Senior Series: Kevin Foster

Santa Clara and Kevin Foster between the 2008-09 season and the 2012-13 season were a match made in heaven. The two were at times good and at times bad. In 2012-13 the Broncos won 26 games and the CBI title. In 2010-11 they won 24 and the CIT title. In 2009-10 just 11. 2011-12 saw a mere eight wins and 0-17 record against WCC competition.

Kevin Foster finished his career as Santa Clara's all-time leading scorer, good enough for second place all-time in the West Coast Conference (67 points behind Hank Gathers). Standing in second place all-time is great, but Foster missed 771 shots that could have vaulted him well into first place. His 39.0% career field goal percentage made him one of the most inconsistent great players in recent memory.

There is the Kevin Foster that won the 2011 CIT MVP and 2013 CBI MVP as he led the Broncos to postseason glory. Then there is the Kevin Foster who missed the last 12 games of the 2012 season due to suspension. Despite the problems, losses, inefficiency and inconsistency these two were made for each other.

Senior Series: Elias Harris

Elias Harris as a freshman. Photo by SD Dirk.

The NBA Draft, something too many college fans hold in too high regard, seems to have an infatuation with freshmen. Elias Harris, the Zags' 6' 8'', 239 lbs power forward, was once one of those
freshmen. He spurned the draft to do what has become increasingly rare, spend four seasons as an elite college player.

Over those four seasons Harris left his mark on the program and its record books. He ranks second all-time in rebounds (all 1,670 of Jerry Vermillion's rebounds were grabbed while the Zags were an NAIA school), fourth in scoring (10 points behind Adam Morrison and 47 ahead of Matt Santangelo) and tenth in steals (the only non-guard in the top ten).

Senior Series: Mitchell Young

It should come as no surprise that both Gaels represented in the Senior Series are Australian. Mitchell Young hails from Logan, Queensland and attended the Australian Institute of Sport.

Young's impact on the Gaels was immediate and constant, though not consistent. His Sophomore and Senior seasons were by far his most effective. Statistically speaking he was best as a sophomore, though he was not a starter for a single game that season. In his senior year he started every game for the Gaels.

The 6'9'', 235lbs forward has spent his career at Saint Mary's as a complimentary big man to guys like Omar Samhan, Ben Allen, Rob Jones and most recently Brad Waldow.

Senior Series: Marc Trasolini

It may not be on the level of Saint Mary's with Australians or Gonzaga with the rest of the world but, Santa Clara knows how to find really good British Columbians. The 6' 9'' Trasolini hails from Vancouver (Steve Nash is from Vancouver Island). Vancouver is not just where he is from but also why he was playing for the Broncos this past season.

During the offseason after his junior (2010-11) year the Broncos made a trip to Vancouver for a series of exhibition games. What was supposed to be a happy homecoming for Trasolini quickly turned into a disaster. Just two minutes into the first game, against Trinity Western University, Trasolini tore the ACL in his left knee. He was sidelined for the entire 2011-12 season.

Senior Series: Matthew Dellavedova

Dellavedova as a freshman, photo by SD Dirk

Matthew Dellavedova had an amazing career at Saint Mary's. The 6'4'' guard from Maryborough, Victoria, Australia made an immediate impact as a freshman and continued to do so through his senior season.

Dellavedova was honored many times over his career. He was named WCC Player of the Week three times and once Player of the Month. As a junior, he was named the WCC Player of the Year and WCC Tournament MVP. He made all-WCC teams in all four of his years at Saint Mary's. In his first year he made the all-Freshman team as well as being named an all-WCC Honorable Mention. In his sophomore, junior and senior years he was named to the all-WCC Team.

He received national honors as well. Twice he was named an all-America Honorable Mention. He's made watch lists for the Naismith and Wooden Awards. The Cousy Award, for best point guard, had him as a finalist in his junior and senior seasons.

The accolades, the stats and most importantly, the wins, make Matthew Dellavedova the greatest Gael ever.

Senior Series: Raymond Cowels III

Santa Clara's Raymond Cowels III was Mr. Consistent over his four years as a Bronco. His freshman year average of 7.3 PPG is less than one point below his career PPG average. The only reason his numbers aren't higher is a slight sophomore slump.

The 6'4'', 215lbs, guard from Minneapolis spent his time at Santa Clara mostly out of the spotlight. Guys like Ben Dowdell, Marc Trasolini and Kevin Foster received the most accolades. Trasolini and Foster were, however, far less consistent than Cowels. He missed just one game over his entire career, in order to attend his grandfather's funeral.

Senior Series: Derrick Rodgers

Derrick Rodgers was the only senior on the Pilots this past season. Unlike any of the other seniors being profiled in this series, he did not play for the Pilots for his whole career. The 6'1'', 210lbs guard from Rancho Cucamonga, CA spent a year at nearby Citrus College before moving into Division I.

Rodgers was a point guard while at Citrus College. As a Pilot he would play at both guard spots. This past season, on top of being the only senior, he was forced into another leadership role (point guard) when David Carr suffered a torn ACL on January 5th. His leadership earned him the honor of being voted, by his teammates, a team captain.

Derrick Rodgers evolution, shown in key statistics for point guards, from his junior to senior season. Click image for full size view.

Senior Series: Mike Hart

Recruiting is a very important part in building a team and a program. You need the right guys to play for you if you want to win games. For Butler that means getting guys willing to play in Brad Stevens' style, in the so called "Butler Way". Memphis coach Josh Pastner only gets guys who can play above the rim. Kentucky recruits only the best players regardless of the fact that they will play for just one season. Those teams, and many others, have found success through a certain style of player that fit into the style of the program.

Mike Hart has been called many things. He's a defensive specialist, a hustle player, a glue guy and a liability on offense. Those are all fairly accurate descriptions. What he is more than anything though, is a personification of Gonzaga Basketball.

 

To understand what I'm saying you need to go back to when Gonzaga and Mike Hart were unknowns.

Senior Series: Ashley Hamilton

Loyola Marymount fifth year senior Ashley Hamilton has had a long and winding basketball journey. Born in Hamburg, though a native of London, his path to Los Angeles went through Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain and Boston, Massachusetts.

Like the Lions teams of late, Hamilton battled through injuries. His initial freshman season was cut short after six games. Despite all the time spent hobbled or too hurt to play, he put up some impressive statistics.

Green = Played, Yellow = DNP, Red = Redshirt.
Click image for full size view.

Senior Series: Ken Rancifer

Ken Rancifer's college basketball career went the way college basketball careers used to go. Four years spent at the same school, with steady improvement each season. His four year career culminated in being a full time starter and team captain.

The 6'5'', 205lbs native of Oakland attended El Cerrito High School. ESPN gave Rancifer an 84/100 grade as a recruit. Along with San Diego, he was recruited by Fresno State, Weber State and Cal State Northridge.

Hover over the graph above for more information. For the sake of keeping the Y-axis a reasonable height, "Minutes" data represented in the chart is actually Min% rather than total minutes. Then, click read more for even more information!

Senior Series: Lorne Jackson

Without Head Coach Marty Wilson and senior guard Lorne Jackson, the steady foundation with connection to Pepperdine's past, the 2012-13 Waves may have fallen apart. Wilson has been involved with the organization for decades now. Prior to this past season, Jackson had already spent four seasons in Malibu. Due to a torn ACL, during the offseason after his junior year, he missed the 2011-12 season.

Injury kept Jackson off the court for a season, but it's also what got him more time in the court in the first place. To start his freshman season Jackson averaged just 8.3 minutes per game. In the fourth game of the year, when Senior guard Ryan Holmes sustained an injury, Jackson was thrust into the starting role. In 13 games without Holmes, Jackson was the starter and averaged 22.6 minutes.

Senior Series: Brandon Davies

Over the next couple of weeks I will be doing a series of pieces on the WCC's impactful outgoing seniors. There won't be any set style for the series. Some will be more biographical in nature. Some, like the Mike Hart piece I've been slowly building for the past month, will be long and awesome. Some will feature as much looking forward as looking back. To get things started I chose BYU's Brandon Davies, a perfect example of a player with a career worth looking back upon but a future worth looking forward to. Without further ado, here is the first installment in the Will's WCC Blog Senior Series: Brandon Davies.

While a student at Provo High School, Brandon Davies received interest from schools in sunny California (Cal and Santa Clara), a powerhouse school in Gonzaga and in state schools like Utah, Utah State and BYU. Davies chose the easiest trip. He chose to go, literally, across the street.

Brandon Davies, the versatile big man for the Cougars, ended his up, down and back up again career with a spot near the top of many BYU records. Davies was one game and one scandal from playing in every game of his career, a feat which would have set the all time record at BYU. Instead he finishes all the way down in third place on the games played list. Davies saw the floor in 135 of the 144 games BYU played during his career. He became the third and fourth (as a junior then a senior) Cougar to average at least one point, rebound, assist, steal and block per game.

Over the course of his career he helped lead the Cougars to a #3 ranking. He never played for a team that won less than 25 games. He played in two NCAA Tournaments. He played three games at Madison Square Garden. As a senior, he was a team captain.