A lot can change while some things stay the same. The Fort Lewis men’s basketball team has undergone a massive makeover. Longtime Skyhawks head coach Bob Pietrack is gone. FLC doesn’t return a single player who averaged more than three minutes a game from a team that went 29-4, won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament Championship and lost in the second round of the Division II NCAA Tournament.
Now it’s new head coach Jordan Mast’s time. Mast had a record of 52-8 over the last two years at NAIA Antelope Valley in California. A former Gonzaga Bulldog in his playing days, Mast hasn’t lowered the standards for the Skyhawks’ program even in his first year.
“I always say we want to compete because I don't want to not give credit where credit is due to really good other programs,” Mast said. “But we expect to win the conference, that's our goal year one and qualify for the national tournament … The resources and the support are here at Fort Lewis so that's a realistic goal. It's not just a pipe dream. The sustained success they've already had is something that we don't take lightly and we're going to work our tails off to make sure that continues.”
Mast recruited talent from all over the country, the world and different levels of college basketball for this team. The Skyhawks have players with Division I experience like seniors Biko Johnson, Chuol Deng, junior Keither Florence and senior Tristan Moore. Freshman Jude Brideba is from Nigeria and freshman Aiden Gibson is from Australia. Fifth-year player Tru Allen is from Division II Northwest Nazarene University. Sophomore Malachi Coleman and sophomore Joseph LeFlore Jr. follow Mast from NAIA Antelope Valley.
One thing all of these players and the rest of the roster have in common is high character. Mast said it's a group unlike he’s ever coached with its high character and high GPA. The team already has 460 hours of community service. He also said it’s the first time in his coaching career he hasn’t had a player be late to a workout or practice so far.
The team’s hunger to get better every day has been the team’s strength so far, according to Mast. He expects the team’s drive to help the team progress and build chemistry.
Speaking of drive, the 2024-2025 Skyhawks will look similar to last year’s team with its drive on offense and defense. Mast wants his team to play in transition and score in the 80s, 90s and even into the 100s. On the defensive side of the ball, Mast wants to press similar to last year’s FLC squad.
One player who might be the most crucial for this style of basketball and the Skyhawks’ overall chances is Allen. He was one of Mast’s earliest commits this spring and should run the show from the first game onward. He understands how to play the game on offense and averaged 13.1 points per game, 3.9 rebounds per game, 2.9 assists per game and 2.64 steals per game last year at Northwest Nazarene. He was fifth in Division II in steals per game.
“He’s got a great knack for the ball and knowing where to be a position himself,” Mast said about Allen. “You're going to see him leading the charge there as we apply that pressure.”
Another experienced guard who should help FLC remain competitive is Johnson. He played at Division I Nebraska-Omaha last year. Johnson dealt with shoulder injuries last year and is dealing with them this year. He’s been out a few weeks and is questionable to open the season. Mast said his playmaking will stick out for Skyhawks fans.
The player who might have impressed the Mast the most is Deng. At 6-foot-7-inches and 208 pounds, Deng was at Division I Oakland University the last two years but didn’t play last year due to injuries.
“He's just so versatile,” Mast said. “I had no idea how good of a shooter he was until he got here. In our two scrimmages, he's made four plus threes. He's scoring inside and he rebounds. He does a little bit of everything. Last year at Oakland, he was hurt, so he didn't play. Sometimes guys sit out and maybe get out of shape. He did the exact opposite. He used that year to really get his body in shape and sharpen his skill set. I'm really excited for people to see him on the court this year.”
Two freshmen who have stood out to Mast and the coaching staff are redshirt freshman guard Stewart Erhart and freshman forward Jude Brideba. Erhart redshirted at FLC last year so Mast didn’t know what to expect but he’s impressed the coaches and could compete for minutes.
Brideba is 6-10, runs like a deer, finish at the basket and can jump out of the gym, according to Mast. He said Brideba is still very raw but could start because of the size he has.
Depth and rotations are always a question mark with a basketball team. Traditionally, Mast has played between nine and 12 guys in his rotations. This season, he thinks FLC should play between eight and 10 guys a night, depending on injuries.
While Mast is optimistic about the Skyhawks chances overall and in the RMAC, the rest of the teams in the league aren’t as bullish. FLC was picked to finish ninth in the RMAC out of 15 teams in the coaches’ preseason poll. Colorado School of Mines was picked to win the league while MSU Denver, Regis and Black Hills State rounded out the top four. Coaches weren’t allowed to vote on their own team.
“I'm not surprised because I don't think anybody knows our guys,” Mast said. “The surprise would come from the success Fort Lewis has had, not just the last two years, but traditionally, I don't think they’ve finished ninth in quite a while. That surprised me a little bit. But at the same time, we’ve got a bunch of new guys and nobody knows who we are. It's time for us to prove that we deserve to be higher than that.”
FLC won’t have an easy time proving that right away. The Skyhawks open the season in the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Florida, on Nov. 2. FLC plays Point Loma Nazarene from California and Carson-Newman University from Tennessee. Both teams won 20+ games last year and bring back a lot of returning pieces. Mast thinks they’ll both be top-20 teams in Division II.
Mast isn’t worried about some growing pains early on. He thinks the raw talent, combined with a transition offense and a pass-first offense in the half-court, can propel the Skyhawks to play their best basketball in March and produce some magic for FLC fans.
bkelly@durangoherald.com