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Defending the Throne
A season after going 26-5 overall and 13-3 in the North Central Conference, the goal remains the same for the SCSU men's basketball team: win the NCC Championship and make the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Last season included a trip to the second round of the NCAA regionals, in which they lost to Metro State to effectively end their season. This year, hopes are riding high as the team expects to repeat and ride the wave further into the playoffs.
Senior Alex Carlson believes the Huskies are still right where they need to be.
"It's looking pretty good right now," Carlson said. "We're just trying to fit all the pieces together."
That's not to say things are going to be a little harder for the Huskies this season. They come into their 2003-2004 season after losing three big contributors to the Husky team in Forrest Witt (15.5 points/game, 3.5 rebounds/game), Jason Kron (14.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg) and Cullen Powers (5.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg). The Huskies return only two starters from last season in Carlson (10 ppg, 4.8 assists/game) and junior Nate Miller (9.1 ppg, 2.7 apg).
Backcourt is the key
The Huskies look to continue where they left off last season with their up-tempo style of basketball. The style will involve continuing to create better opportunities for the strong backcourt of Carlson and Miller and help them to flourish.
"Both Alex and Nate were instrumental to us last year," Husky head coach Kevin Schlagel said. "They were two of our better players and it's nice to build around them this year."
To recover from losing an average of 30 points per game and two centers out, it's up to the returning players off the bench to help the two returning starters in the '03-'04 campaign.
Six-foot-two senior Chad Virgin, (1.2 ppg) returns as the other guard along with six-foot-one Jason Allen. Allen was an immediate impact for the backcourt, transferring from Highland Community College in Kansas. As a junior, he averaged 10 minutes of playing time per game and four points per game along with having 23 steals on the season. Allen scored a career-high 14 points against Concordia-St. Paul Dec. 19, 2002. Both will obviously have an increased role this season.
First-year students Bobby Harris, Yusuf Ozer and Danny Chayer round out the guards.
Forwards have depth
At the forward position, junior Steve Trull and sophomore Matt Siegle return and look to garner more minutes this season. Trull played in all 31 games the Huskies had and led the team in blocks with 17. He averaged 6.8 ppg and pulled down 4.1 rpg last season.
As a first year forward, Siegle showed a promising contribution to the Huskies' front court, coming off the bench to play in all 31 games, averaging 15 minutes of playing time and 5.9 ppg and 3.8 rpg.
Last season, both players shared the same spot on the floor, but this season will be moved to different spots to help fill the holes left by those who departed.
Schlagel hopes to have both players contribute to the Husky offense as much as they possibly can.
Senior Joe Titus is the oldest forward returning this season for the Huskies. Titus will also have an increased role after being used sparingly last season.
Titus saw action in 10 games where he scored 10 points grabbing nine rebounds. He also dished out three assists and snatched two steals on the season.
Juniors Joe Evert and Brad Evans are transfers to the SCSU team. Evert is a transfer from Loyola University-Chicago. Evans is a transfer student from North-Gogebic Community College in Ironwood, Mich. He played two seasons and averaged 18.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He was also named to the All-Region 13 team two times during his junior college basketball career.
Six-foot-three sophomore Pat Weihert returns for the Huskies. As a first-year, Weihert saw action in 15 games for the Huskies. He scored seven points in his collegiate debut against MN-Crookston Nov. 23, 2002. He ripped down 13 boards on the season and dished out three assists for the Husky backcourt. Six-foot-five first-year player Zac Campbell (Baldwin, Wis.) rounds out the forwards for the Huskies.
At the center position, things are up in the air as sophomore Scott Peters (six-foot-ten, 280 lbs) is out until at least the end of the month after having arthroscopic knee surgery. He averaged 1.2 ppg and 1.2 rpg last season as a first-year.
Six-foot-nine, 215-lb. first-year player Bryan Wittman is also out of action for an extended period of time.
"We hope to have Peters back in three to four weeks and Wittman is out for awhile," Schlagel said. "But we'll keep working and welcome them back when they're ready."
Schlagel knows that his newcomers and the players off the bench are going to be the key to the success for the Huskies this season.
"It's a matter of all of them being consistent night in and night out," Schlagel said. "If we can get them to fill some roles and be consistent, it'll definitely be a big help."
The biggest goal that remains for the Huskies is to repeat as the NCC champions again this season and guarantee an NCAA Tournament appearance.
"We would like to repeat again, that's our biggest goal and it's the same every year," Schlagel said. "We don't want to change our goals at all, so that's what we're shooting for and hopefully everything will come together and give us a chance to do that."
Carlson, the Huskies co-captain, is keeping his focus on winning it all again this season and doesn't plan to let it slip through his fingers.
"We shoot for the top and try to stay there," Carlson said. "I think this year, people might overlook us because we lost a lot of good players, but if people want to put a bull's-eye on our backs, that's fine, we expect to be close to the top this year and we take pride in that."
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