# 1998–99 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team

The 1998–99 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team represented Wright State University in the 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season led by head coach Ed Schilling.

## Season Summary

Seniors Keion Brooks and Sherman Curry returned two of the top three scorers from the previous season to anchor the squad and newcomers Kevin Melson, Marcus May and Israel Sheinfeld provided some excitement to thrill the home fans.
However, by the time the season ended with what had begun to feel like the annual elimination loss to Butler, playing away from the friendly Nutter Center had become synonymous with losing.
The honeymoon was over for Coach Schilling, as supporters and media had begun to voice skepticism. After the season, he again took an aggressive stance towards his own roster promising “merciless” conditioning saying “... if they don’t want to do it, I don’t want them,” which further fanned speculation as to what the internal culture must be like between coach and team.

### Roster Changes
#### Joining

* Kevin Melson (F) transferred in from Schoolcraft Junior College
* Israel Sheinfeld (F) signed following his military commitment in Israel
* Marcus May (G) recruited from Inianapolis North Central High, where he played alongside two All-Americans.
* Louis Holmes (G) from Orange Christian Academy where he shot 60% from the field

#### Leaving

* Brandon Pardon (PG) transferred to Bowling Green State University. While "spiritual differences" made the headlines, there was also apparently some disagreement about the strict team rules.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Nov 14, 1998* | | at Old Dominion | L 60-81 | 0–1 | Norfolk Scope Norfolk, VA |
| Nov 17, 1998* | | Central Michigan | W 81-80 $^{ot}$ | 0–2 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Nov 20, 1998* | | Pittsburgh | L 65-76 | 0–3 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Nov 23, 1998* | | vs. No. 8 Kentucky | L 75–97 | 0–4 | The Crown Cincinnati, OH |
| Nov 28, 1998* | | Sacred Heart | W 77–50 | 1–4 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 5, 1998* | | Denver | W 79–57 | 2–4 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 8, 1998* | | at Ball State | L 70-84 | 2–5 | University Arena Muncie, IN |
| Dec 12, 1998* | | at Denver | L 76–98 | 2–6 | Fieldhouse Denver, CO |
| Dec 14, 1998* | | at Northern Iowa | L 70-78 | 2–7 | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA |
| Dec 19, 1998* | | Morehead State | W 64–58 | 3–7 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 21, 1998* | | Prairie View A&M | W 94–62 | 4–7 | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Dec 28, 1998* | | Chicago State | W 75-56 | 5–7 | Nutter Center Fairborn, Ohio |
| Jan 4, 1999 | | at UIC | W 100-74 | 6-7 (1–0) | UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL |
| Jan 5, 1999 | | at Loyola | L 67-80 | 6-8 (1–1) | Gentile Event Center Chicago, IL |
| Jan 9, 1999 | | Butler | L 53-74 | 6–9 (1–2) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 16, 1999 | | Cleveland State | W 89-74 | 7-9 (2–2) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 19, 1999 | | Detroit Mercy | L 56–68 | 7-10 (2–3) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 21, 1999 | | at Milwaukee | L 65-69 | 7-11 (2–4) | Klotsche Center Milwaukee, WI |
| Jan 23, 1999 | | at Green Bay | L 52-54 | 7-12 (2–5) | Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena Green Bay, WI |
| Jan 28, 1999 | | Loyola | L 68-75 | 7-13 (2–6) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Jan 30, 1999 | | UIC | W 68-61 | 8-13 (3–6) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 6, 1999 | | at Butler | L 78-88 $^{2OT}$ | 8-14 (3–7) | Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis |
| Feb 11, 1999 | | at Detroit Mercy | L 46–64 | 8-15 (3–8) | Calihan Hall Detroit, MI |
| Feb 13, 1999 | | at Cleveland State | L 64-87 | 8-16 (3–9) | CSU Convocation Center Cleveland, OH |
| Feb 18, 1999 | | Green Bay | L 40-58 | 8-17 (3–10) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Feb 20, 1999 | | Milwaukee | W 71-69 | 9-17 (4–10) | Nutter Center Fairborn, OH |
| Midwestern Collegiate Tournament ||||||
| Feb 28, 1999 | (7) | vs. (2) Butler Quarterfinals | L 56-64 | 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 |
| Keion Brooks | First Team All League |
| Kevin Melson | Second Team All League |
| Kevin Melson | Newcomer of the Year |
| Kevin Melson | All-Newcomer Team |
| Marcus May | All-Newcomer Team |

## Statistics

| Number | Name | Games | Average | Points | Assists | Rebounds |
| 21 | Keion Brooks | 27 | 20.7 | 559 | 107 | 151 |
| 22 | Kevin Melson | 27 | 14.6 | 395 | 40 | 182 |
| 20 | Marcus May | 27 | 9.4 | 255 | 110 | 105 |
| 50 | Inus Norville | 25 | 9.0 | 224 | 11 | 126 |
| 30 | Sherman Curry | 25 | 5.3 | 133 | 26 | 90 |
| 10 | Israel Sheinfeld | 27 | 4.0 | 109 | 10 | 94 |
| 3 | Onome Scott-Emuakpor | 23 | 2.7 | 61 | 6 | 62 |
| 24 | Louis Holmes | 17 | 2.5 | 43 | 0 | 8 |
| 25 | Steve Yeagle | 24 | 1.7 | 41 | 0 | 17 |
| 52 | Bruno Petersons | 27 | 1.2 | 33 | 15 | 72 |
| 21 | Ryan Grose | 10 | 0.6 | 6 | 0 | 14 |
Source