Successful substitution

Before the dust could even settle on the 2008 Big Sky Championship trophy, Portland State basketball coach Ken Bone and his staff were already preparing for this season.

Those offseason preparations included helping players develop and strengthen weaknesses, organizing the Vikings nonconference schedule and spending some well-deserved recuperation time away from the Stott Center.

But perhaps the most important thing that Bone’s coaching staff worked on this offseason was assembling their roster for a repeat run at another conference championship and the Vikings’ second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

“As a coach it is very exciting to see the new faces,” said assistant coach Eric Harper. “There are definitely some talented players and it will be nice to get going and get everyone healthy.”

Should the Vikings replicate their success from last season, they will need production from many of the new faces that have joined the team over the past two years.

Last season junior guard Dominic Waters, sophomore forward Phil Nelson and junior forward Jamie Jones were all forced to into a bystander’s role as they were required to sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules.

Waters, a Portland native, and Nelson, a heralded transfer from Washington, have impressed many during the fall workouts that preceded the Vikings’ first official practice on Friday.

Joining those three on the court in the Stott Center this season will be several other key players, most by way of transfer.

In the frenetic world of college recruiting, the Vikings will benefit from a coaching change at another university and pick up freshman guard Wendell Wright. Wright had originally committed to Loyola Marymount of the West Coast Conference, but was released following a coaching change at that school.

“At this point the rotation and lineup is open,” Harper said. “We have basically four weeks until our first game [Nov. 15 at Rice] for guys to battle for that playing time.”

Perhaps no new recruit will be forced to fill bigger shoes quicker than junior center Donatas Visockis. Following the departure of defensive presence Scott Morrison, Visockis will need to hold down the middle of the Vikings defense.

“On defense we want to pressure the ball, so it is important that we have a defender who can help out inside,” Harper said.

Harper said that the team has already had some injury issues early on this season. Sophomore wing Paul Guede suffered a stress fracture during the first week of practice and will be held out of practice at least another week.

Nelson and Jones have also missed a bit of practice time, although Harper said that both are expected to return to the court within the next few days.

For the duration of the summer months and the majority of fall, coaches are limited by the NCAA in the amount of time that they can spend in the gym with their players.

And while players may find plenty of opportunities to play together in less structured ways during that time, Harper said that it is important for the coaches to have an opportunity to teach their philosophy and stress the fundamentals that make teams successful.

“We need that time so that we can start to focus on specific things, and install our offense and defense. Thus far we have kept our teaching pretty broad, especially with all the new faces,” Harper said.

While less than a month of practice before their first game, Harper said that the team would feature the same style of basketball that fans grew accustomed to last season.

“Offensively, we want to be an up-tempo team and push the ball,” Harper said. “Defensively, it’s about pressuring our opponent and speeding the game up. We have great athletes and we hope to take advantage of it.”

New Viking Faces

Dominic Waters6-1 Guard Junior

Grant High SchoolUniversity of HawaiiPortland, Ore.

Paul Guede6-5 Guard/ForwardSophomore

Grace Christian High SchoolTallahassee Community CollegeValparaisoLondon, England

Dane Johnson6-1 GuardSophomore

St. Francis DeSalesWestern OregonColumbus, Ohio

Phil Nelson6-7 ForwardSophomore

McNary High SchoolUniversity of WashingtonKeizer, Ore.

Wendell Wright6-5 Guard/ForwardFreshman

MayfairLakewood, Calif.

Louis Lee6-7 Forward Sophomore

Mountain ViewClark Community CollegeVancouver, Wash.

Donatas Visockis6-10 Center Junior

Cardinal Gibbons High SchoolButte Junior CollegeSouthern MississippiSiauliai, Lithuania

Jamie Jones6-7 Forward Junior El Segundo High SchoolUniversity of PortlandEl Segundo, Calif.