Senior Night

Tonight is Senior Night for 4 IWU players -- Tyler Smith, Mike Harrigan, Andrew Freeman, and Zach Freeman...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/seniors.jpg

Please allow me to ramble a bit...

To some extent, I think Tyler Smith was a victim of bad timing. He came to IWU one year behind one of the best class in school history. Tyler was a high school superstar at Tolono Unity, leading his team to Peoria as a junior. He was the leading scorer in the 2002 Class A state tournament, finishing with 80 points in 4 games. As a senior he was named a Class A 1st Team all-stater by the IBCA.

Tyler was buried behind the IWU Class of 2006. This year when he finally got his chance, he got off to a tough start shooting the basketball and just seemed to lose all of his confidence – anyone watching him could see how much it affected him. Despite falling out of the varsity rotation, the coaches will tell you that no one works harder in practice than Tyler in helping his teammates get ready for each game. He’s an impressive young man and as an IWU fan, I certainly appreciate his dedication to the program. I’ve always had even more admiration for guys like Tyler Smith than I have the superstars – guys who work their tails off everyday, even when they know they may not get in the game. That takes an impressive amount of character.

I was disappointed when Mike Harrigan chose not to come to IWU out of high school and instead accepted the opportunity to walk-on at Division I Loyola – I was looking forward to a fellow Brother Rice Crusader joining the program. When I heard that Mike was transferring two years ago, I was happy for him…I thought he’d really like being a student and a basketball player at Illinois Wesleyan.

Mike’s another guy that has only had one year to make an impact. As is the case with any kid named “Harrigan” from Brother Rice High School, Mike can shoot the basketball. He’s 32-64 (.500) from beyond the arc this year. Mike has played hard every minute he’s been on the floor and he was one of the key guys to lead to comeback from 21 down in the 2nd half at UW-Whitewater, scoring 16 points in that one. Mike is just simply a likeable young man and someone who will do very well in his life post-Titan basketball.

Andrew Freeman has not only been in the shadows of older players like Keelan Amelianovich, Cory Jones, Chris Jones, and Steve Schweer, he’s been in the shadow of his identical twin brother. I don’t know what that dynamic must be like – to have a twin brother who is a 4-year starter and superstar but having to scrap for a few minutes here and there for 3 years – but I know it’s been great to see Andrew start this year and have a good season (11.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg).

I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find out that Andrew is actually the more assertive of the twins on the floor. Zach does his thing pretty quietly – Andrew is the guy who gets on people and fires up the troops. His 18-point 2nd half performance at Hanover is one I will remember for a while He has been a class act and a team player at Illinois Wesleyan for four years.

Zach Freeman’s first basket as a Titan was – fittingly - a dunk. On one of the first possessions of IWU’s 2002-03 opener at U. of Chicago, Zach caught a lob pass from sophomore Adam Dauksas and flushed it. I remember turning to Art Kimball and saying, “This kid’s going to be pretty good.” Zach has been punishing rims ever since. I have no idea what IWU’s previous career dunk record was – afterall, IWU is a place that the dunk hasn’t always been celebrated - but I’d guess Zach shattered it sometime last year and this year set a new mark that will never be broken at IWU.

Zach’s combination of pure basketball skill and athleticism makes him such a unique player in Division III. It all started to click for him during IWU’s tournament push last season. He averaged 20.3 ppg and 7.9 in IWU’s final 8 games last season (CCIW, NCAA tournaments) and as a senior is averaging 21.5 ppg and 8.7 rpg. What he has done this year, despite the graduation of a 1st Team All-American point-guard, a 1st Team All-American wing, and a bunch of big/physical low post running mates, has been amazing. Every game he has played, opposing defenses have keyed solely on him, hoping to limit his touches and points. He has scored 17 pts + in 17 of 22 games and 20+ 13 times.

Zach is going to leave Illinois Wesleyan #7 on the all-time scoring list and #4 in rebounding. His current career FG% of .584 (577-988) is the best in school history among the players with 900 or more attempts…higher than great Titan post players like Jeff Kuehl (.573), Chris Simich (.534), Luke Kasten (.519), and Jack Sikma (.514). Zach was a starter on two CCIW title teams and 1 Final Four team squad. This year will mark his 4th selection on the All-CCIW team.

Zach Freeman has been a special player and one people will be talking about for a long time. It will be nice to see him play one more game at the Shirk Center tomorrow, but also hard to see him go.