The second season of the Jase Coburn era of Portland State Men's Basketball has begun. The Vikings opened practice last Friday at Viking Pavilion and will spend six weeks in preparation before their first game of the 2022-23 season.
 
It will be a year of transition for the Vikings as only four letterwinners and one starter return from 2021-22. That matches a league-wide trend in the Big Sky Conference as player turnover has been significant both through graduation and the transfer portal.
 
Coburn and his staff have added 10 newcomers to the roster, including seven that are Division I transfers. Early practice has everyone competing for playing time and roles.

"Competition creates chemistry. I truly believe that," said Coburn. "I think all the competition we have going on at every spot is creating chemistry on the team. We need to earn respect from each other. Everything needs to be earned. One of the things we wanted in recruiting was for every single guy to be different. We didn't want guys to be the same, so everyone can see a pathway to play; there is a reason somebody she be on the floor.
 
"We've got to play to our strengths on this particular team. Last year it took us a minute to figure it out. It's a different group and a different year. There will be some things that are similar and some that we will improve on."

PSU opens the season on Nov. 11 at University of Portland. The Vikings' home opener is Nov. 16 against Evergreen State. Portland State will also compete in the prestigious Phil Knight Legacy 2022 tournament over Thanksgiving weekend in Portland. That will include an opening round matchup with Gonzaga.
 

FAST BREAKS

• Jase Coburn begins his second season as Head Coach of the Portland State Vikings. He was named Portland State's new head basketball coach on April 16, 2021. He is the 14th men's basketball coach in Portland State history and the seventh since PSU joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97.  Coburn was 14-17 in his first season at the helm, including 10-10 and seventh place in the Big Sky Conference.
• Portland State has four returning players and 10 newcomers on its roster for 2022-23. Big men Jacob Eyman (JR, 6-10), Hayden Curtiss (SO, 6-9) and Trey Wood (JR, 6-8) are all back and provide the size the Vikings will need inside. Also returning is point guard Mikal Starks (SR, 6-1), a ball-handler and defensive specialist for the Vikings. Starks started 20 games in the 2021-22 season... Wood suffered an off-season shoulder injury and will miss the early part of the season.
• Among PSU's 10 newcomers are seven Division I transfers, one junior college transfer, one freshman and one walk-on.
• Portland State has 618 games of Division I playing experience on its roster.
• Cameron Parker (SR, 6-2) has four years of collegiate experience and has scored 895 points (8.2) and handed out 631 assists (5.8) in 109 career games. As a sophomore point guard at Sacred Heart he averaged 7.8 assists to rank fourth in the nation and handed off an NCAA-record 24 assists in one game... Parker led the Big Sky Conference in assists the last two seasons while playing at Montana... a native of Beaverton and Jesuit High School, Parker has come home for his final year of eligibility.
• Perimeter players Bobby Harvey (SR, 6-3, IUPUI), Isiah Kirby (JR, 6-4, Tallahassee CC), Jorell Saterfield (JR, 6-4, UTEP), Hunter Woods (JR, 6-6, Elon) and Keshaun Saunders (JR, 6-5, Toledo) are all experienced Division I players. Though Kirby is a JC transfer, he spent a season at SE Louisiana where he started all 23 games... Harvey played for current Portland State assistant Matt Dunn at IUPUI... after Parker, Saunders is the most experienced Division I player, having competed in 90 games at Toledo. He was a member of the MAC All-Freshman team in 2019-20 and has made 88 three-pointers in his career, hitting at a .373 clip... Woods has a wealth of Division I experience as well, having competed in 84 games with 56 starts at Elon. He averaged 8.0 points and 5.9 rebounds over that span, making 110 three-point field goals. Woods made the CAA All-Rookie team in 2019-20 averaging 10.1 points and 6.6 rebounds... speaking of three pointers, Saterfield shot .434 from distance last season at UTEP... also a perimeter player, Cole Farrell (FR, 6-5) comes from TLAP Sports Academy in Florida after graduating Hamilton Heights (TN) High School... Kendall Munson (SO, 6-7, Pepperdine) and Isaiah Johnson (JR, 6-6, Oregon State) bolster the Vikings' inside game. Emmanuel Taban (JR, 6-7) has walked on to the program. He played briefly at Cal State Fullerton in 2019-20.
• Portland State Basketball plays home games in the Viking Pavilion at the Peter W. Stott Center on the PSU campus. The Viking Pavilion opened in 2018-19 and at just over 3,000 seats provides one of the best and most attractive facilities in the Big Sky Conference and on the west coast.

 

THE 2022-23 SCHEDULE

Portland State has 13 home games, 15 road games and three neutral site games during the 2022-23 season. Although the Vikings play only four non-conference home games, they will have eight games in the city of Portland during the months of November and December. The non-conference schedule is highlighted by Phil Knight Legacy Tournament during Thanksgiving weekend.
        
PSU opens at University of Portland on Nov. 11, followed by a quick trip to Seattle University on Nov. 13.
        
The Vikings host Evergreen State in a home opener on Nov. 16, then travel to Oregon State on Nov. 19.
        
The prestigious Phil Knight Legacy 2022 takes place at the Rose Quarter, Nov. 24-27. The Vikings open with Gonzaga on Thanksgiving night, then will play on Friday and Sunday. Other possible opponents include Purdue, West Virginia, Duke, Oregon State, Florida and Xavier.
        
The final month of non-conference games includes two at home against Portland Bible (Nov. 30) and Air Force (Dec. 3). The following week includes a trip to Cal Poly (Dec. 10) and Santa Clara (Dec. 13).
        
PSU comes home to host UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 17 and closes out non-conference play at California Baptist on Dec. 22.
        
The Big Sky Conference schedule is changed from previous seasons. Now a 10-team league, the schedule has moved to an 18-game double-round robin format. It had previously been 20 games, but Southern Utah has left the Big Sky to join the Western Athletic Conference.
        
League play now begins the week after Christmas with an almost exclusive Thursday-Saturday format. The only change is a season-finale Monday contest to accommodate an earlier start to the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
        
The Big Sky Tourney runs Mar. 4-8 at Boise's Idaho Central Arena. It will also have a change in format with first-round games (9 vs. 10 and 7 vs. 8) on Mar. 4. Games on Mar. 5 will include the top seed vs. the 9/10 winner and the number two seed vs. the 7/8 winner. On Mar. 6, games will feature 4 vs. 5 and 3 vs. 6. Winners of Mar. 5 and 6 games will meet in the semifinals on Mar. 7. The championship game takes place on Mar. 8.
 

PORTLAND STATE BASKETBALL SCHEDULE NOTES

• Portland State plays five of its first seven league games on the road. Eight of 12 games in the middle of the schedule will be at home, including a four-game home stand from Jan. 26-Feb. 4.
• All games played in the Phil Knight Legacy 2022 Tournament will take place at The Rose Quarter's Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and the Chiles Center at the University of Portland… The Phil Knight Invitational (PKI) will be running simultaneous to the Phil Knight Legacy 2022 at the same venues. That tournament includes Alabama, Iowa State, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oregon, Portland, UConn and Villanova.
• PSU faces three West Coast Conference opponents, two Western Athletic Conference opponents, two Big West opponents, one Pac-12 opponent and one Mountain West opponent, with two others to be determined in the non-conference schedule.
• All home games and Big Sky road games are live streamed on ESPN+. The Phil Knight Legacy Tournament will air on ESPN Networks.