Butte basketball preview: Roadrunner men lead preseason conference poll

By PATRICK KINMARTIN-Sports Writer

Article Launched: 11/07/2008 12:21:02 AM PST

There might be a new November tradition developing at Butte College separate from the crucial football games and trees strewn about campus changing color.

For the second straight year, head men's basketball coach Russ Critchfield's team is being talked about as the premier group of talent in the Golden Valley Conference while the game portion of preseason preparations is set to begin. Butte is the leader in the conference's preseason coach's poll, which is similar to a beauty contest because it shows who is looking the most impressive before the yearly grind starts to rough rosters up a bit.

Critchfield is challenging the Roadrunners to fulfill such promise this season after they fell short last year with four losses in their first five GVC games, hindering their hopes for a postseason appearance despite a late surge of victories. A wealth of experience, size and speed more abundant than that team possessed seems to have sold the audience so far.

"Talking to all of the people who have had the chance to see them practice and knowing what they have in the cupboard, it's pretty obvious to me they're on a pretty high level far up at the top of the conference," Siskiyous head coach Billy Offil said. "They have a high-low dimension where I think some of the other better teams in conference are relying on just one of those areas."

Translation for Butte sports fans usually far more wrapped up in football this time of year: It is the equivalent of having both formidable passing and rushing capabilities.

Critchfield's starting five exudes that vibe. Pavol Losonsky, the 6-foot-8 starting forward and All-American candidate who has already verbally committed to UC Irvine, returns and will again have a tall complement in the post despite the absence of Donatas Visockis, last season's starting center who signed with Portland State. Stepping in is 6-9 fellow UCI commitment Peter Simek, who has also already followed Losonsky to Northern California from Slovakian roots and a season at Southern Connecticut.

Point guard Tyree Haynie is back to display his strength as a prime distributor after playing through most of his freshman season with a sports hernia injury. Explosive guard Devon Hills is attempting to reignite his career after taking a break since his Pleasant Valley High days and brings a similar scoring presence that Ray Donahue gave Butte last year.

Donovan Plunkett moves into a more of an off-guard role one season after blossoming nicely while filling in for Haynie as a fellow freshman and is slated to split starting time with Brett Smyth, the third-year sophomore who is returning after being sidelined permanently with a broken leg. Forward Makie Rice, an All-GVC defensive team selection off the bench last year, is being asked to perform in a similar role.

"I'm not trying to throw a (cliché) out, I do think we're trying to stay in the moment and not trying to be anything other than what we want ourselves to be," said Critchfield, who is entering his 12th season at Butte. "When you lose track of that and try to be something different or live up to others' expectations, you start to carry a burden."

October 28, 2008
Losonsky and Simek commit to UC Irvine

THE ROADRUNNERS ARE VERY EXCITED AND PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT 6'8" POWER FORWARD PAVOL LOSONSKY AND 6'9" CENTER PETER SIMEK HAVE EACH VERBALLY COMMITTED TO ATTEND THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT IRVINE ON AN ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP STARTING  IN THE FALL OF 2009. BOTH THESE SOPHOMORES ARE POISED AND READY TO COMPETE FOR THE ROADRUNNERS WHEN THE SEASON OPENS NOVEMBER 7^TH AT THE LAS PASITAS TOURNAMENT IN LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA. EACH WILL SIGN A NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT AND SCHOLARSHIP TENDER DURING THE NATIONAL EARLY SIGNING PERIOD IN NOVEMBER. CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH OF THEM ON A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT!