# 1999–2000 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team

The 1999–2000 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team represented Wright State University in the 1999–2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball season led by head coach Ed Schilling.

## Season Summary

1999-2000 has been best remembered by WSU fans as the year the Raiders upset eventual NCAA champions Michigan State. This was part of the larger pattern, where they were very hard to beat in the Nutter Center, and didn't win a single game on the road.
The season began with the news that star recruit Vernard Hollins would have to redshirt, and junior forward Kevin Melson would miss five games due to being short on credit hours. The season ended with a quick exit from the tournament to Detroit Mercy. In-between saw the steady development of a talented young team, as Israel Sheinfeld and Marcus May began to establish themselves as the key combination. With two first-team all league starts returning, expectations for the following season were high.

### Roster Changes

Despite the departure of three key seniors from the previous season, WSU finally found some roster stability with over half the roster returning. Adding a solid recruiting class promised good things to come.

#### Joining

* Thomas Hope (F) out of Waterloo, Ontario arrived with high praise for his potential.
* Joe Bills (G) an Ohio player of the year from Zanesville.
* John Watkins (F) recruited from DeKalb High School in Waterloo Indiana.
* Tyson Freeman (G) finally joined as a walk-on after an error on his high school transcript kept him ineligible as a freshman.
* Vernard Hollins (G) from Fort Wayne will redshirt due to his SAT score.
* Jesse Deister (G) from Olathe Christian High School, transferred to Wright State from neighboring Cedarville University and will redshirt.

#### Leaving

* Ryan Grose resigned from the team on March 10 following a frustrating season that began with a suspension and
saw his playing time limited by injury.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Nov 19, 1999* | | at Pittsburgh | L 52-69 | 0–1 | Fitzgerald Field House Pittsburgh |
| Nov 23, 1999* | | at Central Michigan | L 48-76 | 0–2 | Rose Arena Mount Pleasant, MI |
| Nov 27, 1999* | | at Texas-Pan American | L 60-63 | 0–3 | UTRGV Fieldhouse Edinburg, TX |
| Nov 30, 1999* | | vs. South Alabama | W 66-64 | 1–3 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 4, 1999* | | Northern Iowa | L 35-61 | 1–4 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 7, 1999* | | at Morehead State | L 72–74 | 1–5 | Ellis T. Johnson Arena Morehead, Kentucky |
| Dec 13, 1999* | | at St. Mary's | L 48–80 | 1–6 | McKeon Pavilion Moraga, CA |
| Dec 16, 1999* | | Prairie View A&M | W 104–74 | 2–6 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 18, 1999* | | at Miami Ohio | L 61-72 | 2–7 | Millett Assembly Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Dec 21, 1999 | | Northern Illinois | L 58-70 | 2–8 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 23, 1999* | | St. Mary's | W 58–50 | 3–8 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 30, 1999* | | No. 6 Michigan State | W 53-49 | 4-8 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 3, 2000* | | Tennessee State | W 61-53 | 5-8 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 8, 2000 | | at Butler | L 47-71 | 5-9 (0–1) | Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis |
| Jan 13, 2000 | | at Detroit Mercy | L 65–75 | 5-10 (0–2) | Calihan Hall Detroit, MI |
| Jan 15, 2000 | | at Cleveland State | L 55-69 | 5-11 (0–3) | CSU Convocation Center Cleveland, OH |
| Jan 20, 2000 | | Milwaukee | W 67-60 | 6-11 (1–3) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 22, 2000 | | Green Bay | W 60-44 | 7-11 (2–3) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 27, 2000 | | at Loyola | L 58-59 | 7-12 (2–4) | Gentile Event Center Chicago, IL |
| Jan 29, 2000 | | at UIC | L 51-69 | 7-13 (2–5) | UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL |
| Feb 5, 2000 | | Butler | L 55-79 | 7–14 (2–6) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 10, 2000 | | Cleveland State | W 91-88 | 8-14 (3–6) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 12, 2000 | | Detroit Mercy | W 64–61 | 9-14 (4–6) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 17, 2000 | | at Green Bay | L 46-61 | 9-15 (4–7) | Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena Green Bay, WI |
| Feb 19, 2000 | | at Milwaukee | L 67-81 | 9-16 (4–8) | Klotsche Center Milwaukee, WI |
| Feb 24, 2000 | | UIC | W 72-52 | 10-16 (5–8) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 26, 2000 | | Loyola | W 84-71 | 11-16 (6–8) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Midwestern Collegiate Tournament ||||||
| Mar 4, 2000 | (6) | vs. (3) Detroit Mercy Quarterfinals | L 59-64 | 9-18 | UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. ||||||
Source

## Awards and honors

| Bruno Petersons | Raider Award |
| Israel Sheinfeld | First Team All League |
| Kevin Melson | First Team All League |

## Statistics

| Number | Name | Games | Average | Points | Assists | Rebounds |
| 10 | Israel Sheinfeld | 28 | 17.0 | 476 | 38 | 215 |
| 22 | Kevin Melson | 22 | 18.6 | 410 | 49 | 160 |
| 20 | Marcus May | 27 | 11.6 | 314 | 67 | 97 |
| 40 | Thomas Hope | 28 | 4.8 | 135 | 36 | 125 |
| 13 | Joe Bills | 28 | 4.2 | 117 | 76 | 53 |
| 12 | Tyson Freeman | 28 | 3.4 | 94 | 26 | 42 |
| 52 | Bruno Petersons | 27 | 1.8 | 49 | 6 | 48 |
| 24 | Louis Holmes | 14 | 3.5 | 49 | 6 | 14 |
| 5 | John Watkins | 17 | 2.5 | 42 | 11 | 14 |
| 25 | Steve Yeagle | 17 | 1.8 | 31 | 13 | 27 |
| 3 | Onome Scott-Emuakpor | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source