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WSU guards fueling men, women teams

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By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer 9:23 PM Thursday, January 12, 2012

FAIRBORN — When Wright State junior guard Julius Mays was named the Horizon League men’s basketball co-player of the week for the second time in three weeks on Monday, that was significant enough.

It was the fourth time a WSU player has earned multiple HL player of the week honors in the same season (the Raiders have been members since 1994). Keion Brooks was a two-time honoree in 1998-99, Kevin Melson had four in 1999-2000 and DaShaun Wood was a three-time POW in 2006-07.

Then think about what freshman guard Kim Demmings has added for the women’s team. A two-time Horizon League women’s basketball player of the week, Demmings has quickly become a league force. Combined, Demmings and Mays are in uncharterd territory for two individual Raiders players.

This is the first year in WSU’s 18-season league membership that both a men’s and women’s basketball player have earned multiple league player of the week honors. And both have done what good players do: Played even better in the league games.

Mays, for instance, improved from 13.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists for the season overall to 18 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in league games.

Demmings averages 15.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists, although she has improved her all-around game in league matchups with 14.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. Both play about 35 minutes per game in the league.

That’s a strong pairing of two guards.

Play of the year candidate: Speaking of Mays, his buzzer-beating, running, banking 3-pointer that beat Idaho in overtime on Dec. 20 has been nominated for the GEICO Play of the Year. Voting continues on the award’s Facebook page at facebook.com/BestofCollegeBasketball until Monday.

Starting strong: Cassandra Lloyd, the WSU senior hurdler from Springfield, is widely considered the best track athlete in WSU history. She is starting her final indoor season strong.

Lloyd has earned HL runner of the week honors following each of the Raiders’ two events this year. Last Friday, she won the 60-meter hurdles, finished fifth in the 200 meters and was sixth in the 60. Her time in the 60 hurdles, 8.23 seconds, was a school record.

Notable commitment: The WSU men’s soccer team, which played in the Horizon League tournament final last season, secured a commitment from Cheick Diawara of Dublin Scioto High School, accoring to ESPN’s high school boys soccer website. He was a Division I All-Ohio first teamer as well as the Ohio Capital Conference and Central District Player of the Year.

Tight league race: In the Horizon League’s first 27 men’s basketball games, 18 were decided by six points or fewer, and the average margin of victory was 7.4 points. Seven of those games came down to one or two points.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@coxohio.com

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