Boise State opens its basketball season Tuesday. What can we expect from Broncos this year?
The Boise State men’s basketball season tips off Tuesday when the Broncos host Utah Valley at 7 p.m. in ExtraMile Arena.
Home games return to full capacity this season, but facial coverings are required, per university and Mountain West policy.
While the atmosphere inside ExtraMile will be mostly back to normal, the expectations for this year’s Boise State squad should also sound pretty familiar.
The Broncos enter their 12th season under head coach Leon Rice, whose 217 wins are a program record. They return 12 players from last year’s team, including five who started three or more games.
“Boise State certainly is going to be there when we come to March,” Mountain West Network anchor Jesse Kurtz said during the league’s media days in October. “So long as they stay healthy, there’s no reason to think that this is a team that cannot contend throughout the regular season and certainly in the conference tournament.”
But whether expectation and reality align this season remains to be seen. The Broncos have won 20 or more games in eight of 11 seasons, including seven of the past nine and six in a row from 2012 to 2018, but in that span they’ve never advanced past the Mountain West Tournament semifinals and last made a trip to the NCAA Tournament during the 2014-15 season.
Could all that change this season?
“We have our own goals and our own things that we want to do, and this team, they’re holding each other to a high standard, and our program holds itself to a high standard,” Rice said. “We expect to win. We work to win. We do the things we need to do to win.
“... Now the hard part of the Mountain West and the reality of the NET and the bubble and being in a league where sometimes you only get two (in the NCAA Tournament), we need to get it back to where we’re getting four, because we’re gonna have four or five (teams) this year that are going to be right there.”
Who’s gone?
Since these players won’t impact the 2021-22 season, let’s get them out of the way quickly, no disrespect intended.
The Broncos lost Derrick Alston Jr. to graduation, and guards RayJ Dennis (Toledo) and Donovan Ivory (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay) to the transfer portal.
Alston accounted for a team-best 17.0 points per game, was third in assists (2.2 apg) and fourth in rebounds (3.7 rpg). He led the Broncos with 68 made 3-pointers and was their top free-throw shooter at 85.6%.
Dennis dished out a team-leading 2.9 assists per game and grabbed a team-high 34 steals. He was sixth in scoring (8.6 ppg) and seventh in rebounding (3.0 rpg).
Ivory only appeared in three games for a total of 6 minutes.
Who’s new?
Three true freshmen joined the program this summer in Tyson Degenhart, Kobe Young and RJ Keene.
Degenhart, a Spokane product, has the best shot at earning early playing time, according to Rice, partly because the Broncos are less loaded at his position. The 6-foot-7, 232-pound forward has put on 20 pounds and added 5 inches to his vertical jump since he arrived on campus.
Young, who is listed at 6-6 and 204 pounds, is from Chiawana High in Pasco, Washington, where he was a three-sport star in football, basketball and track.
Keene, whom Rice likened to former BSU standout Justinian Jessup on signing day last November, was ranked as the No. 46 shooting guard in the 2021 class, according to ESPN. Keene attended Concordia Lutheran High in The Woodlands, Texas.
Who’s back?
Twelve players in all return from last year’s team, with eight of them appearing in 17 or more games.
A school-record seven Broncos averaged at least eight points per game last season. Five of them are back, which is the most returners who averaged at least eight points per game the year prior since 1983-84.
Those five — Abu Kigab (11.8 ppg), Marcus Shaver Jr. (10.6 ppg), Emmanuel Akot (9.1 ppg), Devonaire Doutrive (8.9 ppg) and Mladen Armus (8.1 ppg) — will likely be the Broncos’ starters. Fans can also expect bench contributions from Max Rice (5.9 ppg), Lukas Milner (2.5 ppg) and Naje Smith (0.9 ppg).
The Broncos will have gotten in 30 practices this fall before their opener against Utah Valley, giving the elder Rice a strong grasp on the team’s identity.
“I think I have a pretty good idea of what this team is going to be about and what their personality is,” Rice said. “Because you’ve got to remember, you look at our top eight or so, most of them, I’ve been with them a long time now. And they’ve been with us a long time. And so there’s a pretty good understanding of who they are.”
Among four major statistical categories, the Broncos return 66.2% of their scoring, 79.7% of their rebounding, 62.4% of their assists and 69.4% of their steals. The top individual returners in those categories are Kigab (11.8 ppg), Armus (7.8 rpg), Akot (2.7 apg) and Kigab (1.2 spg).
The Broncos didn’t have any players land on the preseason All-Mountain West team, but Kigab earned second-team recognition and Doutrive honorable mention honors at the end of last season.
What do the experts think?
In a vote of media members who cover the Mountain West, the Broncos were predicted to finish fourth in league play behind No. 1 Colorado State, No. 2 San Diego State and No. 3 Nevada. And some version of those four seems to be the consensus in most preseason rankings.
KenPom.com ratings: 33. San Diego State, 49. Nevada, 72. Colorado State, 80. Boise State. Pom projects the Broncos will go 19-10 overall and 11-7 in league play, good enough for fourth. Topping the conference standings in order, according to Pom, will be San Diego State, Nevada and Colorado State.
Sports Illustrated’s annual preseason rankings: 36. San Diego State, 40. Colorado State, 54. Nevada, 90. Boise State.
Joe Lunardi, ESPN bracketology: Lunardi predicts two Mountain West teams will qualify for the NCAA Tournament, with San Diego State earning the automatic bid and Colorado State getting in as an 11 seed. The Broncos are not mentioned, even as a bubble team.
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports bracketology: Palm predicts three Mountain West teams will qualify, with San Diego State an 8 seed, Colorado State straddling the line between 8 and 9, and Nevada a 12 as one of the last four in. The Broncos are not mentioned.
Andy Katz, March Madness correspondent bracketology: Katz anticipates two Mountain West teams will punch tickets, ranking Colorado State at No. 41 as the automatic qualifier and San Diego State at No. 45. Katz lists the Broncos as 15th on the list of bubble teams, five spots ahead of Nevada.
Ticket info: ‘We Win, You Win’
Boise State is offering a “We Win, You Win” promotion for Tuesday’s season opener against Utah Valley.
All fans who purchase a ticket to the game through the promotion, and attend the game, will automatically receive a ticket to the next home game if Boise State is victorious.
If the Broncos keep winning, participants in the promotion will continue to get a ticket to the next game as long as they attend each home game and Boise State wins. Depending on the section, the special ticket can be purchased for $10, $15 or $20.
Last season, the Broncos won a school-record 13 straight games from Nov. 29 through Jan. 20.
“It lets fans have skin in the game,” Rice said. “... You could buy a ticket to the first game, and if we get hot and if the fans help us through and win us those games, then it’s free.”
Tickets can be purchased online at broncosports.com/tickets, in person at the Boise State Athletic Ticket Office or by calling 208-426-4737.
The Broncos are also offering two partial-season passes: an eight-game Flex Pass that allows fans to pick any eight games for $159, or the Elite Pack, which gives fans access to home games against Saint Louis (Nov. 30), Colorado State (Jan. 7), UNLV (Feb. 11), Utah State (Feb. 19), San Diego State (Feb. 22) and Nevada (March 2). The Elite Pack begins at $99.
Season tickets are still available, including the new Blue Collar Pass for $149. Single-game tickets for the remainder of the season will go on sale Nov. 22. Nonconference game tickets range from $20, $15 or $10, depending on the section. Conference games will range from $20 to $30.
Note: Tuesday’s home opener will be streamed live by the Mountain West Network, which is available online at themw.com/watch.
2021-22 Boise State Men’s Basketball Schedule
All times listed are Mountain (TV/online broadcast in parenthesis)
Tuesday, Nov. 9: vs. Utah Valley, 7 p.m. (Mountain West Network)
Saturday, Nov. 13: at UC Irvine, 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, Nov. 18: vs. St. Bonaventure (Charleston Classic), noon (ESPN2)
Friday, Nov. 19: vs. Clemson or Temple (Charleston Classic), TBA (ESPN Networks)
Sunday, Nov. 21: vs. TBD (Charleston Classic), TBA (ESPN Networks)
Friday, Nov. 26: vs. CSU Bakersfield, 7 p.m. (MWN)
Tuesday, Nov. 30: vs. Saint Louis, 7 p.m. (Stadium)
Friday, Dec. 3: vs. Tulsa, 7 p.m. (MWN)
Tuesday, Dec. 7: at CSUN, 8 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, Dec. 10: vs. Prairie View A&M, 7 p.m. (MWN)
Tuesday, Dec. 14: vs. Santa Clara, 7 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Sunday, Dec. 19: vs. Montana Tech, 4 p.m. (MWN)
Wednesday, Dec. 22: vs. Washington State (Spokane, Wash.), 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
Tuesday, Dec. 28: vs. Fresno State, 7 p.m. (Stadium)
Saturday, Jan. 1: at Wyoming, 2 p.m. (CBSSN)
Tuesday, Jan. 4: at Utah State, 8 p.m. (CBSSN)
Friday, Jan. 7: vs. Colorado State, 8:30 p.m. (FS1)
Wednesday, Jan. 12: at Nevada, 8:30 p.m. (FS1)
Tuesday, Jan. 18: vs. Air Force, 7 p.m. (MWN)
Saturday, Jan. 22: at San Diego State, 7:30 pm. (CBSSN)
Tuesday, Jan. 25: vs. Wyoming, 7 p.m. (Stadium)
Friday, Jan. 28: at Fresno State, 9 p.m. (FS1)
Saturday, Feb. 5: vs. San José State, 4 p.m. (Stadium)
Tuesday, Feb. 8: at New Mexico, 8:30 p.m. (FS1)
Friday, Feb. 11: vs. UNLV, 9 p.m. (FS1)
Tuesday, Feb. 15: at Air Force, 9 p.m. (FS1)
Saturday, Feb. 19: vs. Utah State, 4 p.m. (CBSSN)
Tuesday, Feb. 22: vs. San Diego State, 7 p.m. (CBSSN)
Saturday, Feb. 26: at UNLV, 8 p.m. (CBSSN)
Tuesday, March 1: vs. Nevada, 7 p.m. (FS1)
Saturday, March 5: at Colorado State, 6:30 p.m. (CBSSN)
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 12:41 PM.
