A couple dress rehearsals. They don’t count but the two upcoming preseason exhibitions will have a lot to do with how Seattle Pacific University fares in the Falcons’ first games of the men’s basketball regular season. SPU hosts the Northwest All-Stars Thursday night (Nov. 6) and The Son’s Blue Angels Nov. 15, both at Brougham Pavilion, as the season quickly approaches. The 27-game regular season commences Nov. 21-22 with the Wilcox Farms Tip-Off Classic. SPU is coming off a 16-11 record and a third-place finish in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Several mix-ins. Coach Jeff Hironaka will present a team featuring plenty of new faces. Following the loss of six seniors, including four starters, Hironaka has gone about constructing a squad which is long on shooting ability and short on experience. Of his 16-man roster, 11 are freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores. There is only one senior, center Chris Cohen (Sr., 6-8, Saint Helens, Or.). A September tour of Australia helped to build cohesiveness among the returnees and now Hironaka will mix-in his recruits, three of which are transfers.

It’s only words. The youth movement will not be pressured to perform right away, at least not from the outside. The GNAC coaches picked SPU seventh in the preseason poll, but Hironaka hints that the Falcons are capable of much, much more. The program has put together 15 consecutive winning seasons and has qualified for the NCAA Division II tournament eight of the last 10 years. Although Humboldt State is the overwhelming favorite for the conference crown and, in some cases, the national title, Hironaka expects slots 2-7 in the GNAC to be hotly contested.

Center of attention. Hironaka’s first recruit as coach and the team’s lone returning starter will be this year’s cornerstone. Center Jason Chivers (Jr., 6-8, Palmdale, Ca./Highland-L.A. Trade Tech) emerged as a potent force over the second half of last season, averaging 13.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and shooting 65 percent in the final 12 games. For the season, he was the Falcons’ top rebounder (6.6), No. 3 scorer (10.0) and led the conference in field-goal accuracy (.590). If anything, he should grow stronger. During the Australia tour Chivers, playing against older professionals, averaged 19.2 points and 13.4 rebounds.

What happened down under. The Falcons finished that five-game junket 3-2, with both losses coming against first division pros. Besides Chivers there were a couple players who experienced breakthroughs during the tour. Jordan Lee (Jr., 6-2, University Place, Wa./Christian Faith) began to realize his potential as a backcourt scorer, leading the team with a 23.2 scoring average. Redshirt forward Dustin Bremerman (Fr., 6-4, Yakima, Wa./Eisenhower), who had not played a competitive game in two years, staked an early claim to a starting spot, hitting double figures in four games and shooting well from beyond the international three-point arc. Jeff Knudson (So., 6-7, Mukilteo, Wa./Kamiak), the top three-point marksman in the GNAC as a frosh, continued to stretch defenses with his range. Point guard Tony Binetti (So., 6-1, Enumclaw, Wa.) got the keys to the offense, which averaged 101.6 points. Hironaka says this year’s emphasis will be on scoring in transition but that the new halfcourt set is more predicated on passing and patience.

You’ll need a program. There could be as many as three new faces among the top eight rotation. At least two of those will be transfers Ralph Steele (Jr., 6-2, No. Birmingham, Al./Huffman-Citrus JC) and Chad Williams (So., 6-8, Burlington, Wa./Bu.-Edison-Whatcom CC). Steele, who averaged 20 points as a sophomore, is expected to fill some of the void left by Yusef Aziz, the top scorer the past two seasons. Williams has both excellent rebounding and high-post passing skills. Of the freshmen, Drew Matzen (Fr., 6-4, Bothell, Wa./Lynnwood) could make the most immediate impact.

Tickets, Please. Reserved tickets for all SPU home games are priced $7 and $6. General admission is $5 with youth, students and senior citizens $3 with proper identification. Groups can qualify for discounts by calling (206) 281-2085 in advance.

SPU Coaching Staff. In his first season Jeff Hironaka won more games (16) than all but one other first-year SPU coach. A former aide at Idaho State and The Master’s, Hironaka became Ken Bone’s top assistant in 1991 and from there the Falcons won 236 of 253 games, claimed five outright or shared conference championships and qualified for the NCAA tournament eight times, including a Final Four advancement in 2000. Hironaka is the second Japanese-American head coach of a four-year collegiate program...As both coach and player, Ben Scheffler has been associated with seven NCAA tournament teams. The staff’s top assistant, Scheffler started three seasons at guard and later served on Bone’s staff from 1998-01. He was a volunteer assistant at Washington in 2001-02. Scott Reid joins the staff following two years as KingCo coach of the year at Bellevue’s Newport High School. George Parker who first served as a volunteer assistant in 1986, returns for his 15th year. Dan Barfoot serves as graduate assistant and Maurice Cato, starting point guard the past two years, is student assistant.

Missing links. For the latest and best information on Seattle Pacific University athletics, stay where you're at -- on The Falcons Online. For updated standings and statistics, see the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web site.