|
|
|
Posting Up - Scoreboard - Top 25 - Features - Notables - Team of the Week - Live Audio |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
An in-depth look at Division III Posted Jan. 12, 2000 |
Notebooks Great Lakes Midwest Northeast Check out D3football.com |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
By Mark Simon The Hampden-Sydney men's basketball team might be unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the last two D3Hoops.com Top 25 polls, but don't think for a second that success has come easily.
"We do have four seniors from our top seven. I don't see how this team can be a No. 1 or a No. 2. Last year (when Hampden-Sydney lost the national championship game in double-overtime to Wisconsin Platteville) we were so experienced. This team needs to get better." Play has been sharp since Shaver made that statement. His group is 11-0 heading into a Jan. 12 clash with Virginia Wesleyan and handled its toughest foe, then-18th ranked Nebraska Wesleyan, by an 86-61 score.
Don't feel any sympathy when you find out the team from this all-male school outside of rural Farmville, Va., returned "only" four seniors. Not surprisingly, they are the Tigers' top four scorers. Shooting guard T.J. Grimes is averaging 19.2 points, shooting .566 from the field and has hit 34 of 69 three-pointers to make himself a Team of the Year candidate again. Backcourt mate Chris Fox mans the point and has averaged 11.8 ppg. Power forward Jack Jirak, to whom Shaver looks first for rebounding, has made more than twice as many shots (57) as he has missed (26). Six-foot-eight forward Jeremy Harris has averaged 10.3 ppg. and has been the best success story. "He grew up on a farm about 10 miles away," said Shaver, "and in high school, he was a Farm-Team All-American. I didn't even know that there was such a thing." The Tigers are outshooting opponents every night, outscoring them by 26 points per game and outrebounding them by a margin of 11 per game. The weaknesses are hard to find.
And this is a team that came within a jumpshot of the national title. Squads that know how to get that far often find ways to get back. "We learned two things (in the NCAA Tournament last season)," Shaver said. "We learned how important defense and rebounding are to success. Everybody we faced was good in those areas. We learned that the South can compete with any other region." Junior forward Brett Thompson is tied for the team lead in rebounds with 5.6. |
Previous
Features
– Conn.
Continues Under New Leader 1998-99 Stories
1999-00 Season More Features
Contact Us |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
T.J. Grimes leads the way at 19.2 points per game.
Chris Fox reached 1,000 points this season in the same game as teammate Jeremy Harris.
