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LANCASTER, PA - The Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team received 47 votes to finish the 2002-03 season ranked #26 in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 Division III Men's Basketball poll.
The Diplomats (25-5, 10-3 Centennial Conference) finished the year as the highest ranked Centennial Conference team as Ursinus College, the 2003 CC Champion, received 10 votes to finish 35th in the nation. One of the most successful intercollegiate basketball programs in Division III history, Franklin & Marshall DeSales University 70-60 at home in the Mayser Center to claim the 2003 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region Championship. Historically, the title marked F&M's second ECAC Championship in as many years as the Diplomats finished the year with 25 victories. The record marked the first time the Diplomats have recorded 25 wins since the 2000 Final Four team finished 25-7 and is the 10th time in the 100 years of basketball at the College that a men's basketball team finished with 25 or more wins as the 1979 (27-5), 1981 (26-3), 1989 (27-3), 1991 (28-3), 1992 (26-4), 1994 (26-2), 1995 (27-2), 1996 (29-3) and 2000 teams recorded 25+ wins in a season. Leading the way in 2003 for F&M guard Asaf Ganot (Sr., Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly) and center Steve Juskin (Jr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park). The Diplomats defensive "stopper" and a member of the All-Centennial First Team, Ganot was a force on both ends of the court leading F&M in assists (121), steals (53), rebounds (231) and offensive boards (71) while averaging 8.8 points per game. He led the Diplomats in rebounding 14 times this season, including a season high 14 boards in a 82-78 double-overtime victory at 2002 National Championship game runner-up Elizabethtown College on November 26. A member of the January 20 Centennial Conference Honor Roll and the 2003 ECAC Tournament MVP, Ganot concluded his career with 519 points, 461 rebounds, 153 steals and 223 assists, while ranking second all-time at the College with 123 blocked shots. As a freshman in 2000, he helped lead the team to the 2000 Centennial Conference Championship and the NCAA Final Four. A member of the 2003 D3Hoops.com Men's Basketball All Mid-Atlantic Region Third Team as voted on by the region's sports information directors, Juskin was among the best players in the Centennial Conference this year. A 2003 All-Centennial Conference first team selection following a second team nod in 2002, Juskin led the Diplomats in scoring (14.8 per game) as the 6-6 center also topped F&M in blocked shots with 108, 49 more than his previous school record of 59 established in 2002. For his career, Juskin now has a Conference and school record 216 blocks, 1.018 points and 540 rebounds, as he became the ninth player in F&M men's basketball history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career. Overall, he ranked among the Conference leaders in scoring, rebounding (7.3), field goal percentage (.457), assists (69), blocked shots, offensive rebounds (57) and defensive rebounds (163). He led F&M in double-doubles with five, as he scored 15+ points 15 times and pulled down 10+ boards six times, including a season best 28 points at Washington (2/1/03) and 12 rebounds at Lincoln (1/23/03). He was named the CC Player of the Week on January 13 and earned a spot on the Conference Honor Roll on five other occasions throughout the year. In addition, he earned honors on the January 14 ECAC Honor Roll and was one of five players selected for the January 13 D3Hoops.com National Team of the Week. D3Hoops.com is widely considered the preeminent source of information on Division III basketball in the electronic medium. D3hoops has appeared in Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Hartford Courant and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, among other publications. D3 Hoops.com 2002-03 Division III Top 25 (FINAL POLL)
Rank Team (1st Place Votes) Record Pts.
1. Williams (25) 31-1 625
2. Wooster 30-3 578
3. Gustavus Adolphus 26-7 566
4. Hampden-Sydney 28-4 541
5. Randolph-Macon 28-2 496
6. UW-Oshkosh 25-7 478
7. Amherst 24-5 462
8. Washington U. 24-2 454
9. Rochester 23-4 417
10. Illinois Wesleyan 22-6 389
11. Ramapo 26-4 368
12. UW-Stevens Point 24-4 346
13. Hope 23-5 274
14. Occidental 23-3 269
15. Hanover 27-2 241
16. Montclair State 23-6 214
17. Catholic 24-5 208
18. Buena Vista 27-4 204
19. Whitworth 23-4 169
20. Savannah Art & Design 21-6 142
21. Carthage 19-6 117
22. Scranton 24-6 90
23. UW-Whitewater 21-7 86
24. John Carroll 22-7 59
25. Rockford 24-4 48 Others receiving votes: Franklin & Marshall 47; Christopher Newport 43; Albion 33; Mary Washington 28; Augustana 27; Hamilton 27; St. Thomas 21; Capital 12; Maryville 11; Ursinus 10; Western Connecticut 7; Clark 5; Alvernia 4; Rowan 4; Aurora 2; Babson 2; Salem State 1
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