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Men won, yet still had a down year
Going into the 2001-2002 men's basketball season, the SCSU Huskies were expected to be North Central Conference champions, and make a run at the Division II national crown.
Despite going 21-7 on the year, they did neither, as some of their key players didn't contribute during the stretch run.
Being ranked No. 5 in the nation to start the season was a well-deserved honor, considering that the Huskies were one game away from the Elite Eight a year earlier. They had everybody returning, including Jonny Reese, who sat out last year with a bad wrist. Everything seemed to be in place for SCSU to do all the things the experts thought they would.
SCSUs returning leading scorer, Rado Rancik, got hurt early in the season. He was never the same after the injury. In the paint, he had his moments, but was continually harassed into careless turnovers. He tied Forrest Witt for the team lead in that category with 52, and he played in three less games than Witt did.
In the final game against South Dakota State in the Wells Fargo semifinals, Rancik completely vanished. His performance mirrored his season. He missed a dunk, took too many outside shots and had four turnovers.
Reese also should have been more of a factor in the Huskies' attack. He was underused and could have helped an offense that struggled to find itself at times. He averaged 10.9 ppg, but it could have been a lot more than that.
Senior forward B.J. Brant, junior forward Jason Kron and junior guard Witt were the players that had the best seasons on the team. Brant developed a deadly outside shot during his time here, and averaged 10.9 ppg. this year. Kron was named NCC Defensive Player of Year for his efforts on that end. Anytime SCSU needed to stop someone they looked to Kron for help, and he did it admirably.
Witt was sort of an enigma the whole season. He would go through stretches where you couldn't believe how hot he was from the field. Then there were times when he would inexplicably vanish. He led the Huskies in scoring, though, with 15.9 ppg, and single-handedly kept them in the game against South Dakota State on Friday.
Witt will be the focal point of the offense next season. Also returning will be point guards Alex Carlson and Nate Miller. Hopefully the Huskies will utilize their outside shooting prowess with a threeguard set in the starting lineup next season. Steve Trull, Cullen Powers and Alan Persinger will all be back to help man the paint. Head coach Kevin Schlagel also added 6'10" Scott Peters from Litchfield, and 6'7" Matt Siegle from Long Prarie-Grey Eagle for depth.
The Huskies won't be favored to win the conference next year and certainly won't be in the Top 25 when the polls come out next fall. Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise for them. Because when they had everything early this season, they let slip away their best opportunity to date to win a championship.
Andy Rennecke can be reached at: [email protected]
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