BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College women's basketball team was selected third and the men's basketball team was picked sixth in the 2003 Ohio Athletic Conference Coaches Poll after the first-ever Media Day Conference Call on Wednesday, Nov. 5.
The Wilmington College women were picked first in the conference in the preseason poll receiving six first-place votes while Otterbein was selected second with three first-place votes. B-W was selected ahead of Heidelberg for third place including one first-place vote.
With only two returning starters, and no returning All-OAC players for the first time in 10 years, the Yellow Jackets will be putting a lot of new faces on the floor. B-W has a streak of seven straight seasons of 20 or more wins, and seven straight appearances in the OAC Tournament Championship Game on the line.
Senior forward Erika Schultz (Waterville/ Anthony Wayne) and senior guard Karissa Kusick (Chicora, Pa./ Karns City) are the lone returning starters. Schultz was the team’s fourth leading scorer, shooting 55 percent from the field and averaging 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Kusick was third in the league in assists, averaging 4.2 per game, and was fourth in assist to turnover ratio. In addition, she averaged 9.1 ppg. and 3.6 rpg.
The Yellow Jacket women open the 2003-3004 season on Friday, November 21, when they play Cleveland cross-town rival Case Western Reserve University in the opening round of the Greater Cleveland Tip-Off Tournament at Oberlin College.
On the men's side, OAC co-regular season champions John Carroll was ranked first receiving six first-place votes while Capital was picked second with two first-place votes. Otterbein rounds out the top three also receiving two first-place votes.
The Yellow Jackets, picked sixth in this year's preseason poll, return six lettermen and three starters from last year's team that finished 13-13 overall, but gone are two key four-year players.
Gone from last years squad is first-team All-OAC, OAC Player of the Year, All-American and Academic All-American Shawn McCormick. Also gone is four-year varsity mainstay and All-OAC and Academic All-OAC guard Jon Carroll. McCormick averaged 20 points per game and was third on the B-W all-time scoring list at 1,865 points. Carroll was third on the team in scoring at 14.2 ppg. and started and averaged double figures for three straight years.
Back to lead the team this year are junior post Thad Davis (Elyria/ Open Door Christian) and junior point guard Tom Harrington (North Royalton/ Parma Holy Name). Davis, a second-team All-OAC selection, is returning after averaging 16.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and had 40 blocked shots. He also made 56.6 percent of his field goal attempts and should be one of the top inside players in the OAC again. Harrington, who averaged 8.4 ppg. and canned 44 three-pointers, led the Yellow Jackets in assists with 115. He will be the leader in the backcourt.
The Yellow Jacket men open the 2003-3004 season on Friday, November 21, when they travel to the Dickinson (Pa.) College Tournament and play Randolph-Macon (Va.) University in the first round.
FOR MORE SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at (440) 826-2327, by FAX machine at (440) 826-2329 or via e-mail at kruple@bw.edu.
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