CWU Basketball Season Preview 2021-22

Men

CWU went 17-11 overall and 10-10 in GNAC play in Coach Rinta’s second season as head coach in 2019-20. However, in what came down to the final game of the regular season, the Wildcats were eliminated from GNAC Tournament contention and finished in 7th place as Coach Sparling’s Alaska Nanooks earned the last sixth seed in the tournament. The Wildcats lost 5 of their top 6 scorers, and then the 2020-21 season was cancelled because of COVID. The team did manage to play a short 6-game mini-season versus other conference teams, and despite only winning two of those games, the Wildcats saw a lot of promise with new players stepping up in a preview of what is to come in 2021-22. The short 2021 season did not count toward player eligibility, so all players are expected to return.

CWU returns three former Division 1 guards in Xavier Smith (12.5 ppg), David Thompson (16.5 ppg), and CJ Hyder (8.8 ppg). Thompson scored 29 points and 20 points in his first two games as a Wildcat, respectively. Micah Pollard was productive as the team's 6th man, averaging 9 ppg and scoring 21 points in the final game of the winter. Idaho’s All-State star Colby Gennett led all freshmen last winter with 5.3 ppg, including 14 points vs. NW Nazarene. Amari Stafford, Lewis Pope, David Lindgren, and San Diego area freshman Jalai O'Keith round out the Central guards.

CWU was thin and undersized at forward last winter, but 6'5" Marqus Gilson (12.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and 6'6" Matt Poquette (10.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg) held things down nicely. Malcolm Cola is listed on the roster but did not play last winter, and has had an injury-plagued college career. Freshmen Kyson Rose and Gaige Ainslie will look to keep developing and add to the depth. Hopefully Rinta will be able to bring in some more big bodies to add much-needed size 
Now that CWU has reloaded and has played some games this year, hopefully third time will be the charm for Coach Rinta to get the Wildcats back to the postseason in 2021-22.

Women

The Lady ‘Cats are coming off a sixth-straight GNAC Tournament appearance in 2019-20, but lost four of their top six scorers. The 2020-21 season was cancelled, and the team was only able to play a pair of games vs. WWU in winter 2021.

Concordia-Portland transfer Kizzah Maltezo will look to lead CWU's guards after averaging over 10 ppg for the Caveliers. The Wildcats brought in a D1 transfer from Portland State in Cassidy Gardner, but she did not play in the two games last winter. Tori Maeda, Jenna Troy, Taylor Stephens, and freshmen Kinslee Gallatin and Brinley Hagemeier also all return. Hagemeier led the Ellensburg Bulldogs to a perfect 18-0 conference record while averaging 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game in 25 games in 2019-20. Joining the program are freshmen Valerie Huerta from Californa and Amanda Sisul from Oregon, the latter being a 5A state champion and runner-up. Central has a very young group of guards that lacks depth, and will surely be looking to add more transfers for next season.

Central shines the brightest at forward, and will return two of the top forwards in the conference. Ellensburg's own Kassidy Malcolm racked up 33 points and 21 rebounds in last winter's two games vs. Western, while Samantha Bowman totaled 23 points and 21 rebounds. Expect this to be the top duo of forwards in the conference going forward. CWU returns two transfers in 6’3” Erika Brumfield from Portland State and Kiera Bush from Midland CC in Texas. Brumfield redshirted at PSU as a freshman while recovering from an injury that caused her to miss most of her senior year of high school., and didn't play in the two games last winter.  Symone Brown is another returner to add to the depth.  Claire Heitschmidt joins the program after winning a 3A state title at Prairie HS in Vancouver, WA
If the Wildcats can bolster their young group of guards while continuing their dominance in the front court, they should continue to be contenders as one of the top teams in the GNAC.