Immediately, as Capital University bounced the menís basketball team from the NCAA Tournament last March, thoughts immediately turned to the upcoming season. Despite shaking off a slow 1-3 start, a season-ending injury to the teamís best player, and overcoming the loss of three key seniors to graduation in 2008, head coach Steve Moore and the Fighting Scots had overachieved and managed to win the NCAC regular season title, NCAC Tournament title, and came a buzzer beater away from reaching the Sweet 16 field of the NCAA Tournament. All this was done with a team primarily composed of first-years and sophomores. Over the summer, expectations have been building.
The team returns nearly every player from last yearís team and returns All-NCAC point guard Brandon Johnson í10, who missed last season due to injury. The team has arguably the most talent since 2006-07, when the Scots reached the Final Four. Even at a school that is the winningest college program of this decade, expectations are exceedingly high.
According to Moore, these expectations are just fine.
High Expectations
The team begins this season ranked No. 9. This is remarkably high for a team that, despite surpassing expectations, still did not get past the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year. While Moore believes that rankings are beneficial to the program, especially in terms of recruiting, he is not too worried about where the team sits in the top 25, especially early in the season. This is in part because of the teamís arduous early-season schedule. The team dropped its season opener on the road last Sunday against Albion College 57-55, and the road only gets tougher from here. The team opens its season against Carnegie Mellon tonight in the Al Van Wie Tournament, and if it wins, it will likely face the University of St. Thomas, which went undefeated in the regular season last year before falling to eventual national champion Washington University 79-64 in the NCAA sectional championship ó it was the Tommiesí only loss all season after winning its first 30 games. St. Thomas begins the season ranked No. 4.
From there, the Scots face two early season road tests. On Nov. 29, the team travels to Cleveland to face No. 2 John Carroll University. Three days later, the team travels to Ohio Wesleyan in its NCAC season opener. Within the seasonís first two weeks, the Scots will have a very good idea of just how good they are. Moore believes, however, that the difficult early schedule will help the team in the long run. ìWe can improve as the season goes along ó it may well be that we drop out of the rankings early, because as soon as you have a couple losses early in the season, youíre out of the top 20. With our schedule, that could happen. Last year, we started out 1-3, and with the schedule weíre facing, it could even be a tougher start than that. If that happens, thatís okay because we feel like by playing these tough games, even if we lose them, itíll help us become a better team,” he said.
Returning Perimeter Talent
Ian Franks í11 set the tone last season, and will be looked as the go-to player early on this season. Franksís greatest asset is his versatility ó Franks played point guard last year in Johnsonís absence and ended up as a first-team all-conference player. While Franks led the team in scoring with almost 16 points per game, he also was second in the conference in assists behind only his teammate Bidwell. He was third on the team in rebounds. Franksís greatest strength on offense is his ability to draw fouls. Franks made it to the free throw line 150 times last year, an average of five attempts per game ó more than twice as many as any other Scot player last year. While he is now able to play the point, he could also slide over to the shooting guard or small forward position when Johnson is on the floor.
Franks will be joined in the backcourt by Nathan Balch í11. While it took time for Balch to adjust to the Woosterís system, at the end of the year he was Woosterís third-leading scorer, averaging over 12 points per game. Balch established himself as an excellent shooter, shooting 49 percent from behind the three-point line. Balch played his best basketball at the end of the season, shining as the leading scorer in both games of the NCAA Tournament. Balch scored 21 points in their first-round 79-66 win over Gettysburg College and 18 points in their 72-70 loss to Capital University. Balchís three-pointer with nine seconds left tied the game with Capital before the Scots lost at the buzzer.
Justin Hallowell í12 will give the team a dynamic perimeter game this year. Hallowell was second on the team, averaging 14.2 points per game last year. Hallowell also shattered the school record for three-pointers last year, draining 94 of his 183 attempts ó an astounding 51 percent.
Moore expects Hallowell to improve on his impressive first-year campaign, and for Hallowell to establish himself as more of an all-around player. While Hallowell primarily played at the power forward position last season, he will move to the small forward position this year. Moore said that Hallowell may not score as much, nor he will shoot as high a percentage, because teams will gear their defenses toward him this year. One aspect in which Hallowell has improved on in the off-season is in his ball-handling. This will help his transition to the small forward spot. ìHis offense wonít change that much, he didnít post up much like most power forwards do. What will change will be his defensive assignments, guarding quicker guys, and he will be guarded by quicker, smaller people, who will look to take his shot away,” said Moore.
Hallowell will be guarded by quicker players but will benefit from his height advantage. ìWhere he can take advantage of that height is by putting it on the floor and by going into the lane and shooting over those guys. I donít see us posting him up a lot because thatís really not his game,” said Moore.
Impact Post Players
Hallowellís move to the small forward position makes room for the teamís new post players, Josh Claytor í13 and Jake Mays í13. While it will take time for Claytor and Mays to adjust to the style of play at the college level, they will give the Scots more depth in the post than they have had in years. Claytor is a skilled forward who can play outside and inside. ìWe certainly donít want to compare anyone to Bryan Nelson, who was the National Player of the Year in 2003, but heís a big guy that can score inside and hit the outside shot. Heís a good ball-handler and a passer,” said Moore.
Mays, while not as versatile as Claytor, is more of a true center. ìJake is more of a low-post player, heís a center. He has excellent athletic ability, he can go up and get the ball in a crowd. Thatís something thatís difficult to find at our level,” said Moore.
The inside presences of Claytor and Mays will free up real estate inside for power forward Bryan Wickliffe í11. While Wickliffe led the team on the glass last year with over six rebounds per game, Wickliffe averaged just under eight points per game. In 2007-08, Wickliffe averaged almost 11. Wickliffe may have suffered from being the teamís sole presence in the paint. With two new frontcourt players this year in Claytor and Mays, Wickliffe should flourish. Wickliffe said the presence of the two first-years should allow him to play the power forward spot more and use his ball handling skills and quickness against bigger players. With help inside and another year under his belt, Wickliffe could be the teamís break out player this year. The early results have been promising. Wickliffe scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Albion, the second double-double of his career.
Johnsonís Comeback
While all of the teamís young players look to improve in their second and third years in the Wooster program, Johnson could be an x-factor. Johnson is arguably the most athletic point guard in the conference and has run the teamís offense for three years. If Johnson can stay healthy for the entire season, it will be a feel-good story. Johnson returned this year specifically for one more year on the court after two knee surgeries. After coming back from a second torn anterior cruciate ligament, Johnson has returned sooner than expected. Because Johnson is still just five months removed from his injury, he will play a different role this season, especially in the seasonís early-going. Johnson may not be the same player he was in the early-going, and Mooreís just fine with that.
ìHeís been a little cautious, and thatís the right thing to do. Early on, Brandonís going to say Iím going to use my experience, run the team and not look to score as much as Iím used to, and gradually work his way back in. Maybe by the end of the season, when heís healed more, heíll be able to return to the player that he was,” said Moore.
Early on, Johnson will be called on to provide the leadership and defense that Bidwell brought last season. ìMarty was a great captain and leader, and I do see myself doing a lot of what he did last year. I believe my ability to score makes our team even better offensively. I may not get as many shots as I had in previous years, but my number one goal is to win,” said Johnson.
Inside And Outside Balance
Johnson has run Woosterís classic transition game for three years, and will play a key role in that area once his knee is closer to 100 percent. However, because the team has more depth in the frontcourt this year, the team may get back to running a more balanced offense this year. With Wickliffe, Claytor and Mays, Moore looks for the team to be able to score inside as well as run the fast break. ìI think weíll have excellent speed at the guard positions, because of Brandon coming back and Nathan Balch is so fast and good in the open court. Ian, while he may not be as much of a sprinter, heís fast with the ball. Our guards will allow us to play in a transition game, and the combination of being a good transition game and good half-court game will make us a good team,” said Moore.
With better balance this season, Johnson sees many similarities between this yearís squad and the 2007 squad that came two wins away from a national championship. According to Johnson, the team has the horses.
ìBeing on the 2007 team gives me a good perspective of how our current team compares to them. I believe we do have as much talent and depth as the í07 team. With that said, the í07 team had some of the greatest players to ever wear a Wooster jersey ó Cooper and Port. Guys like that aren’t replaceable, but we have a lot of great players now that can come together and have as much success if not more then in 2007,” said Johnson.
While the pieces are there, they may not be in place immediately ó likely not by this weekend and possibly not by New Yearís. With such a tough early season schedule, the team may not win 22 of its first 25 like it did for four years from 2005-08. However, with such great depth and balance, this team is built to finish strong. By then, Johnson will know whether this season was worth coming back for.