2003-04 WIAC Men's Basketball Preview

2003-04 WIAC Men's Basketball Preview

Madison, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-River Falls, which last won a conference title during the 1949-50 campaign, is favored to win the 2004 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) men's basketball championship, according to the league's sports information directors.

The Falcons received five of nine first-place votes in the league poll after racking up 33 wins in the last two seasons, the most victories for the program over a two-year span since the 1983 and 1984 seasons.

UW-Stevens Point, which has won four straight league crowns and is ranked third nationally according to Street & Smith's, received the remaining four first-place votes in the conference poll and is pegged to finish second in the nine-team league derby.

UW-Whitewater, which is ranked ninth nationally according to Street & Smith's, is slated to finish third in the conference race.

The 2003-04 season will feature two new head coaches in the league as Ken Koelbl takes over the program at UW-La Crosse and Paul Combs will direct the UW-Platteville squad.

Following is a brief preview of each WIAC men's basketball team, in alphabetical order, and its 2002-03 overall and league record in parenthesis.

UW-Eau Claire (17-10, 8-8 WIAC)

After winning five of their last seven games and advancing to the semifinals of the league tournament last season, UW-Eau Claire head coach Terry Gibbons is optimistic for what the future may hold for his 2003-04 club, which returns 10 letterwinners.

Junior Dan Archambault leads the returnees for the Blugolds after averaging 14.4 points and 3.2 assists per game in 2002-03, while ranking third in the league with an 86.9 free throw percentage and nailing 36.4 percent of his three-point field goals. He has started every game for the Blugolds in the last two seasons, a span of 51 contests.

Also back are junior forward Will Jefferson and junior center Nate Beck. Jefferson averaged 2.9 points and 1.8 rebounds a year ago and has made 40 starts over the past two seasons. Beck started 24 games a year ago and chipped in 6.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest. Junior guard Casey Drake should bring depth to this year's squad after improving steadily each of the last two seasons.

Youth will be featured once again this season on the Blugold interior, as sophomores Tyler Birkel, Kale Proksch and Buck Smith look to make larger contributions. Birkel led the club with 14 blocked shots after appearing in all 27 games a year ago, while Proksch and Smith averaged 2.3 and 1.0 rebounds, respectively.

Other players to watch for the Blugolds included junior Jesse Breidenbach and sophomores Spencer Peck, Eric Johnson and Nate Pinkham, along with freshman Chad Honl. Peck returns after suffering a season-ending knee injury early last year. The Blugolds should also get help from UW-Madison transfer Mat Peterson, a freshman, and Stephen F. Austin State (Texas) transfer Aaron Radl, a senior.

UW-La Crosse (6-20, 2-14)

Ken Koelbl returns to the Coulee Region as the UW-La Crosse head coach in 2003-04. A 1990 graduate of Viterbo, Koelbl spent the last eight seasons as an assistant coach at UW-Stevens Point where he helped lead the Pointers to four straight league titles. Koelbl has also served as an assistant coach at South Dakota State, Viterbo and St. Mary's (Minn.).

Eight letterwinners return for the Eagles this season, including senior guard Casey Taggatz, who was an All-WIAC First Team selection a year ago and earned honorable mention to this season's Street & Smith's Preseason All-America Team. Taggatz ranked fourth in the conference last season with 19.4 points per game, while ranking second with 2.62 three-point field goals per game and fifth with an 85.1 free throw percentage. He also scored in double figures in 22 of 26 contests last year.

Senior Jason Kemp and junior Josh Hall return at the guard position after both missed most of last season with knee injuries. Kemp played in seven games a year ago, averaging 4.1 points and 1.6 rebounds, while Hall played in five games, averaging 3.8 points and 3.0 rebounds. Sophomore guard Ryan Robarge played in all 26 games last season with seven starts and chipped in 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

Four letterwinners return to the frontcourt, including junior Jason Scheunemann, who started 17 games last season, averaging 8.4 points per game and ranking seventh in the league with 6.9 rebounds per contest. Juniors Ben Bemis and Scott Klaas also return in 2003-04. Bemis played in 11 games a year ago after averaging 12.8 points and 5.4 rebounds in 2001-02. Klaas played in all 26 games two seasons ago, while sophomore Kyle Boland started all 26 contests last season.

UW-Oshkosh (25-7, 10-6)

Check the men's basketball showroom floor in UW-Oshkosh's Kolf Sports Center and you'll see a brand-new model for the 2003-04 season.

There's a down-sized look in terms of experience for head coach Ted Van Dellen's 14th UW-Oshkosh edition, yet there's a familiar face in the driver's seat in two-year starter Andy Fernholz. Fernholz, a junior guard, is one of five players who return to the Titans this season after helping last year's squad to the most wins and the highest NCAA Division III post-season finish in school history.

UW-Oshkosh claimed their second consecutive WIAC Tournament championship and also made an appearance in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. UW-Oshkosh's four-game trip in the NCAA Division III Tournament included road wins over 11th-ranked Hope College (Mich.) and top-ranked Randolph-Macon College (Va.) and a season-ending road loss to fourth-ranked Hampden-Sydney College (Va.). UW-Oshkosh concluded its record-breaking season as the sixth-ranked team in the country.

With Fernholz returning along with junior guard Dain Christensen, sophomore guard David Gershenzon, sophomore forward Kyle Pederson and sophomore center Pete Warning, UW-Oshkosh's gas tank still boasts an ample share of high-octane weapons.

Expected to provide additional fuel for the Titans this season are freshman forward Jim Capelle, freshman guard Chad Doedens, freshman center Kerry Gibson and freshman forward Nathan Wesener.

UW-Platteville (11-15, 7-9)

UW-Platteville will feature many new looks in 2003-04, as the Pioneers have a new head coach and a fresh crop of players to replace seven seniors. While so much will be new, however, first-year head coach Paul Combs and the Pioneers will look to the past and build on the tradition that made the program the team of the 1990s with four NCAA Division III titles.

Combs turned Lakeland College around in his four-year tenure, taking over a program that had won 20 games the previous three years and compiling a 60-45 mark. Combs's 2002-03 club was 19-8 and won its second consecutive conference title.

The new coach and his staff inherit a team that lost three starters, including Tyler Selk, second on the school's all-time list in points (1,621) and rebounds (818), and 1,000-point scorer Bryan Stangel.

The new staff will look for leadership and strong play from senior Frank McGettigan, a career 40 percent three-point shooter who averaged 4.1 points per game last year, and juniors Brad Reitzner, who scored 9.3 points per game, and Brandon Temperly, who chipped in 7.5 points per contest.

UW-River Falls (16-10, 10-6)

There's plenty of excitement surrounding this year's UW-River Falls squad, as veteran head coach Rick Bowen has a talented group of players to work with in trying to win the team's first WIAC title in 54 years. This year's club returns 62.1 of the 74.2 points and 26.1 of 31.8 rebounds per game they averaged last season.

Senior forward Rich Melzer will be looked at as the top player in the WIAC after being named the league's Co-Player of the Year a year ago and earning All-America First Team honors from the NABC. He has been named the DIII News Preseason Player of the Year and to Street & Smith's Preseason All-America First Team. Melzer finished second in NCAA Division III in scoring with 28.1 points per game last year and also led the conference with 9.7 rebounds per contest and 2.1 blocks per game. He ranks fifth on the school's all-time list in scoring (1,636) and rebounding (591).

Also returning is senior guard Matt Kukla, who was one of the top three-point shooters in the league last year after connecting on a conference-high 73 long range bombs and ranking fifth with a 43.2 three-point field goal percentage. He finished second on the team in scoring with 11.6 points per game.

Another key component returning is senior guard Micah Helfry, who led the WIAC with 115 assists (4.42 per game) and was third on the team in scoring with 9.2 points per contest. Junior forward Jesse Lam played in every game for the Falcons last season, including 17 starts, and chipped in 7.3 points per game.

UW-Stevens Point (24-4, 14-2)

It's a tough task for any team to win five straight league championships, but with all but two letterwinners back from last year's squad, the UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team appears primed for the challenge. The Pointers feature a solid core of experienced veterans, including three returning starters and a bench that provided quality depth a year ago.

Junior Jason Kalsow was an All-WIAC First Team selection as a sophomore and is one of the league's best all-around players, averaging 12.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists last season. Kalsow received honorable mention to this year's Street & Smith's Preseason All-America Team. Point guard Neal Krajnik is the team's only senior and has started the past two seasons. Junior Nick Bennett is the third returning starter and was one of the league's best shooters last season and led the team at 12.3 points per game.

Two other players who saw part-time starting experience last season are junior Kyle Grusczynski, a steady swing player who had just 19 turnovers in 28 games, and sophomore forward Brian Bauer, who scored 64 of his 129 points last season over the final nine games. Junior center Eric Maus has played every game the past two seasons and will take on a bigger role this year as the team's primary post presence. Junior point guard Tamaris Relerford provides quality backcourt depth.

UW-Stout (14-11, 9-7)

To say that fourth-year UW-Stout men's basketball coach Eddie Andrist is excited about getting the 2003-04 season underway could be an understatement with as many as 12 players expected to contribute significantly.

Three seniors - post players Nate Templer and Andy Bray and outside player Jeff Vandenberghe - will be the cornerstone to any Blue Devil success.

The Blue Devils put together a seven-game winning streak midway through the 2002-03 campaign, finding themselves in first place at one point, and also won four of five overtime contests. Balanced scoring was a key for UW-Stout last year as five players averaged double-digit scoring - the three returning seniors among them.

Templer, who advanced to the NCAA Division III national track meet in three events last spring as a sprinter, averaged 11.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest. Bray was the team's top scorer with 14.6 points and matched Templer's rebound totals. Vandenberghe, the Blue Devils' leading threat from beyond the arc, chipped in 10.4 points per game.

The Blue Devils will need to find a new point guard, a spot that was hurt by injury last season. Nate Severson saw some time at the point last year, but is usually a shooting guard. Returning sophomore Mike Lee, transfers Greg Chaisson (Kirkwood Community College) and Isaac Reece (UW-Baraboo), and freshman Blake Craft are expected to vie for the spot.

UW-Superior (5-20, 1-15)

Last year UW-Superior suffered through a season that saw it accumulate the fewest wins since the 1994-95 campaign. Head coach Jeff Kaminsky, who enters his 10th season at the helm of the Yellowjackets, is looking forward to this year's club, which features seven returnees including four seniors.

Leading the returning seniors is forward Cody Kastern, who earned All-WIAC First Team honors after ranking fifth in the conference with 18.2 points per game and placing fourth with 7.7 rebounds per contest a year ago. Guard Matt Bailey racked up 15 starts last season and averaged 3.5 rebounds per game, while forward Bob Riley participated in 20 games and is one of the hardest working players on the team. Forward John Allagh returns from an off-season performance in the All-African Games in which his Nigeria team earned the bronze medal. He started 15 games a year ago and chipped in 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per contest.

A quartet of returning sophomores should help provide depth to the squad, including guard Floyd Nyemeck-Byiha (19 games) and forwards Derek Pederson (21), Luke Sargent (19) and Joe Massoglia (3).

The Yellowjackets will also welcome four true freshmen and a number of transfers, including Desmond Altman (Kankakee Community College), Derek Campbell (West Los Angeles Community College), Arione Farrar (Mid-State Technical College), Chip Flynn (UW-Eau Claire), Laron Reed (Morton Community College) and Marc Rothschadl (UM-Duluth).

UW-Whitewater (21-7, 11-5)

Here's what faces UW-Whitewater head coach Pat Miller as he looks forward to the 2003-04 season and the school's third league title in the last four seasons. Gone is forward Aubrey Lewis-Byers, the only four-time All-WIAC First Team player in league history and second-leading scorer in school annals. Also gone is All-WIAC Second Team forward Londen Donlow, who accounted for more than 40 percent of the Warhawks' scoring a year ago with Lewis-Byers.

But the cupboard isn't bare. Senior forward Matt Jones, second only to Lewis-Byers in minutes played last season and a 12.5 points per game scorer, is back. Senior forward Nick Smith shot 57.3 percent from the floor and contributed 7.8 points per contest last year, while senior point guard Danny Saunders led the team with 3.68 assists and 1.36 steals per game in 25 starts. Senior guard Ernest Williams played in all 28 games and shot 43.9 percent from beyond the arc. Sophomore guard Jeremy Manchester also played in every game a year ago, while junior Tony Smith participated in 18 contests.

UW-Whitewater appears to be well set on the perimeter, however, Miller will for someone to complement Smith along the baseline. That help will likely come from a pair of transfers in Angelo Griffin (Mesabi Range) and Jeremy Purvis (Spoon River Community College) or a number of incoming freshmen including Eric Homa, Josh King, Kyle Knipple, Jeremy Krull, Mike Toellner and Nate Winkel.

Melvin Williams, a transfer from Independence Junior College, is versatile enough to play inside or out, while freshmen Tony Miggins, Jo Jo Moore, Giovanni Riley, Kenneth Sykes and Jiere Vance will look for minutes in the backcourt.

2003-04 Preseason Predictions (Voted on by WIAC Sports Information Directors)

1. UW-River Falls (5)
2. UW-Stevens Point (4)
3. UW-Whitewater
4. UW-Stout
5. UW-Eau Claire
6. UW-Oshkosh
7. UW-Superior
8. UW-Platteville
9. UW-La Crosse

( )--First-Place Votes

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