Men's Basketball Picked Seventh in OAC Preseason Poll
The Heidelberg College men’s basketball team was selected to finish seventh in the Ohio Athletic Conference during the 2008-09 campaign as voted on by league head coaches.
Claiming nine first-place votes and a first-place ranking was Capital University, the defending regular season champion. Following the Crusaders and tallying one first-place vote is Ohio Northern University. Wilmington College stands in third followed by John Carroll University and Muskingum College to round out the top-five finishers. Baldwin-Wallace College is immediately in front of the Berg, while Mount Union College was selected eighth and Otterbein College and Marietta College round out the conference.
Heidelberg is under the guidance of first-year head coach Anthony Gholson and return four letter winners from its 2008 OAC Tournament Championship Team. A year ago the Berg finished at 23-6 overall and 14-4 in the league. The 23 wins rank second all-time for wins in a season. Overall the Berg posted just its third 20-win season in the history of the program.
Leading the list of returners is senior guard Jake Hessey (Crestline, Ohio / Colonel Crawford) and junior point guard Josh Calver (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby), along with junior guard Jim Smalley (Middleburg Heights, Ohio / Midpark) and junior forward Travis Kinn (Alvada, Ohio / New Riegel).
Hessey returns as the top three-point shooter on the team. A season ago he connected on 36 from long range, shooting just over 40 percent. Calver emerged into the starting point guard position late in his freshman campaign and never let it go as a sophomore. Calver dished out a team-best 97 assists last year, while averaging 4.5 points. Smalley is an athletic player that set up 43 scores a season ago, but also returns as one of the top defenders on the team with 26 steals. Kinn is a powerful forward that shot .524 from the field in 2007-08 and returns averaging 5.3 points and 3.8 rebounds an outing.
Heidelberg opens action at Pitt-Bradford Nov. 15 beginning at 4:00 p.m. Its 2008 home slate begins with cross-town rival Tiffin University on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Tip-off with the Dragons is slated for 8:00 p.m.
2008 OAC Preseason Poll (first-place votes)
1. Capital (9)
2. Ohio Northern (1)
3. Wilmington
4. John Carroll
5. Muskingum
6. Baldwin-Wallace
7. Heidelberg
8. Mount Union
9. Otterbein
10. Marietta