# 1996–97 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team represented Wright State University in the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season led by head coach Jim Brown.

## Offseason

Following a disappointing first-round tournament loss, the 1996 offseason was a difficult one for the Raiders program.

### Coach Underhill vs. President Flack

University president Dr. Harley Flack had made his displeasure with head coach Ralph Underhill widely known. This was contemporarily reported to include ultimatums of suspension or firing if the coach received technical fouls, and interference with contract negotiations. Dr. Flack pointedly stopped attending basketball games. His annual briefings to the athletic department called for more diversity, which was understood to be directed at the basketball coaching staff. Coach Underhill later claimed in the press that Flack required athletic director Mike Cusack to interview black basketball players specifically looking for any racial animus.
In coach Underhill’s new contract were specific performance and behavioral expectations. Dr. Flack had made it clear that he expected that the program become a top 50 program and the contract stipulated Wright State should be in the top 150 in RPI within two years. This was an ambitious goal for a fledgling NCAA Division I program in a competitive conference. The fact that if Underhill hadn’t created such a competitive basketball program Flack would never have conceived of that level of success was lost on nobody.

### Division I growing pains

The Raiders program at this time was under particular strain because it did not have a full time strength and conditioning coach or a full time academic advisor, or even a full time secretary. The beautiful new arena lacked dedicated locker room or workout space specifically for the basketball teams, leading to awkward sharing of equipment and space with other teams, other Nutter Center functions, and the student body. Having grown from a Division II program, few administrative adjustments had been made to accommodate the competitive demands of Division I. The coaching staff tried to pick up the slack.

### Vitaly Potapenko

President Flack made an ultimatum to star center Vitaly Potapenko that he would have only one more chance to pass the English as a second language exam or face expulsion. Potapenko had a “B” average and had come very close to passing the exam on his last attempt. Flack had been critical of Potapenko previously, including threatening Potapenko with consequences for perceived academic shortcomings. Potapenko was expected to return for his senior season, but a suspension would have meant missing a year of basketball.
Potapenko entered the NBA draft as an undergraduate and was selected 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

### Players Leaving

Guard Rick Martinez had left before the end of the previous season, starting a series of roster dominoes. Bilaal Neal had left the team with an illness, and junior college swingman Johnnie Blake again promised to join the roster but did not do so for the second year.
Guard Terrance Cast asked out of his scholarship complaining about lack of playing time. Forward Thad Burton also asked for release, but in the end did not leave the school.

### New Recruits

Recruits included junior college forward Mark Oliver, guard Mike Richardson, guard John Sivesind, forward De'Andre Shepard, forward Lequient Lewis, and forward Ryan Grose.
Walk-ons Steve Yeagle, and Anthony Brown rounded out the recruiting class.

### Coaching Change

On November 11, head coach Ralph Underhill attended the MCC preseason media event in Indianapolis. Upon returning home he was arrested for shoplifting at a local grocery store. Four days later he was fired, an event that quickly became a media circus.
Long time assistant coach Jim Brown took over as head coach to lead the very young Raiders team into what many thought was the most difficult schedule the team had yet faced.

## Aftermath

Coach Jim Brown and his staff were let go at the end of the season.
Coach Brown had been with the program since it began varsity play in 1970. The University of Dayton grad had become a Raider and was inducted into the Raider’s Hall of Fame in 2009. Brown became the Northmont high school basketball coach in 1997 had a very successful 16 season tenure. Following this he joined the Wright State Raiders radio broadcast team as color commentator.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Nov 30, 1996* | | Thomas More | W 97-59 | 1–0 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 9, 1996* | | at No. 6 Kentucky | L 62–90 | 1–1 | Rupp Arena (23,127) Lexington, Kentucky |
| Dec 11, 1996* | | Bowling Green | L 63-90 | 1-2 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 14, 1996* | | Miami (OH) | L 58-89 | 1–3 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 16, 1996* | | at No. 18 Louisville | L 57-65 | 1–4 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 18, 1996* | | at Ohio | L 59-74 | 1–5 | Convocation Center Athens, Ohio |
| Dec 21, 1996* | | Toledo | L 71-74 | 1–6 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 28, 1996* | | Western Michigan | W 68-58 | 2–6 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 30, 1996* | | at Youngstown State | L 63-69 | 2-7 | Beeghly Center Youngstown, Ohio |
| Jan 2, 1997 | | at Detroit Mercy | L 62–73 | 2-8 (0–1) | Calihan Hall Detroit, MI |
| Jan 4, 1997 | | at Cleveland State | L 76-79 | 2-9 (0–2) | CSU Convocation Center Cleveland, OH |
| Jan 6, 1997 | | Wisconsin–Green Bay | W 79-72 | 3-9 (1–2) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 9, 1997* | | Dayton Gem City Jam | L 63-72 | 3-10 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 11, 1997 | | Northern Illinois | L 55-56 | 3-11 (1–3) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 16, 1997 | | Illinois-Chicago | L 56-64 | 3-12 (1–4) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 18, 1997 | | at Wisconsin–Milwaukee | L 60-61 | 3-13 (1–5) | MECCA Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| Jan 23, 1997 | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 72-91 | 3-14 (1–6) | Gentile Event Center Chicago, IL |
| Jan 25, 1997 | | Butler | W 65-62 | 4–14 (2–6) | Nutter Center (5,367) Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 30, 1997 | | Detroit Mercy | L 63–65 | 4-15 (2–7) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 1, 1997 | | Cleveland State | L 71-74 | 4-16 (2–8) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 4, 1997 | | at Illinois-Chicago | L 59-66 | 4-17 (2–9) | UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL |
| Feb 8, 1997 | | at Northern Illinois | W 77-73 | 5-17 (3–9) | Chick Evans Field House DeKalb, IL |
| Feb 13, 1997 | | Wisconsin–Milwaukee | W 75-55 | 6-17 (4–9) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 20, 1997 | | at Wisconsin–Green Bay | L 49-69 | 6-18 (4–10) | Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena Green Bay, WI |
| Feb 22, 1997 | | at Butler | L 57-75 | 6-19 (4–11) | Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,036) Indianapolis, IN |
| Feb 24, 1997 | | Loyola–Chicago | W 56-54 | 7-19 (5–11) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Midwestern Collegiate Tournament ||||||
| Feb 28, 1997 | (8) | (9) Wisconsin–Milwaukee First Round | L 70-81 | 7-20 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. ||||||
Source

## Awards and honors

| Keion Brooks | MVP |
| Rob Welch | Raider Award |
| Keion Brooks | First Team MCC |

## Statistics

| Number | Name | Games | Average | Points | Assists | Rebounds |
| 21 | Keion Brooks | 27 | 14.6 | 393 | 125 | 127 |
| 32 | John Sivesind | 27 | 10.3 | 278 | 54 | 85 |
| 33 | Mark Oliver | 25 | 8.8 | 221 | 27 | 108 |
| 20 | Rob Welch | 25 | 7.4 | 184 | 74 | 56 |
| 22 | Mike Richardson | 27 | 6.6 | 178 | 43 | 37 |
| 44 | Steno Kos | 27 | 5.6 | 151 | 10 | 73 |
| 43 | Thad Burton | 23 | 5.3 | 123 | 11 | 102 |
| 35 | Lequient Lewis | 23 | 3.5 | 92 | 13 | 73 |
| 40 | Mike Conner | 13 | 4.0 | 52 | 5 | 35 |
| 25 | Steve Yeagle | 19 | 2.1 | 39 | 9 | 24 |
| 34 | De'Andre Shepard | 14 | 1.5 | 21 | 1 | 26 |
| 23 | Eric Ramsey | 8 | 1.4 | 11 | 3 | 5 |
| 24 | Derek Watkins | 4 | 3.5 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Anthony Brown | 12 | 2.8 | 10 | 6 | 5 |
Source