Senior Frank Baumholtz is the team captain and has been asked to switch to point guard for the betterment of the team.  He has no problem taking over the leadership required of that role but he has been a two guard since he got the Athens and that is not an easy transition no matter what they tell you.  His teammates listen when he speaks as he has been the main man around these parts for the last three years. He is an example by the way he plays.  Tough minded and ready for anything, this lefty is a terrific all-around athlete.  His skill set however does not match the requirements of point guard though his size does at a only 5’10 and 170.  This kid from Midvale Ohio is the complete package and a terrific all-around athlete but this Dexter Reilly wanna be has a tough row to hoe if he is going to make a smooth transition to being quarterback of the Bobcats.  Baumholtz is a scorer and defender but is not quick enough (quicksand kid) or adept enough at ballhandling to match up with the fast guards of the league. The ‘Midvale Marvel’ is a legend in Athens and his switching to point shows his unselfishness but this kid’s true longing is baseball.  The Reds drafted him last summer and he might be leaving right after the season to play outfield for the Ohio based team.  Too bad they don’t do spring training in their hometowns as he could do both.  Fellow seniors Jerry McKee and Jerry Jackson have tried some at point in but were not successful as they are both true wings as well.  This duo of similar style players, with Baumholtz, started the Bobcats rep of having great wings.  Both of these studs are 6’3 180 pounders who can do a bit of everything on the court.  McKee is from Dayton and Jackson is from Canton and are about as similar in style as two players can be.  Both can flat light up and get to the hoop with gusto.  They are both terrific on the boards as both have played some 4 in the past when Snyder went small.  Neither is exactly a long-range hoister but man are the magnificent in the old ways of the game.  Too bad they have been passed up in both size and style by the new batch of Bobcat wings that seem to be easier to recruit to Athens than point guards or centers.  Of course that is a good thing as wings are the wave of the future and it will not be long before some team starts five wings.  It might very well be Ohio U as that is their strength as these two, plus Baumholtz, can attest as they are easily thee of the best five on the roster as of right this minute.  That can all change but I do not see this duo not getting minutes though Snyder must be imaginative to get all of these guys on the court including playing them at point some again. Speaking of true point guards senior John Canine (does not fit well on a team with a Bobcat mascot) is the only retuning upperclassmen that fits that mold.  Canine is a 6’2 180 pounder from Hazel Park Michigan who played often last year.  He started a few games and can distribute but is not a great defender.  He is solid but a bit slow and seems to be chasing his teammates down the court at times.  An injury late in the year opened up the door for Snyder to bring in some new blood and try some of his wings at the one.  There were mixed results at best and the competition is still wide open.  Sophomores Robert Tatum and Dennis Whitaker will get their shot at running the show here as well.  This duo split the role on the JV last year with Tatum getting some minutes on varsity late in the year as well.  Tatum did a nice job but like the Seniors is more of a scorer than a distributor.  Still, he did fine in his time and got some solid minutes and if Baumholtz does not work will probably be first in line.  He almost for sure will make varsity but the team could really use a Joe Burrow and not a Lamar Jackson in this position.  Whitaker is that true pass first point but is limited in other areas and was not getting many minutes until Tatum moved up.  He showed in that limited trial he can run a team and does distribute the ball accordingly so he has got a shot.  Fellow sophomores Paul Baron and Kirk Lehman are also in the mix as the Gentleman made it a point to recruit this poston last year and all of these cats got playing time on the JV.  Snyder is also supposedly bringing in a prep stud from Chicago so the moral of this story is that the Bobcats really have no idea who is going to run the Bobcat express this season. 

The returning post players for the Bobcats do not have much size and are not exactly stellar athletes.  Still, this combo of big men with the help of sophomore John Devereaux were a great group to man the paint and dominated most of the battles.  Devereaux is a much better defender and though he much thinner gets the rep as an enforcer for the Bobcats.  He goes about six eight and a sleek 215 so he does not eat up as much space and is still developing offensively.  This Lunch pail guy was a solid compliment off the bench who was consistent (he was the only Bobcat who played every game) and can block shots and grab boards.  His defensive physicality got him more minutes than Snyder usually gives freshmen but this team needed his size and toughness underneath.  Senior Bunk Adams actually started last season in the paint for the Bobcats and is a terrific athlete.  Adams can score some and board much but at 6’3 190 is way too small for the MAC.  Don Hilt is another senior big man who is also vertically limited.  Hilt is a legendary figure in Athens as at one point he and Jackson led this team on a run in the Big Dance that put Athens on the map.  At least in Ohio!  This duo do not buy beers in this town as after all beating Louisville and Kentucky on back to back games is equivalent in these parts to what Phillipides accomplished in 490 BC (look it up).  Those monster programs to the south in the Bluegrass state will not schedule the Bobcats anymore but as a shock THE boys from Columbus are hosting THIS Ohio school this year.  They do not do much of that.  Hilt is a 6’4 230 pound force in the middle who can throw it down with the best of them.  This Cleveland kid gets off the floor quickly and has the strength to manhandle opponents and if we were even a couple of inches bigger might be the post player this team covets.  Hilt should start but if Snyder can find a pair of posts that play the game like Hilt with his toughness and are like let’s say 6’8 instead of 6’4 this team will be in damn good shape.  Fellow Senior Howie Joliff is another one of the big men for the Bobcats.  A bit undersized like his teammates, Joliff did his best to match up with bigger players.  A terrific board man the 6’6 218 pound Joliff really isn’t that offensive minded as he scores mainly on putbacks after he has grabbed yet another offensive rebound.  Raised in the shadows of the Pro Football Hall of fame this kid is solid at playing low post defense, Joliff is not the intimidator this team oh so needed.  Still, Joliff was a sound player who does the dirty work needed for a team to be successful and my gosh if he ever decides to moonlight he would one heck of a defensive tackle!  Greg McDivitt, John Schroeder and Dave Scott are all seniors in the mix for minutes plus junior Craig Love.  Only Love (sounds like a song title doesn’t it) and Schroeder are big enough at 6’8 and 6’9 respectively to guard the centers of the MAC.  McDivitt at 6’7 and Scott at 6’5 have been productive when called upon but are almost assuredly not going to play much this year.  Schroeder and Love should get some minutes and both can board but neither is the offensive presence Snyder is looking for to keep the likes of Thurmond and Embry from slacking their coverage and helping out on the great wings for the Bobcats who need their room to roam. 

As stated before the Bobcats were lucky to have not one or two but three great wings.  Junior Walt Luckett teams with sophomores Dave Jamerson and Paul “Snoopy” Graham to form a terrific trio of ballplayers coming off the angles.  These three had different skills that made matching up with the Bobcats difficult.  Luckett was the biggest recruit in school history and this Bridgeport Connecticut kid’s decision to come to Athens might be the demarcation line of when this became a legitimate program.  This 6’4 190 pound smooth lefty is an old school shooter who loves to fire away from mid-range.  Luckett can also get to the hoop and can convert when fouled as he has a nice touch and a great feel for the game.  His wanderings into the paint though were costly as a leg injury early on would slow him down throughout the rest of last year.  Still, this terrific all-around offensive player (he played some point for this team as he is a terrific passer and ballhandler) had another terrific year in Athens and could be the most popular player on the team with his cool afro and extreme confidence. Graham is an athletic slasher who gets to the hoop and draws fouls.  This Philadelphia kid too advantage of his opportunity when Luckett (rhymes with) went down and gives Snyder the kind of wing who can run the court and finish on the wing.  ‘Snoop’ as the fans love to call him might not be Ron Harper but this six foot six kid is one of the best athletes in the MAC and really knows how to play this game.  He can also defend true wings who can jump or run and though he is not a long-range bomber he can hit the open jumper.  Having someone of this caliber coming off the bench on the wing is a luxury usually only teams in the big conferences have so ‘Snoop’ was a huge bonus.  And this Dogg is much more durable than his fellow wings but like them can flat smoke it up!  Too bad Graham does not moonlight as a point guard!  Jamerson, on the other hand, loves to fire away and when on can light it up from anywhere.  The kid from Clarksburg West Virginia is one of the best three point shooters in the MAC in both quality and quantity.  At 6’5 190 Jamerson shoots often but at over 40 percent and opens up the court for his teammates. Jamerson grew up idolizing Jerry West (who doesn’t in the state filled with country roads) and has that kind of range on his jumper but is not the overall complete player ‘Zeke from Cabin Creek’ is.  He might not be near Snoop in athleticism either but Snyder needs this kid’s three point range to make his offense go.  Like his sidekicks on the wings he is an all-around player who is a solid passer and helps on the boards.  There is also depth here as a pair of JV studs move on up to the big time after dominating offensively last year for coach Larry Hunter.  Tim Joyce, a Youngstown native, is a transfer from Tennessee, talk about having some great wings, who realized he was not going to play and came back home.  At six five he gets his shot off fairly easily from deep and is helpful inside. He averaged over 20 on the JV last year but is nowhere near the athlete Graham or Luckett are.  He teamed with Steve Skaggs, a junior as well but who has been here two years, to form the highest scoring tandem for JV’s in the MAC at almost 40 a game.  Skaggs, no relation to Ricky, is 6’3 and from Flatwoods Kentucy which by the name of it is a pretty rural town.  Skaggs is not quite the offensive player Joyce is but they combine to put constant pressure on the other team’s defense as they are ready to shoot any time they touch the ball.  Another Junior, Ken Kowall, is also a natural two guard but might have to play some point to even get on the court behind this superb trio of wings. This group gave the Bobcats a superb amount of firepower on the wings.

The Ohio Bobcats really try to control the tempo of games.  Without a true point guard this has proved difficult in the past. Still, they are able to compete with their solid group of athletes, especially on the wings, and have historically been a major power in the MAC.  Legendary Coach Jim Snyder has taken this program to many post seasons and are one of the Ohio schools that are favorites to win the MAC this year.  Of course that all relies on how well some of these players adjust to new roles and most importantly if the incoming new guys can acclimate to D-1.  Hopefully at least one of these guys can play point guard and maybe one (or two) have the size to hang with the dominant big men that reside in this oh so (change the s to I around these parts) underrated conference.