From Thursday's Kenosha News ...



Kelly glad to be back with Red Men

BY ANDREW HORSCHAK
ahorschak@kenoshanews.com

KENOSHA — Boarding an airplane bound for sunny Florida would make anyone smile at this time of the year.
Happy faces — many of them members of the Orlando-bound Carthage men's basketball program — filled Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport on Wednesday morning, but the biggest smile most likely belonged to Malcom Kelly.
Then again, the Carthage senior guard probably would have been beaming from ear to ear had he been boarding a flight to Vostok Station, Antarctica.
After making his long-awaited return with the Red Men on Saturday night, the appreciative 27-year-old Kenosha native is feeling as giddy as a 6-year-old on Christmas morning.
"It still hasn't hit me yet," Kelly said. "I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to come back. To actually put the jersey on and be around the guys ... I'm just going to play hard and let my game show how happy I am. I really can't find the words to describe how I feel."
It's been a while
Prior to Saturday's 112-104 double-overtime victory over UW-Platteville at Tarble Arena, Kelly last appeared in a game for the Red Men on Feb. 18, 2012 in a season-ending 74-73 overtime loss to visiting Augustana.
That's a span of 663 days between games.
Not enrolled in school last year, Kelly enlisted in the U.S. Army reserves and reported for a nine-week boot camp at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga., in mid-January.
Another military commitment — a three-year stint in the U.S. Navy — had preceded the start of the 2004 Reuther graduate's collegiate career. Once enrolled at Carthage, Kelly became a major contributor for the Red Men.
He averaged a team-high 19.4 points and earned first-team All-CCIW honors as a junior in 2012 after being named second-team All-CCIW as a sophomore. As a freshman, he played in all 30 games (13 starts) and helped the Red Men capture the CCIW title and reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Kelly's return this season was delayed due to an academic issue when credits didn't transfer from Gateway Technical College.
Wearing his customary No. 25, Kelly scored 11 points off the bench in Saturday's season debut vs. Platteville. With those 11 points, he passed Theo Powell and moved into 24th place on the school's career scoring list with 1,056 points. With 175 3-pointers, he needs 16 more to pass Antoine McDaniel and become the school's all-time leader in that category.
Finding a role
With the Red Men off to a 6-3 start heading into this weekend's Athletic Connections Holiday Classic at the Orlando Downtown Recreation Complex, Kelly was asked about his role for the rest of the season.
"Right now, I don't really know," he said. "I'll be there to help 'em. They're playing well together, so I don't want to disrupt that, but I want to come in and give them a punch and keep 'em going."
Kelly played only 12 minutes in his first game, but that number is expected to increase.
"There's no doubt that Kelly is not coming in here as any kind of a role player," Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic said. "He's coming in to assume the role that he's had in previous years. That's to be one of the key guys that we look at to put the ball in the basket.
"I think as he moves forward, he's going to be one of our full-time contributing guys just as the other guys are. Trying to work him into the rotation is interesting right now because the other perimeter guys have played very well to this point. There is no question that Kelly's play is different than the other guys. He's a stronger finisher than the other perimeter guys we've got and he's every bit as good of a shooter."
Heavy burden
Through nine games, the Red Men have four players averaging 30 minutes or more per game — junior point guard Donte Logan (35.6), senior forward Marlon Senior (33.9), senior guard Kevin Sykes Jr. (32.1) and junior guard Reese Herth (30.3). In addition, promising freshman Jason Scott left the program recently.
Could Kelly's return take some of the burden off?
"I don't look at it that way, specifically, because we have other guys who are available now that could have had expanded minutes," Djurickovic said. "It's just that the guys who are playing 30 minutes have really played well. The perimeter guys have done a very, very nice job."
In his second week practicing with the team, Kelly is quickly getting reacclimated to the rigors of college basketball.
"I'm starting to get used to it," he said. "My lungs are starting to get used to the up and down of basketball. I could run on a treadmill all day, but getting up and down a basketball court and stopping and starting is different. The more reps I get, the better I feel."
Djurickovic said that Kelly returned in "surprisingly good" shape.
"If you were looking at it as a non-basketball player, you would say 'beyond good' because he's not heavy, he moves well and he jumps very well," the Carthage coach said. However, getting into basketball shape is a whole different issue, but you have to give the guy credit."

FROM TODAY'S KENOSHA NEWS ...

Carthage arrives at check point

New rules could benefit Red Men


BY ANDREW HORSCHAK
ahorschak@kenoshanews.com

Tweeeeeeet!
Fouls and free throws have taken center stage in the early portion of the college basketball season.
With officials now supposed to pay closer attention to hand checking, defenders can no longer guard with their hands or body up an opponent.
More whistles have resulted in more free-throw attempts and higher scoring, drawn-out games.
A benefit to Carthage
The new hand-check restrictions and less physical play should benefit teams like Carthage, which has relied on athleticism over brute force in recent years.
"It should help us," acknowledged 18th-year-coach Bosko Djurickovic, whose team tips off the season against Alma (Mich.) in the first round of the Carthage Classic 8 p.m. Friday at Tarble Arena.
"Like any coach at this stage, I just don't know how it's going to be called. We've had two scrimmages. In the first one, the officials tried to take it by what the new rule is and there were 82 free throws shot. We're hoping that it gets handled consistently. That's all you can ask for. If it's called the same way every night, then we'll make the kids adjust to it. If it's not, then it's really hard to deal with.
"Even non-physical teams hand-check. I was hoping that they would clean up a little bit more of the inside game because the game has gotten very rough. There's been very little free flow. Guys just absolutely wrestle on the boards. I think that's hurt us a little bit. I think if it's called a little closer I think that should help us, but who knows until the games get started."
Coming off a 12-13 season (7-7 CCIW), the Red Men plan on utilizing a three-guard lineup with returning starters Reese Herth and Donte Logan — both juniors — and senior Kevin Sykes Jr. in 2013-14.
Herth, the team's leading returning scorer at 11.2 points per game, made a team-best 35 3-pointers last season. Logan, who has started at point guard in 43 games in two seasons, averaged 8.3 points and 5.0 assists as a sophomore.
After seeing action in 44 games off the bench in the last two seasons, Sykes could see himself in an increased role in his senior campaign.
"Just a really good all-around basketball player," Djurickovic said. "If you were going to take a look at a guy in the building who does everything the most consistently it may very well be Kevin Sykes. He's a good defensive player. He's a good facilitator. He's a good shooter. He's had some good moments for us."
Marlon Senior (7.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg) also returns to the starting lineup and is poised for a big senior campaign.
"He continues to improve and get better," Djurickovic said about the 6-foot-5 forward.
Kastel to help inside
Rounding out the starting lineup will be intriguing newcomer Mike Kastel, a 6-foot-7, 235-pound center who is expected to make his biggest impact on the glass.
A native of St. Charles, Ill., Kastel attended Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and chose to play college football — first at the University of Delaware before transferring to Northwest Missouri State.
"He goes and gets rebounds better than anybody that we've had in a while," Djurickovic said. "That is a big addition for us. He continues to get better. We're still trying to knock some of the rust off."
Top returning players are junior Cameron Van Wyk and sophomores Ellis Matthews, Myles Olsen and Sean Valentine. The 6-foot-6 Van Wyk started in 10 games last season.
Scott McNellis, an athletic 6-foot-5 forward from Downers Grove South, is the team's top freshman and is expected to be in the regular rotation. Jason Scott, a 6-foot-4 freshman, should also see minutes.
Kelly could return
The Red Men could receive a boost when senior guard Malcom Kelly becomes eligible to play after the fall semester. A first-team All-CCIW performer in 2012, the Reuther graduate did not play last season after enlisting in the U.S. Army reserves. The 27-year-old Kelly ranks 25th on Carthage's career scoring list with 1,045 points. He is also third in both 3-point field goals made (174) and attempted (453). His 72 3-pointers in 2012 are the third-most in a single season by a Carthage player.
Kelly is expected make his return against UW-Platteville on Dec. 14.
Carthage will play what Djurickovic called one of the top non-conference schedules in the country before trying to snag a spot in the four-team CCIW Tournament for only the second time in nine years. It will be a daunting task considering that three CCIW teams — Illinois Wesleyan (No. 2), Wheaton (No. 5) and North Central (No. 6) — were ranked in the top six in the D3hoops.com preseason poll.
"It's a great league as it always is," Djurickovic said. "We have a couple of teams that have a chance to make a deep run in the national tournament."

From the Kenosha News:

Wilmot's Stevenson to play at Carthage

Wilmot senior Mike Stevenson has committed to play basketball next year at Carthage College, according to WisSports.net.
The 6-foot-4 Stevenson averaged 13.2 points and 6.6 rebounds and earned first-team All-Southern Lakes and All-County honors as he helped the Panthers finish 11-3 in the SLC (19-6 overall).
"I'm really excited for Mike," Wilmot coach Jake Erbentraut said. "I think it's a great fit and will be a great opportunity for him."