Burning up the history books

After arguably the best season in the history of Portland State basketball, the 2007-08 edition of the Vikings will go down in the record books as the team most commonly associated with phrases like the most, the best and the first.

The Vikings finished the season with 23 wins, the most in the history of the program.

The Vikings finished the season as the best in the Big Sky, streaking to 14 straight conference victories. And, most memorable of all, the Vikings finished the season as the first team in Portland State history to compete in the NCAA Tournament.

March 20, the day the Vikings faced the Kansas Jayhawks in the first round of the Midwest Regional in Omaha, Neb., is now as much a part of the history of Portland State as the soggy land south of the Columbia River where Vanport Extension Center first began.

Prior to playing their first game, the Vikings were a hopeful unknown. Portland State was returning three starters and a handful of talented sophomores, and adding four transfers and a freshman to the mix.

Junior point guard Jeremiah Dominguez, a former state player of the year from Salem, Ore., was eligible after sitting out a year after transferring from the University of Portland. In his two seasons with the Pilots, Dominguez had not had the opportunity to shine, but former Portland coach Michael Holton spoke highly of Dominguez.

“I have always been sold on him as a leader,” Holton said. “He has a huge heart and always displayed a competitive edge in a positive way.”

Ken Bone and staff had reason to be optimistic after leading the Vikings to a 19-13 (9-7 BSC) record in 2006-07, but if Portland State was finally going to have a team realize its potential, it was going to have to win first.

In 2005, when senior center Scott Morrison, the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year this season, was a freshman, the Vikings were on their way to the postseason after winning the Big Sky regular-season title. However, the Vikings fell in the first round of the conference tournament, breaking the hearts of Portland State fans and creating a cautiously jaded fan base.

The first test of the season was a bear, literally. Portland State took on UCLA in the season opener on Nov. 9. They lost 48-69, though it was the Vikings’ first taste of elite competition. No basketball strategist could have guessed the Vikings would end up playing two of this season’s Final Four teams (Kansas, UCLA) before it would all be through.

By January the Vikings were a mere 7-7, but were set to embark on an amazing three months in which they won 16 of 19 games, including a school best nine in a row, and 10 in a row at home.

On Jan. 11, senior forward Deonte Huff, a first-team All-Big Sky selection, told the Vanguard, “Honestly, I don’t think we’re going to lose. I don’t think we can really be stopped.”

Following the Vikings’ loss to No. 1 seed Kansas two weeks ago, Bone commented on what it means to face the nation’s best college teams.

“It’s what everybody wants to do, compete against the best,” Bone said. “More often than not they get the best of us, but we’ve won a couple of those games, so it’s a great challenge.”

Dominguez, in his first season as a Viking, led the team in points, steals and assists. The 5-foot-6 playmaker took the Big Sky by storm, becoming the first player in conference history to be named Big Sky Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year in the same season.

“You’ve really got to give Ken Bone a lot of credit, because he gave [Jeremiah] room to be who he is, which is an undersized guy with a huge heart who can make plays,” Holton said.