CHENEY, Wash. — After a historic regular season that included a Big Sky record 16-0 start to conference play, record-tying 18-game overall winning streak and the fifth regular season Big Sky Championship in program history, Eastern Washington men's basketball was recognized with several 2022-23 Big Sky Conference honors on Friday.
Guard Steele Venters was named Most Valuable Player, head coach David Riley was named Coach of the Year, guard Angelo Allegri was named to the All-Conference First Team and forward Ethan Price earned All-Conference Honorable Mention.
It is the fifth time in seven years, and seventh time overall, that the Big Sky's top individual accolade has been awarded to Eastern Washington as Venters joins Tanner Groves (2021), Mason Peatling (2020), Bogdan Bliznyuk (2018), Jacob Wiley (2017), Rodney Stuckey (2006) and Alvin Snow (2004).
Eastern has now won Coach of the Year seven times, including each of the program's last three head coaches; Riley worked under both Shantay Legans (2020 winner) and Jim Hayford (2015). Ray Giacoletti earned the honor in 2004 after Steve Aggers won twice in 1998 and 2000, and Bob Hofman won in 1990.
Since joining the conference in 1987, Eastern Washington men's basketball players have earned 34 First Team All-Big Sky honors, nine Second Team and 21 Honorable Mentions.
EWU honorees in 2022-23 Big Sky Men's Basketball Awards
Steele Venters — Most Valuable Player, First Team All-Conference
Angelo Allegri — First Team All-Conference
Ethan Price — All-Conference Honorable Mention
David Riley — Coach of the Year
Steele Venters — Most Valuable Player, First Team All-Conference*
Venters, a redshirt sophomore guard out of Ellensburg, Wash., lit up the scoreboard all season, averaging 15.1 points per game, good for 10th in the conference. He ranks 6th in field goals made (167), 3rd in 3-pointers made (70) and 9th in FG% (46.1). He leads the first-place Eagles in scoring, field goal attempts, 3-point attempts, free throw percentage (min. 20 attempts) and steals.
The 6-foot-7 sharpshooter tallied 20+ points six times and 18+ points 10 times despite sharing the ball with several other capable scorers. Two other Eagles (Allegri and Tyreese Davis) average 10+ points per game and three more average 7+. Venters adds 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
His regular season was highlighted by two Big Sky Player of the Week honors on Dec. 6 and Jan. 10. Venters scored a career-high 33 (on 14-of-19 shooting) against North Dakota State on Dec. 3 and scored 10+ points in all but six games all season — failing to reach the benchmark only once after Dec. 20.
A two-year walk-on out of Ellensburg High, this season Venters became the 24th player in EWU history to reach 1,000 points entirely as an Eagle. He finished the regular season with 1,080 career points, 127 career assists and 240 career rebounds, adding 59 steals and 40 blocked shots in 81 career games (64 as a starter). He ranks 20th in EWU history in scoring, 12th in career 3PT% (40.9), 8th in 3-pointers made (168) and 1st in free throw percentage (85.9).
Venters was one of three unanimous First Team selections this year, joining Dillon Jones (Weber State) and RaeQuan Battle (Montana State). He earned Second Team Big Sky honors last season.
Allegri, a senior guard out of Kansas City, Mo., has become an all-around force in his final NCAA season. In his second campaign with the Eagles after transferring from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, he averages 13.5 points (14th Big Sky), 5.5 rebounds (11th) and 3.4 assists (8th), maintaining a 1.28 assist-turnover ratio (9th).
Against conference opponents is when Allegri truly broke out, ranking 10th in the Big Sky in scoring during conference play, 9th in rebounds (5.7), 5th in FG% (52.6) and 7th in assists (3.6). He picked up his 5th career double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds in the Eagles' regular season conference championship-clinching win over Northern Colorado on Feb. 18, and earned Big Sky Player of the Week honors on Jan. 31 after averaging 22.5 points and 6 rebounds in wins over Idaho State and Weber State.
In a 5-year NCAA career split between three seasons at UNC-Greensboro and two at EWU, headed into the conference tournament, Allegri has piled up 1,418 points (830 at EWU), 653 rebounds (396), 207 assists (156) and 102 steals (58) in 162 total games (75). He ranks 13th in EWU history in 3-pointers made (141).
Ethan Price — All-Conference Honorable Mention
A year after earning Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors in 2021-22, Price was recognized again as an All-Conference Honorable Mention after posting 9.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting an efficient 55.3% from the floor and 38.4% from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-10 sophomore out of England leads the team and ranks 3rd in the Big Sky in blocks, averaging just under 1 per game.
Price scored a career-high 23 on 9-of-11 from the floor on Jan. 19 at Northern Colorado, one of 7 games with 15+ this season. He scored in double figures 15 times, including 8 during conference play.
Over two seasons, Price has played and started in 65 games, scoring 640 points, 301 rebounds, 113 assists and 54 blocks.
In his second season as head coach, Riley earned top conference honors after leading the Eagles to a 22-9 regular season record, going 16-2 in conference play. As a team, the Eagles lead the Big Sky in several key statistical categories, including scoring (77.0), assists (15.4) and rebounds (36.1). The team's 57% effective field goal percentage not only leads the conference but ranks 4th in all of NCAA Division I. Their 49.1 traditional FG% ranks 9th nationally.
While offense earns the headlines, the Eagle defense has also excelled in Riley's second year in charge, ranking 1st in FG% against at 42%. They held opponents to under 40% shooting 11 times this season.
Before taking over as head coach in 2021, Riley was a longtime assistant who started his coaching path in 2011 as the Director of Basketball Operations under Jim Hayford, who coached him during his spectacular playing career at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash. from 2007-11. Riley was promoted to become an assistant coach in 2014, then Associate Head Coach under Shantay Legens in 2020.
2022-23 Big Sky Men's Basketball Individual Awards
Most Valuable Player —
Steele Venters, Eastern Washington
Defensive Player of the Year — Darius Brown II, Montana State
Newcomer of the Year — Isaac Jones, Idaho
Top Reserve — Great Osobor, Montana State
Freshman of the Year — Nigel Burris, Idaho
Coach of the Year —
David Riley, Eastern Washington
2022-23 Big Sky Men's Basketball All-Conference Team
First Team All-Conference
Steele Venters, Eastern Washington*
Dillon Jones, Weber State*
RaeQuan Battle, Montana State*
Angelo Allegri, Eastern Washington
Josh Bannan, Montana
Second Team All-Conference
Dalton Knecht, Northern Colorado
Isaac Jones, Idaho
Jubrile Belo, Montana State
Cameron Parker, Portland State
Aanen Moody, Montana
Third Team All-Conference
Callum McRae, Sacramento State
Jalen Cone, Northern Arizona
Brayden Parker, Idaho State
Steven Verplancken, Weber State
Darius Brown II, Montana State
All-Conference Honorable Mention
Daylen Kountz, Northern Colorado
Divant'e Moffitt, Idaho
Zach Chappell, Sacramento State
Ethan Price, Eastern Washington
Brock Mackenzie, Idaho State
* Unanimous First Team All-Conference
The Eagles head to Boise to compete in the 2023 Big Sky Men's Basketball Championship this weekend. They will face the winner of the 9/10-seed game on Sunday, March 5 at 5:30 p.m. MT / 4:30 p.m.
