Scots Look to Improve in 2000 - 2001

November 15, 2000

A short (and sweet) explanation of what went wrong for the Fighting Scots last year is that they were a doughnut team. In other words, they had a hole in the middle.

A slightly longer explanation of what went wrong is that the team’s lack of points in the paint put even more pressure on a talented group of perimeter players that included Jeff Stenoish, Greg Kloepping and Steve Glasgow. Also, opposing big players often had their way with the Scots. Finally, Monmouth’s youthful inexperience didn’t serve it well in close games, of which there were several. The 9-13 Scots lost eight games by single digits, including seven in conference play. Reversing their two overtime losses in the league would have been enough to send the Scots to the conference tournament.

Monmouth coach Terry Glasgow knew what he needed to fill in the doughnut hole, and he also desired a point guard to allow his son, Steve, to play more shooting guard.

"We had both of those types of kid on campus, but in the end they didn’t come here," said Glasgow, who enters his 29th season with a record of 406-222. He could finish the season in the top 25 all-time in victories among Division III coaches.

Without a true big man, Glasgow appears to have done the next best thing. He’s brought in 6-foot-6 former Yorkwood star Paul Caulkins, welcomed back 6-7 medical redshirt Chad Schlosser and overseen the improvement of 6-7 junior Mike Roehm and 6-5 sophomore Dan Mahoney.

Mahoney’s improvement actually began down the stretch last season, when he made 21 straight field goals to finish his rookie year with a shooting percentage of 65.2.

The improvement in Roehm and Caulkins has already been dramatic through the team’s first 22 practices.

"Day in and day out, Roehm has been the most impressive so far," said Glasgow, who saw Roehm score just 3.5 ppg last year in 13 contests. "And within the last week, Caulkins has gotten everybody’s attention. He’s an extremely strong kid, and it’ll be scary to see what he can do after a season of weight training."

The Scots knew they needed to present a more physical front, and they worked with the school’s new strength and conditioning coach, Chad Braun, after the season and again this fall. In addition, Glasgow feels his squad is also benefitting from their first week of practice, which he called "conditioning without a basketball.

"We’re probably in better physical shape than at any time since I’ve been here," he said.

The lone exception is Kloepping, who rolled an ankle in a recent practice and is likely to miss the team’s Nov. 18 season opener at Central Missouri State University. Kloepping, who led the team with 45 treys last year while scoring 15.0 ppg, should be back for the team’s home opener at the Pizza Hut Classic Nov. 25 against Eureka College.

While a relatively new face will have to step up to lead Monmouth’s inside attack, the perimeter game features the aforementioned three juniors, who combined to make 121 of the team’s 158 treys and score over half of the Scots’ points.

"You have a fourth player, and that’s Kenny Spranger," said Glasgow of the former Moline High School player who transferred from Black Hawk. "He’s exactly like (graduated first team All-MWC pick) Kent Froebe, only he’s a little more versatile outside and he might be a little better defender."

Spranger’s presence makes the Scots especially strong at the No. 3 spot, where Stenoish came on late in the year to average 19 points a game in the Scots’ last nine contests. Overall, he scored 16.6 ppg., just shy of Froebe’s team-high 16.7.

"Jeff’s a leader on and off the court for us," said Glasgow, who noted that Stenoish may need to step in at shooting guard for Kloepping in the early part of the season. "He’s an extremely important part of what we’re trying to do. Both he and Steve have great on-court presence and skills, and we can afford to lose neither one of them."

Steve Glasgow averaged 12.2 ppg and nearly three assists. He’ll run the offense most of the time and will move to shooting guard on occasion to let ultra-quick junior C.J. Hollingsworth play the point.

"C.J.’s so quick on defense that he can make things really tough for the other guard," said Glasgow. "He can turn anybody. His problem has been efficiency in terms of assists to turnovers. It’s hard as a player to gear yourself down a notch, but that’s what I need him to do. I can slow him down some, but I can’t speed up my other kids."

The final players who should be factors in Glasgow’s 11-man rotation are former Bi-County stars Lucas Baker and Troy Bennett. Both have versatility on their side, as Baker is a big man who can knock down a trey, while Bennett is a natural wing who excelled inside late in the year and wound up shooting an impressive 67.9 percent from the field.

"I’ve got to be sure we have a point guard on the floor, but really, for the other starters, I could pull their names out of a hat," said Glasgow. "This could be one of those years where the eighth man at the beginning of the year is one of our leading scorers by the time the season is done."

While Glasgow cites depth and balance as strengths, he feels the inexperience that cost Monmouth last year could still be a weakness.

"We’re still young," he said. "We have no seniors. We think this team could be a very, very good basketball team. We think we’re going to be good, and we think we can challenge in the league, which is the most balanced it’s ever been. I don’t think a team is going to go 16-0 like Lake Forest did last year, although they’ll certainly be a contender, along with Ripon and Lawrence, which returns the Player of the Year, Adam LaVoy. Illinois College returns intact and Beloit should also be strong."

Told Beloit’s coach was high on his Buccaneers, Glasgow responded, "I like my team, too. It’s going to be an interesting year and a fun year. We’ve got a nice mix."