Canada College dropping its basketball program this year forces De Anza into the toughest league in the nation. As one of the three teams ranked in the Top Ten by the California Community College Men’s Basketball Coaches Association in the Northern California division, the Dons have their work cut out for them this season. Along with #2 ranked Community College of San Francisco, #7 ranked Skyline College, and #9 ranked Chabot College in their division, Head Coach Mike Riley finds the league tough, but welcomes the challenge.

Finishing the 2001-02 season with an overall record of 22-9, the Dons know that it’s going to be hard putting up the same numbers. Riley knows his team won’t come close this season to last year’s record, largely due to the competition in their new conference.

The season begins officially on Nov. 12 against Dominican College at De Anza. Soon afterwards they will play against Shasta College in the Shasta Tournament starting Nov. 14. A team that eliminated them from the playoffs last year in the second round, Dons hope to defeat Shasta as well as the six other teams in the tournament to bring back the tournament title.

“[As] soon as you lose a game, you forget about it and learn from the mistakes,” said Riley on his approach toward Shasta in the tournament. Ranked #15 in last year’s overall season, the Dons lost to #2 ranked Shasta by 84-64.

With five players returning this season, the Dons look better this season according to Riley. Returning players look to fill the shoes of forward Alex Kargbo and guard Casey Keegan. Riley looks to point guard Santos Benitez to control the pace of the game this season.

Forward Keith Miyakusu will post more outside the three-point line this season. With a 31 three-point shooting percentage last season, Miyakusu hopes to take more shots this season.

The Dons’ twin towers, centers Dario Burns and Daniel Logan, will provide much of the defense as well as contribute on the offensive attack. Making 187 field goals out of 364 attempts, the two centers posted an average 51 field goal percentage.

A healthy roster this year allows Riley to play around with the line-up when different situations arise in the game. With a dependable bench to work with, Riley will have more options to look forward to if faced with problems in the season to come.

“We play fast breaking up tempo basketball this year. This is dictated by the defense. Everything changes year to year based on the type of players we have,” said Riley. With fast and dependable players on the roster, Riley is hopeful to speed up the tempo of the game.

In his eight years of coaching basketball at De Anza, Riley teaches his team the offensive fundamentals. Riley looks to Assistant Coach Dennis Zaballos to teach the team defensive skills. Coaching for 30 years, six at De Anza, Zaballos is considered to be the best assistant coach in California, according to Riley.