The first games of the season for the men's basketball team will not be played in Cousens Gym or even in New England. Instead, the Jumbos travel west of the Mississippi for the first two games of their 101st season. Tufts will play the Washington University in St. Louis Bears tonight at 8 p.m. in the 21st annual Lopata Classic, with Whittier and Wittenberg squaring off in an earlier game. The two losers will play for third place tomorrow, followed by the two winners meeting in the evening championship game.
"Wash U. got to choose who to play, since it's their tournament, and they wanted us," coach Bob Sheldon said. "We'll have to try and make them remember that choice."
The Bears are currently ranked 28th in the country, while Wittenberg is ranked tenth. Tufts is not ranked nationally.
"It's good to get out of the region," Sheldon said. "Some teams don't like to leave New England, but we feel otherwise. This is a good test for us. We'll get to play some pretty good teams in Wittenberg and Wash. U., and I know we'll play well."
Tufts is led by its three senior captains: Jesse Belodoff, Drew Kaklamanos, and Reggie Stovell. Originally, only Belodoff and Kaklamanos were slotted to be the captains, but Stovell was added during the offseason.
Wash. U. also has three senior captains in Michael Faherty, Anthony Hollins and Rob Keller. They help form the rebuilt core of a team that lost two of its starters to graduation, including leading scorer Barry Bryant, who averaged 15.0 ppg to along with 3.7 apg and 3.7 rpg. Departed forward Ryan DeBoer was also no slouch, averaging 9.0 ppg to go along with 6.7 rpg and a team-high 52 steals.
Still, the Bears return some firepower. Hollins averaged 10.3 ppg and 7.3 rpg last year, while Keller added 12.7 ppg. But the Jumbos cannot forget junior Scott Stone, a returning starter at point guard, who made 60 three pointers and had 100 rebounds this past season to go along with 10.1 ppg and 4.4 apg. He helped lead Wash U. to a second place conference finish and an impressive 19-6 record last year.
Sheldon expects to field a starting lineup with sophomore David Shepard at point guard, Kaklamanos at shooting guard, sophomore Brian Kumf at small forward, Stovell at power forward, and junior Dan Martin at center. This means that the top five returning scorers from last season will be the starting lineup Friday night. All will have solid experience from last year, when the Jumbos went 8-17.
Sheldon was optimistic about the team's chances this year.
"I know that we're working hard right now," he said. "Does that translate into 20 wins or 15 wins or 12 wins? I don't know. But I do know that we will be successful. I can't put a number of wins on the upcoming season."
Despite his inability to predict the season's outcome, the team is hoping to rebound from a last year's disappointing results. The team was plagued by injuries last winter and at least now they have a healthy starting five with good chemistry. But they will be challenged. Wash. U. is coming off of a great season, and in NESCAC play, the Jumbos will have to battle Trinity, Amherst, and Williams, all ranked no lower than 12th in the Div. III preseason poll. Tufts will have to play its hardest this year in order to stay alive and competitive. The Jumbos start tonight in St. Louis.
