TERRE HAUTE —
With some teams, having almost every player back from the previous season is not necessarily a good thing, depending on the talent level of those players.
But in the case of the Rose-Hulman men’s basketball squad, it definitely is good news.
“We were better last year than we were before and we had a decent season as a starting point to success,” explained Rose coach Jim Shaw, whose team finished 16-10 overall and 10-8 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) in 2010-11.
“Now we have everybody back and I think we’ve got several guys who seem to be much improved over last year — physically, athletically and skill-wise. We’ve also got a couple additions that could impact us this year.”
The Engineers have been practicing since Oct. 15 and so far Shaw has liked what he’s seen.
“The first week of practice went really well,” he told the Tribune-Star. “I thought guys picked things up really quickly. Returning guys picked up where they left off last year. I think we’re way ahead of where we’ve been last year and the year before, due in large part to experience.”
Rose-Hulman’s key returnees include 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Julian Strickland (who averaged 11.7 points per game to earn HCAC Freshman of the Year honors last season), 6-2 junior guard Austin Weatherford (11.3 ppg), 6-4 junior forward Nate Gissentanner (10.4 ppg) and 5-10 senior guard Blake Knotts (7.3 ppg).
“Austin Weatherford was our all-conference player last year,” Shaw pointed out. “I think Austin’s better than he was last year and he was a good player last year. He’s shooting it better and he’s a little bit more athletic.
“Brenton Balsbaugh inside and Jon Gerken, I think, have made significant strides. Jason Haslag played really well in the spring and has continued that. Julian Strickland looks bigger and stronger than last year. Just about all of our returning players have played really well in practice.”
Rose players echoed their coach’s sentiments.
“Everything looks pretty good so far,” noted Knotts, one of two seniors (along with Spencer Harlan of Terre Haute) on the team. “We’ve got a lot of good, young players and some strong returning players. So it’s going to be a pretty exciting year as long as we do what we’re supposed to and get the job done.”
“We have a lot of talent — a lot of new talent, a lot of returning talent,” Weatherford emphasized. “Everybody’s competing in practice and that’s going to make us better as a team. We’ve done a pretty good job as upperclassmen, I think, of mixing the younger guys in so far.”
Shaw also expects immediate contributions from freshman Jake Dodd, a transfer from Missouri-St. Louis. “He’s going to be a really good player … and he’s really versatile.”
Shaw, Weatherford and Knotts agree that the Engineers should contend for the HCAC title this season. Results of the conference’s annual preseason poll have not been announced yet.
“We have pretty high expectations,” Knotts said. “We’ll be up at the top of the conference this year. Hopefully, we’ll win it.”
“I think we can go as far as we want to go,” Weatherford insisted. “We’ve just got to stick together as a team and play hard. I’d like to get into the NCAA Division III tournament. [The Engineers] haven’t been there for a while, so that’s a definite goal for our team.”
“I plan on winning it,” Shaw stated, referring to the HCAC championship. “If we don’t, well, I’ve been wrong before. But I’m going into the season planning on winning it.
“I think we are definitely capable of contending. There are a lot of good teams in the league. I don’t know how things are going for everybody else… But I think we are one of the teams that can contend.”
Shaw mentioned perimeter shooting as his biggest concern going into the season, which starts Nov. 18 vs. Millsaps in the Oglethorpe Classic at Atlanta.
“We’ve had trouble the last few years shooting it from the perimeter,” he acknowledged. “I think we’ve got a lot of guys who can shoot it from 3[-point range].
“We have to make perimeter shots. If we can do that, there are a lot of other parts of our offensive game that could be very effective.”
Rose-Hulman
Engineers rich in good experience
- Rose-Hulman
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Rose-Hulman swimmers flying to nationals
Rose-Hulman swimmers John Craig Huster and Orion Martin have qualified for the Division III national meet in the 100 butterfly
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Despite four NCAA Division III titles, Rose-Hulman’s Liz Evans remains as driven as ever
Even though Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans has won four NCAA Division III titles in the women’s high jump, getting motivated is still easy for her.
Ultra-competitive athletes find ways. -
Balsbaugh’s late-season scoring giving Rose-Hulman a lift
If someone were to predict before last weekend that Rose-Hulman would capture its second straight Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in men’s basketball and that senior Brenton Balsbaugh would be named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, fans probably would believe the first statement but consider the second as wishful thinking.
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Rose-Hulman baseball team kicking off season in Florida
Jeff Jenkins is serious about his baseball.
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Rose-Hulman men clinch conference title
Rose-Hulman will host the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament and claimed the league’s regular-season title with a 59-57 win at Hanover College on Saturday.
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No. 23 Rose-Hulman takes down No. 22 Transylvania on the road
No. 23 ranked Rose-Hulman claimed a two-game lead in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball standings with a 54-49 victory at No. 22 Transylvania University on Saturday.
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Rose-Hulman 18-2 after pulling away from Anderson
Rose-Hulman opened the second half on a 20-3 run to pull away and earn a convincing 71-40 men’s basketball victory at Anderson University on Wednesday night.
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Freshman paces Engineer women to HCAC win
The Rose-Hulman women’s basketball team improved to 10-10 for the season and 6-7 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play with a 52-44 win over Anderson on Wednesday in Hulbert Arena.
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Rose men top Franklin
Rose-Hulman improved to 14-2 overall and kept its Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference lead at 8-1 with a 58-42 men's basketball victory at Franklin College on Wednesday night.
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Rose men run winning steak to 11 games
Anderson arrived in Terre Haute with a 7-6 record and a scoring average of 76.5 points per game.
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Anderson holds off rally by Rose women
Rose-Hulman rallied from an 11-point deficit to close within three points late, but Anderson University held on to earn a 64-57 victory in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball Wednesday night inside O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
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Rose-Hulman men ranked 26th in Division III
Rose-Hulman’s men’s basketball team is ranked 26th nationally in the d3hoops.com national weekly poll released on Thursday.
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Gerken hits game-winner to put Rose-Hulman at 9-1 on season
Making the game-winning shot, with what turned out to be seven-tenths of a second to go, was probably the easy part for Jon Gerken on Saturday afternoon in Hulbert Arena.
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Rose women struggle from field in loss to Hanover
In the Rose-Hulman women’s college basketball game, frigid shooting undermined good work the Engineers did in other aspects of the game against Hanover.
The Engineers came out on the wrong end, 55-43. -
Efficient Engineers stifle Millikin
The word that probably best describes the Rose-Hulman men’s basketball team is efficiency.
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Rose-Hulman women's basketball regains Clabber Girl Trophy
Rose-Hulman reclaimed the Clabber Girl Trophy for the first time since 2009 with an 80-74 women’s basketball victory over Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College on Tuesday night in Hulbert Arena.
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Balanced Rose tops Fontbonne
Senior forward Nate Gissentanner came off the bench to deliver 14 points for balanced Rose-Hulman in a 72-54 men’s basketball victory over Fontbonne University on Wednesday night in Hulbert Arena.
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Rose-Hulman men's basketball preview: Engineers looking to follow up last year’s success
It’s pretty safe to say that expectations for the Rose-Hulman men’s basketball team have not been this high since the late 1990s when the Engineers reached the NCAA Division III tournament three times within a four-year period.
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Rose-Hulman women's basketball preview: Engineers continuing to improve
The Rose-Hulman women’s basketball team didn’t dominate many opponents last season when it ended up with records of 9-18 overall and 6-12 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
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Earlham tragedy leads to Rose football cancellation
Little did Rose-Hulman’s football players and coaches know, their 42-8 home victory over Anderson University last Saturday turned out to be their final game of the season.
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This weekend's Rose-Hulman vs. Earlham football game canceled
Due to Friday's tragic events involving three Earlham College students, the football game between Earlham and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has been canceled.
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Anderson squeaks past Rose-Hulman
Anderson University scored in the 11th minute and held off a Rose-Hulman charge to earn a 1-0 men's soccer victory in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinal match on Wednesday night at the Engineer Intramural Field.
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Rose swimmers near top because of vets, youth
Rose-Hulman swimming depth is at an all-time high, putting the Engineers at No. 15 in the NCAA Division III national rankings.
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A bigger taste?
On the night of Oct. 14, Rose-Hulman basketball fans were treated to something described by a couple of men’s players as “spectacular” and “epic” when they all jammed into Hulbert Arena for the insititute’s first “Midnight Madness” to tip off a season.
The memorable site wasn’t a 360-degree dunk or a no-look, behind-the-back pass.
It was Rose men’s coach Jim Shaw performing the “Bernie Dance,” based on the deceased character from the 1989 movie “Weekend At Bernie’s.”
“For a second, I thought he was having a seizure,” senior starting guard Austin Weatherford said with a straight face later. -
Rose women picked for 6th
The Rose-Hulman women’s basketball team has been picked to finish sixth in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference this season, according to a preseason poll of league coaches released Tuesday.
Hanover and Franklin were selected for first and second respectively, with just two poll points separating the two squads. -
Rose-Hulman no match for Franklin
Franklin showcased its No. 23 NCAA Division III ranking from d3football.com in a 56-0 victory over Rose-Hulman in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football Saturday.
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Rose blanks Woods 3-0 in women’s soccer
Rose-Hulman women’s soccer coach Amy Helliwell is riding a youth movement to what she hopes could produce a strong turnaround in this 2012 season.
It has so far.
Led by freshman Hayley Gilliam, a Zionsville native, the Engineers improved to 5-4-1 for the season with a dominant 3-0 victory against cross-county rival St. Mary-of-the-Woods College on Wednesday at Jim Rendel Field. -
METRO ROUNDUP: Engineers dominate HCAC honors
Rose-Hulman Institute student-athletes earned three Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week awards, in results released by the league office on Monday.
West Vigo graduate John Burt was named HCAC Defensive Player of the Week and Eric Schaible the Special Teams Player of the Week in football, and B.J. Thompson earned Player of the Week honors in men’s soccer.
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Snyder throws for two early TDs in Rose-Hulman victory
Rose-Hulman scored 33 points in the middle two quarters and held off a Defiance rally to earn a 33-20 victory in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference football opener for both schools Saturday.
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Rose’s record setter
Kyle Kovach got off to a great start in Rose-Hulman’s football season opener Saturday night in what turned out to be a heartbreaking 29-28 home loss to Kalamazoo College at Cook Stadium.
- More Rose-Hulman Headlines
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