Wittenberg men’s basketball: Centerville, Springfield grads part of 2021 recruiting class

Six of the nine players who appeared in Wittenberg’s final game that season — a 77-73 victory against Susquehanna in the second round of the NCAA tournament — remain with the program. Three of those players — Rashaad Ali-Shakir, Landon Martin and Ridge Young — withdrew from school last year and did not participate in the eight-game season Wittenberg played in February and March this year. They did that so they could return for one final and complete season in 2021-22.

That means Wittenberg should have another top-25 team in the coming season. It also means it will be hard for the seven freshmen to find playing time.

“We only lost two guys off the roster from last year,” sixth-year coach Matt Croci said Tuesday, “so it’s going to be tough for the young guys to get on the court, but I think they’re wired to compete and grind and work hard and earn it. We’re going to try to develop them while we’re getting them ready to get on the floor. If they don’t see what they want to see this year, we’re going to graduate five or six guys from this year’s team so it’ll be there at some point.”

Here’s a quick glance at each of the seven recruits:

• Malachi Archey, 6-foot guard, Park Tudor High School (Ind.): He earned a Pioneer Academic Athletic Conference honorable mention last season.

• Dominic Cork, 6-6 forward, Cambridge High School: He averaged 16.0 points per game and was named to the All-Ohio Division II third team.

• Cam Harrison, 5-11 guard, National Trail High School: He set his school’s career scoring record (1,693 points) and also owns the record for career assists (356).

• Tre Johnson, 6-7 forward, Centerville High School: He averaged 3.6 points for Centerville’s state championship team last season.

• Trey Killens, 5-11 guard, Mason High School: He led the Greater Miami Conference in scoring (21.0 points per game) and was named the conference’s player of the year.

• Josh Tolliver, 6-1 guard, Springfield High School: He ranked fourth in the Greater Western Ohio Conference in scoring (16.5 points per game) and won the Dan Hoyt Award as Clark County’s Mr. Basketball.

• Kaleb Wanamaker, 6-0 guard, Start High School: He averaged 21.0 points per game as a senior and was named MVP of the Toledo City League.

Croci and his staff focused on guards in this recruiting class. They wanted players who can handle the basketball and create shots for others.

“Specifically guys who can either play the point or be combo guards,” Croci said. “We thought that was kind of a weakness of ours last year. We feel we filled that need, which is great.”

Tolliver was a late addition to the class, said Croci, who’s excited to have a Springfield High School graduate on the roster for the first time in several years.

“I think, like a lot of kids last year, he really struggled with the process,” Croci said, “and what was going to be available and how scholarship schools are handling returning players with COVID years. We really liked him but really didn’t start pushing until late in the spring. He came over and and played a lot in the spring with our guys and knows our older guys well from them staying on campus the last couple of summers. He felt really comfortable. His parents felt comfortable with him being close. I think he just needed to decide: did he want to stay in Springfield? He loved Wittenberg, loved the school, loved the program, loved the guys. Once he kind of decided, ‘Hey, I’m okay staying at home,’ it was easy. He’s just really, really, really good.”

Harrison is the son of a coach who has a high IQ and strong feel for the game.

“He knows how to play tough,” Croci said. “He’s kind of a true point guard and gets you into your offense: pass first and makes shots if he needs to. He scored a lot more in high school than he will maybe right away for us, but we’re excited about him for sure.”

Everyone in the class has potential.

“Trey Killens and Kaleb Wanamaker are both scoring point guards,” Croci said. “Both of them can do a lot of things on the court. Both of those guys have a chance to to be really good. Then Archey comes from a really good high school program. He can really shoot the ball. We’re excited about Tre Johnson. He was a role player for Centerville, and he’s one of two big guys in the class. I think Tre’s kind of going to be that Swiss Army knife. We can put him in a lot of different places. He can defend and rebound score a little bit, but we’re going to kind of have to find the right spot for him. And then Cork had a really good high school career as well. He’s an athletic forward who can shoot it a little bit and post up.”