GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic file WaLynn Burgess is back for the Yakima Valley men after earning All-Region first-team honors last season.

So now that Ray Funk has a season as Yakima Valley's men's coach under his belt, he at least knows more about what to expect from the transitional world of community college basketball.

His expectations for the 2006-07 Yaks?

"We're bigger than last year," he said. "I think there are more options with this group — we can go small and athletic or we can go with a big lineup with the traditional two bigs and three guards. We can put a team out there that's kind of a perimeter-shooting, zone-busting team. And we have some depth."

YVCC does, in fact, have some productive veterans from last season's team, which started slowly but finished 14-15 and made the NWAACC Tournament. Plus the Yaks have added some promising newcomers via Funk's first full recruiting class, along with one key redshirt.

The most prominent returner is WaLynn Burgess, a sturdy 6-foot-6 forward who averaged near 19 points and nine rebounds last year and made the All-Region first team.

Burgess totaled 27 points and 11 rebounds in YVCC's recent 90-81 win over Spokane in the Big Bend Tip-Off Tournament.

Also back are 5-10 sophomore guards Jarett Brown, who averaged about 11 points last season, and John Scott Williams, plus
6-2 sophomore Anthony Brown from Davis.

Highlighting the newcomers are Bryan Manaway, a 6-3 redshirt sophomore from Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines; Ryan Staker, a 6-7 freshman from
Las Vegas; and Jeff Curfman, a 6-8 sophomore from Eisenhower who transferred from Big Bend.

Staker and Curfman will give the Yaks' substantially more size than last season, although Curfman has been effective playing on the perimeter.

"Staker is more of a rebounder and defender," Funk said. "His offense right now consists mostly of putbacks. He's not going to demand a lot of shots per se.

"We're still trying to sort out some roles. Whatever the starting lineup, the minutes for the first eight or 10 guys will be the same."

Funk said a likely rotation will include Burgess and Curfman or Staker inside, Manaway on a wing and 6-3 freshman Anthony Johnson and 5-9 freshman Edwin Dixon in the backcourt. Tyler Bollman, a 6-2 freshman from Troy, Idaho, and Williams will likely see action at shooting guard.

Williams and Anthony Brown and Jarett Brown also figure prominently in the mix.

"The reality is our guards are every bit as athletic as last year," Funk said, "and I think we have more options."

At the Big Bend tourney, Funk started Burgess and Curfman up front, Manaway on the wing and Johnson and Dixon in the backcourt. Manaway backed Burgess with 25 points, hitting 11 of 18 shots.

"Bryan's a kid from Mount Rainier who graduated in 2004, and Eric (former YVCC coach Harper) tried to get him to come here. He originally went to Highline, but came here last year and redshirted while he was learning the system. He has real long arms.

"Anthony Johnson has pretty long arms and Bryan and Anthony are really skilled kids."

Offensive potential seems to be considerable, Funk said, and the quickness and depth to play his desired brand of pressure defense appears to be there, too.

That defensive style requires complete commitment from all participants to be effective, however, and such devotion is always a concern.

"When the whole team sells out defensively, I think we have the capability of being a pretty good team," Funk said. "But sometimes we have three guys going hard and two going 75 percent. In our style, you have to be able to trust that your teammate's going to rotate in behind you. If you have doubt, you're not going to fly out to deny or to get the steal."

Still, the Yaks appear to be ahead of last season's team.

"We're trying to work with roles and role acceptance," Funk said, "and some of the guys I think are starting to develop an understanding."

YAKIMA VALLEY

2006-2007 men's basketball roster

(Name, ht., yr., pos., high school/prev. college)

Bryan Manaway, 6-3, so., g/f, Mount Rainier/Highline CC; Tyler Bollman, 6-2, fr., g, Troy (Idaho); Jarett Brown, 5-10, so., g, Fayette County (Ga.); A.J. Kelsey, 5-10, so., g, Wendell (Idaho); John Scott Williams, 6-10, so., g, Memorial (San Antonio, Texas); Anthony Johnson, 6-3, fr., g, Stadium; Edwin Dixon, 5-9, fr., g, O'Dea; WaLynn Burgess, 6-6, so., c, Payson (Utah); Shaitan Wilson, 6-5, so., Puyallup; Jeff Curfman, 6-8, so., Eisenhower/Big Bend; Anthony Brown, 6-2, so., f., Davis; Ryan Staker, 6-7, fr., Centennial (Las Vegas).

Schedule

November — 17-91, at Big Bend Tipoff Tournament; 24-26, at Edmonds Tournament.

December — 2, %South Puget Sound; 8, at Chemeketa; 9, at Clark; 15-17, at Green River Crossover Tournament; 21, @Edmonds; 30, at Shoreline.

January — 3, *at Big Bend; 6, *at Spokane; 10, *#Walla Walla; 13, at Columbia Basin; 19, *#Blue Mountain; 20, *#Treasure Valley; 24, at Wenatchee Valley; 27, *$Big Bend.

February — 3, *$Spokane; 7, at Walla Walla; 11, *&Columbia Basin; 16, at Treasure Valley; 17, at Blue Mountain; 21, *#Wenatchee Valley.

March — 1-4, NWAACC Tournament, Kennewick.

* — Eastern Region game

# — 8 p.m.; $ — 4 p.m.; & — 6 p.m.; % — 2 p.m.; @ — 7 p.m.