Will he or won't he?
6-foot-5 Terrell Mack came out of Vancouver, Washington in 2008 as a promising prepster and becoming a Utah State Aggie was in store for his future. Academics then forced a two-year detour to Saddleback College in southern California.
So will he still be heading to Logan, Utah for his D-1 home?
We'll get to that, but first, it was quite the interesting initial season for Mack in Orange County.
In 29 games, Mack shot .461% (71 - 154) overall from the floor, .397% on threes (23 - 58) and .673% (37 - 55) from the foul line. It is worth noting that his percentages edged upward once Orange Empire Conference play began -- indicating a greater degree of comfort with the speed of community college play and the athleticism of opponents. He also grabbed two boards a game along with totaling 27 assists, 16 steals and 13 blocked shots.
As a program, Saddleback also enjoyed the competition. Coach Andy Ground, who played at Saddleback back in the early 80's, earned Coach of the Year honors after leading his squad to a second place finish in the state tournament. The Gauchos lost in overtime to Riverside Community College, finishing 29-8 overall, 10-2 in league play.
But Kevin Menner and Franklin Session, who were the team stats leaders for Saddleback last year, have moved on to Cal State Northridge and Weber State respectively, so Mack will be looked at to do more.
Here's Ground on his returning wing: "He's a pretty athletic, stands 6-foot-5 and is long and can shoot the ball." But Ground wants more as he added "he [Mack] could turn into a good defender."
As for Mack being on the 2010 train for Logan, Utah, that fare is no longer going to be paid. It's unclear if one or the other, or if it was mutual, about deciding to pursue other prospects/destinations but Mack will not be an Aggie.
What's also unknown is if James Ware was a factor in Mack's eventually heading elsewhere -- actually his absence. Ware was hired in August 2006 as an assistant coach by Stew Morrill in August 2006 -- this after Ware played for the longtime USU coach when both were at Colorado State some time ago. It seems clear that Ware was the primary assistant behind wooing Mack to Utah State. But in June 2008, came the announcement that Ware was moving on to Santa Clara. By the way, Santa Clara is not pursuing Mack.
However, Mack is receiving interest from Idaho as are fellow Gauchos Robert Curtis and Nathan Gibbs. Curtis is a 6-foot-9 240 Southern California who was at West Los Angeles College last year and Gibbs is a Citrus College transfer who measures 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds.
Another Gaucho certainly worthy of noting is point Perry Webster, the former Mission Viejo High star.
He is a 6-foot-2, 205 pounder who played at Irvine Valley College two seasons ago where he led team in assists as a freshman. Last year for Saddleback, Webster played in but three games due to an early foot injury. But in that brief playing time, Webster earned 17 foul shots and averaged 5.7 assists and 2 steals per game, giving the Saddleback coaching staff an idea of things to come.
Here's Ground on his Webster, his team quarterback: "He is like a coach on the floor. Perry is really skilled, one of the best junior college guards in the state." Cal State Fullerton and Northern Arizona are looking at him.
Also, do watch as a very different Saddleback squad tries to return to Fresno and this time emerge as the state champion.
