SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth University will begin its quest to earn a third consecutive Northwest Conference men's basketball championship this weekend at the Johns Hopkins University Blue Jay Invitational. The Pirates will open the season against Brockport St. (N.Y.) on Friday at 6:00 p.m. (EST), then will play either JHU or Moravian (Pa.) on Saturday during the consolation/championship round.

Ross Nakamura

The Pirates: Whitworth returns three starters from the 2007-08 team that finsihed 21-7 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division III tournament. However the two losses were key: 2008 NWC Player of the Year Ryan Symes and First Team All-NWC forward Colin Willemsen.

Returnees Ross Nakamura (Sr., G, Moraga, Calif.) and David Riley (So., G, Palo Alto, Calif.) will steady the Pirates and provide strong outside shooting. Calvin Jurich (Sr., P, Spokane, Wash.) and Nate Montgomery (Jr., P, Sammamish, Wash.) shared starting time in the post last season. Tim Sellereit (Sr., G, Bellingham, Wash.) developed into arguably the best sixth man in the NWC by the end of last season.

Head coach Jim Hayford will look to an outstanding recruiting class to fill in the playing rotation. Bo Gregg (Jr., F, Lewiston, Idaho) and Troy Kalbhenn (Jr., G, Burlingame, Calif.) are junior college transfers who bring starting experience from the Community Colleges of Spokane and West Valley College (Calif.), respectively. Felix Friedt (Fr., P, Dusseldorf, Germany) and Jordan Call (Fr., G, Kirkland, Wash.) are newcomers who could see playing time right away.

Nationally Ranked: LFor the third straight season, Whitworth begins the D3hoops.com poll listed with "others receiving votes" in the preseason poll. Whitworth finished second in the 2008 NWC Preseason Coaches Poll.

Ross Runs the Ship: Ross Nakamura was a steadying influence as the Pirate point guard in 2007-08. A transfer from Diablo Valley JC in Concord, California, Nakamura led all of NCAA Division III in assist-turnover ratio (4.1 assists per turnover). His steadiness with the ball was nearly matched by his shooting ability, as he hit 43% of his three point tries last season.

Soph Shooter: David Riley had a breakthrough freshman season. The 6-5 guard was third on the team in scoring (12 points per game) and was deadly from three point range. He was the only player in the Northwest Conference to rank in the top five of the league stat leaders in both three-pointers made (2.6 per game) and three point percentage (43.1%). In Whitworth's second game of 2007-08 he broke the school record for three-pointers made in a game when he was 8 for 13 in the win over Caltech.

Big, Really Big: Whitworth's playing rotation could be the biggest in Jim Hayford's tenure as head coach. The Pirates will rotate 6-8 Nate Montgomery, 6-8 Felix Friedt and 6-6 Calvin Jurich in the post, with 6-8 Michael Taylor (Fr., F, Aspen, Colo.) available for back up duty. On the wing Whitworth will rotate 6-5 David Riley, 6-5 Bo Gregg, 6-3 Jordan Call and 6-3 Troy Kalbhenn.

The Opponents: Brockport State finished 21-8 last season and finished second in the SUNYAC with a 14-2 record. The Golden Eagles were knocked off in their tournament semifinal, missing a chance to qualify for the NCAA Division III tournament, but went on to win the ECAC Upstate New York post-season tournament. Senior guard Mychal Wilkes is the leading returning scorer after he averaged 11.7 points and made 42% of his three point tries last season.

Host Johns Hopkins finished 16-10 overall and 12-6 in the tough Centennial Conference last season. The Blue Jays will be led by senior guards Collin Kamm and Scott Weisenfeld. Moravian was 18-9 last winter and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament after finishing second in the Landmark Conference. The Greyhounds are already 1-0 this season after winning 68-63 at Lebanon Valley behind 24 points from junior forward Eric Weaver.

The Coach: In seven season's leading the Pirates, Whitworth head coach Jim Hayford has averaged 20 wins a season for a team that can only schedule 25 games a year. Now 140-46 (.753) after seven seasons at Whitworth (177-71 overall in nine years as a head coach), Hayford is only the third coach in school history to reach the 100 win plateau. Hayford has won three NWC Coach of the Year awards at Whitworth (2003, 2007, 2008) and led the Pirates to three conference championships.

Coach Hayford's Quotes:

On the first month of practice: “The most valuable player of the last month of practice has been our trainer Jon Bosh. We have dealt with a broken nose, a broken wrist, a concussion, and many other injuries. This has meant that we don’t have the familiarity with each other like I'd wish. It is a long season and hopefully we have the injury bug behind us."

On this weekend's tournament: “We have decided to seek out the best competition possible. The Johns Hopkins tournament is a perfect fit. All four participating teams have legitimate post-season aspirations and a history of success. I hope we can hold our own against some first class competition.”

On the trip East: "The team will stay for three days in the Washington DC area to view the capitol and White House, as well as other significant sights. I think this will be a great experience for our guys, especially later in life when they look back on their college experience."

2008-09 Schedule

2008-09 Roster