In the midst of the Cinderella story of
Oakland lies the nauseating story of
Oral Roberts. The Golden
Eagles were the clear favorites to prevail in the Mid-Con
Tournament on their homecourt, but lost in a last second
heartbreaker to Oakland. Coach Scott Sutton returns much of his
team from last year and this time around they’re even better.
Jonathan Bluitt is a proven point guard. Larry Owens is an
athletic small forward with a knack for rebounding. Mickey
Michalec has plenty of experience under the basket. And then
there is Caleb Green and Ken Tutt who will battle each other for
conference player of the year honors.
Who’s Out:
Luke Spencer-Gardner started 22 contests, averaging 9.1 points
and 3.8 assists last year. He was a nice option from behind the
arc, hitting nearly half of his 3.2 attempts per game. Center
Matt Gastel provided a quality option off the bench, but there
is plenty of depth left. Gastel averaged 2.5 points and 2.3
rebounds during his senior campaign.
Who’s In:
Marchello Vealy is an extremely talented small forward. He
averaged 17.4 points and 11.4 rebounds per game last year en
route to Oklahoma Player of the Year honors. ORU doesn’t need
much help on the wing this year, but it’ll be hard to keep Vealy
on the bench. Daren Jordan averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds
and 5.0 assists last year at Phoenix Browne High School. He’ll
see minutes immediately backing up returning point guard
Jonathan Bluitt and will take over the reigns in 2006-2007.
Sylvester Spicer, another small forward, averaged 7.0 points and
5.0 rebounds at South Oak Cliff High School in Texas. With so
much talent on the wings already, Spicer is a likely redshirt
candidate. Injuries kept Eric Fowlkes and Yemi Ogunoye away from
the court last year. Fowlkes, sidelined with a shoulder injury,
scored 5.0 points per game during the 2003-2004 campaign. The
6-3 guard will add some experience off the bench. Ogunoye didn’t
see as many minutes two years ago, but that was mostly from the
back injuries that kept him out all of last season. The 6-9
forward is quite versatile and will see some minutes in the
post.
Who to Watch:
Two years ago Ken Tutt and Caleb Green were
amazing freshmen. Last year there was anything but a sophomore
slump. Now the duo, who were the only two players to start all
33 games last year for ORU, are upperclassmen. Green, a 6-8 240
pound power forward, led the team with 19.4 points and 9.3
rebounds per game. Tutt tacked on an additional 17.1 points per
contest. Tutt is just a great scorer. The Garland, Texas
product, after just two years, is sixth in school history with
183 career three pointers. When the game is on the line, Tutt
will be taking the big shot…and most of the time he’ll make it.
Projected Conference Rank:
Not to put any pressure on ORU, but there is
no reason that this team shouldn’t dominate the Mid-Con. Valpo
is always dangerous, IUPUI is coming around nicely, UMKC only
finished a game behind ORU last year and Oakland has the
momentum from their improbable trip to the NCAAs, but in the end
the Golden Eagles will finish 1st in the conference.
It might not end there either. Looking far into the future, Oral
Roberts has the best chance of any small conference team to win
a game in the NCAAs…don’t worry Norfolk, Athens and Milwaukee,
the Colonial, MAC and Horizon aren’t small conferences, they are
mid-majors.
Projected Post-season Tournament:
NCAA
Projected Starting Five:
Jonathan Bluitt, Senior, Guard, 7.5 points per game
Ken Tutt, Junior, Guard, 17.1 points per game
Larry Owens, Senior, Forward, 9.2 points per game
Caleb Green, Junior, Forward, 19.4 points per game
Mickey Michalec, Senior, Center, 7.3 points per game
