By Mark Bennett
As the Indiana State Sycamore basketball team
gathered for preseason pictures Wednesday afternoon in Hulman
Center, there were plenty of young faces surrounding seniors
Kelyn Block, Djibril Kante and Terence Avery.
Two juniors. Four sophomores. Four freshmen.
The group that will begin official practices
in a month will be one of the youngest in the Royce Waltman coaching
era that has produced 75 victories in 120 games, including a
Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title in 2000, a MVC
Tournament title in 2001 and NCAA trips in both.
The seniors "are looking down at a lot
of freshmen and sophomores this season to help them. They have
a doubly-tough task," Waltman said Wednesday.
And yet there is no shortage of optimism among
both the kids and the veterans.
"I think we have the potential to keep
going," said Darron Evans, a 6-foot-6 freshman from Chicago
Providence St. Mel High School whom Waltman has described as
"probably our best athlete." Evans averaged 13.5 points,
9 rebounds and 6 blocked shots as a prep senior.
ISU lost a first-round NCAA game in 2000,
and reached the second round last season with a dramatic overtime
victory over 13th-ranked Oklahoma in the South Regional at Memphis,
Tenn. The Sycamores' final record was 22-12. Evans doesn't want
to see that climb disrupted in the upcoming 2001-02 college season.
"Every year it seems like we go deeper
and deeper into the tournament," Evans said before getting
his mugshot taken in the empty Hulman Center. "And I think
this is potentially a Sweet Sixteen team."
Evans is joined in the freshman class by 6-9
forward Jerod Adler, 6-8 forward Jake Sams and 5-11 point guard
Lamar Grimes. After Labor Day, they and the other Sycamores began
limited workouts with the ISU coaches. Full practices begin in
October.
So far, Waltman has been impressed with the
youngest Sycamores.
"All we have to go on is their demeanor
in their individual workouts," Waltman said. "And that's
been very good."
In the short run, guards Evans and Grimes
will get additional work as Block and sophomore guard Marcus
Howard recover from injuries. Block underwent surgery in July
to repair an outgrowth on his left ankle bone that was rubbing
a tendon and causing him pain last season. ISU athletic trainer
Dave Ralston said Block is 85 percent healed now. Howard, who
became a starter as a freshman along with Matt Berry last season,
is wearing a protective rehabilitation boot while a stress fracture
on a bone in his right foot heals. He'll wear the boot for two
to four weeks, Ralston said.
Once they're at full strength, Evans and Grimes
will likely have to help replace the significant numbers delivered
by departed stars Michael Menser at point guard and Matt Renn
at forward. Sams and Adler will work the frontcourt, where Kante
returns as the starting power forward and Avery served as a sixth
man in the pivot.
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| Tribune-Star/Joseph
C. Garza |
| Incoming: Indiana State University
freshmen basketball players (from left) Jerod Adler, Lamar Grimes,
Jake Sams and Darron Evans are ready to carry on the Sycamores'
winning tradition. |
Will the freshmen have to contribute?
"It's sort of a matter of, they're going
to have to," Waltman said.
That suits them fine.
"I feel like I can contribute and I really
want to contribute," said Adler, who averaged a double-double
last season at Adams Central High School with 14 points and 11.3
rebounds a game.
Sams will play some forward after serving
as a center at Mount Zion (Ill.) High School, where he got 14
points and 8.5 rebounds a game in a lineup that featured three
Division I recruits. "I think it's really going to allow
me to do some things I wasn't able to in high school," Sams
said.
Grimes had the gaudiest statistics of all
-- 26 points, 10 assists, 3 steals, 3 rebounds a game at Chicago
Gage Park High School. He's one of three Sycamores who'll try
to fill the void at point guard left by Menser. Sophomore Barry
Welsh also returns, and walk-on junior college transfer Batiste
Haywood will compete for the spot as well.
"There's a lot of talent spread around,"
Grimes said. "The freshmen guys have got to step up and
come out to play."
In the paint, Avery and Kante will be backed
by Sams, Adler and 6-11 sophomore Michael Kernan.
"Me and Terence will have to work with
the post guys to get them ready, because once you get into the
Valley, there's no more playing around," Kante said.
The season begins with a Nov. 18 game at Illinois-Chicago,
and the MVC opener is Dec. 9 at Drake.
Williamson not playing in 2001-02 -- Andy Williamson, a 6-5, 190-pound guard who spent
three seasons with the Sycamores, has decided not to play this
coming season.
The former Hamilton Heights High School player
scored 15 points in 14 games during his first two seasons with
ISU. He suited up for the 1998-99 season, sat out games as a
redshirt in 1999-2000, and then returned to reserve duty last
year.
Waltman and Athletic Director Andi Myers confirmed
Wednesday that Williamson will continue in school at ISU, serving
duties inside the athletic department as he completes his degree
under his basketball scholarship before graduating next year.
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