Young blood abounds for LC State Warrior men

Bringing a combined eight years’ worth of experience at the four-year collegiate level to the court, this year’s Lewis-Clark State men’s basketball team is a distinctly young one.

Last year’s Warriors bounced back after a bumpy start — dropping four of their first six games and struggling with injuries — to go 19-3 in Cascade Conference play (good for second place) and win their way through an NAIA Opening Round event to secure a national tournament berth. They saw their season come to a close with a heartbreaking 77-74 defeat to Evangel (Mo.) in the Round of 16 at Nationals, leaving them 24-9 overall.

Will it be smoother sailing from the outset this year? More importantly, might the Warriors book another national trip?

Seventh-year coach Austin Johnson makes no definitive predictions, but is eager to find out.

“In terms of having experience at the four-year level, we don’t have a ton,” he acknowledged. “We’re excited about our young guys, and we also have some great upperclassman leaders and experience, especially from our two seniors and guys like John (Lustig) and Grayson (Hunt) who’ve been in the program for now going on three years.”

Locals leading the way

Colfax alum Lustig, who readers will remember for averaging around 30 points-per-game his senior year with the Bulldogs in 2022, is one of the two highest-scoring returners for the Warriors. Through two seasons, he holds collegiate career averages of 11 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

Hunt is another local product, hailing from Pullman. Lustig and Hunt, who opposed each other on the court in high school, have been not only teammates, but roommates during their collegiate careers. Now among the veterans of the roster, they will look to begin mentoring other players.

“Being one of the older guys now — upperclassmen — and one of the only guys that has been in the program for a couple years, really this year, for me, is like taking another step as a leader,” Lustig said. “Trying to help out the younger guys, the transfers, the new guys, trying to be a new voice in the program, trying to help everybody out.”

New blood, and a bit of old

The team’s other returning scoring leader is 6-foot-8 sophomore Alton Hamilton, who tallied 11 points and 6.2 boards per game last year. The team’s five freshman recruits include the likes of 2023-24 Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year Kellen Jedlicka (Grace Christian, Anchorage) and Dylan Skaife (Ferris High, Spokane), who Johnson noted shows early offensive promise. Taden King — a 6-4 transfer from NCAA Division II Nebraska-Kearney — has come to LCSC for his senior campaign.

The lone returning senior on this roster is Gorden Boykins, who joined the Warriors last year as a transfer from Cerritos College (Calif.).

“One thing we learned, starting out 2-4, is to just keep fighting,” he said of the experience gained from that run. “You never know what can happen in the end. Just keep fighting.”

Road Warriors

The Warriors make their season debut at 4 p.m. Saturday facing Haskell Indian Nations (Lawrence, Kan.) on their home court in the P1FCU Activity Center. The game will serve as a finale for a Tribal Nations Weekend event presented by Clearwater River Casino and Lodge, which also features a showdown today between Haskell and Northwest Indian (Bellingham, Wash.), along with women’s contests among the same three schools.

LC State will hit the road to south Idaho and Montana for more nonconference action the following two weeks before coming home to start its Cascade Conference schedule facing Walla Walla on Nov. 26. Overall, the Warriors face what Johnson describes as a “tough,” travel-heavy schedule with well over half their games on the road, which he feels will help them build the resilience they need for the postseason. He also knows his young team will have a learning curve adjusting to the “pace and speed” at this level of the game — but he believes his players can do it.

“When you recruit high-character guys, you’re always going to have a chance to reach your potential, and ultimately that’s our goal: to find out how good each team, each season, can be,” he said. “When you have the right people in the trenches with you, things can work out.”

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.