St. Louis — Indiana State ended the 2009 season with its worst won-loss record (11-21) since 2004. The Sycamores had two losing streaks of seven games or more. ISU was in the play-in round and failed to make it to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals for the eighth season in a row.
Yet with the way ISU ended its season — seven wins in nine games, including an impressive four wins away from Hulman Center — and with ISU losing just one player from the current roster, there’s an optimistic outlook for the future after a season that was alternately nightmarish and exhilarating.
“The finish gave us motivation going into next season. We felt like we played with anyone, no one wanted to play us late.
“We return everybody but Jay, it can only go up from here,” ISU guard Aaron Carter said.
Carter’s words ring true for ISU coach Kevin McKenna. He acknowledged that it was a hard year, but credited the Sycamores for not getting too down in the face of a record that bottomed out at 4-19 early in February.
“I think it wasn’t a successful season in one sense, but you look at how the team came along from where we were and how we finished, the level we were playing at in the end was at a high level, I give the players a lot of credit for sticking with it,” said McKenna on Saturday, one day removed from ISU’s exit from the MVC Tournament.
“They stuck together, they kept competing and made something of the season. Was it successful? No way. But we had some mild success at the end, success we need to build on. We did prove one thing, we can make some things happen. ISU was one of the most dangerous teams in the last third of the season, but it contrasted with the first two-thirds of the season when the Sycamores stumbled badly. Rebounding woes, occasional shooting slumps — and worst of all ... turnover problems — were all on-floor issues that contributed.
McKenna pointed to the side-effects of the departure of Marico Stinson just before the season as well as Harry Marshall’s ineligibility. Young players (Jordan Printy, Carl Richard, Tyler Cutter) were forced to play major minutes and they struggled.
“You can point to a lot of different reasons and things. When we made our nonconference schedule, we planned on having those guys [Stinson and Marshall], and not having those guys, it played into some of it,” McKenna said.
“We were inexperienced at the guard spots. Jordan, Rashad [Reed], Tyler, Aaron [Carter] ... they were all relatively inexperienced, Aaron was the only one who had played a lot,” McKenna added. “Then Rashad breaks his hand. It made it really difficult to get organized, to be organized to play smooth basketball. It was pretty overwhelming and we really struggled, it got us off on the wrong foot.”
ISU gradually corrected the rebounding, shooting and turnover woes and played very well in the final nine games, winning at Illinois State, Missouri State and Southern Illinois along the way.
“Our team can hang its hat that in this season, it could have gone down the drain, but we never quit, we never gave up, we can use that [for next season],” Marshall said.
Based on exhausted eligibility, ISU will lose just one player. Forward Jay Tunnell departs leaving the Sycamore fans begging for more. Tunnell came on in his last nine games, averaging 19.6 points in that stretch. Not only will Tunnell’s loss of production be felt, but ISU does not have a big who has proven that they can score on a regular basis. McKenna is confident, however, that Brant Leitnaker, Isiah Martin and Josh Crawford can fill the roles.
“You’re always looking for big guys, but I really feel if Brant can get healthy, if Isiah improves and if Josh gets stronger — he had flashes of doing some things on the court — if they put all that stuff together and work hard in the off-season, they will be fine,” McKenna said.
ISU should have no problems finding bodies elsewhere on the floor. Marshall, Reed, Printy and Carter form an experienced backcourt and are joined by Tyler Cutter as well as incoming freshmen Jake Odum, Logan Eitel and Lucas Eitel.
Louisiana Tech transfer Dwayne Lathan will be added to the mix and could play anywhere from the two to the four spot. Koang Dulouny will also be able to play after his redshirt year and can play both guard and forward. Carl Richard showed big promise as a rebounder and ISU hopes to make him more of a perimeter and ball-handling threat if he can be moved back to his more natural three-spot. True freshman R.J. Mahurin will also factor into the mix.
“What we can look forward to is our defense will get a whole lot stronger and quicker. It’s a good thing to change up your defense — go big, go small, we can speed up the game — we can use our tempo the way we want it to,” Marshall said.
McKenna, who said at various times that the second season of a coaching stint can be harder than the first, said refinement is the key for ISU returning players and coaches.
“They all have deficiencies in their games, the coaches have deficiencies too. We just need to keep working at it and it all needs to be refined,” McKenna said.
McKenna offered specifics.
“Harry can improve on his ball-handling and his shooting, Rashad can improve his ball-handling and decision-making, Jordan can slide his feet better defensively, Aaron can get better defensively, Josh can get stronger, Brant needs to get healthy, Isiah needs to get stronger, get committed, Carl can improve his ball-handling and perimeter shooting, the incoming guys are going to need to get stronger,” McKenna explained.
“There are things to do, things to work on. It’s easy to think, ‘I’m going to be a year older, and a year better.’ I doesn’t work that way, but we have some kids who want this to happen,” McKenna added.
ISU is on spring break this week. When the players return, McKenna and the coaching staff plans to meet with each of them one-on-one to discuss the future and what needs to be done.
College
Strong finish to 11-21 season helps ISU men's basketball look forward
- College
-
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid
Last Thursday, when Indiana State’s baseball jumped around in a celebratory dogpile after clinching the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship at Bob Warn Field, no one thought that a little over a week later, the dreaded NCAA Tournament bubble would fly over Terre Haute. -
Lou Watson, former IU player and coach, dies at 88
Former Indiana University player and coach Lou Watson died on Thursday in Fairfax, Va., the school announced. He was 88.
-
METRO ROUNDUP: ISU’s Pounds qualifies for NCAA Championships
Brandon Pounds of Indiana State missed the 2011 outdoor season with a hand injury but has made up for lost time, qualifying for the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake University with a fifth place finish in the men’s hammer throw at the NCAA East Preliminary Friday.
-
Rose’s Liz Evans wins fourth NCAA high jump title
Junior Liz Evans became the first Rose-Hulman athlete to earn four career NCAA Division III championships by winning the women’s high jump at Friday’s 2012 outdoor national meet at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
-
Indiana State throwers advance to NCAA championships
A pair of Indiana State juniors punched their ticket to Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday as Felisha Johnson finished fifth and Mary Theisen ninth in the women’s shot put at the 2012 NCAA East Preliminary track and field championships on the University of North Florida campus.
“Both were very focused and had great starts,” ISU women’s track coach Angela Martin said. “They did just what we wanted them to … be relaxed, have fun, and do what they have already done this season.” -
Blanked by Blach: ISU drops MVC tournament opener
Things went wrong for Indiana State’s baseball team in its Missouri Valley Conference Tournament opener against Creighton, but one statistic glowed white-hot.
-
MVP of the MVC: Lucas first Sycamore to earn Player of Year honors
Indiana State’s baseball team got the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season hardware last week and it’s hoping to grab more gold this week in its quest to win the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament.
-
Sycamores try to catch Missouri Valley Conference tourney vibe
A Missouri Valley Conference championship season has bloomed for the Indiana State baseball team in 2012. The Sycamores have been dominant through most of the season.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Subtle switch has fostered MVC baseball parity
When Indiana State was crowned as the regular season baseball champion of the Missouri Valley Conference last Thursday, it marked the fifth different regular season champion the league has had since 2005.
-
ISU claims Missouri Valley Conference baseball title
Entering Thursday’s game against Indiana State, Missouri State starting pitcher Nick Petree had gone 72 1/3 innings without surrendering an earned run, an unofficial NCAA record.
-
ISU baseball in familiar territory with MVC title on line
First place is there is for the taking for Indiana State's baseball team this weekend … so is redemption.
-
A time for firsts: SMWC seniors have national title aspirations
Even though St. Mary-of-the-Woods College has won eight national titles in softball in the last 16 years, seniors Sara Goelz and Jessica Jonas are among the many current Woods players who have not been part of a national championship team.
-
Win over SIU puts Sycamores in first place
As Indiana State’s baseball team tried to climb to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference mountain on Saturday against Southern Illinois, it stood to reason that the air would get more rarefied as they neared the summit.
-
Major Clay takes fourth straight MVC high jump title
For the fourth straight year, Indiana State’s Major Clay will climb to the top spot on the awards podium as the Sycamore captured his fourth high jump championship at the 2012 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday.
The competition was conducted at Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University. -
Edgewood takes Western Indiana Conference golf crown
Edgewood and senior Jackson Cowden took top honors in the Western Indiana Conference boys golf championship played Saturday at Idle Creek.
-
North grad wins 10,000 at Big Ten Championships
Terre Haute North alumnus Zach Mayhew ran a Dan McClimon track record at the University of Wisconsin to win the 10,000 meters at the Big Ten Championships.
-
Top-seeded Rose-Hulman falls in opener of HCAC Tournament
A couple of Rose-Hulman streaks came to an end Thursday night in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament action, but the home-team jinx looks to be still alive.
-
ISU's Ort getting hot at right time for Sycamores
Indiana State’s baseball game notes list game-by-game performance for each Sycamore batter. It lists them box score-style: at-bats, runs, hits and RBI.
-
Terre Haute native getting national attention as freshman for Kentucky
On a day where Terre Haute native A.J. Reed returned home to continue his college career, he got plenty of time to be on-stage.
-
Top seed, home field doesn’t guarantee Rose success
On the surface, serving as host for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament would appear to benefit Rose-Hulman’s No. 1-seeded team, which finished the regular season 27-12 overall and 18-6 in the conference.
-
Metro roundup: ISU’s Lucas honored by Missouri Valley again
For the fifth time in the last nine weeks, Indiana State junior catcher Jeremy Lucas has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
-
Sycamores top Shockers in 10 innings in MVC series opener
If free baseball is what you want, Indiana State has what you need. For the sixth time in the span of a month, ISU’s series opener went extra innings.
- METRO ROUNDUP: Rose baseball team takes first game of doubleheader
-
ISU starting pitchers in rhythm heading into Wichita State series
“Gettting into rhythm” is such an oft-used cliché in sports that it’s hard to hear the term and fight the urge to not let it enter one ear and escape another.
-
ISU goes to well too many times
Perhaps the most unnecessary pursuit for a Wabash Valley sports fan during the now-completed weekend was watching the first few innings of nonconference college baseball between Indiana State and visiting Nebraska-Omaha.
-
ISU baseball living on the edge
Indiana State’s baseball team got its game against Nebraska-Omaha in Saturday between morning and evening rain showers. But in the wake of another walk-off 3-2 victory against the struggling Mavericks, one might be forgiven if they felt the Sycamores are walking between the raindrops a bit.
-
PREP ROUNDUP: North Central baseball improves to 10-2
North Central lost a 7-1 game to Vincennes Rivet, and then Nolan Kinnett pitched the Thunderbirds to victory, adding a double and three RBIs against Riverton Parke in a pair of high school baseball games on Saturday.
-
METRO ROUNDUP: Jenkins, Goatee win inaugural Rush the Punter 5K
Steve Jenkins and TaPring Goatee were the 5K winners in the inaugural Rush the Punter event on Saturday at Fairbanks Park.
-
Providing perspective: ISU’s vets have 2009 as window into 2012
Indiana State’s baseball team has reached dizzying heights, but if the Sycamores have any trouble keeping their feet on the ground, they can turn to three teammates who can remind them how dangerous it can be to get complacent.
-
Missouri State wins MVC golf championship as expected
Missouri State was a unanimous pick to win the Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Golf Championship, the pollsters citing their experience with four upperclassmen.
- More College Headlines
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Astronauts Enter World's 1st Private Supply Ship
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Dragon Arrives at Space Station in Historic 1st
Passenger Restrained on Flight to Miami Arrested
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Today in History
Police: Gunman Has Hostages in Realty Office
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Shell Readies Arctic Drill Ship
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
Beer Here!: An Historic Exhibit
FAMU Bandmates: Victim Volunteered to Be Hazed
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Sudden Storm Topples Wisconsin Trees
Wild weather for Memorial Day weekend
Inspiration for the class of 2012
Colorado College Student Shot While Trespassing
Will Smith & Josh Brolin on "Men in Black 3"
80-Year-Old Skydiver's Nightmare Jump
JWoww Sizzles in a Black Bikini
Sliders on the Grill
Cruise ship crunch
Backstage With Beyonce
Ultimate Creamy Potato Salad
Pope's Personal Butler Under Arrest
Jenny McCarthy's New Man
Tyler's Classic Coleslaw
Britney Spears Under X Factor Fire
Flesh-Eating Bacteria Victim Hits Milestone
Hurricanes and Heat Waves Across America
Kristen Stewart Is Red Hot
Shark Attacks Australian Fishing Boat
Bradley out for playoffs
Kayaker Survives Trip Over Washington Waterfall
