University of Alaska-Anchorage Basketball (CH2K8)

[Tovarich]

Athletic Director Steve Cobb: Welcome everyone, I am here to formally announce the University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves will move up to Division 1 in basketball, effective for the 2007-2008 basketball season. We received a large anonymous donation to help fund the endeavor. With that boring statement stuff out of the way, I now introduce our first Division 1 basketball head coach, Coach Tovarich.

Tovarich: Hello everyone. Sorry this press conference isn't about hockey like you probably all assumed it was. They'll have to share the Division 1 spotlight with us now. Coach Tovarich 3.0 doesn't like to talk a lot either, so questions?

Reporter: Are you here for the long haul or are you going to jump to another school when you get a chance?

Tovarich: I intend to retire here. There'll be no career progression to follow. It's not about me, it's about the school and the program. I just stand up here for press conferences and coach the team.

Reporter: Is it realistic to be an independent Division 1 basketball program?

Tovarich: Well, no conference would take us. Something about non-existent TV market and not enough fans and lots of travel and these blah blah blah excuses. It's the ultimate challenge to build a program up here in Alaska anyway, but being a relevant program in D1 basketball in this scenario is indeed probably the biggest challenge I could think of. Games will be more difficult. Recruiting will be more difficult. I expect great difficulty, but I am here to get it done.

Reporter: How did you build this roster?

Tovarich: Basically when Centenary decided to drop down to a lower Division, I begged them all to transfer here to continue playing D1 basketball.

Reporter: How about your assistant coaches?

Tovarich: Oh, good. You guys love those too. I didn't exactly have the pick of the litter on those. This whole experiment of a program up here might be a career killer. I hired some people. I'd love to tell you how great they are at coaching basketball and recruiting and scouting, but it wouldn't be great if I got up here and lied during my first ever press conference.

Reporter: What do you expect to accomplish during this first season?

Tovarich: Scheduling as an Independent is a nightmare, as I've already learned. There's lots of rules, some very odd ones. We put together a few different road trips. If we're going to fly all the way over to the mainland, we might as well stay a while. We'll alternate every year between the Great Alaska Shootout and the Top of the World Classic. We'll get around to every part of the country. We've got a handful of power schools, some major, some mids, some small. We'll assess after this season how much of a challenge we're capable of and adjust the schedule next year. Eventually though, once we build up some talent and aspire for bigger things, we'll have to put a schedule together that would help us get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and we'll have to figure out how to do that later. That's a long way off I expect. Baby steps for now.

Reporter: Who do you consider our rival to be?

Tovarich: Hawaii is the only team that made sense to me, a respectful rivalry of non-contiguousness, so we'll see them every year. That sounds like enough of me talking for now. I'll get you all the roster and the schedule and the depth chart and such later on. For now, I've got a lot of recruiting work to do and I'll see you all again after the first game.

[Tovarich]

The conferences are a mix of current/past/whatever I thought made sense etc. Obviously the mega conferences that now exist can't be duplicated so I did as close to what I thought made sense as I could come up with.

Because the American didn't exist back then, and I used the Colonial as a mish-mash conference of larger schools who don't fit anywhere to avoid dropping them lower than mid-major, the decaying remnants of the Ohio Valley and Northeast conferences have essentially been dissolved.

The "America East" is the quasi-Summit League. St. Thomas MN and Omaha don't exist on the game. I used the never-really-in-D1 Winston-Salem State to make South Dakota. I used St. Francis NY who dropped basketball to be North Dakota. To round it out, I added former member Western Illinois and Eastern Illinois from the Ohio Valley to fill the final opening.

The "Atlantic Coast" is the old 12-team Big 10 before they added Maryland, Rutgers and the West Coast.

The "Atlantic Sun" is the current Coastal Conference, since apparently Colonial is gone due to political correctness. There were only 12 spots for 14 teams, so I removed Campbell and Monmouth who were the newest members.

The Atlantic 10 is largely in tact. There are 14 spots for 15 teams, so Loyola Chicago was removed as the newest member.

The "Big East" is the pre-2024 15-team ACC minus SMU and the Bay Area schools, and to fill the final 16th spot, I returned Maryland to where God intended them to be.

The Big Sky is current except for newest member Idaho.

The Big South is current except for Presbyterian, which is not on the game.

The "Big 10" is a semi-Big East Conference. There was no room for Cincinnati and West Virginia in the Big 12, so I have returned them here to where they are not demoted from power status. I removed newer members Creighton and Butler. I almost left Rutgers here, but decided that Xavier was a more relevant program, so they are in.

The "Big 12" is this super old-school retro conference called the PAC 12 that existed way back in 2023.

The Big West is current, minus Hawaii, and then Cal State-San Diego doesn't exist on the game.

The "Colonial" is the leftover conference-anyone who didn't fit in a bigger conference or had their conference dissolved etc and was someone I was trying not to demote to a "small" school.
They include: Arkansas-Little Rock, Belmont, Butler, Creighton, Florida Atlantic, Illinois-Chicago, Marshall, Morehead State, Murray State, North Texas, Texas-San Antonio and Valparaiso.

"Conference USA" as a "major" conference on the game became the American. With no room for Central Florida, Houston, TCU, SMU or Rutgers in a bigger conference, they've been returned here, filled out with current members East Carolina, Charlotte, UAB, Temple, Tulane, Memphis and South Florida. Florida Atlantic, Texas-San Antonio, Wichita State, Tulsa and Rice were sacrificed elsewhere to make room for the bigger schools to keep them from becoming too irrelevant.

The "Horizon" is the current CUSA.

Independents are Alaska-Anchorage, previous Independents Chicago State and Utah Valley State, along with OVC and NEC leftovers Fairleigh Dic kinson, Monmouth, Southeast Missouri and then Southern Utah.

The Ivy League is of course unchanged.

The "Metro Atlantic" is a form of the America East. Bryant and UMass-Lowell don't exist on the game. The remaining 3 spots were filled out with NEC teams Long Island, Wagner and Central Connecticut who seemed the best geographic fit.

The MAC is unchanged.

The "MEAC" is the current Metro Atlantic.

The Missouri Valley is largely current but with old members Wichita State and Loyola Chicago who didn't fit elsewhere, replacing more recent additions Valparaiso, Murray State, Illinois-Chicago and Belmont.

The Mountain West is a mix of old and new. Gonzaga has been added to make them a major team instead of mid-major (also they're leaving the WCC anyway), and BYU who doesn't fit in the Big 12 has been returned. Fresno State, Utah State, Hawaii and San Jose State were all moved over to the WAC where there was lots of room. Boise State was chosen over those four for the final spot as I arbitrarily deemed them to be the most relevant program of those choices.

The "Northeast" is the current members of the Atlantic Sun, minus non-existent teams North Alabama, Queens, Bellarmine and West Georgia. To fill out the final 3 spots, OVC refugees Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee-Martin were moved in to be kept together.

The "Ohio Valley" is the current Horizon, which demotes them from mid-major to small, which seems more accurate. To fill out the 12th spot, St. Francis PA from the NEC was moved over to keep Robert Morris company in the eastern fringes of the conference.

The "PAC 10" is the old Big 12 without Nebraska and Colorado.

The "Patriot" is the current MEAC.

The SEC is the old 12-team SEC before Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma.

The Southern conference is largely current but with 11 spots for 10 teams, so Campbell who didn't fit in their conference seemed like the best geographic fit fills it out.

The "Southland" is the current SWAC.

The "SWAC" is the current Southland, minus non-existent Incarnate Word, Houston Christian and East Texas A&M. To fill out the final spot, former member Texas-Arlington was returned.

The "Summit" is the current Patriot League.

The Sun Belt is largely current except for Marshall as there were 13 spots for 14 teams.

The West Coast is largely current minus temporary members Oregon State and Washington State and then the soon to be outgoing Gonzaga.

The WAC is largely an old version. Grand Canyon was created to replace Savannah State who dropped down to D2, then former WAC members Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Tulsa, San Jose State, Utah State, Rice and Fresno State.

[Tovarich]

Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves 2007-08 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Nov 1	vs Citadel
Nov 7	vs Denver
Nov 13	vs Cal State Bakersfield
Nov 22	at Great Alaska Shootout
Nov 29	at Wichita State
Dec 1	at Butler
Dec 4	at Dayton
Dec 6	at Ohio State
Dec 11	vs Eastern Washington
Dec 17	vs North Dakota
Dec 21	at Sun Bowl Classic
Dec 24	at New Mexico
Dec 27	at Arizona State
Jan 2	vs South Dakota
Jan 5	vs San Francisco
Jan 10	at Hawaii
Jan 13	at Cal Riverside
Jan 15	at St. Marys
Jan 17	at Southern California
Jan 21	vs Grand Canyon
Jan 25	vs Idaho
Jan 30	vs Oral Roberts
Feb 7	at Western Illinois
Feb 9	at Loyola Chicago
Feb 14	at Northern Colorado
Feb 16	at Utah Valley State
Feb 19	vs North Carolina A&T
Feb 29	vs Monmuth

2007-2008 Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves
#	NAME	POS	HT	WT	CLASS	HOMETOWN
4	Edgar Murry	PG	6'1"	200	RS JR	Baton Rouge, LA
11	Robbie Wagner	SF	6'8"	180	FR	Austin, TX
20	Pete Peavy	PG	6'2"	200	JR	Columbus, GA
25	Shane Scalzo	PG	5'10"	175	SO	Towson, MD
30	Robert Spears	SG	6'2"	175	FR	Oklahoma City, OK
32	Coby Borders	PF	6'8"	215	FR	Edmond, OK
35	Leandro Zwikker	SF	6'6"	210	SR	Montenegro
40	Vernon Taft	PF	6'7"	225	RS JR	Dallas, TX
50	John-Michael Atkinson	C	6'11"	205	FR	Houston, TX
52	Eugene Marsh	PF	6'7"	205	FR	Houston, TX

Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves Depth Chart - 2007-08
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
PG	Murry (65)	Peavy (60)	Scalzo (58)
SG	Spears (60)
SF	Wagner (55)	Zwikker (48)
PF	Borders (60)	Taft (58)	Marsh (57)
C	Atkinson (56)

Independent Ratings:
Southeast Missouri 71
Southern Utah, Chicago State 70
Utah Valley State 68
Monmouth, Fairleigh Dic kinson 67
Alaska-Anchorage 65

[Tovarich]

@

Sullivan Arena
Anchorage, AK

Citadel Bulldogs at Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves
Nov 1, 2007	1ST	2ND	SCORE
Citadel (0-1)	25	22	47
Alaska-Anchorage (1-0)	37	23	60

Citadel Bulldogs
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Liberty	19	2-8	0-3	0-0	1	6	0	0	2	4
Wheeler	26	3-8	2-6	0-0	1	1	0	0	1	8
Ireland	22	3-4	1-1	0-0	4	2	0	0	1	7
Guy	21	1-3	0-0	0-0	3	0	0	0	1	2
Elias	22	4-5	0-0	1-1	4	2	0	0	1	9
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Borders	11	2-2	0-0	1-2	0	1	0	0	0	5
Christensen	10	3-6	2-3	0-0	2	1	0	0	3	8
McLeod	2	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Durovic	7	1-1	0-0	0-0	3	0	2	0	1	2
Holden	-- DID NOT PLAY --
Zivanovic	-- DID NOT PLAY --
TEAM TOTALS		20-38	5-13	5-13	18	13	2	0	10	47
TEAM TOTALS		20-38	5-13	5-13	18	13	2	0	10	47

Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Peavy	24	2-4	0-0	1-2	3	6	1	1	0	5
Murry	24	7-9	3-4	0-1	1	0	1	0	0	17
Spears	24	2-4	1-2	0-2	1	1	2	0	0	5
Borders	23	0-0	0-0	1-2	2	2	0	1	0	1
Atkinson	22	10-17	0-0	4-6	5	0	3	2	0	24
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Wagner	4	1-1	0-0	2-2	0	0	0	0	0	4
Scalzo	4	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Taft	6	1-2	0-0	0-0	2	0	2	0	1	2
Marsh	5	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Zwikker	4	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0	1	0
TEAM TOTALS		24-39	4-6	8-15	15	9	9	4	2	60

Tovarich: It's great to start 1-0 in Division 1. We're actually the only 1-0 team in America right now. We are still in America up here, yes? Russia didn't secretly invade without anyone knowing? Nah, the Polar Bears would've alerted someone, right?

Reporter: Why do you think both teams scored so little?

Tovarich: Poor team unity. They're probably the one team in America who has less than us.

Reporter: How would you describe team unity coach?

Tovarich: Basically, your freshman guard gets a steal and he's running down the court, and on the way, he starts thinking about how he's a freshman, and then he realizes some other people are freshmen too and then he misses because he's thinking about being a freshman.

Reporter: Is this slow pace going to be the regular style for this team?

Tovarich: Probably. We can run a little with the starters. We have 3 guards out there. We'll run with some teams if we can. That's the only team on our schedule worse than we are. That's why I scheduled them. Normally you schedule some NAIA bible college if you can so you make sure your program starts 1-0, but I'm not allowed to do that. The B team, with 2 SF's and 2 PF's is obviously not out there to run. They're ideally not out there at all, but that's unrealistic.

Reporter: What did you learn about the team in the scrimmage?

Tovarich: Mostly I'm wondering about one of my assistants. I only have two, and one was coaching the other team...so how did we both have the same third assistant on both our benches at the same time the entire game? It was impossible to miss. We only have 10 players on the roster, so there was literally no bench for that game. That's why we each had to call every timeout we had so no one collapsed of exhaustion. I had to poke the guy over there to see if he was real. Maybe the other one was a hologram. Maybe a clone? Can you do that in Alaska? It's pitch black out for the next three months, so who'd notice?

Reporter: Do you think recruits will be willing to come up here and play?

Tovarich: We'll see. I haven't developed much in the way of recruiting skills yet. My assistants have no skills at anything really except maybe cloning themselves. I haven't seen the second assistant's double since the scrimmage though. He could've been gored by a moose, I'm not sure. It's going to be rough. There are 2 prospects in this state this season and honestly, neither are really worth signing unless I'm desperate at the end. I'm curious what kind of recruits we can get too.

[studbucket]

Any reason why you don't do both tournaments each year? Are they at the same time?

Quote: Originally Posted by Tovarich

Reporter: How would you describe team unity coach? Tovarich: Basically, your freshman guard gets a steal and he's running down the court, and on the way, he starts thinking about how he's a freshman, and then he realizes some other people are freshmen too and then he misses because he's thinking about being a freshman.

OMG I'm dying. So perfect.


Also sounds like your assistant coaches may be mad scientists, not basketball guys.

[RolePlayer]

He's back and as good as always

[Tovarich]

Quote: Originally Posted by studbucket

Any reason why you don't do both tournaments each year? Are they at the same time?

They're one week apart, but I'd get bored without ever being able to play in any others all the time, so I'll kinda do the new Chaminade plan which is to alternate instead of being in it every year.

[RolePlayer]

Have you done an independent team before? How difficult is it to get them in the tourney?