2008-09 Men's Basketball Season Outlook

Inexperienced Fighting Scot Team Still Has Usual High Aspirations

Versatile senior Marty Bidwell aims to lead Wooster to an unprecedented fifth-straight NCAC championship.

The College of Wooster men’s basketball program, the winningest NCAA team of the 2000s (all divisions) with a .859 winning percentage (232-38), finds itself in an unusual spot entering the 2008-09 season. Wooster is the defending North Coast Athletic Conference champions again, having won the title four years in a row now, however, the Fighting Scots don’t possess nearly as many proven veteran players as they usually do at this point.

Gone from last season’s squad, which went 23-5, including a 15-1 NCAC record and a five-point setback to eventual national champion Washington University-St. Louis in the first round of the NCAA Div. III Tournament, are James Cooper, Devin Fulk, and Evan Will. They formed the only senior class at Wooster to have won four conference championships, with Cooper having been a three-time D3hoops.com All-American, a two-time NCAC Player of the Year, and a 2,000-point career scorer (2,037), and Fulk and Will earning second-team all-NCAC status a season ago. Fulk, also a shooting guard, tossed in 1,000 points himself (1,083), more than half coming on a school-record 48.7 3-point field goal percentage, and Will served as a significant force in the post the last three seasons while totaling 718 points and 553 rebounds for his career.

“We’ve been hit hard by the departure of three more outstanding players. It’s been back-to-back years now that we’ve lost three very good basketball players,” explained the Scots’ veteran head coach Steve Moore, who owns a 490-113 record in 21 seasons at the school. “That leaves our program with a limited number of proven players.”

“It’s a small number, but we think the proven players that do return are very good players, can be the leaders, and form a good solid nucleus,” he added.

Making it even more of a challenge for Wooster is a summer knee injury to senior point guard and first-team all-NCAC honoree Brandon Johnson. He’s averaged 10.6 points, 3.3 assists, and 1.6 steals over his career and those numbers will be missed for several early-season games, but he hopes to comeback for the majority of the conference season.

“Brandon’s injury certainly adds to all of the uncertainties,” Moore said.

And it leaves the Scots with senior forward Marty Bidwell and sophomore forward Bryan Wickliffe as the top contributors from last year. The versatile Bidwell received honorable mention on the All-NCAC Team, averaging 9.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.8 steals, while Wickliffe contributed 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds in his first season.

A few other veterans have the potential to increase their playing time, including returning letterwinners Ian Franks, Dustin Geitgey, and Robert Melick. Franks, a sophomore, and Geitgey, a junior, are guards looking to make up for the loss of Cooper and Fulk. Melick, a junior post, was part of the regular rotation throughout last season.

A talented group of newcomers dot the roster as well, all of which should make for a competitive preseason with several players jockeying for spots on the varsity team.

While some of the faces and names may be new to Wooster fans, look for the team to continue to play the same style of basketball. That means an emphasis on fundamentals as well as up-tempo capability when given the opportunity in transition, which has led to the Scots leading the league in scoring offense five years running.

Another characteristic Moore will be stressing throughout the season is improved defense after seeing the team’s defensive field-goal percentage slip to .438, .432, and .444 the last three years. Prior to that, Wooster had limited the opposition to under 40 percent in six of eight seasons.

“With the departure of two outstanding shooters in James and Devin, we need to be a better defensive team this year, compared to the last few years,” Moore concurred.

Overall, the Scots have their work cut out to live up to the reputation they’ve built up, but the makings are still there for a team that can contend for the NCAC crown and make a postseason run in March. Wooster has won a league-high 11 NCAC championships, with eight coming in the last 11 years, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament 13 of the last 14 seasons.

“We’re still optimistic,” summed up Moore. “There are question marks. If Brandon can return and play a good part of the season and get back to being the player he has been, and some of our new players can make the adjustment to college basketball, then I think we can still compete for the conference championship.”

A more detailed look at each position and a preview of the Scots’ schedule follows:

BACKCOURT

Johnson had knee surgery on July 30, but the coaching staff is optimistic he can make an earlier than normal return from such an injury. When he does come back, Johnson, who needs just 24 points to reach the 1,000 milestone, will look to revert to the form that has seen him go from NCAC Newcomer of the Year to second-team all-NCAC as a sophomore to first-team all-NCAC last year. The lightning quick point guard has averaged 11.0-plus points and passed out 100-plus assists each of the last two seasons, while also serving as a defensive stalwart, witness his 146 career steals.

Franks and Geitgey are among those battling for time at the guard positions. Franks went from being a jayvee member to earning a key role on the team down the home stretch as a freshman. He played in 17 games overall, averaging 3.2 points, helped by 8-of-17 3-point shooting, as well as 2.1 rebounds. Franks is an excellent ball handler and will probably handle the point guard position until Johnson returns to action. Geitgey, who has appeared in 44 career games, possesses a nice shooting touch and was the team’s leading scorer during its trip to Italy this past summer. He averaged 15.0 points over four games there.

Top newcomers in the backcourt include Nathan Balch, a transfer from NCAA Div. I University of Missouri-Kansas City, Matt Fegan, Scott Voiers, and Terrence Williams.

FRONTCOURT

Bidwell, an aggressive, physical player, has been quietly one of the most valuable team members the last three years. He does a little bit of everything, having totaled 581 points, 327 rebounds, 235 assists, and 95 steals over 91 career games, and his best attribute is defense, possessing the ability to guard a variety of different positions.

Another returning starter at forward is Wickliffe. He had a solid freshman campaign, putting up double figures in the scoring column 15 times while leading the NCAC in field-goal percentage (.571). Wickliffe also ranked 14th in the league in rebounding (5.4 rpg), and Moore is hoping for him “to raise his game another level” this season.

Melick has exhibited the ability to be a significant contributor. At 6-8, he is built in the form of a traditional center and is coming off a season in which he averaged 5.0 points and 2.5 rebounds.

There also appears to be an opportunity for freshmen such as Mike Evans, Brian Frank, Justin Hallowell, Greg Ross, and Drew Sawyer to earn some playing time.

SCHEDULE

Once again, Wooster is faced with a challenging schedule, especially early when Johnson will have to miss several games. After an exhibition against NCAA Div. I Ohio University, the Scots will have their annual lid-lifter tournament, the 14th Al Van Wie/Rotary Classic, which welcomes Messiah College, Randolph-Macon College, and Washington & Jefferson College. Messiah made the NCAA Tournament as recently as 2007, Randolph-Macon is ranked No. 14 in the D3hoops.com preseason top-25, and Washington & Jefferson appears to be an up-and-coming regional team as it was picked as the favorites to win the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

The non-conference season also includes a road game at Carnegie Mellon University, which went 19-9 last season, including a 31-point victory over the eventual national champs, and a tournament at Hanover College, where the Scots’ first-round match-up will be No. 7 ranked University of Wis.-Platteville, and all that occurs during a 10-day stretch in the month of November.

Wooster will squeeze in a couple of home conference games in early December, highlighted by Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday night, Dec. 6. Ohio Wesleyan went on an excellent run last year, winning the NCAC tourney and reaching the NCAA sectional semifinals (Round of 16).

The Scots return to their non-league slate with Albion College, which is in the “others receiving votes” category of the D3hoops.com top-25 after a 19-6 record in 2007-08, as part of the WQKT/Steve Smith Holiday Hoops Classic – an annual event that includes several high-quality high school basketball games at Timken Gymnasium Dec. 13-14. That will be followed by a five-day trip to Hawaii where they’ll face NCAA Div. II University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Wooster will wrap up the non-conference schedule with its “Mose” Hole/Kiwanis Classic Tournament, one of the longest running Div. III tournaments in the country. The 46th edition features Kean University, Mt. Union College, and Thiel College.

When the calendar turns over to January, it will be all NCAC games for the remainder of the regular season. The Scots’ conference slate includes home-and-home series with the other nine schools, except for two (Kenyon College and Oberlin College), with which Wooster will play single games. The Scots’ home game with arch-rival Wittenberg University is set for Jan. 17, at 7:30 p.m. Last year, an over-capacity crowd of 3,550 watched Wooster earn a hard-fought 66-61 victory.

Moore thinks the road to the NCAC championship might be as challenging as it has ever been. “There are a lot of teams on the rise,” he explained. “There are probably six teams truly capable of competing for the title.”