Scottie Wilson Article

[Raider Country]

Middletown's Wilson grows into a key player for Raiders
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer
Friday, December 28, 2007

FAIRBORN — He was not highly recruited coming out of Middletown High School.

When his ACT score was a point short, he had to attend a junior college.

After a year, he transferred to Wright State, where he sat out a season, then became a key reserve for two seasons.

That was 6-foot-6 Scottie Wilson's resume entering this season. He has not only become a starter for the 6-3 Raiders, but the team's third-leading scorer at 11.4 points per game and leading rebounder with a 6.5 average.

At Cal State-Fullerton on Saturday, Wilson and fellow big man Jordan Pleiman each scored 19 points with Wilson leading the team with eight rebounds.

Saturday, Wilson will be in the starting lineup again against Belmont in the first game of the Dr Pepper Classic in Chattanooga. On Sunday, the Raiders will play either Tennessee-Chattanooga or Murray State in the final game of the tournament.

Wilson had to sit out the Miami game with an eye injury, but has played well in both games since.

"Obviously, it feels different because I haven't (in previous years) been starting or playing a lot," Wilson said. "But you always think you can play. I always knew I could do it."

Wilson averaged 3.4 points in 2005-06 and 5.2 points last season. He started a total of six games.

"He has the skills to be a productive player," WSU coach Brad Brownell said. "He can score in bunches and has made some big shots (including from the 3-point line). His approach has been very mature. He watches more tape than anybody on the team."

This weekend's tournament is WSU's final prep for the rest of the Horizon League schedule, which resumes next Thursday in Milwaukee. The Raiders enter with a three-game winning streak, and a high confidence level.

"There wasn't anything I didn't think we could do," Wilson said. "I think the team did a good job of bouncing back at practice after losses. We lost to Valparaiso at home and Bradley at home. We were leading in each of those games. If we hang on, we're 8-1."

Next game
Who: Wright State (6-3) vs. Belmont (7-5)
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Chatanooga, Tenn.
Radio: WONE-AM (980), WIZE-AM (1430)

www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/12/27/ddn122807wsubb.html

[Big D]

Successful California trip did have some glitches
By Marc Katz
Staff Writer

Friday, December 28, 2007

FAIRBORN — Will Graham had a big smile on his face the whole time he was talking at the waiting area next to Gate 52A at LAX last Saturday night.

Of course he did. The junior guard and the rest of the Raiders had just made their West Coast trip worthwhile with an 84-80 victory over Cal State-Fullerton and were awaiting an 11:50 p.m. red-eye flight back to Ohio and a couple days off for Christmas.

The Raiders arrived late Wednesday afternoon for the Saturday game in order to get acclimated to the three-hour time change.

"The flight and everything was cool," Graham said. "I came out here one time before, for an AAU tournament. I don't need to come back."

Graham said the trip had few glitches. He said — and this is just his word — the team had to wait a bit after they arrived because coach Brad Brownell left his carry-on suit bag on the plane. Somebody had to go back and get it.

When the team arrived at the Fullerton campus for its first practice, the bus driver couldn't figure out the labyrinth of roads leading to the fieldhouse and dropped the team off across campus to walk the final 100 yards or so to the gym.

When practice was over, sophomore Todd Brown took off to where the bus had dropped the team off. By that time, however, the bus driver figured out how to get to the gym.

"Todd was the last one leaving and he took off by himself," Graham said, laughing. "He had to walk back (to the bus)."

Graham even told a story on himself. The time difference apparently had him confused.

"I forgot when Christmas was," Graham said. "I didn't know if it was the 25th or 26th. So everybody was wondering when New Year's was."

As you can tell, it was a mostly uneventful trip, not considering the big victory.

"This was a business trip," Graham said. "No one wanted to go home Christmas break with a loss."

Most of the Raiders flew from Los Angeles to Cincinnati, arriving before 7 a.m. Sunday. They then took a bus back to the Setzer Pavilion and were given off until a Wednesday night practice. Texan Cooper Land flew home from Los Angeles and Canadian Gavin Horne did the same. Brown stayed in Los Angeles to visit a girlfriend. Sophomore guard John David Gardner caught another flight out of Cincinnati to reach his Alabama home.

Wright State's next trip is by bus, to Chattanooga Friday for games Saturday and Sunday in the Dr. Pepper Classic. Saturday, WSU meets Belmont, a team from Nashville the Raiders played twice two years ago, splitting the series. Sunday, they will play either host UT-Chattanooga or Murray State, two teams that play Saturday's second game.

Sunday's games will pair winners vs. winners and losers vs. losers.

www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/12/28/ddn122807raiderconnection.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=38

[Raiderfan]

At times I feel like Scottie is the "key" to our team. If SW has a good game then we are a very good team but if he is "off" we tend to struggle. I often feel like "as Scottie goes so goes the team".

We expect Vaughn & Todd to be their offensively every game but SW is the "wild card" every game in that he has the potential to score in double figures at any time and since he is our 3rd leading scorer ( 11.4 ppg) his pts are critical.

You throw in the fact that SW is our leading rebounder (6.5rpg), is hitting over 50% of his 3's, can score inside and out, can defend the opposing teams post player, rarely forces a shot, has the highest FG % on the team, & is probably the most athletic player on our team. In other words SW is the ultimate team player in that he produces in many areas ( scoring, rebounding, defending).

When Scottie plays at a high energy level and with passion we can be a tough team to beat.

[bballraider]

When Scottie plays at a high energy level and with passion we can be a tough team to beat.

I agree Raiderfan, Scottie can be a difference maker when his head is in the game. I do not know if you have ever heard of a stat called the "Effective Field Goal Percentage" or eFG% as some sites list it. It basically is your field goal percentage with 3 point shots weighted (0.5 more) into the 2 point percentage. Well Scottie is currently ranked 12th in the country with a 75% effective field goal percentage. That means Scottie has good shot selection and makes a good percentage of those shots from all over the floor. He probably should be taking more shots at that rate. His only problem is that he sometimes disappears on defense or rebounding for small spurts in a game, but when he is aggressive the whole game, he is a very good player.

[Fastbreak]

Scottie is a hard player to match up against with his inside/outside game. The key to his success is giving a consistent effort for 40 minutes and staying out of foul trouble. CSF was the first time this year where Jordan and Scottie were able to do that.

[Raiderfan]

bballraider said:

When Scottie plays at a high energy level and with passion we can be a tough team to beat.

I agree Raiderfan, Scottie can be a difference maker when his head is in the game. I do not know if you have ever heard of a stat called the "Effective Field Goal Percentage" or eFG% as some sites list it. It basically is your field goal percentage with 3 point shots weighted (0.5 more) into the 2 point percentage. Well Scottie is currently ranked 12th in the country with a 75% effective field goal percentage. That means Scottie has good shot selection and makes a good percentage of those shots from all over the floor. He probably should be taking more shots at that rate. His only problem is that he sometimes disappears on defense or rebounding for small spurts in a game, but when he is aggressive the whole game, he is a very good player.

bball, I've never heard of the "eFG%". Ya learn something new everyday! It sure highlights Scottie's effectiveness on the court. You're right about Scottie being a very good player when he plays hard and with passion.

When the review coming?

[86grad]

On most nights, Scottie is our toughest matchup because of his versatility. If he stays on the court for 30 minutes a game without having to hold back due to foul trouble, he will score in double figures nearly every game.

[Raiderfan]

Scottie was really the only player we had that could hang with Dansby defensively. If Scottie & JAP continue to play at this level we'll be contending for the HL crown.