Led by their senior players, men's and women's basketball head to Las Vegas this weekend
By Nicholas Slepnikoff and John McCarty
Robin Smeulders
Robin Smeulders, originally from Braunschweig, Germany, spoke highly of his time here. His best experience at Portland was the opportunity to improve.
"The first two years we lost a lot," Smeulders said. "Now, we are finally winning a lot of games. It feels great when your hard work pays off."
In the 2007-2008 season, Smeulders was named to the WCC All-Academic Team, was ranked 8th in the WCC rebound category (6.2 per game) and tied in scoring (9.7 per game).
In the 2008-2009 season, he was named to the All-Academic team again, and earned WCC Player of the Week.
This year, Smeulders had a high 75.5 3-point shooting percentage and posted a high 12.8 point per game (370 points total). During his UP tenure, Smeulders has played a total of 788 minutes with 189 rebounds. He also recorded over 1000 points, breaking the record in the Lewis and Clark finale this year.
"I want to try and play professionally for a little bit and try to stay away from a regular job as long as possible," Smeulders said.
Nik Raivio
Nik Raivio wasn't always a Pilot. Raivio was bouncing back from a broken collar bone which made him miss his Santa Rosa JC 2006-2007 season.
Playing his first season in 2007, Raivio now nears his final one. Like Smeulders, Raivio thinks the team has improved greatly since he first began to play. He also is glad to see the sacrifices coming to fruition.
"We had to sacrifice our summer," Raivio said, "waking up at 6 a.m. for 6:30 workouts. We weren't just doing that for nothing."
In 2007 and 2008, Raivio led Portland in scoring and finished 9th in the WCC in scoring average at 12.6 points.
In the 2008-2009 season, Raivio was named to the All WCC First Team selection. He was also the only guard to finish in the top 10 in both scoring (4th) and rebounding (7th). He finished the season 10th in steals and scored an impressive career high 33 points in a victory over Cal State Bakerfield. In this last season, Raivio scored 14.1 points per game, leading the Pilots. He also captured three double doubles, became the 31st person to break 1000 points for the season (12th in terms of players who played for three years and less, before he strained his Achilles tendon this season. Fortunately, he will be returning to Portland next year, but not as a student.
"I'm going to come back and be an assistant coach here next year," Raivio said.
Taishi Ito
Travelling across the Pacific, Taishi Ito came to play with the Pilots in the 2006-2007 season. During his time at Portland, Ito is happy to see that all of the hard work paying off. However, he remembers the road clearly.
"All of the practices, training and hard workouts were my favorite things," Ito said.
Starting in 2006, Ito was named to the WCC All-Freshman Team. Ito, a versatile player, also led all WCC freshmen in assists (3.8 per game) , free throw percentage (.775), 3-point percentage (.364) and minutes per game (35.6). In the 2007-2008 season, he started in 22 games and played 27 games over the course of the season. In 2008, he also finished 2nd in the WCC in the assist/turnover ratio at 1.8. He also scored double figures five times, led the team in assists for 14 games and led the team's free throw percentage at .845.
Unfortunately, he also lost his father during this season. However, returning after a week, Ito came back to help the Pilots in a one point victory over Montana, scoring six points and playing 34 minutes.
In 2008 and 2009, he became team co-captain and was voted the Best Defensive Player by the Portland squad. In his final season, Ito has continued to be a versatile player. Posting numerous double figure games and providing solid defense, he has continued to be important to the team. He also has a total of 17 steals, 34 assists and an assist to turnover ratio of 1.9 in his career as a Pilot. After college, Ito is unsure of his future.
"So far I don't have any plans," Ito said, "but hopefully I'll go back to Japan and keep playing basketball."
TJ Campbell
Campbell joined the Pilots in the fall of the 2008-09 season; the Pilots first postseason appearance since 1996. In his first season at UP, Campbell was named WCC Co-Newcomer of the year and WCC All Conference first team. He also led the WCC in three-point percentage (.531) and was second in assists (4.7). With the addition of Campbell and Senior Nik Raivio, the Pilots went from a total of nine league wins from 2006-08, to 19 league wins from 2008-10.
After securing a win over Lewis and Clark the Pilots are 20 and nine, the first 20 win season since 1994-95. They are ranked third in the WCC for the second straight season, while Campbell has been named to the WCC All Conference first team for the second straight year and is the first player in Pilot history to receive three WCC Player of the Week awards in one year.
"The seniors really helped build the team this season," Head Coach Eric Reveno said. "But this team is a milestone."
Campbell plans to continue his basketball career after graduation, although he says he will miss the players, coaches and students at UP. "It's a great honor to be a big player at UP," Campbell said. "I really just want to thank the team and the coaches."
Ethan Niedermeyer
A member of the first recruiting team, Niedermeyer has been with the Pilots since Head Basketball Coach Eric Reveno took over in 2006. Niedermeyer's freshman year and Reveno's inaugural season as head coach; the team was 4-10 in league, now they are 10-4 in league.
A testament to Reveno's status as a nationally ranked recruiter, Nierdermeyer has developed into well-rounded athlete both on and off the court. He is currently ranked 10th for all time 3-point field goal percentage (.378), shooting 40 percent all time from the floor, and a career high 16 steals this season. Academically speaking, Niedermeyer has been named to the WCC All Academic team for three years straight thanks to his cumulative GPA of 3.26.
"The seniors have done a lot and they are going to be missed," Reveno said, "There will never be another first recruiting class again.
Following his time at UP, Niedermeyer hopes to either continue his basketball career or to pursue a law degree. "It was great just to be a part of all the hard work," Niedermeyer said. "I'm going to miss the close-knit community and the simple things at UP."
Laiken Dollente
Dollente has been an offensive powerhouse ever since she set foot in the Chiles center in 2006, during which she was named to All WCC first team, All WCC freshman team, led the conference in both free throw accuracy by shooting (.886) and 3-point percentage (.447).
Dollente has been named team MVP three years running, and has also been on the All WCC first team twice more (08-09, 09-10). She currently leads the nation in free throw percentage (.922), and holds UP records in all-time free throw shooting (.881) and 3-point accuracy (.409).
Dollente is also ranked third in all-time career points at 1,840. Off the court Dollente has been named to the WCC All Academic team twice (08-09, 09-10) and is majoring in communication studies.
