Rich Douglas
For a team that has won 55 games in the last 2 years, Weber State is inexplicably overlooked and seem to be flying under the radar again this year. The Wildcats dropped their season opener to in state rival BYU, but have plenty of firepower to recapture the Big Sky Title after getting upset by Montana last year in the conference tournament.
The Wildcats had an impressive Effective Field Goal % of 56.0 last year which was good enough for 4th in the nation. Most of their success was due to their sharp shooting prowess behind the 3 point line as they had the 2nd highest percentage in the nation. They should continue to see success beyond the arc as their starting backcourt of Davian Berry and Jordan Richardson is back. Berry and Richardson each shot 41% from 3PT last season with Berry leading the team in PPG with 15.2.
The frontcourt features returning senior Kyle Tresnak who shot an efficient 57% from the field and 70% from the free throw line. The big man cleaned up on the boards aiding Weber State's high activity on the boards which was necessary for their perimeter attack. The X Factor for the team may be Sophomore Joel Bolomboy who has been pushed into a prominent in the starting lineup. Bolomboy is still a very raw athletic Power Forward, but is easily the best rebounder in the conference. During his Freshman season, Bolomboy was ranked 19th and 47th respectively in OR and DR%.
Weber State should runaway with the conference and finally see their potential met in the conference tournament. They have 4 legitimate all-conference players in their starting lineup and will score at will. Perhaps what's even more important is that they replicate last year's stat in allowing 0.93 points per possession in conference.
Prediction: 1st in Conference.
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