This time, M-P grad Lozeau hopes to bust a bracket or two

Published 11:21 pm Monday, March 17, 2008

This time last year, like many of his classmates at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, Nathan Lozeau was frantically filling out an NCAA tournament bracket as part of an annual March Madness pool.

The 6-foot-10 senior showed an obvious bias for big men by picking Roy Hibbert’s Georgetown Hoyas to win it all.

Lozeau won’t make that mistake again.

“This year,” he said Monday afternoon, “I’m going with us.”

That would be the University of San Diego Toreros, with whom Lozeau is a freshman reserve. He is one of three local products who will attend this year’s NCAA tournament as first-year players, joining Portland State reserve Justynn Hammond (a former Mountlake Terrace and Garfield High player) and Washington State redshirt Charlie Enquist (an Edmonds native and King’s High School graduate).

Lozeau, 19, has been getting limited minutes as a reserve during San Diego’s improbable run to the Big Dance. He averages 1.8 points and 1.2 points per game in 25 appearances with the 21-13 Toreros.

After shocking St. Mary’s and Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference tournament earlier this month, San Diego earned a No. 12 seed in the West Region and will face fourth-seeded Connecticut (24-8) in Tampa, Fla., this Thursday.

“It’s been crazy,” Lozeau said of the Toreros’ run to the NCAA tournament. “It’s just wild down here. A lot of excitement.”

This is only the fourth time in school history, and the first time since 2003, that USD has made it to the NCAA tournament, and Lozeau feels fortunate to be a part of it.

He originally committed to Eastern Washington University but got out of his letter-of-intent shortly after the May 2007 announcement that head coach Mike Burns would not be back with the Eagles. New USD coach Bill Grier, a longtime assistant at Gonzaga, called Lozeau and convinced him to head south.

“I knew coach Grier was a really good coach,” Lozeau said, “and he’s done a nice job. Plus, it was a real good school.”

Things didn’t look good for the Toreros after an 8-11 start to the season, but they won 13 of their final 15 to become one of three WCC teams to make the NCAA tournament.

Instead of worrying about any NCAA tournament pools, Lozeau is more concerned with a huge UConn frontline that includes 7-foot-3 star Hasheem Thabeet.

“They’re a big team,” said the 6-10, 280-pound Lozeau, the Toreros’ tallest player. “(San Diego’s 6-8 center) Gyno Pomare is a good player, but they’re such a big team that he might need some help in there.”

If Lozeau’s first year of college is any indication, NCAA pools may be a thing of the past.

“Hopefully, we can keep this up,” he said. “We’ve got a good group of guys, and we don’t have any seniors, so hopefully we can be back again.”

Portland State’s Hammond, a 6-5 forward who transferred to Garfield before his senior year of high school, is averaging 3.8 points per game in 16 contests with the Vikings this season. This is the first time in PSU’s history that the school is going to the NCAAs.

Hammond helped lead Mountlake Terrace to the state tournament in 2003 and ‘04 before moving to California. He played his final year of high school basketball at Garfield.

WSU’s Enquist is on a full scholarship but was redshirted this season and will have four years of eligibility remaining.