Independent from Independency

The Independent chapter of SIUE's transition to NCAA Division I was completed last week with an 84-55 victory over NAIA Hannibal LaGrange.

Despite having multiple story lines, this chapter was far from a best seller, as the Cougars prepare to enter the Ohio Valley Conference next season.

For starters, pre-season All-Independent junior forward Mark Yelovich scored 15 points, but broke his foot in the opener Nov. 12 against IPFW. A pair of newcomers expected to do big things at SIUE, junior college transfer Abel Tillman and freshman Gerald Jones, were suspended before they even saw action as Cougars. When they finally saw the court, it was short lived as neither finished the season.

When the first month couldn't get any worse, SIUE dropped a program-worst 61-point defeat to the Iowa Hawkeyes Nov. 26, on national television no less.

It was a wake up call for junior guard Cornelius Chatt, a transfer to SIUE from Wabash Valley Community College, along with Corey Wickware.

"When we played Iowa I was kind of scared," Chatt said. "That was the first big school I played against. Next year we will be ready. We can beat anyone in the country if we put our minds to it."

The Cougars were not beating anyone during the early portion of the season. The lone positives were a 17-point win against Division III MacMurray while an overtime loss to Middle Tennessee State doubled as disappointment.

Head Coach Lennox Forrester, now 40-76 through four seasons at the helm, had to find a way to get the struggling Cougars back on track. It was even tougher for them with three key players entering the season with no Division I experience.

"I knew it was going to be tough with or without Mark [Yelovich]," Forrester said. "Whenever you have new guys coming in, it's a tough transition. I wish our record was better to make them feel better about themselves, but they have made the sacrifices, put in the hard work and stayed together as a team."

Chatt, Wickware and freshman Michael Messer were all regulars in the starting lineup and each presented unique challenges for the coaching staff.

For Messer it was consistency and for Chatt it was maturity.

"Early in the season I was a little hotheaded and I was a pain," Chatt said. "Coach took me into his office and told me to get out of my confidence zone and start thinking about other things instead of myself. I was selfish earlier in the season."

Senior Cody Rincker walked onto the Cougars' roster and made an impact for the better part of two seasons, which had an effect on Chatt.

"Cody let me know this was a team thing," Chatt said. "I really took that to my head and I've been trying to be a leader on and off the court."

The rigors of a long Division I season wore on Messer, who had scored 24 points against Kennesaw State in the Cougars' first win over a non-transitional Division I team at home Dec. 11.

"Mike was the guy who kind of hit the wall harder than anyone," Forrester said. "He fought really hard to get back on track. He didn't quit, didn't feel sorry for himself and worked through it. It says a lot for himself."

Messer ended the year on a positive note, scoring 15 points against Hannibal LaGrange.

When it seemed like all was lost, the Cougars found a pulse in the middle of the season. They were able to increase last year's win total by three, from five to eight, and followed up last season's Drake Hy-Vee Classic championship with another in-season tournament title. This time, SIUE beat Longwood and the Citadel to claim the upper division title of the Las Vegas Classic.

While SIUE showed a continued ability to win on a neutral court, the biggest area of concern was the team's play against the OVC.

SIUE lost all nine chances it had against teams from the conference, including six at the Vadalabene Center. The closest SIUE came to an OVC triumph was a bit of a surprise, considering they nearly knocked off regular season conference champion Murray State before falling 67-61 at the Vadalabene Center Jan. 26. It was even more surprising, because the Racers beat the Cougars 71-46 in Murray Dec. 30.

The OVC was more of a test than a must-win for the Cougars this time around.

"That just goes to show this conference isn't easy and it's going to be an uphill battle," Forrester said. "It shows us what kind of talent you have to have and the focus, physicality and mental approach you need to have success in the OVC."

Next year the Cougars will have Yelovich back in their quest to win in the OVC, but they will also have to find a way to replace center Nikola Bundalo who finished his career at SIUE with 888-career points.

"Our team had the guts to step up their roles and found ways to compete and win without Mark," Forester said. "It has helped the team become better and when Mark comes back we will add some pieces to the puzzle and hopefully be more competitive."

Yelovich was granted a medical redshirt for his injury, and because of it still has two years of eligibility to try and make an impact at SIUE.

Chatt said he couldn't wait for Yelovich to rejoin the Cougar lineup.

"Me and Mark on the same team is going to be like [Dwayne Wade] and LeBron James," Chatt said. "I can promise the fans we will win a lot of games."

Forrester laughed at Chatt's comment, and said it is going to take some work for Chatt and Yelovich to become that kind of a force.

"Well, that is a lot of work to be done between now and then," Forrester said. "[Chatt] better start working and better not sleep at all."

Joking aside, Bundalo said the Cougars will do what it takes to become competitive without him in the future.

"This program has proven it can compete against big teams. Last year we played Purdue when they were ranked No. 4 and it was a tight game for 10 to 15 minutes," Bundalo said. "That wasn't a bad loss. Against Iowa we were a little bit too loose and didn't come to play. These guys won't let it happen again."

2010-2011 was not the storybook season the Cougars had hoped for, but next season brings new and unique challenges.

Although SIUE will play a full OVC schedule next year, they will not be eligible for the NCAA tournament. If the Cougars are able to considerably turn it around they can earn an automatic bid into the NIT with a regular season OVC title.

"I hope we continue to grow and stay healthy so we can make progress and move to where we can compete and have something at the end of the year," Forrester said. "We cannot take steps backwards."

The Cougars participate in the Cancun Challenge next season, beginning with games at Illinois and Illinois State. The three schools join Hampton, Lipscomb, Richmond, Sacred Heart and Rutgers in Cancun for games Nov. 22 and 23. SIUE will play Bradley on the road and Cal State Fullerton and Ball State at the Vadalabene Center as a part of its non-conference schedule.

Posted in: Archives,Men's basketball