Pregame Glance: Walsh

It’s that time of year again!  The Buckeyes retake the hardwood in search for another 20 win season and a spot in the NCAA tournament.  Just like last season, the Buckeyes start out with a single exhibition game featuring the Walsh University Cavaliers.  Here’s the nitty gritty:

You may remember last year’s game against the Walsh Cavaliers.  In fact, this is the third year in a row that the Buckeye’s are playing Jeff Young’s squad.  There might almost be a rivalry brewing here!

The other possibility could be that Matta likes playing his Exhibition games against the best he can get.  In this case, we’re talking about the NAIA National Championship Runners Up.  The Cavaliers made it through the NAIA Championship bracket and lost to Saint Francis (Ind.) by a score of 67-66.  Talk about a heart breaker, but that must have been an incredible championship game to watch!

In terms of what Jeff Young means to this team, allow me to just quote the 2010-2011 Walsh Men’s Basketball outlook for a moment.

Since the arrival of Bob Huggins and Dan Peters in the 1980’s the Walsh basketball program has done nothing but win. However, the last six years truly represent a “Golden Era” for Cavs’ Basketball. Under Head Coach Jeff Young, the Cavs have rattled off 167 wins, won the NAIA National Championship, finished as national runners-up, captured six straight conference championships and made six straight national tournament appearances. Despite not capturing a second national title, last season will go down in the books as one of the most successful season in school annals. Walsh won 32 games against only three losses and fashioned a 15-1 American Mideast Conference mark. The Cavs continued their NAIA record mark of 62 straight weeks in the Top 25 and spent the final three weeks atop the NAIA poll. For the third straight season the Cavs demonstrated their greatest trait, consistency, as they did not suffer back-to-back defeats. They also proved to be unbeatable at home finishing 15-0, and stretched their home winning streak to 35 games.

We’ll ignore the fact that Bob Huggins once coached there.  This team is good, and you can bet their coach will be getting a promotion at some point in the future.  That kind of talent simply does not go unnoticed for long.

Many of the faces we saw on the court last season for Walsh will return again this season.  Starting Point Guard Jeremy Shardo (6-0, 188) was a machine last season averaging 32.3 minutes per game.  He’s not the best shooter on the team, but his 42.2% from the floor and 35.8% from three still make him dangerous if left alone.  His partner in crime in the backcourt is the best shooter on the team with a 40.7% three point shooting percentage.  That is Senior Shooting Guard Lamar Skeeter (5-10, 180).  Last season he never managed to take a shot from beyond the arc against the Buckeyes, and only shot 3-7 from the floor the entire game.  He should be able to find a bit more success this season against a somewhat less experienced Buckeye defense.

The other backcourt player to keep your eyes on is Senior Guard Eric Schiele (6-0, 164).  Schiele started out the first 16 games as a key player off the bench for the Cavaliers.  He then injured his knee during practice and missed out of the rest of the season.  Some believe the injury may have cost Walsh the NAIA Championship.  Schiele may get the start if Jeff Youngs decides to run the same 3 guard, 1 forward 1 center rotation he did last season.

In the front court, the Cavs have a pair of players that will split time at the 3 and 4 spots.  The first is a familiar face – Junior L.J. Sutton  (6-6, 191).  Sutton came off the bench last season for Walsh and played 21 minutes against the Bucks.  He did not have much to show for his time with only 4 points and a single rebound, but gained plentiful experience that allowed him to take over the starting spot for the entire season.  He averaged nearly 9 points and 6 rebounds in 26 minutes per game.  Junior Ron Kinney (6-7, 210) is a transfer player who has finally earned his eligibility.  He has the ability to play with his back to the basket, or play a bit from the outside which can make him a dangerous addition to this Walsh team.

Sophomore Kenny Kornowski (6-9, 217) is likely to be the starting center in place of former starter Kyelce Cescato.  Neither player had much success against the Buckeyes last year, but Kornowski will easily fill the gap Cescato left over.  Kornowski played competent second fiddle to Kyelce all last season averaging 6 points and 4 rebounds in 14 minutes of play – as a freshman.  For comparison, Cescato put up 7 rebounds and 8 points per game while averaging 20 minutes.

The Buckeyes will counter with a steady diet of every single player we have.  These are the games when we see healthy experimenting with lineups and it will be a great opportunity to see the new freshmen hit the floor.  Remember last season that 12 different players saw action, and 11 of them scored baskets.  The other got the super critical trillion – none other than Mark Titus, of course!

All stats are from last year.  The starting lineup we project here is almost certainly not the starting lineup we’re going to see in this game.  We also know that the starting lineup for this game will not necessarily be the same starting lineup for the season.  Therefore, the proper mentality for this game is to sit back, watch and enjoy the action.  There will be a lot of it to drool over.

For those of you who are desperately interested in watching the game live, the Big Ten Network will air the game online.  Last year the requirement was $3 to view the action.  This year it might be your first born, if I can figure out exactly where I have to promise that.

If you don’t want to pay, BTN will be re-airing the game on Monday at 5 pm eastern time.  Set your DVR’s accordingly.

The game will be played in Value City Arena on Sunday, November 7th at 2:00 pm.