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SMALL COLLEGE NOTEBOOK

Coaches like
six-team PacWest

Smaller is better, according to the men's basketball coaches at the local NCAA Division II schools.

No, the recently completed regular season hasn't left the coaches deliriously contemplating five-guard lineups since all their teams will likely be left out of the playoffs this year.

They are instead referring to the downsizing of the Pacific West Conference from 16 teams to just six next season.

Last fall, when 10 PacWest teams were granted secession from the conference after this school year, it appeared to some to have left the remaining six in a lurch.

Not so for basketball, say the local coaches.

That's because the remaining six -- Brigham Young-Hawaii, Chaminade, Hawaii-Hilo and Hawaii Pacific, as well as Montana State-Billings and Western New Mexico -- are keeping the PacWest name and automatic postseason bid.

The departing schools do not yet have an official name for the conference they plan to form together, and they will not have an automatic entrant into the NCAA Division II Tournament next year.

"Keeping the automatic bid and conference name is very valuable," HPU coach Tony Sellitto said. "I think it will be good having only six teams. It goes back to the way we were in the NAIA."

Each PacWest team will play 15 conference games next season, three against each opponent. At least 22 of a team's 27 total games have to be against Division II competition, so all will still schedule non-conference competition, possibly even with the seceding schools.

The two mainland schools will both have to travel twice to Hawaii for conference play, while the Hawaii schools will just have to make one conference road trip to the mainland. There will be no conference postseason tournament to determine the automatic berth; the team with the best regular-season conference record will get the bid.

"Scheduling was really difficult (with 16 teams)," BYUH coach Ken Wagner said. "(Having six) makes sure that everyone plays each other. With all the teams in the conference having to play each other over and over again, it makes for more of a true champion."

A true champion, and fiercer rivalries.

Just six teams fighting for one guaranteed spot in the postseason will surely make for tough battles. And while the rivalry for island supremacy between BYUH and HPU has long been a bitter one, the emergence of Chaminade and Hilo as legitimate conference contenders this year should give fans from all four corners of the local small college hoops scene reason for excitement.

"They're going to be huge," said Chaminade coach Aaron Griess on next year's games between island teams. "We told everybody at the start of this year that we thought there was a lot of parity this year in Hawaii and that proved to be true.

"And there's no question that this program turned the corner. It really comes down to an odds thing (with six teams) and I like better odds."

Honors for Toya

Chaminade's David Toya was named PacWest Player of the Week on Monday. The 6-7 senior swingman from Bratislava, Slovakia, scored 58 points in the final two games of his career, both victories. The versatile Toya also added 14 rebounds, eight assists, two blocks and three steals.

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Brandon Lee,
Special to the Star-Bulletin