Underhill had a great recruiting class last year led by portal stud Gary Monroe.  This DC kid brought the kind of athleticism and street smarts to the Raiders they have not had before.  At 6’7 190 he is rail thin but he can score from  mid-range or inside and runs the court well.  He will start somewhere up front but that all depends on the new recruits…Underhill has many options to line up beside Monroe from the carryovers for now at least.  The first guy who will get a shot is Junior Bob Schaefer.  Schaefer is a solid player who can score and board but is nowhere near big enough or athletic enough for Division One.  Still, Underhill will give him time as he does not want to upset the masses that were filling the Nutter and Schaefer was as popular as any of them.  But the Raiders are full of these types.  Fellow juniors Jim Minch, Lyle Falknor and Bill Fogt will battle for minutes until the kids get acclimated but none are big enough either.  Sophomores Mark Vest, Rodney Benson, Roman Welch and Andy Warner will all get opportunities to show they can hang.  Most of this group was stuck on JV last year with varying results.   All three can score a little but maybe a little overmatched by the athleticism at this position in this league.  Spencer Haywood and Dave Debusscherre are not easy to match up with.   Monroe is probably the best of the bunch at least he showed some great upside but all can play though none are as big as some of the younger kids coming in.  They all bring something different to the Raiders and Underhill has a choice to make or he can continue to platoon going with the hot hand.  I think most would prefer the former but your guess is as good as anybody’s on who he will go with?    Sophomores Fred Moore and Rondey Robinson are the holdovers at center but there is a train a coming down the line from Ukraine who might change all of that.

With a front line like Wright State has there is a lot of pressure on the backcourt to keep up.  Coach Underhill rotated several players through last year and none seemed to stick all that well in D-1.  Juniors Rick Martin and Bob Grote are the returning starters though neither exactly tore up the league.  Martin is a fine setter upperer for his teammates and Grote can score but both have limitations physically at this level.  Sophomore Lenny Lyons (at point) and Joe ‘Steppin Out’ Jackson are better athletes and came on strong after being called up from JV.  Both could start or Underhill could go with any of a plethora of recruits he has brought in.  Junior Tim Walker and sophomores Mike Grote (yes Bob’s brother) and Eddie Crowe are also in the mix but have long ago lost most of their minutes. 

Coach Ralph Underhill has a wonderful problem.  He has a program that is just getting its feet wet in the Division one and he has some gifted talent that is both young and motivated.  He basically started a freshman team for most oof last season with varying results.   A 9 and 20 overall record in a schedule that was challenging to say the least showed this team has a chance to move up next year as thy become more accustomed to Division One basketball.  This was the year for discovery appropriately in the college named for the Wright Brothers and Underhill discovered he had some talent on this roster.  The Raiders have the makings of a very good team in the near future if Underhill can keep the boys together and keep them reaching for the stars.