Lattner top returner for Tiger squad seeking better season

Bill Fenlon has coached college basketball for 31 years, the last 24 at DePauw University.

His first team, at the University of the South in 1985-86, had a 9-13 record.

Three other teams fell just under the .500 mark at 12-13, but all the rest of them have been at .500.

Except last year.

The Tigers, who were replacing all five starters from the previous season, finished with an 8-17 record.

“We are coming off for us what was a pretty down year in terms of a success standpoint,” Fenlon said. “We didn’t have a lot of depth or experience in our junior and senior classes last year. We had sophomores who didn’t play a whole lot as freshmen who had to play a lot, and a lot of freshmen playing college basketball for the first time.”

Fenlon said that on a “normal cycle” for his program that those players would have played some, but their roles would not have been as big yet.

“We took our lumps a little bit,” he said. “Our league is really good. Probably top two or three in the country at our level. You have to be more experienced than we were to compete.”

Fenlon, who has coached and won more games than anyone in DePauw history, thinks his players are on track developmentally. The Tigers opened the season with a loss at Franklin on Wednesday night, and he was curious to see how the team would perform.

“We are very much a work in progress,” he admitted. “I am looking forward to see how we compete and how we finish out games. Last year, in nine of our losses we had second-half leads. We competed well but were not consistent enough to get wins.”

Senior guard Luke Lattner, a native of Hinsdale, Ill., tops the team’s returners with an 18.5 scoring average last year.

Lattner earned second-team all-North Coast Athletic Conference honors for the second straight year. He averaged 17.6 points in the 17 conference games to rank fourth and he also added 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists, while shooting 41.3 percent from 3-point range.

He posted a school and NCAC-record 55-point performance on Feb. 17 against Wabash, which equaled the third-best single-game output in NCAA Division III men’s basketball last season.

Lattner led the Tigers with 18.5 points per game and was second on the squad with 45 3-pointers, shooting 39.8 percent from beyond the arc.

“He’s our leading returning scorer, and a guy who played on both of those good teams we had two and three years ago,” Fenlon said. “There are more ways to lead a team than by scoring the most points, though.

“He needs to improve on making other guys better,” he added. “If he can develop some of the other things that a guy who is going to get a lot of attention defensively needs to do, and continue to be a scoring threat, and make that fact an avenue to create shots for other guys then we’re going to be a lot better as a result of that.”

Fenlon describes Lattner as both a good shooter and a driver.

“He’s just someone who can score,” he said. “He can shoot it, and he can finish at the basket, and he gets to the free throw line pretty well. He has a good first step and can handle it well. He’s got the full package for a Division III guard. You don’t get 55 points in a game by just shooting open shots.”

Fenlon said that injuries have slowed the evaluation of his team in practice so far, with some concussions and other guys banged up.

Senior point guard Nate Jahn from Terre Haute North started at point guard on Wednesday, while junior Mason Hankins will also see a lot of backcourt time. David Vogel, a junior, played a lot last year, Fenlon said, and will be joind by James Clarke in the backcourt rotation.

“David is a great shooter,” Fenlon said. “James joined us as a transfer last year, and was just starting to get playing time toward the end of the season and can do a little bit of everything.”

Freshman Ethan Jarrett of Lawrence North will also play, Fenlon said, and will bring athleticism and ball skills to the group.

“He’s been our best freshman,” Fenlon said. “He brings some quickness that we need in the backcourt.”

Center Jack VandeMerkt, who stands 6-foot-7, is a junior who started all of last season.

“He has some chronic knee problems,” Fenlon said. “If he can get healthy, that will definitely help us. When he’s healthy he has a chance to be a good player at this level.”

Cris Burrough, a junior from Guerin Catholic, is a “pick and pop” 3-point shooting player at the “4” position.

Others who will see action in the frontcourt early in the season are Forrest Nettles, John Starkey and Andrew Kus.

“We are going to play a lot of guys inside, and see who can develop and produce the defense and rebounding that we need,” Fenlon said.

Fenlon has a positive outlook, although he knows that the improvement will take time.

“I don’t expect us to be where we want to be in the first week of the season,” he said. “It’s the kind of a team where if we can come together and reach our potential, and figure out an identity for ourselves, we can be a pretty good basketball team by the end.”

2016-17 roster

Mason Hankins 5-10 Jr.

James Clarke 6-1 Jr.

Riley Doody 6-1 So.

Ethan Jarrett 6-1 Fr.

Nate Jahn 5-10 Sr.

Sam Husting 6-3 Fr.

John Starkey 6-4 So.

David Vogel 6-4 Jr.

Luke Steinhart 6-1 Fr.

Andrew Kus 6-7 So.

Luke Lattner 6-1 Sr.

Cris Burrough 6-6 Jr.

Jack VandeMerkt 6-7 Jr.

Matt Mahlke 6-6 Fr.

Connor Holly 6-2 Fr.

Forrest Nettles 6-6 Jr.

Pete Feely 6-7 So.

Head coach: Bill Fenlon

2015-16 results (8-17)

FRANKLIN W 84-79

vs. Johns Hopkins L 74-82

vs. Pomona-Pitzer L 74-77

at Earlham W 80-74

at Rose-Hulman L 67-76

* DENISON L 67-80

* at Wooster L 56-85

* OBERLIN W 75-66

vs. Coast Guard W 82-71

vs. Buena Vista W 81-79

* at Allegheny W 67-64

* at Hiram L 60-91

* at Kenyon L 75-82

* WITTENBERG L 42-65

* OHIO WESLEYAN L 67-74

* at Wabash L 75-80

* WOOSTER L 56-73

* at Denison L 60-81

* at Oberlin W 64-53

* ALLEGHENY L 54-59

* HIRAM L 65-72

* at Wittenberg L 53-85

* KENYON L 79-81

* WABASH W 114-110 (3OT)

* at Ohio Wesleyan L 57-81

2015-16 schedule

Nov. 16 — at Franklin (lost 86-74)

Nov. 19 — Washington (Mo.) 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 22 — Boyce 6 p.m.

Nov. 26 — vs. East-West @ University of Chicago Tournament 3 p.m. CST

Nov. 27 — vs. TBD in UChicago Tournament

Dec. 3 — Ohio Wesleyan *

Dec. 7 — at Wittenberg *

Dec. 10 — at Wooster *

Dec. 18 — Hiram *

Dec. 29 — vs. Wentworth @ Tampa Bay Shootout 5 p.m.

Dec. 30 — vs. SUNY-Canton or Drew @ Tampa Bay Shootout TBA

Jan. 3 — Allegheny * 3 p.m.

Jan. 7 — Kenyon * 3 p.m.

Jan. 11 — at Denison * 8 p.m.

Jan. 14 — Oberlin * 3 p.m.

Jan. 18 — at Wabash * 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 21 — at Ohio Wesleyan * 3 p.m.

Jan. 25 — Wittenberg * 7 p.m.

Jan. 28 — Wooster * 3 p.m.

Feb. 3 — at Allegheny * 6 p.m.

Feb. 4 — at Hiram * 2 p.m.

Feb. 8 — Denison * 8 p.m.

Feb. 11 — at Kenyon * 3 p.m.

Feb. 15 — Wabash * 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 18 — at Oberlin * 3 p.m.

* — NCAC game