Sport/Position: Basketball/Guard

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Fort Wayne, Indiana

Major: Business

Biggest sport thrill: Hitting the last-second shot to beat the fourth-ranked team in high school.

The person I most admire (and why): My cousin Mike Stevenson, because he's married with a child and is still in school. He takes care of his family to the fullest.

What I like most about Wright State: Everyone seems to be cool.

My favorite movie: Menace II Society

My favorite book: Makes Me Wanna Holler by Nathan McCall

The best advice I ever received: "Go to college."

What I do to relax: Play Sega.

If I were president, I would: Make sure any person who wanted to go to college was able to go.

If I could go back in time, I'd visit: The 1992 Olympic basketball games

Men's Basketball

Gears Up

for New Season, New Team

By Bob Noss

Sports Information Director

It happens in college athletics every year - teams are without some key players from the year before. This holds true for the Wright State Raiders this year. With the departure of Vitaly Potapenko, who was drafted in the first round of the NBA by the Cleveland Cavaliers, and four-year starter Delme Herriman, it is a different team this year. However, the departures give opportunities for new players and new heros to prove themselves.

Finishing with a 14-13 (8-8 in the MCC) last season, the Raiders return two veteran starting guards who dazzled the crowds in recent times and an important sixth man who would like to shed that title for a starting role this year. Senior Rob Welch lost much of last year to an ankle injury but came back to give a glimpse of his vital three-point shot and smart point play. Keion Brooks broke his way into the lineup early last year as a rookie and had people asking "Is this kid really just a freshman?" Senior Mike Conner has a chance to break the 100-games-played barrier and hopes for a bigger role this year. Also back are juniors Steno Kos and Thad Burton, looking for playing times inside after each shared the starting role early last year.

Much focus will be on nine newcomers, including three guards - freshmen Mike Richardson and John Sivesind and junior redshirt Erik Ramsey. Newcomers to the front court include junior college transfer Mark Oliver and freshmen Ryan Grose, Steve Yeagle, Lequient Lewis, and De'Andre Shepard.

Women's Basketball

Celebrates

Two Milestones

By Matt Zircher

Assistant Sports Information Director

Returning with a 11-16, 5-11 MCC record from last season, the women's basketball team is looking to improve on that mark this season, event though last season's top scorer and rebounder, Timothea Clemmer, is gone. This year, Wright State returns eight letterwinners and two starters. Leading the list of returnees is sophomore forward Beth Bartram, named to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference's All-Newcomer Team last season. Also returning is junior guard Heather Massengale, who, in her first season last year started 10 of the last 13 games, averaging 5.3 points per game.

Two seniors also return: guard Lori Blanchard and center Michele Dalbey. Blanchard shot over 45 percent from the three-point range, making 30 for the season. Dalbey started 14 times, averaging 4.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Besides Massengale, the only other returning junior on the squad is forward Amber Kirk, a spark plug off the bench last season, averaging 5.6 points and just over two rebounds per game. Along with Bartram, three more sophomores return: guard Carrie Bender, WSU's second leading returning scorer last season at 7.3 points per game; center Emily Curtis; and guard Demeka Brown.

Two juniors, a sophomore, and two freshmen make up the newcomer class for this season, including junior forward La'Tonia Stiner, who played her freshman year at Dayton; guard Tanya Bullhead, from Bismarck State College in North Dakota; and Carrie Day, who attended Wright State last year but did not play.

Sport/Position: Women's basketball/Guard

Year: Senior

Hometown: Wooster, Ohio

Major: Elementary Education

Biggest sports thrill: Playing in the Division I high school championship game.

The person I most admire (and why): My parents, they have worked hard their whole lives and have always been there for me. They make a lot of sacrifices for my sister and me.

What I like most about Wright State: Its education program.

My favorite movie: Grumpy Old Men

My favorite book: The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone

The best advice I ever received: "Never be satisfied with mediocrity. You learn from the good and the bad things that happen."

What I do to relax: Listen to music and spend time with my friends and family.

If I were president, I would: Improve education, kids are the future.

If I could go back in time, I'd visit: The West when it was first being settled.