MACOMB, Ill. - The Fighting Leatherneck men's basketball team opens their 2014-15 season Friday evening in Macomb when the Pacific Tigers come to town. The nonconference contest is slated to tipoff at 7 p.m. on LeRoy A. Ufkes Court inside Western Hall.
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EXHIBITION VICTORY: The Western Illinois men's basketball squad earned an 82-48 victory in its lone exhibition of the year over Cornell College (Iowa) last Saturday (Nov. 8) under first-year head coach Billy Wright. The Leathernecks never trailed as they used a 32-6 run to open the contest, and went into the midway point with a 47-20 advantage. The second half was much of the same with the Leathernecks out scoring the Rams 35-28. All of the players that dressed played, and 11 players scored. Mike Miklusak led WIU with 14 points, while both Garret Covington (12) and J.C. Fuller (10) both finished in double figures. Seven different players also made up the team's 19 assists, and the same 11 players that scored all recorded at least one rebound. Besides leading the team in scoring, Miklusak also grabbed eight rebounds, which tied for the team lead. Tyson Reynold also pulled down eight boards while Tate Stensgaard finished with seven rebounds.
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A LOOK AT PACIFIC: The Tigers are coached by Ron Verlin who is in his second year as the head coach... Verlin and the Tigers finished last season 18-16 overall and 6-12 in the West Coast Conference... Prior to being named head coach March 26, 2013, Verlin had been a part of Pacific Basketball as the Associate Head Coach for the last 20 years under former head coach Bob Thomason... The Tigers advanced to the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament a year ago... In their lone exhibition, the Tigers used a huge 29-5 run late in the game to pull away from Sonoma State 83-62 at home (Nov. 8.)... Pacific was led by T.J. Wallace who had 23 points and 14 rebounds.
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LEATHERNECKS VS. TIGERS SERIES HISTORY: Western Illinois trails in the all-time series 2-0... Both games were road contests for the Leathernecks... The first ever meeting between the two programs came on Dec. 14, 1968 when Pacific won 108-64... The only other meeting came last season with the Leathernecks falling 66-52... Last season Pacific returners T.J. Wallace (5) and Gabriel Aguirre (3) led the Tigers in scoring among returners.
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EVEN AT THE START: In their last 10 season-opening games WIU is 5-5... All five of the defeats came away from Macomb, while all five victories happened inside Western Hall.
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HOME SWEET HOME: The Leathernecks have won 10 consecutive home openers.
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PRESEASON RECOGNITION: Western Illinois men's basketball sophomore guard Garret Covington, the league's reigning 'Newcomer of the Year', was tabbed preseason All-Summit League First Team on Oct. 8 as announced by the league office. As a team, the Fighting Leathernecks were picked to finish seventh in the league with 151 votes. The preseason poll and all-league teams were voted on by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and select media members.
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THE RETURNERS: Western returns only six players from a season ago. Remy Roberts-Burnett enters his fourth season at WIU and is one of two seniors on the team. Roberts-Burnett battled injuries again last season, only allowing him to play in 15 of the team's 30 games. The rest of the five returners are each entering their second season. Senior Mohamed Conde played in 24 games, averaging 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Like Remy, junior Tate Stensgaard battled injuries but played in 27 games and averaged 6.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. The other returners are sophomore Garret Covington, Jabari Sandifer and Mike Miklusak. Covington returns as the league's 'Newcomer of the Year' after leading the team in points per game (14.3) and grabbing 4.7 rebounds per game. Sandifer played in all 30 games and led the team in assists per game (3.1), while Miklusak only missed the season opener and averaged 5.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
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THE NEWCOMERS: The Leathernecks have nine new players for the 2014-15 team. Five freshman, two of which are walk-ons, and four JUCO transfers. The five freshman are: Kam Rowan (Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central), Kendall Rollins (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike), DeVante Mayes (Peoria, Ill./Peoria Central), Dalan Ancrum (Round Rock, Texas/Westwood), and Jalen Morgan (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike). The four transfers are: Jamie Batish (Melbourne, Australia/Sandringham College), Tyson Reynold (Queens, N.Y./South Florida Prep), J.C. Fuller (Sioux City, Iowa/East), and Jalen Chapman (Bronx, N.Y./Eagle Academy).
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THE 2014-15 SCHEDULE: Western's schedule features a total of 27 games, 14 at home and 13 on the road... The Leathernecks open the regular season at home Nov. 14 versus Pacific... Head Coach Billy Wright on the team's schedule: "We have put together a schedule that I believe not only challenges our team but also offers a good competitive balance. I was looking for opponents who had been to the postseason, because if we want to get back to that level, we have to test ourselves against opponents who have recently competed in the postseason. I also wanted to get as many home games as possible for our fans and our students. With 14 regular season home games, plus one home exhibition game, our fans and our students will have plenty of opportunities to show their support."
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UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP: Billy Wright returned to the Fighting Leathernecks men's basketball program as Western Illinois Director of Athletics Tommy Bell announced the hiring of Wright as the Leathernecks' head coach. Wright was introduced at a press conference on April 15 in the University Union. Wright spent five years (2009-13) at WIU as an assistant then associate head coach. After working at Ball State last season, he will take over as the 20th overall head coach in Western men's basketball history, and fifth in the program's Division I era. It marks Wright first collegiate head coaching job.
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WHAT IS A LEATHERNECK?: Western Illinois holds the distinction of being the only non-military institution to officially have its nickname derived from a branch of the military service. The school began use of the Marine Corps' official nickname, "The Fighting Leathernecks", in 1927 when then-athletic director and head baseball, basketball and football coach Ray "Rock" Hanson was granted permission by the U.S. Navy, based on his status as a Marine hero, to use the Marine's official seal, bulldog mascot and nickname.
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