2013-14 ESU Basketball Quick Facts: Men l
Women
Preseason Video Preview (ESU): Men l
Women
Preseason Video Preview (PSAC): Men l
Women
PSAC preseason releases: Men l
Women
Morning Call (Tom Housenick): ESU men expect to contend again
EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University, the defending PSAC East men's basketball regular season champion, has been picked second in the division's preseason poll, the conference announced Wednesday.
Junior guard
Whis Grant, the returning PSAC East Athlete of the Year, leads the PSAC East preseason team. Grant was also named to the Daktronics and Division II Bulletin All-America honorable mention teams, and is a member of the DII Bulletin "Super 16" prior to the 2013-14 season.
ESU's women's team, coming off its first trip to the PSAC Tournament since 2008, was picked to reprise its sixth-place finish in the PSAC East.
Junior forward
Jessica Martin was named to the preseason All-PSAC East team and is the division's only returning player with multiple career all-conference honors, earning a spot on the All-PSAC East second team her first two years along with picking up Freshman of the Year honors in 2011-12.
In the men's preseason poll, ESU received three first-place votes and is picked second behind West Chester, which was first on five ballots. The Warriors (22-7, 18-4) won the division over the Golden Rams by one game last year as each team won on the others' floor during the regular season.
ESU has made four straight trips to the PSAC Final Four and will look to become the third team in the last 30 years to advance to the Final Four in five straight years. IUP, the PSAC West preseason favorite and defending conference champion, has also made four straight Final Four's. ESU won the 2012 PSAC title and IUP has won titles in 2010, 2011 and 2013.
The Warriors are also coming off their third appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament in four years and have an 82-37 (.689) record in that span, the second-best in the PSAC and third-best in the Atlantic Region.
The remainder of the men's preseason poll has Millersville third, followed by Bloomsburg, Mansfield (1 first-place vote), Lock Haven, Cheyney, Kutztown and Shippensburg.
In the women's PSAC East poll, Millersville is the preseason pick, followed by defending PSAC champion Bloomsburg, Shippensburg, West Chester, Kutztown, ESU, Lock Haven, Mansfield and Cheyney.
The top six teams in both of the PSAC's nine-team divisions will advance to the postseason tournament, the conference's second year under that format. The PSAC added two schools as full members for the 2013-14 season in Pitt-Johnstown and Seton Hill, with both competing in the PSAC West. Longtime Western division member Lock Haven moves to the PSAC East.
In another change, only the 16 divisional games will count towards the conference standings this year after two years with 22 conference games (14 divisional, 8 crossover). Each school will play six of the nine schools in its opposite division as "non-conference" contests.
ESU MEN
Head coach
Jeff Wilson, 183-127 (.590) entering his 12th year at his alma mater, earned his second PSAC East Coach of the Year award in four seasons after leading the Warriors to their first outright divisional title since 1992. He has guided ESU to the best four-year stretch in school history and the PSAC East's best overall record (150-80, .642) and conference record (75-47, .615) in the last eight years.
While the Warriors are the defending divisional champion and return the PSAC East Athlete of the Year in junior guard
Whis Grant, they replace three starters in forwards
Duane Johnson,
Terrance King and
Gerald Bridges. Johnson was a three-time All-PSAC East pick and King was mentioned twice, including a spot on the first team as a senior. Johnson and King both rank in ESU's career top 10 in scoring, rebounds and blocks.
Grant averaged 17.6 points per game – including 19.1 in a school record-tying 14-game winning streak – to become ESU's first PSAC East Athlete of the Year since Keith Fisher in 1991. He was also ESU's first All-America selection since Lonnie White in 1993, and first All-Region pick since Eric White in 1994.
He was sixth in the PSAC in scoring, tied for sixth in steals (1.9 per game), second in three-point percentage (40.5, 68-for-168) and fifth in three-pointers per game (2.4) a year ago. His 68 three-pointers were second-most in school history. He has scored 20+ points in 16 of his 59 career games, including 11 of 28 games last year.
Grant was the top scorer on ESU's 2012 PSAC championship team as a freshman, averaging 13.9 points per game. He has scored 925 points through two years, the most in school history and four more than all-time leading scorer and three-time PSAC East Athlete of the Year Jonathan Roberts (1987-90) scored in his first two seasons.
Grant is joined in the backcourt by junior guard
Matt Tobin, the only Warrior to start all 29 games in 2012-13. Tobin averaged 8.0 points and 3.6 assists per game, ranking sixth in the PSAC and second in the PSAC East. He was ESU's top bench scorer as a freshman with 8.1 points per game before moving into the starting point guard spot last year.
Senior forward
Zechariah Runkle, ESU's only senior, and junior forward
Lamont Tillery are the Warriors' top two returners in the frontcourt. Runkle averaged 4.2 points and 4.1 rebounds, ranking third on the team in rebounds and blocks (12) and tied for third in steals (31) in 29 games, including 11 starts. Tillery averaged 5.2 points and 2.7 rebounds in 29 games and made two starts.
Other top returners include sophomore forward
Dajon Todmann (2.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg in 24 games), sophomore forward
Wes Cherry (2.5 ppg in 16 games), redshirt junior guard
Muhamadou Kaba (2.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg in 27 games) and sophomore guard
Malcolm Richardson (2.0 ppg, 1.0 apg in 22 games).
The Warriors will also welcome the return of redshirt junior guard
Will Brown, who averaged 8.8 points and shot 48.0 percent (48-for-100) from the three-point line as a freshman in 2010-11 before missing the last two years due to injury.
Newcomers include sophomore guard
Jamal Nwaniemeka (transfer from Rider), freshman guard
Anthony McKie and freshmen forwards
Sultan Aminu,
Steve Harris and
Rasheed Moore.
Grant is one of two returning All-PSAC East first team selections, along with Mansfield junior forward Joe Bell.
The preseason All-PSAC East team is comprised of two seniors and four juniors, including Grant and Bell. Seniors are Bloomsburg's Dontahe Jordan, the 2012 PSAC East Athlete of the Year, 2011 Freshman of the Year and a first team All-PSAC East selection both years, and Shippensburg's Dylan Edgar.
Also joining Grant are Bell (2013 1st team, 2012 2nd team and Freshman of the Year), West Chester's Corey Blake (2013 2nd team) and Lock Haven's Wali Hepburn, second in the league in scoring last year with 21.3 points per game.
In the PSAC West preseason poll, defending PSAC champion IUP is the overwhelming favorite, gaining seven of the nine first-place votes. The Crimson Hawks have won four straight western division titles and three of the last four PSAC championships (2010, 2011, 2013).
Gannon is picked second, followed by Slippery Rock, California, Pitt-Johnstown, Mercyhurst, Seton Hill, Edinboro and Clarion. ESU has road trips to Slippery Rock, Pitt-Johnstown and Edinboro and hosts Gannon, Mercyhurst and Clarion in its PSAC crossover schedule.
The preseason All-PSAC West team has two returning first team selections in IUP's Mathis Keita and Edinboro's Bryan Theriot, both seniors. Slippery Rock's Tabari Perry (2013 2nd team), Clarion's Mike Kromka and IUP's Marcel Souberbielle were also tabbed, along with Gannon junior Adam Blazek, the 2012 PSAC West Freshman of the Year and a second team pick.
ESU WOMEN
ESU returns four starters for the second straight year led by Martin, who earned her second straight spot on the All-PSAC East team as a sophomore. She is joined by three guards in senior
Andrea Veres, junior
Ryann Fiascki and sophomore
Helena Gemmell.
Martin led ESU in scoring (11.0 ppg), rebounding (8.3 rpg) and blocks (2.3 bpg) last year and has 550 points, 420 rebounds and 137 blocks through two seasons. She raised her scoring and rebounding averages from her first year (9.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg), when she was named PSAC East Freshman of the Year along with her All-PSAC East second team selection. She set a PSAC freshman record with 76 blocks and her 137 career blocks are already second-most in school history.
Veres leads active ESU players with 723 career points and has ranked among ESU's top three scorers in each of her first three seasons. She averaged 9.0 points per game a year ago, 8.3 as a sophomore and 10.2 as a freshman in 2010-11, when she was a five-time PSAC East Freshman of the Week. Her 113 career three-pointers are fifth in school history.
Fiascki, who started all 27 games a year ago, has averaged 8.2 points as a sophomore and 8.0 as a freshman in her first two seasons. She was 15th in the PSAC with 2.8 assists per game and seventh in the conference in free throw percentage (79.6, 82-for-103). Her career percentage of 83.3 is currently first in ESU's record book.
Gemmell averaged 4.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and was third in the PSAC and 38th in Division II with 2.7 steals per game as a freshman. She played in 25 games and made 15 starts.
Fayola Moise, a two-year starter at forward after transferring from Tusculum (Tenn.), is the only starter who doesn't return for 2013-14. She averaged 6.4 points and 6.0 rebounds as a senior, and 7.0 points and 7.5 rebounds as a junior.
ESU had 13 players see at least 84 minutes of action last year, with 10 of those returning – while mixing in six freshmen for a total of 17 players.
Sophomore forward
Michelle Boggs (3.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg) was eighth in the PSAC with 1.3 blocks per game as a freshman. Other returners are senior guard
Halie Cintron (2.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg), junior forward
Kelsey Murray (2.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg), redshirt junior guard
Steph Cabald (2.2 ppg), sophomore guard
Melissa Poderis (1.7 ppg) and sophomore guard
Tyeca Reviere (1.4 ppg).
Incoming freshmen are guards
Courtney Brown,
Rachel Falkowski and
Audrey Stapleton, guard/forwards
Jackie Hillson and
Madison Tamburini and forward
Allison Howard.
All six members of the 2013 All-PSAC East first team have graduated, leaving Martin, a two-time second team pick and the 2012 PSAC East Freshman of the Year, as the division's most honored player.
There are two seniors, one junior (Martin) and three sophomores on the preseason team. Shippensburg's Sarah Strybuc (2013 2nd team) and Bloomsburg's Catherine Noack represent the senior class, and Shippensburg's Stephanie Knauer (2013 Freshman of the Year, 2nd team), West Chester's Brittany Sicinski (2013 2nd team) and Kutztown's Natalya Lee are on the preseason team as sophomores.
In the PSAC West, Gannon is the preseason favorite with six of nine first-place votes. The Golden Knights won last year's Atlantic Region title after falling at Bloomsburg, 74-57, in the PSAC championship game.
Edinboro, which won the previous two PSAC titles (2011 and 2012), is picked second with California and IUP tied for third. All three schools received a first-place vote. Seton Hill is fifth, followed by Clarion, Mercyhurst, Pitt-Johnstown and Slippery Rock.
The Warriors have trips to Edinboro, Pitt-Johnstown and Slippery Rock, and home games against Gannon, Clarion and Mercyhurst on their non-conference PSAC crossover schedule.
Gannon's Jen Papich, the returning PSAC West Athlete of the Year and two-time first team All-PSAC West selection, headlines the preseason all-conference team. California's Kate Seebohm is the only other senior and was named to the second team last year.
Clarion junior Hannah Heeter also returns from last year's first team and was the 2012 PSAC West Freshman of the Year and a second team pick. Other juniors are Gannon's Brittany Batts (2013 2nd team), Gannon's Nettie Blake (2013 2nd team) and IUP's Lindsay Stamp.
Preseason Polls
Men - PSAC East
1. West Chester (5)
2. ESU (3)
3. Millersville
4. Bloomsburg
5. Mansfield (1)
6. Lock Haven
7. Cheyney
8. Kutztown
9. Shippensburg
Men - PSAC West
1. IUP (7)
2. Gannon (1)
3. Slippery Rock (1)
4. California
5. Pitt-Johnstown
6. Mercyhurst
7. Seton Hill
8. Edinboro
9. Clarion
Women - PSAC East
1. Millersville (2)
2. Bloomsburg (3)
3. Shippensburg (2)
4. West Chester
5. Kutztown (2)
6. ESU
7. Lock Haven
8. Mansfield
9. Cheyney
Women - PSAC West
1. Gannon (6)
2. Edinboro (1)
t-3. California (1)
t-3. IUP (1)
5. Seton Hill
6. Clarion
7. Mercyhurst
8. Pitt-Johnstown
9. Slippery Rock
