Key Wittenberg Players Return for New Season

The Wittenberg Tigers, the winningest team in NCAA Division III history, return eight letterwinners from one of the deepest, most relentless teams in the country in 2000. Despite the loss of NCAC Player of the Year and second-team All-American Ryan Taylor and three other seniors, the Tigers return a solid nucleus in 2001-02.

November 6, 2001
B.J. Harris

Harris

Kevin Longley

Longley

The Wittenberg Tigers, the winningest team in NCAA Division III history, return eight letterwinners from one of the deepest, most relentless teams in the country in 2000. Despite the loss of NCAC Player of the Year and second-team All-American Ryan Taylor and three other seniors, the Tigers return a solid nucleus in 2001-02. 

Leading the way is junior forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler), who was second on the team in scoring and first in rebounding on a team that led the nation in rebound margin at more than 14 per game in 2000-01. A second-team All-NCAC selection last year, Longley also paced the team in steals with 39 and ranked second in field goal percentage at .587. 

Also figuring prominently in the Tigers' plans are senior guard Greg Rustad (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood), a long-range sharpshooter who started all 28 games last year and contributed 7.8 points per game, and junior forward B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins), who came off the bench to contribute 8.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. They will be joined in the 2001-02 rotation by two sophomores who gained valuable experience in their inaugural collegiate season, point guard Mark Borland (Kettering, Ohio/Archbishop Alter) and forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier), senior three-point bomber Chad Mossing (Maumee, Ohio/Holland Springfield) and senior center Brian Gratsch (Madeira, Ohio/Madeira). Only Mossing didn't appear in all 28 games last year due to injury.

Wittenberg will be trying to extend its phenomenal string of non-losing seasons to 45 consecutive. The Tigers' last losing campaign was in 1955-56, and the current streak includes one .500 record, in 1967-68.