Chaminade working its way up PacWest

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Saying there's no substitute for hard work, Chaminade men's basketball coach Aaron Griess will draw inspiration from perspiration.

"Our goal is to win a championship," said Chaminade coach Aaron Griess, "and we'll work and try as hard as we can to obtain that goal." Advertiser library photo

The Silverswords were picked to finish third this season in a preseason coaches poll.

With a veteran team this season —15 out of 16 players are upperclassmen — expectations are growing for Griess, who is entering his third season as head coach.

"We want improvement every day," Griess said. "Our goal is to win a championship and we'll work and try as hard as we can to obtain that goal."

Griess' early success has drawn raves from opposing coaches. Griess, 31, is the youngest head coach in the conference. He's also the school's athletic director.

"Aaron has done a great job," said Russell Dung, Hawai'i Pacific's athletic director and men's basketball coach. "He's young and energetic and I know he spends a lot of time doing what he loves to do, coaching basketball. He had a plan and he went out and recruited some good athletes and good players."

"I think they're going to be pretty darn good this year," said Law, who supported that statement by awarding Chaminade his first-place vote in the preseason coaches poll. "I'll give them that respect. Aaron has improved his team with recruiting, and he has a good team coming back. And he works his butt off."

The Silverswords will be tested at the EA Sports Maui Invitational, which features NCAA runner-up Indiana, Kentucky, Gonzaga, Utah, Arizona State, Virginia and Massachusetts on Nov. 25-27 at the Lahaina Civic Center. Chaminade will open against Virginia.

All-conference, second-team guard Kashif Reyes, a 5-10 junior from Reading, Pa., will lead the Silverswords. Reyes averaged 10.3 points per game and led the conference in free-throw percentage at 88 percent.

Reyes will be one of the triggermen in Griess' aggressive offense along with guards Roy Stigall III (jr., 6-0) and Jason Walters (jr., 6-5) and forwards Leon Ballard (sr., 6-5) and Mike Donegan (sr., 6-6).

"I'm more of an attack-style coach," Griess said. "If we have an open 3 well take it, but we want to take the ball to the basket."

Chaminade

Coach: Aaron Griess (entering 3rd year, 32-22)

Last season: 16-11 overall, 8-7 Pacific West Conference, fifth place

Top players: John Kirk (g, 5-10, sr., .771 free-throw percentage, 1.30 spg), Kashif Reyes (g, 5-10, sr., 2.88 apg, .880 free-throw percentage, .371 3-point field-goal percentage), Mike Donegan (f, 6-6, sr., 10.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, .586 field-goal percentage), Leon Ballard (f, 6-5, sr., 13.6 ppg).

What's expected: The sky's the limit for the Silverswords, who have posted 16-11 records the past two seasons. Look for Reyes to make a run at all-conference, first-team honors. Chaminade gobbles up opponents at home, going 20-6 at McCabe Gym. It plays 16 out of 29 games at McCabe this season.

2002-03 CHAMINADE SCHEDULE

November

22-St. Mary's, 7:30 p.m. 25-27-Maui Invitational (Monday—Chaminade vs. Virginia, 9 a.m.; Massachusetts vs. Indiana, noon; Arizona St. vs. Kentucky 4 p.m.; Utah vs. Gonzaga 6:30 p.m. Tuesday—Semifinal matches. Wednesday—Final 7:30 p.m.) 30-Carleton, 7:30 p.m.

December

3-5-Hawaiian Style Basketball Classic (Tuesday-Kennesaw State, 7:30 p.m.; Thursday-Lees-McRae, 7:30 p.m.)

7-CSU-Stanislaus, 7:30 p.m. 16-Northwest Nazarene, 7:30 p.m. 19-at UC-San Diego, 7:30 p.m. 21-at CSU-Stanislaus, 7:30 p.m. 29-Fontbonne, 7:30 p.m.

January

4-*Montana State-Billings, 7:30 p.m. 7 and 9-*Western New Mexico, 7:30 p.m 14 and 16-*at Hawai'i-Hilo, 7:15 p.m. 30-*at Hawai'i Pacific, 7:30 p.m.

February

7-*BYU-Hawai'i, 7:30 p.m. 11 and 13-*Montana State-Billings, 7:30 p.m. 15-*at Western New Mexico, 7:30 p.m. 20 and 22-*Hawai'i Pacific, 7:30 p.m. 27-*Hawai'i-Hilo, 7:30 p.m.

March

6 and 8-*at BYU-Hawai'i, 7:30 p.m.

*PacWest Conference games

All home games are played at McCabe Gym, unless noted.