By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
To go 24-4 overall and win a conference championship, then host a playoff game in the NCAA Tournament, most teams consider that a fantastic year. When Pat Miller, head coach of the UW-Whitewater men’s basketball team, said the season was ‘good’, it shows what program expectations are put on the Warhawks.
“Last season was good,” Miller said. “I felt we never hit our stride. We never elevated our game at the time we needed to. Unfortunately, Defiance played a great game and we played a very average game. That’s the nature of basketball. They hit shots and were able to beat us.”
The Defiance game was the first round game in the NCAA Tournament a season ago. The Warhawks entered the tournament as d3hoops.com’s No. 2-ranked team in the country, while Defiance as unranked.
After a 36-28 lead at halftime, Defiance scored 55 points in the second half, eventually defeating the Warhawks, 83-71.
What leaves last year’s 24-4 team is more than just six seniors. Losing six of 17 players can be seen as a lot on its own, but when factoring in who those seniors were, the Warhawks are a very different team now than they were a year ago.
Point guard Quardell Young used up his eligibility last year and was invited to a training camp in the NBA D-League after being drafted by the Maine Red Claws. Cody Odegaard was seen as a lights-out shooter.
K.J. Evans, a 6-foot-3 forward, may have been outmatched in terms of height, but with his tenacity and quickness, was consistently a matchup nightmare for whoever opposing teams threw on him. Steve Egan is another key member the team will have to replace, as 6-foot-6 forwards are never easy to find at the Division III level.
“It’s going to be virtually impossible to replace their experience and knowledge of our system,” Miller said. “We’re talking about a group of guys that have won over 100 games in their careers. This year’s team has very talented players but there are a lot of new players in our program, whether that’s freshmen or transfers. The challenge is getting them acclimated to our system. It just takes time.”
In the ’Hawks’ first game this season, on Nov. 13 on the road against Ripon, the team found itself down 28-19 at halftime. Thanks to Miller’s adjustments and finding out what works with his new group of players, the Warhawks scored 55 points and shot 71.4 percent from the field in the second half to defeat Ripon, 74-60.
A year ago, Ripon’s Ty Sabin was the country’s second leading scorer. In this game, the Warhawks held Sabin to 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
“We wanted to take that element away from them and force other guys to hurt us,” Miller said. “Drew Bryson did a great job on him. The first possession of the game he got a back-door cut and had an open bucket. I think that was the last time he had an uncontested shot. That was a big factor in the game.”
What the Warhawks have seemingly done over the last couple seasons is bring in transfers from other programs, no matter the level. This year is no different, as the ’Hawks now have a 6-foot-5 senior forward in Trinson White, a transfer from UW-Milwaukee. White scored a game-high 21 points in the game, 20 of which coming after halftime, to go along with his four assists.
Miller talked about White and how Miller has known White’s high school coach and that taking in transfers for just one year is a risk.
“He has absolutely no agenda,” Miller said. “It’s a plus to have a player of his talent and maturity in your program and I think that’s been positive for our younger guys to be around.”
A freshman to look toward in terms of making an impact on a game-to-game basis is Andre Brown. Brown started at point guard for the team against Ripon, and recorded 12 points, four assists and five rebounds in 25 minutes of action while not turning the ball over.
The ’Hawks don’t have a senior that’s logged a lot of minutes in the program this year, and only one junior, Bryson, has seen the court often.
The team’s next game is set for a 7 p.m. start on Friday at home against Davenport.
“Right now we have a nice combination of freshmen, incoming transfers who can make an impact and some players that have been in the program that understand our system,” Miller said. “We have a long, long, long way to go. That’s why it’s positive to pick up wins while we’re in this adjustment phase.
“We’ve had some injuries that have delayed what is already a difficult situation. As time passes and we get these guys back and acclimated, the potential to be a good team is certainly there. Trust me; we’ve never had a situation like this as long as I’ve been the head coach.”
