Coming off its seventh straight winning season (13-11, 4-5 NESCAC), a very young Wesleyan men’s basketball team once again finds itself under the radar. It returns seven letter winners from last year’s squad, but finds itself without any seniors on the team. Captain Jared Ashe ’07 and a strong junior class will look to lead a team that is young, but deep in many positions.
The junior class includes guard Doug Rubenstein ’07, guard Jimmy Shepherd ’07, and forward Blake Curry ’07, along with Ashe at point guard. This group all logged lots of minutes last year and will be looked to for leadership as a class throughout the season.
Rubenstein, who averaged 3.1 points and 1.6 assists per game last season, is ready to emerge as one of the league’s top point guards, while Shepherd, who shot 47% from the field last season, will be asked to spread the floor with his dangerous jumper. Meanwhile, Curry grabbed 3.3 boards a game last year and has the athletic ability to provide a consistent scoring presence inside.
Leading the sophomore class is former Mr. New Hampshire Basketball, forward Nick Pelletier ’08. Playing in every game as a freshman last season, Pelletier averaged a respectable 5.2 boards and 5.5 points per game. He will look to increase these numbers with a year of NESCAC experience under his belt. Sam Grover ’08 and Sean Collins ’08 both put in hard work over the off-season and are ready to make their mark on the league.
With the loss of last year’s center Rob Kelly ’06, who pulled down 9.8 boards per game, the team will need someone to step up and take control in the paint. Two freshmen centers, Lightning Jay ’09 and Gabriel Gonzalez-Kreisberg ’09, will fight to fill that spot along with Grover and Collins.
Defense and hard work will need to be the hallmark of this team.
“Again, I think inexperience will be the biggest obstacle,” Ashe said. “We have a lot of unproven guys that are ready to show what they can do. It is going to take a lot of hard work, and priding ourselves on a lot of heart and defense is the key. Last year we were one of the top defensive units in the NESCAC; we need to do that again in order to have a winning season. Our goal is to improve on last year’s record and to move up in the NESCAC standings. I think we can do it, but we need to put it all together. And do it quickly.”
One obstacle in coming together quickly is the participation in fall sports of three players. Curry and Steve Tolbert ’09 will both be rushing over from the football field, while Ashe is coming off a second team all NESCAC performance on defense for the men’s soccer team.
While this team is young and not expected to do much in the NESCAC this year, if they manage to put it together early on and get all around solid individual efforts, they will shock some very good teams.
The Cards tip off the season tonight, hosting the Courtyard by Marriott Tip-Off Tournament at Freeman.
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