Call it a career: SIUE sends off five seniors

Letting go of seniors is tough for any college basketball team, and it is no different at SIUE where five players have wrapped up their careers.

In his fourth season at SIUE, Lennox Forrester has been around long enough to see the first player he recruited as a Cougar move on.

Replacing Nikola Bundalo is not going to be an easy task for SIUE, given all he sacrificed while at SIUE on and off the basketball floor. The Serbian center finished his collegiate career last week at the Vadalabene Center with 17 points, giving him 888 at SIUE, good for 19th all-time.

"He played one year the Division II level and three years in the transition to Division I. He is going to graduate with a 3.9 GPA in finance. That is not an easy thing to do," Forrester said. "Winning has to be more than just on the floor but in the community and the classroom and Nik has done that."

Putting basketball behind him will not be easy for Bundalo, and he admitted it was difficult and perhaps surreal suiting up for the final time as a Cougar.

"It did feel kind of weird and it didn't feel like a real game," Bundalo said. "When I woke up it felt weird and I was kind of sad having my last college basketball game."

In his first year at SIUE, junior guard Cornelius Chatt said he would miss playing with Bundalo, who averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds during his senior season.

"We are a good team but we are going to lose one of the best big men I have ever played with since I started playing basketball," Chatt said.

The Cougars are also losing Cody Rincker, Anthony Mitchell, Dob Mavrak and Alex Newlin next year as well.

Rincker walked onto the Cougars roster in 2009 as a transfer from Lincoln Land Community College. Rincker averaged 4.5 points per game last season and 4.6 this season. Forrester will remember Rincker, the Cougars' sixth man, for his hard work ethic and as an individual the team respected playing with.

"Cody is a young man who didn't get a scholarship. He wanted to be here and worked his butt off to get here," Forrester said. "If you ask anyone on the team who they respect the most it is going to be Cody Rincker for his hard work, unselfishness and putting the team first."

The East St. Louis native Mitchell faced a challenging time as a Cougar. He began his college basketball career at St. Louis under Brad Soderberg, but soon had to adjust to a new coach in Rick Majerus. Mitchell transferred to SIUE for the 2009-2010 season, but a nagging knee injury he had at SLU carried over to his time at SIUE. Mitchell averaged 3.4 points per game at SIUE, and although he is listed as a junior, Mitchell will forgo his senior year to graduate.

"It's just been a tough situation for him," Forrester said. "He came here and thought he was healthy and that kept him from making the huge progress he could have made."

However, Mitchell still achieved his goal at SIUE.

"It was a promise I made to him," Forrester said. "Anthony is going to graduate after this year is over. I told him he will graduate and he will definitely do that."

Mavrak was a fan favorite during his senior season at SIUE, not so much for his on-the-court play, but for his personality. Mavrak came to SIUE as a transfer from Palm Springs Community College in Florida, and is a native of Toronto. The Cougars did see an improvement in the backup center this season, after grabbing eight rebounds twice along with a career-high 12 against UT Martin Jan. 24.

"Dob [Mavrak] is a tremendous team player and someone who is never ever in a bad mood," Forrester said. "I could be yelling at him and he has a smile on his face. We recruited him to come in and back up Nik a little bit and he relished the opportunity."

Newlin, like Rincker, was a walk-on addition to the SIUE roster in 2009. Newlin typically was not a guy who saw minutes for SIUE, but Forrester said he knew his role and never complained. He also gave the Cougars flexibility in practice because he could play a number of positions.

"Alex never knows when he is going to play but brings it every day," Forrester said. "If we win and he doesn't play he is just as happy if he went in and played 10 minutes. He was awesome for our program with the sacrifices he made."

Forrester said this year's class of seniors helped set the groundwork for future teams to succeed at SIUE.

"Guys after them will reap all the hard work they have done and I will never let the future teams forget about them," Forrester said. "Even last year's guys, Aamir McCleary, Stephen Jones, Denycko Bowles, those guys are a part of the Cougar family and will always be remembered for what they have done."

The Cougars still have scholarships to give, and the entire offseason to replace four spots. Right now, Charles Joy of O'Fallon High School is the Cougars only commitment for the 2011-2012 season.

"You can't really replace those guys," Chatt said. "We just have to come in next year and get after it."

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