PLNU EAGER TO GROW AS NEW ERA BEGINS

(SAN DIEGO) From the outside looking in, the projections for PLNU Men’s Basketball this season are all over the map.

Heading into the 2023-24 campaign, Point Loma is ranked No. 8 in the CBB Nation Preseason Top 25 and No. 11 in the NABC Coaches Preseason Poll, after the Sea Lions went 29-4 overall (20-0 PacWest) and reached the NCAA West Regional championship last year.

However, despite winning both the PacWest regular season and tournament titles, PLNU was only picked fourth in the conference’s preseason poll.

“Do I think we’re the eighth-best team in the country? I have no idea,” first-year Head Coach Justin Downer said. “Do I think we’re the fourth-best team in our league? I have no idea.

“I know we’ve won 33 conference games in a row. I know there’s a standard of excellence here and I think our guys take great ownership of that.

“But as for all that, I don’t even believe in bulletin board material. I think it’s a waste of energy and a waste of time. What other coaches think of our roster and our program, that aren’t here every day, it just doesn’t really phase me.”

A major reason for outside uncertainty over Point Loma’s prospects this season is roster turnover, with the Sea Lions graduating five grad students and losing four out of five starters from a season ago.

But there is a greater degree of continuity than people realize for Downer in his first year at the helm.

“I think it’s worth noting, everyone’s saying we have so many new faces and new players, but of the 13 guys on our roster I’ve coached 10 of them before,” Downer said. “You’ve got the six returners. You’ve got the Paulsen brothers who I coached in camps when they were 8-years-old all the way through high school. Nick Carlson and Matur Dhal I coached at Cal Poly.

“It feels like a lot of new faces, but they all know me and I know them, so that transition has been really good.”

After a year as a PLNU assistant coach, Downer was hired in April to replace Matt Logie who took the head coaching job at NCAA Division I Montana State.

From day one of his tenure, Downer’s has instilled his vision for the program. 

“The biggest focus for us was not focusing on bandaging the program to do what we did last year and just filling in the gaps,” Downer said. “We certainly could’ve. We said no to some very talented players who just didn’t fit what we were looking for as people. We focused on not just taking nine-month rentals and [instead] wanting guys who we could develop.

“What you’re looking at is the result of that and that’s a roster of zero seniors and a team that gets to grow together that’s filled with both young and experienced talent.”

And while PLNU’s 2023-24 roster has no seniors, Downer is very optimistic about the team’s potential this season.

“The style of play is going to be very similar to what you’ve seen the last few years,” Downer said. “The type of player we’re recruiting is very similar. I think some of the stuff that we run will be different, some of the ways that we guard will be different. But overall, we’re trying to score a lot of points and we’re trying to shoot the ball.

“Defensively we’re extremely versatile. That’s the way we’ve recruited. If you look at our roster, we have great size and great switchability and we have guys who really embrace that side of the basketball. I’m excited for that. We’re a team that shares the basketball and has an unselfish style of play that is a really fun brand of basketball to watch.”

RETURNERS

Point Loma returns six players from last season’s team, including junior forward Luke Haupt and sophomore guard Jake Lifgren, whom Downer expects to be two of the best players in the conference.

Haupt, an All-PacWest First Team and Second Team All-West Region selection, averaged 11.8 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game and 4.7 assists per game a season ago for the Sea Lions. However, his start to the campaign will be delayed because of a season-ending injury suffered in the PacWest Championship last year.

“It's no secret Luke is coming back from an injury,” Downer said. “His return date is to be announced. I think it’ll be quicker than people think but we’re just not putting a target date on it. He’s done a really good job.

“I’ve seen him go from a really good college player’s mentality to a professional mentality in this injury. He’s really attacking his rehab. He’s leading and really cares tremendously, which is why he’s back.

“He had opportunities to go to other places but he came back because he believes in this place. We’re really excited to have him back.”

Lifgren emerged at the end of last season in Haupt’s absence, starting all three games in the NCAA West Regional while averaging 12.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists. He saved his best game for last, coming up one point shy of a triple-double (nine points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) in the Sweet 16 against Cal State San Bernardino.

“If you look at his overall season stats, it’s not a portrayal of how much he impacted last year’s team,” Downer said. “It’s actually really impressive what his numbers came out to be because he was playing behind grad transfers.

“I think he’s picked up where he’s left off. The leadership role is a learning curve for him but he’s a natural leader in terms of his action. There were six grad students on the team and then six months later he’s the leader.”

Junior guard Coby Barnes, junior forward Pierce Davis, sophomore forward Andrew Hommes and junior guard Nick Watkins are also back for the Sea Lions.

“You look at last year’s stats and people are going to be very surprised by the talent we had that just didn’t play much,” Downer said. “That’s not all their fault. They were playing behind old, really good players. They’ve all stepped up and done their job.

“I expect them all to impact the game differently on different nights. But they care tremendously about this place and care about the tradition here. When you have a culture that cares about the school and the name on the front of the jersey, that stuff really matters and makes a huge impact.”

TRANSFERS

With the departure of eight players from last season’s team, including three-time PacWest Player of the Year Kaden Anderson, the Sea Lions signed four transfers to add experience to this year’s roster.

“Obviously we’re filling the hole of Kaden Anderson,” Downer said. “That’s no secret and no one is going to fill that hole, but I’m really pleased with what we got.”

Two of those transfers, sophomore center Matur Dhal and junior forward Wynton Brown, are post players to try and fill Anderson’s void.

Dhal, a 6-foot-11 center, comes to The Point from Cal Poly SLO, while the 6-foot-8 Brown played two years at Northern Arizona before playing last season at Dyersburg State.

“They’re a little bit different player than maybe Point Loma has seen in the past but they’re very talented and come from Division I programs,” Downer said of Dhal and Brown.

“Matur can really protect the rim and is a vertical threat. He might be the second-fastest player on our roster. When you watch him fly in transition, it’s really fun. That’s a different dimension than we’ve had and that’s really exciting.

“Wynton is very versatile. He can step out and hit the 3 and he’s a mismatch on the block. We expect him to have a huge impact as well with his experience both at the Division I and junior college level.”

Junior guard Zack Paulsen transfers from Seattle Pacific, where he started every game the last three seasons and earned All-GNAC honors last year.

“He’s already been an infectious personality,” Downer said of Paulsen. “He knows what winning looks like and what winning doesn’t look like. He’s had a ton of success. Grabbing a guy who was an All-Conference guy on a winning Division II program, who’s still hungry for more, is going to be awesome.”

Dhal will be reunited with his former teammate at Cal Poly, junior guard Nick Carlson, another talented addition to the Point Loma program this year.

FRESHMEN

PLNU also welcomes three freshmen in guards Tyce Paulsen (Zack’s younger brother) and Jaden Matingou, as well as forward Luke Smith.

“All three of them are going to make a big impact on the floor,” Downer said of the freshman class. “We’re fortunate to be able to recruit high-impact freshman and not everyone is in that position. It speaks to the tradition of the program and speaks to the place.

“The theme with all three of them, even the older guys would tell you, is that they bring a competitive edge. They’re a fiery group that wants to get better and work their tails off. They really love hoops.

“They’re not getting in line and just letting the older guys have the reps. They’re really fighting from day one. That’s good to see and that’s what we want in our culture. We expect all three guys to not only be three of the better freshmen in the league but we expect them to play at a level higher than most would anticipate for freshmen.”

The younger Paulsen is the Sea Lions’ highest-rated recruit in the program’s NCAA era after eclipsing the 1,000-point mark at Curtis High School.

“Tyce obviously comes in as a very decorated recruit and I think he’s done a great job living up to those expectations but also having no expectations being a freshman,” Downer said.

Matingou played locally for Haupt’s dad at St. Augustine High School, winning the CIF Open Division championship.

“Jaden understands our program and understands winning,” Downer said of the local product. “He’s going to make a huge impact on that and he can really guard the basketball. He’s lightning in transition and lives in the paint offensively.”

Smith is a postgrad after most recently playing at Cushing Academy following his time at Marcus High School in Texas.

“Luke comes to us from a very good league in the NEPSAC, where he got All-Conference honors and that’s not easy to do,” Downer said. “He’s another versatile player who can really shoot it and can really guard.”

SCHEDULE

Point Loma opens up its 2023-24 season by hosting the PacWest/CCAA Conference Challenge this weekend, with the Sea Lions squaring off with Stanislaus State on Friday (7 p.m.) and Cal State East Bay on Saturday (7 p.m.).

PLNU will then have a quick turnaround before hosting Saint Martin’s on Monday (7:30 p.m.) before hitting the road for the rest of November.

The Sea Lions will play at Cal State San Marcos on Nov. 17 (7 p.m.) and then will travel to Nampa, Idaho for the NNU Thanksgiving Classic for games against Central Washington (Nov. 24) and Northwest Nazarene (Nov. 25).

Upon its return to San Diego, Point Loma will then travel across town to take on San Diego State on Nov. 27 (7 p.m.) before hosting Vanguard on Dec. 2 (4 p.m.) in its final non-conference game ahead of its PacWest opener on Dec. 9 at home against Concordia (4 p.m.).

“We don’t look forward to anybody,” Downer said. “Every game we have a goal to go 1-0 and we view our opponents as a list of personnel, an offensive and defensive scheme that we play to. We’re not a scout-driven team. We play our game and we respect our opponents greatly.

“There’s not a specific game we’re looking forward to but what we are looking forward to is the most home games in our NCAA era for Point Loma, not including playoffs. We have 15 home games out of our 28, so we’re really excited about playing in front of our home fans and not spending all of our time on the road.

“We’re pumped about that and we’re just pumped to do it together. We play the top-three teams in the GNAC and the third-ranked team in the CCAA. There aren’t a lot of gimmes. We want to schedule the best and see where we’re at because we want to be the best and we hold ourselves to that standard.”

Point Loma has won either one or both of the conference regular season or tournament titles in each of the last four full seasons.

PLNU is the predetermined host of this season’s PacWest Championships (March 7-9) and will hope to compete in a seventh-straight NCAA West Regional (March 15-18), with a spot in the NCAA Elite Eight (March 25-29) on the line.

“We’re going to get healthier every week that goes by this year,” Downer said. “Our goal is to play our best basketball in March. I don’t know what that looks like in November. I don’t know what that looks like in December.

“I only care that we get better every single game, and this group for being as young as it is, has done a remarkable job of getting better every day. Are we where we need to be? Not even close, but we do have a great mentality towards that.

“We’re trying to put ourselves in a position to compete for a conference championship, getting ourselves a great seed in the conference tournament, trying to win two or three games in a row to then get ourselves in the regional. Then bring all these guys back and do it again.”