Oct. 30, 2006
Malibu, Calif. - The Vance Walberg Era will make its debut this week when the Pepperdine men's basketball team hosts Cal Baptist in the first of two exhibition games at Firestone Fieldhouse beginning Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Walberg, who was hired on April 19, comes to Pepperdine after a successful four-year stint at Fresno City College where compiled an overall record of 133-11 (.924) and captured the California State Championship in 2005.
The Waves' first-year head coach received significant national attention this past summer for his high-octane style of play that frequently results in high-scoring games. During his four seasons at Fresno City College, the Rams averaged 103.5 points a contest, including 107.6 during the 2003-04 season.
"Shoot, shoot and shoot some more. It's really very simple," Walberg said when describing his brand of play.
"What I do is I spread you out and we attack. I call it AASAA-Attack, Attack, Skip, Attack, Attack. Everybody gets a big plus out of it. It starts with the guards. The first thing I want them to do is come down and look to score. It's up to the guards to be able to break their man down. Once the breakdown process begins and whoever helps, that's where the kick goes. If we struggle, we reverse things and put it inside and it's time for the big guys to take over. It's very simple."
Eight members of the Pepperdine team received an early education on Walberg's up-tempo style of play in August when the Waves traveled to Europe for a 10-day exhibition tour. Pepperdine went 2-2 on the trip and averaged 106.7 points a game.
Sophomore guard Michael Gerrity headlines a group of nine returning letterwinners from last year's team that went 7-20. Gerrity, who was named to the West Coast Conference's (WCC) All-Freshman Team after averaging 14.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists a game as a rookie, will be counted on to run the break.
In addition to nine returning letterwinners, Walberg welcomes nine newcomers to the roster, including freshman Blake Wallace (Yorba Linda, CA / Servite HS). Wallace, a two-time All-Orange County selection, averaged 20.1 points a game as a senior and concluded his career as Servite's all-time leader in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.
Following Wednesday's contest against Cal Baptist, Pepperdine will host Fresno Pacific in its second exhibition game on Tuesday, November 7, beginning at 7 p.m.
The Waves open their 2006-07 campaign on Sunday, November 12, when they travel to Seattle, Washington to face host and No. 16 Washington in an opening-round game of the Basketball Travelers Classic.
