2005-2006 Men’s Preview

CLARION HOOP TEAM OPENS NOV. 18 AT GENEVA TOURNEY
GOLDEN EAGLES FEATURE VETS & NEWCOMERS FOR 2005-06

        The Clarion Men’s Basketball team overcame adversity to win the school’s 12th PSAC-West title in 2005. The 2006 team is preparing to rock W.S. Tippin Gymnasium again with an exciting brand of basketball, led by 18th year head coach Ron Righter.
        The season officially opens on November 18th when the Golden Eagles play Trevecca Nazarene at 6pm in the Geneva Tournament. The first home game is on November 30th at 7:30pm against District of Columbia.
                                            RIGHTER BEGINS 18TH SEASON - 286-172 OVERALL RECORD
        Righter, the 2005 PSAC-West “Coach of the Year”, led the Golden Eagles to a 19-9 overall record and first place in the PSAC-West with an 8-4 record. Righter has a Clarion record of 286-172 in 17 seasons and a 19-year overall collegiate record of 310-196.
        Last year Clarion won the PSAC-West despite a 1-2 start in the league. Four consecutive home wins over California (62-50), Edinboro (72-66), IUP (82-78 - 2 ot’s) and Shippensburg (64-57) put the Eagles back on track. Clarion captured the West title with a 69-61 win at Edinboro, sweeping the Fighting Scots who went on to win the PSAC Championship. The Golden Eagles qualified for the PSAC Playoffs for the ninth straight year, the longest active streak of any PSAC team and went an unbelievable 13-0 at home in the regular season. All this accomplished with three starters out with injuries during the season.
                                                        CLARION AVERAGES 19 WINS UNDER RIGHTER
        Righter’s teams have put together an outstanding record of 169-81 over the last nine seasons, an average of nearly 19 wins (18.8) per season, including a quality 69-39 record in the PSAC-West. Righter has led Clarion to three PSAC-West titles (2005, 2000, 1997) and its first PSAC title in 2001.
        In 2001 Clarion was 19-10 overall, 7-5 in the PSAC-West, won the PSAC title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1981. Clarion’s PSAC title win came in an 80-77 overtime victory over West Chester (at Edinboro).
        Clarion also won the PSAC-West title in 2000 with a 10-2 league mark and a 20-7 overall record. In 1999 the Eagles were 19-8 overall and 7-5 in the PSAC-West, while notching a 20-7 slate in 1998 with an 8-4 West record. In 1997 Clarion won the PSAC-West with a 9-3 mark and were 22-7 overall as the PSAC runner-up, narrowly missing the NCAA Playoffs.  The 2003 Eagles were 19-10 overall (7-5 in the PSAC-West), 15-10 in 2002 (7-5 in PSAC-West) and 16-12 (6-6 in PSAC-West) in 2004.
                                                            2005-2006 GOLDEN EAGLE SEASON OUTLOOK
        The 2005-2006 season? “This is probably the hardest pre-season that I have had to judge in my tenure at Clarion,” reflected coach Righter. “I think we will have a very typical Clarion team. We’ll be a small, quick, hard to match up against type of team that will depend on adapting our game to situations. We’ll work hard at being a quality defensive team, because that will help us control the game’s tempo to our liking. But we also face a number of challenges. We have already lost two players for the season with injury, and still have three others coming off season ending injuries from a year ago that have to get back into game shape. Along with that we have some exciting new players that will have to step in right away and contribute. How healthy will we be? Will our chemistry be good? Who will take over the leadership roles on the court with Ryan Wells and Lee Church graduated? If we can answer those questions to our liking, I believe our fans will really like this team because it is athletic, hard nosed and spirited.”
                                                                CLARION VETERANS READY TO LEAD
                                                    VAUGHNS, COLLINS, FRANKLIN & CLARKE RETURN
        Clarion could return 4 starters in 2005-06 with second team PSAC-West guard Terrance Vaughns (Sr. Uniontown), guards Justin Collins (Jr. Lansdale) and Bobby Franklin (Jr. Pgh - Plum) and center Michael Clarke (Sr. Brooklyn, N.Y.) all back in the fold.
        Vaughns, a co-captain, was all set to red-shirt this year. But with talented newcomer Brent Nelson (Jr. Detroit) and senior guard Frank Torbert (Imperial, West Allegheny) already suffering knee injuries in the pre-season and ruled out for the year, coach Righter has a decision to make whether he should pull Vaughns off the shelf. Vaughns has already had three great seasons at Clarion as its shooting guard. In 2005 he averaged 12.1ppg, 4.8 rebs, dished out 50 assists, made 51 steals, canned 65 three-pointers and shot 82% from the free throw line. In his career he has 976 points, 378 rebounds, 184 assists and 147 steals. He currently ranks second in career free throw percentage at 86% and in 2003 he set the Clarion single season record shooting 47.7% from three-point land.
        Collins, who suffered a season-ending elbow injury after only two games last year, returns at the #3 guard position. Collins, a returning co-captain, averaged 8.8ppg, handed out 23 assists and shot 82% from the free throw line in 2004. At IUP that year he set a new PSAC and Clarion record when he made 8 of 8 three pointers in a single game. He led the PSAC shooting 46% from the three-point line (57 of 124). Collins has 355 career points and 80 rebounds.
        Franklin, a junior point guard, is expected to direct the Eagle offense this season. Franklin started 26 of 28 games last year, averaged 7ppg, handed out 90 assists, grabbed 31 steals and 53 rebounds. Last year he ranked #5 in the PSAC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.91. In two seasons he has 340 points and 135 assists.
        Clarke, who was dominating through 23 games last year, also suffered a knee injury and missed the final six games of the year. He is working his way back, but is not yet at full strength. Clarke averaged 13.2ppg and 7.6 rebounds a year ago, plus blocked 17 shots, had 21 steals and was #2 in the PSAC in field goal percentage at 62.3% (129-207). In two seasons Clarke has 626 points and 372 rebounds.
                                                    MADDEN, HEATH & BUCHANAN READY TO CONTRIBUTE
        Talented players also returning for the Golden Eagles are guards Maurice Madden (So. North Hills - Upper Dublin) and Garrett Heath (So. Emlenton - Keystone), along with center Chris Buchanan (Jr. Altoona).
        Madden, an extremely talented guard, was lost for the year with a knee injury at Mercyhurst in game five of 2005. He was averaging 11.2ppg and had 13 assists and 8 steals before the injury and was able to get a medical red-shirt. He too is not 100% health, but is playing well in the pre-season according to Righter. Madden transferred to Clarion from Drexel, where he played in 7 games in 2004. A versatile guard, he can play all three guard positions. From Upper Dublin High, he averaged 22ppg, 7 assists and 6 rebounds his senior year for a team that was 22-6.
        Heath, from nearby Keystone High, had a solid freshman year averaging 3.7ppg with 24 assists and 22 steals. He nailed 19 of 49 three’s (39%) and is battling for a starting spot in the lineup. Heath was the D-9 and KSAC “MVP” in 2004. He averaged 22.4ppg, 9 rebounds and three assists while helping Keystone to three D-9 titles. A second team All-State player, Heath had 2,215 career points.
        Buchanan showed he can play the center position in the PSAC-West after a strong finish to his 2005 season. Chris averaged 3.5ppg, but had two big games down the stretch scoring 19 points and hauling in 10 rebounds against SR and 14 points at 8 rebounds versus Pitt-Johnstown. He can also hit the three-pointer which opens up the lane.
        Also looking for playing time will be forwards Elijah Everett (So. Sharon Hill) and Patrick Craig (Jr. Chicora - Karns City).
Everett saw action in 13 games last year and totaled 10 points and 19 rebounds. Craig meanwhile played in 10 games and had 4 points and 8 rebounds.
                                                    TALENTED NEWCOMERS READY TO CONTRIBUTE
        The Golden Eagles have added talent in newcomers Leon Kennedy (Jr. Detroit, Mi.), John Geiger (Fr. McKees Rocks) and Ryan Smith (Fr. Phila. - Frankford).
        Kennedy, a junior college transfer from Wayne County C.C., averaged 20.2ppg, 5 rebs, and 4 assists a year ago. He played at Northwestern High in Detroit and averaged 24.2ppg while being voted HM All-State.
        Geiger, a small forward from Sto-Rox High in Pittsburgh, helped his high school team to a PIAA State title in 2004 and two runner-up finishes in 2002 and 2003. He sat out last season at Clarion. Geiger averaged 20ppg his senior year and was an All-State selection.
        Smith, a point guard from Frankford High in Philadelphia, averaged 10.3ppg and 7.8 assists his senior year while being voted to the first team All-Public League.
        Also looking for time will be guards David Blanks (Fr. Erie - Strong Vincent) and Mark Gillooly (Fr. Imperial - West Allegheny) and center R.J. Martin (Fr. Graysville - West Greene)
                                                            TORBERT & NELSON OUT FOR THE SEASON
        Expecting to have big years for the Golden Eagles were transfer forward Brent Nelson (Jr. Detroit, Mi) and guard Frank Torbert (Sr. Imperial - West Allegheny), who are out for the season with knee injuries.
        Nelson transferred from Wayne County C.C. where he averaged 10ppg and 7 rebounds. A very athletic forward he was expected to battle to start at the power forward spot.
        Torbert last season averaged 5.2ppg with 14 assists and 22 steals. He nailed 26 of 65 three pointers (40%) and had some big games in the PSAC-West, including 19 tallies against California.
CLARION NOTES: Clarion’s coaching staff returns Al Modrejewski as assistant, newcomer Steve Brodzinski as the graduate assistant coach and veteran Jeremy McCool, now a member of the Clarion Admissions Staff, as a volunteer coach... McCool (Keystone 1990) played at NCAA Division I Vermont and graduated in 1995... Righter has an unbelievable home record of 177-68, a 72% winning rate over his 17 seasons ... The last 9 years Clarion is 105-29 at home, a winning rate of 78.3% ... Clarion will have 12 home games this season ...PSAC-West starts on January 11th when the Eagles host Shippensburg ... Dating back to 1971 Clarion has an overall men’s record of 590-346, a 63 % winning percentage ... The Golden Eagles have won the PSAC-West 12 times including 1971, 73, 77, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 97, 2000 and 2005 ... 1971 and 73 under Ron Galbreath, 77, 79, 80 and 81 under Joe DeGregorio, 83, 84 and 85 under Dr. Richard Taylor and the last three under coach Righter... Prior to 1981 Clarion went to the NAIA Nationals in 1976-77 when the team went 27-3 and in 1979-80 when the Eagles were 23-6... In the 1977 NAIA Tournament Clarion defeated Augsburg (88-84), then lost to Grand Valley (79-65)... In the 1980 tournament Clarion defeated Grand Canyon (83-75), Loras, Iowa (79-71), then lost to Huron S.D. 61-52... The PSAC went completely to the NCAA the following season and Clarion went to the NCAA Playoffs in 1981 ... The Eagles defeated Monmouth 80-78 in the semi final game, then lost 84-61 to Cal Poly SLO in the Regional Finals at Monmouth, New Jersey... All three tournament appearances were under coach DeGregorio ... DeGregorio won 159 games in 8 years and held the record for coaching wins prior to Righter ... Clarion’s 1952 team won the NAIB District title and went to the NAIB Nationals under Ben Kribbs and lost their first tournament game to Utah State 85-68.