NCAC Tournament Preview: Men's Basketball

Wooster Game Notes

Outlook: The College of Wooster men's basketball team (18-8, 13-5 North Coast Athletic Conference) is set to play in its 25th consecutive NCAC Tournament semifinal game on Friday, February 25. The Fighting Scots, this week's second seed, take on sixth-seeded DePauw University (11-13, 7-10 NCAC) in Friday's 5 p.m. game at Wabash College's Chadwick Court. Top-seeded Wabash (22-3, 16-1 NCAC), winners of 18 straight, hosts fifth-seeded Denison University (13-12, 11-7 NCAC) in Friday's 7:30 p.m. semifinal. Wooster beat Allegheny College (8-14, 6-9 NCAC) 86-79, Wabash beat Hiram College (9-17, 6-12 NCAC) 101-79, DePauw upset Ohio Wesleyan University (15-11, 12-6 NCAC) 81-71, and Denison upset Wittenberg University (13-12, 11-6 NCAC) in Tuesday's quarterfinal round. The winners of Friday's semifinal games play in Saturday's 4 p.m. championship game at Chadwick Court.

Media Coverage: Wabash will stream both semifinal games and the championship game at https://team1sports.com/Wabash/. WQKT 104.5 FM is not making the trip to Crawfordsville. Fans can also follow the live stats link on Wooster's men's basketball schedule page and check for periodic score updates on the men's basketball team's Twitter account @ScotsBasketball.

Ticket Information: Ticket prices for the NCAC Tournament are set by the conference office. Semifinal prices are $7 for adults (including seniors), $5 for children (18 & under), holders of a NCAC guest pass, and 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 semifinal games and a separate ticket will be required for those wishing to watch the Wabash-Denison game. Championship game tickets are $10 for adults (including seniors), $5 for children (18 & under), holders of a NCAC guest pass, and 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. Tickets are cash only.

Spectator Policies: Masking is required by all spectators regardless of vaccination status for indoor events hosted at Wabash. Spectators are expected to comply with all directions from Wabash staff and gameday ushers.

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 76-19 all-time in the NCAC Tournament, which includes a 13-5 ledger when playing at neutral sites and a 5-4 mark when playing in true road games. Wooster, which has won its quarterfinal game in 25 consecutive years, is 27-4 in the semifinals. The Scots have won their semifinal game in 12 of the last 13 years, with 2018 marking the lone setback during that stretch. In 2020, Wooster opened the second half with a 27-4 run en route to a convincing 92-66 win over Allegheny in the quarterfinals. Then, Wooster continued one of the most remarkable streaks in all of college basketball with a 74-62 win over Denison in the semifinals. That victory marked Wooster's 20th of the year and upped the program's run of consecutive 20-win seasons to 24. Prior to the championship game, then-head coach Steve Moore took a "very controlled charge" during the pregame walkthrough, then Wooster went on to trounce archrival Wittenberg 87-63. In the championship game All-American Danyon Hempy scored his 2,000th career point and broke Ohio Wesleyan's Scott Tedder's 34-year-old NCAC Tournament record for most points. Wooster is 3-1 in the NCAC Tournament against DePauw. The teams last met in the 2019 semifinals, with Wooster winning that game 73-52.

Talking Seeds: Wooster is 25-6 as the second seed in the NCAC Tournament. The last time the Scots were the second seed came in 2018. Wooster's won five of its league-high 17 tournament titles as the two seed.

A Brief Look at DePauw: DePauw knocked off third-seeded Ohio Wesleyan 81-71 on Tuesday. Elijah Hales hit six triples en route to scoring 27 points. He leads the team with 18.3 points per game. Junior Nolan Niego and sophomore Grant Niego combine for nearly 22 points per night. DePauw head coach Bill Fenlon is retiring at the conclusion of the season. He has led the Tigers for 30 seasons and has won 480 games at the helm of the program.

Newer, But Familiar Head Sherriff in Town: This is second-year head coach Doug Cline's first NCAC Tournament leading the Fighting Scots, but the veteran coach knows all too well what to expect this week. Few people, if any, understand the Wooster basketball experience more fully than, Cline, who has a 21-12 record leading the program he once starred for. Wooster won over 600 games (611-136) during Cline's years as an assistant to Div. III legend Steve Moore, and he helped the program make 23 NCAA appearances during that stretch, headlined by trips to the Div. III "Final Four" in 2003, 2007, and 2011. At the conference level, 15 of Wooster's league-leading 18 conference titles have come during Cline's tenure on the staff, including seven straight from 2005-11. As a player, Cline finished with 1,396 points, which ranked eighth on the program's prestigious leaderboard upon graduation. The three-time all-conference honoree led the team in rebounding twice and was part of the Scots' 1992, 1993, and 1995 NCAC Tournament championship teams.

Scots Need to Keep Winning to Keep Streaks Alive: Simply put, Wooster needs to win this week's NCAC Tournament to keep two of the most remarkable streaks in all of college basketball alive. It is very unlikely that Wooster will receive a Pool C (at-large) bid to the NCAA Div. III national tournament, meaning the Scots need to win two more times this week to get in. Wooster has not missed the national tournament since 2002, and that is the program's only miss since 1995. Wooster's run of 18 straight NCAA Tournament berths is the longest consecutive run in Div. III history and it is the fourth-longest active streak, trailing University of Kansas (31), Michigan State University (23), and Gonzaga University (22). Overall, Wooster boasts the seventh-longest streak of consecutive NCAA men's basketball tournament appearances, trailing Kansas (31, 1990-present), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (27, 1975-01), Duke University (24, 1996-19), Michigan State (23, 1998-present), Gonzaga (22, 1999-present), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (19, 1999-17). Wooster's streak is still active, per the NCAA, since there were no championship selections in Div. III in 2021, and the Div. I programs received a similar waiver for their consecutive streaks in 2020. Wooster's other streak at stake this week is its run of consecutive 20-win seasons, which currently sits at 24. Kansas logged its 33rd consecutive 20-win season this winter, and that is the longest active streak. Similar to its NCAA run, Wooster received a waiver from the national organization for the 2020-21 season since it did not play at least 20 games.

Wooster's First-Year Superstar: Wooster's had plenty of superstars over the years, and current first-year Jamir Billings (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) is the latest in that group. Billings tied Mike Stoll's 1972 school record with 12 assists during Wooster's 91-77 win over Kenyon College on January 12. That marked the first of three straight double-digit assist games for the sensational point guard, a first in program history. In fact, Billings has four games this year with at least 10 helpers and no other Scot has more than two games with at least 10 career assists. His 154 helpers are the second-most in program history, trailing Sam Dixon (166, 1978-79). Billings tied Antwyan Reynolds' school record with seven steals in the first Wooster-Wittenberg matchup this year, and he broke it with a 10-steal game at Hiram on January 28. Wooster's guard broke Reynolds' single-season record with his 76th steal of the year against Denison on February 16, and he's now at 82 steals on the year. Through games played February 22, Billings is fifth nationally in steals, eighth in minutes, 10th in assists, 11th in steals per game, and 19th in assists per game.

Bide Time Then Shine: Numerous Wooster stars filled more of a support role at the onset of their standout careers, learned from the Scots talented veterans, and then filled those star roles later in their careers. The success – and everyone buying into their role for the greater good of the team – has enabled Wooster to have an unparalleled level of sustained success at the small college basketball level. Ian Franks '11 is Wooster's biggest success story of the players whose careers have followed this trajectory, going from jayvee player as a first-year to a two-time All-American. Seniors Najee Hardaway (Cleveland, Ohio/Shaker Heights) and Brandon Styers (North Olmsted, Ohio/Holy Name) are Wooster's latest stars who fall into this category. Hardaway started to see regular minutes midway through his sophomore year, thanks to his strong defensive abilities, as he would regularly guard the oppositions' top scorer. He worked hard on his offensive skillset to become a more well-rounded player, and it paid off, with the senior averaging a career-high 11.9 points per game last year. He's at 11.0 points per game entering the NCAC semifinals. Styers was Wooster's "sixth man" during the 2019-20 season. He too has elevated his offensive game, growing from more of a spot-up shooter as a first-year to someone who can do everything offensively. Styers earned D3hoops.com All-Great Lakes Region honors as a junior, following a career-high 16.6 points per game. He ranked sixth nationally in Div. III for the 2020-21 season in field-goal percentage (67.2 percent, 41-of-61).

Transfers Make Their Mark: Junior Turner Kurt (Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs) and sophomore Nick Everett (Salem, Ohio/West Branch) both transferred to Wooster from Div. II Edinboro University. Kurt's been a regular in the starting lineup. He is second on the team with 14.6 points per night and leads the squad with 7.4 rebounds per game. Everett averages 6.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, and he has made 21 of his last 26 field goals.

Scots Deep in the Post: Wooster's 2021-22 team has arguably the most depth on the interior of the teams over the last several years and sophomore Elijah Meredith (Lewis Center, Ohio/Wellington) is a big reason why. The sophomore is averaging 13.3 points per game and is someone who can finish at the rim with both hands and extend the floor from beyond the arc.

Bench Fuels Scots in NCAC Quarterfinals: Of late, Wooster's quarterfinal success has been partially attributed to a bench player stepping up in an outcome-altering way. In 2018, alumnus Blake Blair came through with 14 points and four rebounds during Wooster's 70-63 win over DePauw. A year later, then-first-year Khaylen Mahdi (Holyoke, Mass./MacDuffie School) filled that role with 16 points and four assists in Wooster's 91-89 win over Allegheny. Two years ago, Hardaway keyed the Scots with 12 points, five assists, and four rebounds in Wooster's 92-66 win over Allegheny. This year, Everett emerged in that role, finishing with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

Notable Wooster Alumni in Basketball: Wooster has several notable alumni currently in, or have held, prominent coaching and administrative roles in collegiate and professional basketball. L.W. St. John '06 served as 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 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 and was the man in charge at Clemson University for a five-year run. Presently, Shyatt's an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks. Recent alumni in prominent coaching roles include Lamont Paris '96 and Ryan Pedon '00. Paris was on the 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 is currently in his fifth year as the head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Pedon is in his fifth year as the lead assistant at Ohio State, which has been ranked as high as second in the AP Top 25 during his tenure.

photo by Abbi Tarburton '22