Josh McKee

The 2008-09 season proved to be one of the more frustrating seasons that Wittenberg University men's basketball team has had to endure in recent history. The Tigers experienced their first non-winning season (13-13) in head coach Bill Brown's 16 years at the helm. Brown's first 15 campaigns saw the Tigers achieve an outstanding overall winning percentage above .800. Wittenberg also finished out of the top two places in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season race for the first time since they joined the league in 1989. The NCAC tournament was no kinder to the Tigers as they lost a hard fought game at home to Kenyon College in the NCAC Tournament quarterfinals.

A primary factor in this year's lackluster season was the unexpected loss of several returning players from the 2007-08 campaign. Though the Tigers were counting on the return of eight letterwinners from the 2007-08 season, only four of them were available for the season. Senior guards Gregg Hill (Farmington Hills, Mich./Redford Union) and Kyle Bigler (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) were lost to season-ending injuries before the 2008-09 campaign even began. Hill, the team's leading scorer and a first-team All-NCAC selection as a junior, suffered a torn labrum muscle in his shoulder. Bigler injured his knee in the fall and required extensive surgery. In addition, senior forward Jeromy Romero opted to not use his final year of eligibility after battling injuries most of his career, and guard Derrick Hannon transferred to Cedarville University after his freshmen year.

Thus, the Tigers returned just one full-time starter, senior wing Kevin Murray (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), and three junior letterwinners in guard David Nowicki (Carmel, Ind./Westfield) and forwards Mark Snyder (Celina, Ohio/Parkway) and Brad Folta (West Lafayette, Ind./West Lafayette). Murray, Nowicki and Snyder started every game in 2008-09, turning in solid years for the team. Folta suffered a broken eye socket six games into the season, which caused him to miss the middle part of the schedule.

The Tigers' traditionally difficult early season schedule and the necessary infusion of numerous inexperienced freshmen and sophomores led to highly inconsistent play and a slow 1-5 start to the year. The personnel situation took a new and interesting twist when freshmen football standouts Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) and Michael Cooper (Springfield, Ohio/South) joined the Tigers playing rotation less than three weeks after the conclusion of the football season. McKee, a shooting guard, started the final 20 games of the season while Cooper, an athletic and versatile forward, started 12 of the 22 games he played.

Murray, named the program's Most Valuable Player after the season, led the Tigers in scoring (14.1 ppg), rebounding (4.8 rpg), free throw shooting (92.2 percent), three-point field goals (44) and minutes played (721). Murray was the lone Wittenberg representative on the NCAC postseason awards list after garnering second-team honors. Nowicki, selected as the Tigers' Outstanding Defensive Player, averaged 7.9 points per contest while leading the team in assists (67). Snyder contributed 7.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

After joining the team, McKee provided the Tigers a big scoring (7.1 ppg) and rebounding boost (4.0 rpg), along with giving much-needed long range shooting. Cooper was the squad's second leading scorer as he averaged 8.0 points per game while leading the team in field goal percentage (56.4 percent). Still another freshmen, Alex Brandt (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy), also made significant contributions while starting 13 games. Brandt, a post player, averaged 6.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 52.7 percent from the field.

Other first year letterwinners included sophomores Chris Sullivan (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington), Lewis Buzzard (Columbus, Ohio/Franklin Heights) and Seth Hill (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) and freshmen Clayton Black (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster). Sullivan, a combo guard, played the fourth most minutes on the team while coming off the bench, ranking third on the team in assists and tied for second in three-point field goals. A forward, Buzzard averaged 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in games. Hill, another combo guard, contributed speed and play-making for the Tigers. Black, a forward, saw playing time in 25 games and averaged 4.1 points and 2.2 rebounds for the season.

With the loss of just one letterwinner and the expected return of both Hill and Bigler for next season, the Tigers are already looking forward to the 2009-10 season. The schedule includes a tip-off tournament at 2009 NCAA DIII Tournament participant Gettysburg College, games against Ohio Athletic Conference opponents Capital University, Ohio Northern University and Otterbein College, a trip to 2009 nationally ranked Anderson College, and the perennially tough Zimmerman Holiday Classic field which includes Marian College, Ohio Dominican University and Olivet College in 2009-10.