Whiteman, Saturday p.m. at Walt McPherson Court

Whitman College, out of Washington, is a member of the D-III Northwest Conference and the opponent of San Jose State University on Saturday afternoon -- 3 p.m. -- at Walt McPherson Court. Located in Walla Walla (known as the town so nice they named it twice), the team is called the Missionaries but we think they missed the boat by not going with the Sweet Onions.

Anyway, Eric Bridgeland coaches the squad and he knows the Bay Area well having been the head man with the UCSC men's basketball program in Santa Cruz for a couple of years. Most recently, he led Puget Sound to great success and also worked as an assistant at Pepperdine.

Bridgeland's teams play uptempo (remember the Puget Sound game at Walt McPherson Court a few years back? It was a barrage of three-pointers).

In an earlier article, Bridgeland said, "We're built for speed. The best players we can get admitted to Whitman are combo guards and tweeners, and the program is built around them. We want to get up and down the floor and utilize their versatility. Speed, versatility and pressure are the three concepts we hang our hats on."

He added, "Guard penetration is the future of basketball, and it happens to be exciting...We have a lot more length and a lot more quickness, depth and shooting. Offensively, we just need to share the ball. We're penetration-based, and we'll both shoot the 3 and get to the rim. We also have three or four guys who can post up. We have a lot versatility, but we'll look to get good shots early and run at every opportunity...We'll always look to pick up full and pressure, more so at times than others. We want to dictate the game."

From the Whitman athletics site comes these player descriptions:

* 6-foot-2 junior guard Brandon Shaw, who earned All-NWC Honorable Mention recognition last season while averaging a team-high 14.9 points per game also led the NWC in steals, averaging 2.38 per game.

* 6-foot-0 senior guard Justin Artis is back after averaging 12.6 points and contributing to a ball-hawking defense that led the NWC in steals a year ago.

* freshmen Josh Duckworth, a 6-foot-2 guard, and Seth Brent, a 6-foot-7 forward, are part of a recruiting class that will strengthen the core of returning players...The newcomers also include first-year sophomore Ryan Gilkey, 6-foot-7 forward.

There are a trio of players with Bay Area connections so some family and friends will be there Saturday rooting for the Missionaries:

* Drew Raher - a grad of Terra Linda High in Marin County
* Ignas Pavilonis - out of a Woodside area high school and Canada College
* Drew Raher - a St. Ignatius Prep (San Francisco) grad

Here's the Whitman roster, broken down by position and alphabetized:

* Justin Artis G 6-0 185 Sr.Tacoma WA
* Jordan Dickson G 6-1 Fr. Spokane WA
* Josh Duckworth G 6-2 Fr. Los Angeles CA
* Brandon Shaw G 6-2 170 Jr. Dallas TX

* Juan Pablo Alvarez G/F 6-4 195 Jr. Quito, Ecuador
* Peter Clark W 6-4 190 So. Flagstaff AZ

* Seth Brent F 6-7 Fr. Bend OR
* Ryan Gilkey F 6-7 220 So. Woodinville WA
* Ryan Guisness F 6-6 Fr. Kirkland WA
* David Michaels F 6-7 215 Jr. Las Vegas NV
* Ignas Pavilonis F 6-5 So. Lithuania
* Drew Raher F 6-3 195 So. San Francisco CA
* LuQuam Thompson G 5-11 160 So. Tacoma WA


Here is the listed San Jose State roster, again broken down by position and alphabetized:

* Derek Brown G 6-2 185 Fr. Los Angeles, Calif. (Chino Hills HS)
* Calvin Douglas G 6-3 215 Jr. Antioch, Calif. (City College of San Francisco)
* Justin Graham G 6-4 195 Sr. Ripon, Calif. (Ripon HS)
* Chris Jones G 6-4 205 So. Hayward, Calif. (Newark Memorial HS)
* Aalim Moor G 6-3 194 So. Oakland, Calif. (St. Mary's HS)
* Adrian Oliver G 6-4 210 Sr. Modesto, Calif. (U. of Washington)
* Keith Shamburger G 5-11 170 Fr. Lakewood, Calif. (Serra HS)

* Matt Ballard F 6-9 220 Jr. Foothill Ranch, Calif. (Irvine Valley College, UC Irvine)
* Wil Carter F 6-8 215 Jr. Pocatello, Idaho (Salt Lake Community College)
* Jerry Casey F 6-8 195 So. San Luis Obispo, Calif. (Mission College Prep)
* Billy Dick F 6-6 235 Jr. San Jose, Calif. (San Jose City College) (Silver Creek HS)
* Brylle Kamen F 6-7 235 So. Paris, France (Western Nebraska College)
* Garrett Ton F 6-8 222 Jr. Torrance, Calif. (West Torrance HS)

* Joe Henson C 6-8 245 So. Pasadena, Calif. (Pasadena HS)