Big Sky Basketball: Predicting All-Conference teams for 2019-20 season

Second-Team

It was difficult to fill out the last few spots for these Big Sky Basketball teams, as it always is. There are seniors who should have larger roles after their teams’ leading scorers left, like Ladan Ricketts of Montana State and Balint Mocsan of Idaho State. Others like Northern Arizona’s Luke Avdalovic are coming off strong freshman seasons and could step up even more in year two. Eventually, I erred on the side of precedent, selecting ten players who took home leaguewide honors last season.

Let’s start with the second team..

Kendal Manuel, Sr., Montana

2018-19 Stats: 19.3 MPG, 8.7 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 57 3PM, 42.2% 3P

The reigning Big Sky Sixth Man of the Year, Manuel was a big part of the Grizzlies’ league title last season. The Billings native transferred back to his home state after two years at Oregon State under former Montana head coach Wayne Tinkle. The 6’4” guard made the most of his opportunities off the bench, finishing fourth on the team in scoring despite playing less than half of the team’s minutes. But in his senior year, Manuel will likely be asked to take on a much larger role after the graduation of All-Big Sky selections Ahmaad Rorie (1st team) and Michael Oguine (3rd team).

He is a very capable three-point shooter, knocking down 57 triples last season at a 42 percent clip. Look for Manuel to shine as the second option after Sayeed Pridgett and earn accolades as a starter to go along with the hardware he grabbed for his play off the bench – much like Pridgett himself did in 2018-19.

Bodie Hume, So., Northern Colorado

2018-19 Stats: 26.3 MPG, 10.8 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 69 3PM, 37.7% 3P

Coming off a very promising freshman season, Hume is a player that is poised for a big breakout in 2019-20. It was rare for the Bears to generate any headlines that didn’t involve last year’s Big Sky POY Jordan Davis, so Hume may still be flying under the radar nationally. But the sophomore, who grew up about two hours outside of Greeley, should be well-known to his conference opponents after snagging the award for the league’s top rookie. He finished second behind Davis in points and should eat up a lot of the opportunities left behind now that Davis – and his massive 35.6% usage rate – has moved on.

Hume will benefit from the stability of guard Jonah Radebaugh, who played in a whopping 93 percent of his team’s minutes last year. Also helping Hume’s cause is that head coach Jeff Linder has given the Bears a big green light from downtown. Northern Colorado featured four players with at least 150 three-point attempts last season, with Hume leading the pack at 183. Don’t be surprised to see that number climb well over 200 with all the extra opportunities on the floor this season.

Joshua Patton, Sr., Sacramento State

2018-19 Stats: 28.9 MPG, 13.0 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.6 BPG, 60.9% FG

The senior center was a third-team All-Big Sky selection last season after posting solid big man numbers for the Hornets. Patton was Sacramento State’s second option behind senior guard Marcus Graves, but Graves is now gone. Look for the Patton’s role in the offense to get a bump up from his usage rate over the past two seasons, which has been clocking in at just under 22 percent. In those each of those two years, the big man shot better than 60% from the field and blocked more than 50 shots.

As a junior last year, Patton finished third in the Big Sky in blocked shots and was a top-ten rebounder in the league. If he puts up those kinds of numbers on the interior and plays a large role in the Hornets’ offense, Patton could find himself in the conversation for a first-team nod – especially given the dearth of quality bigs in the conference.

Jacob Davison, Jr., Eastern Washington

2018-19 Stats: 15.2 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.2 SPG, 81.1% FT

Davison showed flashes of brilliance last season for the Eagles, hitting his crescendo with a 41-point performance against Northern Arizona. Unfortunately for Eastern Washington, the sophomore’s breakout season was cut short by an ankle injury that cost Davison his last ten games. But even so, the league’s coaches still voted him onto the All-Big Sky third team. Now the guard is back for his third year in Cheney and is primed to build on last season’s star turn.

He’ll be joined by tag-team partner Mason Peatling to form what should be quite a potent one-two punch for the Eagles offense. At 6’4”, Davison has the size to drive and score at the rim, making 64 percent of his shots there last season, and is a decent-but-not-great shooter from long-range. However he does it, the Eagles will be relying on Davison’s scoring punch to help them soar past Montana and Weber State at the top of the standings.

Bernie Andre, Jr., Northern Arizona

2018-19 Stats: 29.9 MPG, 13.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.4 ORPG, 74.1% FT

Andre comes into his second year in Flagstaff ready to repeat his all-league performance from last season. After transferring into the program after a successful freshman year at Wallace State, a junior college in Alabama, the 6’7” forward made his mark on the Big Sky by leading the conference in offensive rebounds and finishing third in total rebounds. He led the Lumberjacks in scoring at nearly 14 points a night and showed an ability to score from all over the floor. Primarily a post player for the Jacks, Andre did step out and hit a third of his 88 three-point attempts in 2018-19.

Things are in a bit of chaos for NAU after former head coach Jack Murphy left the team to take on the top assistant role under Sean Miller at Arizona, so the team will rely on Andre to provide some consistency and cohesion. If the Lumberjacks take another, even further step back in 2019-20, it could hurt Andre’s chances of making the second team. But he really does belong among the league’s ten best players.

With the second team unveiled, who will make up the five-man first team?