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Young Red Hawks Hope To Earn Their Wings
A year ago, the Ripon men's basketball team experienced the growing pains that comes with starting two freshmen, with two other first-year players contributing solid minutes. Those pains came in the form of seven losses by six points or less, including two in overtime. The Red Hawks appeared to be able to hold their own with every team on their schedule, including UW-Stevens Point, who was ranked in the top five in the country when Ripon lost by four in the season's first month.
"The difference between having a mediocre season and a good season was about 10 plays and 15 points. Those are the games that teams have to win and we did not do that," head coach Bob Gillespie said. "We were competitive in most of our games and had the opportunity to win, but we didn't get the job done for one reason or another."
This year, the Red Hawks will hope to reverse their fortunes and improve on last season's 11-12 record, which was only Gillespie's third losing season in his 28 years as head coach. Coach Gillespie will rely heavily on the team's younger players, who will likely be more comfortable this season with a year or two of playing experience under their belts.
Those younger players begin with point guard Scott Gillespie (Ripon, Wis./Ripon), who will again run the offense after starting all 23 games as a freshman, while playing an average of 32 minutes per game. He was among the team leaders in nearly every statistical category, en route to being named Second Team-All Conference and Third-Team All-Region. He led the Red Hawks with 21.2 points and 5.1 assists per game, while ranking third on the team in rebounds with 4.2 per contest.
"I wouldn't trade Scott for any point guard in Division-III right now. He's as good as any I've seen at this level," coach Gillespie said.
Even with all his accolades, which includes a nomination for this year's Bob Cousy award which is given to college basketball's top point guard, Gillespie still has plenty of room for improvement. As the young point guard matures, so will the rest of the Red Hawks.
"The thing that we've tried to address going into this season is that Scott has to make the team better," coach Gillespie said. "The goals we've established for him are to make more than half of his field goal attempts, be a little bit better at the free throw line, and average eight assists and seven or eight rebounds, which he's very capable of doing."
One player that will look to benefit from Gillespie's adjustments will be senior forward Rich Cloeter (Clintonville, Wis./Clintonville), who is coming off a season that saw him average 5.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in mostly a reserve role. This year will be the first as a starter for Cloeter, after seeing his production increase each year he's been in the program.
"Rich is a very good shooter and he's another guy who gave us some quality minutes last year and made some big shots," coach Gillespie said. "We know that he can be a prolific scorer, so we're hoping that he can do a better job defensively and will be an active rebounder, which he's worked hard on since the end of last season."
Junior Josh Bailen (Jacksonville, Fla./Nease) will also see his minutes increase, as he will be counted on to guard the opposition's best offensive player. Bailen has also worked on his offensive game over the summer, which the team hopes will help him improve on his 3.6 points per game from a year ago.
"Josh is the best on-the-ball defender we have and he has also become a very good shooter," coach Gillespie said. "He played a lot towards the end of last season and I'm expecting him to make a big contribution this year."
Martin Esters (Toenisvorst, Germany/St. John's Northwestern Military Academy) and Alex Tomsheck (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) are the two other players that will likely see plenty of starts this season. Esters will move out of the post position, which he played last year, while averaging 7.2 points and 3.4 rebounds. Tomsheck will then occupy the post after receiving valuable experience off the bench last year, averaging 2.6 points and 1.9 rebounds.
"Martin will play facing the basket, which he is more comfortable with. He's a good passer and hopefully he'll be able to make some perimiter shots, while also being able to go to the basket," coach Gillespie said. "Alex is also good athlete who runs well. The more experience he gets, the better he will be. The game starts for him when a shot goes up and we're hoping he'll record some double-doubles for us."
One of the first players off the bench will be senior Shawn Karsten (Ripon, Wis./Ripon). He earned a lot of playing time towards the end of last season, finishing with 1.5 points and 1.0 rebounds per game, but a lot of Karsten's positives are in doing the little things that aren't picked up on the stat sheet.
"Karsten will be counted on to contribute in any way he can. He will be expected to play some solid minutes for us," coach Gillespie said.
Two other players off the bench will be junior Andy Perrine (Appleton, Wis./East) and sophomore Mike King (Seymour, Wis./Seymour). Both players are combo guards that bring something different to the table. They combined to average 2.7 points and 1.2 assists last season.
"Andy is a good shooter and a very smart player that is going to get playing time and will do a great job," coach Gillespie said. "Mike also played quite a bit last year. He is a very good defender and brings a lot of leadership and toughness to the team that we really need."
Giving Ripon some added depth will be senior Grant Oleson (Genoa, Ill./Genoa Kingston), and sophomores Andrew Handeland (Mequon, Wis./Mequon), Matt Nelson (Willowbrook, Ill./Willowbrook), and Garret Weisenbeck (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./Assumption).
"Our confidence has to develop as a team this season. We have enough talent and size, but if we can shore up our defensive play and rebounding, we have a chance to have a good season," coach Gillespie said.
Adding to that talent and size will be a trio of gifted freshmen, who could each contribute immediately. Aris Wurtz (Waupun, Wis./Waupun) is one of those players that will be expected to help the Red Hawk offense put points on the board in his first year of collegiate basketball.
"Aris is an all-state player that averaged 19 points per game in his senior year at Waupun High School. He is a great scorer and may already be the best shooter on our team," coach Gillespie said. "He's also a good rebounder and I think he will make an instant contribution to the team."
This year's group of freshmen also features the tallest player in Ripon College history, Nic Schaalma (Beaver Dam, Wis./Beaver Dam). The 6-11 center will have an impact at some point, with the Red Hawk coaching staff hoping that day will come sooner, rather than later.
"As a freshman, Nic's a work in progress, but he's getting better every day. If he gets stronger, he's going to be a great player for us and he'll have an effect on our season," said coach Gillespie.
The third freshman, Matt Bergstad (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/St. John's Northwestern Military Academy) will also have a chance to contribute off the bench. He is just one of Ripon's 10 talented freshmen and sophomores that will look to make an impact for the next several years.
"Bergstad is a good athlete and he'll be a good player here," coach Gillespie said. "If you look at our freshman and sophomore classes, you can't help but get excited about the future, but we're approaching this season as if the future is now."
There are several other teams in the Midwest Conference that are likely approaching the season the same way, with Grinnell, Carroll, and defending conference champion Lawrence each looking to make a run at a conference title. Combine that with much-improved teams such as St. Norbert and Monmouth, and it could be anyone's year.
"The Midwest Conference seems like it gets better each year, but making the conference tournament is a very reachable goal for us and we'll be disappointed if we don't do that," coach Gillespie said. "Our attitude and effort has been great so far, but I also understand how good the competition is in the MWC. Every game will be a fight and when we go on the road, we'd better be ready to play, because all the other teams will be."
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