Eastern Washington Eagles (10-20, 7-9)
Projected starting five:
Sr. G Cliff Colimon
Jr. G Kevin Winford
Jr. G Jeffery Forbes
Sr. F Tremayne Johnson
Sr. F Cliff Ederaine
Important departures:
Jr. G Glen Dean (transfer, 13.3 ppg, 47 3-pointers made per game, 4.2 apg)
Head coach Kirk Earlywine
Top returnees:
Colimon: 10.4 ppg, 48 3-pointers made per game, 24 steals per game
Ederaine: 8.5 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.1 blocks per game
Forbes: 9.8 ppg, 2.0 apg, 55 3-pointers, 0.9 steals per game
Additions:
Jr. F Colin Chiverton, transfer from City College of San Francisco (19 ppg, five rpg and 2.5 apg)
Jr. F Jordan Hickert, transfer from Neosho County Junior College (9.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 56 3-pointers made per game)
Schedule highlights:
Toughest nonconference match up: at Gonzaga, at Oregon or at UCLA.
Hardest conference stretch: first three games, at Montana State, at Montana and home against Weber State.
Outlook:
The Eagles are retooling slightly after losing sparkplug point guard Dean, who transferred to Utah. It’s an experienced roster, with four starters back, but none of them has ever been “the man” in Cheney. They’ll either keep the balanced scoring going or Colimon or Ederaine will have to take over. Hayford is hoping to find a way to improve the team’s shooting percentage, which was at 40.8 percent overall and 36.9 percent from 3-point range in the 2010-11 season. Eastern Washington hasn’t shot more than 41.6 percent from the field since the 2006-07. Depth and experience are being counted on to Hayford’s transition from Division III to low-major Division I.
