Coming off an impressive season in which he received Rookie of the Year honors for the NESCAC, ShaSha Brown ’13 and the Wesleyan men’s basketball team look poised to have its first winning season since 2004 this year. Brown, an exceptionally talented point guard, led the team in scoring, assists, and steals. His 17.8 ppg average was good for 4th best in the NESCAC, and he also ranked 6th in assists with 3.9 per game and 4th in steals with 1.6 per game. Brown’s 1.66 assists-to-turnover ratio ranked 5th in the NESCAC, and his 76 percent free throw average placed him at 11th.
Almost immediately chosen as a starter, Brown quickly established himself as one of the elite players in the NESCAC, and his athletic play and all-around game electrified students last year. He led the team in points in 15 of 25 games last season, and his per game average was the highest ever for a Wesleyan first-year player. His best scoring effort came in a 106-91 loss at Williams on Nov. 24, when he scored 35 points in just his third collegiate game. He hit the 30-point plateau once again in a quadruple-overtime 98-93 victory against Tufts, in which he also had an outstanding five steals. Brown failed to reach double digits in scoring only four times over the course of the season.
Wesleyan’s 11 victories in 2009-10 were the team’s most in five years and helped put the Cardinals in the NESCAC tournament for the first time since the 2004-05 season. Wesleyan drew top-seeded Williams in the playoffs last year, dropping a 77-62 decision to the Ephs who entered the NCAA tournament with a 26-1 record and ranked second nationally in Division II.
The Cardinals had nine freshmen on the team last year, and many of them played significant minutes. The more experienced and battle-tested squad will look to improve upon last year’s eighth-place NESCAC finish, and they should be a strong contender to finish in the top half of the conference this season.
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