The basketball team's recent trip to Texas proved to be important in more ways than one…

The Trinity/Southwestern Holiday Classic provided me the opportunity to play in front of family and friends for the first time since high school. Thanks to the efforts of my teammates and coaches, we were able to give my family a taste of Wabash Basketball. On Saturday, we took a tough loss by six to a very talented Trinity ball club who entered the game ranked #22 in the country with a 7-1 record, and defeated Southwestern in a hard-fought game the following day. I was also graciously awarded a spot on 2007 Trinity/Southwestern Holiday All-Classic Team.

In addition to my homecoming, the games played in Texas provided an opportunity for self-evaluation for me and my teammates. The loss to Trinity marked our fourth on the season, in which the total margin of defeat is a whopping 16 points. Leaving the floor sulking with a bitter taste in our mouths we all agreed that there was a decision to be made. We had to decide whether we were going to settle on being the mediocre team we consistently reverted to, or the great team we have shown flashes of.

December 30th marks the date of the first steps in our pursuit of greatness. The theme for the duration of our season has been coined “NO MORE”. No more give aways, no more mental lapses, no more excuses, no more mediocrity. We are fully aware of the challenges that lie ahead in the tough conference play of the North Coast Athletic Conference, but Wabash Always Fights and anything less will be accepted “NO MORE”!

I am very excited to have the opportunity to become a head coach at a great school. It was very hard to make the decision to leave Wabash College. Wabash is truly a “one-of-a-kind” school. Wabash is such a unique place and because of that uniqueness it is not for everyone. That is fine, because the young men that do decide to attend Wabash and stay for four years- never regret it. They are part of a brotherhood that has a special bond. They are proud to wear the label, “Wabash Man.” I am convinced that the education that these WABASH Men receive prepares them better and challenges them more than just about anywhere. That is why one out every eight graduates is CEO of a company. I could go on forever about this place that is very special to my heart.

I owe a lot to Coach Petty who gave me my first opportunity in college coaching. I have learned so much from one of the winningest college coaches of all time. I feel that he has given me a lot of tools that will help me be successful at UNE.

The other very bittersweet part about leaving now is that I feel this is our best team during my tenure at the ‘Bash. Seniors Andrew Zimmer, Earl Rooks and Gary Simkus will provide awesome leadership and production. I am sorry I will not see the development of returning post players Brian Maloney, Rich Kavalauskas and Caleb Mast. Then there is the talented sophomore trio of Aaron Brock, Chase Haltom and Andy Root that got great experience as freshmen last year and will be special. Throw in some great incoming freshmen and this is the year Wabash will challenge for the NCAC CROWN! Remember…”All for One and One for All --- WABASH ALWAYS FIGHTS!”

Do me proud, guys, I will definitely be following you.

Coach Mulligan

     Throughout my experience at Capital One this summer I have honed my abilities of being accountable, efficient, and making others around me better. I feel that this personal growth and maturation has a direct impact on my undertaking to becoming a better basketball player, leader, and person.

     When I am not in the office I can be found in a local fitness center trying to perfect my strengths and correct my weaknesses. Majority of my time has been spent trying to regain the strength in my knees, as well as shooting the basketball. I have also had the opportunity to mix it up with a few NBA players and many rising overseas, NBDL, and DI players.

     Entering this season Wabash College has something to prove! The team and I have a similar obstacle to overcome. The talent is there as it always has been. We will work hard to reach our full potential for the season of 2007-2008. My personal mission is to empower my teammates, exceed my coaches’ expectations, and inspire the Chadwick Crazies as the Little Giants work towards winning ballgames.

     Considering the fact that I am getting pretty hyped in my cube at work right now, I think it would be best if I ended here by saying…Wabash Basketball is on a Mission!

The season ended on a positive note for our maturing team.  We won 7 out of our last 12 games.  This comes after a point in the season where we were dead last in the conference.  This shows a lot about our team and how much we grew this season. When looking back at my first blog of the season a couple of my goals were to surprise a some people and bond with guys that I would normally not get a chance to.  These goals were definetly met.  We surprised the conference when we beat Ohio Wesleyan at their place, we shocked all of D-III leading Wooster with 3 minutes to go and having a shot to tie it in the final 30 seconds.  Most all we became a family, a band of brothers that was unlike any team that I had ever been apart of.  This season was so enjoyable for me, and I will never forget the people that made it so memorable. 

The end of year banquet was a perfect closing to my career, it was very nicely done as always and it was a wonderful celebration of the season and the brotherhood that was experienced by this year’s team.  I hope that next years team will build on the success we tasted this season, and far exceed expectations.  WABASH ALWAYS FIGHTS! 

This is the best weekend of the year for incoming freshmen recruits to visit. You will have the opportunity to spend time with our players and coaching staff as well as visit all the living units and also take tests to earn scholarship $.  We hope you sign up and come and see us on March 16th & 17th.

First Team All Conference Performer- Junior Andrew Zimmer vs. Kenyon

We are expecting great things from Freshman Aaron Brock next year.

Below: Sophomore Brian Maloney was huge for us in the first round of the playoffs. Junior Earl Rooks has been our floor general all year long.

Last night we traveled into enemy territory to face Allegheny and battle a wicked crowd and we came out on top.  We blew a 16 point lead and lost the lead with a few minutes and our guys refused to quit and came back to regain the lead and hold on to win. Chase Haltom, Earl Rooks and Andrew Zimmer all hit 2 free throws in the final minute to seal the win.  Sophomore Brian Maloney came off the bench as usual and gave us a huge lift with a team high in rebounds and blocks and played excellent post defense.  The other bright spot was the play of Freshman Aaron Brock who matched his career high with 20 points (his previous 20 point effort was on the same court vs. the Gators).  He went 7 of 8 from the charity stripe which was huge.

So we will arrive back in Crawfordsville this afternoon and then hit the road again tomorrow back to Wooster, Ohio.  Our last meeting with Wooster was a tough game to swallow.  We had the lead two minutes to go and had numerous shots to win the game but none of them fell.  With under 30 seconds and down 3 points we missed an open 3 pointer but got the offensive rebound.  Unfortunately we called a timeout and had none left resulting in a technical foul.  They hit the ensuing free throws and we lost by five points. 

It will be a tough order to play Wooster on their home court in the playoffs.  Stay tuned.    

Fast forward to tonight where we went to Delaware, Ohio for a rematch vs. OWU.  I wonder how many people that were in Chadwick two weeks ago would even gave us a chance to win.  Well, we did win.  We had some awesome performances from some guys.  Ryan Stephens had another double with a career high 17 rebounds and 11 points. Earl Rooks played great again handling the ball and running the offense while hitting some big shots. Sophomore Brian Maloney also came up huge providing a big lift off the bench to have 12 points and 6 rebounds.  

The season has turned around in a hurry.  Two weeks ago we were in last place and now we are in 4th place fighting to host a first round playoff game for the 5th consecutive year.  We look to win our 6th game out of our last 7 at 8 p.m. Saturday night at home vs. Denison.

We just found out today that Junior Andrew Zimmer won NCAC Player of the Week Honors. He scored 57 points in 2 games and shot 21 of 27 from the floor.

Senior Ryan Stephens also had a tremendous week recording the first 2 double-doubles of his career.  Wednesday night Wittenberg comes to Chadwick in the final game of the first round of play in the NCAC.  Then Saturday we are at home again to take on Oberlin. Saturday will be a very special day.  We are honored to be playing and to be a part of President White's Inauguration festivities.

This past week has been like no other week since I have been here at Wabash. Our team was in unusual territory.  We have never finished worse than 4th in my 5 years here and we found ourselves 6 games into conference, sitting in last place.  Our guys needed to respond.  We had an Earlham team come to Chadwick Court coming off a huge victory over Ohio Wesleyan (who beat us convincingly last Wed. and who beat Wittenberg by 22 points last night).  

We knew we would have our hands full. Our guys came out with the intensity we have been searching for and it came from our leaders:  

-Andrew Zimmer stepped up big-time with a career high 35 points

-Ryan Stephens had a career high 12 rebounds

-Earl Rooks had six point and six assists

It turns out this year in the NCAC there is a lot of parity.  After last nights game- 7 of the 10 teams have a 3-4 or 2-5 record.  Coach and I hope we have turned the corner and continue our aggressiveness on the defensive side of the ball.  We travel to Kenyon on Saturday to face a good 7-9 Kenyon team and will be back home next Wed. to face Wittenberg. 

While getting ready for the game at the Hiram gym, the power went out and after an hour wait it was decided to make the game up on Sunday. So we went back to the hotel and crossed the state line to Pennsylvania in the morning to play Allegheny.  We found ourselves down 10 with five minutes to play because of our sloppy care of the basketball.  We went on a run to cut it to 2 points in the final 2 minutes.  We got a great look to tie the game but came up short at the buzzer and lost by 3.

The next day we played our postponed game vs. Hiram who we have never lost to in school history.  We led in the game by as many as 12 points in the first half and 10 in the second before losing the lead and the game by 3 points again.  As our bad luck continued we lost two more post players with head injuries in the final minutes of the game.  Can you imagine having 4 players who all play the same position having head injuries at the same time? Also in the game sophomore Andy Root went 9-9 from the 3 point line.  I had not even realized that until after the game when we saw the stat sheet.  That is quite a shooting performance.  Turns out it is a Wabash and NCAC 3-point shooting % record.

Tonight we look to get back in the win column vs. rival OWU at Chadwick Court.  We have fared well against them going 9-5 since joining the NCAC and 8-3 at home since 2000. Getting back leading scorer Andrew Zimmer should help.

However, the high did not last long as we turned in a terrible performance vs. Franklin College. Their quicker and smaller lineup gave us trouble on both sides of the court. Fortunately we will have a chance to redeem ourselves back at Franklin at their Tournament on December 29 and 30.  We have a lot of work to do before then.

The Wabash Basketball Staff wishes you Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas!

We took on my alma mater, Olivet Nazarene University and shot an awful 5 for 20 from the 3 point line.  We also missed 10 free throws. We were proud of our guys fighting back from 22 points down to cut it to a 7 point lead.  It showed that "WABASH DOES ALWAYS FIGHT".

So now we will find out how tough we are.  We have played 5 of our first 7 games at home and now take the road for the next 6 games.  Hopefully our young guys are getting more "in the swing of things" and we will keep improving.  We are off the next two days as our guys are preparing for finals. Then its back to work Wednesday to get ready for our 2nd NCAC game vs. Denison.

Last night we traveled south to take on DePauw.  We hoped we could make it two-in-a-row vs. the Tigers.  Unfortunately we had too many defensive breakdowns.  We have not done a very good job of taking away the strengths of our opponents thus far this season.  That is something we did a great job of last year.  We really had an identity last season of shutting down individuals and taking away the opponents strengths.  We have yet to do that so far this season.  One positive has been our scoring.  I don't think we scored 80 points back to back in a long time.  We just have to tighten our defense and take care of the ball and good things will follow.  

We start NCAC Conference play this Saturday at Oberlin who always plays us tough at their place.