The season for the Lewis-Clark State men’s basketball team has ended, but the future looks bright for a Warrior group that touted several talented underclassmen.
Four freshmen — Anthony Peoples Jr., Erick Chaney, John Lustig and Grayson Hunt — accounted for 38.4% of the total points scored this season. Each played key roles on a team that is in a rebuilding phase after losing almost everyone from the 2020-21 national runners-up.
Add in some talented sophomores on the roster, and the turnaround could come soon. The Warriors finished 14-15 overall, splitting their 22 Cascade Conference games before falling 77-75 in the first round of the conference tournament at Southern Oregon.
Lustig and Hunt stood out, combining for 36 starts and playing key roles during the conference season.
“We love being able to recruit locally and these two guys stood out as both players and people during the recruiting process. They both came from great programs where they were coached well,” coach Austin Johnson said.
Lustig starred at Colfax High School, where he was a three-time Class 2B Bi-County League MVP. His play this year earned him the Cascade freshman of the year award and was an honorable mention selection to the conference team.
Lustig took over the starting role in the second half of the season, starting in the final 14 regular-season games. He was a key contributor on the offense, where he scored double-digit points in 14 of the last 15 games and played more than 30 minutes in eight of those contests. Lustig averaged 12.8 points and 4.1 rebounds.
On Jan. 7 at Multnomah, Lustig collected a career-high 10 rebounds while scoring 17 points. Then on Jan. 13 at the P1FCU Activity Center against Oregon Tech, he went 9-of-16 from the field for a career-best 22 points.
“My assistant coach, CJ Johnson, identified John pretty early and knew he would be a great fit for how we play and the type of people we want to recruit,” Johnson said. “There are a lot of kids who can score big numbers in high school that can’t adjust to the college game, but we knew John had the ability to have that talent translate to the college level.”
Lustig felt no animosity from the upperclassmen about being inserted into the starting lineup.
“Everybody is supportive of each other,” Lustig said. “Our team is pretty close nit, we all want what is best for each other. Obviously, everyone wants to play and contribute, but we are all supportive of each other and the goal is just to win games.”
Hunt joined the Warriors from Pullman High School, where he led his team to a second-place finish in the Washington Class 2A state tournament his senior season and twice was voted All-Greater Spokane League first team.
The 6-foot-6 forward took over a starting position in early December and never let it go, a far cry from what the preseason plans were. Originally he was going to redshirt, but injuries during camp derailed that opportunity.
Hunt took the opportunity and ran with it, continually showing high basketball IQ, especially on the defensive side of the basketball where he led LCSC with 16 blocks. Hunt also was a strong contributor on the glass where he averaged 4.2 boards per contest.
He collected his first double-double Jan. 21 at home against Northwest. finishing with 13 points and had 10 rebounds, four of them on the offensive glass. Hunt led the team with 55 offensive rebounds on the year.
“We saw Grayson take a huge step in development from the summer going into his junior year at Pullman to the summer going into his senior year. He always had some skill, but during that year he grew in confidence and awareness of his ability,” Johnson said. “He flew under the radar in a lot of ways, but his ability to rebound and get post position was apparent every time we watched him.”
Hunt became a strong offensive option, especially after the calendar flipped to 2023. The freshman topped double-figures 10 times, including a six-game stretch where he reached that mark every game and averaged 15.5 points per game. The stretch was capped off with a personal-best 20-point performance Jan. 31 at Walla Walla.
“To go from planning to redshirt to starting and averaging 10 points per game in league play is not something a typical freshman could do. It is a testament to Grayson’s toughness and desire to help the team,” Johnson said.
The 2022-23 season was a breakout season for Lustig and Hunt, and Johnson hopes they take everything that they learned and use it to grow and get stronger.
“Both of them grew so much during the year in part because they are high-character kids who care about their teammates,” Johnson said. “Many people claim they want to win, but these two put those words into action time and time again in practices and games. They accepted coaching and teaching and never took being coached as a personal attack,” Johnson said. “As coaches we play guys that we trust and it was pretty clear that this year they earned a bunch of trust with how they responded in every situation.”
