Franklin & Marshall Ranked 14th in February 17 D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Poll

by Sports Information
2/17/04

LANCASTER, PA -- The Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team received 286 votes to rank 14th in the February 17 D3hoops.com Division III Men's Basketball poll.

The recognition continues a string of national accolades 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, December 16th and February 10, 17th on January 20, 15th on January 27 and 14th on February 3.

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 six spots better than #20 DeSales University.

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 19-3 overall and 14-1 in Centennial Conference play.

Center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) led the team last week as he averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks as the Diplomats defeated Dickinson (88-44 W) and Muhlenberg (75-52 W) at home in the Mayser Center to clinch home court advantage for the Centennial Conference Playoff Tournament on February 28 & 29.

Against Dickinson, Juskin chipped in 20 points, five rebounds, four blocked shots and a game high six assists to raise his season numbers to 335 points, 142 rebounds, 83 assists and 84 blocked shots.

For his career, he ranks 11th in scoring (1,353 points), 10th in rebounding (682 rebounds) and first in blocked shots (300 blocks) in Centennial Conference history.

In the latest Centennial Conference statistics, he ranks among the CC leaders in scoring (15.2 ppg, eighth), rebounding (6.5 rpg, eighth), field goal percentage (.532, eighth), assists (3.77 apg, fourth), blocked shots (3.82 bpg, first), assist/turnover ratio (1.26, seventh), offensive rebounds (2.09 rpg, seventh) and defensive rebounds (4.36 rpg, eighth).

Individually the Diplomats starting "five" rank a top the conference as point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) rates in scoring (12.4 ppg, 16th), field goal percentage (.497, 13th), assists (3.45 apg, fifth), steals (1.77 spg, third), three-point field goal percentage (.404, seventh), three point field goals (2.09 pg, seventh) and assist/turnover ratio (1.58, fourth).

Guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) ranks in scoring (11.8 ppg, 18th), steals (1.45 spg, ninth) and three point field goals (2.36 pg, third).

Down low, forward/guard Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) ranks in scoring (11.4 ppg, 19th), rebounding (5.7 rpg, 12th), steals (1.86 spg, second), three point field goal percentage (.357, 15th), three point field goals (1.36 pg, 15th), blocked shots (0.68, 12th), offensive rebounds (1.91 rpg, tenth) and defensive rebounds (3.77 rpg, 13th), while forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) ranks in scoring (16.1 ppg, sixth), rebounding (6.8 rpg, fifth), field goal percentage (.609, third), free throw percentage (.785, 10th), blocked shots (0.95 bpg, seventh) and offensive rebounds (3.14 rpg, second).

Off the bench, reserve guard Logan Outerbridge (Fr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) ranks in steals (1.37 spg, 11th) while leading the Conference in three-point field goal percentage (.447, first).

Overall, Franklin & Marshall ranks among the CC team leaders in scoring offense (82.0 ppg, first), scoring margin (+18.3 ppg, first), field goal percentage (.409, first), blocked shots (6.32 bpg, first), assists (17.23 apg, first), steals (9.05 spg, first), turnover margin (+4.55, first), assist/turnover ratio (1.18, first), offensive rebounds (13.18 rpg, first), scoring defense (63.7 ppg, second), rebounding defense (30.9 rpg, second), rebounding margin (+7.0 rpg, second), three point field goal percentage (.364, third), rebounding offense (37.9 rpg, third), three point field goals made (7.23 pg, third) and defensive rebounds (24.73 rpg, fourth).

Last week, Franklin & Marshall College head coach Glenn Robinson made history as the team's victory over Muhlenberg marked the 667th of Robinson's career to reset the NCAA Division III wins record.

Robinson, who improved his career record to 667-234 with the victory, now stands 12th among all active NCAA coaches in victories and has already surpassed legendary UCLA coach John Wooden (664-112) for 25th on the all-time list.

In his 33rd year at F&M, Robinson has guided the Diplomats to the Division III Final Four four times (1979, 1991, 1996 and 2000) and was named the Basketball Times Division III "Coach of the Year" in 1991. He has earned conference and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) regional "Coach of the Year" honors 11 times.

Currently, he holds the ninth best winning percentage in NCAA history 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), Duke's Mike Krzyewski (.745), Northern State's Don Meyer (.743), Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (.743) and Arizona's Lute Olson (.741).

Robinson and the Diplomats will return to action on February 18 at home versus McDaniel. Game time is set for 8:00 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 17)
Rank Team (1st Place Votes) 2003-04 Record Pts.
1. Williams (23) 23-1 622
2. Hanover (2) 22-1 586
3. Rochester 21-1 566
4. Amherst 22-2 539
5. Hampden-Sydney 21-3 501
6. Randolph Macon 21-2 492
7. Wittenberg 20-3 485
8. Wooster 19-3 431
9. UW-Stevens Point 19-2 311
10. Trinity (CT) 20-2 377
11. Wheaton (IL) 19-3 356
12. Hope 19-4 315
13. Puget Sound 19-2 311
14. Franklin & Marshall 19-3 286
15. UW-Whitewater 19-4 261
16. Lawrence 18-3 225
17. Trinity (TX) 19-4 190
18. UW-River Falls 17-6 188
19. John Carroll 17-5 169
20. DeSales 19-3 162
21. Buena Vista 19-4 128
22. Gustavus Adolphus 18-5 126
23. Gwynedd-Mercy 21-2 117
24. Maryville (TN) 19-5 69
25. Washington (MO) 17-5 61

Others receiving votes: Baldwin-Wallace 24, Penn State-Behrend 24, Illinois Wesleyan 15, Augustana 14, Lasell 13, Catholic 11, Ohio Wesleyan 9, Whitworth 9, Alvernia 5, Keene State 4, Babson 3, Plymouth State 3, Salem State 3, Lycoming 1, Mary Washington 1, Rowan 1, Wartburg 1