Sports Column

Glory days hang over young Pilots

On College Hoops

By jason vondersmith

The Portland Tribune, Jan 25, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

©2008 WILL CREW

Nik Raivio (left) is following in the footsteps of dad Rick, a star from 1976-80, in playing for the University of Portland. Sherrard Watson (right), a slashing 6-6 forward, plays a different style then Sidney, his father, who was the banger on Portland Pilot teams of the late ’70s and early ’80s.

As far as eras go, the late 1970s and early ’80s stick out as the best years of basketball at the University of Portland.

In five seasons, starting in 1977, the Pilots went 88-49 under coach Jack Avina. They have had only three winning seasons since then, all under Rob Chavez in the 1990s.

But two sons of Avina players are trying to help turn around the Pilots’ fortunes.

Nik Raivio’s father, Rick, played at UP from 1976 to 1980, along with future NBA player Darwin Cook. A 6-4 shooting guard, Nik Raivio doesn’t play inside like his father did with the Pilots, but he has been trying to establish his own name and game after prepping at Mountain View High in Vancouver, Wash, and playing junior college ball.

Sherrard Watson’s father, Sidney, played on the Bluff from 1978 to 1982, the same years as the great Jose Slaughter, and never suffered through a losing season. The 6-6 Sherrard, a slasher, hardly resembles his father, a banger, in playing style, but he has made the most of a career that started as a walk-on from Sunset High.

The younger Raivio and Watson hardly talk about their family connections, but they have heard the stories of yesteryear.

“They had an old school coach (Avina), I heard he was a Bobby Knight-type,” Raivio says. “They had bigger guys, and it wasn’t always the prettiest of play. They weren’t the kind of guys who were trying to make friends out on the court. They left it on the court.”

Watson, a senior, wants to help the Pilots reach .500 this season — UP was 6-13 heading into tonight’s nonleague home game against Cal State Bakersfield.

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