May 25, 2006

L to R: Steve Ball, Jeff Dunn, Eric Fiegi

A lot of Corban College athletes have left their mark on the pages of Warrior sports history. These days, a trio of former Corban basketball standouts is making its athletic mark in the pro ranks.

Corban’s 2006 All-American center Eric Fiegi is teaming with fellow Warrior alumni Jeff Dunn (’05) and Steve Ball (’95) to spearhead the Salem Stampede’s inaugural year in the International Basketball League.

In their professional debuts, former Warrior teammates Fiegi and Dunn have picked right up where their prolific college careers left off, pouring in the points and racking up huge team and league-leading numbers. Meanwhile Ball, a later addition to the Salem squad, has quickly made himself indispensable with his maturity and coaching presence on and off the court.

Together, the trio has played a significant role in the team's success in its first season.

Foundational to establishing Salem’s first-ever minor league pro basketball franchise has been its three pillars of character, community and competitiveness, say Stampede officials. During the pre-season press conference held at Corban’s C.E. Jeffers Sports Center announcing the signing of Fiegi, team President and General Manager Anthony Veliz said he wanted to put the Salem community on the map through a Stampede organization built on those principles.

“I think Eric, Steve and Jeff definitely cover those three areas,” said Joe Becerra, Stampede director of basketball operations and acting head coach. “We knew they were those type of people when we met them, and they’ve certainly come through for us in that regard.”

Corban’s connection has come through for the Stampede on the court in such significant ways that performances have spawned news headlines. “Fiegi's scoring leads Salem in comeback,” “Dunn, Fiegi combine for 77 points as Salem remains unbeaten,” and “Fiegi shines as Stampede win.” One newspaper article opened with “The one-two punch of former Corban College teammates Jeff Dunn and Eric Fiegi helped the Salem Stampede lift their record to 4-0….”

Fiegi leads the IBL in scoring with an average of 33.7 points per game, including a season-high 50 points earlier this season at home versus Seattle. (Photo courtesy of the Salem Stampede)

The numbers alone bear out the veracity of those news banners. Fiegi, who lead the NAIA in scoring (30.3 ppg) and rebounding (13.1 rpg) this past season, didn’t skip a beat offensively in moving his game to the pro level. The 6-foot-9-inch post leads all IBL players across the nation averaging 31.5 points per game and has registered big-time scoring nights of 47 and 43. More recently Fiegi proved he can dominate at the IBL level, when he hit 9 of 11 shots in the second half, grabbed 18 rebounds and pumped in a game-high 37 points to lead a Stampede comeback victory.

Veliz called Fiegi a franchise player, and just about three-quarters of the way through his rookie campaign, the three-time Warrior All-American has made good on that prophecy.

“I think Eric has established himself as probably the best player in the IBL right now,” said Becerra. “I was really impressed when I watched him play (at Corban). I’ve been around competitive basketball for about 30 years and he’s just an incredible basketball player.”

Fiegi has continued to be a dominating force at this level in spite of the bigger, stronger, faster athletes he constantly faces. Ball, who worked closely with Fiegi as a member of the Corban coaching staff two seasons ago, isn’t surprised by the big man’s production and smooth transition to the pro game.

“He’s got unbelievable footwork, probably the best footwork of any big man I’ve ever seen,” said Ball, who also gained All-American accolades as a powerful low-post player in his Warrior playing days.

Though IBL opponents bring more talent, size and athleticism to the match-up, Fiegi feels the Corban basketball program style and philosophy groomed him for the faster wide open game he’s now experiencing.

“It’s been a little different here, but having played for Coach (Justin) Sherwood (Corban College head basketball coach) I’ve been well prepared for it,” said Fiegi. “He liked to get up and down the floor and get a lot of shots up, and that’s what we do here in the IBL, so it’s been a pretty smooth transition.”

Smooth is an understatement. Fiegi, who is the NAIA’s all-time leader in field goals made (1,256) and the Warriors’ record holder for career rebounds and blocked shots, has had shooting nights where he was 17 for 19 from the field, rebounding games of 18 and 16, and shot-blocking efforts as high as 7, equaling his college best.

Fiegi has been so impressive that heads far and near are turning his way. In early May, Fiegi was ranked by ProBasketballNews.com as the No. 2 player in the country throughout all minor league pro basketball circuits, including the IBL, USBL and the WBA.  

More recently, the Portland Trail Blazers have invited Fiegi to a pair of workout sessions, and Eurobasket News ran a feature indicating the Corban star could get even more attention in the near future from the NBA ranks. This exciting development has appeared in multiple newspapers and is the subject of a video to be posted on June 30 at www.iblhoopsonline.com.

“Eric’s going to get opportunities and looks to play at a higher level than this for obvious reasons. He deserves it, and that’s great to see,” said Ball.

Dunn is ranked in the top in the IBL in scoring and posted a 40-point game earlier this season against Tacoma. (Photo courtesy of the Salem Stampede)

“I knew coming in he would contend to be one of the top players in the league,” said Becerra. “We’re just really excited to have had Eric here for one year, and I look forward to watching him in the NBA or in Europe.”

While Fiegi has been the go-to guy inside for the Stampede, Dunn has lit up the league from the perimeter. Despite a year’s absence from college-level or higher competition, Dunn has broken into the league firing on all cylinders.

The former Corban All-American Honorable Mention guard has given Salem that critical long-range scoring threat that rounds out the team’s offensive arsenal and is the perfect complement to the inside power game of Fiegi.

Dunn has sizzled at times, racking up game highs of 40 and 34 points with an assortment of NBA-like three-point bombs and nifty drives to the basket. Even though he’s not in the starting lineup, Dunn leads the Stampede in 3-point shooting and is considered one of the more formidable offensive players in the IBL, averaging 23 points per contest.

“You’re talking about a kid who’s coming off the bench and is still one of the top 10 scorers in the whole league – that’s incredible to me,” said Becerra.

“Jeff’s kind of a slippery fish. You just can’t hold onto him,” said Ball, who also coached Dunn when Jeff was a senior averaging 20 points a night in a Warrior uniform. “Jeff has unbelievable athleticism, great body control and just a natural gift to move. He’s great around the basket and he’s got phenomenal range.”

Dunn, a Corban College and Dallas High graduate who now works as a sales manager for Willamette Valley Fruit Co., has been thrilled to be back getting one more opportunity to play a game he loves.

“It’s obviously awesome to play here in Salem close to where I grew up,” said Dunn. “It’s kind of a blessing with the team here because if it were anywhere else, I probably wouldn’t be playing right now.”

Fiegi and Ball think it’s awesome that Dunn is a part of the Stampede’s historical first year as well.

“Night in and night out, Jeff’s been able to put up about 20 points per game for us,” said Fiegi. “ As a pure shooter, he really brings that outside threat to our team. That keeps the defense honest and that really helps me out because guys can’t come double me inside.”

“We had a game against Central Oregon where Eric scored 43 points, and Jeff had 40, and the Corban connection totaled 84 points. So if you do the math, you know how much I scored,” said a smiling Ball. “These guys are great. I love playing with them on this caliber of a team.”

With Fiegi and Dunn handling much of the production on the court, Ball, 32, finds much satisfaction in being the coach on the floor. Ball was invited by the Stampede to tryout and it wasn’t long before the 6-6 veteran power forward was asked to assume a player-coach role among the young talent.

Since his playing days at Corban, Ball has played professionally in Germany where he averaged 25 points and 10 rebounds a game, coached at the college and high school levels, and served as a camp director for NBC basketball camps for a number of years.

“Steve has added a lot of maturity and composure that we are looking for in our players,” said Becerra. “He’s a forward but he’s kind of a point-guard like a Scotty Pippen out there on the floor.”

Ball, a family man with his wife Rosey and two young sons, understands and enjoys his role with the Stampede. Though he is capable of and has put up double figure numbers at times – he scored 21 points off the bench recently -- Ball is motivated by other things.

“I knew my playing time was going to be real limited with the talent we have and my athleticism not being what it used to be,” said Ball. “But I’m taking more of a leadership position. If I can help these guys understand the game, see things a little bit better both on and off the court, then I’m contributing. I’m hoping to be more of a mentor to these guys.”

Becerra values the insight and ideas Ball brings to the strategy side of things. Fiegi and Dunn both think their fellow Corban veteran brings that and more to the team.

“Steve brings so much because he has such a great amount of knowledge and wisdom having been a coach and being around the game for so long,” said Fiegi. “As a player with an assistant coach being out there on the floor, he can talk to us and let us know where to be and do those sorts of things that I’ve never had before. It’s neat to see him fill that role and really flourish in it.”

“I remember watching him play when he was at Western Baptist (Corban),” said Dunn. “He just does everything right and obviously he has a very mature basketball mind.”

Maturity of faith and character is a common theme the three Corban stars share and which stands out. Becerra said the quality of the Corban teammates comes through in little but noticeable ways: Fiegi regularly leading the team in sprints at the end of conditioning, Ball constantly outworking guys 10 years younger, and Dunn arriving early and offering rides to teammates who don’t have transportation as examples.

“We say a prayer before every game,” said Dunn. “They chose character just as much as they did talent, and I think that says a lot.”

“There is a presence there,” said Ball. “The guys respect us in terms of what we believe and I know there are a few others who have a personal faith. For me, it’s nice to have a couple of guys you know you can rely on not just athletically, but emotionally and spiritually as well.”

“All of those things play into developing and growing as a team and from day one, all three of these guys have maintained that,” said Becerra. “Even when we’ve had bickering and rough times, they’ve maintained their focus and composure. They’ve always been leaders.”