After two freshman-dominated recruiting classes, Hill adds four transfers to bolster C-SC roster

CANTON, Mo. — After his first season as the Culver-Stockton College men’s basketball coach, Aaron Hill brought in a freshman-dominated recruiting class. The Wildcats posted a 5-23 record in 2018-19. 

Hill brought in another freshman-dominated recruiting class the following year. The Wildcats were 5-14 last season.

While many of those early recruits are still on the team, Hill opted to bring in four transfer students to help fill this year’s roster. Here are five keys to the Wildcats posting their first winning record since going 24-8 in the 2013-14 season.

1. Improve defensively

The Wildcats allowed 85.3 points per game last season, 13th-best in the 14-team Heart of America Athletic Conference. Two years ago, C-SC allowed 81 points per game, ninth-best in the 13-team league (but just two points away from last place).

Much of the problem was caused by all of the freshmen Hill played against teams that often had players in their mid-20s. The addition of four transfer students, all seniors, should help the Wildcats be more stout on defense.

“We’ve shown moments of having the ability to be a really good defensive team,” Hill said. “We are pretty quick, pretty big, pretty athletic. I think I have an idea of who we can be defensively, and I think we can be very good defensively.

Alec Sherman, a muscular 6-foot-6 sophomore, and Patrick Readye, a stout 6-foot-9 freshman, were expected to help C-SC inside last season. However, Sherman transferred before the season started, and Readye never was eligible and left school.

Hill has added 6-foot-7 Quintin Wallace from Southwestern College, 6-foot-5 Alonzo Ortiz-Taylor from Georgian Court University, 6-foot-4 Zac Rzewnicki from St. Thomas Aquinas College and 6-foot-3 Jalen Blaize from Central Missouri to provide experience, depth and strength.

2. Hold their own on the boards

Culver-Stockton was outrebounded by an average of 6.6 rebounds per game last season. That figure was 7.7 rebounds per game in 2019-20. Again, the addition of four transfers, plus the growth and maturity of players like junior Jim King and sophomore Caleb Kizer, should help the Wildcats fare better on the glass.

“We’re pretty much a bunch of 6-4 to 6-7 guys, pretty long, fairly athletic and pretty physical,” Hill said. “Losing Sherman and Readye before the year started really hurt us. They were both going to play quite a bit, and one of them likely was going to start, so that was pretty unfortunately. We had to try and make make it work from there. I hope we’re better on the glass.”

Wallace, who weighs 215 pounds, averaged 4.4 rebounds per game and shot 64 percent from the field in just 16 minutes of action last year at Southwestern (Kan.). Kiser, at 6-7 and 230 pounds, figures to get more minutes as a sophomore. Nick Spannaus, a 6-foot-6 freshman from Decatur, could be a factor as well.

3. Find someone to replace Robert Fry’s scoring

The talented freshman from Indianapolis started last season with six consecutive games of 20 or more points, and he finished with a 20.8 points per game scoring average. He since has transferred to Saint Leo (Fla.). Also gone are Michael Johnson (10.1 ppg) and Ray Adams (10.6 ppg), two players who figured to be big contributors entering their junior seasons.

King could be one of the Heart’s top inside players if he can improve on his numbers of 14.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. 

Ortiz-Traylor led Georgian Court, a member of the NCAA Division II Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, at 12.9 points per game (the Lions only played seven games) last season. He averaged 13.8 points per game in 2019-20. He played at LIU Post, another NCAA Division II school, as a sophomore and averaged 27.8 points per game.

“He’s a really good athlete, really competitive,” Hill said. “He’s probably our most talented guy with the highest ceiling this year.”

It doesn’t sound like Hill is worried much about finding scorers.

“It’s the most talented team we’ve had in my four years at Culver-Stockton,” he said. “We’ll definitely have options. We can score it. I think we’ve got four guys who will end up averaging double digits.”

4. Find a ballhandler when Modester is off the court

“Even though he’s maybe not our best scorer, Javon Modester might be our most important player,” Hill said. “He does a lot of really good things for us.”

Modester, a senior, played nearly 29 minutes per game last year. He averaged 8.8 points and 3.4 rebounds. He was second on the team with 54 assists. When he went to the bench last year, Fry typically took over the point guard spot. This season, that person likely will be either Blaize or Keyshawn Petty, a freshman from Parkway North in St. Louis.

“We’re trying to get Jalen comfortable playing on and off the ball,” Hill said. “It’s something he didn’t do a lot of last year at Central Missouri, but he had done a little bit of at the junior college level (at Western Wyoming) before. And I would be confident putting Keyshawn out there, too. We’re still trying to figure out what lineup suits best.”

5. Shoot better from 3-point range

King shot 46.5 percent from beyond the arc last year, making 20 out of 43. The next best 3-point marksmen were Adams (36.6 percent) and freshman Kameron Worley (40 percent), who also has left the school. Payson Seymour graduate Cole Schwartz was fourth-best at 31.6 percent, but he won’t play this season because of a shoulder injury.

Culver-Stockton made just 30.6 percent of its three-point attempts last year, while opponents made 37 percent.

Freshman Ethan Fiegert from Ballarat, Australia, has been one of the team’s top 3-point threats in preseason practice. Sophomore Ryan Moore from Melbourne, Australia, wasn’t bashful from 3-point range last season, but he only made 11 of 48 shots. He’s also recovering from a high ankle sprain and a shoulder injury. Freshman Seth Larson from Columbia (Mo.) Hickman could be a factor as well.

“We’ve got some pretty good shooters,” Hill said, “We just going to need to get comfortable and hopefully can shoot it at a respectable clip. We’ve got several guys who can make multiple (threes per) game. I think we’ve got a chance to be a pretty solid shooting team.”

Nine non-conference games could help Culver-Stockton as it tries to find its way early. The Wildcats were picked to finish 13th in the Heart preseason poll. Nationally ranked William Penn and Benedictine topped this year’s poll.

Culver-Stockton Schedule