Anchorage Daily News

Seattle University, an NCAA Division II basketball program making the jump to Division I next season, is the seventh and final team to join this year's Great Alaska Shootout field.

The Redhawks will join Hampton, Louisiana Tech, Northern Illinois, Portland State, San Diego State, Western Carolina and host UAA, the university said Tuesday.

Seattle University, which recorded an 18-9 record in its final Division II season, is a former conference rival of the Seawolves.

The Redhawks won't be the only familiar sight at the tournament for UAA fans.

Portland State is coached by Ken Bone, who took on the Seawolves a number of times in an earlier job as head coach at Seattle Pacific.

And San Diego State's roster includes forward Ryan Amoroso, who played for the Marquette team that won the 2005 Shootout.

Gone from this year's tournament field are big-name programs that once played at the Shootout, such as Duke, Kentucky and Syracuse.

Syracuse, however, will be part of the four-team women's tournament, which also includes defending champion UAA, Jackson State and Cal State Northridge.

The Shootout runs Nov. 25-29 at Sullivan Arena.

The UAA men will play Hampton in the first round; the women will play Cal State Northridge. Hampton is a Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference team that went 18-12 last season; Northridge is a Big West Conference team that was 1-26 last season.

Here's a brief look at the teams in the men's and women's fields:

WOMEN'S FIELD

• UAA: Host and two-time defending champion UAA, the only Division II team in the field, is 4-0 in its last two Shootouts and 53-11 over the past two seasons. Coach Tim Moser's squad went 30-5 in 2007-08 and qualified for the NCAA Division II national semifinals. The Seawolves will be led by All-American and two-time of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year Rebecca Kielpinski.

• CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: They nearly went winless last season, finishing 1-26 overall. The Big West Conference squad, led by head coach Staci Schulz, will return a pair of seniors, including shot-block specialist Crystal Hahs.

• JACKSON STATE: The team earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1995 by winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference postseason tourney. The Lady Tigers of Jackson, Miss., coached by Denise Taylor, posted an 18-14 mark and finished second in their conference.

• SYRACUSE: Under the direction of Big East Conference Coach of the Year Quentin Hillsman, the Orange posted the nation's second-biggest turnaround in 2007-08, winning 13 more games than it did the previous season. Finishing 22-9 overall, they return All-league guard Chandrea Jones. She's back along with a pair of players from the Big East All-Freshman team.

MEN'S FIELD

• UAA: The squad bounced back from a tough 2007 Shootout to post one of the best seasons in school history, going 29-6 and advancing to the NCAA Division II semifinals. Coach Rusty Osborne's new-look 2008-09 squad starts from scratch, with no starters returning from last year. The Seawolves are 28-62 all-time in the Shootout.

• HAMPTON: The Pirates, of Hampton, Va., are led by head coach Kevin Nickelberry, who will return high-scoring guard Vincent Simpson. Hampton, the first MEAC school to appear in either the women's or men's Shootout, was 18-12 last season, including an 11-5 record in conference.

• LOUISIANA TECH: The Bulldogs of Ruston, La., are coming off a 6-24 record under coach Kerry Rupp but return one of the top scorers in the nation in junior guard Kyle Gibson. Louisiana Tech is the first squad to come north as part of the Shootout's scheduling agreement with the Western Athletic Conference.

• NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies of DeKalb, Ill., come from the always-tough Mid-American Conference and went 6-22 last year. Head coach Ricardo Patton returns five letter winners, including 2008 MAC Freshman of the Year Damion Anderson.

• PORTLAND STATE: They could be the next mid-major eye-opener after going 23-10 last season and capturing the Big Sky Conference regular and postseason titles under former Seattle Pacific coach Ken Bone. They lost by 24 points to eventual national champion Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament; also lost to Colorado State in the championship game of the Top of the World Classic, the final game of that tournament. Bone returns the bulk of last year's team and could be the favorite again.

• SAN DIEGO STATE: Under the direction of former Michigan coach Steve Fisher, the Aztecs should be one of the favorites in the Mountain West Conference. Three double-digit scorers are back, including two-time all-conference pick Lorenzo Wade and forward Ryan Amoroso, who helped Marquette to its 2005 Shootout title before transferring.

• SEATTLE: A former Great Northwest Conference league rival of the Seawolves makes its Shootout debut, returning to the Division I ranks for the first time since 1980. The Redhawks, coached by Joe Callero, were 18-9 a year ago, their last season as a Division II program. UAA beat Seattle twice last season, a low scoring 45-38 affair in Seattle and 73-60 win at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

• WESTERN CAROLINA: The Catamounts posted a 10-21 record in 2007-08, finishing 6-14 in the challenging Southern Conference. Led by head coach Larry Hunter, they return their top two leading scorers, including guard Brandon Giles and his 15.3 average. WCU is located in Cullowhee, N.C.

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