By Mark Bennett
As the 2001-02 Indiana State Sycamores walked
onto the Hulman Center basketball court for their first official
practice Saturday morning, two familiar faces weren't in uniform.
Matt Renn and Michael Menser.
Menser etched his name into state basketball
lore with breathtaking 3-pointers that beat the vaunted Indiana
Hoosiers and later launched ISU into a surprising NCAA Tournament
run by winning last March's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Like Menser, Renn was a small-town Indiana kid, but bigger. He
was a nightmare for opposing defenders. Together, they scored
more than 2,000 points, won 75 of 120 games, a MVC regular-season
title, a MVC Tournament title and made two NCAA trips.
How on earth can ISU live without them?
Well, a year ago Sycamore followers were wondering
the same thing about the loss of MVC Player of the Year Nate
Green. Without him, ISU still managed to finish 22-12 last season
and beat 13th-ranked Oklahoma in the Big Dance.
Life and college basketball must go on, says
power forward Djibril Kante, now a senior, along with guard Kelyn
Block and center Terence Avery.
"Every year we've taken a step forward,"
explains Kante, wearing a new, short haircut. "I'm not going
to jump the gun; we've got a lot of new talent and a lot of things
we're missing. Menser and Renn meant a lot to this team. But,
of course, we want to take a step forward. Like when we lost
Nate, people weren't so sure we'd be able to do it. Now we've
lost Matt and Mike, and they're probably the most important players
ISU's had in the last 20 years. But me, Kelyn and Terence want
to step up and leave our imprint on this team too."
All three left imprints last year too.
While Menser and Renn drew the most attention,
Block steadily averaged 14.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists
and 1 steal per game. As a guard, he hit a deadly 52.6 percent
of his shots. But the 6-foot-2, 200-pound guard's finest hour
came inside The Pyramid at Memphis, Tenn., in the NCAA South
Regional's first round.
In a tight game with Oklahoma, Block was hit
it the mouth by Sooner guard Hollis Price's elbow, fell to the
floor as three of his teeth shattered and scattered across the
court. Bloodied, Block was helped to the lockerroom. While there,
an overtime was forced. After a dose of Tylenol and a cleanup,
Block stunned the crowd by running back out to play in OT. Moments
after entering, he stole the ball and scored. The Kansas City
native scored five of ISU's nine overtime points, and the Sycamores
advanced to the second round with a 70-68 victory.
The next day, Block had three root canals
and got the broken teeth capped.
Television sports networks replayed his heroics
over and over. Block shrugs at the memory.
"I'm sure if anybody else on any team
got hit like that, they'd want to go back in," he says,
with a bright smile.
He has few lasting effects from the collision.
"When it's cold outside, I can feel
they're not real. But other than that, I'm fine," Block
says.
Instead, his offseason focused on recovering
from a different ailment. A protruding part of his foot bone
began to irritate a ligament in his left ankle last season. So
in July, he had surgery to correct it. ISU athletic trainer Dave
Ralston said Saturday that Block is about 90 percent recovered
and will practice in a limited capacity until fully healed. Two
other Sycamores are recovering from offseason ailments -- starting
guard Marcus Howard had a stress fracture of a bone in his right
foot, and reserve center Michael Kernan is contending with a
plantar fascia, a problem in the ligament of the arch in his
right foot. Howard will wear a protective boot for 10 more days,
and Kernan will miss the first week of practices.
Block's early focus is conditioning. "Once
I get back in shape, everything will fall into place," he
says.
Coach Royce Waltman understands speculation
that Block could became a candidate for MVC Player of the Year,
challenging last season's winner Tarise Bryson of Illinois State
and Kent Williams of Southern Illinois, among others. After all,
Block completed the rare achievement of breaking into ISU's 1,000-point
club as a junior last season. Green, Menser and Renn all needed
four seasons to get there.
Still, without those other Sycamore scorers,
Block becomes a bigger target for opposing defenses.
"Playing the devil's advocate, he'll
now be playing the opponents' best defender, rather than their
second- or third-best defender as in the last couple years,"
Waltman says.
Block seems as unfazed by growing expectations
as he was by that elbow to the mouth in Memphis.
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| Tribune-Star/Jim
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| Ready: Terence Avery is one
of three seniors on the ISU men's basketball team this year. |
"I really don't pay too much attention
to that, because someone thinks you're good or bad, that really
doesn't mean anything," Block says. "I have to go out
there and prove it."
All three seniors have that task.
The 6-7, 245-pound Kante made MVC's All-Improved
Team, thanks a season of good health, by averaging 9.3 points
and 5.8 rebounds. He also shot 56 percent from the field and
blocked 61 shots.
This season, he'll get to play his more natural
power forward position more often, with the 6-9, 235-pound Avery
likely moving to the starting lineup as center. Last season,
Kante was often the pivot man at the game's outset. Avery came
off the bench in all but two games, averaging 8.2 points and
4.4 rebounds. The transfer from Northwestern made the MVC All-Bench
team.
Now they could both start.
"We're projecting being able to play
those two guys together," Waltman says. "I think it
helps Djibril. He's a pretty good shooter from 12 feet and in,
where he can catch and shoot. And he'll be able to rebound well
against a smaller guy."
A big lineup would be a bit of a new twist.
"Djibril and myself will be the biggest frontcourt in the
league," Avery predicts.
Block, Kante and Avery are joined by only
one junior teammate with Division I experience -- reserve shooting
guard Matt Broermann. The rest of the roster consists of sophomores
and newcomers. But the sophomores got some crucial playing time
in the 2000-01 season. Sophomore guards Howard and Matt Berry
were on the court in crucial moments at Memphis, and both were
part-time starters. During ISU's postseason run, Howard averaged
10.5 points and hit 50 percent of his shots.
Another sophomore, Barry Welsh, gave Menser
some breathers in occasional point-guard duty. Slowed by an early
season illness, Welsh's stints started rough but progressively
got better. "I have a feeling he probably improved a lot
in this offseason," Waltman says.
Welsh will be a candidate for Menser's old
starting job, along with Chicago freshman Lamar Grimes and walk-on
junior-college transfer Batiste Haywood, a 6-1 Hammond native
who averaged 18 points and 4.7 steals for Northeast Community
College in Nebraska last season.
The shooting guards include Block, Howard
and Berry, while 6-7, 190-pound Chicago freshman Darron Evans
will be a forward, along with Kante and two other freshmen --
6-9 Jerod Adler and 6-8 Jake Sams. The centers are Avery and
Kernan, as well as former Terre Haute North player Levi Adams,
who will sit out games this season after transferring from Morehead
State.
Together, they'll open the season Nov. 18
at Illinois-Chicago. In the meantime, they'll debut for the public
in the Blue-White Scrimmage at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 in Hulman Center,
and then play home exhibition games Nov. 3 against the University
of Indianapolis on Nov. 3 and Pella Windows on Nov. 9.
Their MVC opener is Dec. 9 at Drake.
Waltman suspects the loss of Menser and Renn
will change the conference's outlook on ISU this season.
"In the league, really, I don't think
we're expected to do well. I think around the league, they think
we're going to take a big hit," the fifth-year coach says.
"It's mostly the community that doesn't feel that way. And
even though there's some pressure there, I'm glad that they feel
that way about our program. It's just sort of a confidence in
our program and a confidence in the kind of kids that we recruit."
The 2001-02 edition of the Sycamores is ready
to follow in those footsteps, Block says.
"It's a new season, we've got a different
team, we've got a different aspect on basketball. We have to
go out and make a name and personality for this team," Block
says.
The loss of points, rebounds and assists from
Menser and Renn could be made up by a variety of Sycamores.
"We'll go game by game. Every game, I'm
sure somebody different will step up," Block insists. "Me,
Djibril and Terence will have to step up and be the kinds of
leaders those guys were."
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