By Aidan Joly
It’s tough to play fourth-fiddle in a conference that has Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and BYU. But San Francisco and Todd Golden and the San Francisco Dons have every reason to be poised for a breakthrough season in 2020-21.
When Kyle Smith left for Washington State after the 2018-19 season, Golden, his top assistant before taking over the top job, immediately continued on the path of what the staff calls NerdBall. This continued the goal of making San Francisco one of the most analytically-inclined programs in the country as they attempt to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998.
Last season, they gained national attention for the fact that they foul at the end of the first half in order to extend any sort of lead going into the break. It worked in a handful of games, most notably the team’s biggest win of the year against BYU on January 25, fouling up two at the end of the first half, with BYU missing the front end of a one-and-one, and that allowed the Dons to win by one on that day.
They gave Gonzaga two scares with their in-game analytics, including nearly beating the Bulldogs in the conference semifinals.
All of that being said, Dons are coming off a fourth straight 20+ win season, and return many key players. Charles Minlend, their high scorer from this past season, is not one of them. He left as a grad transfer and will be playing for Louisville this year. This edition of the backcourt will be manned by the duo of Jamaree Bouyea, who was a tad inconsistent at times last year but can really turn it on when he needs to. In addition, for someone who is barely six feet tall, he can get rebounds with the best of them. The other half is Khalil Shabazz, who has a similar profile but is a little bit more consistent when it comes to a scoring output.
In the backcourt they add Grand Canyon transfer Damari Milstead, who was a double-digit scorer with the Antelopes two years ago.
Another incoming transfer is Julian Rishwain, in from Boston College after receiving a waiver from the NCAA. Rishwain shot 33% from three-point range last season and made great strides as the year went on. In a conference where the competition isn’t as high as it is in the ACC, he should be able to find his footing in the WCC. JUCO transfer Samba Kane will also most likely see meaningful minutes towards the beginning of the season.
The Dons are also going to need some breakouts. Big men Dzmitry Ryuny and John Kunen are prime candidates for that. Neither of them played a ton last season, but don’t be surprised to see them get more minutes and with that, an increase in production. This comes especially important with the loss of seven-footer Jimbo Lull. Last season, Ryuny averaged 4.5 PPG in limited minutes, and Kunen 4.4 PPG in 20.5 minutes.
Like stated before, San Francisco is in a really tough spot with what conference they play in and are forced to get creative. Smith, and now Golden, have done that to a tee. It will depend on the quality of the West Coast Conference from top to bottom, but if they get some key wins and do well in conference play, the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth of this century might just be on the horizon.
AJ Hoops 