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LOCATION: Chicago, IL
CONFERENCE: Midwestern Collegiate
LAST SEASON: 9-18 (.333)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 7-7 (4th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 1/4
NICKNAME: Ramblers
COLORS: Maroon & Gold
HOMECOURT: Joseph J. Gentile Center (5,200)
COACH: Larry Farmer (UCLA '73)
record at school 9-18 (1 year)
career record 104-95 (7 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Pete Trgvich (UCLA '75)
Lance Irvin (Idaho '92)
Jeff Dunlap (UCLA '86)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 5-8-12-15-9
RPI (last 5 years) 283-243-259-171-229
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Baby steps. That's what the Loyola (Ill.) men's basketball team took during Larry Farmer's first year. It took a while for Loyola to find its stride under a new coach and his new system last year, but the Ramblers started to jell near the end of the 1998-99 campaign. They ended the regular season by winning four of their final five games and were 5-2 their second time around the league. By season's end, the Ramblers were the only MCC team to beat both the MCC's first- and second-place teams, Detroit and Butler. And Loyola picked up at least one win over every league team, except Wisconsin-Green Bay. In year one under Farmer's guidance, Loyola finished .500 (7-7) in the conference for the first time since the 1986-87 season and finished fourth in the league, its best finish in more than a decade. School officials couldn't help but notice all of the baby steps made by the program, so they extended Farmer's contract through the 2002-2003 season. "I'm really happy that (university president) Father John Piderit has shown his trust and confidence in me," Farmer said. "We're bringing in a great recruiting class for this coming season. Father's commitment to me and the direction of the program will allow us to continue to bring outstanding student-athletes to Loyola in order to return our team to prominence." Farmer's 1999-200 roster will feature four returning starters, as well as this stellar recruiting class that the former UCLA star has referred to. Let's start with the old faces first. Two-time first-team all-league player Javan Goodman and his team-best 18.5 ppg are gone, so Farmer will lean heavily on his four returning starters, especially the productive backcourt combo of 6-0 senior Earl Brown and 6-3 sophomore Chris Williams.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C+ BENCH/DEPTH D
FRONTCOURT C INTANGIBLES B+
Coach Larry Farmer is hoping that year two at Loyola is better than last season with the Ramblers. It should be. Four starters are back from a team that lost twice as much as it won (9-18), but remember the Ramblers finished up last season fairly strong (5-2 in its last seven games). Running the show once again will be point guard Earl Brown, who led the MCC in steals (1.93 spg) and was second in assists (4.96 apg). Many of his passes will be in the direction of backcourt mate Chris Williams (10.6 ppg), a member of the 1999 MCC All-Newcomer team. And having a recognizable face like Farmer¡s is starting to pay off on the recruiting trail as 6-9 multi-skilled Silvije Turkovic from Coatia and a pair of USA Today honorable mention All-American picks from the Windy City, 5-8 freshman point guard David Bailey and 6-4 freshman swingman Jerell Parker, join the team this winter. Farmer will attempt to fill in his frontcourt holes and figure out where the new faces fit into the mix while tackling a strong non-conference schedule, which includes a trip to the Michigan State Tournament as well as to Big Ten sleeper Illinois. The challenging schedule also includes visits to the Loyola's Gentile Center by Kansas State and Bradley. Without Javan Goodman, a good frontcourt man who MCC couldn't keep down the past couple seasons, the Ramblers figure to struggle early on. But with all of the talented new faces and a top-notch sophomore in Chris Williams, the future looks pretty bright here. But remember folks, baby steps. |
Brown (9.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 134 assists, 52 steals) started all 27 games last season and comes into the season ranked seventh all-time in assists at Loyola. With 344 career set-ups, he is only eight assists from breaking into Loyola's top five all-time passmasters. Darius Clemons is Loyola's career leader with 703. In addition to being second in the MCC in assists (4.96 apg), Brown led the league in steals (1.93 spg), marking the second straight year he's been the MCC's top thief. Rejoining Brown in the backcourt will be Williams (10.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 29 assists, 20 steals), a 1999 MCC All-Newcomer selection. Williams averaged 12.1 points in conference games and was seventh in the league in three-point shooting (.377) and in threes made (1.54 per game). Williams got better as the season wore on. The youngster, who played his high school ball alongside current Orlando Magic rookie Corey Maggette at Fenwick (Ill.) High School, averaged 14.0 points over the Ramblers' last eight games. He'll be the focal point of the offense and could easily average between 14-16 points per game in 1999-2000. Swingman Damine McSwine, a three-year starter, is back as well. The team's top defensive player, McSwine, also chipped in 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game last season. McSwine, a 6-5 senior, will pick up some of Goodman's lost scoring. Goodman's lost rebounding (8.8 rpg) will be picked up in part by 6-10 senior power forward/center John Tice, who started 25 games last season and averaged 2.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Tice could get some inside help from either one of a pair of returnees 6-7, 220-pound sophomore Jonathon Freeman or 6-7, 240-pound junior Wayne Plowman or more likely, from one of the new faces. Plowman (1.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg) appeared in 25 games, including four starts, as Goodman's understudy last year. He has shown glimpses of potential and might show more if he's given additional playing time. Freeman was pretty much an afterthought as a freshman, playing a grand total of 30 minutes last year. Freeman averaged 1.0 ppg and 0.8 rpg in the six games in which he did appear. But Farmer is no dummy. He knows that Goodman is gone and the threesome of Tice, Plowman and Freeman doesn't have opposing MCC coaches breaking out in a cold sweat, so he signed a junior college player with local ties as well as a talented foreign import from the very fertile hoops breeding ground of Split, Croatia. Six-foot-8, 215-pound Schin Kerr, the JUCO import, returns home to the Chicago area (he's from Bollingbrook, Ill.) after playing his junior college ball at Central Florida Junior College. Kerr averaged 14 points and seven rebounds at Central Florida JC and shot a healthy .420 from three-point range. "Schin is a really terrific signing for us because he possesses the offensive and defensive versatility that will help him thrive in our system," Farmer said. Loyola's new Croatian sensation is 6-9, 230-pound Silvije Turkovic, who will see time at the four and five spots. Turkovic averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds for Ad Plastik, one of the top developmental league teams in Split, Croatia last year. Turkovic possesses a strong post-up game and like most Euro-forwards, he can step out and play on the perimeter. He's from the Split, Croatia region which has produced current and former NBA players such as Toni Kukoc, Dino Radja, Bruno Sundov and Zan Tabak. "Silvije is a strong all-around player and we're happy to get someone of his size and outstanding perimeter skills into our program," Farmer said. Turkovic is part of a promising class of new faces brought in by Farmer, a list which also includes a pair of USA Today honorable mention All-America picks from the Windy City, 5-8 freshman point guard David Bailey and 6-4 freshman swingman Jerell Parker. Bailey is the Ramblers' point guard of the future. He averaged 25 points and nine assists for 31-1 Westinghouse High. Bailey was a first-team all-state pick and finished eighth in the Chicago Tribune's balloting for Illinois Mr. Basketball. He'll have the luxury of learning the college game from Brown. "David is extraorinarily talented and he has the pure savvy of a Division I point guard," Farmer saud. "He comes from a winning and disciplined program at Westinghouse. Along with his ability, he brings the attitude and desire of a champion to Loyola." Parker is definitely Loyola's star of the future and perhaps the present. The 6-3 Parker was the 1999 Illinois Class A Player of the Year and was listed among the "100 More Stars of the Future" by Blue Ribbon last year. He'll probably join Brown and Williams in plenty of three-guard alignments this season. Rounding out the roster are 6-6, 190-pound sophomore Jarod Fry and 6-foot junior Ndueso Udoiwod. Fry appeared in 14 games last year and averaged just 0.2 points and 0.6 rebounds, while Udoiwod played in 16 games and averaged 1.9 points and 0.8 rebounds. Both figure to remain in deep sub roles this winter with the starting backcourt of Brown and Williams as well as small forward McSwine back, not to mention the stellar recruiting haul that Farmer has brought in.
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