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2005-06 ALL TIME HIGHS
Huntington University reached an all-time high by being in the Final Game of the 2006 NAIA National Championship Tournament last season. The team finished 32-6, the best Forester record achieved since the 1999-00 team finished 34-5 and reached the Final Four in 2000.
Along the way, the Foresters broke a school record for free throw shooting percentage in a season, broke the record for the average margin of victory in a season, and had a player break the three-point percentage record. They also placed three new players in the 1,000 Point Club and pushed four into the top 25 of that elite group.
RECORDS BROKEN
Last season, the Foresters won their games by an average margin of 12.3 points a game. That set a new record at Huntington University, eclipsing the old margin
record of 11.9 points a game set by the 1972-73 squad.
The 2005-06 Foresters also broke the team free throw percentage record for a season, hitting 78.8% at the line, just a bit better than the 78.0% record set in 1971-72.
Kyle Ganton broke the individual three-point shooting percentage mark by hitting 49.7% (80 of 161) last season. That bettered the 48.6% record of Brodie Garber set in 1996-97. Garber remains #9 in career scoring with 1,766 points.
The team came close to another record by scoring 3,125 points last season. That was just 33 points short of the record of 3,158 points set by the 2001-02 Foresters.
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Kyle Ganton
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THE 1,000 POINT CLUB
Prior to last season, there were 32 members of the 1,000 Point Club, including Chase Verba who had just made the cut by eight points. Now there are 35 members in the Club, and four of the Foresters from last season's team are in the top 25 of that elite list: Kyle Ganton (1,488 points), Alex Kock (1,386 points), Steve Snider (1,217 points) and Chase Verba (1,211 points).
Time will tell, but it may also be that the 2005-06 team duplicated the 1999-00 team by having six members of the 1,000 Point Club on one team. The 1999-00 team had David Porter, Gabe LaGrange, Brett Snodgrass, Brodie Garber, Adam Hill and Joe Gaff. The 2005-06 Foresters
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had Chase Verba, Steve Snider, Kyle Ganton, Alex Kock, Doug Sheckler and Kyle Benge. While Sheckler and Benge have not yet reached the 1,000 point plateau, their current averages suggest they will.
RECORDS TO WATCH
The 2006-07 Foresters may see Kyle Ganton set another individual mark this coming season. Kyle has a good shot (no pun intended) at the career free throw percentage record. After three seasons, he's connected on 88.0% of his free throws. At that rate, he'll break the career free throw record of 82.4% set by Jeff Shepherd (1995-99).
At the cumulative record level, the Foresters could likely get their 1,000th win in school history this season. They'll reach that goal with their 23rd win. On the other hand, if they were to lose 12 games, it would be their 1,000th loss in school history. As the new season begins, the cumulative Huntington win-loss record (dating back to 1921) is now 977-988.
It is also likely that Doug Sheckler will join the 1,000 Point Club this season. Doug has averaged nearly 12 points a game his first two years, chalking up 764 career points at Huntington. He needs just 236 points to join the Club.
Also, expect to see Alex Kock and Kyle Ganton continue their climb as top scorers at HU. If Alex continues at his current pace, he could become just the fifth player in Huntington history to score 2,000 points. Kyle Ganton will be close to that level, but his current per game career average would leave him a bit short. Regardless, he and Kock are both likely to end the season in the top six scoring leaders at HU.
COACHING RECORD
In the category of coaching, the Forester's 22nd win will make Coach Steve Platt the first coach in the history of men's basketball to win 300 games at Huntington. At the start of this season, Platt's record is 278 wins and 128 losses, a 68.5% win ratio spanning over 12 seasons.
To put that in perspective, there are only two other men's basketball coaches in the history of the school to win just 55 games or more. The other two are Richard Klopfenstein (1953-65, 1966-67) and Keith Spahr (1970-1982). Klopfenstein's record at Huntington was 166 wins and 132 losses over 13 seasons (55.7% win ratio), while Spahr's record at HU was 165 wins and 134 losses in 12 seasons (55.2% win ratio).
Good luck to Coach Platt and the Foresters this season. We look forward to seeing them all set new records.
- by Paul Harrington ('64)
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