Looking Back
When Nick Anderson, Victor Davis, Eric Dortch, Mike Mayberger, Andrew Ziemnik, and Brady Zimmer walked across the Illinois Wesleyan
University graduation stage last May, 3,337 points, 1,786 rebounds, 8,563 varsity minutes, and the experience of two CCIW championships
and two trips to the Division III Final Four left the men's basketball program. So it's not a surprise that Ron Rose, now in his 9th year as IWU's
head coach, started our annual preseason conversation there.
"The difficult part of any season as you move forward is missing the guys you've been with for four years, and that's really true this year," said
Rose. "This was a pretty remarkable group of young men that just graduated from Illinois Wesleyan. Not only did they have a tremendous
amount of success on the court, but the work ethic and unselfishness and culture that they helped to create in their time here, as well as how
well they did in the classroom, they were just a well-rounded and outstanding group of young men."
Behind the class of 2014, the Titans finished 27-5 last year, including 12-2 in the CCIW. IWU participated in the NCAA Division III tournament
for the fifth consecutive year, earning the school's sixth trip to the Final Four in Salem, Virginia where the Titans fell in the national semifinal
game to eventual champion UW-Whitewater.
"What I was especially pleased with was that we came in with high expectations, and carried that with us from pre-season throughout the
year," said Rose. "A lot of teams don't handle preseason expectations well. To win a conference championship for the second straight year
with the amount of competition in the CCIW, to have the experience of the NCAA tournament at Illinois Wesleyan, it was just a magical year,"
he continued. "I couldn't be prouder of not only the accomplishments but how the group went about its business throughout the year, how it
stuck together throughout a few losses. I'm very proud of the season and the young men who were part of it."
Looking Forward
As the page turns to 2014-15, and after a month of practice and three scrimmages, Rose and his staff seem to be getting comfortable with
their varsity rotation. It's clear the Titans will be a blend of familiar and new faces.
"We have a lot of potential," he said. "The fact that we graduated 6 tremendous players, but we return 5 guys who played substantial minutes
is unique. We have a core group of experienced players returning, we also have some good young talent, and some guys who have been in
the program who are ready to step up and have bigger roles," he added.
As far as those five returnees, the Titans bring four experienced guards back as well as their starting center from 2013-14:
- Dylan Overstreet, 6-3 senior PG (9.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 4.2 apg)
- Pat Sodemann, 6-3 senior SG (9.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 56 3-point FG)
- Jordan Nelson, 6-1 senior SG (11.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 63 3-point FG)
- Bryce Dolan, 6-0 junior PG/SG (5.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 1.8 apg, 46 3-point FG)
- Mike Marietti, 6-8 junior C (5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg. .642 FG)
Very quietly, Oversteet has developed into one of best IWU point guards of the last 20 years. The Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School graduate
has started on two consecutive 20+ win, CCIW championship teams. A strong case can be made for Overstreet as the MVP of IWU's 2012-13
and 2013-14 teams.
“Dylan is one of the best communicators and leaders I have been around,” said Rose. “What makes him special is his competitiveness, his
court vision, and court savvy. He knows how to use his size at the point guard position.”
Sodemann has started alongside Overstreet the last two seasons. In 2014-15, Sodemann and Overstreet can become just the second and
third CCIW players in the last 30 years to start on three consecutive CCIW championship team (Adam Dauksas, IWU ’03, ’04, ’95.)
Jordan Nelson, a transfer to IWU from Division I Evansville before last season, settled into IWU’s rotation nicely as the season progressed.
Nelson led the Titans in scoring in 7 of IWU’s final 13 games, including 25 vs Augustana on February 5 and 22 vs Calvin in the NCAA
tournament on March 14.
Four players from IWU’s 2013-14 junior varsity team are expected to play key roles for the Titans out of the gates in 2014-15:
- Ryan Coyle, 6-6 junior SF/PF
- Trevor Seibring, 6-8 sophomore C
- Andy Stempel, 6-3 sophomore G/F
- Alec Bausch, 6-6 sophomore PF
Coyle is expected to start at power forward.
“I’m really excited about Ryan, said Rose. “He brings a lot of versatility to the 4 (power forward) because he has perimeter skills. He can
shoot the basketball and put it on the floor a little bit. And having banged with Victor (Davis) and Z (Andrew Ziemnik) for two years, has
developed a ruggedness and toughness about him.”
Junior guards Brian Nelms and Joel Pennington are currently battling for varsity rotation time as well.
A relentless recruiter, Rose has added a strong 8-man freshman class to the Titan roster.
"If you look at this (freshman) group collectively, it has as high of a ceiling as any group we've brought in,” he said. “Now that being said, each
of these young men has areas that we need them to work on and improve. But the potential within this group is really high,” he added. “It is a
very skilled group and a very versatile group in terms of guys who can play more than one position. I'm very excited about working with these
guys and hopefully getting them to where they can be quality varsity players."
Two freshmen appear to be closest to contributing on the varsity level in 2014-15 – 6-2 guard Brady Rose (Bloomington H.S.) and 6-5 forward
Kevin Connelly (Nazareth Academy).
"When we look at our personnel this year, we have a lot of pieces to work with. As is true in any year where you have graduated a lot of
players and have some new players playing, we will be a work in progress early as we figure out what it will take to play at our highest level."
Maintaining Balance
Despite having a different cast on the floor in 2014-15, Rose says IWU fans will see similarities to recent Titan squads.
"We have recruited to and built our program around skilled players,” he said. “Having multiple skilled guys on the floor at one time naturally
produces a balance. In order to have that balance you have to have unselfish guys, which we have again.” He continued, “The most difficult
teams to defend are those that have multiple options within that offense that you can't key on one or two guys, where there is balance
between inside and outside scoring. I think this team has all of those components.”
Rose also acknowledges that this year’s Titans will have to find their own way.
“We have a new core of guys playing in the post area with the exception of Mike Marietti, so we have to establish that group of guys and their
ability to score in the paint,” said Rose. “We have some proven shooters on the perimeter. We have to find where that balance is and what
our identity is. Every team has to find its identity when it's difficult to score -- when you need a basket, what are your best options."
He also expects to continue putting both “big” and “small” combinations on the floor over the course of games.
"If you look at our shot chart from a year ago, we shot a lot of 3's, but we were an inside/out team. We really established the post first,” said
Rose. “It was unique to have Andrew Ziemnik (6-5/220) at the 3 the last couple years, and before that John Koschnitzky (6-6/205). So we
have had some big, rugged 3s where we'd we have a size mismatch often times inside with those guys. We may be different this year in that
we won't be as big as that 3 spot as often, but last year there were times we went with 3 guards plus Victor and Z and went small,” he said.
“We won't have the ability to go big as often, but we will have the same versatility to go big and small based on the situation."
That "big" lineup will feature 6-8/245 Mike Marietti and 6-8/235 Trevor Seibring on the floor together in certain situations.
Preseason Expectations
After a Final Four appearance last year, and with five key players returning, the Titans were ranked #4 in the D3hoops.com preseason Top 25.
"I think it is a huge compliment to be ranked preseason,” said Rose. “Now, we also know that it doesn't mean anything and it ultimately comes
down to what kind of season you have on the court. To me it's a motivator -- let's earn that preseason ranking. There are a lot of people out
there that think we are going to have a good season so it's now up to us to make that a reality."
The Titans are picked second in the CCIW behind Augustana. Grey Giovanine’s Vikings are #3 in the D3hoops.com poll and recently beat
Division I Bradley in an exhibition.
"When you return an entire team that made it to the NCAA tournament the year before, there are going to be high expectations,” said Rose.
“They (Augustana) bring back a big, strong inside game and surround it with a lot of experience on the perimeter. They've got a nice blend of
athleticism and just that veteran experience. They are clearly the preseason favorite and they should be in the hunt for the conference
championship all year."
Rose also points to the strength of the league as a whole.
"The CCIW doesn't have down years,” he said. “Every year we're going to have multiple top 20 caliber teams and teams that are Final Four
caliber. This year when I had to put in my preseason rankings it was very difficult because every program is going to be very competitive this
year. “Augie, clearly, with everyone returning is the favorite going into the season, but as I started ranking 2-8 it became really difficult. It's
going to be a competitive race where winning on the road is going to be difficult."
