Peth, Knights lean on returning experience

Nov. 06, 2009

WAVERLY - Wartburg College head men’s basketball coach Dick Peth likes what he sees from his 2009-10 Knights so far.

And with good reason.

Coming into the season, Peth’s Knights have important luxuries of depth and returning experience at nearly each spot. After seeing the 2008-09 campaign conclude just short of a possible national tournament appearance, they may good reason for high hopes.

“As always, it depends a lot on intangibles in regards to injuries, how the new players step in to add to the depth we have and so forth,” he said. “However, we have a group of returning players who went through a tremendous second half of the year in 2008-09. I feel, with that in place, we have the potential to be a strong team this season.”

Beginning with the guard spots, the Orange and Black have seniors Travis Temple of Crawfordsville and Jarrett Williams of Chicago, Ill., and Ross Timmermans of Vinton back from last year. Temple, who has seen playing time in each of the last two seasons, played in 23 of 28 games last season. Williams, who was continuing to recover from an injury last season that sidelined him as a sophomore after he had been a starter in 2007-08, still managed to appear in more than half of the games and contribute just under four points per game. Timmermans, in his first season in a Wartburg uniform last year, started 15 of the 28 games and averaged just under eight points per game. He is also the top returner in assists after dishing out 57.

“Those four will be important, as they will be leading a strong group of young guys behind them,” Peth said. “I like this area for our team. With Jordan Eberline, a transfer into the program who started on the strong North Butler teams in high school, and Mitchell Murphy, who was a standout for some good teams for Cresco (Crestwood) as a prep, highlighting the new faces, we have some solid options.”

At forward, senior Mitch Eslick of Fort Dodge and sophomores Cole Danielson of Marshalltown, Darian Patterson of Wellman, and Elijah Hunt of Bolingbrook, Ill. are the returners. Eslick, who is a three-year returning starter, played in 24 games last season and showed his continued abilities from three-point range by canning 34 of 106 attempts as part of a 6.8 points-per-game average. Danielson was one of the Iowa Conference’s top freshman players in 2008-09 due to a 10.8 point per game average and a deft touch from outside the arc where he hit 63 of 151 attempts for 41.7 percent. He was the only freshman on the all-conference honor teams with an honorable mention selection. Patterson made heads turn during his freshman campaign as well by playing a key role off Wartburg’s bench with 18 appearances. Hunt showed promise a year ago too, averaging just under six points per game in eight games played.

“It’s a lot like the guard situation,” Peth said. “We’ve got a lot of guys back who have been on the floor in key games, so the experience factor is a good one. Beyond our strong group of returners, freshman Drew Crawford, who played at Linn-Mar during his high school career, has shown us a lot in practices and has a good touch from long range.”

In the paint, the picture continues to be sharp for the Knights. Returning second team all-IIAC honoree Kelly McCarville of Cresco returns for his senior season after leading the 2008-09 squad. He averaged better than 11 points per game and right at six rebounds per contest. McCarville made a strong bid at the program’s single-season field goal percentage, hitting 63.6 percent of his attempts. The sophomore combination of Jordan Sathoff of Packwood and Austin Donnelly of Fort Collins, Colo., provide some strength in the paint as well. Sathoff, after a sparkling freshman campaign where he average 9.5 points and 5.2 rebounds while blocking 28 opponent shot attempts, will be looked at for some more of the same this season. Donnelly provided strong play off the bench during his freshman campaign and will add to the depth inside. Junior Jacey Heuer of Allison was a starter in 2007-08 but was sidelined due to injury in 2008-09.

“Those four will have freshman Levi Montague, who starred at Benton Community as a prep, added to their group,” Peth said. “With Kelly’s scoring abilities and what Jordan offered defensively last season, I feel very good about our inside game potential. Donnelly has impressed us in practice as well.”

Wartburg faces another challenging pre-IIAC schedule with the likes of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference power Carleton College of Northfield, Minn., Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference power UW-Eau Claire, Bethany Lutheran College of Mankato, Minn., and NCAA Division II teams Embry-Riddle and Florida Tech on the list. Peth admits that agenda will ready the Knights for what he sees will be a wide open IIAC slate.

“It will be another case of any team being able to beat any other team on a given day or night,” he said in regards to the conference. “There could any one of four or five teams that could win it.

“For us to achieve the goals we have set, we need our leadership to be strong in the early going,” he added.