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Men's Basketball 2007-08 Season Preview For Immediate Release: RICHMOND, Ind. — Earlham College Head Coach Jeff Justus has eight letterwinners returning as he begins his 10th season with the Quakers.
Junior guard Tristian Gregory (Evansville, IN/Harrison) is the top scorer back at 12.8 points per game. “I’m expecting him to be one of our leaders this year and hopefully he will be a scorer for us,” Justus said. As Justus looks to replace the scoring vacated by the graduation of All-North Coast Athletic Conference First Team performer Markous Jewett (18.5 PPG) and LaRon Henry (10.9 PPG), he turns to seniors Nick Welsh (Muncie, IN/Wes-Del), Neil Collins (Ft. Wayne, IN/North) and Terrel Brown (Richmond, IN/Richmond). “We are going to miss Markous and LaRon,” Justus said. “Both of those guys were 1,000-point scorers and that is not easy to replace.” Jewett finished his career as the seventh all-time leading scorer for the Quakers with 1,548 points, while Henry ended with 1,358 points and in 12th place in school history. Welsh averaged 9.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest as Earlham’s center. “Nick became an inside presence for us a year ago,” Justus said. “I expect him to continue to improve and be a force in the paint for us.” Collins scored 6.3 points a game, while dishing out 2.5 assists each contest as the point guard for the Quakers. “Neil has been a solid floor leader for us over the last two seasons,” Justus said. Brown, who is one of the team’s top defenders, averaged 2.9 points per game. “Terrel always gets the tough defensive assignments each game for us,” Justus said. “He is capable of scoring points and we’re going to need more production from him this year to help our offense.” The other returning players Justus is hoping to have contributions from are sophomores Tarrell Berry (Indianapolis, IN/Northwest), T.J. Ferrick (Philadelphia, PA/Penn Central), Asad Sabree (Indianapolis, IN/Wraith Deen Mohammed) and Malick Keita (Bamako, Mali/Lycee Francais Liberte). “We’re going to need some of this group to be a factor right away in all phases of the game,” Justus said. First-year Mark Yost (Lenox, MA/Lee) is also expected to see some time on the backcourt. Junior Leo Bautista (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia/International) and sophomore Rob Crauder (Stillwater, OK/Westtown) have joined the squad this season as guards. The Quakers first five games are on the road this season and they include a pair of tournaments at Case Western and Washington University. “Our non-conference schedule is pretty tough this season,” Justus said. “We start with Lake Erie, which was a NCAA Tournament qualifier and finished 25-3. The Washington University Tournament is always one of the top events in the nation.” Earlham opens the NCAC portion of its schedule against Oberlin College on Schuckman Court in the Athletics and Wellness Center Saturday, Dec. 8. — EC — Contact: |
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Earlham College · 801 National Road West · Richmond,
Indiana 47374-4095 |