EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

SEASON OUTLOOK: MVP Candidate Leads Eagles

With size from point guard to post, success by low right now, and we can shoot the ball from the outside very committee and more emphasis on defense will be well. We feel really good about this team. We have a lot of size, with a seven-footer who could start and a point guard who is 6-6 and grew the keys for Eagles in 2017-18 season over the summer. That size will affect how we play offense and how ize and energy – and a renewed focus on defense – can other teams play against us.” take a basketball team a long way. The Eagles return eight letterwinners from last year, including a trio S Eastern Washington University first-year head coach of returning starters -- Bliznyuk, and Luka Vulikic. Shantay Legans is hoping those two things will help get the Eagles The others are Cody Benzel, Grant Gibb, Ty Gibson, Jesse Hunt and through a challenging early-season schedule, combined with many other Sir Washington, with Jacob Davison and Joshua Thomas returning intangibles that will create “success by committee” as he calls it. as 2016-17 redshirts. A senior, Bliznyuk was a second team All- selection a year ago, and was the league’s Freshman of A veteran of eight previous seasons as an Eastern assistant, Legans the Year in 2014-15. has 18 players on his roster, equally split between veterans and new- comers. The Eagles, who open the season Nov. 10 versus Walla Walla, Incredibly strong and talented when driving to the basket, Bliznyuk’s are coming off a third-straight appearance in a national postseason energy is a characteristic of the entire team. tournament, and were 22-12 overall a year ago. “We get our energy by having a young coaching staff, but most of “Our players and staff are excited to get started, said Legans. “I it comes from our players,” said Legans. “Bogdan is one of the most couldn’t be happier. Our team is doing a great job and is really compet- energetic players out here, and Sir Washington being here five years ing in practice. They are really getting after it on the court and we have really has a lot of energy. Our other players feed off of that and have 13 guys right now I believe who could get into the game and play. They been working hard. The energy is electric in practice and it’s been fun are all fighting for playing time, so seeing that competitiveness is a lot of watching these guys go.” fun out there.” Such energy is contagious, and Legans saw the results firsthand Led by Big Sky Conference Player of the Year candidate Bogdan a year ago when went from a virtual college unknown to Bliznyuk, the Eagles feature a team with size throughout their lineup. receiving an offer to play in the National Basketball Association. Eastern could potentially having a starting unit with a 6-foot-6 point “Our freshmen who played last season, Mason and Luka, have guard, plus players 6-3, 6-6, 6-7 and 7-0. Bliznyuk was one of six players come leaps and bounds,” he added. “And Jesse Hunt has done a great selected to the preseason All-Big Sky team. job. We are going to do it by committee, but it’s always hard replacing The eight newcomers include Lithuanian seven-footer Benas a pro.” Griciunas, a graduate transfer who has 59 games of NCAA Division I Legans also has the task to blend in a large group of newcomers, experience. including six who have never played NCAA Division I basketball. He’ll “I love this team – we have size, we have veterans and we have have to determine who are ready to play now and who will need to be youth,” said Legans. “We have athleticism and we can score on the redshirted. “We have to catch our younger players up,” said Legans. “Our veterans are really good – Sir has been here five years and Bogdan has been here four. Benas has played a lot of Division I basketball at a very high level. We also have Cody, Ty, Luka, Jesse and Mason, and all of those players have played and started at some point in their careers.” “They have to mentor the younger players, and let them know exactly what they need to be doing on and off the court,” he continued. “They are doing a great job of that already – they started this summer and have carried it on over. We’re building toward the beginning of our season, and we are off to a good start.” Legans said his team will have a renewed focus on defense, after previous teams under Jim Hayford were

New Eagle Head Coach SHANTAY LEGANS

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Senior Point-Forward BOGDAN BLIZNYUK offensive-minded. A year ago the Eagles were among the Big Sky leaders in scoring offense at 79.5 points per game, but also allowed opponents to score at a 76.2 clip per game. “I think we’ll bring a lot more defense to the game plan,” stated Legans. “We have Nick Booker on our staff, and he’s a great defensive coach and he has our guys really revved up on that end. He’s done a really good job with them early. We have a great base of offense that Coach Hayford es- tablished here before he left. We’re a graduate transfer in the 2015-16 season, followed by forward Jacob going to keep building on that, with a couple of tweaks here and there. Wiley. Wiley is now with the New Jersey Nets in the NBA, and was the But defensively is where we are really going to make our name.” Big Sky Conference MVP last season after averaging 20.2 points, 9.2 A former player at Cal and Fresno State, Legans had previously rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots per game as a senior. assisted Hayford in recruiting, scouting and game preparation for the “Losing a professional obviously changes a lot,” admitted Legans. Eagles, as well as on-the-floor coaching and the development of EWU’s “When we lost Tyler Harvey we picked up Austin McBroom, and when backcourt players. Legans is Eastern’s 18th head coach in the school’s we lost Venky Jois we picked up Jake Wiley. And now that we’ve lost 109-year basketball history, and the 10th head coach since EWU Jake, we’ve picked up a good player in Benas, our big fella from UNC became a member of NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season. Charlotte. He’s a really good player. And then we put a lot more on He has been a part of Eastern teams from the 2013-14 through Bogdan’s shoulders.” 2016-17 seasons which have win totals of 15, 26, 18 and 22. The two The definition of versatility is the 6-6, 215-pound Bliznyuk, who 20-victory seasons are the top two win totals in EWU’s 34-year history burst on the scene in 2015-16 to earn Big Sky Conference Freshman in NCAA Division I. The combined 81 victories in four seasons, 66 in of the Year honors. He followed that by recording the first triple-double three and 44 in two are also the most since EWU became a member of in school history as a sophomore, and then earned second team All-Big NCAA Division I in the 1983-84 season. Sky and All-District 6 honors in 2016-17 when he averaged 20.6 points, Eastern has had its first back-to-back national tournament post- 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. season appearances at the Division I level with a current stretch of He has scored 1,428 points in 103 career games, and needs just three-straight, including its first-ever win (79-72 over Pepperdine in the 375 points to break EWU’s all-time mark of 1,803 points set by Venky College Basketball Invitational in 2016). He helped coach Eastern to Jois from 2013-16. If Bliznyuk plays 25 games he will equal the record a 26-9 record overall, Big Sky Conference regular season and tourna- of 128 set by his former teammate Felix Von Hofe from 2014-17. ment titles and a NCAA Tournament appearance in the 2014-15 season. Bliznyuk is formerly from Lutsk, Ukraine, and graduated from Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way, Wash., in 2014. Eagle Frontcourt . . . “He is an experienced, versatile player who will continue to do a little bit of everything for us,” said Legans. “Bogdan is ready to have his Eastern has leaned heavily on graduate transfers the last two sea- best year as an Eagle yet.” sons, and this year will be no exception. After beginning his collegiate The 6-8 Peatling started 17 of Eastern’s 34 games as a true fresh- career at Auburn and then playing at UNC Charlotte, Griciunas will man in 2016-17, and averaged 4.0 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. play his senior season at Eastern. Most recently he started seven of 20 Hunt, a 6-7 junior, averaged 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in 33 games games in the 2016-17 season at UNC Charlotte. (twice as a starter). “Benas is a versatile 7-footer,” Legans said. “He is mature, smart Eastern also added three new freshmen to the fold at forward, and extremely skilled.” including 6-8 Richard Polanco, 6-9 and 6-6 Brendan Prior to the arrival of Griciunas, guard Austin McBroom played as Howard. Howard was chosen by College Sports Madness as the

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preseason choice to garner Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors after games only with 56.8 percent accuracy Big Sky Conference a high school career at Great Falls (Mont.) High School that saw him (21-of-37). Preseason Rankings score 2,083 points and become a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year Sophomore Grant Gibb and Media Poll in Montana. redshirts Jacob Davison and Joshua Rank – Team – Points “Our length is going to bother people,” added Legans. “The way we Thomas also return from last year’s 1. Idaho - 211 (12) are competing right now makes me believe that our size will be a big key team, with Gibb seeing action in eight 2. Weber State - 195 (3) in our success this season.” games a year ago. Newcomers in the 3. Montana - 188 (3) backcourt include 6-7 swingman Kim 4. Montana State - 180 5. North Dakota - 146 (1) Aiken Jr., Australian Jack Perry and 6. Eastern Washington - 144 Eagle Backcourt . . . junior college transfer Tyler Kidd, with 7. Northern Colorado - 106 More often than not, the 6-6 Bliznyuk brings the ball up the court as Steven Beo sitting out the season after 8. Sacramento State - 87 transferring from BYU. 9. Portland State - 76 Eastern’s versatile point-forward. But Eastern also returns another tall 10. Northern Arizona - 59 point guard who made improvements in leaps and bounds since the time 11. Idaho State - 52 he arrived on campus a year ago from Serbia. 12. Southern Utah - 38 First place votes in parenthesis Luka Vulikic started 22 of Eastern’s 32 games a year ago, and Schedule . . . finished with averages of 2.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and nearly one His first season at the helm will be Coaches Poll per game. He’s actually added an inch since last season and now stands road-heavy and a challenging one for Rank – Team – Points at 6-6, and will be a defensive presence as well for EWU. Legans. Eastern will play eight op- 1. Idaho - 117 (10) ponents who played in postseason 2. Weber State - 103 (1) “The transition period is over now, and Luka is eager to show that 3. Montana - 101 he can be our point guard on a consistent basis,” said Legans. “He is no tournaments last season, including five in the non-conference portion of EWU’s T-4. Northern Colorado - 83 (1) stranger to playing a lock-up defense and we think he has a chance to T-4. Montana State - 83 surprise many people this year.” schedule. 6. North Dakota - 71 Three Pac-12 Conference oppo- 7. Eastern Washington - 65 Washington is the most experienced guard returning for the Eagles, 8. Portland State - 55 with 89 games worth of experience (18 as a starter). He started 11 of nents and a stretch of 36-straight days 9. Sacramento State - 48 34 games in the 2016-17 season, averaging 6.7 points per game. He without a game at home are the task 10. Idaho State - 25 11. Northern Arizona - 23 came on strong at the end of the year, scoring in double figures in four of ahead. After opening the season at Reese Court on Nov. 10 against Walla 12. Southern Utah - 19 EWU’s last 10 games and making 12-of-24 of his 3-point attempts in Big First place votes in parenthesis Sky games. Walla in the debut of Legans’ head coaching career, the Eagles go on the The Eagles return a pair of sharp-shooting guards who both saw road for 10-straight games. The Eagles play at Pac-12 foes Washington starting action a year ago, and combined to sink 95 3-pointers at a on Nov. 12 and Stanford on Nov. 12 and Nov. 14, respectively, before combined 46.6 percent clip (95-of-204). Ty Gibson was a seven-game playing three games in Las Vegas. starter and averaged 5.2 points per game, thanks to 48.5 percent Utah and South Dakota ad- shooting from the 3-point stripe vanced to the National Invitation (48-of-99). Cody Benzel started Tournament (NIT), Georgia State six of 34 games and made 44.8 advanced to the College Insider percent of his 3-point shots (47-of- Tournament (CIT) and San Fran- 105), averaging 4.6 points. cisco and Wyoming joined EWU in the College Basketball Invitational Selected along with Bliznyuk (CBI). The other three postseason as a co-captain for the 2017-18 opponents came from the Big Sky season, Gibson ranked second in Conference – North Dakota in the the league last year in 3-point field NCAA Tournament and Idaho and goal percentage both overall and Weber State in the CIT. in conference games only. Benzel was right behind him in in third, In all, Eastern will play teams and led the Big Sky in league from 10 different conferences, with all but two of its games versus NCAA Division I opposition. Seven Senior Guard opponents won at least 20 games a SIR WASHINGTON with year ago – Georgia State, Utah, San Junior Forward JESSE HUNT Francisco, South Dakota, Wyoming, North Dakota and Weber State.

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Front Row (left to right): Jesse Hunt, Grant Gibb, Sir Washington, Benas Griciunas, Bogdan Bliznyuk, Ty Gibson, Cody Benzel.

Back Row: Tyler Kidd, Joshua Thomas, Brendan Howard, Richard Polanco, Mason Peatling, Tanner Groves, Luka Vulikic, Kim Aiken, Jacob Davison, Steven Beo, Jack Perry.

2017-18 Quick Facts Head Coach: Shantay Legans (@CoachLegans) Office: 509.359.2497 Alma Mater: Fresno State ‘04 Location: Cheney, Wash. Record at Eastern/Big Sky Record: First Season in 2017-18 Founded: 1882 Career Record: First Season in 2017-18 President: Dr. Mary Cullinan Associate Head Coach: Nick Booker (First Season; Davidson ’04) Enrollment: 12,279 Assistant Coaches: David Riley (Fourth Season in 2017-18; Whitworth ’11); Nickname/Colors: Eagles/Red and White Bobby Suarez (First Season in 2017-18; Florida Gulf Coast ’12). Affiliation: NCAA Division I 2016-2017 Record: 22-12 Conference: Big Sky Conference Big Sky Record (place): 13-4 (2nd) Arena: Reese Court (5,000) 2014-2015 Postseason: College Basketball Invitational (lost to Wyoming Press Row Number: 509.359.6331 91-81/First Round); Big Sky Tournament (defeated Sacramento State Athletic Director: Bill Chaves 89-70/Quarterfinals; lost to Weber State 80-72/Semifinals). Senior Woman Administrator: Pamela Parks Letterwinners Back/Lost: 8/5 Athletic Phone/Fax: 509.359.2463/2828 Starters Returning: 3 (F - Bogdan Bliznyuk, F - Mason Peatling, G - Luka Sports Information Director: Dave Cook Vulikic) Office/Cell: 509.359-.6334/280.2502 Other Letterwinners Returning: 5 (G - Cody Benzel, G - Grant Gibb, G - Ty E-Mail: [email protected] Gibson, F - Jesse Hunt, G - Sir Washington) Web: WWW.GOEAGS.COM Transfers: 2 (F – Benas Griciunas, G – Steven Beo) Twitter: @EWUathletics/@CoachLegans 2016-17 Redshirts Returning: 2 (G - Jacob Davison, G - Joshua Thomas) Facebook: EWU Athletics Junior Col. Recruits: 1 (G – Tyler Kidd) Head Athletic Trainer: Brian Norton True Freshmen: 4 (G/F - Kim Aiken; F - Tanner Groves; F - Brendan Athletic Trainer (MBB): Ryan Moreau Howard; G – Jack Perry, F – Richard Polanco) Facilities Manager: Kerry Pease Starters Lost: 2 (F – Jacob Wiley, F - Felix Von Hofe) Equipment Manager: Spenser Ybarra Other Letterwinners Lost: 3 (F - Geremy McKay, G - Mario Soto, G - Michael Wearne)

Letterwinners Lost (^starter in 2016-17 season) No. Name Pos Ht Wt Ex Hometown (Previous School) 24 ^Jacob Wiley F 6-7 220 1L/TR* Newport, Wash. / Newport HS ’12 / Montana / Lewis-Clark State 2016-17 Big Sky MVP & HM All-Amer. 44 ^Felix Von Hofe F 6-5 200 4L Melbourne, Australia / Wesley College ’12 / Australian Institute of Sport 40 Geremy McKay F 6-7 230 1L/TR* Melbourne, Australia / Caulfield Grammar School ’13 / Univ. of Albany 42 Mario Soto G 6-6 205 1L/TR* Irvine, Calif. / Saddleback Valley Christian HS ’14 / Concordia (Irvine, Calif.) 5 Michael Wearne G 6-2 190 1L* Croydon, Australia / Box Hill HS ‘15

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#32 - Bogdan Bliznyuk - G/F - 6-6 - 215 - Sr. - 3L - Lutsk, Ukraine / Todd Beamer HS ’14

Shantay Legans on Bliznyuk: “Bogdan is the leader of this group and we expect big things from him this year. He is an experi- enced, versatile player who will continue to do a little bit of everything for us. Additionally, he will be a great mentor to the young and talented group of players we have. Bogdan is ready to have his best year as an Eagle yet.”

Career: With 103 career games (17th in school history), Bliznyuk is the 20th Eagle to join the 1,000-point club, currently ranking seventh with 1,428 points. He’ll enter his senior season in 2017-18 needing just 375 points to break EWU’s all-time mark of 1,803 points set by Venky Jois from 2013-16 and 25 games to equal the record of 128 set by his former teammate Felix Von Hofe from 2014-17. The only player in school history with a triple-double, when Bliznyuk registers a double-double, good things usually hap- pen for the Eagles. He had six double-doubles in the 2016-17 season and 15 in his career. Eastern has won 10-straight games when he’s had a double-double, and a record of 13-2 when he achieves that feat. The Eagles were 6-0 in the 2016-17 season when he had a double-double, and one of the 13 career victories was the first triple-double in school history with 11 points, 14 re- bounds and 10 assists on Jan. 16, 2016. He now has seven 30-point performances in his career (all in the 2016-17 season), with 26 of at least 20 (19 in 2016-17). Twice he has hit the 40-point mark, including a school-record 45 against Portland State (2/4/17).

Records Watch: Besides the career scoring record, Bliznyuk could shatter several other school records with a duplication of his totals in 2016-17. He enters his senior season ranked sixth in field goals made (511, record is 729), sixth in field goals attempted (1,051, record is 1,286), fifth in free throws made (301, record is 386), ninth in free throws attempted (372, record is 660), seventh in rebounds (593, record is 1,273) and unranked in assists (277, record is 763). Adding the totals he had a year ago, he would finish his career with records of 137 games, 2,129 points, 762 field goals made, 1,580 attempts, 462 free throws made and 568 attempts, as well as 815 rebounds to rank fifth and 413 assists to rank third. He also currently ranks 14th in in school history in career scoring average (13.86) and sixth in free throw percentage (.809). He has scored in double figures 68 times (17 as a freshman, 23 as a sophomore and 28 as a junior), and 15 times he has had at least 10 rebounds (five last year and seven in the 2015-16 season). In his career, he has led Eastern in scoring 24 times (17 as a junior), rebounding 23 (10), assists 33 (21), steals 31 (13) and blocked shots 16 (2).

Triple-Double History: Bliznyuk had 11 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists against Northern Arizona on Jan. 16, 2016, for the first triple-double in school history. But five other times – including twice by Bliznyuk in the 2016-17 season -- an Eagle has come one stat from a triple-double. All of them have occurred since Jan. 11, 2014, including three by former Eagle point guard Drew Brandon. The closest former Eagle and NBA veteran came was 14 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists on Nov. 19, 2005, versus Pacific Lutheran.

2017-18 Honors: Bliznyuk has been selected as one of six players on the preseason All- Big Sky Conference team, and received the same honor from College Sports Madness. He and teammate Ty Gibson will serve as co-captains on this year’s team.

2016-17 Honors: Bliznyuk earned second team All-District 6 honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches, marking the third-straight season two Eastern players have been honored by the NABC with all-district honors (Jacob Wiley was on the first team). A second team All-Big Sky selection as chosen by the league’s head coaches, Bliznyuk earned first team All-BSC honors from HoopsHD.Com. He was also honored twice as Big Sky Conference Player of the Week by the league office. He joined teammate Jacob Wiley on Dec. 30 in being honored by HoopsHD.Com as mid-season All-Big Sky Conference selections. Bliznyuk was named that organization’s “Player of the Year So Far.” In addition, he earned Big Sky All-Academic honors for the third time. Prior to the start of the season, he was a first team selection on the College Sports Madness preseason All-Big Sky Conference team. Bliznyuk served as a team co-captain along with two-time co-captain Felix Von Hofe.

Year GP GS Min Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO Ast TO Blk Stl Pts Avg 2014-15 35 0 665 19.0 112 191 .586 24 43 .558 57 72 .792 45 96 141 4.0 84 1 39 47 14 19 305 8.7 2015-16 34 32 1128 33.2 148 331 .447 43 121 .355 83 104 .798 55 175 230 6.8 105 5 102 85 24 42 422 12.4 2016-17 34 34 1251 36.8 251 529 .474 38 120 .317 161 196 .821 36 186 222 6.5 92 4 136 104 7 36 701 20.6 TOTAL 103 66 3044 29.6 511 1051 .486 105 284 .370 301 372 .809 136 457 593 5.8 281 10 277 236 45 97 1428 13.9 CAREER HIGHS – Points: 45, Portland State - 2/4/17; Rebounds: 15, Idaho - 1/31/15; Assists: 11, Denver - 11/26/16; Steals: 5, Southern Utah - 1/21/17 & Portland State - 1/28/16 & George Fox - 11/15/15; Blocks: 4, Portland State - 1/28/16; FG made: 14, Portland State - 2/4/17; FG attempts: 29, Portland State - 2/4/17; 3FG made: 6, at Northern Arizona - 2/4/16; 3FG attempts: 10, at Northern Arizona - 2/4/16; FT made: 17, Portland State - 2/4/17; FT attempts: 20, Portland State - 2/4/17.

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2016-17: Bliznyuk averaged 26.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in his last eight games of the season. He ranked in the top 11 in four different statistical categories in the league, ranking fifth in points (20.6 per game), seventh in rebounds (6.5), sixth in assists (4.0) and 11th in free throw percentage (.821). South- ern Utah’s Randy Onwuasor was the only other league player to rank in the top 11 in each of those four categories. Bliznyuk ranked 25th nationally in scoring and 149th in assists. Bliznyuk’s scor- ing average (20.62) ranked as the seventh-best in EWU single season history, and he became just the fourth Eagle to score 700 points in a single season (he finished fourth in school history with 701). He closed the year with a 29-point performance with seven assists in a 91-81 loss to Wyoming (3/15/17) in the College Basketball Invitational.In two Big Sky Conference Tournament games, Bliznyuk had 50 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and three steals, including a 32-point performance in the semifinals against Weber State (3/10/17). He ended the regular season by getting 60 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists in a weekend split to help EWU finish with the second-most Big Sky victories in school history with 13. One game prior, his 32-point effort on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 15-of-16 from the free throw line helped EWU move into a first-place tie with a 91-75 win over Southern Utah (3/2/17). Late in the season, he had 24 points and 10 rebounds versus Idaho State (2/25/17), just two games after he had 25 points and 13 boards against Idaho (2/17/17). In between those two games he had 25-point effort with seven rebounds in an 82-72 win over Weber State (2/23/17) to help boost Eastern into a second-place tie in the Big Sky standings with the Wildcats. Bliznyuk sank 14-of-29 field goals and 17-of- 20 free throws on his way to equaling the school record with 45 points versus Portland State (2/4/17) in a 130-124 triple-overtime victory. His 53 minutes and 29 field goal attempts were also records. He scored only seven points in the first half, had 11 in the second half, then exploded for 27 in 15 overtime minutes (4-11-12). He also had 10 rebounds and nine assists to come just one stat from another triple-double for the second time of his career. He closed the non- conference schedule with a 25-point performance at Colorado (12/22/16) that included 21 in the first half, scoring 18-straightEastern points at one point. He had a 34-point effort in EWU’s 88-86 win over Morehead State (12/13/16), making 13-of-19 field goals and 7-of-10 free throws. Bliznyuk had a double-double with 31 points and 12 rebounds in EWU’s 93-88 double-overtime non-conference victory over Seattle (12/4/16) to earn his second of two Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors. The previous week, after helping EWU win three home games, Bliznyuk was also the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week. He came a away from the second triple-double in school history (he had the first as a sophomore last year) with 22 points, a career-high 11 assists and nine rebounds in an 85-80 win over Denver. The next night, he equaled what was then his career-high with 32 points, and added seven rebounds and seven assists in a 96-90 shootout win against San Francisco. Bliznyuk compiled some big numbers during Eastern’s seven-game winning streak from Nov. 21 to Dec. 13, including four performances of at least 31 points. He averaged 25.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game in that stretch, making 53.0 percent of his field goals, 37.5 percent of his 3-point shots (9-of-24) and 89.6 percent of his free throws (43-of-48).

2015-16: Earned Big Sky All-Academic honors for the second time. Bliznyuk was one of only two players in the league (NAUs Kris Yanku was the other) to rank in the top 25 in scoring (20th, 12.4 per game) and the top 12 in rebounding (8th, 6.8) and assists (12th, 3.0). He also ranked in the top 10 in steals (9th, 1.2) and free throw percentage (9th, 79.8 percent). In league only statistics, Bliznyuk finished ranked in the top 20 in scoring (20th,12.5) and in the top 11 in five other categories – rebounding (6th, 7.8), assists (11th, 3.4), blocked shots (8th, 1.0), free throw percentage (6th, .833) and assist-to-turnover ratio (8th, +1.6). Playing a key “blur” position for the Eagles, Bliznyuk had seven double-doubles as a sophomore. Including the first triple-double inschool history with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in a 96-73 victory over Northern Arizona (1/16/16). He made 4-of-12 shots from the field and both of his free throws, and also had three blocked shots. Not even Rodney Stuckey, now of the Indiana Pacers, or former All-Big Sky point guard Drew Brandon, were able to register the rare feat. He fol- lowed that with his fourth double-double of his career and third in the 2015-16 season with 22 points and 13 rebounds at Montana State (1/21/16), and against Portland State (1/28/16) he had another monster game with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five steals and four blocked shots in 34 minutes. In Eastern’s road sweep over Northern Arizona (84-73) and Southern Utah (81-67), he averaged 24.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals to earn College Sports Madness Big Sky Player of the Week honors. He helped EWU secure its first victory in a national postseason tournament as a member of NCAA Division I when he scored 23 of his game-high 25 points in the second half of a 79-72 win over Pepperdine (3/16/16) in the College Basketball Invitational. Was named to the preseason All-Big Sky Conference team, one of just seven players league-wide selected by a panel of sportswriters, broadcasters and sports information direc- tors in the league. College Sports Madness also named him to its preseason All-Big Sky Conference team as a second team selection.

2014-15: As a true freshman, Bliznyuk provided a boost off the bench during league play and beyond, and in the process was selected as the Big Sky Confer-

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 20 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

ence Freshman of the Year as chosen by the league’s head coaches. He also earned Big Sky All-Academic honors for the first time. Bliznyuk averaged 12.0 points in league play to rank 24th in the Big Sky -- tops among all freshmen. He was also fifth in field goal shooting (58.0 percent) and 12th in rebounding (5.6) while also averaging 24.3 minutes and 1.4 assists. He made 58.0 percent of his shots (80-of-138) in those 18 league games and converted 39-of-51 free throws (76.6 percent). The only Eagle to play in all 35 games in the 2014-15 season – all off the bench -- Bliznyuk averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds on the season while making 58.6 percent of his field goal attempts to rank fifth overall in the Big Sky. Just two years prior, teammate Venky Jois was the league’s Freshman of the Year, an honor won six times in a 14-year span by Eastern players (Glen Dean 2010, Rodney Stuckey 2006, Matt Nelson 2004 and Marc Axton 2002). Twelve of Bliznyuk’s 17 double-fig- ure scoring performances came during the Big Sky season, two of them were in the Big Sky Tournament and the 17th came in the NCAA Tournament. Four times during league play he eclipsed his career high for scoring, and three times for rebounding. Bliznyuk closed his outstanding season by finishing with 11 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists in EWU’s loss to Georgetown (3/19/15). He had 19 points and 10 rebounds at Sacramento State (1/17/15) when he had the first double-double of his Eastern career. At one point he had seven-straight double-figure scoring performances, including a career-high 25 versus North Dakota (1/24/15) and 21 points and a season-high 15 rebounds one game later versus Idaho (1/31/15). He ended the regular season with 14 points in EWU’s Big Sky Conference title-clinching victory over Weber State (3/7/15), sinking a 3-pointer with 1:46 left in overtime to give EWU its first lead of the game and the lead for good in the 79-71 come-from-behind victory. He scored 16 points in a semifinal victory over Sacramento State (3/13/15) and 13 in the championship game against Montana (3/14/15) in the Big Sky Conference Tourna- ment.

High School: Graduated from Todd Beamer High School in 2014. He capped his career by playing in the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association (WIBCA) All-State Game. He earned first team All-State accolades and Tacoma News Tribune All-Area Player of the Year honors after averaging 19.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocked shots per game as a senior. He was also named to the 2014 Associated Press Class 4A All-State team, and was a second team All-State choice by the Seattle Times. He was the South Puget Sound League South Division Player of the Year and a first-team all-league selection. Formerly from the Ukraine, Bliznyuk helped Todd Beamer to a fifth-place finish at the 2014 State 4A Championships. He helped lead the Titans to their first-ever SPSL South Division regular season title, as well as its first West Central/Southwest Bi-District championship in 2014. He had a career-best 32 points during a win over Federal Way at the district tournament as Todd Beamer advanced to the state tournament for only the second time in school history. The Titans finished the season 22-6 overall and 15-1 in the SPSL. He was also a three-point shooting threat for Todd Beamer, making 54-of-110 for 49 per- cent as a senior. Overall, he made 173-of-346 shots from the field for 50 percent, and 90-of-103 free throws for 87 percent. Early in the year he made 6-of-8 3-point- ers and 11-of-15 overall for 28 points in an 83-55 win over Bethel. Following the completion of the season, he led the Washington team in scoring with 29 points and 11 rebounds at the prestigious Northwest Shootout Hillsboro, Ore., on April 26, 2014. Although his team lost 127-114 to Oregon, he finished 11-of-23 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. As a junior, Bliznyuk averaged 15.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game to earn the first of two team MVP honors. He made 30-of-58 3-point shots (52 percent) that season, and 49 percent of his shots overall and 81 percent of his free throws. Todd Beamer finished the season 18-8 overall and 11-5 in league play.

Personal: Marketing major at Eastern, and currently has a 3.29 grade point aver- age at EWU. Born March 31, 1995, in Lutsk, Ukraine. He was less than 2 years old when his father, a truck driver, died in an accident. Their mother moved them to Federal Way five years later to be closer to family. His older brother, Dima, and his mother, Lyudmila, helped raise Bogdan, while also caring for his grandmother. Born with a gap in his upper jaw, he has had multiple surgeries after moving to the United States, included transferring bone from his hip. His most recent jaw surgery kept him out of half of his summer AAU season in 2013. He wears a size 14 1/2 shoe. His name is pronounced “Bawg-dun Bliz-nook.”

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 21 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#4 - Sir Washington - G - 6-3 - 180 - Sr. - 3L* - Las Vegas, Nevada / Clark HS ’13

Shantay Legans on Washington: “Sir has been working hard on his game all summer long, has improved his shot and decision making, and served as one of the leaders of this young team. He is ready for a break- out year and showed glimpses of what he is capable of doing on both ends of the floor last year. As a senior, we expect him to add consistency to his game on offense and continue to be one of our go-to-stoppers on defense.”

2016-17: Washington scored in double figures in four of EWU’s last 10 games after having just four in the first 24 outings for the Eagles. Washington made 12-of-24 (50.0 percent) of his 3-point attempts in Big Sky games, compared to 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) in non-conference outings and 1-of-6 (16.7 percent) in the postseason. For the season, he averaged 6.7 points per game, with eight double-figure performances (15 in his career). His most recent double figure performance was against Sacramento State (3/9/17) in the Big Sky Tournament when he had 11 on 5-of-8 shooting. He scored 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and 8-of-8 from the free throw line in EWU’s 82-72 win over Weber State (2/23/17) for second place in the league standings. He scored 10 of them in the second half, and he also had five rebounds and five assists before fouling out with 3:09 to play. In his previous game he scored 17 points versus Idaho (2/17/17), the second-best performance in his career only behind the 21 he scored earlier in the 2016-17 season versus San Francisco (11/27/16). He also had a 14-point effort at North Dakota (2/9/17).

2015-16: Eastern’s sixth-man much of the season, he started six games, and averaged 5.7 points on 47 percent shooting from the field (60 percent in conference play). He also averaged 17.7 minutes and 2.8 rebounds with 26 assists and 20 steals. Washington made 7-of-10 shots from the field to finish with 15 points and equal his career high against Sacramento State (2/18/15). It was the most in his career against a Division I opponent, and matched his overall career high of 15 against Great Falls (12/6/15). He has scored in double figures seven times, including a 10-point effort on perfect 3-of-3 shooting against Portland State (1/28/16). Three games earlier he came two points from his career high by hitting all five of his shots and three free throws to finish with 13 points in a 96-73 win over Northern Arizona (1/16/16). He also had six points, six rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes at Montana (1/23/16) and eight points, five rebounds and a career-high three assists in 15 minutes versus North Dakota (2/11/15). The Eagle sixth man opened the season with 11 points in the team’s opener at Mississippi State, and topped that with career highs of 15 points and nine rebounds against Great Falls (12/6/15). He also scored 11 in two other games, including Northern Colorado (12/31/16) in the team’s league opener. He was injured and didn’t play versus Idaho (1/9/16). He closed the year with seven points and five rebounds against eventual champion Nevada (3/21/16) in the College Basketball Invitational.

Year GP GS Min Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO Ast TO Blk Stl Pts Avg 2014-15 22 1 218 9.9 17 42 .405 4 14 .286 20 24 .833 3 27 30 1.4 39 0 9 9 1 11 58 2.6 2015-16 33 6 585 17.7 63 134 .470 11 40 .275 50 75 .667 35 57 92 2.8 75 2 26 24 4 20 187 5.7 2016-17 34 11 848 24.9 69 183 .377 18 51 .353 68 94 .723 36 80 116 3.4 90 3 64 48 8 12 224 6.6 TOTAL 89 18 1651 18.6 149 359 .415 33 105 .314 138 193 .715 74 164 238 2.7 204 5 99 81 13 43 469 5.3 CAREER HIGHS – Points: 21, San Francisco - 11/27/16; Rebounds: 9, Great Falls - 12/6/15; Assists: 8, at Idaho - 12/30/16; Steals: 4, George Fox - 11/15/15; Blocks: 3, Montana - 1/7/17; FG made: 7, San Francisco - 11/27/16 & at Sacramento State - 2/18/16; FG attempts: 11, at North Dakota - 02/09/17 & at Nevada - 3/21/16; 3FG made: 3, at Montana State - 1/28/17 & Idaho - 2/17/17; 3FG attempts: 4, 4 times; FT made: 8, Weber State - 2/23/17; FT attempts: 10, at Montana - 1/26/17.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 22 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

2014-15: Eastern was bit by injuries in the 2015 season, including the loss of Washington for 11 games down the stretch. He was thought to be out for the season with a nagging knee injury, but the injury was found to be a bruise and not a fractured patella. He was cleared to play the week of the Big Sky Conference Tournament but didn’t see action. He came off the bench to play five minutes in the NCAA Tournament against Georgetown (3/19/15), hitting both of his shots from the field and both free throws he attempted to finish with six points and a pair of rebounds. That was his first game since he had five points, four rebounds and two assists in a 61-51 win at Montana State (2/7/15). He closed the year aver- aging 9.9 minutes and 2.6 points off the bench for the Eagles.

2013-14: Redshirted.

HS: Graduated from Clark HS in 2013. As a senior, Washington led Clark to a 29-3 record overall and 10-0 mark in the I-A Southern Sunset League standings. He was the MVP of the league as he helped the school go on a 22-game winning streak. The Chargers lost 59-57 to Desert Pines in the championship game of the NIAA Division I-A Tournament after beating Elko 45-40 in the semifinals. Wash- ington averaged 14.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game, while making 43 percent of his shots from the floor (25-of-101 3-pointers) and 59 percent of his free throws. He scored 20 points or more in five games, including a season-high 28 in a loss to Centennial (12/8/12) when he made 11-of-18 shots from the floor with four treys. He had three double-figure rebounding perfor- mances with a season-high of 11, and he had season highs of five assists and four steals in four games each. Washington was also an All-Sunset selection as a junior, averaging 14.5 points, five rebounds and four assists in the 2011-12 season for Clark. He helped the Chargers finish 23-5 and place second in the Southwest League behind eventual State 4A Champion Bishop Gorman. Clark ended the season with a 70-64 loss to Palo Verde in the Nevada Boys State Basketball Play- offs (4A Sunset Region). One of Washington’s teammates at Clark was his cousin Kentrell Washington, who signed with Hofstra but is no longer on the team. They helped the Chargers reach the Sunset Region playoffs for the first time since 2006, improving by 15 wins in the 2012-13 season from an 8-14 finish the year before. Sir and Kentrell played previously for Western High School, helping their team to state playoff appearances both years. Western was 21-8 in the 2010-11 season and 17-9 the year before. Sir averaged 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game as a sophomore, and 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals as a freshman. Sir also played AAU basketball for the Las Vegas Prospects.

Personal: Interdisciplinary studies/liberal arts major. Born June 17, 1995, in Las Vegas, Nevada. His parents are Melvin and Sharon Washington.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 23 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#15 - Benas Griciunas - C - 7-0 - 240 - Sr. - TR* - Silute, Lithuania / Findlay Prep ’13 / Auburn / UNC Charlotte

Shantay Legans on Griciunas: “Benas is a versatile 7-footer with extensive NCAA Division I and international experi- ence. He is mature, smart, and extremely skilled for his size. Coupled with a traditional back-to-the-basket game, his ability to extend the floor on the offensive end will make him a tough matchup as a 4-5 man. Benas is an excellent addition to our team, university, and the community. We are excited to welcome Benas to Cheney.”

2017-18: Griciunas will play his senior season as a graduate transfer. He comes to Eastern with 59 games of NCAA Division I experience, including 12 as a starter. He’s made nearly 50 percent of his field goal attempts in his career, including 8-of-22 three-pointers (36.4 percent). He also played on the Lithuania U-18, U-19 and U-20 national teams, and was a high school player at national prep power Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada.

UNC Charlotte: In the 2016-17 season, Griciunas started seven of 20 games he played and averaged 9.5 minutes, 3.0 points and 1.8 rebounds while making 46.2 percent of his shots from the field and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the free throw line. He scored in double figures twice, including 10 versus UTEP and 12 against Maryland when he made 6-of-8 shots and had a season- high five rebounds. The 49ers finished 13-17 overall and 7-11 in Conference USA. He appeared in 27 games as a sophomore in the 2015-16 sea- son, recording three double-digit scoring games and averaging 9.4 minutes per game. He averaged 3.9 points and 2.7 rebounds while making 49.4 percent of his field goal attempts, 7-of-14 3-pointers and 57.9 percent of his free throws (11-of-19). He started his first game in the 49ers season opener against Elon (11/13/15) and six days later had the first double-figure scoring game in his career with 10 points. His first career double-figure rebounding game was against Campbell (12/9/15) with 12 boards. The best game of his two-year career was against Appalachian State (12/19/15) when he scored 14 points. Later in the year, he had the school-record tying 17th three-point field goal against Rice (2/11/15).

Auburn: Prior to sitting out the 2014-15 season because of NCAA transfer rules, he saw action in the first 12 games of his freshman season at Auburn. He had one start against Illinois (12/8/13), and then he missed the rest of the season due to an injury. He averaged 2.0 points and 1.8 rebounds per game, with a season-high eight points and three rebounds against Jacksonville State (11/11/13). He grabbed a season-high five rebounds against Arkansas Pine Bluff (12/30/13).

High School: Graduated from Findlay Prep in 2013. He also played three years of basketball for the national prep power in Henderson, Nevada. He was a three-star prospect prior to signing with Auburn.

International Experience: In the summer of 2014, Griciunas played for the Lithuanian U-20 National Team. He also played for the Lithuanian U-18 and U-19 national teams. In spring 2013, he scored a team-high 27 points on 5-of-6 three-point shooting to lead a National All-Star squad in a 119-109 loss to Team Memphis in the fourth annual Jack Jones Shootout in Memphis. He won the three-point shooting contest prior to the All-Star game, making 14 treys in the first round followed by 13 in the second round and 13 in the championship.

Personal: Will work toward his master’s degree in business ad- ministration while a graduate student at EWU. Born July 27, 1994, in Silute, Lithuania. His parents are Romas Griciunas and Audra Griciuniene. His last name is pronounced “greh-see-own-us” and his first name rhymes with Dennis. He becomes Eastern’s third seven-foot player, with Frederik Jorg (2012-13 & 2014-15 sea- sons) the tallest at 7-1. Eastern has had several 6-11 players in its history as a NCAA Division I member (since 1983-84), with the most recent being Jeremy McCulloch (2002-05). The only other former Eagle a seven feet was Uli Sledtz from Geisenkirchen, West Germany. Sledtz transferred from the University of Washing- ton and played for Eastern in the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 24 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#20 - Cody Benzel - G - 6-4 - 175 - Jr. - 2L* - Spokane, Wash. / Ferris HS ‘14

Shantay Legans on Benzel: “Cody is one of the best shooters in the league. On any given night, he can sink multiple threes and change the game. He has been working hard on adding other dimensions to his game, and we are excited to see how that translates to the game situations.”

2016-17: For the season, Benzel averaged 4.6 points on 47-of-105 shooting from the 3-point stripe (44.8 percent to rank third in the Big Sky). In league games only, he led the league at 56.8 percent (21-of-37). Benzel came off the bench to make all four of his 3-point attempts in the first half to finish with 12 points in EWU’s 130-124 victory over Portland State (2/4/17) in three overtimes. It was his fifth double figure scoring game of the season and eighth of his career, but first since scoring 11 at Seattle (12/4/16). He hit a trio of 3-pointers in EWU’s Big Sky Conference Tournament game against Sacramento State (3/9/17).

2015-16: The freshman redshirt averaged 3.3 points in an average of 5.9 minutes, and finished the year ranked fourth on the team with 31 3-pointers and was third with a .388 3-point shooting percentage. He scored in double figures 12 three times, including 23 points on a 7-of-14 3-point shooting performance against Great Falls (12/6/15). He also had a 12-point performance against South Dakota (11/29/15) when he made four 3-pointers in just eight minutes of action. Benzel’s other double figure performance was against George Fox (11/15/15) when he fin- ished with 12 points. Late in the year, he had four points, a career-high three assists, two steals and two rebounds versus Idaho State (3/3/16). He made his collegiate debut in EWU’s opener at Mississippi State (11/13/15) and made the first start of his career against Great Falls.

2014-15: Redshirted. He showed glimpses of what’s to come when he scored 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the 3-point stripe in EWU’s 89-55 exhibition victory over Puget Sound (11/9/14). He also had three rebounds and a in 11 minutes of action.

High School: Graduated from Ferris High School in 2014. He capped his career by playing in the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association (WIBCA) All-State Game. Was given honorable mention 4A All-State accolades by Associ- ated Press as selected by sportswriters and broadcasters. Earned MVP honors in the Greater Spokane League as a senior after averaging 21.4 points per game. He made 48 percent of his shots from three-point range and 58 percent from inside the arc. Benzel led Ferris to a final record of 18-5 after dropping its last two games of the season. Prior to that, he scored 19 points with two assists and two dunks to help Ferris capture the 4A District 8 title. Benzel also had season-best outings of 36 and 34 points. Earlier in the season, he broke a 63-all tie with a basket with 27 seconds left to beat Mead 67-63. He also earned first team All-GSL honors as a junior when he averaged 18.6 points. He scored a career-high 37 points in the district playoffs in 2013. Benzel also lettered as a sophomore.

Personal: Marketing major at Eastern. Benzel was born Oct. 29, 1995, in Spokane, Wash. His parents are Ron and Molly Benzel. His older siblings, Jenny and Erik, also played basketball at Ferris. Jenny was a four-year starter and 2000 graduate, and Erik graduated the following year after starting two seasons for the Saxons. Erik played four seasons from 2001-05 at the University of Denver, and scored 17 points each of three games versus EWU. Denver won two of those, and Erik made 9-of-19 3-pointers (47 percent), 18-of-36 shots overall (50 percent) and had five steals col- lectively in his career versus EWU.

Year GP GS Min Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO Ast TO Blk Stl Pts Avg 2015-16 33 1 194 5.9 37 89 .416 31 80 .388 3 4 .750 3 12 15 0.5 19 0 7 4 3 6 108 3.3 2016-17 34 6 473 13.9 54 118 .458 47 105 .448 2 3 .667 4 25 29 0.9 61 0 16 13 2 14 157 4.6 TOTAL 67 7 667 10.0 91 207 .440 78 185 .422 5 7 .714 7 37 44 0.7 80 0 23 17 5 20 265 4.0 CAREER HIGHS – Points: 23, Great Falls - 12/6/15; Rebounds: 3, Montana State - 1/5/17 & Morehead State - 12/13/16 & at Northern Colorado - 2/11/17; Assists: 3, Linfield - 11/11/16 & Seattle - 11/22/16 & Idaho State - 3/3/16; Steals: 2, 4 times; Blocks: 1, 5 times; FG made: 8, Great Falls - 12/6/15; FG attempts: 15, Great Falls - 12/6/15; 3FG made: 7, Great Falls - 12/6/15; 3FG attempts: 14, Great Falls - 12/6/15; FT made: 2, George Fox - 11/15/15; FT attempts: 2, at North Dakota - 1/2/16 & George Fox - 11/15/15 & vs Sacramento State - 3/9/17.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 25 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#2 - Ty Gibson - G - 6-3 - 190 - Jr. - 2L - Issaquah, Wash. / Issaquah HS ‘15

Shantay Legans on Gibson: “Being voted a captain by your teammates is a great testament to the amount of time and effort Ty spends on taking care of his business on and off the court. Ty saw significant minutes last year, and was extremely efficient from the 3-point line, shooting nearly 50 percent for the year. He took care of the ball and played solid defense, and we expect him to keep building on the last year’s success.”

2017-18 Honors: He and teammate Bogdan Bliznyuk will serve as co-captains on this year’s team.

2016-17: Earned Big Sky All-Academic honors for the second time and was nominated by EWU for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. In 34 games played (seven as a starter), Gibson averaged 5.2 points on 47.7 percent shooting from the field, including 48-of-99 3-pointers (47.7 percent to rank second in the Big Sky). He was also second in 3-point shooting in league games only, making 50.0 percent (28-of-56) to rank only behind teammate Cody Benzel at 56.8 percent (21-of-37). Gibson made just his third career start – and first in the 2016-17 season – against Northern Colorado (2/11/17) and set a new career high for points in a game with 21. His previous career high was 19 against Great Falls (12/8/16). He tied his career high for made 3-pointers, going 6-for-8 from beyond the arc. He started in all but one game after that, scoring in double figures in three of his seven games as a starter. Earlier, Gibson scored 13 points in a less than four minute span in the first half and finished with what was then a career-high 19 points in EWU’s 103-76 victory over Great Falls (12/8/16). In helping Eastern open leads of 27-2 and 39-4, he played only 15 minutes and still nearly doubled his previous high of 10 in his freshman season versus Southern Utah and again as a sophomore against San Francisco (11/27/16). He scored 13 points in a 3:43 stretch in the first half with four three-pointers and a free throw. Gibson made 6-of-7 shots from the field – all 3-point attempts – and made all three of his free throws.

2015-16: Earned Big Sky All-Academic honors for the first time. Gibson saw significant action as a true freshman, averaging 6.6 minutes and 1.5 points per game and starting twice. He made all three of his 3-point attempts and a free throw to finish with a season- high 10 points against Southern Utah (1/14/16). He made his collegiate debut in EWU’s opener at Mississippi State (11/13/15) and made the first start of his career against Great Falls (12/6/15). He had a season-high four assists versus Great Falls, plus scored eight points.

High School: Graduated from Issaquah High School in 2015. Gibson averaged 23.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as a senior to earn All-State and KingCo League MVP honors. His All-State accolades included first team recognition from the Seattle Times, Tacoma News Tribune and Associated Press. The team captain also earned first team All- 4A State Tournament recognition after setting State 4A tournament scoring records with 87 points and a 29.0 average to lead the Eagles to a fourth-place trophy. He scored 32 in his final high school game to help Issaquah finish 22-6 for the season.As a junior, he was first team All-KingCo, first team All-4A State Tournament and was also team captain. He helped Issaquah finish third in the state. He also earned first teamAll-KingCo honors as a sophomore in the first of his three years as team captain. He was honorable mention all-league as a freshman starter, scoring 24 points against Bothell’s Zach LaVine (now with the Chicago Bulls) in the league tournament semifinals en route to a state tourna- ment appearance. Also earned two letters in baseball. Had a 3.98 cumulative grade point average at Issaquah, and won the Tutta Bella scholar athlete award.

Personal: Major undeclared but intends on majoring in business at Eastern. He has a 3.99 grade point average through his first two academic years at EWU. Born July 17, 1996, in Bellevue, Wash. Parents are Mark and Kathy Gibson.

Year GP GS Min Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO Ast TO Blk Stl Pts Avg 2015-16 28 2 186 6.6 13 38 .342 10 33 .303 7 11 .636 5 11 16 0.6 19 0 13 6 0 4 43 1.5 2016-17 34 7 589 17.3 52 109 .477 48 99 .485 25 29 .862 3 50 53 1.6 60 0 25 10 2 12 177 5.2 TOTAL 62 9 775 12.5 65 147 .442 58 132 .439 32 40 .800 8 61 69 1.1 79 0 38 16 2 16 220 3.5 CAREER HIGHS – Points: 21, at Northern Colorado - 2/11/17; Rebounds: 6, at Southern Utah - 3/2/17; Assists: 4, Great Falls - 12/6/15; Steals: 2, at Montana - 1/26/17; Blocks: 1, at Wyoming Cowboys - 03/15/17 & Southern Utah - 1/21/17; FG made: 6, Great Falls - 12/8/16 & at Northern Colorado - 2/11/17; FG attempts: 9, Idaho State - 2/25/17; 3FG made: 6, Great Falls - 12/8/16 & at Northern Colorado - 2/11/17; 3FG attempts: 8, at Northern Colorado - 2/11/17; FT made: 4, San Francisco - 11/27/16 & Weber State - 2/23/17; FT attempts: 5, Weber State - 2/23/17.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 26 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#34 - Jesse Hunt - F - 6-7 - 210 - Jr. - 2L - Geraldton, Australia / Sir Francis Drake (Calif.) HS ‘15

Shantay Legans on Hunt: “Jesse saw sporadic minutes on the court last year, but he did show that he can do a little bit of everything. His effort on and off the court is unmatched and the team will continue to feed off of Jesse’s energy both in practice and in games.”

2016-17: Earned Big Sky All-Academic honors for the second time and was nominated by EWU for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. Hunt averaged 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in 33 games (twice as a starter). He came off the bench to contribute 21 points in just 34 minutes of action in EWU’s split against Montana State (1/5/17) and Montana (1/7/17). In the two games, he made 7-of-8 shots (3-of-4 from the 3-point line) and added nine rebounds. He had a career-high 13 points in 18 minutes against Montana State, having scored scoring seven points in his previous five games. He also had seven rebounds against the Bobcats, coming one from his career high. Hunt then scored eight versus Montana, hitting all three of his shots from the field with a pair of 3-pointers.

2015-16: Earned Big Sky All-Academic honors for the first time. Hunt made the first start of his career against Pacific (11/28/15), and averaged 9.2 minutes, 1.8 rebounds and 1.9 points per game as a nine-game starter. He closed the year by averaging 4.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in EWU’s last five games. He scored 24 of his 56 points for the season in that stretch. Included was a season-high seven points, two rebounds and two steals in seven minutes against Idaho State (3/3/16). He closed the year with five points and three rebounds against eventual champion Nevada in the Col- lege Basketball Invitational. Hunt, who missed EWU’s game at Western Carolina (12/14/15) with a sprained ankle, had six points and a season-high eight rebounds against George Fox (11/15/15), then equaled his season high with eight boards versus Great Falls (12/6/15).

High School: Graduated from Sir Francis Drake High School in 2015. As a senior, Hunt was selected to the 2015 California All-State second team after averaging 15.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocked shots per game. Hunt led the team to a runner-up finish in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Northern California Division III Championship. The Pirates lost to Moreau Catholic 80-69, despite Hunt’s 22 points and 13 rebounds. They advanced to the regional semifinals of the Division III California State Championships, falling to Campolindo 50-44. The Pirates finished with a 28-6 record overall. He also led his team to a runner-up finish at the CIF Northern California Division III Championship in his junior season. The Pirates finished 26-8 and lost to Chaminade 71-51 in the title game despite Hunt’s double-double with 16 points – 12 at the free throw line – and 13 rebounds. It was his team’s first appearance in the title game in 32 seasons. He had 38 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots on the road in the quarterfinals versus Sacred Heart. Hunt averaged 17.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.5 blocked shots and 1.2 steals per game. His many honors included North Bay Player of the Year, All-Northern California third team and CIF Division III All-State second team, He also earned All-Marin County Athletic League first team honors and player of the year accolades from the Marin Independent Journal. The San Francisco Chronicle selected him as its North Bay Player of the Year. As a sophomore, Sir Francis Drake advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs and finished 26-7. He averaged 4.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game while playing with a nagging back injury. Hunt had a 3.3 grade point average at Sir Francis Drake.

Personal: His major is undecided but he is considering business administration, and has a 3.68 grade point average at Eastern. Born July 30, 1997, in Geraldton, Australia, but spent his entire high school career in the United States. Parents are Daniel and Helen Hunt. His father was on the 1982 Sir Francis Drake squad that went 34-0 and won the state title. He went on to play at the University of Portland and play 17 seasons of professional basketball in Australia. Fellow Australians playing for the Eagles include Mason Peatling and Jack Perry, as well as former Eagles Felix Von Hofe, Geremy McKay, Michael Wearne and EWU all-time leading scorer Venky Jois.

Year GP GS Min Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO Ast TO Blk Stl Pts Avg 2015-16 30 9 276 9.2 23 48 .479 5 17 .294 5 8 .625 28 27 55 1.8 55 2 9 7 8 8 56 1.9 2016-17 33 3 351 10.6 33 86 .384 10 43 .233 16 25 .640 22 46 68 2.1 68 3 12 15 12 3 92 2.8 TOTAL 63 12 627 10.0 56 134 .418 15 60 .250 21 33 .636 50 73 123 2.0 123 5 21 22 20 11 148 2.3 CAREER HIGHS – Points: 13, Montana State - 1/5/17; Rebounds: 8, 4 times; Assists: 3, Linfield - 11/11/16 & Northern Colorado - 2/13/16; Steals: 2, Idaho State - 3/3/16; Blocks: 2, Northern Arizona - 1/19/17 & George Fox - 11/15/15 & Seattle - 11/22/16; FG made: 4, Montana State - 1/5/17; FG attempts: 7, Great Falls - 12/8/16; 3FG made: 2, Montana - 1/7/17 & Linfield - 11/11/16 & at Northern Colorado - 2/11/17; 3FG attempts: 4, Linfield - 11/11/16;FT made: 4, Montana State - 1/5/17; FT attempts: 6, Montana State - 1/5/17.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 27 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#12 - Grant Gibb - G - 6-5 - 185 - So. - 1L* - Longview, Wash. / Mark Morris HS ‘15

Shantay Legans on Gibb: “Grant is a versatile shooter who brings toughness and energy every day. He keeps on developing every aspect of his game and is one of the most well-liked and respected players on the team.”

2016-17: Played in eight games, scoring six total points and grabbing four rebounds. Five of his points were scored against Great Falls (12/8/16) in a 103-76 EWU victory.

2015-16: Redshirted.

High School: Graduated from Mark Morris High School in 2015. He scored 1,030 points as a three-year starter at Mark Morris, earning Greater St. Helens League honors all three seasons. As a senior, he capped his career by earning first team All-State honors from Associated Press and earning second team 2A All-State Tournament accolades. He averaged 17.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while making 88 percent of his free throws. He made 62 3-pointers and repeated as the GSHL MVP. He was the All-Area Player of the Year as selected by the Longview Daily News, and helped his team to a top eight finish in the state. He was selected to play in the All-State game as well as the Lower Columbia all-star game. In his junior season, Gibb averaged 14.9 points and 4.6 rebounds while making 85 percent from the charity stripe. He was GSHL MVP and earned first team All-Area honors. His team was also the WIAA Academic State Champions, and went on the finish sixth at the State 2A Tournament. He averaged 7.2 points and 3.5 rebounds as a sophomore to earn second team All-GSHL honors. He helped is team finish in the top 16 in the state.

Personal: His major is undecided but he is considering business administration, and has a 3.61 grade point average at Eastern. Born Sept. 16, 1996, in Tucson, Ariz. Parents are Tyler and Sharon Gibb.

Year GP GS Min Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO Ast TO Blk Stl Pts Avg 2016-17 8 0 13 1.6 1 2 .500 0 0 .000 4 7 .571 1 3 4 0.5 1 0 0 2 1 1 6 0.8 CAREER HIGHS – Points: 5, Great Falls - 12/8/16; Rebounds: 2, Southern Utah - 1/21/17; Steals: 1, Northern Arizona - 1/19/17; Blocks: 1, vs Sacramento State - 3/9/17; FG made: 1, Great Falls - 12/8/16; FG attempts: 1, Northern Arizona - 1/19/17 & Great Falls - 12/8/16; FT made: 3, Great Falls - 12/8/16; FT attempts: 3, Great Falls - 12/8/16.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 28 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#14 - Mason Peatling - F - 6-8 - 220 - So. - 1L - Melbourne, Australia / Beaconhills College HS ‘16

Shantay Legans on Peatling: “Mason started half of our games as a freshman last year, and has shown his versatility. He can play as a traditional, back-to-the-basket post player, but he can also face up, extend the floor, and make 3-pointers when open. We already know what he can do on the offensive side, but we are also looking for Mason to be a defensive presence in the paint by altering shots and grabbing rebounds.”

2016-17: Earned Big Sky All-Academic honors for the first time. Peatling made his starting debut versus 17th-ranked Xavier (12/20/16) and started 17 total games. He averaged 4.0 points and 3.0 rebounds, with a high of 13 points at Mon- tana (1/26/17) and highs of nine rebounds and three blocked shots versus Idaho (12/30/16). He also had seven points versus the Vandals and made 54.4 percent of his shots from the field for the season (56-of-103) and 36.7 percent of his 3-pointers (11-of-30). He was in the starting lineup from Dec. 20 to Feb. 9, helping Eastern go 8-6 in those 14 games. He made his 16th start of the season in the quarterfinals of the Big SkyTournament against Sacramento State (3/9/17) and had eight points and six rebounds on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from the free throw line. He had scored only four total points in his previous seven games. He closed the season by scoring four points against Wyoming (3/15/17) in the College Basketball Invitational.

High School/Club: Attended high school at Beaconhills College in Berwick (near Melbourne). In February 2016, Peatling helped the Victoria Navy U20 men’s team in becoming national champions in the Australia Junior Championships. He played from 2013-15 for the Dandenong Rangers in the South East Australian Basketball League. That was the same club that former Eagle Venky Jois played for prior to coming to Eastern in the fall of 2012. Eastern teammate Jack Perry and former Eagle Michael Wearne also played for Dandenong. At the U23 Victorian Youth Championship in 2015, Peatling was chosen as the Youth League Rookie of the Year after helping his team to a silver medal. He averaged 13.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.8 blocked shots and 1.0 steals, including 22 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots in the Grand Final. During the 2015 league season, he averaged 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds while making 47 percent of his field goal attempts, and had a high game of 19 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Dandenong also finished as the runner-up for the U20 Australia Day Tournament in 2015. Also in 2015, Peatling was a late addition to the roster for Vic Metro, which went on to win the U20 Australian National Junior Championships. He played in six of eight games with a high outing of eight points and five rebounds. While playing in 2015 for his high school team, Beaconhills College, he was team captain and helped lead his team to a South Eastern Independent Schools regional championship. In 2014, he was a team captain in helping Dandenong finish third in the U18 Australian National Junior Classic Tournament. He also helped his team win the regular season title in the Victorian Basketball League and a runner-up finish at the Victorian Championship. In 2013, he was the MVP in helping Dandenong win the gold medal at the Victorian Championship Reserve tournament.

Personal: Major undecided, but is considering business administration. He had a 3.96 grade point average through his first year at EWU. Born March 31, 1997. He and his wife, the former Laura Burdack from Melbourne, Australia, were married in Febru- ary, 2016. Parents are Marcus and Susie Peatling. Fellow Australians playing for the Eagles include Jesse Hunt and Jack Perry, as well as former Eagles Felix Von Hofe, Geremy McKay, Michael Wearne and EWU all-time leading scorer Venky Jois.

Year GP GS Min Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO Ast TO Blk Stl Pts Avg 2016-17 34 17 525 15.4 56 103 .544 11 30 .367 14 25 .560 31 71 102 3.0 67 2 23 20 13 12 137 4.0 CAREER HIGHS – Points: 13, at Montana - 1/26/17; Rebounds: 9, at Idaho - 12/30/16; Assists: 3, Southern Utah - 1/21/17 & Great Falls - 12/8/16; Steals: 3, at Idaho State - 1/12/17; Blocks: 3, at Idaho - 12/30/16; FG made: 5, at Idaho State - 1/12/17 & Northern Arizona - 1/19/17 & at Montana - 1/26/17; FG attempts: 8, Northern Arizona - 1/19/17; 3FG made: 3, at Montana - 1/26/17; 3FG attempts: 3, at Montana - 1/26/17 & at Montana State - 1/28/17 & at Xavier - 12/20/16; FT made: 3, at Northwestern - 11/14/16; FT attempts: 5, at Northwestern - 11/14/16.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 29 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#13 - Luka Vulikic - G - 6-6 - 190 - So. - 1L - Belgrade, Serbia / Svetozar Markovic Jagodina HS

Shantay Legans on Vulikic: “As a true freshman, Luka started two-thirds of our games last year which was a great way to make the transition from European style of basketball to American college basketball. The transition period is over now, and Luka is eager to show that he can be our point guard on a consistent basis. He is no stranger to playing a lock-up defense and we think he has a chance to surprise many people this year.”

2016-17: Earned Big Sky All-Academic honors for the first time. Vulikic started 22 of the 32 games he played in, and averaged 2.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He started in every game from Dec. 20 to Feb. 9 as part of a starting lineup that went 8-6 in those 14 games. He had just two turnovers in 58 combined minutes versus Xavier (12/20/16) and Colorado (12/22/16), and he equaled his season high with 12 points versus the Buffaloes. He had 10 points and six rebounds at Montana (1/26/17).

High School/Club: Attended Svetozar Markovic Jagodina High School. A former member of the Serbian U16 National Team, Vulikic is coming off a 2015-16 season competing in the Serbian U19 Na- tional League (KLS) for Jagodina. The previous year, he played for Mega Vizura in the U19 National League. He led his Serbian team to a third-place finish in 2015 in the Euroleague Next Generation Tournament in Belgrade, earning all-tournament honors in the pro- cess. In 2014 when he played for the Serbian U16 National Team, he helped Zemun to a third-place finish in the U16 National League. He previously led his teams to championships in the Serbian U16 National League (2013 for Red Star), Demsar Cup international tournament (2012) and the U14 National League (2011 for Red Star). Skilled scoring, rebounding and passing the ball, he averaged 18.3 points, 5.5 assists and 6.0 rebounds at the Euroleague Next Generation Tournament. In the U19 National League in the 2015- 16 season, he averaged 17.5 points, 5.8 assists and 6.5 rebounds. Earlier, he averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.4 rebounds in the U19 National League in 2014-15, and had averages of 14.8 points, 3.2 assists and 5.9 rebounds one year earlier in the U16 National League. He also played previously for Beostar and Mondo Basket in Serbia.

Personal: Major undecided, but is considering business adminis- tration. He had a 3.44 grade point average through his first year at EWU. Born July 18, 1997 in Belgrade, Serbia. His parents are Vlastimir and Sladjana Vulikic. He has a younger brother, Vuk. His name is pronounced “Lou-kah” “Vool-ih-kich”

Year GP GS Min Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO Ast TO Blk Stl Pts Avg 2016-17 32 22 514 16.1 35 81 .432 4 13 .308 20 36 .556 23 66 89 2.8 43 1 23 29 8 13 94 2.9 CAREER HIGHS – Points: 12, Seattle - 11/22/16 & at Colorado - 12/22/16; Rebounds: 11, Seattle - 11/22/16; Assists: 3, Southern Utah - 1/21/17 & at Northwestern - 11/14/16; Steals: 3, at Idaho State - 1/12/17; Blocks: 2, Seattle - 11/22/16; FG made: 5, at Montana - 1/26/17 & Seattle - 11/22/16; FG attempts: 11, Seattle - 11/22/16; 3FG made: 1, 4 times; 3FG attempts: 3, Seattle - 11/22/16; FT made: 5, at Colorado - 12/22/16; FT attempts: 8, at Colorado - 12/22/16.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 30 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#10 - Jacob Davison - G - 6-4 - 175 - Fr. - HS* - Montebello, Calif. / Cantwell-Sacred Heart HS ‘16

Shantay Legans on Davison: “Jacob had an incredibly productive redshirt season. He has matured, improved his shot, handles and decision making. Even though he will only be a freshman next year, we expect him to make a significant impact on both ends of the floor. Additionally, the Eag Nation should be excited to have another ‘high-flyer’-- Jacob will be fun to watch.”

2016-17: Redshirted.

High School: Graduated from Cantwell-Sacred Heart High School in 2016. He was the Whittier Daily News All-Area Player of the Year as a senior in the 2015-16 season. Davison averaged 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game. He was also the SoCal Prep Legend’s 2016 Fan’s Choice Boys Basketball Player of the Year. He led the Cardinals to a 16-13 record and helped his team advance to the CIF State regional playoffs. Cantwell-Sacred Heart was also the only area team to advance to the playoffs in the CIF Southern Section Open Division, losing to powerhouses Mater Dei and Compton. He scored 36 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the field in a 73-56 win over Serra on Dec. 9, 2015. One day earlier, he had 23 points, 13 rebounds, three blocked shots and a pair of steals in a 19-point win over Leuzinger (54-35). In his junior season he was a first team All-Del Rey League selection and his team’s offensive player of the year. He averaged nearly 14 points per game and was selected to the Whittier Daily News All-Area team. The Cardinals finished 17-14 and advanced to the regional semifinals of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division III Championships, losing to the eventual champions. He was also MVP at a Michael Jordan Flight School showcase camp in the Los Angeles area. He is an Eagle Scout and was on the honor roll all four years in high school. He also participated from 2005-11 in the St. Baldrick’s Cancer Research Foundation Shavee event.

Personal: Major undecided but is considering history. His parents are Brad and Leslie Davison, and his has two brothers (Robbie Latimer and Taylor Latimer), and a sister (Brady Davison).

#42 - Joshua Thomas - G - 6-3 - 185 - Fr. - SQ* - Spokane, Wash. / Central Valley ‘16

Shantay Legans on Josh Thomas: “Josh had a great redshirt year for us last season and brought an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm to practice every single day. Josh really developed his shooting over the past year and is an extremely intelligent and tough kid.”

2016-17: Redshirted.

High School: Graduated from Central Valley High School in 2016. Earned second team All-Greater Spokane League honors as a senior after helping Central Valley advance to the State 4A Tournament. The Bears finished 20-7 and advanced to the round of eight after winning the regional title. He scored 15 points in an 82-75 overtime victory over Richland in the first round of the regional playoffs. Central Valley beat Kentridge 59-48 in the regional title game, then fell to Curtis 54-44 and Issaquah 54-46 at the WIAA 4A Hardwood Clas- sic. He finished he senior season averaging 12.1 points on 55 percent shooting from the field, and also averaged 6.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists. Thomas was a team captain as a senior and the team’s defensive player of the year. He also earned a varsity letter in his junior season when the Bears won the district title. He was chosen as a Greater Spokane League Scholar-Athlete as a senior in 2016.

Personal: Visual communication design major at EWU, and hopes to become an advertising executive at a major company. He had a 3.96 grade point average through his first year at EWU. Born Feb. 23, 1998 in Jacksonville, Fla. asW a 3.9 student in high school. His parents are DeVon and Melanie Thomas. His mother was the EWU athletic department’s academic coordinator and life skills coach from 2009-12. She now works as a retention & advising specialist at Eastern.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 31 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#25 - Steven Beo - G - 6-3 - 180 - So. - TR - Richland, Wash. / Richland HS ’16 / BYU

Shantay Legans on Steven Beo: “Steven is a talented scorer and shooter who will have to sit out this season after transferring from BYU. Steven fits right in with what we want to do offensively and brings great toughness on defense. He will be valuable on the scout team this season and continue to develop his game for the 2018-19 season. We’ve had a chance to watch Steven play a lot over the last few years -- he had one of the best State Tournament runs that I’ve ever seen at the 4A level. Steven is a talented scorer, great defender and a high character person. He will fit right in with what we are doing on and off the court. There’s nothing we like more than getting great players from the state of Washing- ton.”

2017-18: Because of NCAA transfer rules, Beo will sit out the 2017-18 season and have three years of eligibility after that.

BYU: Beo played in 31 games as a collegiate freshman for BYU in the 2016- 17 season. He had season highs of 12 points (twice), six rebounds (UT Arling- ton), four assists (UT Arlington), two steals (twice) and three 3-pointers (Santa Clara). He scored in double figures twice, including versus Santa Clara when he had 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field with a trio of 3-pointers, as well as three assists. In a game at Portland, he made 5-of-11 shots with a pair of treys, and added three rebounds, two assists and a steal. In the final game of the season for the 22-12 Cougars, he had four points, six rebounds and four steals in a 105-89 loss to UT Arlington in the NIT.

HS: Graduated from Richland HS in 2016. He averaged 27.7 points as a high school junior and 26.7 as a senior, and the Bombers won 82 percent of their games (80-18) in his four years at the school and made a trio of appearances in the State 4A Tournament. Beo was a four-year letterwinner for head coach Earl Streufert and earned first team All-State honors as both a junior and se- nior. Both seasons he was the Tri-City Herald All-Area Player of the Year and the Mid-Columbia Conference Player of the Year. He averaged 26.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists as a senior, leading Richland to an 18-5 record, the Mid-Columbia Conference title and the district title. However, losses to Central Valley and Gonzaga Prep in the regional round kept the Bombers from a fourth-straight trip to the State 4A Tournament. Beo scored 48 points against Central Valley, and Gonzaga Prep went on to finish third in the state. Beo led the state in scoring at 27.7 points per game in his junior season, and he set a Richland single-game record with 49 points against Wenatchee. He earned first team all-tournament honors after leading the Bombers to the quarterfinals of the State 4A Tournament. He also started during his freshman and sopho- more seasons in helping Richland to the state tournament each year. As a sophomore, the Bombers were 25-0 before losing in the State 4A Tournament championship game. He was a first team all-tournament selection after earn- ing second team all-conference accolades for the Bombers.

Personal: His parents are Jill and Anthony Beo and he has two sisters.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 32 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#0 - Tyler Kidd - G - 5-11 - 180 - Jr. - JC* - Seattle, Wash. / O’Dea HS ’14 / Skagit Valley CC

Shantay Legans on Kidd: “Tyler had a great two years at Skagit Valley College and we are excited to have him the next two seasons. Tyler is lightning-quick and brings a different dynamic to our team that we didn’t have before.”

Skagit Valley CC: A two-year starter at Skagit Valley, Kidd earned Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) North Region All-Defensive honors in the 2016-17 season while guarding the opposing team’s best player. He averaged 14.1 points, 2.9 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game as a sophomore. He made 49 percent of his shots from the field overall and 37 percent from 3-point range (23-of-62), and sank 79 percent of his free throws (57-of-72). His top scoring game was 30 points against Olympic (2/8/17) when he made 12- of-16 shots from the floor with a trio of 3-pointers and 3-of-3 free throws. He had a season-high seven assists against Northwest College (1/7/17) and had four steals versus Blue Mountain (12/16/16). The Cardinals were 5-2 on the road in the North Region to finish league play 7-7, and were 14-11 overall. In his freshman season, Kidd averaged 10.5 points, 2.2 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game, with single game highs of 22 points, five assists and four steals. Skagit Valley finished 4-10 in the North Division in 2015-16, and were 11-16 overall.

HS: Graduated from O’Dea HS in 2014. He averaged more than 10 points per game as a senior in leading the Fighting Irish to the State 3A Tournament. He earned third team All-Metro League honors after earning honorable mention as a junior.

#24 - Kim Aiken Jr. - G/F - 6-7 - 215 - Fr. - HS - Redlands, Calif. / East Valley HS ’17

Shantay Legans on Aiken: “Kim rounds out a very exciting and talented freshman class. Kim can essentially guard every position on the floor, and as he continues to get stronger, he can turn into a reliable defender. On the offensive end, he represents a mismatch at 6-7 with a guard-like skill set. We are excited to see how Kim develops.”

HS: Graduated from East Valley High School in Redlands, Calif., in 2017. In 94 career games, Aiken scored 1,730 points (18.4 per game) and had 1,038 rebounds (11.0) while making 54 percent of his shots overall, 34 percent from the 3-point stripe (132-of-384) and 72 percent from the free throw line. He averaged 25.3 points and 11.5 rebounds per game as a senior to earn San Bernardino Sun All-Area first team honors. The Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association also picked him as a second team All- Southern Section 1A selection. He was additionally honored on the All-Citrus Belt League first team for the second-straight season. He had 20 double-doubles as a senior, including highs of 36 points versus Eisenhower (18 rebounds) and 20 rebounds against Yucaipa (18 points). He also averaged 2.4 steals, 2.4 blocks and 1.8 assists per game in his final season, while mak- ing 48 percent overall, 34 percent from the 3-point line (87-of-259) and 82 percent from the line. As a junior, Aiken averaged 18.6 points and 12 rebounds to earn All-California Interscholastic Federation honors. He was the co-MVP of the Citrus Belt League. He had 17 double-doubles as he led his team to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 2A Playoffs. He scored 19 in the season- ending 63-50 loss to La Mirada, as the Wildcats finished with a 25-6 record. Formerly from Long Beach, Calif., he had a 3.3 grade point average in high school. He averaged 12.6 points and 9.9 rebounds per game as a sophomore when his team finished third in the Citrus Belt League. The team advanced all the way to the CIF-SS Division 2A championship game against Compton, where the Wildcats lots 63-48. He was coached in high school by William Berich. He also played varsity volleyball at East Valley, as well as football (quarter- back) as a freshman in high school.

Personal: Interested in majoring in political science at Eastern. Born June 1, 1999, in Long Beach, Calif. Parents are Kim Aiken Sr. and Latisha Arthur.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 33 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#35 - Tanner Groves - F - 6-9 - 235 - Fr. - HS - Spokane, Wash. / Shadle Park HS ’17

Shantay Legans on Groves: “It is always great when we get to add a local face to our roster. Tanner is a Spokane product who is well known around town for his successful prep career. With his size and his ability to stretch the floor, Tanner will fit in nicely with the style of play we are trying to implement at EWU.”

HS: Graduated from Shadle Park High School in 2017. As a senior, Groves earned All-State honors when he was picked to play in the WIBCA All-State Game on March 18, 2017, in Mountlake Terrace, Wash. He was a first team All-Greater Spokane League selection, including players at both the 4A and 3A levels. He averaged 18.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game as a senior, as well as 1.9 assists, 1.8 blocked shots and nearly a steal. He made 62 percent of his shots from the field, including 10-of-26 3-point attempts for 38 percent, and shot at a 74 percent clip from the free throw line (88-of-121). The Highlanders finished 19-6 overall and 14-4 in the GSL, and advanced to the regional round of the State 3A Playoffs. As a junior, Groves was the Greater Spokane League MVP when he averaged 16.0 points, 11 rebounds, 1.5 blocked shots and 1.5 assists per game. He led Shadle Park to a 16-7 record in his junior season, with the season ending with a loss to Kennedy Catholic in the regional playoffs of the State 3A Tournament. He had 11 points and 22 rebounds before fouling out in the 40-32 setback. He scored 17 points and finished with 11 rebounds in a 70-56 district title victory over Rogers. He was a four-year letterwinner and twice the team’s MVP, and was coached at Shadle Park by EWU graduate Tim Gaebe. An honor roll student, he was also ASB Vice President at Shadle Park and a member of the school’s National Honor Society. He was the school’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2016-17.

Personal: Interested in majoring in education at Eastern. Born May 22, 1999, in Spokane, Wash. Parents are Randy and Tara Groves.

#23 - Brendan Howard - F - 6-6 - 225 - Fr. - HS - Great Falls, Mont. / Great Falls HS ’17

Shantay Legans on Howard: “The most decorated of the freshman group, Brendan had an incredible high school career, shattering all the records. Brendan understands the game, plays extremely hard, and once he adjusts to the next level of competition, we expect big things from him in the years to come.”

2017-18 Honors: Howard has been selected as the preseason Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year from College Sports Madness.

HS: Graduated from Great Falls High School in 2017. Ending his career with a school-record 2,083 points, he became the first AA player in the state of Montana to exceed the 2,000-point mark (the previous record was 1,930). The two- time Gatorade Player of the Year in Montana continued his high-scoring following the end of the season. He scored 25 points in the first game and 43 in the second to lead Montana to 93-78 and 100-71 wins over yomingW in a post-season all-star series between the two states in June 2017. Besides being recognized as “Mr. Basketball” in Montana, he also was a two-time Montana Player of the Year on the USA Today All-USA Montana squad. A four-time All-State selection, Howard helped the Bison advance to the state tournament in each of his four years with the school. Howard was a four-time first teamAA East All-Conference performer, and his team’s four-time team MVP. He was also an academic All-State selection four seasons, a team captain and a three-year letterwinner in track and field. Howard averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds in 97 career games for the Bison, averaging a double-double in each of his four seasons with the team. He passed a pair of collegians on the Great Falls career scoring list -- his brother, Bobby Howard (Montana State), with 1,536 points, and Mike Warhank (Montana) with 1,581. Brendan Howard set the mark with a 20-point performance against Helena on Dec. 21 during his senior campaign. He averaged 24.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game as a senior when he repeated as his state’s Gatorade Player of the Year. He helped the Bison finish 18-9 overall and advance to the semifinals of the State AA Tournament. As a junior in 2015-16, Howard was also the Gatorade Player of the Year after he averaged 25.1 points and 10.4 rebounds lead class AA in both. He led the Bison to a 13-9 record and the quarterfinals of the State AA Tournament in the 2015-16 season. He had a 3.71 grade point average in high school, and his community service includes volunteering on behalf of a food pantry, the Salvation Army and youth sports programs.

Personal: Interested in majoring in exercise science at Eastern. Born April 7, 1998, in Great Falls, Mont. Parents are Bob and Kathleen Howard. Both parents and his brother, Bobby, formerly played at Montana State. Bob was his coach at Great Falls, and played two seasons in Bozeman for MSU. Kathleen is a native of Seattle who holds school records of 1,761 points and 990 rebounds at MSU, and was once an assistant coach for the Bobcats. Bobby Howard went on to score 1,366 points and grab 600 rebounds for MSU. Former Great Falls standout Gale Berry lettered for Eastern in 1988.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 34 EAGLE MEN’S BASKETBALL 2017-18

#11 - Jack Perry - G - 6-2 - 175 - Fr. - HS - Melbourne, Australia / Camberwell Grammar School ’16

Shantay Legans on Perry: “A son of a basketball coach, Jack is a true general on the floor. With a high basketball IQ, steady hand and great floor vision, Jack is someone we will be able to rely on right away. Jack also brings extensive international experience to our team, and we look forward to continuing to develop his basketball skills.”

HS: Graduated from Camberwell Grammar School in 2016. He had a 3.8 grade point average in 2016 and a perfect 4.0 in 2015 and 2014. He won various awards and served as team captain, and played in the AGS- APS School All-Star game where he scored 26 points. Perry was a member of the U20 Victoria State Team, and competed in the U20 National Championships in February 2017. He played club basketball for the Dan- denong Rangers, and in 2016 helped them to the U18 Victorian and National Junior Classic Championships. Dandenong was fourth in the Eastern Conference, and he scored 15 points in the semifinals on 5-of-7 shoot- ing from the 3-point arc. He also was co-captain for Victoria Metro, which won the U18 national championship. He also played for the U17 Australian National Squad. In 2015, he helped Victoria Metro finish fourth at the U18 national championships, and led Dandenong to a runner-up finish at the U18 Victorian Championships with a 24-point effort on 6-of-9 shooting from the 3-point stripe. Dandenong was also third in the National Junior Classic and finished third in the SEABL Eastern Conference. Dandenong is the same club that former Eagle Venky Jois played for prior to coming to Eastern in the fall of 2012. Eastern teammate Mason Peatling and former Eagle Michael Wearne also played for Dandenong. In 2014, Perry helped Victoria Metro finish as the runner-up at the U16 National Champi- onships. Dandenong also was runner-up in the Victorian Championships when he scored a team-high 18 points. He helped his club win the title at the National Junior Classic.

Personal: Interested in majoring in business management at Eastern. Born Jan. 1, 1999, in Melbourne, Australia. Parents are Darren and Kerry Perry. Fellow Australians playing for the Eagles include Jesse Hunt and Mason Peatling, as well as former Eagles Felix Von Hofe, Geremy McKay, Michael Wearne and EWU all-time leading scorer Venky Jois.

#5 - Richard Polanco - F - 6-8 - 225 - Fr. - HS - Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic / Army-Navy Acad. ’17

Shantay Legans on Polanco: “We are excited to be adding Richard to our EWU family. He is a tremendous young man, mentally and physically mature beyond his age. Richard is a 6-8 player who can handle the ball, shoot, post up, and pass well. With his extreme versatility -- along with the ability to play any position on the floor -- he will fit in nicely with our style of play and with the great guys we already have.”

HS: Graduated from the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, Calif., in 2017. The first signee for Shantay Legans as a head coach, Polanco comes to Eastern with impressive scoring and rebounding production that resembles that of former Eagle Jacob Wiley. Polanco, a native of the Dominican Republic, played in 115 games in his career at Army and Navy, averaging 17.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He had career totals of 1,966 points and 947 rebounds, with 203 assists, 70 steals and 25 blocked shots. Rated a 3-star, top 20 high school basketball player in the talent-rich state of California (ESPN, 247, Scout), he made 65 percent of his field goals in his career. He averaged 26.6 points and 16.0 rebounds as a senior to earn All-California Inter- scholastic Federation second team honors. He was also a CIF All-Academic selection and a first team All-Coastal League selection. As a junior, he averaged 14.1 points and 6.0 boards while sinking 77 percent of his shots from the field. He averaged 13.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists as a sophomore, and 14.5 points as a freshman. In the 2016-17 season for EWU, 6-7 senior Jacob Wiley averaged 20.4 points and 9.1 rebounds on his way to earning honorable mention All-America honors.

Personal: Undecided on a possible major at Eastern. Born Aug. 12, 1997, in the Dominican Republic. His mother is Ynocencia Geronima Lantigua Montan, and his father is Richard Esteban Polanco. He has an older sister, Yovanka Mercedes Polanco Lantigua; a younger sister, Lia Carolina Nuñez Lantigua; and a brother, Joan Esteban Polanco Garcia. Polanco’s hometown is Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic. He played club basketball for Club Domingo Paulino. One of his teammates in that club since he was 5-years-old was life-long friend, J.C. Canahuate, who eventually joined him at Army-Navy.

2017 & 2016 CBI TOURNAMENT • 2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT • 2015 BIG SKY TOURNAMENT & REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS 35