Athletics News

The 2007-2008 edition of the Swarthmore men's basketball team returns four starters and eight of its top-ten scorers, bring an air of confidence to campus that the Garnet will return to the Centennial Conference playoffs for the first time since 1997.The Garnet took a big step last season, coming within one game of a Centennial playoff berth (Swarthmore ended up in a tie for sixth-place with McDaniel). The team started to gel following a winter break trip to San Antonio, Texas, capturing six out of ten games in January with three of the losses (all to Centennial playoff teams) by four points or less.

A talented trio of seniors provide Swarthmore head coach Lee Wimberly (21^st season) with offensive weapons at each spot on the floor. The Garnet attack begins on the block, where 6’8” senior center Ian McCormick (Seattle, Wash. / University Prep) started 23 games last year. McCormick led the Garnet in scoring (14.9 ppg.), rebounding (8.6 rpg.), and blocked shots (2.1 bpg.) while ranking seventh, third, and second respectively in the Centennial Conference. A second-team All-Centennial selection in 2006-07, McCormick is one of the leading post players in the Conference, having tallied his 1,000^th career point vs. Washington (Md.) on Feb. 15, 2007. He is just the seventh Swarthmore male to achieve that milestone and also grab 500 career rebounds (currently ninth all-time with 543) —he is also 26 blocks from the school record of 148 swatted by Rob Ruffin ’92 after tying Ruffin’s season-best mark of 50.

Adding a dynamic element is senior Steve Wolf (Philadelphia, Pa. / Father Judge) who has the ability score from any spot on the floor. Wolf, forward, has developed into a formidable scorer each of the last two seasons, averaging 14 ppg. in 48 games (45 starts). Points come in bunches for the senior—he has tallied 20 points in a game on 10 different times, including a career-best 37-point at Washington (Md.) in Feb. 2006. Wolf has increased his numbers on the glass as well, ranking 10^th in the Centennial last season with 6.7 caroms per game. Wolf will be joined in the starting rotation by another Philadelphia-area forward, sophomore Matt Turner (Audubon, Pa. / Germantown Academy). Turner worked his way into the starting line-up last year as a freshman, making 14 starts while averaging 5.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest. Turner made waves on the defensive end, leading the team in steals (28) while setting a program record with 22 charges drawn.

Graduation meant Swarthmore had to said good-bye to one of the most respected leaders in the program’s history, three-year starting point guard and two-time captain Chris Casey ‘07. Casey finished his career among the all-time leaders in both assists (third -- 251) and steals (tied for fourth -- 107) and was the team’s top defender. Senior off-guard Matt Kurman (Rockville, Md. / Walter Johnson), named All-Centennial honorable mention last season, is Swarthmore’s top threat in the backcourt, having started 22 games last year (54 career starts). Kurman, a smooth left-hander, averaged 11.1 ppg. and 2.7 assists per game in 2006-07, while shooting 41% from 3-point range (third-best in the Centennial). Kurman is edging his way up the Swarthmore career lists, as well, ranking in the top-ten for three-pointers (sixth - 112) and steals (ninth – 86). Current sophomore Matt Allen (Seattle, Wash. / Lakeside) is the logical choice to take over the ball-handling duties. Allen played in all 25 games last year, averaging 4.6 ppg. while leading the team in free-throw percentage (88%).

Senior captain Noam Fliegelman (Philadelphia, Pa. / Central) played in 24 games last year, averaging 2.3 ppg. Additional backcourt depth will be provided by senior captain Chris Nana-Sinkam (Lititz, Pa. / Manheim Central), speedy sophomore Aaron Sweeney (Los Angeles, Calif. / Wiliam Howard Taft) and freshman Ryan Carmichael (Portland, Maine / Portland). Junior forward Raul Ordonez (Miami, Fla. / Belen Jesuit Prep.) played in all 25 games last year, averaging 2.7 ppg. and 2.3 rpg with additional frontcourt depth coming from high-rising sophomore Danny Walker (Westbury, N.Y. / Westbury) and freshman Sam Lacy (Jericho, Vt. / Mount Mansfield Union)

Coach Wimberly has pinpointed a number of areas in which the team needs to improve if they are to reach post-season play in 2007-08. Those areas include: improved field goal percentage (.393 last year) and free-throw percentage (.649 in ’06-07), reduction of turnovers (15.4 per game in ’06-‘07), and a better rebounding differential (-2.9 rpg. last year). According to Wimberly, “This is the first time in a number of years that we can be considered an experienced, veteran team. We must now play like one. Good things rarely just happen; we need to do what it takes to make them happen if we are to fulfill our goal of reaching the Centennial Conference playoffs and beyond.”

This year’s schedule features the annual Equinox Classic, co-hosted with local rival Haverford, on Nov. 16-17. Swarthmore opens with Oberlin (Ohio) on Friday, Nov. 16 at 8:00 p.m. (just one of two home games in the first semester) and will face Southwestern (Tex.) on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The Garnet start the Centennial slate on Wed., Nov. 28 with a 7:00 p.m. game at McDaniel in western Maryland. The experience accumulated by the five seniors will be necessary at the start of the season, with eight of Swarthmore’s first ten games away from Tarble Pavilion.

The winter break slate includes a trip to Roanoke, Va. for the Domino’s New Year’s Classic on January 4-5, 2008. The team will look to make the playoff push upon returning to campus, running off a stretch of five out of six home games in January. The 106^th Swarthmore men’s basketball season concludes the regular season with a 4:00 p.m. game with Haverford in Tarble Pavilion—the day also includes the annual Alumni Game at 11:30 a.m. and a Senior Day celebration.

2007-08 Centennial Conference Pre-Season Coaches/SID Poll

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 at 6:06 pm and is filed under Men's Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.