Ohio Wesleyan University | Battling Bishop Athletics

2009-10 Season Preview

[ Pat Pellerite ] With a run to the final 16 of the NCAA Division III tournament in 2008 and a lengthy stint in the penthouse of the 2009 North Coast Athletic Conference standings, Ohio Wesleyan head coach Mike DeWitt has returned the Battling Bishops to the list of NCAC perennial championship contenders.

DeWitt will look to 7 returning lettermen and a talented incoming class to build on the successes of last year’s team, which survived a tough pre-holiday schedule and assembled an 11-game winning streak on the way to a 17-8 finish.

Senior Brent Pleiman (Russia) and sophomore Pat Pellerite (Olmsted Falls) return at the post positions.

Pellerite was an honorable mention All-NCAC selection last season after averaging 10.4 points and a team-leading 6.9 rebounds per game. He led the conference in field goal percentage and ranked fifth among league rebounders.

Pleiman’s steady, consistent play could be the foundation of the team’s inside game this season. Pleiman averaged 8.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He ranked among the league leaders in offensive rebounds, and his field goal percentage of .557 would have ranked second in the conference had he reached the required number of field goals made.

Junior Andrew Martin (New Albany), who played some important minutes on the way to averaging 2.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game last year, also looks for an increased role this season.

Freshmen Marshall Morris (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) and Billy Reilich (Dayton/Centerville) should contribute right away. Morris was an all-conference selection who helped his high school team reach the state championship game, while Reilich gives the Bishops a physical presence in the paint despite his 6-2 frame.

“This should be the strong point of our team this year,” DeWitt said. “We have some experience and depth here.”

[ Rob Gardiner ] Senior point guard Rob Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) is back to direct the Bishop offense. “He has a ton of experience, great leadership, and the intangible qualities that make a good point guard,” DeWitt said.

Junior Brady McCaffrey (Alpharetta, Ga./Marist) is a returning letterman, and sophomore Tyler Hall (Caledonia/River Valley) also returns.

Freshmen Andy Winters (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) and Eric Easley (Columbus/Thomas Worthington) also look to compete for playing time. Winters was an honorable mention all-district pick in high school, while Easley was a 2-time all-conference selection.

Junior Dillon McBride (Medina) and sophomore Tim Brady (Dublin/Jerome) saw considerable playing time at the wing positions and could take over as starters. Brady averaged 6.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game and McBride contributed 6.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest.

Junior Mike Schwartz (Upper Arlington), who lettered as a point guard last year, moves to the wing to give the Bishops more playmaking ability on the perimeter, and sophomore Jake Dodd (Lorain/Open Door Christian) also returns.

Freshmen Vaughn Spaulding (Reynoldsburg), Anjuwon Spence (Cranston, R.I./Moses Brown), and Greg White (Centerville) look to work their way into the Bishop rotation.

“I think we’re very experienced at the post and point guard positions,” DeWitt said. “We do have some holes to fill at the wing spots. We have some guys who we think can do the job, but they have to step up and prove it.

“Our goal every year is to compete for the conference championship, and I don’t see any reason why that’s not realistic for us this year.”

DeWitt’s philosophy that a tough non-conference schedule prepares his squad for the rigors of the NCAC has resulted in another November-December gauntlet for the Bishops.

Ohio Wesleyan opens the season at Illinois Wesleyan’s Titan Tip-Off Tournament, where the Bishops face 2-time defending national champion Washington (Mo.) in the first round. Contests against Defiance, which finished a game out of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship last season; and Albion, a contender for the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association title, follow.

Ohio Wesleyan kicks off the NCAC schedule with a home game against ninth-ranked Wooster, then heads to Allegheny to face a Gator squad which eliminated the Bishops from the conference tournament a year ago, before wrapping up the pre-holiday portion of the schedule against Capital, a 2009 NCAA Division III “Sweet 16” team.

The Bishops return to action by facing Guilford, which finished third in the nation last year, at the Marietta Shrine Tournament, then open 2010 at Roanoke’s Morris Cregger Invitational, where Ohio Wesleyan takes on the host Maroons in the first round.

Further highlighting the NCAC schedule are a pair of dates against traditionally-tough Wabash and Wittenberg and up-and-coming Hiram, along with a single contest against Kenyon.