Randolph out to prove it's better than projected 10th-place finish

The Randolph College men’s basketball team is no longer a rookie learning the ropes of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

With a season of conference battles under its belt and with all five starters returning, including the 2008-09 ODAC rookie of the year, the WildCats are looking forward to proving they belong.

They haven’t sold many folks on that yet, though. ODAC coaches picked Randolph to finish 10th out of 11 conference teams.

“We have to play with a chip on our shoulders,” junior Timothy Clarke said. “We want to prove people wrong.”

Clarke, an ODAC honorable mention selection last year, and Derrick Woods-Morrow, last season’s ODAC rookie of the year, are two of the five returning starters. Clarke, a guard/forward, led the team in scoring (12.5 points per game) and assists (90). Woods-Morrow, a sophomore forward, averaged 10.8 points per game and led RC with 8.7 rebounds per game.

Junior guards Pete Hamilton and Caleb Pearson, and senior guard Jason Rutschman round out the returning starters. Hamilton averaged 10.8 ppg and led the WildCats with 47 3-pointers. Rutschman averaged 9 ppg and made 46.7 percent of his 3-point attempts. Pearson averaged 3.6 ppg and led the team in steals.

Randolph also returns four other players in junior guards Cameron Shepherd and Aurimas Lekavicius, junior forward Jimmy Greene, and sophomore guard Malcolm Nelson.

“These guys got a taste of the ODAC last year,” WildCats coach Clay Nunley said. “We will have a more veteran presence. These guys played a lot of minutes last year. It is a maturation process and they accepted a lot responsibility early. Now is the time to reap some of those benefits.”

Nunley also brought in 10 freshmen to provide depth and size. Six of the 10 freshmen are either 6-foot-4 or 6-5. The only returning player standing at least 6-4 is Woods-Morrow.

“We needed to get bigger and deeper in the post,” Nunley said. “That depth enhances our options as we now have roster full of capable guys.”

The WildCats know one thing they have to do to improve on last season’s 6-19 overall record and 3-13 ODAC mark is not let as many close games slip through their fingers. Eleven of Randolph’s 19 losses were by 10 points or less. Five of the losses were by six points or less.

“There is no question where we have to get better,” Nunley said. “We haven’t been able to pull out the close games. In our league teams won’t give any you games. You have to beat them.”

Added Clarke: “We know we have to do better in the close games because we are not going to blow a lot of teams out. We have to string stops together, not be lazy on defense and execute better on offense.”

The goal is clear for Rutschman.

“We keep climbing up the ODAC standings,” Rutschman said. “We want to win an ODAC tournament game. We want to make it to the Salem Civic Center (at least the tournament’s quarterfinals).

“We want to experience (the tournament setting).”