Outlook: The College of Wooster men's basketball team (17-9) - winners of 27 consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals - is off to Wabash College for Friday's semifinal round. There, Wooster takes on archrival Wittenberg University (18-8) at 5 p.m. Wabash (18-8) hosts Denison (15-11) in the 7:30 p.m. semifinal. Friday's winners meet in Saturday's championship game at 4 p.m. at Chadwick Court. In Tuesday's quarterfinals, Wooster beat DePauw University (12-14) 83-80 in overtime, Wabash downed Kenyon College (5-21) 84-65, Wittenberg beat Ohio Wesleyan University (11-15) 71-59, and Denison took care of Oberlin College (14-12) 78-62.

 

Media Coverage: Wabash College Video Network will produce the livestream of both semifinals and championship game and they can be viewed at https://northcoastnetwork.com/wabash. Q Media Wooster is not carrying the games. Fans can also follow the live stats link on Wooster's men's basketball schedule page.

 

Ticket Information: Ticket prices for the NCAC Tournament are set by the conference office. As Chadwick Court seats less than 2,000 spectators, semifinal ticket prices are $7 for adults (includes senior citizens), $5 for children (18 & under), $5 for holders of a NCAC guest pass, and $5 for students without an ID card from a NCAC institution. NCAC students are admitted free of charge, but must have a valid student ID card from a NCAC institution. Chadwick Court will be cleared between Friday's semifinals and a separate ticket will need to be purchased to watch the Wabash-Denison game. Saturday's championship game prices are $10 for adults (includes senior citizens), $5 for children (18 & under), $5 for holders of a NCAC guest pass, and $5 for students without an ID card from a NCAC institution. NCAC students are admitted free of charge, but must show their student ID.

 

NCAC Tournament History: Wooster has won the NCAC Tournament a league-best 17 times. Wittenberg is next with eight tournament crowns, while Ohio Wesleyan is in third-place with five. Wooster is a remarkable 80-21 all-time in the NCAC Tournament, 29-4 in the semifinals, and 14-5 in neutral-site games. Wooster has played in 24 of the last 26 championship games.

 

Div. III's Two Winningest Teams Meeting in Rare Semifinal Contest: Wooster (1,822 wins) and Wittenberg (1,857 wins) are NCAA Div. III's two winningest teams. Friday marks the 16 meeting in the NCAC Tournament, where Wooster holds a 10-5 lead. It is just the second one to take place outside of the championship game. Wooster and Wittenberg's only other non-championship game meeting in the NCAC Tournament was the 2013 semifinal, where top-seeded Wooster defeated fifth-seeded Wittenberg 78-66. The score of that game was tied at 61 before Wooster went on a decisive 9-1 run. Overall, Friday is the 129th all-time meeting. Wooster leads the all-time series 68-60 and is looking to match the longest winning streak in rivalry history at eight straight. Wooster has two eight-game winning streaks in the rivalry (Jan. 20, 1940-Jan. 10, 1955; Dec. 1, 2012-Feb. 14, 2015) and Wittenberg has one (Feb. 14, 1979-Jan. 20, 1990).

 

2023 NCAC Tournament Recap: In 2023, Wooster won its quarterfinal game for the 26th consecutive year with a 92-77 win over Oberlin. In the semifinal, Wooster took a commanding lead on Denison halfway through the second half, then did not let the Big Red come close to threatening down the stretch, in a 79-54 victory. Wooster closed out Denison with a 23-12 stretch that ended with alumnus Najee Hardaway's turnaround jumper in the paint upping the Scots' lead to 63-43 at the 8:04 mark. Wooster's lead did not dip below 18 the rest of the night. Wooster had a chance for a second buzzer-beating game-winner over Wabash in an eight-day stretch, but the Scots did not get off a good look, enabling the Little Giants to hang on for an 81-80 win in the championship. Then-sophomore Jamir Billings (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) broke Rick Hochstetler's 1997 single-game program record with 10 three-pointers. Wabash's Ahmoni Jones, who earned the Al Van Wie Award as the tournament's most outstanding player, hit the game-winner on a turnaround jumper from the foul line while heavily contested with 10.2 seconds remaining.

 

Talking Seeds and Stats: Wooster, which has been a top-three seed for the NCAC Tournament every year since 1989, is playing as the No. 2 seed for the sixth time since 2015. Wooster is 27-7 all-time as the No. 2 seed and five of Wooster's 17 NCAC Tournament titles have come as the No. 2 seed, with the most recent in 2017. Wooster has won its quarterfinal game every year since 1997. Wooster and Wittenberg last played in the NCAC Tournament in the 2020 championship game, won by Wooster 87-63. Steve Moore fired his team up by taking a "very controlled charge" during the walkthrough portion of the championship-day shootaround, and the Scots went on to guarantee itself a spot in the NCAA Div. III Championships field for the Div. III record 18th straight time. All-American alumnus Danyon Hempy surpassed 2,000 career points in the win.

 

Every Role is Important: Guys buying into their roles has fueled Wooster's success for nearly four decades. Wooster's bench plays a key role to the overall team success, and that has been especially evident the last several years in the NCAC Tournament quarterfinals. In 2018, alumnus Blake Blair came through with 14 points and four rebounds during Wooster's 70-63 win over DePauw. A year later, fan favorite Khaylen Mahdi filled that role with 16 points and four assists in Wooster's 91-89 win over Allegheny. Four years ago, Hardaway keyed the Scots with 12 points, five assists, and four rebounds in Wooster's 92-66 win over Allegheny. Two years ago, Nick Everett (Salem, Ohio/West Branch) filled that role, finishing with a then-career-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Last year, Carter Warstler delivered the top effort in the stretch of outcome-altering bench contributions with a career-high 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting, which included a 6-of-9 mark from beyond the arc. Sophomore Isaac Roeder (Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville) led the bench with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in Tuesday's win over DePauw.

 

Wooster is the Winningest NCAA Div. III Team of the 2000s: Since the start of the 1999-2000 season, Wooster has Div. III's highest winning percentage at .805 (582-141). In fact, Wooster's winning percentage in the 2000s is higher than every other NCAA Div. I, II, and III men's basketball program except for Gonzaga University (.834; 709-141), the University of Kansas (.811; 717-167), and Duke University (.808; 707-168). (records through games played Feb. 20)

 

NCAA Tournament Success: Wooster holds the NCAA Div. III record with 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament berths. The 2021-2022 season marked the first time Wooster did not make the NCAA Tournament since the 2001-2002 season.  Wooster's 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is tied for the seventh-longest streak in NCAA men's basketball history, trailing Kansas (33, 1990-present), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (27, 1975-2001), Duke (24, 1996-2019), Michigan State University (25, 1998-present), Gonzaga (24, 1999-present), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (19, 1999-2017). Wooster's run is tied with Indiana University Bloomington, which had an 18-year tournament streak from 1986-2003. Wooster has made 29 NCAA Tournaments since the formation of Div. III, which is second all-time. Longtime nemesis Wittenberg has made a Div. III-leading 30 Div. III Tournaments, and the University of Scranton is tied with Wooster for the second-most all-time trips.

 

Still in Search of No. 18: Wooster has to win Friday in order to keep its run of 18-win seasons intact. Wooster is looking to extend its run of 18-win seasons to 35, a simply remarkable run, considering there are only 25 regular season games in Div. III. Wooster's 24-year run of consecutive 20-win seasons was snapped two years ago. Wooster's 1,822 wins are the second-most in Div. III history trailing Wittenberg's 1,857.

 

Scots Second in Div. III to Hit This Number: Wooster won its 1,800th all-time game on Feb.1, 2023, marking the second time a NCAA Div. III institution hit that number. Only archrival Wittenberg has more all-time wins in Div. III history. Overall, Wooster was the 25th NCAA basketball program to hit the 1,800-win milestone. 

 

All-America Success: Wooster is the only Div. III program to have five different players selected as first-team NABC All-Americans in the 2000s. Bryan Nelson (2002-03, NABC Div. III Player of the Year), Tom Port (2006-07), Ian Franks (2009-10), Doug Thorpe (2013-14), and Hempy (2019-20) are Wooster's first-team NABC All-American selections in the 2000s.

 

Record-Breaking Billings: Billings is a very special player for Wooster and is one of the top point guards in program history. His record-breaking prowess was immediately evident as a first-year, starting by matching Mike Stoll's 49-year-old single-game record with 12 assists in a January 2022 game against Kenyon. Billings broke the single-game record for steals with 10 16 days later at Hiram College and went on to break the program's single-season steals record with 84. Billings' 164 assists as a first-year were two shy of Sam Dixon's program-record 166 set back in 1979. As a sophomore, Billings logged a second game with 12 assists, then made 10 three-pointers in the championship game of the NCAC Tournament, besting Rick Hochstetler's nine from a 1997 NCAA Div. III Tournament game against Ohio Northern University. Most recently, Billings passed out career assist 445 in the Feb. 17 game at Wabash to move past Erich Riebe (1988-92) and Antwyan Reynolds (1998-02) for the most all-time at Wooster. Billings is three steals shy of matching his single-season record, while one more assist will give Billings two of the top-three totals in single-season history.

 

The Record Chaser: Everett has played a big part of Wooster's success since transferring in from NCAA Div. II Edinboro University. He is averaging a career-high 13.7 points per game this season, and should his field-goal percentage remain above 69.565 percent (128-of-184), he will break Matt Schlingman's single-season NCAC and Wooster records. Everett enters the NCAC Tournament semifinals shooting 72.0 percent (126-of-175) for the season and has made 81.7 percent (89-of-109) of field goals since Dec. 29, a span of 17 games. Everett set the program record with 24 consecutive field-goal makes spanning Jan. 17-Feb. 3 and came up two shy of Anna Maria College's Mike Rapoza's NCAA Div. III record of 26 consecutive makes. He is coming off a career-high 26 points against DePauw, a game in which he was 11-of-11 from the floor.

 

Transferring Success: Wooster's success over the last few years is partially attributed to impactful transfers. Everett came in with Edinboro teammate Turner Kurt, who enjoyed an all-conference career at Wooster. This year, three transfers found their way to Wooster, including junior Ashton Price (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay), who is the team's leading scorer at 15.5 points per game. Price, who leads the NCAC (minimum of five field goals made per game) with a 50.2 field-goal percentage, has six 20-point games on the season. He has scored in double figures in 16 of Wooster's last 17 games. Price was Baldwin Wallace University's second-leading scorer at 14.3 points per night during the 2022-23 season.

 

Hometown Pride: Senior JJ Cline (Wooster, Ohio/Northwestern) has been around the program since before he could dribble a basketball. The son of head coach Doug Cline is a two-year starter in the program and is having his best season yet, ranking fourth on the team with 8.7 points per game. Cline dropped in 20 points for the first time in a win at Ohio Wesleyan on Jan. 24 and was 7-of-9 from the floor in the victory. He is one of the leaders on defense, drawing a team-leading nine charges this season. Known more as an effort and hustle player earlier in his career, Cline's game has transformed, which has made him a legitimate offensive weapon. Cline's outside shooting is where he is most improved, as the senior is connecting at 43.7 percent (31-of-71) from downtown this season.

 

Sophomore Class Very Important to Team: Wooster's roster is a little greener in terms of overall game experience this season. Those who have followed the program closely for years do not notice a big difference though, thanks to Jaiden Cox-Holloway (Cleveland, Ohio/Richmond Heights), EJ Kapihe (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Kamehameha Schools), Roeder, Isaiah Johnson (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South), and Vinni Veikalas (Joniškis, Lithuania/Western Reserve Academy (Ohio)), who have all played big roles this year. Cox-Holloway has started every game this calendar year and logged his first collegiate double-double the first time Wooster and Wabash met. Kapihe dropped in 20 points against Rowan University on the opening weekend of the year and upped his career-high to 21 against Oberlin on a perfect 9-of-9 night from the floor. The Oberlin game marked Kapihe's first time playing in front of his parents since coming to Wooster as they made the trip in from Hawaii for the game. Roeder earned time in the regular rotation as the season progressed last year and is a well-rounded offensive threat who can both shoot and drive. Johnson and Veikalas are both reserve guards who play key minutes for the Scots.

 

Notable Wooster Alumni in Basketball: Wooster has several notable alumni in prominent coaching and administrative roles in college and professional basketball. L.W. St. John '06 served head men's basketball coach at Ohio State University from 1911-19, and was the Buckeyes' athletic director for over 30 years. Reggie Minton '63, an alternate for the 1964 United States Olympic Team, went on to have a decorated career as a coach and administrator, including a near two-decade tenure as a top administrator for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Minton was selected by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to receive the 2022 John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award, and the honor is considered to be the top award given out by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame outside of enshrinement. Larry Shyatt '73 was an assistant coach at numerous programs, including the University of Florida, when the Gators won the NCAA Div. I national championship in 2006 and 2007. Shyatt had two stints as head coach at the University of Wyoming, was the man in charge at Clemson University for a five-year stretch, and worked in the Dallas Mavericks organization. Lamont Paris '96 was on staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for seven seasons, during which the Badgers made back-to-back appearances in the Final Four (2014-15), including the 2015 title game. Paris then became the head coach at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he went 87-72 over five years, including 65-29 over his final three seasons. At present, Paris is in his second season as head coach at the University of South Carolina, where he is excelling, reaching as high as No. 11 in the national polls. Ryan Pedon '00 spent five years as the lead assistant at Ohio State, which ranked as high as second in the AP Top-25, before taking the head coaching position at Illinois State University, where he is in year two.

 

Scots Go Abroad: Wooster's team spent last fall break in France. The NCAA permits such international trips every three years. The trip to France marked the seventh for the program, which previously traveled to England, Ireland, and Scotland (2017), Spain (2014), Ireland and Scotland (2011), Italy (2008), Germany and Austria (2004), and England and Scotland (2000).