BEREA, OHIO - The Baldwin-Wallace College men's basketball team begins a new era this winter with 1993 graduate Duane Sheldon at the helm. Sheldon comes back to his alma mater from Ohio Athletic Conference-rival Heidelberg College and he replaces his mentor, the legendary Steve Bankson, who retired last winter after 28 seasons and 420 victories at the College.
Sheldon begins his first season in Berea by welcoming back nine lettermen, including three starters, to a program that finished 12-15 overall and 8-10 in the OAC a year ago. Key among the returnees are seniors Andrew Bene and Dennis Santiago and juniors Kyle Brown and Louis Tumblin. the other five are junior Paul Glass and sophomores Jake Cayton, Kyle Rockwell, Zane Meeder and Jeff Cannan.
Bene returns for his third season as a starter and averaged 13.3 points and a team-leading 7.5 rebounds per game. Brown, who earned All-OAC accolades in 2007-2008, scored a team-leading 16.4 ppg., grabbed 4.1 rpg. and canned a team-high 64 three-pointers. Tumblin scored 12.6 ppg. and grabbed 4.3 rpg. Santiago, a two-time Academic All-OAC pick, scored 7.9 ppg. last season and averaged 10.6 ppg. as a sophomore.
In Glass, Cayton, Rockwell, Meeder and Cannan, Sheldon has five players who saw action a year ago and gained valuable experience. Add to that group three transfers and a couple of first-year players who will battle for playing time and build depth. Among the transfers are 6'9" center Ben Dobberstein from Wittenberg University and 6'5" wing player Kevin Gall from Lake Erie College.
"We return a solid nucleus of young men from a year ago who we hope will blend well with a few transfers and incoming freshmen to give us strength in our starting lineup and depth on the bench," said Sheldon, who led Heidelberg to the OAC Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Division III National Tournament last winter.
"We know that the OAC is the toughest Division III conference from top-to-bottom," continued Sheldon. "To be consistent in the OAC, you have to have a solid starting group and depth on the bench. We are working toward those goals and look forward to the challenge ahead in 2008-2009."
B-W opens its season on Saturday, November 15 when it travels to University Circle to play Cleveland cross-town rival Case Western Reserve University at 7:30 p.m.
