MAC report

SportsLine Report
June 13, 2000

A glance at 2001

With one of the most exciting players in the nation, Tamar Slay, returning for his junior season, Marshall has plenty to be pumped about.

Slay ended the regular season as the MAC's leader in scoring and 3-point field goals, joining Eastern Michigan's Earl Boykins (1998) and Ohio's Dave Jamerson (1990) as the only other players in MAC history to lead the league in both categories in the same season. Both went on to the NBA.

Slay, the first sophomore since Ball State's Bonzi Wells (now of the Portland Trail Blazers) to lead the league in scoring, will have help as 6-10 center J.R. VanHoose returns in the middle. VanHoose averaged 17.6 points as a sophomore and shot nearly 57 percent from the field.

The coach

Coming off a 21-9 campaign, Greg White enters his fifth year at Marshall with lofty expectations. The Thundering Herd return everyone of consequence from a team that finished 11-7 in the MAC East, three games behind conference champ Bowling Green.

Who'll be back

Slay and VanHoose headline the returners. Point guard Travis Young, the third leading scorer last season at 10.9 points per game, is back for his senior season.

Guards Joda Burgess and Cornelius Jackson also return, along with 6-8 forward Marques Evans.

Who's gone

6-7 forward Derrick Wright, who pulled down 7.4 boards and blocked one shot per game, will be missed. But other than Wright, the Thundering Herd return virtually intact.

Key newcomers

• F Ardo Armpalu (6-10, 240, Fr.): Big man from Ralph, Estonia is currently playing for a club team in Taillin, Estonia. Will join the Thundering Herd in the fall.
• F Gabriel Kennedy (6-9, 230, Fr.): Alabama product gives Marshall even more size in the middle.
• PG Enoch Bunch (6-0, 180, Fr.): Led Father Ryan High School to Tennessee AA State Championship in junior year.
• F Latece Williams (6-8, 230, Jr.): Power forward from Okaloosa Walton Community College averaged 12 points, six boards and two blocked shots last season.