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LOCATION: Terre Haute, IN
CONFERENCE: Missouri Valley
LAST SEASON: 15-12 (.556)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 10-8 (t-5th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 0/5
NICKNAME: Sycamores
COLORS: Blue & White
HOMECOURT: Hulman Center (10,200)
COACH: Royce Waltman (Slippery Rock '64)
record at school 31-23 (2 years)
career record 220-109 (12 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Dick Bender (Western Maryland '86)
Rick Ray (Grand View College '94)
Kareem Richardson (Evansville '96)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 7-10-12-16-15
RPI (last 5 years) 240-217-163-111-103
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference quarterfinals.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Two years. Two winning seasons. Two fifth-place finishes in the increasingly tough Missouri Valley Conference. Not a bad start for a coach taking over a program that hadn't posted a winning season since two months after Ronald Reagan's first inauguration. Now Royce Waltman, a small, white-haired, unassuming-looking 55-year-old, has two-decade also-ran Indiana State poised to take the next big step toward challenging for the MVC title. All of the Sycamore starters return and three-point specialist Chad Adkins, who sank 50 three-point shots while averaging 7.7 points, is the only departed player of consequence. Still, Waltman was able to keep building, bringing in three freshmen and two Division I transfers. "I don't relish it, but I sort of think we'll get picked up there in the top third of the league by the coaches," Waltman said. "I think we'll be perceived as a contending team." Though playing for championships hasn't occurred in this generation in Terre Haute, it's nothing new to Waltman. While coaching at Bedford (Ind.) High School, he won 11 conference titles in 15 years.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT B+ BENCH/DEPTH B
FRONTCOURT B INTANGIBLES B
With only two seniors on the roster, the Sycamores are poised for a couple of runs at the MVC title. But next year they won't have Nate Green, so this season might be their best shot. First things first, however. This is a program that hasn't won even a single game in the conference tournament since 1985. While coach Royce Waltman has begun to change that losing mentality with a 31-23 two-year mark, the Sycamores still haven't developed that down-the-stretch toughness going 3-5 in 1997-98 and 4-4 last season, including first-round league tournament defeats both years. All their starters are back and there appears to be quality depth. But there are still some apparent weaknesses. There is a lack of height, as only two players on the roster are over 6-7 and they're both reserves. And the Sycamores need to overcome some lackluster shooting percentages. A year ago, this group rebounded well despite its lack of size, finishing fourth in the league. But it ranked ninth in the 10-team Valley in free-throw shooting and in three-point field-goal percentage. Those are categories that must improve markedly for the Sycamores to seriously contend. |
In 1982, he became an assistant coach to Bob Knight at Indiana for five seasons. During that time, the Hoosiers earned NCAA bids four times, an NIT berth the other year, won the Big Ten title once and captured the NCAA championship in Waltman's final season there in 1986-87. He moved on to DePauw, where he went 100-36 in five years, including a Division III national runner-up finish and No. 1 rankings during two separate seasons. From DePauw, Waltman moved to the University of Indianapolis for five years, where he compiled a 90-47 record and for a time had the Greyhounds ranked No. 1 in Division II. They finished the season ranked No. 3. Waltman's track record would suggest he knows what to do. Sycamore fans are excited. "Attendance has picked up for us the last two years, and there's a lot of talk around town now about the team," Waltman said. "We've won more games (than the fans are used to), and we've recruited the type of kids that are easy to root for because they play hard. This is a blue-collar town that really identifies with that." The Sycamores' leader will be senior Nate Green, a versatile 6-5 swingman and a league player-of-the-year candidate who has the uncanny ability to do whatever his team needs at a given moment. As a junior, the slender left-hander led the MVC in assists (4.6 per game), ranked fourth in steals (2.3) and fifth in blocks (1.2). He posted a triple-triple in total points (289 for a 10.7 average), rebounds (116 for a 4.3 average) and assists (125). "Nate has the ability to step up and be one of the league's top players," Waltman said. "It's so hard to find a guard who can do all the things he does. A lot of our success depends on how he does this year." Green's backcourt mate is 5-11 junior point guard Michael Menser (8.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 81 assists), whose numbers were down from his stellar freshman year because of a broken nose he suffered in the season opener at Indiana. Menser is the team captain this year. The frontcourt starters aren't tall, but they're strong and athletic. Matt Renn, a 6-6 junior forward, was the Sycamores' leading scorer (11.6) and rebounder (7.1) last season. He is joined by 6-5 senior Abasi Thompson (9.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and 6-7 sophomore Djibril Kante (7.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg, .570 percent shooting from the field). Kante was chosen to the league's all-newcomer team along with 6-2 backup sophomore guard Kelyn Block (6.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg). "We had to play those two as freshman," Waltman said. "Both made good use of the opportunity. Kante has really gotten bigger and stronger working in the weight room over the summer." Another key reserve is 6-9, 230-pound junior forward Brian Giesen (6.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, .550 FG). "Brian Giesen probably improved during the course of last year as much as anybody on our team," Waltman said. Two transfers will be eligible to provide even more depth. Center Terence Avery, a 6-9 sophomore, transferred from Northwestern, where he averaged 2.1 points and 1.2 rebounds his freshman season in the Big Ten. Six-foot-two junior guard Jimmie Metcalfe arrived from Florida Atlantic, where he averaged 1.5 points as a sophomore. "Avery is an athletic guy inside who should be able to defend and rebound, but probably won't help us a lot at the offensive end," Waltman said. "Metcalfe will back up some at the point. He's a good shooter and a steady player." There appears to be one impact freshman 6-5 Matt Broermann (Badin High/Hamilton, Ohio), who averaged 17.7 points and 7.0 rebounds his senior season. "He's a shooter who we hope can take the place of Adkins for us," Waltman said. Six-foot-11, 180-pound freshman Michael Kernan (DeSmet High/St. Louis) will probably redshirt, Waltman said. The other freshman is 6-0 guard Jeremy McGlothlin (South High/Bloomington, Ind.), who averaged 13.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists a year ago. Last year's 15-12 Sycamores, although extremely young, pulled off some big conference upsets, winning at Creighton, beating NCAA Sweet 16 qualifier Southwest Missouri State by 10 points and nearly upending the Bears in the first round of the conference tournament, falling in the final seconds, 79-78. "Looking at it objectively, it was a pretty good year," Waltman said. "But we were disappointed we didn't do better. A win or two in the tournament would have been all it would have taken for it to be a great year." Still, big strides were made in building the program from the depths it has been in recent years. "Every place we've been we've tried to recruit attitude and personality and create a certain demeanor," Waltman said. "It includes enthusiasm for basketball, unselfishness in our play, not arguing with officials, just an overall good presence and demeanor on the court. Competition is important, but cooperation with each other is even more important. "This is really an important year for us," Waltman said. "The expectation level is pretty high. Our next step is to be able to play for the championship."
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