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LOCATION: Bethlehem, PA
CONFERENCE: Patriot League
LAST SEASON: 6-27 (.182)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 0-12 (7th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 0/5
NICKNAME: Mountain Hawks
COLORS: Brown & White
HOMECOURT: Stabler Arena
COACH: Sal Mentesana (Providence '69)
record at school 17-70 (3 years)
career record 17-70 (3 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Jeff Wilson (East Stroudsburg '86)
Glen Noack (Bloomsburg '86)
Chris McNesbie (East Stroudsburg '99)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 11-4-1-10-6
RPI (last 5 years) 251-302-304-264-300
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference semifinals.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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It was a good news, bad news kind of year for Lehigh last season. Good: Scoring machine Brett Eppehimer averaged 22.2 ppg. Bad: Injuries kept him out of all but 10 games. Good: All starters returned, leading Blue Ribbon to predict: "Barring injuries, this season should see Lehigh take greater strides on that thousand-mile journey" toward winning. Bad: All starters were felled by injury for at least one game, and at least three sat for six straight games. An astonishing nine players spent time in the trainer's room instead of on the court. Good: The Mountain Hawks sparked optimism by winning five of their first eight games. Bad: Rendered helpless by casualties, they closed the regular season by losing their next 18 games, including all 12 Patriot League games. Good: Lehigh managed one of the most stunning upsets in league history by beating heavily favored Navy, 53-45, in a quarterfinal game of the Patriot League Tournament. Bad: Playing against Bucknell in the next round, the Mountain Hawks were up by six with 15:29 to play when co-captain Jared Hess, the team's most consistent performer in Eppehimer's absence, dislocated his shoulder after colliding with the Bison's Valter Karavanic.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT C INTANGIBLES C
Sal Mentesana has every right to expect that none of his players will so much as catch a cold this season. The amount of pain and suffering that befell Lehigh in 1998-99 is almost too staggering to comprehend. And once the injuries hit, the Mountain Hawks were done; they simply lacked the experience to fill so many holes. Other teams in similar situations would suffer, yes, but few would be so depleted as to lose 19 of its final 20 games. Aches and pains are a part of the game, of course, so chances are Lehigh won't go through the season unblemished. A large difference between last year's squad and this year's, however, is depth. The players who started the final five games last winter are back, and will be supported by an experienced cast of reserves and a decent-looking freshman class. Point guard looks solid. Guard Jared Hess and forward Fido Willybiro seem ready to carry the load offensively. Mentesana tinkered with a zone defense last season, and its success may persuade him to continue the experiment. For a team that blocked just 52 shots while getting outscored by more than nine points a night, it's not a bad idea. Mentesana hoped last season would be a bridge between the pathetic '90s and a successful start to the 21st century. Injuries rendered the season a disaster, but with a nice mix of veterans and youngsters, the Mountain Hawks will try for .500 this year and look to continue climbing next winter. |
It took eight minutes for Lehigh to score another bucket. By then Bucknell had taken a lead it would never relinquish. The Hawks' season ended with an eight-point loss. One would be hard-pressed to find a program so undeserving of such lousy luck. Lehigh has not enjoyed a winning season since 1991. Four years ago, it won all of four games. Three years ago, head coach Sal Mentesana's first, the Mountain Hawks won just one game. Mentesana engineered a nine-victory turnaround the next season, and with all their starters back and a little bit of confidence discovered, the Mountain Hawks appeared to be ready to claw back to respectability. However, a stress fracture and torn ligaments in Eppehimer's ankle put the kibosh on any dreams Lehigh fans might have harbored. The sterling guard was lost for 12 straight games. He came back and played in the next three games but was so ravaged by pain he was forced back to the bench. While all the Mountain Hawks' injuries dented the team last year, Eppehimer's loss was surely the biggest. The No. 4 Division I scorer a season before, he was the undisputed centerpiece of a squad that saw itself as a conference dark horse. Had Lehigh somehow found its way past Bucknell, Eppehimer planned to take a cortisone shot and play in the championship game. Finding a silver lining in the dark cloud of a six-victory season isn't terribly easy, but in this case, at least, it can be done. The loss of so many key players allowed others to step up and gain valuable experience. Hess continued to develop and will be this season's go-to guy. All the Mountain Hawks' starters return again, there is some depth to back them up and the program's first scholarship class begins play this fall. Less obvious, but perhaps just as important, were the adjustments Mentesana was forced to make last season. They came to a head in the Patriot Tournament when the Mountain Hawks abandoned their typical pressing man-to-man defense for a zone that shook Navy to its core and nearly did the same to Bucknell. It was a nifty piece of coaching on the fly and bodes well for Mentesana's ability to adapt to difficult circumstances. Eppehimer and role player Dan Handerhan are the only lettermen to have graduated from last season's squad. Barring injury, that bang you just heard was the sound of thousands of Lehigh fans simultaneously knocking on wood. The Mountain Hawks should, at the very least, be competitive this season. Hess (12.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg), a 6-5 senior swingman, was last year's top scorer and blossomed into a serious threat from the outside. A former member of the conference all-rookie team, he hit 39.6 percent of his three-point shots and 82.3 percent of his free throws. Hess' career has been marked by inconsistency; last year, for example, he shot better from outside the arc than inside it (33.9 percent). In addition, his wobbly shoulder, which was dislocated twice while he was in high school, now qualifies as a concern. However, if Hess is healthy and if the surrounding lineup is stable, he should be a factor in every game. With Hess ensconced at shooting guard, Mentesana will again allow 6-1 junior Tiwaun Hawkins (2.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg) and 5-10 senior Steve Aylsworth (5.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg) to share duties at the point. Despite starting only six times, Aylsworth had 107 assists, good for third in the league, while turning the ball over only 62 times. Hawkins started 27 games, and his 90 assists were fourth most in the conference. Their contrasting styles of play give Mentesana added flexibility; Aylsworth is the team's sparkplug and emotional leader, while Hawkins, who led Lehigh with 29 steals, is the superior defensive player. Backcourt depth will come from two freshmen. At the point is 6-3 Yugoslavia native Zlatko Savovic (Everett HS/Everett, Wash.), who mixes strong defensive play with a nice outside touch. He averaged 21.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 6.0 assists per game and could see substantial action. Backing Hess up in the two slot is 6-4 sniper Matt Logie (Mercer Island HS/Mercer Island, Wash.), considered one of the better three-point shooters on the West Coast. Logie scored 19.1 ppg as a senior, helping his team win the state championship. If Logie is as good as advertised and his shot falls, it will mean less time for 6-3 senior Michael Fry, who returns after leaving the team for personal reasons four games into last season. The frontcourt charge will be led by 6-6 senior forward Fido Willybiro (11.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg), the Mountain Hawks' leading rebounder. An alumnus of the team's walking-wounded club, he spent the final 11 games on the sideline after surgery on an injured knee. Willybiro is an athletic player and a former All-Patriot rookie selection. If he is healthy, Willybiro gives Lehigh a legitimate presence up front. Who will start at the other forward slot is a bit of a toss-up. Bobby Willis, a 6-4 junior, and Scott Taylor, a 6-5 sophomore, earned some starts, as well as significant reserve time, last season. Neither, however, put up much numbers: Willis registered 3.8 ppg and 1.9 rpg in 25 games, with three starts, while Taylor averaged 4.1 ppg and 2.3 rpg in 28 games, with nine starts. Mentesana seeks more offense from them, and if he doesn't get it, don't be surprised if he taps 6-6 freshman forward Tanner Engel (Kearney HS/Kearney, Wash.). The McDonald's All-American and all-state performer averaged 23.0 ppg and 9.0 rpg and will see time at both forward positions. Spelling Willybiro are two veterans, 6-6 senior Peter DeLea (8.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and 6-5 sophomore Bobby Mbom (3.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg). DeLea's cranky back limited him to 15 games a year ago, and his size led to matchup problems against opposing centers. Mentesana will shift him to forward this year, no doubt much to his relief. The 255-pound Mbom, known as "The Beast," appeared in 27 games as a freshman and bettered his game as the season wore on. Rounding out the forward corps are 6-5 junior Ed Lacayo (5.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg), who played in 26 games a season ago, and 6-3 junior Anson Ferguson (3.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg), who was hobbled by an Achilles injury and appeared in only three games. The Mountain Hawks enjoy lots of size in the paint, where two 6-10 players will vie for time. The early starter will be junior Sah-U-Ra Brown (2.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg), who has hit the buffet line and the weight room and added bulk and strength. His 18 blocks led Lehigh, but Mentesana will look for more offense to complement his defensive skills. After some early ankle trouble, Brown played very well down the stretch last season and turned some heads in the Patriot Tournament. His backup and fellow 6-10 center is freshman Matt Crawford (Vero Beach HS/Vero Beach, FL), a heavily recruited and highly touted prospect who averaged 12.5 ppg, 12.0 rpg and 6.0 blocks per game. Look for 6-9 junior Kyle Gloff (0.8 ppg, 1.1 rpg) and 6-8 sophomore Marshall Rumney (1.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg), who was stricken last year with mononucleosis, to warm the bench.
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