HL Tournament
Mar 3, 2007 7:14:20 GMT -5
Post by wsu97 on Mar 3, 2007 7:14:20 GMT -5
Tom Archdeacon: WSU's Pleiman rolls up his sleeves as hometown cheers
By Tom Archdeacon
Saturday, March 03, 2007
FAIRBORN — They carry homemade signs with messages such as, "We love J.P.," and, "Pleiman Fan Club." Some paint themselves Raider green and cheer his every move. Others bring him plates of cookies, pies and cakes. Almost all wait after Wright State basketball games to get his autograph, have a photo taken with him or just chitchat about their common bond.
Jordan Pleiman doesn't just have a fan club, he's got an entire town.
He's Fort Loramie's favorite son.
More than 200 people from the small Shelby County village showed up at the Nutter Center for the Feb. 10 game with Butler, and that prompted other WSU players to tease the 6-foot-8 junior center.
"They crack me up," Pleiman said with a laugh. "They're like, 'What, the whole town is here again?' "
Not quite — but close to one-sixth of the population made the 42-mile trek to the game.
"The whole town supports him," WSU coach Brad Brownell said. "He's a good role model and he's very popular back there ... just as he should be."
Next to Tom Brandewie, who captained the Ohio State team in 1993, Pleiman is thought to be the only other NCAA Division I male basketball player from the town.
Pleiman has started every game the past two years. The undersized team's tallest player, he finished the regular season as the Horizon League's most accurate field-goal shooter (.572). Going into tonight's conference tournament semifinal, he's averaging 7.7 points and 5.5 rebounds a game.
Certainly his play draws attention, but what strikes a chord with the home folks is that he's one of them. He plays summer softball in Fort Loramie and has coached peewee basketball there, too.
"I'm proud of my accomplishments at Wright State," Pleiman said, "but I'm also proud of where I came from."
Told about a TV tour the Heat's Dwyane Wade made of Miami — from the cruise ships and Little Havana to South Beach with its glitzy Ocean Drive, Art Deco hotels and beautiful people — Pleiman was asked for his own back-home highlights:
"Well, there's Al's Bar and Grill, their chicken wings are phenomenal. And Bruckens has a good salad bar, and there's Scudzy's ... no, whoops ... that's in Newport.
"There's St. Michael's (Catholic) Church, and the elementary school's the oldest working school in Ohio. There's the old Miami-Erie Canal and Lake Loramie and ... ahhhh."
A bowling alley? A movie theater?
"No, we just have two stop lights," Pleiman said with a shrug. "And two highways, Route 66 and 705."
And both of those roads take the townsfolk toward Dayton. That's especially the case with Ron and Vicky Schulze and their family. They're Pleiman neighbors, look at Jordan as another son, and they come to most Raiders' home games.
"He's just a great kid," Ron said, "a real gentle giant."
Yet that demeanor — and more so his small-school roots — may have worked against Pleiman with college recruiters.
"I heard I couldn't be successful at the D-I level coming from a Division IV school," he said. "So I used that as motivation."
He was recruited to Wright State by former assistant Brian Donoher, of whom he says: "He's such a good, stand-up guy, I knew I'd enjoy being taught by him and I could talk to him about anything."
Even so, Pleiman said he was "terrified" when he first came to Wright State: "I didn't know how I'd be treated, how I'd fit in."
Those questions were quickly answered, and today Brownell sings his praises:
"He's a great worker, he's unselfish, and the best thing is he's consistent. He does all the dirty work — he mixes it up with bigger people inside; he sets the screens for our scorers. You notice all that in our film sessions, but it probably goes unnoticed by people in the stands."
Except the Fort Loramie folks.
Along with their cookies, pies and cakes, he gets all their attention.
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/03/03/ddn030307arch.html
By Tom Archdeacon
Saturday, March 03, 2007
FAIRBORN — They carry homemade signs with messages such as, "We love J.P.," and, "Pleiman Fan Club." Some paint themselves Raider green and cheer his every move. Others bring him plates of cookies, pies and cakes. Almost all wait after Wright State basketball games to get his autograph, have a photo taken with him or just chitchat about their common bond.
Jordan Pleiman doesn't just have a fan club, he's got an entire town.
He's Fort Loramie's favorite son.
More than 200 people from the small Shelby County village showed up at the Nutter Center for the Feb. 10 game with Butler, and that prompted other WSU players to tease the 6-foot-8 junior center.
"They crack me up," Pleiman said with a laugh. "They're like, 'What, the whole town is here again?' "
Not quite — but close to one-sixth of the population made the 42-mile trek to the game.
"The whole town supports him," WSU coach Brad Brownell said. "He's a good role model and he's very popular back there ... just as he should be."
Next to Tom Brandewie, who captained the Ohio State team in 1993, Pleiman is thought to be the only other NCAA Division I male basketball player from the town.
Pleiman has started every game the past two years. The undersized team's tallest player, he finished the regular season as the Horizon League's most accurate field-goal shooter (.572). Going into tonight's conference tournament semifinal, he's averaging 7.7 points and 5.5 rebounds a game.
Certainly his play draws attention, but what strikes a chord with the home folks is that he's one of them. He plays summer softball in Fort Loramie and has coached peewee basketball there, too.
"I'm proud of my accomplishments at Wright State," Pleiman said, "but I'm also proud of where I came from."
Told about a TV tour the Heat's Dwyane Wade made of Miami — from the cruise ships and Little Havana to South Beach with its glitzy Ocean Drive, Art Deco hotels and beautiful people — Pleiman was asked for his own back-home highlights:
"Well, there's Al's Bar and Grill, their chicken wings are phenomenal. And Bruckens has a good salad bar, and there's Scudzy's ... no, whoops ... that's in Newport.
"There's St. Michael's (Catholic) Church, and the elementary school's the oldest working school in Ohio. There's the old Miami-Erie Canal and Lake Loramie and ... ahhhh."
A bowling alley? A movie theater?
"No, we just have two stop lights," Pleiman said with a shrug. "And two highways, Route 66 and 705."
And both of those roads take the townsfolk toward Dayton. That's especially the case with Ron and Vicky Schulze and their family. They're Pleiman neighbors, look at Jordan as another son, and they come to most Raiders' home games.
"He's just a great kid," Ron said, "a real gentle giant."
Yet that demeanor — and more so his small-school roots — may have worked against Pleiman with college recruiters.
"I heard I couldn't be successful at the D-I level coming from a Division IV school," he said. "So I used that as motivation."
He was recruited to Wright State by former assistant Brian Donoher, of whom he says: "He's such a good, stand-up guy, I knew I'd enjoy being taught by him and I could talk to him about anything."
Even so, Pleiman said he was "terrified" when he first came to Wright State: "I didn't know how I'd be treated, how I'd fit in."
Those questions were quickly answered, and today Brownell sings his praises:
"He's a great worker, he's unselfish, and the best thing is he's consistent. He does all the dirty work — he mixes it up with bigger people inside; he sets the screens for our scorers. You notice all that in our film sessions, but it probably goes unnoticed by people in the stands."
Except the Fort Loramie folks.
Along with their cookies, pies and cakes, he gets all their attention.
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/03/03/ddn030307arch.html