Diplomats Move to 14th in February 3 D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Poll

by Sports Information
2/3/04

LANCASTER, PA -- The Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team received 312 votes to rank 14th in the February 3 D3hoops.com Division III Men's Basketball poll.

The recognition marks the highest ranking of the season for the Diplomats as F&M was ranked 29th on December 23, 27th on January 6, 25th on December 2, 22nd on January 13, 19th on December 9, 18th on November 25th and December 16th, 17th on January 20 and 15th last week.

Overall, Franklin & Marshall is the only Centennial Conference team to receive votes in the poll and is the highest ranked team from the Mid-Atlantic Region placing eight spots better than #22 Penn State-Behrend.

Selected as a "Team to Watch" in the 2003-04 edition of Street & Smith's College Basketball, an annual dedicated to highlighting the upcoming college basketball season, the Diplomats are 16-2 following a 97-54 win at Swarthmore College to up their Centennial Conference record to 11-0.

Leading the team last week was center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) who was named the February 2 Centennial Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week.

In a 2-0 week, Juskin averaged 19.5 points, 7.5 rebound, 5.5 assists and 3.5 blocks as the Diplomats knocked off Johns Hopkins (81-60 W) and Swarthmore.

Against Johns Hopkins at home in the Mayser Center, he flirted with a quadruple-double recording 23 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and six blocked shots before notching six points on six-of-seven shooting at Swarthmore.

In addition, the 6-6 center shot 65.2 percent (15-of-23) from the field as the Diplomats are now 11-0 in 2004 since returning from the holiday break.

For his career, he ranks 10th in Centennial Conference history in rebounds (661) and 13th in scoring (1,283) and holds the Conference record in blocked shots with 286.

In the latest Centennial Conference statistics, he ranks among the CC leaders in scoring (14.6 ppg, 12th), rebounding (6.7 rpg, fifth), field goal percentage (.534, eighth), assists (3.83 apg, fourth), blocked shots (3.89 bpg, first), assist/turnover ratio (1.30, seventh), offensive rebounds (2.17 rpg, sixth) and defensive rebounds (4.56 rpg, eighth).

Individually the Diplomats starting "five" rank a top the conference as point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) in scoring (12.1 ppg, 18th), field goal percentage (.497, 12th), assists (3.39 apg, fifth), steals (1.78 spg, fourth), three-point field goal percentage (.391, 10th), three point field goals (1.89 pg, 10th) and assist/turnover ratio (1.56, fourth).

Guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) ranks in scoring (11.8 ppg, 21st), steals (1.44 spg, 12th) and three point field goals (2.44 pg, third).

Down low, forward/guard Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) ranks in scoring (11.9 ppg, 20th), rebounding (6.1 rpg, 13th), steals (2.00 spg, second), three point field goals (1.50 pg, 14th), blocked shots (0.67, 15th), offensive rebounds (2.00 rpg, ninth) and defensive rebounds (4.06 rpg, 12th), while forward Bob Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) ranks in scoring (16.3 ppg, fifth), rebounding (6.7 rpg, sixth), field goal percentage (.607, second), free throw percentage (.771, 15th), blocked shots (0.94 bpg, fifth), offensive rebounds (3.06 rpg, second) and defensive rebounds (3.61 rpg, 14th).

Off the bench, reserve guard Logan Outerbridge (Fr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) ranks in steals (1.40, 14th) and three-point field goal percentage (.455, second).

Ranked #15 in the January 27 D3hoops.com poll, Franklin & Marshall ranks among the CC team leaders in scoring offense (82.2 ppg, first), scoring margin (+18.6, first), field goal percentage (.500, first), field goal percentage defense (.406, first), home attendance (959 pg, first), total attendance (718 pg, first), blocked shots (6.28 bpg, first), assists (17.56 apg, first), turnover margin (+4.83, first), assist/turnover ratio (1.22, first), offensive rebounds (13.56 rpg, first), scoring defense (63.6 ppg, second), three point field goal percentage (.373, second), rebounding offense (38.4 rpg, second), rebounding margin (+7.9 rpg, second), rebounding defense (30.6 rpg, third), steals (9.00 spg, third), defensive rebounds (24.89 rpg, fourth) and three point field goals (7.11 pg, fourth)

On the sidelines, history should be made in the coming weeks as head coach Glenn Robinson is now within three victories of surpassing longtime Illinois Wesleyan head coach Dennie Bridges for the all-time Division III men's basketball record for most career victories.

Robinson, who now holds a career record of 664-233, is the active leader in wins in NCAA Division III men's basketball. However, with three more victories he will surpass Bridges' career total of 666 wins from 1960 to 2001 at Illinois Wesleyan and become the all-time win leader on the Division III level.

Historically, he is one of only 41 coaches in collegiate basketball history to have won 600 games entering the 2004 season, led by Dean Smith with 897. Currently, he is tied with legendary UCLA coach John Wooden (664-162) for 25th on the all-time NCAA wins list.

Further, among the top 30 coaches on all levels of the NCAA, Robinson held the tenth best winning percentage entering the 2004 season as his mark has been bettered by only Kentucky's Adolph Rupp (.822), UCLA's John Wooden (.804), UNLV/Fresno State's Jerry Tarkanian (.784), North Carolina's Dean Smith (.776), Northern State's Don Meyer (.746), Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (.743), Arizona's Lute Olson (.742), Kansas' Phog Allen (.739) and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (.739) entering the 2004 season.

The Diplomats will return to action on February 4 at Gettysburg College. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

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.

D3hoops.com 2003-04 Division III Top 25 (February 3)
Rank Team (1st Place Votes) 2003-04 Record Pts.
1. Rochester (17) 18-0 614
2. Williams (8) 18-1 604
3. Amherst 18-1 577
4. Randolph-Macon 18-1 540
5. Hanover 18-1 525
6. Buena Vista 17-1 492
7. Wooster 16-2 455
8. Hampden-Sydney 16-2 438
9. UW-Whitewater 17-2 414
10. Trinity (CT) 17-1 395
11. Wheaton (IL) 16-2 363
12. UW-Stevens Point 16-3 342
13. Hope 16-3 340
14. Franklin & Marshall 16-2 312
15. Trinty (TX) 16-3 262
16. Lawrence 14-2 244
17. Gustavus Adolphus 14-4 217
18. Wittenberg 16-3 202
19. John Carroll 14-4 164
20. Puget Sound 15-2 133
21. Salem State 15-2 78
22. Penn State-Behrend 17-1 65
23. Maryville (TN) 15-4 56
24. DeSales 15-3 47
25. Otterbein 14-5 36

Others receiving votes: Gwynedd-Mercy 31, Grinnell 28, Keene State 25, Augustana 18, King's 18, Lasell 16, New Jersey City 13, Ohio Wesleyan 9, Worcester Polytech 9, Union 8, Wartburg 8, Whitworth 8, Capital 5, Hamilton 4, Occidental 4, Catholic 2, Macalester 1, Ohio Northern 1.