COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW Presidents' Athletic Conference men

PITTSBURGH -- During the 2002-03 season, Grove City and Thiel waged a regular season battle that resulted in both teams posting 7-3 marks. One week later, the Wolverines defeated the Tomcats by one point to capture the PAC tournament title. According to the voting by 19 athletic directors, coaches, sports information directors and members of the media at the tip-off luncheon, Grove City was again the choice for the top spot in the conference. The Wolverines had 108 points and 17 first-place votes, while Thiel was third with 65 points. Westminster, despite losing such stalwarts as former Ursuline High standout Greg Foster, was the choice to finish second. Rounding out the six-team field were Bethany (62), Waynesburg (46) and Washington & amp; Jefferson (45). Bethany picked up the final two first-place votes in the balloting.
"It's going to be a tough circuit this year," said Grove City coach Steve Lamie. "As defending champions, we know we have the bulls-eye on our backs this year."
Here is a closer look at how the teams stack up heading into the 2003-04 season:
Grove City Wolverines
Coach: Steve Lamie (6th season, 75-53).
2002-03 record: 18-9, 7-3.
Key losses: Andy Vlajkovich (Canfield).
Key returnees: Tanner Prosser (11.2 ppg), Phil Bushre (10.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg), Nate Maurer (21.0 ppg) and Mike Lukcic (5.7 ppg). Maurer recently underwent surgery and will miss 6-12 weeks.
Coach's comment: "We had high hopes of celebrating our 100th year of basketball, but we hope that Maurer will be able to play at some point this year, but right now, he is out indefinitely. We return five letterwinners, three of which are starters, but our bench is going to be very young with sophomore Matt Phillips the only young man with any playing experience. We have nine freshmen on the squad and thus far in practice, there has been no separation. I don't know if that is good or bad. Either we are not very good or they are just being very competitive. We are going to have to rely on Prosser and Bushre for leadership until the young players come along."
Westminster Titans
Coach: Larry Ondako (1st).
2002-03 record: 11-16, 4-6.
Key losses: Greg Foster (15.6 ppg, 10.9 rpg) and Jeff Simmons (7.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg).
Key returnees: Pat O'Connor (10.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Chris Hatch (10.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg), Brian Fadden (8.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Micah Delo (4.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg).
Coach's comment: "We lost our big guys and were unable to replace them. The good thing is that over the past several years we have seen and played against some very successful teams with similar size. We'll play the style we need to play, which will include more pressure defense and an up-tempo offense. The youth of this team doesn't bother me at all. The way I look at it, we will only add players over the next two years so we should continue to improve."
Thiel Tomcats
Coach: Mike Snell (2nd season, 16-12).
2002-03 record: 16-12, 7-3.
Key losses: A.H. Davis (19.0, 6.5, all-time leading scorer from Boardman), Shane Manley (13.2), Eddie Mathews (6.9).
Key returnees: Mike Banach (11.5), Justin Townsend (4.2, 2.9), Dennis Bott (2.3, 1.5) and D. J. Gambridge (5.1, 2.4)
Coach's comment: "Last year's team was a pleasure to coach. In my first year with the program I thought the kids represented the program in a positive. As for A.H. [Davis], I don't see him as the program's leading scorer. I see his leadership qualities and his fierceness as a competitor. This year, our seniors have some really big shoes to fill. They are all good people and represent the program in the fashion that we want it represented. They each have to step up in the ways that we need them to."
Bethany Bison
Coach: Aaron Huffman (2nd season, 11-15).
2002-03 record: 11-15, 3-7.
Key losses: Mike Majzun (20.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg) and Derek Hoffman (14.7 ppg, 9.5 rpg).
Key returnees: Matt Drahos (12.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg), Josh Polantz (9.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg), Jacob Dailer (7.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg) and Mike Drahos (6.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg).
Coach's comments: "Replacing Mike [Majzun] and Derek [Hoffman] will be really challenging. Any time you take two strong leaders away from any basketball team it's going to be tough. They were the heart of our team and out offense. Not to mention, Mike was one of the defensive players in the conference last year. Matt [Drahos] had a solid freshman season for us last year. He has improved and we're hoping for him to be more assertive and make an even bigger impact this season. The early schedule will be a great test for us. We have a lot of youth, energy and enthusiasm on this team and playing against good teams early should help get us ready to face the challenges of conference play later in the season."
Waynesburg Yellow Jackets
Coach: Frank Ferraro (1st).
2002-03 Record: 16-8, 6-4.
Key losses: Beau Henderson (5.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg), Aaron Ankrom (12.5 ppg, 8.1 rpg), Mike Pamepinto (10.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and Ray Robinson (24.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg).
Key returnees: Mike King (13.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Ray Gillespie (4.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg).
Coach's comment: "We are a work in progress. With a young team, we're looking to get better game-by-game and hopefully by the end of the season, we'll have enough experience come tournament time to win some games. Certainly it is an honor taking over a well-established program and following someone like Rudy Marisa, but I have to be me as a coach. Some things will change and some things will remain the same. Overall, the kids have been very receptive to that."
Washington & amp; Jefferson Presidents
Coach: Karel Jelinek (2nd season, 6-19).
2002-03 record: (6-19, 3-7)
Key losses: Nolan Larry (17.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, all-time leading scorer in school history), Mike Drevitch (4.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg).
Key returnees: Steve Button (12.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg), Chris Houser (7.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg), Michael Chicone (10.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Billy Zopf (2.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg).
Coach's comment: "Our goal this year is to compete for a conference championship. We want to develop our young players, play better defense and become a better rebounding team. I think if we can improve in these areas, we will have a chance to compete on a nightly basis. Replacing Larry is going to be the key to our season. We are going to have to rely on more than one guy. Both (Steve) Button and (Michael) Chicone showed last season they can put points on the board, but at some point in the season, someone is going to have to step up and become a legitimate scoring threat that our opponents will have to worry about."
-- Bill Albright