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Posted Jan. 15, 2004

‘The last time I do that’
Off the court and onto the bus went the Capital women’s basketball team following its loss at John Carroll on Dec. 13. Head coach Dixie Jeffers didn’t even give the players more than a minute to say their goodbye to their parents.

She wasn’t happy with the effort that night.

The next day, Jeffers put her foot down.

“We introduced our players to some conditioning exercises,” Jeffers said with a laugh, “and then we took away all their practice gear. I asked them why should I give them their practice gear back. One of our younger players said ‘Because, coach, I’m running out of laundry.’ ”

That wasn’t the response Jeffers was looking for, but the six-game win streak that continues into this weekend was. Jeffers now knows that Capital (10-4, 6-1) is back on the right track, especially after a 63-61 win at unbeaten Baldwin-Wallace on Jan. 10.

“I don’t know how good we are,” Jeffers said earlier this week. “I know we’re for real now. What I want to know is how good we can become.”

The Crusaders were the dominant women’s program in the early 1990s, winning 60 games in a row, six consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference titles and back-to-back national championships in 1994 and 1995. That was when Jeffers was one of the few aggressively traveling recruiters in Division III.

The rest of the country eventually caught up. Jeffers remembered being surprised the first time she saw a recruiter from Washington University of St. Louis at a local high school tournament in Columbus, but now stronger competition for recruits is the norm, both in the league and nationally. Capital used to be known for having the best post players in the country, but those kids are now are getting snapped up by the Division I programs in the Mid-American Conference, as the growth of the sport spread to the Great Lakes states. Capital was still winning an average of 21 games a season in the late 1990s and early part of the 21st century, but it wasn’t among the nationally elite programs.

So Jeffers made the decision two years ago to do what she did in her first season there in 1986 — start anew.

“This will be the last time I do that,” Jeffers said.

Last year’s freshman-loaded team went 9-15, the first time in Jeffers’ tenure that Capital was below .500. This season, the primary minutes are divvied up among 14 freshmen and sophomores. The leading scorers are sophomore guards Sara Heitkamp (13.1 points per game) and Kati Todd, left, (10.9 points per game). The team only has one junior and one senior, both of whom come off the bench. Capital goes 11 deep, which meant it could survive the temporary loss of sophomore Caitlin Carr, another top scorer. Capital’s offense is built around its guards creating scoring opportunities, whereas past Crusaders teams blew opponents away with strength and didn’t rely much on weapons like the 3-point shot.

“Last season was very humbling,” said Jeffers, who is known for dedication, having coached one of her teams to the Final Four while 8½ months pregnant. “I had the conviction to (rebuild) and I had the support of the athletic department. These kids had to grow up fast. I felt they were our future. Last year was fun to coach. The kids worked their tails off for me. They didn’t understand the longevity of the season back then. We lost six close games last year. That’s how I knew I was doing the right thing. The OAC is a black-and-blue league. This offseason, they committed themselves in the weight room and with an attitude of not wanting to lose. That held us together.”

Dixie Jeffers with Laura Schmelzer of the 1994 national champions.

“It’s amazing what she can do,” said Jeffers. “She’s fun to watch. She needs some reminders about her defense, but on offense, she just gets it.”

As does the rest of the squad, which followed up the unpleasant performance against JCU with a win over an Otterbein team that played eight seniors. That was the first sign that things were ready to change and take off.

“That gave us unbelievable confidence,” Jeffers said. “Now our focus has changed, and our work ethic has changed. The kids are great. It starts with them.”

THE THRILL OF THE CHASE: The Rochester men’s and women’s basketball teams are experiencing “The Chase” this week, and that’s not just what comes with being ranked No. 3 and No. 1 respectively in the D3hoops.com Top 25.

It also encompasses being the top seed in the JP Morgan Chase Scholarship Tournament in one of the biggest local in-season tournaments in Division III, one that draws front page and local TV attention all this week in upstate New York.

Seven Division III squads — Rochester, Geneseo State, Brockport State, Nazareth, St. John Fisher, Rochester Tech and Keuka — battle along with Roberts Wesleyan of the NAIA. The men’s tournament is in its 38th year. The women’s tournament is in its 11th year. Rochester, whose women’s team has won 27 consecutive home games and whose men have won 26 in a row, will host the last two rounds of both genders.

“It’s kind of like the NHL stopping for the Olympics,” said Rochester women’s basketball coach Jim Scheible, whose team won its first Chase title last season en route to the Final Four. “You play teams that just beat the heck out of you. It’s local bragging rights for the year. You get a lot of team members from the previous years who come back for Chase. That sets it apart. It’s a highlight you remember at the end of your career.”

Scheible shared a neat tidbit about the first Division I transfer in his coaching tenure at the school, forward Jesse Graham, who is averaging eight points per game for the No. 1 Yellowjackets since transferring from Washington State. Turns out that Graham, who is from Seattle, was steered to travel 3,000 miles to Rochester by her grandfather, who got his doctorate there.

The men’s team has quietly, but not surprisingly, gotten off to a 13-0 start. One of their keys has been the emergence of juniors Ryan Mee and Brendan McAllister, who entered Chase a combined 48-for-99 from 3-point range.

GAME OF THE YEAR? Emory & Henry already had one good candidate for such honors, having beaten Virginia Wesleyan on a last-second shot on Jan. 10. Less than 24 hours later, the Wasps men topped that, with an amazing 111-108 triple-overtime win over Randolph-Macon.

Emory & Henry, which blew an eight-point lead with 6:29 remaining, sent the game into overtime on a leaner by Justin Call with 1.7 seconds left (on a play that head coach Bob Johnson hadn’t drawn up all season), then forced a second-overtime when Ben Fisher hit a 3-pointer with a second remaining in the first extra session.

Gary Kerns goes up for two of his 39 points against Randolph-Macon.

Gary Kerns, who finished with a career-best 39 points, made the biggest basket of the night, a follow-up of his own miss with eight seconds remaining to give E&H its final points. Poropatich got another look at a game-tying 3-pointer, but missed it at the buzzer.

“It has been an interesting thing to see how our players have responded,” said Johnson, now in his 23rd season as head coach. “That’s been a big deal — how tough we are. It’s an interesting study. That was a pretty big win over Virginia Wesleyan and we had no letdown. Often you expect one. I’m thinking we’re a pretty good team. We’ve played four solid games in a row and it’s been a while since we could say that.”

HOW MUCH MORE IS LEFT? As one season is just getting started, another is nearing its conclusion. The Thomas More women’s basketball team heads into the weekend 15-5 and if it can run the table in its five remaining regular season contests, it will set a team record for regular season wins and make a very, very strong case for a Pool B NCAA bid.

While most teams were taking a few weeks off during winter break, the Saints played half their schedule, all on the road. That’s what independents have to do to get games in before conference play starts. TMC beat DePauw for the first time since Sharri Brumfield became coach 15 years ago, and also has quality wins against Wilmington and Wittenberg. The Saints host Denison on Saturday, then don’t play again until Feb. 9.

Five-foot-three point guard Joanna Bass leads the team in scoring at just over 12 points per game, and also ranks near the top in both rebounds and assists. Brumfield describes her as “a highlight film waiting to happen.” The Saints also get a big boost off the bench from freshman Brooke Warner, their No. 2 scorer, who returned to school after a five-year leave, during which time she raised a son.

Brumfield said that this team could be the best since she’s been there. Right now that distinction belongs to the 1996-97squad that went to the Sweet 16.

“We’re a guard-oriented, pressing and running team,” said Brumfield. “We play really well together. Different people have stepped up at different times.”

THEY’VE ONLY JUST BEGUN: Chris Harvey’s players on the Lasell men’s team were happy to learn earlier this week that they only had 15 practices remaining this season. The kicker is that they have just begun Division III’s toughest stretch — one that spans 17 games in 34 days.

The schedule came about because the North Atlantic Conference expanded and plays an 18-game schedule this season. With Lasell already slated for non-league matchups against the likes of Williams, Keene State, and Western Connecticut State, that left little wiggle room for rest. Lasell will try to get through it and into the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season. The team has lost first-round squeakers in each of the last two seasons.

Five Lasers are averaging in double figures in scoring on the current edition. Junior center Demetrius Dejesus leads the way at 15 points and eight rebounds per game. Lasell is without senior captain Greg Walker, who is out for the season with a knee injury.

“It’s hard to get a grasp on how good we are so far,” said Harvey, whose team is 8-0, 4-0 in the NAC and has only lost one NAC game in the last two seasons. “We respect everybody we play, but sometimes it’s hard to get our kids up for the league games, even though we receive each team’s best shot. Our ability to overcome a tendency to let up will be a key.”

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Ebong Eka (Calvin ’99) didn’t let his numbers get in the way of a good story. Most of the Division III players who play pro ball tend to dominate this level, but the 6-5, 215 pound Eka was more capable than his statistics (career averages of 6.4 points per game and 4.1 rebounds, and season-best numbers of 9.4 points per game and 5.2 rpg) indicated. He also was more determined than most to make it happen.

Eka traveled worldwide with the touring team Athletes in Action, played two seasons professionally in England and Switzerland, averaging upwards of 20 points per game in both spots before returning to Gaithersburg, Md., where he now works as a tax accountant and recently self-published a book “A Complete Guide to Playing Professional Basketball Overseas” documenting his experience and sharing advice on how to pursue a pro career.

Eka served as his own agent running up a $400 phone bill by calling every team he could find on Internet sites such as Eurobasket.com, and developed his own promotional packet with a videotape to market himself. Eventually it worked.

“I was so determined,” said Eka, who will be featured on an upcoming NBA TV interview. “I decided I had to do this. I wanted teams to know that they were getting not only a good player, but a good person.”

Eka retired after two years in order to pursue his post-basketball career and eventually start a family. The idea of being able to help future players with a book appealed to him. He offered us a brief preview of the themes he stressed.

“In a nutshell, you have to be prepared,” Eka said. “You also have to be open to all kinds of different things. If you can’t deal with being away from your family for six to nine months at a time, don’t waste your time. You have to be determined to be successful. I’ve been to a lot of places where people would say, oh you weren’t the best player. You have to have the same kind of confidence that you can make it.”

The book is available as a paperback or an e-book at www.thekrazedcollection.com.

Notes for Around the Nation are compiled with the help of sports information directors across the country. If you have suggestions or information for this column, please send it to mark@d3hoops.com.

Previous columns
2007-08 columns
March 6: Faith restored
Feb. 27: John Jay, Cinderella
Feb. 21: No safety net
Feb. 14: Ursinus better enough
Feb. 8: Hope-TMC on collision course
Jan. 31: Plattsburgh's big shot
Jan. 24: UMD answers call
Jan. 18: Like Bosko, like son
Jan. 11: Keystone stakes
Dec. 13: Unstoppable
Dec. 7: UWW aiming deeper
Nov. 30: Coach's shadow lingers
Nov. 15: Strong duo
2006-07 columns
2005-06 columns
2004-05 columns
2003-04 columns
2002-03 columns
2001-02 columns

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