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LOCATION: Macomb, IL
CONFERENCE: Mid-Continent
LAST SEASON: 16-12 (.571)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 9-5 (3rd)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 3/2
NICKNAME: Leathernecks
COLORS: Purple & Gold
HOMECOURT: Western Hall (5,128)
COACH: Jim Kerwin (Tulane '64)
record at school 103-92 (7 years)
career record 103-92 (7 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Brad Underwood (Kansas State '86)
Marc Lowe (Missouri Valley College '89)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 20-17-19-16-16
RPI (last 5 years) 138-178-123-179-186
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference semifinals.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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At Western Illinois, apparently they don't believe in that old adage about not fixing something that's not broken. The Leathernecks were perfect in all 11 home games in 1998-99, and are riding an overall 14-game winning streak along with capturing 25 of their last 26 in the friendly confines of Western Hall. So what did the good folks in the Western Illinois athletics office do in the off-season? Refinish the gym, that's what. They slapped a likeness of Rocky, the team's bulldog mascot, at center court and a basketball at the top of each key. They resanded and refinished the playing surface. They also chose to continue to play with the extra bleachers that were stuffed into the building late last year. Do we need to repeat Crash Davis' Bull Durham speech about the valid link between streaks and superstitions? Truthfully, of course, the color of the gym floor had nothing to do with the Leathernecks' impressive performance of a year ago. They entered the season seemingly overburdened with questions, the most pressing of which was who was going to score. Well, WIU shot .462 from the floor and .366 from beyond the arc, saw three players average in double-figures, watched another pair notch 8.7 points per game each, and experienced the shattering of the school's career three-pointers-made record. In addition to the individual efforts an All-Mid-Continent Conference first-teamer, two second-teamers and an All-Newcomer pick the squad, as noted, continued its home-court dominance.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C BENCH/DEPTH D+
FRONTCOURT C+ INTANGIBLES B
If Jim Kerwin can coax another 16 wins out of this year's Leathernecks, he should be Mid-Continent Conference Coach of the Year again. Not only that, but the Western Illinois athletics office should consider refinishing Western Hall again. That's not to say WIU will be an exceptionally bad team this season. But it has lost a lot of talent, particularly at the critical guard positions, where a preseason injury has forced Kerwin to consider some radical reshuffling even before the first game has been played. In addition, the Leathernecks are not terribly deep. On the plus side, Western Illinois possesses a fair amount of that much sought-after quality no coach can teach: Height. In addition, seniors Juan Martinez and Fernando Coloneze have truly come into their own in the frontcourt, and their leadership will be very, very important in this transition year almost as important as the points they score and the boards they snare, which will be a lot. They, along with solid contributors Curtis Haggins and Chris Canaday, will be gone next season, so Kerwin should look to work his youngsters into the lineup as much as possible. In short, a .500 season would be a worthy accomplishment, but with Kerwin prowling the sideline, one never knows. |
It all added up to 16 wins the fifth straight season Western Illinois has won at least that many and a third-place Mid-Con finish at 9-5. The Leathernecks advanced one game into the Mid-Con Tournament before falling to eventual champ Valparaiso in the semifinals, and their success earned Jim Kerwin league coach-of-the-year honors. Kerwin probably will find Western Hall's cosmetic changes far easier to deal with than the much more substantial turnover in his roster. His backcourt starters, Shawn Doles and Brandon Creason, have graduated, taking with them nearly 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, more than 180 assists, and combined shooting percentages of .456 from the field and .804 from the line. Starting small forward Geoff Alexander (5.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg), the team's second-leading rebounder, is also gone. Juggling madly to find the best lineup, Kerwin went nine to 10 players deep many nights last season. He may repeat that this year as he tries to compensate for the heavy graduation hit WIU has taken. The Leathernecks do return a pair of big men to start in the frontcourt. Power forward Juan Martinez (13.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg), a 6-8 senior, laid an early claim to the starter's job and never let up. A wonderfully athletic and versatile player, he led WIU in rebounding and was second in scoring, and was chosen to the Mid-Con's All-Conference second team and the All-Newcomer team. Starting 22 of the 28 games in which he appeared, Martinez scored in double digits 21 times and didn't foul out once, despite playing nearly 26 minutes a night. Dangerous from any spot on the floor inside the arc, he hit 50 percent of his shots. This guy is a player. Less flashy but just as reliable is 6-10 senior center Fernando Coloneze (8.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, team-high 21 blocked shots), who started WIU's final 16 games, and 22 overall. He made .586 percent of his field-goal attempts and, like Martinez, was able to pile up significant minutes without ever fouling out. The Leathernecks will lean on both of these guys this year. Western Illinois will attempt to supplement their efforts with lots of height, led by a pair of 6-11 centers, junior Brian Nagle (0.8 ppg, 1.0 rpg) and freshman Kristjan Makke. Nagle played less than six minutes a night over 19 games and was hardly the most complete player, but is said to have worked hard over the summer to achieve some balance. Like many near-seven-footers, he is less adept at scoring than at defending and rebounding, and so has worked to improve his offensive game. Makke is a freshman out of Quincy High School, in Quincy, Ill. Returning power forward Chris Canaday (3.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg), a 6-8 senior, started six games for the Leathernecks and appeared in 28, but never really found a groove. Kerwin hopes that after a year spent making the transition from junior college to Division I, Canaday will be ready to go from the start this season. The starting small-forward slot is up for grabs, and 6-4 junior Anthony Haggins (Skyline College/Redwood City, Calif.) appears to have the early line on claiming it. The brother of Leatherneck guard Curtis Haggins, he earned team and conference MVP honors in leading Skyline College to a league title and a spot in the NJCAA Tournament. Anthony Haggins paced Skyline with 14.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Backing him up will be a couple of swingmen, 6-2 sophomore Cory Fosdyck and 6-4 junior Joey Chism. The high-jumping Fosdyck (3.7 ppg, 1.6 rpg) showed a decent outside touch while starting six games at shooting guard last season, while Chism (Jacksonville College/Mount Pleasant, Texas) is a junior-college transfer. Kerwin's largest concern entering the season, by far, is what to do with his backcourt. Doles and Creason leave considerable shoes to fill. Compounding the situation is that 6-0 freshman Matt Robins (McPherson HS/McPherson, Kan.), who was projected as a possible starter at the point, was injured in an automobile accident over the summer. Robins has spent a great deal of time rehabbing, but his status was not likely to be resolved until the start of the season. If Robins can't go, the likely starter is Curtis Haggins (3.5 ppg, 1.0 rpg), who started twice and played in 22 games last year. Haggins played nice defense in his limited role, notching 19 steals, and showed flashes of being able to spread the ball around, in addition to hitting 12 of his 25 three-point shots. A mid-season knee injury kept him on the sidelines for six games. Joining Haggins at the point will be 6-5 freshman Jake Wessel (Prairie HS/Cedar Rapids, Iowa), a solid ballhandler who was nonetheless redshirted last season because of WIU's glut of guards. Last year Bill Heisler (8.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg) was the first guy off the bench; this season he may be the starting shooting guard. Heisler, a 6-0 junior, played in all 28 games, starting five, and paced the Leathernecks with 47 steals. A versatile, valuable player, he also was fourth on the team in scoring and hit for .377 from three-point range. After just two seasons with WIU, he is already fourth on the school's all-time list for treys attempted and made. Fosdyck and Chism should see some action at shooting guard this season, and Kerwin has a pair of freshmen, 6-5 Matt Froman (Warsaw HS/Basco, Ill.) and 6-7 Matt Grove (Mid-Buchanan HS/Agency, Mo.), to call on as well.
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