With no returning starters and six seniors gone from last year's fourth-place Wabash basketball team, the coaches and media around the North Coast Athletic Conference expect to see the Little Giants slip one spot this season.
Wabash was picked to finish fifth in both the coaches and media polls, release Thursday afternoon at the conclusion of the conference's annual basketball media day.
The Little Giants garnered 161 votes in the media poll, trailing nationally-ranked Wooster (267), and Wittenberg (234). Ohio Wesleyan (220) was picked to finish third, with in-state rival Earlham (178) selected just ahead of Wabash. Allegheny (129), Denison (125), Kenyon (77), Oberlin (50), and Hiram (44) rounded out the media picks.
The coaches lined the teams up in the same order in all but the last two spots, with top-ranked Wooster earning all but one first-place vote. Wittenberg received the other top vote to earn 87 total points. Ohio Wesleyan (84) and Earlham (63) were just ahead of Wabash (57). Allegheny received 53 points, with Denison right behind with 41. Kenyon (36) was eighth, but Hiram (17) and Oberlin (13) traded spots in the coaches poll.
Wabash is coming off a 16-11 season and a 10-6 NCAC record. While all five starters from last year's team are gone, several returning players saw several playing minutes a year ago. Junior Andrew Zimmer played in all 26 games, earning 15 starts midway through the season. He averaged 10.5 points for the second-best scoring average on the team, and led the Little Giants with a 5.1 rebounds-per-game average. Gary Simkus and Brian Maloney also played in every game last year. Simkus averaged 7.6 points per game, while Maloney tossed in 3.1 points a contest. Ryan Stephens is the only senior on the roster this year. He scored 2.9 points per contest in his 22 appearances last year.
Ten freshman and several experienced underclassmen will also make up the 2006-2007 roster for the Little Giants. Wabash opens the season with the Little Giant Tipoff Classic November 17-18 at Chadwick Court. Aurora University will play IU-South Bend in the opening game at 6 p.m., while Wabash plays Rose-Hulman at 8 p.m. The consolation game begins Saturday at 1 p.m. with the championship game slated for 3 p.m.
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