With the departure of David Michaels, who was invited to the Portsmouth Invitational, an NBA combine, Whitman has had to look to younger players to help it up. Whitman athletics file photo

This season, just as the end of the previous two, began inauspiciously for Whitman. Only the disappointment dawned before opening against current No. 8 St. Thomas, when junior LaQuam Thompson suffered a second torn anterior cruciate ligament since 2010, leaving a running and pressing team forced to throw three newcomers into immediate action.

Between this and an ambitious two-game start including losses to St. Thomas and Division I UC-Riverside, the Missionaries' hopes of leaving their disappointing past in their rearview mirror could have been dashed. Instead, it galvanized a roster hoping to make its first-ever Division III NCAA Tournament appearance.

With four consecutive wins (including one over 2012 playoff team Mary Hardin-Baylor), Whitman might be ready to leave the near-NCAA misses of the past two seasons in the past, with its three young guards and two capable veterans showing the way.

“We're starting to figure it out,” head coach Eric Bridgeland said.

That the Missionaries are, doing so with three guards he calls “the freshmen” even though sophomore Dominic Lippi transferred after walking on last year at Division I UC-Davis. Although Bridgeland loved his newcomers’ potential, how much could you really rely on three guards who never played a possession of the college game?

Fortunately, after a difficult baptism against St. Thomas, the trio of Lippi and freshmen Jackson Clough and Tochi Oti have formed a solid backcourt alongside junior Todd Duckworth, one of the team's leaders along with 6-8 junior forward Ben Eisenhardt.

Although Duckworth (8.0 points) and senior Peter Clark start in the backcourt, and the frontcourt combination of Eisenhardt (19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds), senior Ignas Pavilonis (13.7 points) and sophomore Matt Mounier (12.7 points) provide much of the scoring — the Missionaries will go as their three backcourt newcomers take them. Clough (8.7 points) leads all of the guards in scoring, while Oti (2.7 points, 2.0 steals) and Lippi (1.0 point) are learning their way.

“Those three are going to have huge careers,” Bridgeland said. “I'm so high on them.”

As the three rookie guards learn and grow, there will be Duckworth and Eisenhardt leading the way. Although Duckworth termed the initial bonding process as “difficult” he also threw some effusive praise their way: “They're all really mature. They can all really go. They can all do different things.”

Together, the newcomers and the veterans, Whitman is looking to reverse an unfortunate history that has seen the two finest seasons in school history come without seeing its name included in a March bracket.

In many ways, the Missionaries' rebuilding process — there is a sign in their locker room that simply says “process” — mirrors the one Bridgeland performed at Puget Sound, which had one winning season in nine seasons before he arrived; Whitman only reached above .500 once in 20 years before he became bench boss.

“I just wish there was a quicker way to go, where you just wave the wand,” Bridgeland said. “There's just no short path to that kind of success. We needed to get a full new roster and the last two seasons are the best two seasons in the school history. We were just an inch or two short of going to the NCAA tournament and that's not an easy thing to do.”

Together, this could be the Missionaries' first NCAA Tournament team, although they will have to survive a challenging Northwest Conference schedule that features six-time defending conference tournament champion and No. 15 Whitworth. Even so, defeating Pacifica and Bethesda from the NAIA and then Mary Hardin-Baylor, all by double-digit outcomes, after starting out 0-2 suggests March could produce a different fate come March.

“We're working for five years from now where Coach Bridge can go to kids' houses and say, 'We're competing to go to the tournament every year,'” Eisenhardt said.

UCSC women rising and shining

UC Santa Cruz hasn't had nearly this kind of success in the past, not in basketball.

The women's basketball program at UC Santa Cruz is an anomaly in many ways. There is the cool-yet-uncommon Banana Slugs nickname, as well as the lack of connection with the admissions department — often, head coach Todd Kent does not know if members of his recruiting class were admitted until March 15, much later than most.

And then there is a brainstorm Kent implemented last season because of the difficult balance between academics and athletics his student-athletes must strike because of their rigorous courseloads: practicing at the crack of dawn, despite the expected initial complaints from his players who surely would rather sleep in each morning.

“We started it last year,” Kent said. “The biggest thing is that academics are No. 1, by far. Most of our student-athletes have classes from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. with two-hour breaks, but they never line up. The only time we had that the kids didn't have classes was 5:30 to 7:30 (a.m.)”

Academics as a top priority is not merely coachspeak for Kent, who recruits student-athletes who emphasize academics and family over their chosen sport. His practice of holding early-morning practices, though, could have UCSC competing for a Pool B bid to the NCAA Tournament a season after going 12-13 with a youthful roster led by D3hoops.com West Region Rookie of the Year Sarah Mackey. Pool B bids are reserved for teams who are independents or not in a conference with an automatic bid.

Entering Saturday's home game against No. 21 George Fox, which has struggled without All-American Hannah Munger, the Banana Slugs are 4-1 and have positioned themselves nicely for consideration come bracket time. There is the continued growth of Mackey, a six-foot point guard at El Dorado High School (Calif.) who eschewed scholarship offers to excel in the low post under Kent's tutelage. She has improved her all-around game while being challenged during those early-morning practices by promising 6-0 freshman Lashay Alexander.

Then there is the leadership being supplied by 5-6 junior guard Ryane Ortiz, who helped Kent implement his early-morning practices.

Going hard so early could have its detractors, but the Banana Slugs target what Kent calls a “unique type” of student-athlete academically since the school is renowned for its biomolecular science department.  The combination of studies and sport demands a unique type of mental toughness that, unlike last season, has paid off early this season.

In the opener against Puget Sound, the Banana Slugs drained their final 10 free throws and played rugged defense, turning a one-possesion game with eight minutes left into a 63-52 victory.

“We talk a lot about be comfortable while be uncomfortable,” Kent said. “That's what that 5:30 a.m. practice does. I think it makes us tougher and it pays off in close games.”

UCSC's lone loss came against No. 6 Lewis & Clark, a 76-58 loss on Nov. 17, but four straight victories and an upcoming schedule that will include at least two more games against ranked teams — the Banana Slugs will face No. 16 Emmanuel on Dec. 30 at California Lutheran — could augment their resume for the NCAA committee.

New leader, same results for Albertus Magnus

Instead of taking a step back, Albertus Magnus is looking a lot like the squad that earned NCAA tournament first-round victories three of the past seasons beginning with that memorable buzzer-beater against William Paterson in 2010.

If you ask Darius Watson, the Falcons' new go-to guy after 2011-12 Second Team All-American Ray Askew moved on, this year's version that just entered the d3hoops.com Top 25 at No. 22 could make even more noise nationally.

“A couple of players are stepping up since we lost Ray, so everything is still a continuation from last year,” the 6-5 junior guard/forward said. “We're still winning games. I think we should do much better than we did last year.”

Watson (28.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks) certainly ensured the Division III men's basketball world would notice him and Albertus Magnus early, dropping in a game-high 26 points in an 82-73 victory over then-No. 23 Wesleyan on Nov. 25 — a game the Falcons played without senior guards Arshad Jackson and Zach Dugas. His early success is a manifestation of an offseason during which he worked with a personal trainer, describing his summer work as an early training camp. The results indicate All-American potential.

“I don't ever get tired on the court,” Watson said. “I don't come out of the game. I've been play a lot better. I'm more explosive. I just feel good on the court.”

Added coach Mitch Oliver: “When we need that big bucket, I think he embraces it. Last year he wanted the ball, but this year i think he wants it even more.”

Even with Watson's continued development, Albertus Magnus is by no means a one-man team: Rookie guard James Jennings (13.7 points, 4.0 assists) is off to a promising start, while 6-8 senior Jefferson Lora (8.7 points, 6.3 rebounds) and 6-4 sophomore Lemar Larsen (9.3 points, 10.3 rebounds) have provided consistent inside balance. And the Falcons figure to get deeper with Jackson and Dugas playing full-time minutes again.

Perception-wise, it appears Albertus Magnus only faces two more significant tests before March: a home date with Trinity (Conn.) next Tuesday and a bus ride blocks away to face Division I Yale on Dec. 18.

However, Oliver disputes the perception of playing in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

“We play 18 conference games,” Oliver said. “I would say that our conference is extremely tough. (Three of the last four years) we've won a NCAA tournament game from the GNAC. ... I would say any coach would say a conference game is tough.”