Nov. 10, 2016
REGULAR SEASON MEN'S BASKETBALL BEGINS SATURDAYSan José State embarks on its fourth season under the direction of head coach Dave Wojcik on Saturday when West Coast Baptist visits the Event Center for a 2:00 p.m. (PT) tipoff. Coming off of a 6.5-game improvement last season, the Spartans intend to continue trending in the right direction with the help of the reigning Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year, Brandon Clarke. A year of experience under the belt of last year's outstanding freshman class together with bolstered depth at the guard position should give SJSU the chance to accomplish that goal.Game #1
San José State (0-0) vs. West Coast Baptist (0-0)Saturday, November 12, 2016, 2:00 p.m. (PT)The Event Center (5,000)San Jose, Calif.Watch LiveSPARTANS OPEN THREE-GAME HOMESTANDAfter the regular season opener on Saturday, the Spartans will host the University of Portland (11/15) and Denver University (11/17). SJSU suffered a close 73-68 overtime loss to Portland at home two seasons ago. In 2012-13, the Spartans lost both games in a home-and-home series with Denver. The three-game set is a small portion of the 16 regular season home games the Spartans have this season. Get your tickets for the first three games of the year and beyond at the Spartans Ticket Office.WHO IS WEST COAST BAPTIST?West Coast Baptist is a Division II member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), located in Lancaster, Calif. Men's basketball and women's volleyball are the two sponsored sports at the school, which has an enrollment of 756. The Eagles are coaches by Curt Beeson in his 15th season. San José State is the only Division I opponent on West Coast Baptist's schedule in the 2016-17 season.SPARTANS RETURN 3-PT DEPTHCody Schwartz (52) and Ryan Welage (48) respectively were the top-two freshmen in the Mountain West for made 3-pointers last season. They return with a year of experience as starters and are both well on their way to SJSU's career-record for made threes of 153 set by Tim Pierce (2007-09).NEW GUARDS FOR SJSUFreshmen Terrell Brown (6-2, 160, Hayward, Calif.), Nai Carlisle (6-2, 200, West Lafayette, Ind.) and Isaiah Nichols (6-5, 180, Oxnard, Calif.) make up a versatile new wave of guards for the Spartans. SJSU intends to take advantage of Carlisle's defensive capabilities while Brown and Nichols bring more scoring and speed to the position. E.J. Boyce (6-2, 170, Boise, Idaho), a transfer from College of Southern Idaho, completes the group as a marksman on the perimeter that can help spread the floor.BULK OF LAST YEAR'S SCORING COMES BACKSan José State returns 65 percent of its overall scoring from a year ago. The team's per-game scoring average was up 16.8 points in 2015-16. Last year's assist leader Isaac Thornton returns for his senior campaignto help the fluidity of the Spartans' offense.SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR BACK FOR MOREReigning Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year Brandon Clarke is readyto go for his second year as a Spartan. He averaged 10.1 points and 7.3 rebounds during conference play last season, and is poised to pick up where he left off. Aside from his scoring and rebounding numbers, Clarke hopes to build on his defensive presence after setting the SJSU freshman record with 39 blocks in 2015-16.RETURN OF THE BIG MEN6-foot-11 center Ashtin Chastain will make his Spartan debut in 2016-17 after spending last season as a redshirt. Weighing in at 245 pounds, Chastain joins fellow big man Ryan Singer (6-10, 235, Littleton, Colo.) in the Spartans' frontcourt. Singer is coming back from a redshirt season as well.HOME SWEET HOMESan José State will have 16 regular season home games this season, the most in the last two decades. Including the exhibition slate, the Spartans begin the year with five straight games inside The Event Center, with the regular season opener on November 12 versus West Coast Baptist.