FLYING HIGH

Eric Reveno’s Portland Pilots return their starting lineup from 2008. You’ll get a first peek at the experienced Pilots in the 76 Classic.

Eric Reveno has been hunting down respect for his Pilots’ program since taking over in April of 2006. Last year, after a pair of nine-win seasons, Reveno accomplished that goal by orchestrating a 19-win season (a school record) and a 9-5 Conference record (tying the school high). The team was rewarded with a postseason bid, while Reveno was rewarded with 2009 WCC Coach of the Year honors. This season, with the entire starting five returning (and 12 players returning overall)—including All-WCC First-Teamers Nik Raivio and T.J. Campbell—the Pilots are embarking on a new hunt. Their target is nine-time regular-season WCC champion Gonzaga. The Pilots’ quest begins in the 76 Classic, which features a talented eight-team field that also includes Butler, Clemson, Long Beach State, Texas A&M, West Virginia, Minnesota and UCLA, Portland’s first opponent. Reveno talked with ESPN PLUS about building the Portland program, why experience may be its own reward, and what he hopes will happen at the 76 Classic.


@ESPNPlus : Last season the Pilots had a historic season. What are your thoughts heading into 2009-10?
@CoachReveno : We’re excited to have a veteran team that is ready for the high expectations. It all works itself out through the course of the season, but with a veteran group you want to play against good teams. So we like our schedule, and we love the fact that we’re in the 76 Classic.

Coach Eric Reveno Craig Mitchelldyer/US Presswire

@CoachReveno : We really don’t feel that as pressure. It’s what we’ve been working toward for four years. I hope that in the last couple of weeks of the season people are still saying that.


@ESPNPlus : How big of an advantage is it to have so much of last year’s team returning?

@CoachReveno : Having a veteran team helps tremendously when you’re going on the road and going into tough environments and facing some adversity. Those are the things that are hard to practice for. The young teams right now are having to work through that, but we’ve got guys that understand that. The other advantage is we’re able to teach at a different level than what we’ve taught in the past.


@ESPNPlus : Talk about the importance of Co-Newcomer of the Year T.J. Campbell and Nik Raivio. Who else might you be counting on?

@CoachReveno : T.J. Campbell and Nik Raivio had great years last year. What they’re going to need to do this year is get others involved more; if you’re watching closely, you’ll see them really lead our team. They’re both going to be special players. After that, we have some really good players. Robin Smeulders and Jared Stohl were all-league honorable mention, and Jared is the top returning three-point shooter this year. He’s a very good shooter and has worked hard to improve his defense, rebounding and ball-handling so he can be more of a balanced player. He’s on pace to break all kinds of three-point shooting records. Robin Smeulders is a senior who is strong, a skilled post player that we can move around a little bit. He’s very capable of providing some inside post scoring. Luke Sikma, the son of NBA great Jack Sikma, came off the bench for us last weekend and had a double-double, 14 boards and 13 points, and he’s done a tremendous job as a post player for us. So we’re solid. We’ve got good all-around depth. Especially in something like the76 Classic, where you play three games in four days, having a deep roster is a luxury.


@ESPNPlus : What does Portland have to do to be successful?

@CoachReveno : We were a good offensive team last year in our conference. We shot the ball well, and we were balanced scoring. We can improve that, but to challenge Gonzaga, we need to be a much better defensive team. If we can really defend, be a team that can stymie opponents, then we can get out and run.


@ESPNPlus : What could be the Pilots’ biggest weakness?

@CoachReveno : I would say just consistent low-post scoring, to provide a balanced attack. We’ve done it by committee and that has worked. But then there have been given nights where it hasn’t.


@ESPNPlus : What impresses you when you look at the field for the 76 Classic? 

@CoachReveno : It’s just an unbelievable field and a great opportunity for us. We’re so excited that we get to play UCLA first (7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2). They’re one of the top all-time college basketball programs in the country. Butler’s a very impressive program with a lot of history and is a similar-type school, sort of a mid-major type school that you would want to emulate. Their athletic director is my former college coach, Barry Collier. He was an assistant coach when I was a player at Stanford. So there’s that connection. Minnesota has Tubby Smith. It’s kind of a “who’s who” of coaches for me to be associated with and to have the opportunity to try to compete against. It's fun to scout and prepare for great teams like that.


@ESPNPlus : Can success in the 76 Classic act as a springboard for this year’s team and help with recruiting?

@CoachReveno : You schedule these games with the idea that they’re going to help you be a better basketball team but also because this is who the players want to play against. If we’re able to have success it’ll boost our confidence tremendously. Last year we played Washington at home and were able to beat them. That helped our confidence. You can still play well and not win. It doesn’t do as much. If we can actually have some real success, that can translate to some improved confidence. In the back-to-back nature of a tournament, it makes it a great opportunity to learn how to compete through adversity. From an ESPN and a program perception standpoint, it’s tremendous. To be in that company, for recruits to see us competing with these teams, a picture paints a thousand words. So for them to click on ESPN and see us playing Clemson, see us playing Minnesota or whoever it might be, it will just help galvanize their perception of us as a big-time program.


@ESPNPlus : There seem to be no mismatches in this tournament.

@CoachReveno : I was talking to [UCLA Coach] Ben Howland earlier this summer at a recruiting event and he was telling me how difficult the tournament is. I knew I was in trouble if he was telling me that. The flipside is if you struggle a little bit, if things don’t turn out the way you want to in the win-loss column, it still can be a great learning experience. You’re not losing to anyone to be ashamed of if you compete well and you lose three games. We’re going to try to be the best basketball team that we can each night out and see what happens. It’s just such a tremendous field that you just don’t know.

Reporting by Jon Cooper, an Atlanta-based freelance writer.