Trimmer Helped Turn Wooster Back Into a Consistent Winner

The arrival of legendary head coach Steve Moore signaled a revitalization to an already tradition-rich College of Wooster men's basketball program. Mike Trimmer was one of the first to experience Moore's unwavering commitment to fundamentals, competitive excellence, and team basketball, and that resulted in one of the top defensive careers in program history. 

"Coach Moore spent extra time with me before each practice," reflected Trimmer, who started to question all the extra time after having "average" and "not memorable" first-year and sophomore seasons. Everything changed for the forward come January 30, 1988, against Denison University, as Trimmer played arguably the most complete game in program history. He scored 38 points, at the time the fifth-most in program history, secured 13 rebounds, and blocked a Wooster-record 10 shots for the first, and only, triple-double in program history. 

"The Denison game started my breakout, and I went on to accomplish many individual records and helped lead the team to its first North Coast Athletic Conference championship," reflected Trimmer, who earned first-team All-NCAC honors as a junior and senior. 

Defense, always a staple of Moore-coached teams, is a point of pride to this day for Trimmer, who has fond memories of the Fighting Scots having the top defensive team in the country during his senior year. Wooster allowed just 57.1 points per game during a 21-7 1988-89 season, and the opposition shot just 38.1 percent from the floor. Wooster's stifling defense enabled the program to win its first of a league-best 19 NCAC titles. 

Trimmer's elite rim-protecting abilities equated to an exponential uptick in blocked shots. Five eight-block games have been logged in program history, and Trimmer had four of them. His 100 blocked shots as a junior were followed up with 93 more as a senior, the top-two single-season marks by a wide margin. In fact, Ryan Gorman's 81 blocked shots in 1998-99 is the only other time a Scot has swatted aside at least 70 shots in a season in program history. The four-year letterwinner is part of the program's 1,000-point club. 

"Mike's play was a huge reason we were able to establish a winning record and turn the program around in our first year," summed up Moore. "Mike's presence in the lane as a shot blocker made it very difficult for our opponents to score at the basket. His inside defense and shot blocking ability enabled our team to lead the nation in both defensive field goal percentage and points allowed per game. Mike was a rebounding force, became a prolific post-up offensive player, and led Wooster to its first-ever NCAC regular season championship." 

After graduation, Trimmer headed overseas to pursue a successful professional basketball career with stops in Switzerland, Sweden, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Ireland. He settled in Ireland and has worked for Central Bank of Ireland since 2004, currently serving as a bank executive. 

Personally, the business economics alumnus, is married to Rebecca Devlin, and they have one child, Austin.