Seattle U. Basketball Preview | Men begin laying the groundwork for D-I move

Shaun Burl didn't sign up for this.

Not the flurry of flights along the West Coast, the scrutiny from media and fans and what likely will be an increased number of defeats, all byproducts of the Seattle University men's basketball team's return to Division I competition this season.

He never wanted to play games against Oregon State and Loyola Marymount. If he did, then the 6-foot-1 senior point guard from Berkeley, Calif., might have walked on at California or some other Pac-10 school.

Burl dreamed of winning a D-II title when he came to Seattle U. four years ago. He played in 23 of 27 games as a freshman, helped the team take incremental steps toward a possible national title and was perfectly content beating the daylights out of Humboldt State and Seattle Pacific in relative anonymity.

Then everything changed.

President Stephen Sundborg, coach Joe Callero and athletic director Bill Hogan successfully petitioned the NCAA to reinstate the Redhawks as a D-I school. This season is the first of a five-year reclassification period for Seattle U., which is not eligible for postseason play until the 2012-13 season.

"For me, it's kind of hard to be a part of it for only one year," Burl said. "I've worked hard to see this program go from being a not very good D-II program to an average D-II program to a D-II program that was competing to win a championship. And now that's all gone, and now we're at a new step.

"Part of me wishes that I still had that chance to win a championship. That would have been awesome, but at the same time it's a player's dream to play at the highest level."

Still, Burl, the longest-tenured Redhawk, had questions.

"Quite frankly, they all wanted to know how are we going to do this," Callero said. "What you do now is set clear, attainable and measurable goals during the season. We talk about going to places, many times hostile environments, and playing the best teams and the best players and testing yourself."

Callero won't admit it publicly, but sources around him say he'd be ecstatic if the Redhawks could somehow finish at least 15-14 and extend the team's streak of four consecutive winning seasons.

"I want to win games," Burl said. "We always play to win games. That comes from Coach and that comes from just our overall team attitude. We don't have to change our goals, but now just kind of add to them. Now we're also going out and laying the groundwork. That's another major goal. To set a standard and improve on it each year."

The Redhawks open by hosting the Elgin Baylor Tip-off Classic this weekend at the Connolly Center. Seattle U. will play Northwest Christian College before beginning the D-I portion of the schedule with a trip to Fresno State on Nov. 25. That's followed by an appearance in the Great Alaska Shootout.

Three of SU's top four scorers from last season — Ryan Coldren (12.5 points), Ricky Berry (9.5) and Michael Knight (9.2) — are gone, which leaves Chris Gweth to handle the offensive load. The 6-1 guard from Beaverton, Ore., led the Redhawks in exhibitions, tallying 24 against Point Loma Nazarene and 20 against Evergreen State.

With 6-8 senior forwards Leigh Swanson and Austen Powers on the front line, Callero has adopted an up-tempo attack to offset SU's lack of height. Mike Boxley, a 6-5 junior forward, is the fifth starter, and 6-5 senior forward Michael Wright is first off the bench.

Burl is a playmaker, and his game is about sacrifice. He led SU last season with 114 assists and was second with 38 steals, but will have to increase his 6.1 points per game if the Redhawks hope to pull many upsets.

"Shaun makes sure we're all where we need to be," freshman Gavin Gilmore said. "In a sense, he's just like coach. And you can tell that this team is really important to him."

Because he gets only one season of D-I competition, Burl said he has plenty to prove — first and foremost that he can play with anybody in the country.

"I'm totally jealous of the young guys," he said. "They get to come in and be a real big part of this. Right now we're scrambling to get games wherever we can get them, but next year they'll play the U-Dub. That's going to be awesome.

"The satisfaction I get is to say I was there at the beginning and hopefully getting them started the right way."

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com