Illinois Wesleyan
2001 Division III Tournament
Sectional Game Notes, March 9-101997 NCAA Division III champions
1996 NCAA Division III third place
NCAA Division III qualifiers in 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001HEAD COACH DENNIE BRIDGES: Has been at Illinois Wesleyan most of his adult life and has been a member of the staff for 37 years. . . A 1961 IWU graduate, Bridges has an overall record of 664-318 (.676 winning percentage) in 36 seasons and is the winningest active Division III coach. In all divisions prior to this year, he was No. 11 in wins all-time among coaches who have only coached at one school, and he No. 2 on the all-time list for coaches who have only coached at their alma mater. No. 1 is Herb Magee, a 1963 Philadelphia U. grad who has coached there since 1967 and has compiled a 687-261 record in those 33 seasons. Bridges’ CCIW record is 421-129 with 17 conference championships. . . Has taken teams to the quarterfinal round of the NAIA two times and to the NCAA quarterfinals five times, but 1996 and 1997 marked his first trips into the last four teams of any national tournament. . . Bridges has coached in the CCIW longer and has won more titles than anyone in league history. . . Bridges was a Titan letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. . . Played on two CCIW basketball championship teams.
THE RECORD: Illinois Wesleyan has reached the 20-win plateau for the 14th time in the 36 years under head coach Dennie Bridges . . .With 21 wins overall and 10 in the CCIW, IWU has its 12th straight winning campaigns. In Bridges’ 36 seasons, IWU has only had one losing CCIW season (7-9 in 1988-89) while two others were 8-8 (1968-69 and 1984-85).
ILLINOIS WESLEYAN NOTES: Titan sophomore Luke Kasten was named to the first team of the CCIW all-star squad while senior Adam Osborn earned third team notice. . . Kasten has 851 points after two seasons, the second best total for a freshman/sophomore at IWU. That is behind only Jack Sikma (934 in his first two years). He is the first IWU player to have 400 points in each of his first and second seasons. Kasten has made 114 free throws this year, 14th most in a single season at IWU. Kasten has 325 career rebounds, closing in on the top 40 at IWU. Jim Gresham had 337 from 1963-66. . .Osborn has 261 career assists, making him 12th all-time at IWU. Osborn remains fifth at the school in career 3-pointers with 130. The leader is Korey Coon with 245. Osborn's 110 assists this season is the 16th best in a single season at IWU. . .Todd Wente is the first Titan to lead the CCIW in steals with an average of 2.1 in 14 league games.
IWU IN POSTSEASON PLAY: This is Illinois Wesleyan's 10th appearance in the round of 16 in the NCAA Division III tournament. . . . Illinois Wesleyan has a 57-32 overall record in postseason competition (including NAIA district and national play) since 1948-49: IWU is 27-13 in the NCAA tourney and were 30-19 in NAIA postseason play from 1948-83. . . IWU made eight trips to the NAIA national tourney in Kansas City from 1961-80. . . This is the Titans' 14th appearance in the NCAA Division III tourney in the 18 years since dropping out of NAIA competition (after 1982-83 season). . .In the 1990s, IWU made the Division III tournament nine times and six years in a row (1994-99). . . In 1996 and 1997, IWU advanced to the final four teams (finishing third in 1996 and winning the title in 1997). . . On four occasions IWU has lost in the tourney to the eventual champion - to Wisconsin-Whitewater (1984), to North Park (1987), to Ohio Wesleyan (1988), and to Rowan (1996 in the semifinals) - and three other times lost to eventual runner-up (LeMoyne-Owen in 1986, DePauw in 1990, and Manchester in 1995).
THE COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN IN THE NCAA: Teams from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin have an NCAA Division III tournament record of 83-42 (.650), including two wins each by IWU (Grinnell and Wartburg) and Carthage (Marian and Wooster), and one by Elmhurst (Washington U.) so far in 2001. . . CCIW teams have accounted for six NCAA Division III championships (IWU in 1997 and North Park in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, and 1987), two second-place finishes (Augustana in 1981 and 1993), and three third-place finishes (Augustana in 1975 and 1976, and IWU in 1996). . . Prior to being in Division III, Wheaton won the Division II title in 1957 and finished fourth in 1958.
TITANS VS. FIELD: IWU has wins over eight teams of the other 47 in this year's Division III tournament: Wartburg, Grinnell, MacMurray, Aurora, Washington U., Carthage, Elmhurst, and Benedictine.
THE TITANS VS. ELMHURST: IWU has an 84-13 lead in the series (since 1946-47), including a 71-63 win in Bloomington on Feb. 17 and an 89-87 loss at Elmhurst on Jan. 8. . . IWU has won 20 of the last 25 games and 13 of the last 16. . .IWU has 13 straight home wins vs. Elmhurst and in CCIW play only, the Titans are 43-2 at home and 32-11 on the road vs. the Bluejays.
THE TITANS VS. CHICAGO: IWU has a 6-2 record in the series against Chicago and lost a 77-76 verdict last Nov. 25 in Chicago. Adam Osborn scored 19, Luke Kasten had 18, Seth Hubbard had 14 and Todd Wente added 13 for the Titans. John Camardella had six rebounds to pace IWU.
THE TITANS VS. LEWIS & CLARK: IWU has a 1-0 lead in the series against Lewis & Clark. The Titans won a 102-85 game against the Pioneers on Dec. 31, 1997, at the Webber College Tournament in Babson Park, Fla. IWU's Mike Rogers and Lewis & Clark's Kyle Kiang are the only holdovers from that game still on their respective teams.
LEWIS & CLARK: Head coach Bob Gaillard has a 375-181 (.674) career record and is 210-124 (.629) in 13 seasons at Lewis & Clark. He coached previously at the University of San Francisco, where his 1976-77 team finished 29-2 and Gaillard was named by two national polls as college basketball’s Coach of the Year. He led the Dons to five West Coast Athletic Conference titles and six post-season appearances. . . A noted former Lewis & Clark student is Monica Lewinsky, who was a White House intern under Bill Clinton.
RECORD-SETTING FIRST ROUND: IWU’s 132-91 first round win over Grinnell was one for the books. The 132 points is a new NCAA Division III tournament record, eclipsing the old mark of 131 set in a 1996 first round game (Wheaton 131, Grinnell 117). . . The 132 points is also an Illinois Wesleyan single-game scoring record, besting the old mark of 131 vs. Carroll on Jan. 6, 1967 (131-77). . . IWU was 40 of 50 from the free throw line, which is also a new school record for free throws made. The old standard was 34, set in 1973 (vs. Wheaton) and again in 1977 (vs. Carroll).
POLLS: In the final regular season D3hoops.com rankings, Illinois Wesleyan was No. 17. Chicago was No. 1, Elmhurst was No. 9, and Lewis & Clark was No. 20.
HOME SWEET HOME: With a current home win streak of 15, the Titans are 14-0 at home this year. . . IWU is 93-5 (.948) overall and 46-3 (.939) in the CCIW at the Shirk Center since the building opened prior to the 1994-95 season. A loss to Benedictine (12/9/98) ended a school-record 46-game home win streak and a loss to Millikin (1/27/99) ended a 37-game CCIW home win skein that dated back to Feb. 17, 1993.
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS: Illinois Wesleyan has 13 first team Verizon® Academic All-Americans in men’s basketball, a total that is second overall behind only UCLA (with 17). Along with IWU, others with 13 first team Academic All-Americans are Indiana and Kansas. Other schools who rank high in first team Academic All-Americans are Duke (11), Notre Dame (10), Kentucky (9), and Brigham Young and Millikin (8). . . Overall, IWU has 96 Verizon® Academic All-Americans since the program began in 1970, including 42 first team selections, 28 second team, and 26 third team or honorable mention. Only the University of Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Bucknell have more total Verizon® Academic All-Americans. . . Illinois Wesleyan also has had six others in basketball who earned second- or third-team Academic All-America honors. . . In 1999 and 2000, Korey Coon was named the "Academic All-American of the Year" and won the 2000 Jostens Trophy, recognizing the outstanding student-athlete in Division III basketball. . . Titan quarterback Lon Erickson was the College Division Football "Academic All-America of the Year" and also won the Gagliardi Trophy as the top Division III player in the country in 1996 and outfielder James Rinne won the "Academic All-America of the Year" honor in baseball in 1998.