 men’s soccer team somehow wins three games, two in its own conference, the other a 7-1 obliteration, and doesn’t move. At all. Strange, but even stranger when you consider that now-No. 5 Cal State L.A. wasn’t ranked at all last week. Apparently a pair of 1-0 conference home victories, including one over then-No. 4 Cal State Dominguez Hills, is enough to jump from unranked to the fifth-best team in Division II.

I’m a believer in the new Chico State team, and I think they've shown early that it’s entirely warranted. It will be another couple weeks before the Golden Eagles and the Wildcats go head-to-head so we can see just how much those pollsters really know. A more rational version of me concedes that they probably have a pretty good idea, but these rankings without explanations attached are just perplexing.

Don’t believe me? Check out the most recent NSCAA/Adidas Division II rankings, which have the Chico State men’s soccer team up three spots to No. 17 after a 4-0 start under spankin’ new coach Felipe Restrepo.

Part of this ascent — actually, a pretty large part — is senior Zac Crim, who has been involved in every game-deciding goal the Wildcats have scored in their so-far-perfect season. He’s already got 11 points, including four goals. He’s been the headliner of Chico State’s offense, no doubt. I remember him really seeming to like the Restrepo hire earlier in the year because there was that promise of opportunity for success. Well, it’s manifesting itself now, and Crim is responding by playing a prominent part in just about every offensive sequence the Wildcats string together.

In other Wildcat-related news today, the CCAA announced that it will add another team to the conference next year, Cal State East Bay. Meh, I say. I have mixed feelings on the East Bay in general, and none of them are particularly good. CSUEB is the Pioneers, which is just stupid geographically. Don’t pioneers discover things? East Bay folks all have navigation systems, everybody knows that. Let’s change the mascot to a white college guy in an Abercrombie polo, Bluetooth headset and a BMW driving home to his parents' house from Whole Foods instead.

I’ve been meaning to give the volleyball team a little bit of love and haven’t really gotten the chance to. Lindsay Macias and Erica Brick obviously have been getting theirs, but it’s nice to see that Chico State is going other places with its attacks now a little more. Gillian Heydorff, Megan Cape and Crystal Trifeletti, namely, have stood out as some surprise sources of kills (although Heydorff showed last year that she’s a legitimate threat, so maybe “surprise” isn’t the best word for her). But I’ll bet you can’t name the team’s leader in the stat so far ... unless you’re Luke Reid. Then you probably can.

If you’re not, though, it’s freshman Makenzie Snyder, with a nice, round 100. Yes, it’s early. But this kind of balance is the kind of thing that makes it both interesting and nerve-wracking for a team that’s been so dependent on Macias to be the hammer. She and Trifeletti both have 92 kills and Cape has 85. Maybe it’s Macias’ growing defensive responsibility (we saw a career-high in digs against Sonoma State last week).

To give an idea of just how rare it is for anyone else to play as significant of a role as she has, just look back at her three-year figures: She’s accounted for right around a quarter of the Wildcats’ attack scoring. In 2005, she put down 27.5 percent of the team’s kills and in 2006, it was 23. Last year she jumped right back up to 26.5 percent.

This year it seems to be all about Balance, with a capital B (in case you missed how I capitalized “Balance” just then).