Glasgow’s Fighting Scots have nowhere to go but up

The Fighting Scots' senior men's basketball players are, from left, Tyler Snyder, Troy Bennett and Rob Purlee.

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Is it a good thing or a bad thing if almost every player returns from a team that’s coming off a bad season?

The Monmouth College Fighting Scots men’s basketball team will provide a good case study for that question, as they return four starters and 84 percent of the scoring from a squad that posted a 5-18 record last year, including a last-place mark of 2-14 in the Midwest Conference.

“I think any coach that approaches that as a bad thing is making a mistake,” said Terry Glasgow, who will be entering his 32nd year as coach of the Fighting Scots. During that time, Glasgow has posted a record of 429-265 (.618), placing him in the top 15 of active coaches at the Division III level.

“How we like to remember our returners is the way they finished last year,” he added, referring to three strong showings down the stretch. “We gave the regular season champion, Grinnell, a very good game at their place, lost in overtime to our NCAA representative, Illinois College, and beat a good Lake Forest team pretty decisively.”

Glasgow feels his team is “greatly improved. They’re all a year older and a little more experienced. We’ve got one way to go, and we’re going to get better. We’re writing last year off as a good learning experience. It was an atypical season for our program, but I learned a lot.”

Exact reasons for Monmouth’s sudden downfall could not be pinpointed, but there were several statistical shortcomings. Opponents made 72 more three-pointers and shot nearly seven percent better from beyond the arc than the Scots, and Monmouth also faced a rebound deficit, getting outboarded by an average of 6.5 per game. The Scots also committed 71 more turnovers than their foes.

Although the statistical anomaly that is Grinnell basketball accounted for some of those differences, the Scots did struggle in all three areas. Point guard Rob Purlee missed a large chunk of the middle of the season with an ankle injury, adding to the Scots’ ballhandling woes and also robbing the team of a reliable three-point shooter. Sophomore Anthony Beaird, the Scots’ top three-point threat, figures to benefit from the year of experience he has under his belt and improve his percentage, and Monmouth hopes its relatively new inside corps of Jason Murren, Kyle Cantwell and Tucker Blaser will address the rebound situation. Only Murren, who started seven games last season, has prior starting experience for the Scots.

Dan Mahoney, who played in the post for Monmouth last year and averaged 8.7 points and 3.7 rebounds, is the lone starter lost to graduation. He remains with the program, however, as a graduate assistant, joining Glasgow’s son, Steve, on the bench.

The Scots will be led this year by fifth-year senior Troy Bennett, who averaged 16.6 points and 5.7 rebounds last year on his way to making the honorable mention All-MWC team.

“Troy Bennett has been dominant in our first 18 practices, especially defensively,” Glasgow said Wednesday. “He’s been a coach on the floor for us, and we’re going to look to him when we’re in trouble. As a three (wing forward), I think he’ll present problems for the other teams. He has great size for that position, and if they put size on him, he’s so quick that he’ll get to the basket.”

Bennett was forced to play power forward on many occasions last year, and another player who’ll be switching positions is Travis Miller, the new point guard.

“We had to slug it out 5-on-5 a lot last year,” said Glasgow, who said that Miller has shown a knack for bringing the ball upcourt more quickly. “I think we’ll be able to get more transition baskets now. We’ve got three very good spot-up jump shooters, and Travis has the ability to get them the ball.”

Miller’s 1.54 assists-to-turnover ratio last year was the best on the team. He also showed a scoring knack, averaging 10.9 points per game and netting a career-high 33 in a victory over William Penn.

The spot-up shooters that Glasgow referred to include Beaird (8.8 ppg, 36 treys), Purlee (9.6 ppg) and Jim Dibble. There is reason to believe that all three will improve significantly from last year. Purlee is certainly healthy now, as evidenced by his 2,561 passing yards for the Fighting Scots’ football team this fall, and Dibble, too, is healthy after battling an illness that nearly cut short his athletic career.

Beaird, according to Glasgow, “is one of the finest shooters we’ve ever had. He’s playing hard and aggressively now, especially on defense. He’s really responded to what we’ve asked him to do on the floor, and he’s retaining things. Offensively, we want him to run the floor and get open, and if he continues to do that, he’s going to be an important part of our offense.”

Another player of the same mode as Dibble is sophomore Bill Elsey, a streak shooter who earned four starts during his rookie campaign and had a personal-best 17-point game against Illinois College.

While Purlee has to work a little bit to get into basketball condition, Glasgow has been impressed with Monmouth’s other senior football-playing guard, Tyler Snyder.

“He’s been the real surprise,” said Glasgow. Despite joining the team for the first time on Monday, “he doesn’t look like he’s missed a beat. What I like about Tyler is that he’s very, very good defensively, he’s tough for his size, he’s quick and he’s a smart player.”

In the paint, Glasgow believes that Murren is a key to the Scots’ success.

“He might have been the finest shot blocker in the conference last year,” said Glasgow of his 6-foot-7 junior, who actually finished second in that department at 2.2 per game. “What we’re trying to do with Jason is develop his offensive skills and his confidence. We want him to focus on being more assertive when he catches the ball. We’ve told him we need him to score 8-10 points a game.” Murren’s averages last year were 4.0 points and 2.1 rebounds.

Six-foot-eight junior transfer Kyle Cantwell will be Monmouth’s other starter inside. The former Stark County player is a “big, wide body, which is something we haven’t had in a while,” said Glasgow. “He’s getting a feel for the game at a four-year college, and learning to play more from the neck up than the neck down.”

First off the bench among post players, especially if energy is required, will be Blaser, a player whose motor is always running.

“He plays so hard,” praised Glasgow. “Sometimes he might make an overly aggressive foul, but you can never question his effort. He’s undersized at 6-4, but he’ll get some time.”

Guard Kyle Wilhelm, and forwards Jason Harris, Matt Hammer and Mike Oblinger are also back, as is 6-6 post A.J. Washburn, who Glasgow believes has “lots of potential.”

Newcomers who have impressed Glasgow at times include guard Chase Ruby, forward Joshua Reschke and post Tyler Gumm. Guards Nick Swing, Keith Carroll and Kevin Conrad round out the squad.

When looking at the MWC race, Glasgow said, “There’s no clear-cut choice for the champion. I think you have to look at Lawrence, especially if Chris Braier is back. Grinnell is always in the mix, Lake Forest has great potential and Ripon has great tradition.”

The conference coaches put Lawrence and Grinnell in the top two spots, with Ripon and St. Norbert also predicted to finish in the top four. Monmouth was tabbed for ninth, one slot ahead of Knox.

“We hope to stay in the mix by taking care of our home court and winning a few on the road,” said Glasgow.

That home court, Glennie Gymnasium, got a facelift as part of the Huff Athletic Center construction, and Glasgow is more than pleased.

“It really has a new feel to it,” he said. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere for basketball.”

After taking a road trip to Central Missouri State University on Nov. 22, Monmouth will play its first game in the new-and-improved Glennie Gym on Nov. 25 against Aurora University.