The Eagles will not start off soaring right out of the nest but they will compete.  Coach Krause’s flock will play in your face man to man defense that will keep them in games.  They will also be playing at Reese (named after Red Reese the father of Eagle basketball who coached all three sports in Cheyney for decades) Court as well.  The small arena (6000 seats) also hosted the Flight club which is a band of Red and White clad students hawking other teams as they come in. This court will not get the red treatment that Roos Field is getting but does have a nice home court advantage.   The Eagles had many heartaches throughout last year and it is not looking good for this year but Krause’s goal is to build base for the future.  They will definitely lose more than they win this season but as they say Rome was not built in a day.  The Eagles will try to eschew JUCO players in the hope they can build something similar to what is happening just to their north in Spokane.  It might have taken some time but Gonzaga is on the verge of breaking into the big time in college basketball.  This will be the template for the Eagles though ironically the Zags once played in the Big Sky and jumped up the chance to move up the food chain to the West Coast conference though of course not playing football had something to do with that.  They will get their shot at playing in the Kennel in the second game of the season on a schedule that is not overwhelming and in fact does not have the Eagles travel further away than California.  Perhaps maybe Krause and his kids will shock the world and compete for a Big Sky title?  If not the seeds will be sown for a program who has a plan and a bright future in the Palouse! 

Krause has a hell of a difficult task trying to transition this program all the way from NAIA to Division One in two years.  Some other programs have done this but over the course of a few years if not decades.  The Eagles would have to do this with NAIA talent and this was just not going to be fair.  Sure Krause had card blanche to bring in as many recruits as he needed and he wanted to get as many as them in as quickly as possible but he still has to put a team on the court and that means playing some of his upperclassmen.  These guys might not have been Division One caliber but they all had one thing in common.  These guys all had heart and would compete.  Going into the year the Big Man on campus and the leader of this team is Senior Irv Leifer.  Leifer is an absolute stud who has dominated in Cheyney since he got here.  Three years ago Leifer was named MVP of the NAIA national tourney and the Eagles did not even make the final game.  He has been that good.  Leifer (and he is that around these parts) is a terrific scorer who can get to the hoop and uses his quickness to fly by guys.  He has a good shot though his range does not go much beyond 15 feet.  This Renton product was not as productive last year as he has been but until some of the new kids take over he will be getting some big minutes.  Leifer is such a legend here that Krause has no choice but to make him the primary option once again.  At least to start the year.  

A couple of other Seniors will begin the year in the starting lineup for Krause.  Dick Eicher has been a significant post player for the Eagles for the last three years.  His not that big at six five but at 225 has the bulk and toughness to hang down low.  He is tough on the boards and he understands positioning and is not timid.  Still, Eicher is just not big enough or especially athletic enough to guard other bigs in this league.  The other seniorstarter coming into the year is Rabbit Roffler at the point.  The Rabbit has that nickname for a reason.  This Pine City Minnesota product is quick as snot and loves driving to the hoop and getting easy layups.  Rabbit is very good at this.  Too bad that is about the extent of his game as he is not a great passer or shooter.  Roffler is beloved by the fans so it will be a hard decision (as it was with his compadres) to replace him.  But at only 5’8 he is a bit out of his depth in D-1.  One other Senior, Dick Edwards, got some playing time off the bench and the kid can score.  He, too, was lacking in the athleticism needed at this level but boy can he shoot.  It is yet to be seen how soon Krause will pull the trigger on the changing of the guard (and forwards and centers) in Cheney.  It has to be done though as he has some recruits that he wanted to get in as soon as possible. There are some other upperclassmen who are in line to get some minutes who are ready to take the mantel as they showed last season.  Junior Ed Waters got some productive minutes at point guard for the Eagles and boy can he pass.  Waters is a fine ball handler and distributor.  He also can pressure the ball and is quick. The problem is he is not a great shooter much like some of the guys he was splitting time with. Defense is first here though so Waters has a good shot at not just playing but starting for the Eagles this year and beyond. 

Junior forward Ron Cox was the closest thing this team had of a go to guy down low.  Cox, from down the road in Coulee City, was second on the Eagles in scoring last year behind Leifer and was the guy they went too most often when they needed a basket.  A solid scorer, Cox is not overly gifted and at 6’6 225 not that big.  He does make up this with tenacity and desire.  Cox got caught playing the center position too often and was just not big enough to guard some of the Giants in D-1.  Still, Cox is the best EWU has up front and is a demon on the boards.  Cox had a solid season last year and maybe one of the only players on this team who could actually play for a good division one school. 

Fellow Juniors Dave Hayden and Randy Buss got the majority of the minutes at Center and did a decent job even if they were overmatched physically most of the season.  Buss, who came all the way from Shannon Illinois, had the most minutes up front and is a solid scorer who loves to run the court.  The bespectled Buss (no relation to the Lakers owner) runs like a wildebeest and has great hands in the post.  The ‘Magic Buss’ as the Flight club has dubbed him can score and can board but defending Steve Hayes and Willie Sojourner is not going to be easy especially when you are all of 6’5 soaking wet.  Hayden is more of a banger and loves to mix it up.  At 6’9 this Denver kid gives the Eagles some size in the paint. Hayden is a gamer who can score and does rebound but has some athletic limitations.  Fellow junior Paul Hungenburg should start at one guard.  The 6’3 Greeley Colorado product has point guard skills but with some size.  If he was a bit quicker he would be something.  He can play though.  Like most of the seniors the juniors were brought here to play lower levels of basketball.  These kids are more than willing to go to war in the Brave New World but whether or not they have the skills and especially size to compete is yet to be determined.  If last year was a barometer the Eagles are flying into clouds that are filled with the kind of dark matter that only leads to downpours. 

The sophomore class is pretty bare.  6’9 Tony Christman and guards Dave Henley, Don Graves and George Abrams were huge on JV and should be moving up. Graves actually played most of the year on the varsity and showed some skills on both ends but was inconsistent.  The other three got a cup of coffee last year with mixed results.  These guys have an opportunity most kids of their skill level do not have and that is to play on a D-1 program and prove to the people who passed them up that they were wrong.  That is kind of the whole creed of this program!

The Eastern Washington Eagles have one of the smallest programs in Division 1 both literally and figuratively.  Playing in the Big Sky conference the Eagles will be up against it.  But the fans of Cheney are patient and will continue to support this team.  Coach Jerry Krause will be relying on young talent to build this program on while using his veterans to show them the way even if this might not be very fruitful this year.  After all apples do not grow on trees overnight.