Yo! Who’s This Yoest? : Loyola Scorer Gets By on Grit, Good Shooting

Move over, Reggie Miller. There’s another forward in town.

He’s not flashy. He’s not sassy. He’s not on anybody’s preseason all-star team.

But a month into the college basketball season, junior forward Mike Yoest of Loyola Marymount ranks with the nation’s top scorers, astounding many observers--including himself--who remember, as late as a year ago, Yoest as a reluctant shooter.

Some recall a scrappy, raw high school player who was barely recruited by colleges.

Now, the 6-foot 7-inch, lanky junior is averaging 23.6 points and 8.1 rebounds, is shooting 56% from the field and recently set an Iowa Hawkeye tournament scoring record, getting 57 points in two games, including a career-high 35 against Washington State.

He is also earning the accolades and attention of his own coaches and rivals, who note that Yoest’s floor-burn style of play hasn’t changed while his scoring average has.

“He’s the kind of player coaches love,” Iowa Coach Tom Davis said.

Washington State assistant Coach Prescott Smith, who recruits the Southland and remembers Yoest as unremarkable in high school, said: “He’s probably the best we’ve played against this year. He plays very smart, very fundamentally sound, doesn’t try to do things he can’t do, and never takes a bad shot. Some players tend to float for a while--he’s on the move all the time. You don’t always notice him because he doesn’t do the spectacular things. . . . I wish we had him on our team.”

Yoest’s reaction: “I’m more than happy. It’s stunning me, really.”

Loyola Coach Paul Westhead never saw Yoest play as a freshman, when he started for much of the season on an undermanned 11-16 team and averaged 5.9 points. He said his first impression of Yoest in early practices was of a scrappy, bony, not very offensive-minded role player.

“My early impressions were he was a lean, elbowy, dive-on-the-floor scrapper kind of guy who defensively always seemed to get in somebody’s way. He was not a very fluid, offensive-oriented player, but a hard-working player, a garbage man, a guy who goes to work every day.”

Yoest is essentially the same now, but he carries a bigger lunch pail. He still dives, still takes the charges, still sets picks and gets a lot of garbage around the basket. He has added a consistent jumper from around the free-throw line and can be deadly shooting turnaround jumpers from the low post.

What makes him an unusual scorer, Westhead said, is that Yoest is not the hub of the offense. “His greatest challenge is to not expect more than each game offers,” Westhead said. “He’s an opportunist. Some games, he might get 25 or 30, some games, he might get 15 and not be having a bad game. His real threat is you forget about him. He’s like a guy who creases the seam. I don’t know if we can--or want--to do special things for him. He’s a guy who plays off our own plays, gets the second shots. He’s a great role player.”

Yoest began to emerge as a scorer in West Coast Athletic Conference play last season. Both he and Westhead point to the game at the University of San Diego last February as the turning point. In a crucial game played before a fervid crowd, Loyola scoring leader Keith Smith sprained an ankle, and Yoest took over. He scored a team-high 24 points as Loyola won by a basket. Yoest was also the leading scorer in the team’s last game, getting 25 points against Wyoming in a second-round National Invitation Tournament loss. He finished the season with an 11.3 scoring average and increased that almost two points in conference games.

“The San Diego game was probably the best game of my life up to that point,” Yoest said. “People started showing a lot of confidence in me, and I started feeling a lot of confidence.”

Westhead: “His offense kind of crept up on us. All of a sudden, he was making some good power moves inside. Against San Diego, he was posting up their bigger guys, he was shooting over (7-footer Scott) Thompson. One play, he posted up and did a 180-slam dunk. My view was kind of blocked. I said, ‘Was that Yoest? ‘ “

Yoest says his transformation is a result of developing a jump shot, and working within an offense in which everyone is encouraged to shoot. As a freshman under Ed Goorjian, Yoest and teammates were expected to get the ball to Smith, who led the WCAC in scoring the last two years.

“My freshman year, we were kind of in a rut,” Yoest recalled. “We were very limited in what we were allowed to do. We depended on Keith to score. But it showed me I could play. Under Coach Westhead, if you’re open, you’re supposed to shoot it. That’s what a player wants to hear. He encourages you to take it. If you don’t, he yells at you.”

Yoest has been an avid learner. “People have been looking for me, so it’s up to me to score,” he said. “Every time I touch the ball, I’m thinking score. In years prior, I was always scared and passed it out. Now I want to shoot it. The thing I’m trying not to do is let it affect the rest of my game. But I’ll take the points.”

Yoest tore knee ligaments early in his junior year at Crespi High School in Encino and missed the season. He was an inexperienced, lightly regarded player entering his senior year, but he had a good season, earned all-Del Rey and all-Valley honors and was noticed by scouts who came out to see teammate Hunter Knapp. Loyola signed Knapp and, with a scholarship remaining, took Yoest as well.

Yoest has been a starter since his arrival, while Knapp played little and transferred after last season. Yoest’s physical abilities--he’s a good leaper, quick around the basket and nearly tireless--grow on coaches who aren’t looking for just another pretty jumpshot.

His high school coach, Paul Muff, said: “He was a sleeper. He has improved more than most as a collegian. Everything he’s done is a credit to his hard work. Westhead has recognized his value when some coaches wouldn’t. He’s never going to pout, never going to give you a hard time. He would’ve been happy to sit the bench four year and work his butt off.”

Yoest concurred: “Loyola was the only Division I school that wanted me, and they signed me right at the end of the recruiting period. I think they (colleges) were a little suspect of my knee. I was an in-between height and I didn’t have a good shot. I was definitely a gamble for Loyola. I thought I’d come and sit four years. I was happy with that. I’d get a good education and still get to play the game I love. Everything now is just icing.”

An added bonus is that Loyola is winning, after a decade of losing. Loyola’s 19-11 record last season was its best in the decade. The team is 5-4 going into a three-game home stand that includes Loyola of Maryland at 7:30 p.m. Monday and Marquette at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Yoest, who bears a resemblance to the young Roger Maris, has become a vocal leader, shouting encouragement in huddles and barking instructions on the floor.

“Freshman year was definitely a learning experience, building a solid foundation,” he said. “I learned I don’t want to lose like that again. Freshman year, we went out hoping to win. Now, we go out expecting to win, doing whatever it takes to win. If we’re behind, we’ve got the will to fight back. I like to get the guys ready to go, let them know what I’m thinking. Last year, we knew we had Keith and Forrest (McKenzie), and what they said went. I’m one of the veterans here now.”

Yoest expects winning to become a tradition. “Coach Westhead is building a little dynasty here,” he said.

And Mike Yoest, who was expected to be just another brick in the wall, is now one of the pillars.