ISU Bengal

Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Sports

A slender Stucki glides down the left side of Reed Gym's court with the ball in his command. He pulls up behind the arc, halting momentarily to nod at fellow 3-point assassin Austin Kilpatrick, who was set in the defense. Driving to his right side, Stucki spins left and shoots a fade away jumper off one leg that results in an elegant swish. This is a fond memory of a brilliant ball player I witnessed at ISU.



Century High School graduate Matt Stucki will lead a 2008-09 ISU club that will have its most promising season in contending for a Big Sky championship. Anything less than that, in Stucki's mind, will be an immense disappointment. Despite the loss of Logan Kinghorn, the Bengals will still have Amorrow Morgan (10.0 pts/gm), the athletic ability and longevity of Donnie Carson, and a strong recruiting class that includes Deividas Busma, a seven-foot center from Lithuania.



Stucki understands that his team will have to be more consistent during offensive possessions and work harder on the defensive end to have a chance against stronger opponents. Similar to the last couple of seasons, Idaho State will host power-house opponents such as Wisconsin and Arizona State.

When asked about these types of games Stucki said, "This is my third go at teams like this and I think it's the same thing as the first year, we want to compete, we want to get better and prepare ourselves for the regular season."



Watching our men do battle in one of their daily open gym sessions, there wasn't any doubt that Stucki wants to lead his team. He has the motivation, verbal communication and the all-around game to do it. He has displayed, on multiple occasions, that he can answer when called upon. This past year he hit double figures in 22 of his 31 games, had five games where he scored at least 20 points, while leading his team in minutes, points per game, field goals made and assists. He will be asked to produce numbers like that again for his senior year.



"The only thing I want is to win a Big Sky championship," Stucki said. "That's why we play, that's why any competitor plays is to win a championship. That's the only thing I want and that's the only thing my teammates want."

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