WRIGHT    STATE RAIDERS

 
Raider Head Coach Ed Schilling directs his troops      Ed stands outside the Reider's home the Nutter Center
 

1999 - 2000 Season Preview

According to one school of thought rapidly gaining acceptance, the Wright State men's
basketball team will be better off this season without star guard and leading scorer Keion
Brooks, whose eligibility expired last year with the Raiders' first-round elimination from
the Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament.

Maybe so, if only because Brooks tended to monopolize the ball, and when his shot wasn't
falling, the Raiders generally were. While appreciative of Brooks' contributions, Schilling
enters his third season with visions of a more balanced offense built around junior forward
Kevin Melson, the reigning MCC Newcomer of the Year, who averaged 17 points and six
rebounds after arriving from Schoolcraft Community College in Michigan.

"We'll play a lot better basketball," said Schilling, whose team took the court for the first
time Friday night at the Nutter Center. "I know we will. We tried to use Keion's strengths.
Now we're going to play a little different style, more like I would like to play."

Not that Schilling regarded Brooks as an impediment to winning. Far from it. If not for
Brooks, the second-leading scorer in school history, it's doubtful the Raiders would have
won 10 games over the coach's first two seasons, let alone 19. But Brooks was part of the
previous regime, and for the first time, for better or worse, all the key players on the roster
will have been brought here by Schilling.

"These guys are right on the verge of breaking through," said former WSU assistant Ken
Barer, who left over the summer for a coaching position at Long Island University. "It's
tough when you're building a program. You have to pay your dues. But the guys coming
back are talented."

Talented, but young. With Brooks, center Inus Norville and forward Sherman Curry
departed, little-used guard Steve Yeagle, a former walk-on, is the program's lone senior.
Leadership is expected from sophomore point guard Marcus May, who made great strides
last season and finished as Wright State's most proficient 3-point shooter, and also from
Melson, although he may be ineligible for fall quarter (three games) due to a credit hours
problem.

"Ed has a unique ability to get players to overachieve," Barer said. "He's amazing at ...
getting them to believe. It's going to be fun to watch."

Also key to replacing Brooks' scoring will be the play of 6-foot-10 sophomore center
Israel Sheinfeld, an Israeli whose continuing basketball education was aided by a summer
trip to work at the famed Five-Star camp. Sheinfeld got better as last season wore on, and
there's reason to expect more improvement across the board. Said Schilling, "A lot
depends on how Israel plays."

Six-foot-nine forward Thomas Hope and 6-0 guard Joe Bills are incoming freshmen and
potential core players. Scouting services rated Hope as the second-best high school senior
in Canada, and Bills, from Zanesville, impressed Raider fans with his hustle and defense
during the Wendy's Classic, a July all-star showcase at Wright State.
The Raiders intend to improve on a 9-18 record and give Schilling his desired third-year
turnaround.

"I feel we're going to make progress," Schilling said. "People will watch us and say, `They
play like a good basketball team plays.'"