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| | Friday, November 5 | |||||||||||||||
COACH AND PROGRAM
MARK MADSEN (6-9, 235 lbs, SR, PF, #45, 13.1 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 29.4 minutes, .605 FG, .583 FT, San Ramon Valley HS/Danville, Calif.) Known as "Mad Dog," the former Mormon missionary is regarded as one of college basketball's most energetic and physical power forwards. "His intensity level, his natural zest, is what always kind of defines Mark," Montgomery said. "He just plays so hard." "He's the leader and the heart of the Stanford basketball team," UCLA coach Steve Lavin said. "His best asset is his heart," said teammate Jarron Collins. "He's a tremendous competitor. He doesn't give up. He truly earns his nickname, 'Mad Dog,' every time he plays." Madsen recorded seven double-doubles last season, and 10 times had 10 or more rebounds in a game. He began the year by converting 20 of his first 21 shots from the field, and his career .587 field-goal accuracy ranks No. 2 in school history. Madsen is virtually unstoppable at times under the basket, but Montgomery expects still more from him this season. "There are balls he should be rebounding, but it's never from a lack of effort," Montgomery said. "At times, he's dominant." Well-liked and admired by his teammates, Madsen should naturally step into the role of leader this season. "I don't know if he's ever going to be a guy who steps up and verbally tells people what they should be doing," Montgomery said. "People look at Mark and see what he does, how hard he plays every day. They have to look at him and say, 'That's how we do it here.'" Frankly, no one does things quite the way Madsen does. He has lived in Casa Zapata, the Spanish-speaking cultural house on campus. This residence allowed him to keep his Spanish sharp after a Mormon mission to Spain, but Madsen said his reason for living there is actually much more simple. "There are just a lot of really neat people there," he said. The fifth of 10 children, Madsen once wrote a 15-page paper contrasting Jackie Robinson and Dennis Rodman, and their roles as athletes influencing society. Madsen played last summer on the USA team that won the World University Games in Spain. DAVID MOSELEY (6-4, 205 lbs., SR, SG, #21, 6.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 17.5 minutes, .358 FG, .301 3PT, .796 FT, Mayfield HS/Las Cruces, N.M.) Moseley is a versatile player who can play either the shooting guard or small forward slot, depending on whether the Cardinal goes big or small. He has been a career reserve, never once starting in 96 games, but now he gets his chance. "'Mose' has had some good performances for us," Montgomery said. "But it is different coming off the bench than it is being in there consistently all year long. That's something we've got to wait and see." Moseley's challenge will be to hold off Ryan Mendez and freshman Casey Jacobsen for a starting job. He won't fail for a lack of enthusiasm. Moseley is one of the club's real characters, a high-energy guy. "He's excitable, and that's good," Montgomery said. "'Mose' talks more than anybody," Art Lee said last year. "Sometimes I tell him to just calm down and be quiet." "I'm just trying to have a good time out there," Moseley said. "You can't forget that basketball is fun, and the fun part is talking to other players to try to get them out of their game." Stanford is 14-0 when Moseley scores in double figures, and 45-6 over the past two seasons when he hits at least one three-pointer. He scored a career-high 23 points last season in 23 minutes vs. Nevada. He also had 13 points and seven rebounds in a win over UCLA. JARRON COLLINS (6-9, 245 lbs., JR, SF, #31, 5.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 17.2 minutes, .496 FG, .594 FT, Harvard-Westlake HS/North Hollywood, Calif.) Voted the Cardinal's most improved player last season by his teammates, Jarron figures to be the most mobile and versatile member of Stanford's huge frontcourt this year. Able to pass and handle the ball competently, he will play the small forward in some lineups, then slide to power forward when either his brother, Jason, or Madsen takes a break. Jarron Collins has shown flashes of his great potential, and Montgomery expects to see much more of it this season. Stanford is 10-0 when Jarron scores 10 points or more, and 23-3 when he grabs at least five rebounds. "Jarron's had some real big games for us in big games," Montgomery said. "He's a guy [who], when he's motivated, is very good. He needs to get consistently dominant. There are times when he's dominant and you go, 'Wow.' Sometimes he can get every rebound and score every time." Jarron played double-digit minutes in 29 of 30 contests before missing the final three games of the season with a badly sprained ankle. He grabbed 10 or more rebounds six times, including a career-high 13 vs. Washington State. He also had a 13-point, 12-rebound game vs. USC. MICHAEL MCDONALD (6-1, 175 lbs., JR, PG, #4, 3.1 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 13.3 minutes, 13 games, .286 FG, .263 3PT, .769 FT, Long Beach Poly HS/Long Beach, Calif.) No single player's development is more critical for the Cardinal this season than McDonald, who steps in as the starting point guard. Montgomery has high hopes for McDonald, but there simply isn't enough evidence to predict how he might respond to a starting job. McDonald averaged fewer than eight minutes per game as a freshman, then sprained his right foot in the season opener vs. California-Davis last year and missed 16 games. "He's got the athletic ability. He's fast enough; he's certainly quick enough; he can handle the ball well enough," Montgomery said. "Again, he hasn't done it over a period of time. He has to survive the ups and downs. "He has to survive the different type of play people are going to show him, the adversity, the pressure." He also has to stay healthy. McDonald missed all but two games his senior season at Long Beach Poly HS due to a thigh injury. The Cardinal also needs McDonald to improve his shooting. In two seasons, he has converted just .291 from the field, including .255 from three-point range. "There's been some inconsistency there," Montgomery said. "What we would ask of a point is the ability to make an open shot. It would be ideal [if he didn't have to shoot much]. That would mean he was getting the ball to others. "We'd like that to be the case. We've got some guys who can shoot the ball." McDonald is the son of Glenn McDonald, an All-America guard at Long Beach State in the early 1970s who went on to play briefly for the Boston Celtics. He also is friends with Chelsea Clinton, the president's daughter and a Stanford classmate, and worked in high school as a summer counselor at Michael Jordan's basketball camp in Southern California. JASON COLLINS (6-10, 250 lbs., SO, C, #34, 4.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 12.7 minutes, seven games, .500 FG, Harvard-Westlake HS/North Hollywood, Calif.) The Cardinal continues to anticipate getting more than a brief glimpse of Jason, who was born two minutes before his twin brother. Jason missed his first season at Stanford after tearing the meniscus cartilage in his left knee and undergoing surgery. Last year, he played the first seven games of the season, then dislocated his right wrist and was finished for the year again. The Cardinal is counting on him to be healthy and replace Tim Young at center. "He hasn't played enough to have him reach his abilities yet," Montgomery said. "He's a very good rebounder, and the things he does defensively, being physical and rebounding, shouldn't be affected [by the inactivity]. Offense is clearly a question, because he hasn't done it yet." Still, Montgomery expects Collins to be a factor from the start if only because he can rebound and play defense. Jason worked hard in the off-season to drop some weight and get into shape. His wrist is fine. "The knee is the knee; it's just going to be something we can't ever disregard," Montgomery said. "We have to nurture it a bit and make sure we don't overload it." At Harvard-Westlake HS in North Hollywood, the Collins twins were terrors. They led their team to a 66-4 record as juniors and seniors, winning a pair of California state Division III titles. "I'd like to see them get the opportunity to play together again," Montgomery said. "They really know how to play together, for obvious reasons. We've only been given smatterings of what Jason can do, just enough to whet your appetite, and then he's gone."KEY RESERVES RYAN MENDEZ (6-7, 215 lbs., JR, G/F, #32, 5.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 17.8 minutes, five games, .323 FG, .292 3PT, .500 FT, Burleson HS/Burleson, Tex.) A prolific scorer dating back to his prep days, Mendez missed most of last season after injuring his left knee after five games. "We really missed Ryan last year because of his ability to shoot the ball," Montgomery said. "He opens things up for our post guys, spreads the floor. Even if you locate him, he can hurt you. We really missed that." As a sophomore, Mendez led the Pac-10 in three-point accuracy, hitting 47.4 percent (45-for-95). For his career, Mendez is a .433 shooter from beyond the arc. As a senior at Burleson HS in a suburb of Ft. Worth, Mendez led the state of Texas in scoring (38.2 ppg) and rebounding (18.3). He once scored 72 points in a high school game, and finished his prep career with 2,427 points. Mendez underwent an MRI last season, which showed tendonitis in the patella tendon of the knee. "Obviously, his health is a factor," Montgomery said. "He feels like he had a great summer. He doesn't feel the knee at all now." CASEY JACOBSEN (6-6, 195 lbs., FR, G-F, #23, 31.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 2.0 spg, Glendora HS/Glendora, Calif.) Perhaps the most high-profile recruit Stanford has had, Jacobsen finished his prep career as the No. 2 scorer in California history with 3,284 points. That broke the CIF Southern Section record previously held by another Glendora HS star, one-time UCLA standout Tracy Murray. "He's legit," Montgomery said. "Each challenge he's been faced with, he's responded to. Each time he's been in position to play against the best players in his age group or even internationally, he's come up fairly big. "We're talking about a guy who doesn't seem to have any limitations. He feels like he can play against anybody. He wants to play against the best, and he's produced." Jacobsen received more votes than any player on the Long Beach Press Telegram Best of the West poll of coaches and scouts. He was voted California state Player of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports, was named CIF Southern Section co-Player of the Year and won the George Yardley Award as the Los Angeles Times Athlete of the Year. Following his prep season, in which he scored 43 points in one game, Jacobsen was a terror on the all-star circuit. He scored 22 points in the McDonald's All-America game and had 31 points to lead the USA Junior National Select team to a 107-95 win over the International Select team at the Hoop Summit. "He loves to play," said Montgomery, who won't rule out that Jacobsen could earn himself a starting job. "He's a tough kid who's been in a position of responsibility for years. He likes the ball in his hands, likes to take the big shot. He doesn't back down from anybody, and he's more athletic than people have given him credit for being." Jacobsen was a Parade All-America selection, was chosen the No. 3 shooting guard prospect nationally by ESPN and was a first-team All-America pick by Basketball Times and USA Today. He was also part of the USA team which posted a 7-1 record and won the silver medal at the Junior World Championships in Portugal last summer, averaging 6.9 ppg and 3.4 rpg. In the summer of 1998, before his senior year in high school, Jacobsen led a USA 17-and-under team to the gold medal at the World Youth Games in Moscow, averaging 24.0 ppg and 7.0 rpg while shooting .544 from the floor. He scored 23 points in the gold-medal win over Russia, including back-to-back three-pointers that helped break the game open. He averaged a state-best 33.4 ppg as a junior at Glendora HS, and 26.0 ppg as a sophomore. JUSTIN DAVIS (6-8, 220 lbs., FR, F, #22, 17.3 ppg, 10.0 rpg, St. Joseph Notre Dame HS/Alameda, Calif.) A product of the same high school that produced Jason Kidd, Davis originally committed to California, then changed his mind and decided on rival Stanford. Davis missed the final two months of the high school season last year after breaking a bone in his right wrist. Healthy by the spring, he excelled in a series of postseason all-star games. "Justin gives us a dimension we haven't had," Montgomery said. "He's very quick to the ball. He can go get it. He just has a knack for rebounding, getting to the ball. It's one of those skills you can't teach." Because of a wealth of frontcourt talent and the fact that Davis plays virtually the same style as Madsen, Montgomery decided to redshirt Davis this season. The coaching staff was looking at redshirting one of the three freshmen big men, and Davis was selected. Davis scored a career-high 27 points last season as St. Joseph Notre Dame handed Richmond HS its first defeat of the season. He scored 25 points as a junior at the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, Fla., where he was selected tournament MVP. St. Joseph posted a 52-8 record during Davis' final two seasons, including a 30-1 mark his junior year. CURTIS BORCHARDT (6-11, 205 lbs., FR, C, #11, 28.2 ppg, 14.8 rpg, 5.4 bpg, .550 FG, .490 3PT, .810 FT, Eastlake HS/Redmond, Wash.) Regarded as one of the top big men to emerge from Washington, Borchardt was a consensus choice as state Player of the Year after leading his team to a 22-8 record as a senior. But Borchardt almost didn't play at all last season. Frustrated by the perception that his teammates weren't as dedicated to the game as he is, Borchardt openly talked about not playing as a high school senior. A coaching change helped turn around attitudes, and Borchardt blossomed. "He wasn't going to play for a while," Montgomery said. "He was concerned it might not be as important to everyone else as it was to him. It was really hard on him, and he didn't know how to handle it." Borchardt is a skilled player, but is nowhere near physically developed, at barely 205 pounds. "He's going to have to learn how to be effective at that size," Montgomery said. "He'll become bigger. But he shoots it, he can play away from the basket, and he's pretty mobile and active. He's competitive. He's not going to back off from anyone." Borchardt's finest game last season was a 46-point, 18-rebound, seven-block performance against Lake Washington HS.OTHER RETURNEES TONY GIOVACCHINI (6-2, 170 lbs., SO, G, #25, 1.7 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 1.0 apg, 7.6 minutes, Judge Memorial HS/Salt Lake City, Ut.) Giovacchini will battle newcomer Julius Barnes for the backup point guard spot. He got more playing time than anticipated a year ago because of the injury to McDonald, and Montgomery believes that was a mixed blessing. "He was probably typical of a kid who was thrown into a position earlier than he should have been," Montgomery said. "It's the first game and Mike's hurt, so Tony's in there. He lost a little bit of confidence and it hurt him." Giovacchini scored a season-high 11 points against Santa Clara, and had seven points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists against Southwest Missouri State. KYLE LOGAN (6-6, 190 lbs., FR redshirt, G-F, #3, Mercersburg Academy/Hagerstown, Md.) Logan is something of a wild card, an unknown who requested to be redshirted last season after feeling just a bit overwhelmed by the rigors of a freshman year at Stanford. Montgomery believes he may provide the team a lift. "He's got good size and he's pretty quick. Potentially, he's a shut-down defender," Montgomery said. "I'd like to see him compete. He knows what it takes at this level." Logan worked on improving his jump shot, and had surgery last spring to remove bone spurs from his ankle. At Mercersburg Academy, he averaged 20 ppg and shot .850 from the line. He was once an All-State player in Maryland. ALEX GELBARD (6-3, 200 lbs., SR, G, #20, 0.9 ppg, 0.1 rpg, nine appearances, .250 FG, Harvard-Westlake HS/Sherman Oaks, Calif.) A walk-on who was high school teammate of Jarron and Jason Collins, Gelbard hit his first collegiate three-pointer vs. Nevada last season. Gelbard is a third-generation Stanford athlete, whose father competed on the school's ski team and grandfather was a soccer player for the Cardinal.OTHER NEWCOMERS JULIUS BARNES (6-1, 175 lbs., FR, G, #24, 25.0 ppg, 8.0 apg. 6.0 rpg, .860 FT, Rowland Heights HS/Rowland, CA) Barnes was a do-everything combination guard in high school, but the Cardinal coaching staff envisions him as a point. "Whether he has the decision-making ability remains to be seen," Montgomery said. "But he really flies, he can really run, jump and shoot the ball. Because we ask our point guard to do a lot, make good decisions, we have to wait and see him in that spot." Barnes scored 39 points in a game vs. Berkeley HS last year, and was named first team All-State by Cal-High Sports. He was voted to the first team on the Orange County Register Fab 15 poll. JOE KIRCHOFER (6-9, 200 lbs., FR, F, #00, 15.0 ppg, 12.0 rpg. 5.0 bpg, .600 FG, Laguna Creek HS/Elk Grove, Calif.) Kirchofer is perhaps the least-known of the Cardinal's rookie class, but Montgomery likes his upside. He is an excellent shot-blocker who once scored a triple-double against rival Elk Grove HS by totaling 30 points, 16 rebounds and 14 blocks. The owner of a 4.3 grade-point average, Kirchofer led his team to a 26-6 record last season. TYLER BESECKER (6-6, 200 lbs., FR, G-F, #14, 18.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, .670 FG, Mercer Island HS/Bellevue, Wash.) Besecker is a walk-on whose skills and potential put him on a level comparable to players this program was recruiting as scholarship athletes not many years ago. He helped lead Mercer Island HS to an 81-9 record and two Washington state 3A titles the past two seasons. In the championship win over O'Dea HS this past season, Besecker had 17 points and 12 rebounds. "He had some other scholarship offers. This is a place he really wanted to be," Montgomery said. "He's good. He's a big, tough defender, he's got a great attitude and he's a proven winner. He's going to be a real nice player for us."STARTERS NOT RETURNING ARTHUR LEE (6-0, PG, 13.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.8 spg, 32.6 minutes, .396 FG, .397 3PT, .886 FT) The hero of Stanford's run to the Final Four in 1998, Lee had a solid, All-Pac-10 campaign as a senior. He led the team in scoring for the season, and did so in 10 different games. The successor to Brevin Knight in Stanford's recent tradition of top point guards, Lee enjoyed the signature game of his senior year Feb. 27 when the Cardinal hosted defending conference champion Arizona. He scored 29 points, and Stanford clinched its first outright conference title since 1942. Of all Stanford's departing seniors, Lee will be the toughest to replace. Regarded as a potential question mark when he took over for Knight in 1997-98, Lee became a dependable, steadying and potentially explosive force for the Cardinal. He led the team in scoring with a 14.5 ppg mark as a junior, and was the team's MVP. His willingness to put the team on his shoulders and make the big play keyed Stanford's unlikely drive to the '98 Final Four, and he continued to fill the chief leadership role last year. During the 1998 NCAA Tournament, Lee averaged 20.6 ppg and 5.6 apg, setting a record by hitting all 35 of his free-throw attempts in five Tournament games. He was the only player named to the All-Final Four team who did not play in that year's championship game. Lee finished his career ranked 21st on Stanford's all-time scoring list with 1,229 points and was fifth in assists with 382. His 126 career games are more than any other Stanford player except Tim Young, and his .867 career free-throw accuracy is the school's best in nearly four decades. KRIS WEEMS (6-3, SG, 11.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.9 apg, 31.5 minutes, .403 FG, .384 3PT, .756 FT) One of the best perimeter shooters in school history, Weems is second on Stanford's career list with 201 three-point baskets. He led the team in scoring five times last year, going for a season-high 23 points vs. Nevada and scoring 19 in a late-season victory over Arizona State. Weems started the final 98 games of his career, during which time the Cardinal posted a record of 78-20. An All-Conference player as a junior, Weems scored a career-high 34 points at Oregon that season and had 32 more vs. Washington. He finished 20th on Stanford's all-time scoring chart with 1,235 points. TIM YOUNG (7-2, C, 10.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 0.9 bpg, 24.9 minutes, .506 FG, .825 FT) To most outsiders, Young never quite achieved his full potential at Stanford. His unwillingness or inability to finish plays near the basket was a mystery, and Young seemingly was always saddled by foul trouble. But Montgomery appreciated Young's contributions, which included being an underrated position defender, a steady rebounder and an offensive factor the opposition could not ignore. Young ran the floor very well for a big man, played through back pain much of his career and was an excellent shooter. He started the final 125 games of his career, averaging at least 11 points and eight rebounds in each of his first three seasons. Young played in 132 games overall more than any player in Stanford history and wound up ninth all-time in scoring with 1,544 points and second in rebounding at 1,070. His 167 career blocked shots are a Stanford record, as were his 375 personal fouls. He registered 40 career double-doubles. Young was a second-round NBA draft choice of the Golden State Warriors. PETER SAUER (6-7, SF, 8.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, 24.8 minutes, .411 FG, .326 3PT, .694 FT) Few Stanford players have milked more from their physical abilities than Sauer, who began his career playing power forward, then was moved to the wing. His senior season was not his best, but Sauer led the team in scoring three times, including 19 points vs. Oregon State. More often, his contributions were subtle. Sauer's versatility, his court sense and his toughness played a big role in the program's recent success. Sauer started the final 95 games of his career, and enjoyed a terrific junior season. He scored a career-high 23 points vs. Arizona that year, and had 21 points vs. UCLA. His three-point basket cut Kentucky's lead to a single digit in the final minute of the 1998 NCAA semifinal.OTHERS NOT RETURNING MARK SEATON (6-9, F, 1.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 9.4 minutes, .380 FG, .364 FT) Seaton's career started with a bang, then never recaptured the momentum of his freshman season. Seaton averaged 4.8 ppg and shot .605 from the field as a rookie, earning Pac-10 All-Freshman honors and the team's Most Improved Player award. He scored a career-high 18 points against Southern California that season. Seaton never averaged more than 2.5 ppg in any year thereafter, and his opportunities also diminished over time. As a senior, his best performance was a 12-point, seven-rebound effort vs. Washington and its All-America center, Todd MacCulloch. Seaton finished his career fifth on Stanford's all-time field-goal percentage list at .565. He played in 114 games never starting and even turned down the chance to do so on Senior Day last year because he didn't want to disrupt the normal scheme of things.QUESTIONS Point guard? The Cardinal has been in good hands the past six years, with Brevin Knight and then Arthur Lee running the point. Michael McDonald may be able to do the job, but he hasn't had the opportunity to show it yet. Leadership? Five seniors who scored more than 5,000 career points and won 99 games in four seasons are gone. Seems likely they took some leadership with them. Health? Stanford began last season as one of the nation's deepest teams, but injuries to four players thinned the ranks and limited the team's flexibility by year-end. The Cardinal needs to keep its key people upright, particularly McDonald and center Jason Collins.ANSWERS Madsen! Few players in the country match Mad Dog's combination of muscle and intensity. Any coach would love to have him. Depth! Once again, the Cardinal begins the season with an apparent legion of talent and size. Try six players standing 6-8 or taller. Recruiting class! Stanford's incoming freshman class is probably its best ever, ranging from top recruit Casey Jacobsen to capable walk-on Tyler Besecker.
| AUDIO/VIDEO   Dick Vitale previews Stanford.RealVideo: | 28.8
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