ANOTHER 20+ WIN SEASON
Huntington finished the 2007-08 campaign with an outstanding 22-10 record for the 7th consecutive 20-win season and 9th 20-win season in the last ten years. The team finished second in the MCC Conference this year with an 11-5 record, just one win short of another MCC basketball title.
Had it not been for a late season, career-ending injury to the 2008 MCC Player of the Year and NAIA All-American, Doug Sheckler, they may have made an 8th trip to the NAIA national basketball tournament, but it was not to be this year.
MCC PREDICTIONS GONE WRONG
With the loss of six players from last year's team, including the graduation of two NAIA All-Americans, MCC Coaches predicted a 4th place finish for the defending Champs in their pre-season poll. HU wasn’t expected be a title contender, but they were.
The Foresters gained poise and maturity as the season progressed and teamwork materialized. But, just as they reached their peak, a key element was knocked out of the line up and Huntington struggled without its only senior, Doug Sheckler.
While the season ended earlier than they would have liked, the Foresters became a team to reckon with, winning over 71% of their last 14 games. In recognition of this team’s success, Coach Platt was named 2008 MCC Coach of the Year.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
Unlike some teams that pad their schedule to chalk up wins, Huntington always plays the toughest competition they can find.
Of their 14 non-conference opponents, only 2 had losing records, 6 were NAIA D1 teams, and 8 were ranked in the Top 25 of their respective Divisions at some point in the season. The overall composite win ratio of the 14 non-MCC opponents was 62.0%.
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2007-08 Forester Tri-Captains (L to R):
Luke Smith, Doug Sheckler, Kyle Benge
It didn’t get easier in Conference play. Six MCC teams were ranked in the Top 25 during the season and the nine MCC teams had a combined 101-41 record against non-MCC teams (71% win ratio).
Early on, the level of difficulty didn’t serve the Foresters well. They started 0-2 but turned it around in the third game and went on to win 12 of their next 13 games, their only loss being by one point.
OTHER MEASUREMENTS
A measure of team strength used by the NCAA to select and seed teams for their tournament is RPI (Ratings Percentage Index). This not only considers a team’s wins and losses, but factors in the records of their opponent’s plus the record of their opponent’s opponents.
Huntington finished the 2007-08 season with a 0.600 RPI, ranking #6 among all NAIA D2 teams. The strength of schedule component in the RPI was #1 among all NAIA D2 teams. No other NAIA D2 team played as tough a schedule as HU.
SETTING NEW RECORDS
In the fifth game of the season, and initial game of the Huntington Hall of Fame Tournament, the Foresters set a season
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