Mustangs prepping for Big West opener against Hawai’i

With Big West Conference play looming and a first-game matchup in Hawai’i on Wednesday, the questions for Cal Poly head coach Joe Callero on Monday evening turned to his team’s health and depth.

“The worst thing that can happen is your last preseason game, you end up getting banged up,” said Callero, whose team attained some bumps and bruises in their final pre-conference game at Texas A&M last week. “Brian Bennett popped his shoulder, Joel Awich rolled an ankle and couldn’t practice today and then we’ve got Ridge who will have surgery Friday on his nose and will wear the mask through this week.”

Shipley, Bennett, and Awich will go to Hawai’i, but Awich will have limited availability and Shipley is scheduled to get his nose fixed after the Hawai’i game.

“[Shipley] will go to Hawai’i and be used on a need basis. He practiced today for the first time to see if he can go. He will have surgery Friday and will be required to wear a mask for four weeks.”

Callero knows that nobody in the conference will feel sorry for the Mustangs at this point.

“Nobody’s going to send us a little card,” said Callero. “No sympathy cards are going to come out from the conference. We’d love to be healthy, but this is competition. This is why we have a deep bench. Luke Meikle, Josh Martin, Jaylen Shead, Zach Gordon are going to have to step up a little bit.”

Cal Poly will have another eight days off, their bye in the 9-team Big West follows their game in Honolulu. This year’s early-season bye might come at an opportune time for Cal Poly, given the injured players who could use that time to heal.

“My thing with the bye is always hoping that [it] comes in when you’re recovering from some injuries,” said Callero. In this case, the coach definitely got his wish.

For their part, Hawai’i comes into Wednesday night’s matchup with the best record in the Big West at 11-2 on the season, including a 12-point win against Auburn. The Rainbow Warriors have been hot of late, but have only played one game this season off of the Islands. The game against Cal Poly will be no different.

Hawai’i is lead by Aaron Valdes, who recorded a triple-double against Howard in the Rainbow Warriors’ last game. Around Valdes are a number of hyper-athletic guards and wing players and two big men in the middle who can bang with the best of them. Head coach Eran Ganot brings a level of mental toughness and basketball moxie to a program that’s been through its fair share of tumult in the past 12 months. Despite all that, they are a Big West Tournament finalist who brings back most of their squad from a season ago.

The Mustangs have always played Hawai’i tough. If Cal Poly can not get down by double-digits early, look for them to make a run at some point in the game and keep things tight on Wednesday night.

Cal Poly at Hawai’i

Wed., January 6, 9:00 PM (Pacific Time)

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