Diplomats Rank Sixth in March 23 D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Poll

by Sports Information
3/23/04

LANCASTER, PA - The 2004 Centennial Conference Champion Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team received 447 votes to rank sixth in the March 23 and final D3hoops.com Division III Men's Basketball poll of the 2004 season.

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, 14th on February 3 and February 17, 11th on February 24 and ninth on March 9.

Leading the team in 2004 were All-America center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) and point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) who earned National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Men's Basketball All-America Team honorable mention accolades.

Both D3hoops.com All-Middle Atlantic Region selections, the duo marked the only pair of players from a school selected to the D3hoops.com and NABC All-Middle Atlantic Region teams.

In addition, the pair both earned All-Centennial Conference first team honors earlier this year as Searles and Juskin's recognition on the first team marked the fifth time overall and second straight time F&M has placed two players on the first team. Last season, Juskin and guard/forward Asaf Ganot '03 garnered first team honors as the Diplomats recorded two first-teamers for the first time since 1996 when Mike Mehaffey and Jeremiah Henry earned the honor. The Diplomats also placed two players on the first team in 1995 (Charlie Detz' 95, Dave Jannetta '95 & Mehaffey) and 1994 (Detz & Jannetta).

A three time All-CC honoree following a second team nod in 2002 and first team honors last year, Juskin tallied 426 points, 187 rebounds, 105 assists and a school and Centennial Conference record 114 blocked shots this year as he earned D3hoops.com All-America second team honors.

A 2004 Street & Smith's Division III Preseason All-America Honorable Mention selection, and a 2003 and 2004 D3hoops.com All-Mid Atlantic first team selection, he is the ninth player in school history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

Further, he concludes his career among F&M's best as he ranks among the all-time leaders in points (sixth - 1,444 points), rebounds (fourth - 727) and blocked shots (first - 330) while appearing in 114 and starting 111 games.

The February 2 Centennial Conference Player of the Week and the ninth player in school history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds, he holds the Centennial Conference record in blocked shots as his total is 119 swats more than the total of runner-up Cam Scribner '03 of Haverford (211).

At point guard, Searles sparked the Diplomats ranking first in assists (106) and tying with teammate Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) for the lead in steals (58) while tying with Juskin for second scoring with an average of 14.2 points per game.

The February 23 Centennial Conference Player of the Week, Searles has been among the Centennial Conference's most prolific scorers as he has combined with Juskin as the duo rank third all-time in scoring with a combined 2,764 points.

A four year starter, Searles ranks among F&M's all-time best in scoring (10th - 1,320), assists (sixth - 358), steals (seventh - 197), three-point field goals (second -202) and three-point field goal percentage (sixth - 40.3%) while appearing in 114 and starting 105 games.

In the history of the Centennial Conference, he ranks third in three-point field goals, fifth in assists and is tied with Dickinson's Billy Hagan '03 for the Conference record in steals with 197.

Overall, the senior trio of Searles, Juskin and guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) made history as they joined the Classes of 1989 (Phil Hoeker, Brad Markey, Brian Menet), 1992 (Will Lasky, Mark Maggionacalda, Chris Finch) and 1995 (Mike Sievert, Charlie Detz, Dave Jannetta) as only the fourth class to have three 1,000 point scorers.

In addition they become the second highest scoring trio in school history with 3,783 combined points, 330 more than the trio of Detz, Jannetta and Sievert (3,453 points), and 410 less than the school record trio of Lasky, Maggioncalda and Finch (4,193 points).

Ranked #9 in the latest Lazindex.com poll, the Diplomats captured the Centennial Conference Championship and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they advanced to the NCAA "Elite Eight"

Overall, the tournament berth marked the 19th in the history of men's basketball at the College as the team earned NCAA bids in 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1986-1996, 1999 and 2000, including appearances in four Final Fours (1979, 1991, 1996, 2000).

F&M, which knocked off Hampden-Sydney 78-76 in the round of 32, defeated Gwynedd Mercy (92-72 W) in the "Sweet 16", but fell to Amherst 82-70 in the "Elite Eight" to conclude the season among the top eight teams in the nation.

For F&M, which concluded the year with the 19th 20-win season under head coach Glenn Robinson (674-235), the team's 26-4 record (17-1 in Centennial Conference play) marked the program's best mark and highest winning percentage (.867) since the 1996 team concluded the year 29-3 (.906) in the NCAA "Final Four".

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 (March 23 - Final)
Rank Team (1st Place Votes) 2003-04 Record Pts.
1. UW-Stevens Point (25) 29-5 625
2. Williams 30-2 600
3. John Carroll 27-6 562
4. Amherst 27-5 552
5. Wooster 26-4 505
6. Franklin & Marshall 26-4 447
7. Lawrence 24-5 431
8. Hanover 26-2 406
9. Rochester 25-2 401
10. Hampden-Sydney 25-5 371
11. Illinois-Wesleyan 21-7 358
12. Puget Sound 24-3 342
13. Wheaton (IL) 21-4 308
14. Wittenberg 24-5 291
15. Gwynedd-Mercy 26-3 212
16. Maryville (TN) 23-6 210
17. Randolph Macon 23-5 204
18. Keene State 25-6 191
19. Buena Vista 24-5 177
20. Trinity (CT) 22-5 150
21. Trinity (TX) 24-5 131
22. UW-River Falls 20-7 130
23. Gustavus Adolphus 22-6 128
24. Hope 21-5 118
25. Sul Ross State 21-9 50

Others receiving votes: New Jersey City 48, Catholic 41, Brockport State 39, UW-Whitewater 29, Salem State 16, DeSales 15, Plymouth State 11, Elizabethtown 7, Babson 4, Lycoming 4, Washington U. 4, Endicott 3, Lasell 3, UW-Platteville 1.