After a 20-9 season that ended with a last-second loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Tigers return five experienced seniors and begin the season ranked 11th in Division III.
They open the season against Indiana University-East at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Pam Evans Smith Arena.
“We feel really good about it,” said Black, who averaged 15.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game last season. “With the seniors and the leadership, you can definitely tell around practice, the way the players are acting, the way the coaches are acting, there’s a lot of excitement.”
Black and fellow 6-7 senior Alex Brandt (8.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg) give the Tigers one of the strongest one-two punches in the post in the NCAC, if not the nation.
“We really hope, as the season goes along, we have strengths at a couple of different places,” Wittenberg coach Bill Brown said, “but our strength right at this second from an offensive standpoint is with our post game. Other people are going to figure that strength out and do things to take that away.”
That’s why the Tigers must find outside shooters to replaced graduated senior Chris Sullivan, who finished his career as Wittenberg’s all-time leader in 3-pointers and is now an assistant coach at Denison.
While the Tigers may not have one player make as many 3-pointers as Sullivan did last season (120), they could be a more balanced team from the perimeter.
Sophomore Steven Newell will start at shooting guard. He shot 42 percent from 3-point range (27-of-64). Junior Cam Walton was leading the team in 3-point percentage (47.8, 32-of-67) last year when he suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Brown said Newell and Walton will probably start Tuesday at the wing positions, with newcomer Zack Leahy starting at the point. Leahy played his freshman season at the University of Toledo, making 21-of-61 3-pointers.
“He has been rightly or wrongly plugged in there right from the get-go,” Brown said. “He hasn’t shot the ball really well, but I could say that about several of the perimeter players. He’s a tough guy. He likes to play. He’s going to play a lot of basketball for us.”
When seniors Josh McKee and Michael Cooper return to the team after the football season, the Tigers will have two more 3-point threats. McKee missed a large chunk of last season with an illness, but made 32-of-98 3-pointers (33 percent) two years ago. Cooper made major improvements in his outside shooting last season, making 20-of-57 (35 percent).
“There’s no question we are still feeling our way along with the perimeter shooting,” Brown said. “We lose Sullivan, but one guy is a lot easier to take out of the game. I still think that’s going to be the plus side of losing him.”
Until McKee and Cooper return — and Brown doesn’t envision them practicing this week — the rest of the rotation includes 6-6 senior forward Jacob Weide, 6-0 freshman guard Ben Syroka, 6-4 freshman guard Sam Collins and 6-5 sophomore post Scott Masin. Brown usually uses a 10-man rotation, but as of Thursday, he was unsure who that 10th man would be.
“Ben Syroka can shoot the basketball,” Brown said. “We’re really in need of people who can shoot the basketball. Sam Collins just has a lot of energy. He’s got a real motor. He’s an excellent offensive rebounder. He is making strides defensively. He can put the ball on the floor and get some people shots, and he likes to do that.”
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