College basketball at its tipping point
College basketball had its grand opening Monday with more than 100 games on the schedule, many of them one-sided affairs played out while fans tried to figure out who is on their favorite team’s roster and what happened to the players who transferred after last season.
Those were games played at the Division I level. The small colleges get their opening night Friday. All six local teams will be action this weekend.
The California men will open Friday night in the Charleston (W.Va.) Tip-off Challenge against the host team and play Glenville State Saturday afternoon. That’s two challenging games out of the gate for the Vulcans.
Cal is coming off a 28-5 season. The Vulcans reached the PSAC championship game and the second round of the NCAA Division II tournament before losing to Charleston on a buzzer-beating shot in a regional game played at the Convocation Center.
Cal loses its top three scorers from a year ago: guard K.J. McClurg (22.6 points per game), who transferred back to Division I, Zyan Collins (13.6) and Jermaine Hall (12.9). Forwards Bryson Lucas, the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year, and Keith Palek, along with guard Donald Whitehead, give Cal three returning standouts.
The Cal women will play Friday in the MEC/PSAC Conference Challenge, at Edinboro, against West Liberty before facing Wheeling on Saturday.
The Vulcans, who were 23-9 a year ago and ended the season with loses to Lock Haven in both the PSAC and NCAA tournaments, must replace forward Dejah Terrell (15.7 ppg, 9.1 rpg), which won’t be an easy task. Terrell led Cal in scoring in 17 games last year. Forward Allycia Harris, and guards Nina Shaw and Sierra Bermudez return for the Vulcans, who might have to win with defense early in the season until they figure out where the points will come from.
In the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, the Waynesburg and Washington & Jefferson men were picked to finish fourth and fifth, respectively, in the league’s preseason poll. Both teams, however, have a returning first team all-conference player who should make them a contender.
At Waynesburg, 6-5 forward Antone Baker was second in the league in scoring a year ago at 17.9 points per game, averaged eight rebounds and led the PAC in blocked shots.
W&J’s 6-6 forward Alex Acosta returns after having a breakout season when he led the PAC in scoring (18.4 ppg) and field-goal percentage (62.1) and was fourth in rebounding (8.6).
Waynesburg opens the season Saturday afternoon at Stevenson (Md.). W&J tips off Friday in the Oberlin tournament against Clarkson.
The W&J women, who were snubbed by the NCAA Division III tournament’s selection committee a year ago after going 23-3 but losing in the PAC tournament semifinals, will be good again as their top four scorers return. Meghan Dryburg (11.4 ppg), Stellanie Loutsion (10.5 ppg), Bryn Bezjak (9.3 ppg) and Adalynn Cherry (8.7) are back for another season, which begins Friday in the Hampton Inn by Hilton Women’s Tipoff at Salvitti Family Gymnasium. The Presidents will play Baldwin Wallace on Friday (8 p.m.) and Otterbein on Saturday (4 p.m.).
The Waynesburg women endured another rebuilding year last season, producing only six victories, but they will take a two-game winning streak into this season. The Yellow Jackets return almost everybody, including guard Kalista Friday (8.9 ppg). Waynesburg opens Friday (7 p.m.) at home against Pitt-Greensburg.
* Kurt Kesneck, the former longtime Chartiers-Houston athletic director and a veteran wrestling official, was recently named the 2024 Chapter Secretary of the Year by the PIAA.
Kesneck has been the chapter secretary for the Washington County Wrestling Officials Association for six years, but he’s been a highly respected official for more than 30 seasons, working numerous PIAA, WPIAL, regional and sectional tournaments.
In this day and age, when officials are treated poorly by fans, parents and even coaches, all of whom do not demand sportsmanlike behavior from themselves, Kesneck has achieved what few can in this world of officiating – staying power. Officials in all sports receive little pay and even less respect and recognition. The ranks are dwindling these days, for obvious reasons, so when somebody lasts three decades on the job he should be thanked.
* Remember a few months ago when the NFL tried to convince us that its new kickoff rule would add excitement to the game? It has added about as much excitement as an intentional walk or icing of the puck.
Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com