2011-12 Men's Basketball Season Outlook

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Alex Brandt

Coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons and an NCAA Division III-record 25th national tournament appearance in 2010-11, the Wittenberg Tigers welcome seven letterwinners, five of whom have at least 20 career starting assignments on their collegiate resume, back to the line-up in 2011-12.

The Tigers posted records of 20-9 overall and 12-3 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) a year ago, defeated LaRoche in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament before coming up tantalizing short of a berth in the Sweet 16 with a last-second loss to host Marietta. Expectations are great this season, but in order to raise new banners to the Pam Evans Smith Arena rafters in 2011-12, Wittenberg will need to lean heavily on a veteran group of post players who will be operating for the first time in three years without record-breaking three-point specialist Chris Sullivan.

Sullivan re-wrote the three-point shooting section of the Tigers' record book en route to honorable mention All-America honors as a senior, but his success from long range would not have been possible without the emerging post presence provided by Clayton Black (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) and Alex Brandt (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy). They both return for a final year in the Red & White, giving Head Coach Bill Brown, who starts the season just three wins shy of 400 in his 17-year Wittenberg coaching career, ideal building blocks for the 2011-12 season.

Black earned first-team All-NCAC and second-team All-Great Lakes Region honors after leading the Tigers in scoring at 15.2 points per game and blocked shots with 28. He hit 56 percent of his shots from the field and also contributed 5.4 rebounds game. Brandt led the Tigers with 6.0 rebounds per game — while finishing with more offensive caroms than defensive — and ranked fourth on the team with 8.1 points per outing in 2010-11.

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Michael Cooper

Black and Brandt have plenty of help in the post, starting with fellow seniors Jacob Weide (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead), who contributed 4.1 points and 3.3 rebounds off the bench in 2010-11, and Michael Cooper (Springfield, Ohio/South), a versatile 6-4 wing player who doubles as a starting wide receiver for the Tiger football team. A key reserve in the post his first two years, Cooper moved into the starting line-up at the small forward spot a year ago and turned in his best collegiate season to date with 6.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per outing.

Across from Cooper on both the basketball court and the football offensive formation is fellow senior Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh), who broke a half-dozen college football receiving records in an All-America 2010 season before struggling through the basketball season due to illness. After starting 41 games in his first two collegiate seasons, McKee appeared in just 14 games a year ago and averaged career lows of 5.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

The Tigers' success in 2010-11 was all the more remarkable considering the fact that McKee missed more than half of the season, along with sharpshooting junior wing Cam Walton (Waterville, Ohio/Anthony Wayne), who suffered an ACL injury and missed the second half of the season. A return to form by both McKee and Walton in 2011-12 figures to be key for the Tigers and their offensive game plan.

No team enjoys extended success without quality point guard play, and the Tigers got that from sophomore Steven Newell (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont), who started the last 19 games last year and finished with an assist-turnover ratio of 48-to-22. Also a solid shooter from distance who made 42 percent of his three-pointers as a freshman, Newell is likely to play off the ball at times in 2011-12 to make room for some of the talented newcomers joining the program, including University of Toledo transfer Zack Leahy (Rossford, Ohio/Rossford).

2011-12 Team Information