Men's team surpasses critics' expectations

By Justin Bates

The AU men’s team exceeded preseason expectations by notching their fourth straight winning season with a 15-11 overall record and a 7-7 mark in the HCAC. Considering the Ravens lost seven seniors from the 2000-01 season, it was a remarkable accomplishment.

“It’s been an outstanding year,” said Coach Denny Lehnus. “We were picked to finish last in the conference and we achieved a lot more than that. We competed in every game. It was a very good year and we surprised some people.”

Junior Derek Ricketts (Shelbyville, Ind.) led the team in scoring at 13.9 points per game. He also led the Ravens in 3-pointers made with 52. Ricketts and junior Wegahta Ghebremichael (Indianapolis) were named to the HCAC All-Conference Team. Ghebremichael was the only other Raven in double figures at 12 points per game. He also led the team in assists with 96.

Senior Josh Miller (Catlin, Ill.) wrapped up his four-year career with four consecutive winning seasons. He was third on the team in scoring (8.8 ppg) and averaged 3.8 rebounds per game.

“Josh has to be the first player in a long time to play on a winning team all four years,” Lehnus said. In fact, he’s the first AU basketball player in 20 years to participate in four straight winning seasons. “That’s a compliment to Josh. The other thing that’s encouraging is they were a great group of kids to coach and a true team in every sense of the word. I’ve had very few teams get along on and off the court as well as this group.”

Senior Kurnie Nickson (Indianapolis) led AU and the HCAC in rebounding from his guard spot with 8.6 boards per game. He also averaged 7.7 points per game and was named the team MVP.

“That was a great individual effort on his part for a 5-10, 170-pound guard to lead the conference in rebounding,” Lehnus said of Nickson. “He’s just a top-notch, outstanding person as well as player.”

AU will lose only Nickson, Miller and Ben Harber (Markleville, Ind.) to graduation this year, leaving Lehnus with a strong nucleus to work with next season.