Coming off a historically bad year, the Pepperdine Men’s Basketball Team is under pressure as they rebuild and reestablish themselves within the West Coast Conference.
Head Coach Marty Wilson is coming into his sixth year leading the team after a losing 9-22 record. He’s brought in nine new players, with important transfers in Matthew Atewe, a senior forward and graduate student, Darnell Dunn, a junior forward and intercultural communication major, and Harrison Meads, a junior forward and philosophy major. The team is looking for new team leader to emerge among the returning players.
“Magazines have ranked us low in the conference and don’t expect us to do well,” Elijah Lee, a sophomore guard and intercultural communication major said. “We have to prove them wrong.”
It will be an uphill battle for this young Waves basketball team. They have faced a difficult schedule, losing games earlier this season to ranked teams Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. WCC powerhouses Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s loom in early January.
The map looks at how other teams shape up on the Waves’ schedule this season.The data comes from each university’s athletic websites.
The issues with last season
Last season, the team saw their lowest win record since Wilson took over as head coach in 2011. By the end of it, people were looking where to point fingers.
Some pointed two seasons back at the departure of all-time scoring leader Stacy Davis.
“In the past they relied on Stacy to be a major scoring threat,” said Jeremiah Anthony, a senior history major and sports radio talk show host. “When he left they lost their identity.”
Losing a player like Davis hurt not just the scoreboard during games, but also the locker-room. Without a leader the team faltered and lost their way.
Some pointed fingers at the injuries of key players Kam Edwards, a junior forward and intercultural communication major, and Amadi Udenyi, a redshirt senior guard and advertising major. Edwards suffered a fractured jaw just before the season started and Udenyi played in just six games before suffering his second achilles tendon rupture.
“Man when I got hurt my whole life changed,” Edwards said. “It’s hard having an entire season taken away from you after you worked so hard in the offseason.”
The injuries impacted more than just the team record last year. Other players faced daunting challenges after Edwards and Udenyi went down.
“It was difficult seeing those players go down,” Lee said. “But that’s no excuse for how poor our season went.”
Lee, a first-year last year, stepped into a major role after Amadi suffered his injury.
“I wasn’t expecting Amadi to go down,” Lee said. “But when he did, I got thrown into the fire and that’ll help me with this upcoming season.”
To go along with the injuries, the team saw many players come down with illnesses during the duration of the season.
“During the game at Pacific I think we were down to a total of seven players,” said Nina Harris, team manager and sophomore sports administration major. “Illnesses killed us during the main stretch of the year.”
With the program seeming to fall apart as the season went on, players began to focus more on themselves than the team, becoming selfish players.
Sophomore guard Kaijae Yee-Stephens, a computer science major, said there were too many “egos” on the team and it was hard to establish a team mentality without a leader.
“We had some selfish players last year,” Yee-Stephens said. “We’re working really hard this season in holding players accountable.”
Harris attributed the occurrence of “too many bad things happening at once” as the main reason why the season failed.
This season
The team got a face lift this offseason, adding five first-years and four transfers. The transfers include Eric Cooper Jr, a redshirt junior guard and organizational communication major from University of Nevada, Reno, Dunn, a forward from Miami Dade Junior College, Meads, a forward from Laramie County Community College and Atewe, a forward from University of Washington.
“This year’s team is virtually a different team from the one we had last year,” Lee said. “I’m excited to see what we can do.”
The new players are making a big impact on the team as they are not only getting the fans excited for what they can do, but returning players as well.
“We have some great players coming in this year,” Lee said. “Matthew Atewe is a big player who’s been helping us in a big way on the court. He’s such a monster on the boards (rebounding the basketball).”
Atewe has a big body with long arms, which can create a physically imposing presence near the hoop. Last year’s team had no starting player with the same physical presence; none of them carried Atewe’s bruising mentality.
So far this season he’s averaged five points and four rebounds a game. There is still room to grow for Atewe this season as he becomes accustomed to Wilson’s system and his third collegiate team in three years.
Dunn is another potential impact transfer. He said he plans to be an asset for the team through his scoring prowess, but is open to helping the team however he can.
“I just want to help the team anyway possible,” Dunn said. “Whether it be scoring off the bench or growing into a team leader.”
Dunn saw an 18.6 point average during his sophomore season at Miami Dade Junior College. Dunn has averaged five points and two rebounds a game this season. He did post 18 points earlier this season against California Lutheran.
“Darnell (Dunn) has this swagger about him,” Assistant Coach John Impelman said. “Him and Kam (Edwards) are two key pieces for the team this season.”
Impelman said he is excited to coach such a new team. He thinks the transfers and first-years can make a huge impact on this team.
Edwards believes Wilson is working well with these new players and thinks they have bought into Wilson’s system.
Dunn, a transfer, says he likes the way Wilson runs his team. He doesn’t allow personalities to ruin team chemistry and emphasizes how he wants everyone to buy in.
According to the Pepperdine documentary series “Both Feet In,” the team works through trust exercises such as “Blind Man’s Trust,” in order to expedite team comradery. In “Blind Man’s Trust,” players walk around Firestone Fieldhouse blindfolded as their teammates guide them. Wilson explains in the documentary to help build communication and trust between players.
Wilson did not respond to three email requests for an interview and said he did not have time for an interview when asked in person.
Challenges for this season
A major asset missing from last year’s team was a team leader.
Yee-Stephens said the team needs a leader to help guide them and to hold players accountable for their mistakes.
Edwards is one of the key players on this year’s roster. Impelman said he thinks Edwards’ development into the team leader will be crucial if the Waves hope to reach the WCC playoffs.
“Kam (Edwards) has all the tools,” Impelman said. “He’s maturing and is growing into some big shoes that Stacy (Davis) and Lammond (Murray) left.
An important variable this season, which cannot be overlooked, is attendance. Last year the team was lucky to get a hundred fans in the stands. Having low attendance numbers can really affect player mentality.
“You know at first it’s hard not seeing fans,” Lee said. “But you gotta flip that switch and focus on the game at hand.”
Harris believes the trick in getting higher attendance is in the advertising of the players.
“When people have that personal connection with a player they want to come out,” Harris said. “They want to see their friends compete.”
Head Coach Marty Wilson
Wilson’s Waves saw a steady increase in wins during the first five years of his coaching tenure. Two seasons ago the Waves were four points away from dethroning national powerhouse Gonzaga. Last year could have been considered a fluke, due to the amount of injuries, illnesses and “egos” the team was plagued with.
“I have faith in Marty ball,” Anthony said.
Wilson is dealing with a very young but experienced group this season. Gracyn Lewis, a junior sports medicine major, thinks the Waves could potentially flip the script from last season.
“With the skill the coach has, the team will continue to do well,” Lewis said. “If we can string some wins together we’ll do fine.”
Some fans have differing opinions on Wilson and the future success of the Waves.
“I honestly think he is a sub-par coach,” junior psychology major Ozzie Amadi said. “If we want to make a complete turnaround from last year, we should be shopping around for a new head coach.”
Amadi, a fan who has attended 10 games each of the last two seasons, believes the team is going to be better this year and in the years to come. However, if they want to become a respected program they need to make the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s March Madness Tournament. Amadi believes that with Wilson at the helm, they have no chance at reaching the tournament.
Ben Harmon, a junior business administration major who has attended games with Amadi, agreed with Amadi that the team is not good enough this year to make the tournament but he doesn’t believe Wilson is to blame.
Despite what the fans say, Impelman said he trusts Wilson’s direction and said the team needs to create some chemistry for this season to be a success.
Recruiting is a major factor in terms of success for the future in college basketball. Wilson has had recent success in recruiting, as seen with the addition of nine new players this season.
“Coach is a smart recruiter,” Harris said. “He wants his players to be a family and to play for each other.”
Ian Luper completed the reporting for this story under the supervision of Dr. Christina Littlefield and Dr. Theresa de los Santos in Jour 241 in fall 2017. Dr. Littlefield oversaw the web story. Dr. Theresa de los Santos oversaw the video news package.
