Northwest Notes Nov. 24, 2020

EWU's season opener at Oregon postponed due to COVID-19

Eastern Washington University's season-opening men's basketball game at Oregon on Wednesday has been officially postponed because of two positive Covid-19 cases within EWU's program, Eagle coach Shantay Legans confirmed.

No make-up date has been scheduled, but Wednesday's game was called off because of concerns about EWU having enough scholarship players available for the game as a result of both the positive cases and the resulting isolation policies of additional student-athletes under contract tracing protocols.

"The health and well-being of our student athletes is always our primary concern," Legans said of the match-up between the reigning champions of the Big Sky and Pac-12 conferences. "We rely on the school and county health experts to guide us though these unprecedented times. We look forward to re-scheduling this game as it is always fun to play the top teams in our region.

Eastern's game at Washington State this Saturday is expected to be played, provided several players currently under quarantine are tested and cleared to play. Eastern is scheduled to open its home schedule versus Northwest University next Monday at 6:05 p.m. at Reese Court in Cheney.

Eastern is also scheduled to play at UNLV on Dec. 9 and at Saint Mary's on Dec. 15. The team's league home openers are scheduled against Portland State on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2.

Zags' Kispert on NABC Preseason Player of the Year Watch List

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gonzaga senior Corey Kispert was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches preseason watch list for the 2021 NABC Division I Player of the Year.

Former Dayton standout Obi Toppin won the award last season.

Kispert was a finalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award last season. He was named the DI-AAA ADA Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year, and was also tabbed USBWA All-District IX, NABC Second Team All-District 9 and WCC First Team. He was 11th in the West Coast Conference in points per game (13.9) and ninth in minutes played per game (32.9). The Edmonds, Wash., native led the team in 3-point made field goals (78) and made 81 percent of his free-throws. He shot 43.8 percent from behind the arc last season.

Gonzaga opens the season against No. 6 Kansas on Thursday (10:30 a.m. PST, KAYU) in Fort Myers, Fla.