Looking ahead

Well, I’ve finally had a chance to catch my breath from that recruiting flurry. It was amazing watching that process play out. Once Sean Johnson committed on Easter Sunday, everything just seemed to fall in place over the course of the next 30 days.

Before I go on, I should mention that two previously “unannounced” student-athletes have decided to attend Illinois Wesleyan and play basketball…

Michael Kempf, 5-11 PG (Hersey H.S.)
Mitch Malone, 6-2 SG (Abingdon H.S.)

Welcome to Michael and Mitch. I remember meeting Michael and his family on his visit and hoping he’d end up at IWU. A great student, he was very seriously considering Kenyon College in Ohio. I’m looking forward to meeting Mitch when he gets to campus.

What a class put together by Ron Rose and staff. This group is talented and deep and it should get Illinois Wesleyan back in the CCIW contention picture sooner than later. The best thing about the quality of this class is that is creates competition at all five positions, something that, quite frankly, was lacking this past season. Literally every single player that shows up for basketball in the fall will have to work his tail off to earn a spot in the varsity rotation…and that’s a common theme of every great IWU team I’ve ever seen.

So let’s take a very early look at the depth chart heading into the 2007-08. I’ve slotted every player into the position I think they have the best chance to play at and listed alphabetically.

1
Justin Anthony, 5-10 (So.)
Sean Dwyer, 5-11 (So.)
Michael Kempf, 5-11 (Fr.)
Travis Rosenkranz, 5-11 (Fr.)

2
Kevin Bryant, 6-2 (Sr.)
Andrew Gilmore, 6-3 (Jr.)
Anthony Gunnell, 6-2 (Jr.)
Sean Johnson, 6-1 (Fr.)
Mitch Malone, 6-2 (Fr.)
Jordan Morris, 6-3 (Jr.)
Chris Stamas, 6-2 (Fr.)

3
Jason Bloom, 6-5 (Sr.)
Duncan Lawson, 6-8 (Fr.)
Matt Schick, 6-4 (Fr.)
Elias Washington, 6-2 (So.)

4/5
Brett Chamernik, 6-5 (Jr.)
Darius Gant, 6-4 (Sr.)
Brian Nussbaum, 6-6 (Sr.)
Edmond O’Callaghan, 6-7 (Fr.)
Dan Schouten, 6-5 (Fr.)
Doug Sexauer, 6-7 (Fr.)
Josh Sutton, 6-5 (Fr.)
Matt Wittig, 6-4 (So.)


Somewhere in there is the 2007-08 Illinois Wesleyan varsity and J.V. rotations. Hard work over the summer will go a long way to determining how this plays out.