Westminster College (PA)
From Hoopedia
Westminster College is a liberal arts college located in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The Westminster Titans compete in NCAA Division III athletics. Before moving to the NCAA, Westminster competed in the NAIA for several years. The Titans are a member of the Presidents' Athletic Conference.
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Men's Basketball
History
It was December 29, 1934, when the Westminster College Titans made national basketball history not only by playing in the first collegiate doubleheader at Madison Square Garden, but also by upsetting highly touted St. John’s University, 37-33. For many, that win has come to represent perhaps the biggest victory in Titan roundball history. But, for those who would beg to differ, there are a lot of other choices to pick from through the years.
Indeed, just recently, the NAIA began to ask its affiliated and former members for the first time about schools with 1,000 career basketball victories. Not many were able to respond, but of the eight that did report reaching the 1,000 win milestone, Westminster was able to document the most victories. Prior to Westminster’s inaugural season in the NCAA in 1998-99, the Titans were the all-time winningest program in NAIA history with 1,299 wins.
Westminster College began playing basketball in 1897, but managed only a 109-135 record until John Lawther took over in 1926 and began to lay the groundwork for more than six decades of winning hoops. Lawther coached through the 1935-36 season, stepping down from the helm with a career record of 165-34 — including that win over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.
George Roark then stepped in for a season and led the Titans to a 14-7 campaign before the next great Westminster mentor, Grover Washabaugh, signed on for a 19 season stint. Under his guidance, Titan basketball continued to flourish, compiling a 296-129 record. The team even earned an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 1941, where it put up quite a scrap before succumbing to Clair Bee’s Long Island University team, 48-36.
The captain of that NIT team, C.G. "Buzz" Ridl, succeeded Washabaugh as coach in 1956 and, like his two predecessors, kept Titan basketball near the top of the small college heap. Ridl’s Titans posted a 216-91 record, advancing twice to the NAIA championship game, and twice to the semifinals. Overall, Ridl, who was selected as one of five coaches on the NAIA Golden Anniversary All-Star basketball team in 1986, took his team to the national tournament six times. And, in 1962, Ridl saw his Titans honored by both wire services as the nation’s top small college basketball team.
In 1968, however, Ridl moved on to the University of Pittsburgh and a two-time All-American from Ridl’s 1962 squad, C. Ronald Galbreath, took over the reins.
Initially, Galbreath coached for only one season before moving on to Clarion College for five years. But when he returned again in 1974, the Titan program began its final assault on the 1,000 win mark, crossing that plateau in 1983.
In the 1996-97 season, Galbreath posted his 500th career victory, becoming just the 36th active coach at that time at any level to reach that mark. Counting his five seasons at Clarion, he concluded his Titan men’s basketball coaching career with 523 career wins, and is the all-time leader in wins at Westminster with 448.
Now, as the owner of 23 seasons with 20 or more victories, the Titans expect to continue to record victories to remain one of the winningest college basketball programs in any division or at any level in the nation.
2007-08 Outlook
Typically when you ask a coach what kind of team he expects to have for the upcoming season, the response lies in how many starters are coming back.
For the 2007-08 Westminster College men’s basketball team, the prognosis doesn’t sound too promising. The Titans return just one starter from last year’s banner season in which they qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in school history. Westminster also compiled its best record in six years of 18-9, including a 10-2 mark in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) to earn the top seed in the league’s postseason tournament.
But, really, the Titans have the potential to be just as good as last season.
“Someone may see that we have one starter coming back and say, ‘Boy, we’re in trouble,’” said fifth year head coach Larry Ondako. “But we’ve got three of four guys that could’ve easily started for us last year.”
That, and the one starter that is coming back, senior guard [[Craig Hannon]] (New Castle, Pa./Union), will likely become one of just seven 1,500point scorers in school history. Hannon, a 6'2" guard who earned second-team all-conference honors last year, enters the season ranked 16th in school history with 1,233 career points after averaging 12.7 points per game last year.
The players vying to fill out the rest of the Titans’ starting lineup include senior point guard David Richards (New Castle, Pa./New Castle), who started 11 games last year but his minutes were limited because he played behind Greg Rosatelli, the catalyst of last year’s team who averaged 15.6 point per game and was considered by many as the best point guard in the region.
Senior [[Chauncey Whitlow]] (Youngstown, Ohio/Woodrow Wilson), a 64 guard/forward, averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds per game last year and earned ample playing time (18.4 minutes per game) for a reserve. Senior center/forward Jake Zatchok (Berlin Center, Ohio/Western Reserve), who played in all 27 games while making four starts, is also back giving the Titans four returning letter-winners.
Two additional players that Ondako considers as players that could’ve started for Westminster last year are junior guard Bobby Glass (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) and sophomore forward [[Ryne Murray]] (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair).
Glass played at conference rival Grove City College in 2004-05, but, after sitting out a year because of transferring restrictions, he had to sit out a second year because of a heart condition in 2006-07.
Murray was in fact a starter who averaged 12.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, but he had to sit out the final 14 games of the season for academic reasons last year.
Westminster will also welcome a freshmen class of nine players to the team. The biggest concerns for Ondako are lack of height and how young the Titans will be in 2007-08.
“We might struggle early before we get it going,” Ondako said. “We’ll be alright. We’ve won with young, small teams before.”
One of the reasons the Titans will be smaller is because they will be playing without 6'8" forward [[Steve Bielich]], who averaged 11.6 points and 4.7 rebounds as a sophomore last year, but is off the team after suffering another knee injury during the off-season, a problem that plagued him during the season as well. “We will jell a little more and play a little more uptempo,” Ondako added.
“We played more zone (defense) last year to protect Steve and to keep Rosatelli out of foul trouble.”
Women's Basketball
2007-08 Outlook
There are no mathematical equations or cryptic messages at motivating members of this year's Westminster College women's basketball team. The team knows exactly what it has to do to be successful this year.
The slogan on the back of the team's t-shirts this year reads: WE WILL BECOME WHAT WE DO. That may sound as if it has a hidden meaning, but it doesn't.
What Westminster has been "doing" recently is working hard and winning. The Titans posted a school-record 22 wins last year while qualifying for the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second time in three years.
Despite losing five seniors and two starters, four underclassmen who averaged at least 20 minutes per game last year are back for the 2007-08 season.
"We don't have to go through the baby-steps," said sixth-year head coach Rosanne Scott. "They know what it takes to win 20 games. They believe in themselves."
Westminster finished last season with a 22-7 record and a 10-2 record for second place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC). The Titans lost at seventh-ranked Messiah College, 77-65, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
"We are looking to continue from last year's momentum and feeding off some of the confidence we established last year," Scott added.
Senior guard/forward Emilee Ackerman (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) returns after averaging 13.7 points per game and earning first-team all-PAC honors. Ackerman is one of three returning starters as she will be joined by junior point guard Gina Brunetti (Canfield, Ohio/Cardinal Mooney) and senior forward Terese Marszalek (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway). Brunetti started all 29 games and averaged 6.2 points, while Marszalek averaged 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds before sitting out the final 11 games with an injury.
Sophomore center Rachel Martinko (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) looks to enter the starting lineup this year after she played in all 29 games last year and averaged 7.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 20.6 minutes per game.
Other returning letter-winners include junior forward Katherine Khattab (Bixby, Okla./Bixby) and sophomore guard Lynn Riley (Indiana, Pa./Indiana), who averaged 8.4 and 7.0 minutes per game last year.
Gone from Westminster's starting lineup will be graduated seniors Rachel Eaton and Talley Felger, while reserve guard Desiree Sterling will be the biggest loss after she averaged 15.5 points per game, earned PAC Player of the Year accolades and finished as the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,451 points.
Westminster has scorers that can fill the void, but there is some uncertainty if the Titans can have someone step up when they need them most.
"That's the biggest concern," Scott said. "We know that we have people that can score. It's just making sure it doesn't come just from Emilee or the same player every night. We need to have points from different players when our top scorer is off or if someone is injured. That means having more underclassmen stepping up."
Luckily for Scott and the 2007-08 Westminster Titans, consistency will come easier than the experience and know-how that they already established last year.
