PORTLAND, Ore. – If there's one thing that's been a hallmark of the last few years of Portland Men's Basketball, it's stellar freshmen and newcomers. From Austin Rapp and Max MacKinnon two seasons ago to Joel Foxwell last season, newcomers have done exceptionally well under head coach Shantay Legans.
The hard thing is keeping them around, something Legans willingly acknowledges. It's a question most coaches in mid-major basketball are tired of having to ask: How do I keep this roster intact?
For the first time in a while, the Pilots have been able to do that. They returned six players from last year's squad, with several who played key minutes suiting up again in purple and white this season. Add to that a focused and targeted group of transfers and newcomers and a new-look West Coast Conference, and you have a Pilot team that feels confident they can make a leap.
"I look forward to seeing what those guys bring," Legans said about the returners specifically. "That gives you an opportunity to see what you have, and then also gives you an opportunity to bring in guys that fit around those guys, which we haven't been able to do the last four years."
Last year did not go to plan for Legans, in large part due to injuries. Injuries to players like Riley Parker, Timo George and more shredded the team's depth to the point that graduate assistant Sam Noland was brought into the fold to take on backup guard duties. As injuries compounded, it became harder for the Pilots to find a rhythm, and it showed on the floor.
The one thing that went incredibly well for Portland was the emergence of star freshman Joel Foxwell, who became Portland's first All-WCC First Team player since 2016 and Portland's first freshman to do so since Greg Anthony. Stylistically, much of the offense ran through Foxwell out of necessity. None were as adept in the conference at creating opportunities both for themselves and for others as Foxwell, and as injuries piled up, Foxwell's dominance became necessary game-to-game.
Foxwell changed games – he 15.6 points and led the conference in assists per game at 6.5 dimes a contest. But even while it worked, it wasn't quite what Legans was used to. Legans wants to play a high-tempo, high-passing style that sees offenses move the ball quickly and take and make a lot of 3-pointers. Shifting to this ball-dominant style was an adjustment for Legans and the staff, but they found success with it.
"Last year was the first time since my second or third year coaching that we had a dominant point guard that did that," Legans said. "That taught me a lot as a head coach. You can't just fold and say, 'We want to do the same thing we've always done.'"
Barring a Foxwell-like revelation, this roster will be far more egalitarian, with Legans anticipating a variety of players making an impact. Legans points right away to the returners, specifically Timo George, Riley Parker, James "Jimbo" O'Donnell and Dante Censori-Hercules.
George played just 15 games before suffering an injury early in WCC play. In just under 20 minutes a game he averaged 12.5 points and 4.9 rebounds – mostly off the bench – and shot a highly-efficient 69.5% from the field. He made 76.3% of his shots from inside the arc, making shots at one of the highest rates in the country.
"Before Timo went out, he was probably the best freshman in our league," Legans said. "I know that the kid from Santa Clara got drafted (Alan Graves), but that's the game where Timo hurt himself and I believe he was 8-for-8 and we were up 12 to 14 points at that time he went out with an injury… he was having an unbelievable game on his way to a double-double against a guy that was going to get drafted in the first round."
Technically, George was only 7-for-7 before he was injured, but the point stands; George can play. As highlighted in Basket Under Review's season preview, George was one of just three freshmen in the history of Bart Torvik – one of the best advanced stats websites in college basketball – to play extended minutes and post at least a 70% 2-point percentage, a block rate of 5% and an assist rate of 15%. Zion Williamson was also one of the three.
Parker, meanwhile, missed the entire season except one game. The Australian brings one thing that the Pilots lacked last season: shooting. He shot just under 40% from outside and made 65 3-pointers in his lone year at Saint Francis. Along with that smooth shot, Parker's an excellent playmaker who can organize the offense for the Pilots.
Prior to last season, Legans called Parker one of the greatest leaders he's ever been around. That leadership was tested as he missed more and more time. Despite that, he still made an impact for the Pilots off the floor.
"It's hard to lead when you're not in the fight," Legans said. "And I thought he did the best job you can do with the position that he was in last year… It's been a lot different (this preseason) because he's been able to compete."
Censori-Hercules saw his playing time tick upward as the year progressed, outworking just about every player on the floor, including on a tip-in play against Seattle U with just 1.9 seconds remaining that secured the win for the Pilots at Chiles.
Offensively, Legans hopes to see more from Censori-Hercules, wanting the Canadian to unlock the things that made him such an effective offensive player in high school.
"I think sometimes he doesn't have enough confidence on that side of the ball, which is shocking to me because in high school he was such a good offensive player," Legans said. "I think he sacrifices a lot of his game because he sees his teammates and how good they can be, and so he always sees the best out of people and he usually sacrifices his game to make sure his teammates are doing what they're supposed to be doing… I want him to be a little bit more aggressive to show what he can do because I think he can help us offensively."
O'Donnell's numbers across the board jumped up from his year at San Francisco, with O'Donnell posting 10 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest in just 22.4 minutes per game. As he enters his junior season, Legans notices his maturity as the biggest change in the center.
"I think you can see that from the summer. He's taking everything a little bit more seriously, especially on the basketball court," Legans said. "The way he pushes himself about workouts and the way he does things with his teammates, that's what you want."
As Legans said, bringing back players with experience means he can approach newcomers differently than years past. No need to build a whole new team – just see what fits with what you have.
So, what did Legans look for? Shooting, shooting and more shooting. Legans and company pursued shooting in the portal the highest degree, and with good reason. The Pilots made just 30.2% of their 3-pointers last year, ranking last in the WCC and 341st nationally. That's a far cry from what most teams Legans has coached have been able to produce.
"We were one of the worst teams in the league in shooting and one of the worst teams in the country at 3-point shooting," Legans lamented. "We had to go and fix that immediately."
In both the portal and the freshman recruiting class, Legans prioritized buckets from outside, seeking out proven production. Four players in Portland's backcourt shot at least 35% on 3-pointers last year. Hunter Adam and RJ Nance – transfers from Davidson and New Mexico Junior College respectively – shot 39.4% and 42.0% from outside the arc, with Nance being named the New Mexico JC Offensive Player of the Year after averaging 14.1 points per game.
Jaxson Olvera, who had previous stints at Pepperdine and Louisiana, and Kaia Isaac, a Kiwi by way of Tarleton State, both hit that 35% mark from outside while providing some dynamism too offensively, with Olvera bringing multi-level scoring and Isaac a bit of playmaking at the point guard spot. Olvera averaged 13.7 points a game with the Ragin' Cajuns, a nearly eight-point jump from his freshman year with the Waves.
Along with that crop, other freshmen, such as the younger Foxwell, Austin Foxwell, have shot incredibly well this offseason. The 3-pointers had been a fixture of past Legans teams, and a return to that style of play was a must-do ahead of this year. Every Portland team prior to last year had finished no lower than fourth in the conference in made 3's per game. After finishing last in the category last year, they'll have higher expectations this season.
"We love shooting a lot of 3's," Legans said. "That's one thing that is a big deal in our offense… and every year we've shot a lot of 3's and made a lot of 3's until last year."
That improvement will be welcome as the nonconference slate approaches. The Pilots have plenty of tough opponents on the schedule. With two MTEs in the Rainbow Classic and the Acrisure Series and Palm Springs, Portland will be tested right away.
"Looking forward to Fordham," Legans said when asked about teams he's excited to play from that early stretch. "They've got a lot of Australians on that roster; we recruit the same guys."
Add onto those games matchups against three Power 4 schools in Colorado, Stanford and Utah –Stanford beat the Pilots 94-72 last season – and you have a strong nonconference schedule that should test the Pilots early.
"It's a good schedule," Legans said. "I want to play these teams when we're playing our best basketball and see what happens."
In WCC play, it's no secret that the makeup of the conference is much different. Three schools – Gonzaga, Oregon State and Washington State – leave for the Pac-12 and Denver joins to make it 10 teams in the WCC. Legans notes that the departure of Gonzaga specifically changes things, not shying away from the fact they've been top dog in the conference for a long time.
But that doesn't mean the WCC lacks competition. Saint Mary's loses long-time head coach Randy Bennett, but has battled for the top spot with the Zags many times before. Santa Clara – the preseason poll favorites – made the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since Steve Nash was a Bronco. Pepperdine and San Diego both brought in new coaches ahead of this season while LMU, San Francisco and Pacific retain coaches who have found results in the past. Seattle U also should also pose plenty of problems for the conference.
In a new-look league, everyone feels they have a shot. When March rolls around, there's no giants to slay; just thrones to claim.
"Everybody in our league believes they can win this year," Legans said. "You always go into every season like 'We're going to the WCC Tournament, how do we get to the NCAA Tournament? How do you win your league and get to the tournament?'"
This year's no different. Even when facing stiff competition, Legans would always ask how he can beat each team 40 minutes at a time. That's all a team needs night in and night out; 40 good minutes. That's all the Pilots needed last year to beat Gonzaga for the first win against a top-10 team since 1968. What does it take to repeat that through March?
Down years like last season for Portland can happen. The injury bug bites, teams struggle, anything can happen that prevents a team from reaching their peak. But for Legans, that doesn't change his goal: winning games 40 minutes at a time.
"You want to win, and I've always been about that," Legans said. "Now you got to fight for it and get your guys to believe in it."
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