Pitt
Mar 17, 2007 8:13:26 GMT -5
Post by Willie on Mar 17, 2007 8:13:26 GMT -5
Wood's exit won't leave cupboard bare next season
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer
Saturday, March 17, 2007
FAIRBORN — So it is on to next year, when the sting of Thursday's 79-58 loss to Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA tournament will long be washed away.
Four seniors will be gone from the team that won dual Horizon League championships — regular season and tournament.
Replacements come in larger sizes, and more chairs will be needed for the bench. What handicapped the Raiders early this season — lack of size and bodies of any kind — will be in abundance next fall, but it comes with a price — inexperience.
Leadership in the form of graduated DaShaun Wood — the Horizon League's Player of the Year — and Drew Burleson will be missed, as well as the experience of fellow seniors Tyrone Scott and Reinaldo Smith.
"It will be a new group of guys," WSU coach Brad Brownell said, "and we'll have to find a way to mold them into a team."
At least two of the six recruits have had a head start. Ronnie Thomas, a 6-foot-8 transfer from Duquesne, has been in school all year but could only practice the last month after having a troublesome knee strengthened by operation.
John David Gardner, a 6-4 guard, came from North Carolina-Wilmington with a bad foot that also has been repaired.
Waiting to graduate from high school are 6-9 Kyle Pressley and 6-8 Cooper Land, while 6-8 Gavin Horne is finishing junior college. There is also 6-4 Troy Tabler to help at the guard position.
But the Raiders won't be starting from scratch.
These new players will be asked to mesh with holdovers who helped the Raiders to a 23-10 record. Seniors Jordan Pleiman and Scottie Wilson return, along with junior guard William Graham and sophomores Vaughn Duggins, Todd Brown and Eric Stevenson.
That's a roster of 12, up two from the 10 players available this season. More importantly, the Raiders will have three starters — Pleiman, Duggins and Brown — returning, plus Graham, who has started several games the past two seasons.
Not many Horizon League teams have that kind of returning experience, so the Raiders will be expected to do well, but they will need help from the new guys.
Sometimes, though, reaching the goal is easier than staying there. The last time the Raiders made it to the NCAA tourney, in 1993 with a 20-10 record, they followed up with a 12-18 season and did not return to the postseason until this week.
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/03/17/ddn031707wsubb.html
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer
Saturday, March 17, 2007
FAIRBORN — So it is on to next year, when the sting of Thursday's 79-58 loss to Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA tournament will long be washed away.
Four seniors will be gone from the team that won dual Horizon League championships — regular season and tournament.
Replacements come in larger sizes, and more chairs will be needed for the bench. What handicapped the Raiders early this season — lack of size and bodies of any kind — will be in abundance next fall, but it comes with a price — inexperience.
Leadership in the form of graduated DaShaun Wood — the Horizon League's Player of the Year — and Drew Burleson will be missed, as well as the experience of fellow seniors Tyrone Scott and Reinaldo Smith.
"It will be a new group of guys," WSU coach Brad Brownell said, "and we'll have to find a way to mold them into a team."
At least two of the six recruits have had a head start. Ronnie Thomas, a 6-foot-8 transfer from Duquesne, has been in school all year but could only practice the last month after having a troublesome knee strengthened by operation.
John David Gardner, a 6-4 guard, came from North Carolina-Wilmington with a bad foot that also has been repaired.
Waiting to graduate from high school are 6-9 Kyle Pressley and 6-8 Cooper Land, while 6-8 Gavin Horne is finishing junior college. There is also 6-4 Troy Tabler to help at the guard position.
But the Raiders won't be starting from scratch.
These new players will be asked to mesh with holdovers who helped the Raiders to a 23-10 record. Seniors Jordan Pleiman and Scottie Wilson return, along with junior guard William Graham and sophomores Vaughn Duggins, Todd Brown and Eric Stevenson.
That's a roster of 12, up two from the 10 players available this season. More importantly, the Raiders will have three starters — Pleiman, Duggins and Brown — returning, plus Graham, who has started several games the past two seasons.
Not many Horizon League teams have that kind of returning experience, so the Raiders will be expected to do well, but they will need help from the new guys.
Sometimes, though, reaching the goal is easier than staying there. The last time the Raiders made it to the NCAA tourney, in 1993 with a 20-10 record, they followed up with a 12-18 season and did not return to the postseason until this week.
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/03/17/ddn031707wsubb.html