Boise State loses guard for season; Broncos welcome 6 new faces on first day of practice
Forty-two days from Wednesday, the Boise State men’s basketball season will tip off against South Dakota State inside ExtraMile Arena.
But coach Leon Rice doesn’t want his players thinking that far ahead.
“I think the challenge for the older guys is they’ve been through this a lot,” Rice said. “We’ve got a lot of veterans who have played a lot of college basketball. The challenge for them is to stay in the moment and to prepare today and ... not look ahead.”
That in-the-moment attitude was key to the Broncos’ magical run last season, when they set program records for overall wins (27), conference wins (15) and consecutive wins on their way to Mountain West regular-season and tournament titles. They lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Memphis.
Three players from that team — Abu Kigab, Mladen Armus and Emmanuel Akot — have since moved on. There are six new faces — four scholarship and two walk-on players — looking to fill their shoes.
“I think we’ve got three or four news guys that are really, really gonna contribute,” Rice said. “The challenge is they haven’t done it before and they haven’t been in our system, so they’re gonna have to work through some stuff. Our challenge as a group is to get them up to speed as quickly as we can so we’re ready to come out of the gate.”
The Broncos added scholarship players Chibuzo Agbo (6-7, jr., guard), Sadraque NgaNga (6-10, fr., guard), Mohamed Sylla (6-11, sr., center) and Jace Whiting (6-2, fr., guard), and walk-ons Kade Rice (6-4, fr., guard) and Vince Barringer (6-6, fr., guard/forward).
Agbo, a Texas Tech transfer; Sylla, who transferred from Detroit Mercy; and NgaNga are the most likely to garner playing time.
“Last year, we’re trying to put that in the past,” Boise State sophomore Tyson Degenhart said, “and really work towards a Mountain West championship this year with this group of guys.”
Wednesday was the first official practice of the 2022-23 season for the Broncos. Here are a few snippets from Wednesday’s media availability:
Broncos lose redshirt freshman for season
Redshirt freshman guard RJ Keene posted a picture on social media Monday night announcing he had surgery on his left shoulder.
Leon Rice said Keene will miss the entire season, which opened the door for Barringer to join the Broncos.
“It’s unfortunate because he had this great redshirt year. I mean, I came close to pulling him off of the redshirt because of some of the days he’d have on the scout team and the way he shot the ball,” Rice said. “He has that moxie that’s good and he likes to compete. To lose a big wing that can shoot the ball, yeah, that hurts you.”
Degenhart makes leap from deep
Sophomore forward Tyson Degenhart, one of two returning starters, said he worked on his 3-point game over the summer.
Rice said Degenhart has gone from a good 3-point shooter to a “great” one.
“Lots of reps. Late nights, early mornings and anywhere in between,” Degenhart said. “The only way to get better at shooting is just to shoot more.”
Newcomers at a glance
Here’s what Degenhart had to say about the Broncos’ four new scholarship players:
- Agbo: “He’s gonna be a really great three-man for us. He can score off the bounce, score in the post, can be very versatile. A very good defender coming from Texas Tech.”
- NgaNga: “He can play (positions) two through four. He can handle the ball. He can shoot the three, so he can be really dynamic for us this year.”
- Sylla: ”He’s gonna be a great rim protector for us. I mean, there’s times in practice where I get a shot, I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s no way he’s gonna block that,’ and he goes and gets it at the top of the square.”
- Whiting: “He comes with a lot of maturity. That (church) mission has definitely changed his perspective on a lot of things, and I think as a point guard having a lot of maturity is important in understanding the game.”
Counting the days
Boise State opens the season at home on Wednesday, Nov. 9, against South Dakota State. A tipoff time has not been announced. The Jackrabbits are a perennial contender in the Summit League and won it last season, losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Providence. Prior to that they were in the NCAAs three straight years, 2016-18.
