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LOCATION: Indianapolis, IN
CONFERENCE: Mid-Continent
LAST SEASON: 11-16 (.407)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 6-8 (t-5th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 1/4
NICKNAME: Jaguars
COLORS: Red, Gold & Black
HOMECOURT: IUPUI Gymnasium (2,000)
COACH: Ron Hunter (Miami-Ohio '86)
record at school 83-56 (5 years)
career record 83-56 (5 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Kevin Jones (Eastern Illinois '87)
Todd Howard (Louisville '93)
Jason Kent (Charleston '96)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) N/A
RPI (last 5 years) N/A
1998-99 FINISH: Ineligible for postseason.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Eleven victories may not sound like much of a season, but for last year's Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis squad, it wasn't half bad. The Jaguars made their Division I debut last season. Predictably, the results were mixed. Playing against better athletes guided by better coaches than it was used to, IUPUI suffered its share of cuts and bruises. Still, the Jags managed to hang around .500 all year long, and stood at 11-11 with five games left. Perhaps running out of gas after such a valiant effort, they lost all five and ended the season at 11-16. IUPUI posted a respectable 6-8 record in its first season in the Mid-Continent Conference good for an unexpected fifth-place tie but was denied a chance to redeem itself in the conference tournament. As a Division I newcomer, the Jaguars were not eligible to play in the Mid-Continent Tournament last season, nor will they be this season. The only way for IUPUI to play in the NCAA Tournament is to earn an at-large bid, and frankly, folks, that just ain't gonna happen. If it does, somebody better test the Jaguars' sneakers for Flubber. That's the bad news. The good news is that four starters, as well as four of the top five scorers, return for sixth-year coach Ron Hunter. One of the returnees was an All-Mid-Continent second-team selection a year ago, and another led the country in three-point shooting percentage. And despite the step up in competition, the Jaguars continued to play well at home, posting a 7-6 record at IUPUI Gymnasium, where they are 48-13 over the last five seasons. Anchoring the Jaguars' lineup this season will be 6-6 junior forward Don Carlisle (13.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg), the team's leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker (17). He also hit .703 from the free-throw line and chipped in 51 steals while topping the squad in minutes played. For his efforts, Carlisle earned a spot on the Mid-Con's All-Newcomer team, as well as the all-conference second team.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C+ BENCH/DEPTH D
FRONTCOURT C INTANGIBLES C
Ron Hunter is not accustomed to losing. In his five years at IUPUI, his squad has endured just one season below .500, and that was last year. That the Jaguars won 11 games in their initial foray into Division I play is a testament to Hunter's coaching ability. (It also put the lie to this Blue Ribbon prediction: "A double-figure victory total is out of the question.") They played to their traditional strengths, hitting the long ball with exceptional accuracy, defending the perimeter well and aggressively hawking the ball. There's no reason to think that will change this year. Alas, there's not much reason to think that IUPUI's lack of inside pop will change, either. Don Carlisle is a legitimate talent, and the amount of board-cleaning he does at 6-6 is amazing. But with Derek Williams hanging around on the wing, he is rather alone in the Jaguars' frontcourt. The backcourt looks quite solid, with sharpshooting Rodney Thomas and steady Taj Hawkins holding down the fort. If Hunter can coax some contributions out of his bench, the Jaguars could surprise the Mid-Continent Conference again this year. They are not yet permitted to appear in the conference tournament, so an NCAA appearance is highly unlikely. But Hunter and his IUPUI team appear to have shaken any first-season Division I jitters they may have had. Their future is bright. That's not to say the Jaguars are guaranteed a slice of March Madness within the next couple of years, but the program itself seems on firm footing, and that's quite a plus. |
Swingman Derek Williams (9.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg), a 6-3 senior, started 24 games a season ago and will join Carlisle in the starting frontcourt. Williams gave Hunter some much-needed versatility, shooting the ball well (.484 from the floor), hitting the boards, playing tough defense (a league-high 53 steals) and registering 55 assists, second on the team. He is a solid player who will contribute at both ends of the court. Having lost a reliable scoring and rebounding forward in Mohammed Witherspoon, Hunter must find a way to round out his starting frontcourt. The only true center is 6-10 freshman redshirt Herbert Lambert (Providence St. Mel HS/Chicago), who sat out last year. So don't be surprised if Hunter decides to play a hybrid forward/center in the post, especially because he has a couple of them on his bench in 6-8 sophomore Josh Fitzwater (5.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg) and 6-8 junior Katoni Waller (2.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg). Fitzwater played in 18 games, starting five times, while Waller appeared in 21 games, starting once. Neither put up especially stirring numbers, except perhaps for Waller's .481 field-goal shooting. In addition, making his Division I debut will be 6-9 sophomore forward/center Walter Moore (McLennan Community College/Chesterfield, Mo.), who averaged 10.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in his final year in junior college. Moore had a stellar scholastic career and could see substantial playing time with the Jaguars. Another promising transfer is 6-7 sophomore forward Roman Dolven (Orange Coast College/Chini Hills, Calif.), who played his freshman ball at Costa Mesa (Calif.) Junior College, where he tallied 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 33 steals and a team-high 40 blocked shots. Vito Knighton (6.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg), a 6-6 junior forward, put up decent numbers in the two games in which he played. Newcomer Charles Price (Broad Ripple HS/Indianapolis), a 6-8 sophomore, rounds out the frontcourt rotation. The Jaguars are strong in the backcourt, where both starters return and a multi-talented bench waits to provide backup. The starting point guard is 6-1 sophomore Taj Hawkins (2.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg), who led the team with 71 assists and, impressively, turned the ball over just 38 times. He appeared in all 27 games, starting 12, and though Hawkins doesn't shoot much, if he can continue taking care of the ball as he did last season, it may not matter. A significant reason for that is the presence of 6-2 senior Rodney Thomas (10.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg), a truly gifted shooting guard who led the country a season ago with an astounding .522 three-point shooting average. IUPUI as a team shot very well from behind the arc, leading the Mid-Continent at .405 percent, and Thomas clearly showed the way. He started 19 of the 26 games he played. Providing punch off the bench is 6-5 junior Matt Hermes (7.2 ppg, 1.5 rpg), a 10-game starter a season ago. Last year, Hermes was the sole Jaguar with Division I experience, having transferred from Drake, and he proved to be a solid player. IUPUI also has an experienced reserve in 6-1 senior Jermaine Gardner (3.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg), who totaled 48 assists and 16 steals while backing up Hawkins at the point in 18 games and starting nine others. Patrick Cunningham (1.0 ppg, 0.3 rpg), a 6-4 sophomore, played just four times, while 6-3 junior Mike Ellis (Joliet JC/Plainfield, Ind.) is a transfer.
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