UVSC is trying to fill Price's shoes

OREM — Much to Utah Valley State men's basketball coach Dick Hunsaker's chagrin, life without Ronnie Price is now a cold, hard reality.

The star combo guard who led UVSC to a 16-12 record last year is now a reserve for the Sacramento Kings.

Who will step up to fill Price's shoes is a question that remains to be answered. In truth, no one player will be able to bear such a burden.

A big reason Hunsaker added five junior college transfers and nary a true freshman to his roster for this season is that multiple players are going to have to perform immediately in order to fill the spacious void left by Price.

"Obviously, this is going to be a much more balanced group (than last year)," Hunsaker said. "Now, I'm dying for someone to surface as a star. I'd love to have a star, but you don't have to have stars — there's all different ways to do it."

The good news for the Wolverines is that, although Price is gone, the other four starters return. The top returning scorers for UVSC are forwards Pierre Thomas (9.3 points per game) and David Heck (9.4 ppg). Six-foot-10 center Ben Devoe returns to man the middle after averaging 7.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Sylvester Allison is the lone returning guard with Division I experience.

In their first exhibition game last week, Devoe and Allison both had 18 points as the Wolverines defeated Westminster College 81-72.

Just about the only thing the women's basketball team has in common with the men's is that there are a lot of new faces this season. While the men's team was busy compiling victories, the women staggered to a 4-22 finish. And while Hunsaker turned exclusively to juco players to replenish his ranks, five of the six recruits signed by women's coach Cathy Nixon are true freshmen.

"Our goal in recruiting is just to find the best player for the job that we can get," Nixon said. "We wanted freshmen that could compete and felt like that was the way to go if we could get freshmen, because you're going to have them here for four years."

Senior forward Miriam Palkki, formerly of Timpview High, returns after leading the Wolverines with 12.2 points per game last season.

The player on the roster who seemingly sparks the most interest, though, is true freshman Sandy Marvin. Last year, the 5-foot-6 guard led Payson High to the 4A state title with averages 20.9 points, 9.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds. In addition to being the 4A MVP in basketball, Marvin was also All-State in softball and volleyball.