Challenging Schedule Includes East Coast Trip

The Eastern Washington University men’s basketball team will get a taste of the new and old Big East Conference this winter.

The 31-game schedule for the Eagles includes a trip to the East Coast to play Connecticut and Seton Hall, as well as six opponents which played in national postseason tournaments a year ago. The schedule, announced by third-year head coach Jim Hayford, includes 20 Big Sky Conference games and a total of 14 home contests.

“I think the Big Sky Conference is going to be more difficult -- there are many teams returning solid rosters,” Hayford said. “We have a very challenging preseason that will prepare us for a great conference season.”

“The East Coast trip jumps out at you -- it is an excellent opportunity for our guys to see a different part of the country and to experience playing against one of the nation’s elite programs,” said Hayford. “I know the guys are looking forward to that trip.”

Eastern’s preseason also includes a trip to Seattle to play Washington from the Pac-12 Conference. Eastern’s non-conference home games include Pacific University, Walla Walla, Seattle and UC Irvine.

“It will be the first time since I have been the head coach that we have played the Huskies and traveled over to Seattle,” said Hayford. “It is always a neat challenge to see how we stack up against the larger schools in the state.”

In all, Eastern’s 2013-14 schedule includes 10 games versus six schools who participated in national postseason tournaments a year ago. Eastern will play six games against those opponents on the road, and four games at home.

The Big Sky Conference Tournament will take place March 13-15 at the site of the regular season champion. For the second-straight year, it will include seven teams, with the regular season champion receiving a first-round bye. The tournament will include a quarterfinal round with six of the teams playing, followed by semifinals and the championship game.

Eastern Receives Inaugural NABC Team Academic Excellence Award

Eagles are one of 96 colleges at all levels to receive team recognition by the National Association of Basketball Coaches

The Eastern Washington University men’s basketball team is among the 96 schools nationally to receive the inaugural Team Academic Excellence Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). The recipients of the award, which was created by the NABC Committee on Academics, were announced Thursday (July 18).

The award recognizes outstanding academic achievement by teams with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2012-13 season. In order to earn a NABC Team Academic Excellence Award, an institution must count the grade point averages of all men’s student-athletes competing during the 2012-13 season in NCAA Division I, II, III, and NAIA Division I and II.
Following the spring academic quarter at EWU, Eastern’s men’s basketball players have an average cumulative grade point average of 3.35, and a quarterly GPA of 3.28. In fact, all of Eastern’s sports programs boast an average cumulative GPA above 3.0, with a collective grade point average of 3.27. In spring quarter, Eastern student-athletes had a collective 3.20 GPA.

Coached by head coach Jim Hayford, members of the 2012-13 team included Collin Chiverton, Ivan Dorsey, Jeffrey Forbes, Tyler Harvey, Jordan Hickert, Daniel Hill, Venky Jois, Frederik Jorg, Parker Kelly, Thomas Reuter, Martin Seiferth and Kevin Winford, with Danny Powell and Garrett Moon redshirting.

On July 17, Winford and Hickert were honored on the NABC Honors Court. Those two players, plus Dorsey, Harvey, Hill, Kelly, Jois, Jorg and Reuter, were also honored on the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team for the 2012-13 season.

Hoopfest!

 

Located just 15 minutes from the Eastern Washington campus, Spokane hosts the biggest basketball event in the Northwest; Hoopfest.  Hoopfest is the biggest 3-on-3 street basketball tournament on the planet. That means over 7,000 teams, 3,000 volunteers, 250,000 fans, 458 courts spanning 42 downtown city blocks. It’s safe to say that Eastern Washington is a passionate basketball community!

7,070 teams

27,896 players

454 courts

3,000 volunteers

42 city blocks

Parker Kelly, Garrett Moon, Tyler Harvey, and Fred Jorg were all in the Eastern Washington Booth in Riverfront Park signing autographs and taking pictures with kids throughout Hoopfest Weekend.
  

Spokesman Review-

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Even in a crowd of tens of thousands, Eastern Washington University basketball player Frederik Jörg stood out. At 7-foot-1, Jorg, a native of Korschenbroich, Germany, had a great chance to survey the sights and sounds of Hoopfest. “There’s nothing like it in Germany, not even close,” Jörg said as he walked through Riverfront Park with teammate Garrett Moon.

“I think it’s excellent, just sharing the love of basketall,” Jörg said. Jörg and Moon said they’d like to play, but that’s not an option for active college players. Not so for recent EWU alum Kevin Winford, who was parked at Nike Centre Court for the elite games. Winford, who just completed four years in Cheney, said he’d planned on competing with some former teammates, “but I didn’t get my registration in on time.” “Next time for sure,” Winford said.

Bill Chaves Honored With Athletic Director of the Year Honor

Eastern Washington University Athletic Director Bill Chaves has been honored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics as one of 28 winners of the Under Armour AD of the Year Award. Chaves is concluding his sixth year at the helm of the EWU Athletic Department.
"This is a tremendous honor for the work that has been done by our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” said Chaves. “We also would not have success without the support of the Eastern Board of Trustees, President Dr. Rodolfo Arevalo and the entire Eastern community.”
Chaves has brought stability, progressive leadership and innovation to Eastern since his arrival in 2007. His tenure has been punctuated by the installation of the first red synthetic football surface world-wide in 2010. After garnering tremendous attention for EWU with this installation, the football team promptly went undefeated (8-0) on the turf en route to the program’s first-ever FCS national title.
Chaves has also overseen several recently-completed projects, including new seating at Reese Court, a $1.5 million locker room update project, and video board installation at both Roos Field and Reese Court.
Currently, all of EWU’s athletic programs have team grade point averages of 3.0 or greater, and all of its teams have a NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) of 930 or better. In 2009-10, EWU won its first-ever Big Sky Presidents’ Cup, which is determined by overall athletic and academic performance.
Away from the classroom and playing fields, Chaves initiated a partnership with Special Olympics-Washington, where all of its athletic programs assist with several initiatives each academic year.
The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Executive Director Bob Vecchione explains the ADOY Award is essential because it highlights the efforts of athletics directors at all levels for their commitment and positive contributions to student- athletes, campuses and their surrounding communities.

EWU Basketball "Best Friends" Fred and Kylie

Click the link below to watch a great skit featuring Big Fred from this years EeeWoos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqV26qrxceE

Team Legans wins paintball battle.

The guys took a break from the hardwood and went to the EWU paintball course for some fun. In an intense series of capture the flag Coach Legan's team took out Coach Ehlo's team 4-2 on a final flag run by Tyler Harvey.

Coach Ehlo planning his team's all-out flag run (brave effort, but everyone got hit)

The barricades couldn't hide Big Fred

Venky Jois gets in the zone before the game

Team Ehlo before the first game of the series

Nine men’s basketball players named to the All-Academic Team

A total of 50 Eastern Washington University student-athletes have been honored on the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team for winter quarter 2013. Of the total, 23 were from the women's indoor track and field team, 10 from the men's indoor squad, eight from women's basketball and a best-ever nine from the men's basketball team. 

To qualify for the All-Academic squad, student-athletes must maintain a 3.20 cumulative grade point average or better at EWU and meet the requirement of playing in at least half of the team's competitions. 

Kevin Winford	Anchorage, Alaska / Bartlett HS '08	Sr.
Tyler Harvey	Torrance, CA. / Bishop Montgomery HS '11	Fr.
Jordan Hickert	Bunbury, Australia / Bunbury HS '07 / Neosho County CC	Sr.
Daniel Hill	Sydney, Australia / Newington College HS '11	Fr.
Parker Kelly	Spokane, Wash. / Gonzaga Prep '11	So.
Venky Jois	Boronia, Australia / Box Hill HS' 11	Fr.
Frederik Jorg	Korschenbroich, Germany / Gymnasium Eversten HS '12	Fr.
Thomas Reuter	Breckerfeld, Germany / Theodor-Heuss Gymnasium HS '11	Fr.
Ivan Dorsey	San Francisco, CA / Archbishop Riordan HS ’10 City Col. of SF	Jr.