New face, same goal

Although a young man at just 35 years old, Tyler Geving has been coaching basketball for the majority of his life. 

The Central Washington alumnus came to the South Park Blocks in 2005, when head coach Ken Bone offered Geving an assistant coaching position.

The Pacific Northwest native jumped at the chance to bring his coaching skills—honed at Highline Community College, Edmonds Community College, Seattle Pacific, Seattle University and Central Washington—to Portland State.

In April, and less than five years after he came to the Rose City, he was promoted to head coach and inherited a team that boasts two straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

“It has been fun so far,” Geving said of the challenges of the new job. “I am excited for the opportunity. I have a lot of work but I am enjoying my time.”

One of the important benefits of hiring Geving was his obvious familiarity with the school, conference, region and, most importantly, his players.

And although the Vikings will lose several seniors and a couple of transfers next season, a good portion of the players will return. Geving, who served as head of recruiting under Bone, personally recruited many of those players.

“The team has a lot of balance and there is room for a lot of guys to step up their game,” Geving said. “There is no real standout, and anyone on the team can shoot the lights out on any given night.”

The adjustment that the players have to make with their new head coach will be minimal but one goal will remain the same, according to Geving.

“To get back to the NCAAs. Every year that should be our goal, and we have a bulls-eye on our back, as we are currently the team to beat. Every other team in the league will be shooting for the same goal.”

Currently, Geving has his team staying busy during the offseason doing individual workouts as well as weekly workouts with the team.

The players spend four days a week lifting weights and Geving has placed extra emphasis on study hall attendance for his squad, particularly in light of the Academic Progress Report that the NCAA released several weeks ago that found the squad struggling with some aspects of academic proficiency.

With all to keep him occupied, Geving has managed to maintain the trend that may have helped the Vikings rise to the Big Dance the last two seasons: recruiting.

“It’s been a little easier to sell the program,” Geving said. “The recent success of the program makes my job a bit easier and the beautiful city of Portland makes it even more enticing.”

Replacing the departed players will be a daunting task, but Geving’s first recruiting class looks to be among the finest that the Vikings have reeled in ever. Melvin Jones, a junior college transfer from Northern Idaho will be a steady hand in the backcourt.

The Vikings recently inked some interior help as well, signing Eastern Utah transfer Phillip Thomas. A 6-foot-8, 250-pound presence in the paint could help the Vikings significantly. “Last year we didn’t have a big man presence in the paint,” Geving said.

The Vikings will also welcome three high school players who should be able to compliment the returning nucleus of Dominic Waters, Jamie Jones and Phil Nelson.

Despite the coaching change—a move that typically creates waves of instability on a tight knit basketball team—the Vikings look poised for another successful run.