Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University isn’t the only men’s college basketball coach earning milestone wins.
With a 76-64 victory over DePauw University on Jan. 17, Coach Mike DeWitt of the Ohio Wesleyan University men’s basketball team earned his 300th career win, 250 of which have been with OWU.
The 300 wins are not the only thing that have marked success for Coach DeWitt. He has led OWU to three consecutive, 20-plus win seasons as well as three consecutive NCAA Division III playoff appearances.
The very next game, a win over Oberlin College on Jan. 21, gave him the best winning percentage (.595) for an OWU men’s basketball coach since Raymond Detrick in 1938-1939.
But DeWitt is not one to stop and celebrate such accomplishments. It is difficult for most coaches to do so in basketball with the seasons being so fast paced.
“If you coach long enough, coaching milestones are going to happen naturally,” DeWitt said. “These milestones are a direct reflection of the quality of players I’ve had the opportunity to coach here at Ohio Wesleyan.”
One of those quality players is senior guard Nick Felhaber who has played for DeWitt for four years.
“It’s been a great experience,” Felhaber said. “For me as a player I’ve had some ups and downs with injuries and stuff. He’s remained patient with me and now that it’s my senior year, I’ve stepped up and have a big role.”
Felhaber and his fellow teammates didn’t know about the milestone going into the game against DePauw.
“We had no idea, nobody on the team knew. We found out after the game. Actually somebody put it in a group message that we have for all the players to communicate,” Felhaber said.
Now, with the 300th win behind them and a winning pace that could see another 20-plus win season, the men’s basketball team has their sights on the NCAC regular season title.