Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Wright State coach Scott Nagy thought his players may have felt some added pressure by being the preseason favorite in the Horizon League last year.
He also knows they’d better get accustomed to that lofty status because they’ll likely be in the same spot next season.
“That was the first time Wright State was picked to win the league in forever. I’m not sure early in the season how well we handled that,” Nagy said, referring to a 6-7 non-league record and 2-3 start in the conference.
“We did end up winning the league, so we bounced back. Our hope will be that we get off to a way better start next year. We think the conference will be a lot better. But, certainly, there will be very high expectations for our team.”
The Raiders will give poll voters ample reason to make them the favorites again this October. They return their top three scorers — Loudon Love, Bill Wampler and Cole Gentry — off a squad that shared the regular-season title with Northern Kentucky, finished with a 21-14 record for their fourth straight 20-win season and played in the NIT for the first time.
But Parker Ernsthausen and Mark Hughes, who made the league’s all-defensive team, are graduating — along with another dependable starter, Alan Vest.
Plus, the transfer of guard Malachi Smith is a blow. He was a stalwart in the last 17 games, averaging 8.2 points and 3.9 rebounds while making the league’s all-freshman team.
Nagy was perplexed by that decision.
“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to us. It’s kind of like Everett,” he said, meaning the unexpected transfer last year of freshman wing Everett Winchester, who ended up at Florida Atlantic. “Some of these kids, with college basketball the way it is, just think it’s the thing to do — without really understanding the consequences of it and how bad it can be for them."
