2009-10 Season Outlook

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Mark Snyder

The Wittenberg Tigers return a strong core of letterwinners for the 2009-10 season in hopes of extending their amazing run of 53 consecutive non-losing seasons and heading back to the top of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) after an atypical 13-13 campaign in 2008-09.

The Tigers, with the most wins in NCAA Division III history, are off to a good start before the first game even tips off as they welcome back senior Gregg Hill (Farmington Hills, Mich./Redford Union), who missed the entire 2008-09 season due to a shoulder injury after earning first-team All-NCAC honors in 2007-08. Hill, who enters the 2009-10 campaign with 920 career points, averaged 16.5 points per game on 45 percent shooting two years ago. That season, he became the first Wittenberg player in more than a decade to average more than 30 minutes per game.

Hill is joined by a host of key returning perimeter players, including seniors David Nowicki (Carmel, Ind./Westfield) and Kyle Bigler (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson), junior Chris Sullivan (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and sophomore Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh). Nowicki started all 26 games at the point in 2008-09, averaging 7.9 points per game and leading the team in assists. Like Hill, Bigler sat out last season with an injury - this after hitting 18 three-pointers in 25 games in 2007-08. Sullivan appeared in all 26 games for the Tigers a year ago after transferring from Franklin & Marshall. He averaged 5.8 points per game while hitting 31 three-pointers, tied for second-most on the team.

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Gregg Hill

McKee will hit the hardwood after the nationally ranked Tiger football team completes its 2009 football season. A starting wide receiver on the gridiron, McKee averaged 7.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while starting 20 games a year ago.

He's not the only one who will be late in joining the basketball team after the start of the season. Sophomore wideout Michael Cooper (Springfield, Ohio/South), who can play either on the wing or in the post, also ranks among the team leaders in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns - all this after averaging 8.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 22 appearances in 2008-09.

Head Coach Bill Brown, who has the most coaching wins in Wittenberg's illustrious men's basketball history, has multiple quality options in the post as well. They start with senior Mark Snyder (Celina, Ohio/Parkway Riverside), who started all 26 games a year ago and averaged 7.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

Other returning letterwinners on the low block include sophomores Alex Brandt (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) and Clayton Black (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster), who combined to average 10.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game during their inaugural collegiate campaign, junior Lewis Buzzard (Columbus, Ohio/Franklin Heights) and senior Brad Folta (West Lafayette, Ind./West Lafayette). Buzzard and Folta have seen limited time during their collegiate careers, in part due to injuries.

The lengthy list of returning letterwinners is supplemented in 2009-10 by a typically stellar recruiting class.