The Baldwin-Wallace College men's basketball program is one of the best in both the Ohio Athletic Conference and NCAA Division III.
If you would like to be a part of our program, please contact Head Coach Steve Bankson in his office at 440-826-2039 or e-mail him at sbankson@bw.edu. You also can contact Assistant Coach Chris Kibler at 440-826-2183 or ckibler@bw.edu.
To schedule a campus visit, please call our Addmission Office staff at 440-826-2222
A Rich Tradition of Winning and Success in the OAC and NCAA...
has a rich, winning tradition that includes five Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament titles and six appearances in the NCAA Division III National Tournament. Every year, the goal of the Yellow Jacket program is to win an OAC title, advance to the national tourney and compete for a shot at winning a national title.
Here is a quick snyposis of that success.......
Under the direction of veteran Head Coach Steve Bankson, the 2006-2007 Yellow Jackets had an 18-9 overall record. It marked the 17th time in the last 18 years that B-W has either had a .500 or winning record. Highlighting the season was Bankson winning his 400th career game at the College and moving into fourth place on the all-time OAC Coaching Victory List, the play of all-time leading scorer Tori Davis, beating OAC and Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University twice during the regular season and having a 4-3 mark against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
In 2005-2006, Bankson's Yellow Jackets made its second straight NCAA Division III National Tournament appearance and advanced to the second round. B-W had a single-season school-record 25 victories and a 25-5 overall record. B-W also won the OAC regular season title for the first time since 1977-78 with a 15-3 slate and the OAC Tournament title for the second straight year. It marked the first time in school history that the men won both the regular season and OAC Tournament title in the same season. In addition, the men also won tournament titles at both Westminster (Pa.) College and at The College of Wooster.
In 2004-2005, B-W had a 20-9 overall record and won the OAC Tournament title to earn the OAC's automatic berth in the Division III National Tournament.
In the early 1980s, Bankson arrived at B-W and took his first team to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. The Yellow Jackets had an outstanding 22-6 overall mark to set a school-record as the best season ever. They won their first two OAC Tournament games and a regional championship before being finally knocked out of that tourney.
Then during the decade of the 90s, the Yellow Jackets again had great success. But then again, success in both the Ohio Athletic Conference and the NCAA Division III National Championship tournaments is not new in Berea.
From the 1994-1995 season to the end of the 1999-2000 campaign, veteran Head Coach Steve Bankson’s program advanced to the Final Four of the prestigious OAC Championship four times, winning it twice and earning a spot in the national tourney in both 1996 and 1998. Three times in the past six years, the Yellow Jackets have advanced into the NCAA Division III National Tournament. Twice it has been via an automatic berth by winning the OAC Tournament title. The third time was by receiving an At-Large bid to the “Big Dance”.
B-W’s second trip to the NCAA tourney, in 1994-95, may have been the most exciting. B-W had a strong season with a solid 19-9 overall record. B-W was seeded eighth in the tourney and drew the top seed in the Great Lakes Region and the number one team in the nation in Hope College of Michigan.
The Yellow Jackets defeated Hope 72-69 on its home floor on a shot at the final buzzer by then sophomore guard Ryan Sooy. Hope entered the game with the best home record in Division III and in Division III tourney history. It was a great win for B-W and quite possibly the biggest win since B-W turned Division III in 1972.
B-W then traveled to traditional rival Wittenberg University, which was ranked fourth in Division III. B-W and Wittenberg have always been rivals. But this time it took on more importance. It was the first time that B-W would face Wittenberg since the Tigers left the OAC in 1990 and joined the North Coast Athletic Conference. Besides that, Wittenberg was second to Hope as the toughest place to play in Division III and Division III Tournament history.
So what did the Jackets’ do? They beat the Tigers on their home floor, 74-70. It was another outstanding game that came down to the final minutes with B-W winning and advancing to Illinois Wesleyan for the “Sweet16”.
Now the B-W team had advanced the furthest it had ever advanced in the Division III National Tournament, and it had gained respect both regionally and nationally. B-W ended the “Cinderella Season” at Illinois Wesleyan when it lost to the host school and eventual Division III national runner-up.
In 1996, B-W won the OAC Tournament title in dramatic fashion when then junior Jason Frolo made a free throw with no time remaining on the clock to beat Marietta College in the championship game at Ohio Northern University in Ada, 60-59. It was B-W’s first OAC tourney crown since the 1960s. It again added validity to the program that it was one of the best in the OAC.
The Yellow Jackets then traveled back to Springfield to play Wittenberg for the second straight season in the Great Lakes Regional tourney. This time the Tigers prevailed, 70-61, in another close game.
In 1998, the Yellow Jackets again won the OAC Tournament title as they beat host Otterbein College in Westerville in the champ-ionship game, 83-80. That victory allowed B-W to host its first-ever home NCAA Division III men’s tournament game in the confines of the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium.
Although the Yellow Jackets eventually lost that game before a capacity crowd to Allegheny College of Pennsylvania, 97-88, it again provided credence that the B-W program is among the elite in both the Ohio Athletic Conference and the Great Lakes Region of Division III.
The tradition is being carried into the 21st century as this winter, B-W will again battle for both an OAC title and a spot in the 2003 NCAA Division III National Tournament.
B-W has been ranked both regionally by the Division III Coaches Association and nationally by the internet website d3hoops.com Division III poll.
“Our goal each season is to win the Ohio Athletic Conference championship,” said Bankson, who is the winningest coach in Yellow Jacket history. “If we win the OAC, we know that we have a chance to play well in the NCAA Tournament. The OAC is the finest Division III conference in the country and every league game prepares your team for the national tourney. The OAC schedule makes your team and players tournament-tested. That is why, year-in and year-out, OAC schools, both men and women, fare well in the NCAA Tournament.
“We are proud of our heritage and tradition of excellence in basketball at Baldwin-Wallace College.”
The Facilities are Outstanding
The Baldwin-Wallace College basketball program practices and competes in one of the finest recreation facilities in all of Division III athletics.
The Rudolph S. Ursprung Gymnasium is located within the Lou Higgins Center on campus.
The Ursprung Gym seats 2,600 fans and serves as home to the Yellow Jacket men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams. The Yellow Jacket basketball student-athlete has a plush locker room. He also has outstanding physical training facilities.
The Lou Higgins Center
The Lou Higgins Center includes a 25-yard pool, five racquetball/handball courts and a weight room equipped with the latest free weight and Nautilus apparatus, a fieldhouse with three recreation modules surrounded by the Harrison Dillard 200-meter track. This facility allows for both the junior varsity and varsity squads to get maximum quality out of practice time.
275 Eastland Rd.