FORESTER ROSTER GROWS
The Foresters added five new names to the roster this season. Along with five new names from last season, that means ten underclassmen (77% of the roster). While they may be short on college experience, they aren’t short on talent. And the three upperclassmen are pretty good, too.
Doug Sheckler, one of the three co-captains on the team, has been an All-MCC selection each of his three years. As a junior, he averaged 12.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks a game, scoring 34 points at IPFW. He also joined the 1,000 Point Club last season; he now has 1,208 points at HU.
To prepare for his senior year, he spent the summer focused on basketball. He worked at the HU Basketball Camps and played recreational games. Doug, along with Ryan Thwaits, Chase Verba, Jared Yoder and Alex Kock, won a five-on-five tournament.
While last season was highly successful, Doug also believes in the success of this team. He says they are working hard and plan to be MCC contenders again this year.
He says he doesn’t mind being the entire senior class. "I don’t feel alone even if I’m the only senior," he says. "We work as a team and that’s how we win." He’s quite optimistic about this year.
The only family event Doug reported was his older sister’s wedding of several months ago. His toughest class this semester is expected to be English Literature.
Kyle Benge has been an important part of the HU basketball team arsenal the past two seasons, and he will certainly be an important part of it again this season.
After being named 2005-06 MCC Newcomer of the Year, Kyle suffered through injuries last season that kept him out of 9 games. In spite of that, he still scored 20 points in three different games and stays on a pace to join HU’s 1,000 Point Club before his HU
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playing career comes to an end next year.
Kyle’s younger sister is a sophomore in high school and his older sister is a graduate of the Naval Academy. Both his parents have been involved in education, which likely explains Kyle’s plans to go into teaching.
Benge worked the HU Basketball Camps this summer and will be a co-captain of the squad this coming season. He and high school buddy Geoff Scheetz now share an apartment with Kyle Johnson, which should create some interesting times.
According to Geoff, his summer was full of basketball. Last year he was an official for Plymouth Summer League games; this year he was a coach. He also worked the HU Basketball Camps and had a job at the Plymouth Parks Department. Geoff also played in a summer league in Rochester.
Geoff’s younger sister Nicole is active in volleyball as a sophomore at Plymouth HS this year; his younger brother, Matt, is a freshman at Plymouth and plays tennis.
Geoff is anxious for the season to get started. "I’m looking forward to helping the team be successful in whatever way I can," he says. As a returning player, he knows what to expect, but he knows the workouts and practices won’t be easier.
When asked about his toughest class he said, "Beginning guitar." Not being sure if there was such a class, we checked. It’s there: "MU A08 Class Guitar I – Beginning." His roommates (Benge and Johnson) may be moving out in a few weeks.
The Forester coaching staff got a pleasant surprise mid-August with a request from Blaise Henry to join the team as a walk-on.
Henry graduated from Angola HS in 2004, where he averaged 16.6 points a game, along with nearly 4 assists and 8 rebounds a game. He was named All-Conference and All-Area in both his junior and senior years.
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Doug Sheckler
Kyle Benge
Geoff Scheetz
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