Fort Lewis College has never had consecutive men’s basketball seasons with as many wins or national accomplishments as it had between the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. In the third year under head coach Bob Pietrack, the Skyhawks aren’t willing to take a step back.
But it was Joshua Blaylock’s signature step-back jumper that helped propel the FLC men to two consecutive 25-plus-win seasons and two NCAA Division II tournament appearances. Even without Blaylock’s leadership and pure basketball skill, this year’s Skyhawks are ready to take another step forward.
Several new faces fill the FLC roster – including superstar talent Marquel Beasley – but the goals haven’t changed. The Skyhawks are chasing a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship a year after they finished second to Colorado School of Mines in the regular season, conference tournament and in the second round of the NCAA South Central Region tournament.
“Our focus right now is doing well in the RMAC and getting our championship belt back,” said Pietrack, who has been nominated for five national coach of the year awards in his two seasons leading FLC.
Pietrack has done nothing but win in his time at FLC, and he spurned higher-paying opportunities at bigger schools during the offseason to sign a three-year contract with FLC. The former Skyhawks player-turned-assistant-coach took over the reigns of the team in 2015. Since then, FLC has gone 31-1 on their home court inside Whalen Gymnasium and has been ranked in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 poll in 27 of the last 28 polls. When the preseason top 25 is released Tuesday afternoon, FLC expects to be in the top 25 again after Division 2 Bulletin ranked FLC No. 17 in its preseason poll.
FLC won the conference title ahead of Colorado Mines during the 2015-16 season and then claimed the RMAC Shootout tournament championship ahead of the Orediggers, too. But last season, FLC dropped all three matchups to Colorado Mines. The Orediggers are the lone team to beat the Skyhawks in Whalen Gymnasium the last two years. They beat FLC 102-98 in the title game of the RMAC tournament and beat the Skyhawks 86-67 in the second round of the NCAA Division II tournament.
“You don’t move on from that,” said FLC senior forward Rasmus Bach, the Preseason RMAC Player of the Year. “I won’t be happy until I either beat Mines or get a championship.”
Still, the Skyhawks went 26-7 overall last year and 18-4 in the RMAC. FLC was picked first in this year’s RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll with six first-place votes and 183 points. Colorado Mines was a close second with five first-place votes and 178 points. Regis of Denver earned three first-place votes and 177 points, and Westminster of Salt Lake City was fourth with 147 points, though Westminster is not eligible for RMAC postseason play in the final year of its transition from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics level to Division II. Traditional RMAC powerhouse Metro State was fifth in the preseason poll with 146 points and had one first-place vote.
“Our league is so tough,” Pietrack said. “You start with Colorado Mines. They’re the defending champ. All the Denver schools, Regis and Metro and Colorado Christian. Then you have Westminster, and (CSU-Pueblo) has good players. It’s a really deep league. It’s a marathon season of 22 conference games. What makes this league so fun is that it’s not a one-month league. It’s a grind, and to win it you have to play really good for a long period of time and hope lady luck is on your side at the end.”
Here’s a closer look at the 2017-18 FLC men’s basketball team:
Along with Bach, a Division 2 Bulleting Preseason All-American, the Skyhawks return valued players from a year ago such as RMAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Brandon Wilson, sophomore forward and offensive star Riley Farris, electric guard Daniel Hernandez, ideal sixth-man Alex Semadeni and defensive-minded guard Kane Martinez.
Bach will enter the season eighth on the program’s all-time scoring list and is 481 points away from matching the mark set by DeAndre Lansdowne from 2007-11. If he averages 17.8 points per game in the regular season, Bach will catch Lansdowne. Bach is also just seven made 3-pointers away from the school’s all-time 3-point field goals record of 216 set by Zach Cole from 1999-03.
Bach, who averaged 18.2 points and 5,8 rebounds per game last season, isn’t focused on breaking records, though. He has the team on his back as the unquestioned leader in his senior season, and he’s taking to heart what he learned as a freshman when star center Alex Herrera was a senior.
“It’s not much different, but maybe in terms of my appreciation for it,” Bach said of how being a senior makes this year different. “Seeing Alex Herrera be a senior here and what Fort Lewis meant to him, now I’m in his same shoes trying to lead a team to a championship. I just want to take in every second and remember all the good times I have with my best friends.”
Wilson, a 6-foot-9, 215-pound senior center who transferred to FLC for his junior season from Otero Junior College, is back for his senior season with FLC. He started 30 of the team’s 31 games last year and averaged 8.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per game.
Pietrack will start Wilson at center this year and could put Farris in the starting lineup for a much bigger look this season. Farris, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward, burst onto the scene last year as a big offensive weapon before he suffered a knee injury. He bounced back quickly but was never the same player after the early-season injury.
Farris slimmed down 20 pounds during the offseason and will be a big part of this year’s team. The stretch-four player can dominate in the post and step out and shoot 3s.
“I feel great,” Farris said. “It’s definitely fun playing with Brandon. It’s a taller team this year. I think everyone is gonna have a chance to show what we got, and it’s gonna be good for us.”
Hernandez, a 5-foot-8 guard, will play a pivotal role at point guard for FLC. He gained national attention with a SportsCenter Top 10 play with a blocked dunk attempt by 6-foot-8 Colorado Mesa forward Ludvig Saldh last year, but the senior guard is much more than that blocked shot. He provided fast-pace play for the Skyhawks last year when he averaged 10.2 points per game for FLC. After FLC lost last year’s two starting guards, Blaylock and Will Morse, Hernandez has big shoes to fill.
“I think I’m liking my role better distributing the ball a little more,” Hernandez said. “I like playing the (point). It’s not much of a stretch for me.”
Colorado Mines beat FLC by playing big last year. With talented forwards to throw the ball into, Hernandez likes the way this taller FLC squad looks when compared to other RMAC schools.
“The size overwhelms teams at a certain point,” he said. “When we have four bigger guys out there, it’s gonna be tough for other teams in the RMAC to match up.”
FLC will certainly miss Blaylock. He averaged 20.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and nearly three assists per game last season. But it wasn’t only his statistics that changed games. His on-ball defense was second to none, and he was unbeatable in clutch situations. Exit Blaylock, enter Marquel Beasley.
Fans will be naturally drawn to No. 15 this season. Beasley signed with FLC in the offseason as a transfer out of Iowa Western Junior College. The Rock Island, Illinois, product averaged 10 points and six rebounds per game last season. In high school, Beasley won the Illinois and Iowa Slam Dunk competition. Even watching Beasley in a practice, it’s not hard to tell why he’s nicknamed “Air Beasley.”
“I want to bring energy, toughness, and I love playing above the rim,” Beasley said. “I’m very excited and anxious to get going. I know what our team is capable of and what we’re capable of down the road.”
Along with Beasley came transfers DJ Miles and Mike Ranson, two players from the University of Northern Colorado who will be key contributors. Ranson is a dangerous guard who can fill up the basket, and Miles averaged 13.3 points per game for the Bears last season. Collin Weaver is another guard transfer from Nevada who will bring intensity. Weaver helped get Beasley to FLC. The two played together in Iowa, and Pietrack has had his eye on Weaver since he was in high school.
Redshirt freshman guard Cesar Molina also is expected to see time off the bench this season.
FLC also will enjoy the addition of 6-foot-9 freshman Brendan Boatwright, a former New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year.
“Losing (Blaylock), that’s a one-of-a-kind person,” Bach said. “It’s gonna take two or three guys to make up for that. This year, it’s a little different. We’re not relying as much on two or three guys. We might have four or five guys in double digits the whole year. It’s going to be exciting to see what these new guys can bring.”
FLC’s success will be determined by how fast all of the new pieces can gel together. Pietrack has the team going through rigorous practices to prepare for the regular-season opener Nov. 11 against Eastern New Mexico at The Pit in Albuquerque. Pietrack said the team is thankful to the University of New Mexico for the opportunity to play on its famed basketball court for two South Central Region games to open the year, as FLC also will play Western New Mexico at the Pit on Nov. 12.
The Skyhawks’ first home game is Nov. 16 against Northern New Mexico. In the RMAC, winning at home is of the utmost importance, and no team has won more games at home than FLC the last two years. The Skyhawks also have led the RMAC in attendance the last two seasons.
“We want to come out here and play a Fort Lewis brand of basketball that people want to watch,” Bach said. “We should never lose at home. Coach has said that since I was a freshman. We gotta protect the ’Hawk House.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
