April 30, 2003

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The record is solid enough, but it hides just how close to a great season the Western Washington University men's basketball team was.

The Vikings were 16-11 overall and tied for fourth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 10-8 mark. But the quality of the victories and the narrowness of the losses showed Western, led by second-team all-West Region senior center Mike Palm (Puyallup/Rogers), on its game to be a team capable of beating anyone.

The Vikings failed to reach the West Regional of the NCAA Division II National Tournament, but were 4-2 against West Regional qualifiers. Western defeated two of them on back-to-back nights of the WWU/Chuck Randall Classic, knocking off No.1-seed Brigham Young-Hawaii, 74-65, on Nov. 29, then toppling eventual regional champion Cal Poly Pomona, 68-54, the following night. They also had two convincing victories over GNAC co-champion Alaska Fairbanks, winning 97-79 at Bellingham on Jan. 16 and handing the Nanooks their only home loss of the season, 83-72, at Fairbanks on Feb. 15.

"Knowing we beat those teams shows our players what we can accomplish and gives the kids coming back great motivation," said Western coach Brad Jackson (18 years, 336-200), who is the winningest coach in school history both in total victories and winning percentage (.627). "These guys fought hard and practiced well all year, and we were very close to being one of the top eight in the region."

The two losses to regional qualifiers came against the other GNAC co-champion Humboldt State - 76-69 at Arcata, Calif., on Jan. 23 and 73-72 at Bellingham on Feb. 22. In the latter game, neither team led by more than two points in the final seven minutes, and the Lumberjacks needed a basket by All-American Fred Hooks with 7.9 seconds left to win the game.

That was one of three losses in the last month of the season in which the Vikings missed potential tying or go-ahead shots in the last 10 seconds. Overall, Western's last nine losses were all by nine points or less, including two in Las Vegas to Southern Indiana and South Dakota State, both of whom earned national tournament berths. The Vikings led in the second half in seven of those games.

"We had just a few possessions in those close losses that made a difference," Jackson said. "There were a handful of games that we lost that we just as easily could have won."

Palm earned all-region and first-team all-GNAC honors for the second straight year. He was fifth in the GNAC in scoring (18.5), fourth in rebounds (9.8), second in blocked shots (2.0), fourth in field goal percentage (.567, 187-of-330), and seventh in free throw percentage (.836, 117-of-140), leading Western in each of those categories. He even hit 9-of-21 3-pointers. He had 35 points in a loss to Alaska Anchorage, and 20 rebounds in a victory over Central Washington.

Palm completed his four-year career as Western's all-time leader in rebounds with 874, breaking the mark of 800 set by Jim Adams (1960-63) that had been the oldest individual record on the Viking books. Palm ended up second in career scoring (1,649) and third in blocked shots (162), and also holds the school record for career free throws made (442). He shot 57.8 percent (598-1034) from the field and 83.2 percent (442-of-531) on free throws.

"When you try to look at Mike and what he has meant to the program, there's no questioning his place among WWU's best," Jackson said of Palm. "His level of consistency has been pretty phenomenal. You almost took it for granted that he was going to score. His statistics show his productivity, but it's also been a privilege to coach Mike because he's such a great guy who loves the game so much."

Junior guard Jason Burrell (Ontario, CA) earned honorable mention all-GNAC recognition despite missing the first eight games of the season, averaging 13.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and a team-high 4.5 assists, ranking second in the GNAC in assists and ninth in free throw percentage (82.8, 106-of-128). Burrell, who had the first triple-double in school history in the home victory over Alaska Fairbanks, averaged 16.4 points over the last nine games of the season.

"It was a tough start for him being out, but he responded well," said Western coach Brad Jackson. "He did a good job defensively, he always gets to the free throw line, and he played very well in the second half of the season."

Also earning honorable mention all-GNAC status was sophomore forward Maurice Tyree (Sacramento, CA/Jesuit). Tyree, who was MVP of the Randall Classic, averaged 10.4 points, ranking fifth in the GNAC in both blocked shots (1.2) and field goal percentage (55.6, 95-of-171) and eighth in rebounds (6.6).

"Maurice took another step this season," Jackson said. "His game is starting to smooth out a bit and he's getting an understanding of what he does well. He has a propensity for making big plays at big times, especially at the defensive end."

For the first time in school history, the Vikings had two freshmen average double figures, as forward Grant Dykstra (Everson/Lynden Christian) averaged 11.6 points and guard Ryan Diggs (Victorville, CA/Silverado) contributed 10.1. Only four other freshmen in school history have averaged double figures, and all four, including Palm, rank in the Western top five in career scoring.

Dykstra, who redshirted in 2001-02, joined Palm as the only players to start all 27 games. He was ninth in the GNAC in assists (3.2) and was Western's top 3-point shooter (40-of-105, 38.1 percent), hitting 10-of-14 treys over the last three games.

"Grant's a thoroughbred," said Jackson. "His best attribute is his mental toughness. He has so much courage and determination. He did a good job defensively, especially on the ball, and showed he has a good knack for the game."

Diggs, who started the first eight games and came off the bench the rest of the season, became just the second Viking in the last decade to average double figures while playing less than 21 minutes a game. He also contributed 2.5 assists and a team-high 1.6 steals, which ranked sixth in the GNAC.

"Ryan is a full-speed ahead guy, and part of the process for him was learning to channel that," Jackson said. "He has great speed and quickness, and he's really coachable, he wants to do what you want. He had some really good shooting games and I think he'll be a premier player for the next three years."

Joining Palm as seniors were forward Nehemiah Campbell (Los Angeles, CA/Washington) and center Chris Stevens (Long Beach, CA/Poly). After missing the beginning of the season, Campbell started 18 of the final 19 games, averaging 6.8 points and 4.6 rebounds and finishing ninth in the GNAC in steals (1.5). Stevens averaged 3.0 points and 2.4 rebounds, and shot 58.7 percent (27-of-46) from the field. Both were counted on as defensive stoppers.

"Nehemiah fought some kind of injury issue almost every season, but he always came battling back," said Jackson. "He took pride in defending the other team's best perimeter player, and came up with some big plays at key times.

"Chris maximized his ability and played a great role for us. He's a very good rebounder, he made a high percentage of his shots, and really found a niche coming off the bench. He was a great teammate - he has a wonderful ability to enjoy other players' successes."

Junior guard Stefan Dickason (Kent/Kentridge) averaged 6.3 points and had some big games early in the season, scoring 31 points against Puget Sound and 20 against Southwest State.

"He had some great games for us," said Jackson. "The thing I like about Stefan is that he's always willing to do what you ask. He plays with a lot of enthusiasm and is a great team guy."

Also seeing regular time in the backcourt was redshirt freshman guard Kyle Jackson (Bellingham/Sehome). Jackson, the son of the coach, averaged 4.5 points, including a season-high 15 in the triumph over Cal Poly Pomona, and committed just 14 turnovers in 387 minutes of action.

"Kyle understands everything on the floor, he brought a calmness to the game of knowing when to settle things down," said the elder Jackson. "He's the classic coaches' kid, he plays like a coach on the floor."

Another freshman, forward Darrell Visser (Lynden), saw action in all but three games, averaging 3.0 points and 2.4 rebounds.

Completing the roster were freshman guards Preston Vermeulen (Sumas/Nooksack Valley) and John Schindler (Spokane/Mt. Saint Michael's). Vermeulen scored 19 points in seven games and Schindler had 14 points in five appearances, hitting 4-of-6 3-pointers.

Western averaged 81.6 points a game, scoring over 80 points in eight of the first 14 games. The Vikings were 8-1 when they shot over 50 percent from the field.

"There were portions of the season where we weren't very good offensively, but we got better and better as the season went on," Jackson said. "It seemed like our inconsistent shooting showed up at the worst times. You can look at five or six possessions where our record would be much different if we could have hit a key shot."

Western led the GNAC in blocked shots (5.0) and was second in rebounding margin (plus 5.7), but was helpless to stop one other freakish occurrence - opponents rarely seemed to miss free throws. Viking foes made 76.2 percent of their attempts, a mark that would have led the GNAC by a full two percent and would rank ninth nationally in NCAA II.

Some of the inconsistency might have been a product of instability. Injuries, illness and other factors meant Western's projected starting lineup took the floor in only 15 of the 27 games, and 10 players made at least one start.

"I felt like we didn't really get everything clicking until the last 10 or 11 games," said Jackson. "At that point, we began to see improvement on an almost daily basis, and we went into games knowing that if we executed, we had a good chance to beat anybody."