Author: Taylor Smith

The Keith Rucker Story

Assistent Ohio Wesleyan football coach Keith Rucker, pictured here in an Arizona Cardinals jersey, played for five teams in his seven-year NFL career. Photos from Keith Rucker
Assistent Ohio Wesleyan football coach Keith Rucker, pictured here in an Arizona Cardinals jersey, played for five teams in his seven-year NFL career.
Photos from Keith Rucker

By Taylor Smith

Sports Editor

When Keith Rucker first arrived to Ohio Wesleyan in January of 1989, he knew he was getting another chance to play football; but his main goal was to earn his degree and live up to the promise he made his mom.

Little did he know by the time he graduated, he would make NCAA history in more than one sport and be on his way to the National Football League.

Rucker is currently in his second season with Ohio Wesleyan football as the team’s special teams coordinator and defensive line coach. He returns to the Battling Bishops after spending 13 years coaching high school football in the Cincinnati area, which followed seven years in the NFL.

While attending OWU, Rucker made a name for himself in the athletics department. Besides being a three-time All-American in football and one of the “most dominant” defensive players the school has ever seen, he also participated in track and field as a thrower, winning four national championships while being named an All-American seven times.

Rucker found Ohio Wesleyan and then-head coach Mike Hollway with the help of his brother, and transferred soon after from a junior college back home in Illinois, which he attended for a year.

Rucker originally attended and played football for Eastern Michigan University, but because of some “poor choices,” he ended up losing his football scholarship.

Athletic Director Roger Ingles was a member of the football staff as the team’s wide receiver and tight end coach when Rucker made his first visit to campus. He recalls the coaches were expecting him, but didn’t know his size alone was enough catch everyone’s attention.

“We’re sitting in his (Hollway’s) office and all I remember is it was like someone turned the lights out because he walked in front of the doorway and he had to duck sideways to get in,” Ingles said. “And he came in, and the first thing I knew someone was in the hallway because I saw coach Hollway’s eyes get real big. I turn around and I saw this guy and I think this can’t be who he is talking about.”

Rucker was one of the biggest to play the game at the Division III level—measuring six feet, four inches and weighing 350 pounds, he was the largest defensive threat every time he stepped on the field while in college.

 

New school, new challenges

When Rucker attended Eastern Michigan, his world was football and football only. It was acceptable to miss class, he said, and the only thing he had to worry about was attending practice and games—he didn’t have to be responsible for much else. Rucker said he faced favorable changes once at Ohio Wesleyan.

“I liked the small campus atmosphere,” he said. “The academic setting was what was really impressive with me. On my first day at Eastern Michigan I walked into a lecture hall with 350 kids and the professor, I never saw his face, all he did was write on the chalkboard the whole time.

“Being here I knew it was going to be a big time management, had to be very organized. Being in a small campus environment with 20 to 35 kids in a classroom helped me regain that focus that I had in high school. I knew I was going to be held accountable.”

Former track and field coach Marv Frye said when he first met Rucker, he knew the future All-American would face new differences in his academic campaign, but his mental outlook on things would be his best tool.

“I think he had some doubts in himself, but he has always had an upbeat attitude,” Frye said. “He was now (at) a tougher school than before; he knew he had a challenge ahead of him.”

 

Subtitle Related to Track

Although he had gone back to school to earn a degree and to enjoy another opportunity to play football, it didn’t take long for the track and field coaches to find Rucker and get him on the team; and he just saw it as another activity to keep him occupied.

“Those guys (the coaches) took me in and saw something that I had and I could bring to the program…,” Rucker said. “Coach Frye talked me into coming out for track. It gave me something to do other than just academics and there wasn’t much to do in a small town as it was a lot less developed than it is now.

“I went out for track and the rest is history for how that went. But it also helped me get into better shape in order to still want to go out for football, so that’s how I got back into football.”

Rucker had thrown in high school so it wasn’t new to him, but he joined during the indoor season, which he had never experienced. That didn’t prove much of a challenge to him, though–he qualified for indoor nationals in the shot put on his first throw at his first meet.

“I threw it and they marked it, but they wouldn’t move the marker,” he said. “I was like, ‘what are they doing?’ This was just something I was doing for fun and it kind of helped me to be organized. Coach Cornell comes over and says, ‘Congratulations kid, you just qualified to go to nationals,’ and I’m like, ‘Okay.’ It was nothing big; I was having fun and I went on form there.”

Rucker’s national bid came to no surprise for his coaches. Frye said he knew it would happen; it was only a matter of when. There was also the issue of no one in the conference being able to challenge him.

“We expected him to do it; the question was, ‘How good is he going to be and how much can he improve?’” Frye said. “Normally nationals is a different experience, you have to feel comfortable. No one challenged him in the NCAC, nationals was a different atmosphere altogether.”

Rucker went on to earn fifth at nationals that year. His junior year he won shot put at indoor nationals and shot put and discus at outdoors. Rucker said competing at nationals was just like any other meet to him, he was just having fun. It was also about the people he met there.

“It was the same group of 16 or 20 guys at nationals; it became like a big inter-competition at nationals,” he said. “We always got together and hung out, the coaches would go and the players would go. Those relationships I’ve built 20 some years, and I still have them. It was a friendly rivalry. We’d push each other and compete and then when it was over we’d go grab a bite to eat.”

Rucker said competing in track and field, football and basketball, which he only did his senior year, was always fun. It gave him something to do in addition keeping up with his schoolwork and student teaching as he worked toward his career.

Rucker said he never felt stress to perform as he was always having fun. The only time he said he felt any pressure was after he won three championships his junior year.

However, Rucker never had the chance to defend his titles, as he was preoccupied with other tasks at hand.

 

Something, something, Football

Rucker became one of the best-known names in Division III football. The combination of his size and his attitude on the field made Rucker a force that all opposing teams noticed and respected. His coaches noticed his talent immediately and knew he had potential.

“He was a physical inside presence,” said Pate Delany, the OWU football team’s defensive coordinator. “He is a remarkable athlete, go down and watch him play racquetball. Still today, you can tell why he was an NFL talent, because of how great of an athlete he was.

“He played basketball here, he ran track just for fun, I think, or to look at girls. He has remarkable flexibility and he played hard… Keith probably was the most dominant Division III lineman in the history of Division III.”

Rucker was the team’s defensive tackle, lead run stopper and center of an already great defensive line. During the 1989 season, the defense held opposing teams to 189 yards rushing for the season, just 18.9 yards a game.

Rucker had received his first NFL offer by his junior year—the San Francisco 49ers invited him to join their practice squad. Rucker said after much debate and conversation with his brother, he decided to return to Ohio Wesleyan for his senior season.

That senior year may have made all the difference for the rest of his college career.

Rucker was named an All-American for the third year in a row and was invited to play in the Hula Bowl, the college senior all-star game, in Hawaii. He was the first Division III player to be invited to the event, which usually pulls the top 100 seniors from the Division I level.

The first play of the game, Rucker made a sack.

He followed up the performance by being one of the 310 players invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. There he continued to impress scouts, running a time of 4.9 seconds for the 40-yard dash, respectable for a player his size.

Despite getting calls from multiple NFL teams leading up to the draft, Rucker was not selected. Not to be disappointed, he talked to his agent who said multiple teams contacted him and were looking into him as a free agent.

Rucker headed back to Ohio Wesleyan not knowing whether he would get the chance to play in the NFL. Rucker said when he pulled off of Route 23 onto Sandusky Street, there was sign that said, “Keith Rucker is a Cardinal.” His initial thought was, “did I miss myself get drafted?”

Without any knowledge of the agreement, Rucker’s agent signed him with the Arizona Cardinals. He had determined the offer to be his best bet at getting into the NFL.

Although short on credits to earn his degree, Rucker earned the right to walk at graduation, which he passed up on as he had to report to Phoenix, Ariz., for mini-camp.

As a rookie heading into training camp, Rucker said he sat sixth on the depth chart at his position. Several weeks later, after the final preseason game, Rucker said he and his teammates waited in their hotel for a call as to whether or not they made the cut.

Rucker said after four hours of waiting, he finally decided to call his position coach to see when the cutting process would be over and if he made it.

All his coach had to say was, “Well if you haven’t received a call by now… guess that means you’ve made the team.”

The first few weeks of the regular season had its ups and downs for Rucker. He said he played two snaps in his first game on the field-blocking unit, was cut the night before the second game and ended up watching that game from his house.

The next week he was resigned a couple days before the Cardinals played the Washington Redskins. He recorded eight tackles and two sacks, and one week later they rearranged the entire defense to accommodate Rucker as a starter.

Over the next seven seasons Rucker played for the Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins and Kansas City Chiefs; he was a regular starter in his time with the Cardinals and Bengals.

Rucker said seven years into his NFL career, after not getting much playing time in his latter seasons and going through a divorce, he decided to retire.

 

The player becomes the coach

Following his retirement, Rucker decided to go back to school. He returned to Ohio Wesleyan to coach the football team and finish his degree.

After receiving his diploma, he moved to Cincinnati to be with his family and take a high school football assistant coaching position.

He said coaching is one of the things he has enjoyed most about his entire experience, which came full circle last year when he returned to Ohio Wesleyan football when head coach Tom Watts took the helm.

“There’s a lot that I have enjoyed, but the biggest thing for me is to pass on that knowledge and those skills that I worked so hard to master to guys that when I was at the level they’re at now, didn’t have a clue,” Rucker said. “I’m teaching them, and to watch them get it, that ‘ah-ha’ moment, you see the eyes light up and the (light) bulb go off. That’s the biggest thing for me.”

Being a celebrity on campus, Watts said Rucker brings a lot of experience and knowledge to the Bishops’ football program. With hard work, dedication, organization and being a community and family man, he makes an impact.

“Obviously the players have a lot of respect for Keith, because he’s been at all levels,” Watts said. “Not only has he played at Ohio Wesleyan, he’s played in the NFL, he’s coached high school football, he’s coaching our kids, so he has a lot of experience behind his years.

“He is a very good teacher and mentor. I think because people see him as a big guy, they think he’s a loud guy, but he’s not like that at all. He is very patient with the kids and he definitely has their respect or everything that he does.”

Junior defensive end Brok Gould said he is a good person with a great personality who is always fun to be around and can make the guys laugh.

“I think that his experience of football in his career has helped him to become the great coach he is today and he will continue to help young athletes learn the values that go along with the game,” he said.

Sophomore nose tackle Dominic Wilson said Rucker, or “Ruck” as they like to call him, is like a second father to him and the rest of the defensive line. He said Rucker has knowledge and passion for the game and makes practice fun, yet is diligent when it comes down to business.

“But don’t let his fun, laid-back nature fool you. Coach Ruck tells it like it is,” Wilson said. “If you missed an assignment or didn’t play your role during a game, he’s quick to tell you that you messed up but will give you tips on how to utilize your own personal strengths to be better on the next go-round.

“It’s rare that he raises his voice, and the criticism that he gives you is genuine. He’s always about uplifting us and making us better players and men in the future. Those characteristics explain why I have no problem going to battle for him.”

That is exactly what Rucker is trying to do—make better players and men out of those he coaches. Rucker said one of the things he enjoys the most is sharing his stories from his time as a Bishop.

“(T)hat’s something I’ll have forever,” he said. “And trying to get them to understand to relish in the moments they’re going through with each other, because these guys have formed a bond for the rest of their lives. Those stories and that camaraderie I like to share because I want them to understand that this is just not a walk; this is a journey, and you’re taking it with a bunch of guys, and some of you are taking the same steps.

“You’re going to share it for the rest of your life, and you’ll end up telling your kids about it. It’s more so about the relationships you build here and I like to share that with them.”

Coaching and being a father has become Rucker’s priority in life. It’s not known how much longer he will stay with the Bishops or if he will try to move up in the college coaching world. But he is here, and that is all that matters to the team for now.

Delaney said he thinks Rucker has done a great job coaching his players.

“He makes them accountable and he’s fun,” he said. “He laughs and jokes with them. The kids really like him a lot, and we’re lucky to have him.”

Frye has seen Rucker grow from the first time he stepped foot on campus. He said he is a joy to be around, always has a positive attitude and is willing to do anything asked of him.

“I think his upbeatness is reflecting in his coaching career,” he said. “The kids like him, respect him and enjoy him. It’s been a real pleasure to have him as an athlete and now as a friend.”

If Rucker could sum up his athletic experience at Ohio Wesleyan in a few words, he would say, “It was fun and we made it fun.

“The academics are the number one reason to be here, but the athletics add so much more to that academic experience,” he said.

Men’s golf perseveres despite Gordin Classic losses

By Taylor Smth

Sports Editor

The annual tournament was held at Columbus Country Club last Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The Bishops finished 12th out of 12, 58 shots behind tournament champion and conference rival Wittenberg.

The Gordin Classic features the top 11 NCAA Division III teams from the previous year’s NCAA championship tournament and OWU. Ohio Wesleyan has hosted the tournament since 1991 and it is the first time the Gordin Classic has been held north of the Mason-Dixon line.

The tournament is named in honor of longtime Ohio Wesleyan golf coach Dick Gordin, who coached the Bishops from 1955 to 1993. Named the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year in 1987 and 1993, he led 22 of his final 25 teams to the NCAA Division III or College Division championship tournaments. Gordin brought home six top-5 finishes in his final eight years of coaching and 12 league titles (7 Ohio Athletic Conference and 5 NCAC) over a span of five decades.

Men’s head golf coach Ian Miller said while he the scores weren’t great, he was pleased with the team’s effort.

“They all gave good effort all the way through even if they didn’t play well, as far as scores are concerned, but they stuck to the game plans and they remained pretty patient out there,” he said.

Miller said the team once again struggled most with their own confidence, more than any other part of their game.

“We just need to play with more confidence and more, what I call, ‘hate to lose’—sometimes when things aren’t going well you just have to will it in the hole, for a lack of a better term, and I don’t think we’re doing a real good job with that right now,” he said.

The team was sitting in sixth place, their overall finish at last year’s Gordin Classic, after shooting a combined 304 during the first round on Monday. However, Miller said the team failed to maintain momentum and stay confident during Monday’s second round as they fell to a tie for 10th place, 35 shots behind the leader, St. John Fisher College.

Freshman Chris Pavelic was tied for 12th among individuals after shooting a one below par 71 in the second round and before his struggles midway through the third round. He finished tied for 29th with a nine-over-par 225.

Pavelic agreed with his coach and said the team struggled with their confidence during the second and third rounds. He added that he felt struggled with multiple aspect of his game aside from confidence and was not happy with his performance or confidence.

“Being our home tournament I felt that we were very pressured to do outstanding,” he said. “We had a little too much riding on our shoulders and we just didn’t go out and perform the way we should’ve. Myself in particular I was lost on the golf course, I wasn’t focused to my full potential and I wasn’t hitting the shots I needed to hit.”

Sophomore Mitch Rice also said the team’s confidence was low, bgut he thought he did do other things well.

“I felt like I had great course management by just playing smart all week,” he said. “I felt like I may have struggled a bit with my tee shots. Basically putting myself out of position on a few of the key par-fours.”

The team has two more tournaments before the conclusion of the fall season; the next will be Oct. 13 to Oct. 14 at the Peter C. Rossin Memorial Tournament in Canonsburg, Pa.

Miller said the Gordin Classic gave the team an excellent learning experience and a sense of urgency, but it must now handle that urgency and turn in good scores.

“We’re going to talk everyday in practice about being more competitive and hating to lose, desire to go out and win,” he said. “Those feelings and thoughts if you carry that to practice everyday and then carry it to tournaments–that’s where confidence comes from.”

Field hockey drops one and wins one during Homecoming Week

By Philippe Chauveau

Transcript Reporter

The Ohio Wesleyan field hockey team left Selby Stadium on Tuesday afternoon with 3-0 win over the Earlham Quakers.

The Bishops started strong. Two minutes into the game, sophomore attacker Montana Knapp hit a shot close to the left post to start the scoring for Ohio Wesleyan. One minute later, after a couple of passes into the circle and a number of shot attempts, the Earlham defense was able to clear the ball out of danger.

Ohio Wesleyan put the Quaker defense under intense pressure. With 26 minutes to play in the half, freshman midfielder Haley Savoie had a shot blocked by the Quaker goalie. Three minutes later, Savoie took another shot, this one redirected by senior defender Jenna Ortega into the Quaker net. The score was now 2-0 for the Bishops.

The Quakers made it to the OWU goal for the first time with 21 minutes left in the first half, but the shot that was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Karson Stevenson.

At the end of the half, the Quakers made a push for a goal. They had several blocked shots and three corner shots in a row, but the OWU defense managed the pressure with poise and denied Earlham their first goal.

OWU started the second half strong. There was good ball movement, with runs being made at all times and defensive pressure on the ball carrier. Two minutes into the half, the Bishops had several corners. The Earlham defense blocked each of these shots.

To assert their dominance, senior Sadie Slager redeemed herself for her miss in the first half and scored Ohio Wesleyan’s third goal. Sophomore midfielder Venessa Menerey crossed the ball to Slager, who tapped it into the net. With the score at 3-0 for the Bishops, the Quakers called a time-out.

The Bishops kept the pressure up and with 14 minutes to go in the half nearly scored again with a sequence of four shots at the Quakers goal.

The Bishops maintained their advantage by never slowing down or dropping back, and the result was a victory in which they outshot the Quakers 29 to 9.

Freshman leads men’s golf into Gordon Classic tournament

By Taylor Smith

Sports Editor

After finishing second in the NCAC standings for the fourth straight year, the Ohio Wesleyan men’s golf team looks forward to continuing their winning streak.

The team lost one senior from last year, Jerry Moore, a two-time first-team All-NCAC honoree and a pivotal member of the team the past three seasons. But the team also lost several other players who transferred, which is why they only return six lettermen this year.

Amongst those letterman is junior captain Kaneat Nimcharoenwan who finished second, individually, in the conference last year, was named to the first-team All-NCAC team and was named to the PING All-Great Lakes All-Region team.

Head coach Ian Miller said this year’s team is capable of being better than last year’s team, but the players “need to put everything they have together and practice.”

“We have the ability to be a lot better; we’re definitely deeper,” he said. “We talked about consistency in the four and five spots. We have the ability to be consistently better in those spots, but you also have to remember we’re looking for four freshmen to make impacts. Sometimes just getting them adjusted and confident here in the first couple of months is the challenge… It’s just a matter of putting it into play right now and preparing properly.”

The team has already completed two tournaments this fall, tying for 7th of 19 at the Transylvania Invitational on Sept. 7 and 8 and finishing 11th of 12 at the John Piper Intercollegiate Sept. 16 and 17. The latter was hosted by Bowling Green State University and consisted of teams from all three NCAA divisions.

Miller said while there are individuals doing well and each player may have his own struggles, the team as a whole lacks consistency in competition.

“One guy struggled with his putter this week for example, another struggled with the mental side and another hit more fairways than greens,” Miller said. “It’s an individual thing, there isn’t across the board one thing, we’ve indentified that and we know what we’re going to work on this week and try to fix each guy’s inconsistencies.”

Nimcharoenwan said he agreed with his coach regarding the team’s consistency. He also said he thinks most of the things wrong with the team’s performance is its mentality.

“If they don’t trust themselves to shoot a low score, they will never hit it,” he said. “They just have to play more often and keep trying to put themselves in a position to play golf well and build their confidence.”

Miller and Nimcharoenwan both said one player who isn’t struggling with his confidence and is able to play well most of the time is freshman Chris Pavelic.

Pavelic has been the Bishops’ top finisher at both tournaments, taking medals in his first collegiate golf tournament at Transylvania and tying for 23rd at John Piper.

Miller said Pavelic has been adjusting pretty well to the college golf environment and his striking ability gives him a bit of an edge.

“We’ve played both tournaments about 7,000 yards, and that’s not a bother to him,” Miller said. “The day-in and day-out practice and then tournament weekend after weekend type thing will be his biggest adjustment, but so far he’s handled it pretty well.”

Pavelic said college golf is completely different than playing in high school, but it is pretty similar to junior tournaments he’s participated in.

Nimcharoenwan said Pavelic has extraordinary confidence and stays mentally strong while on the golf course.

“He just goes into tournaments wanting to play well and approaches every round the same, treating it like practice,” Nimcharoenwan said. “He doesn’t worry about significance or other people in the tournament.”

Pavelic said in an email that he plays golf to compete and have fun and knows he can always improve.

“I go out there each day with the same attitude to put the ball in play, hit some greens and make some putts, but most important is to have fun while your doing it,” he said. “I still haven’t played my best golf and I have tons of room to improve.”

Pavelic said he didn’t expect to win his first collegiate golf tournament, but stayed confident and held out for the win.

As for the rest of the season, Miller said the team’s only current focus is the Gordin Classic. The tournament honors former OWU men’s golf coach Dick Gordin, who coached the Bishops from 1955 to 1993.

Named the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year in 1987 and 1993, Gordin led 22 of his final 25 teams to the NCAA Division III or College Division championship tournaments. He brought home six top-five finishes in his final eight years of coaching and 12 league titles (seven in the Ohio Athletic Conference and five from the NCAC) over a span of five decades.

The Classic is held annually and features Ohio Wesleyan and the top 11 NCAA Division III teams from the previous year’s NCAA championship tournament.

OWU will host the tournament Monday, Sept. 30, and Tuesday, Oct. 1, at the Columbus Country Club. Miller said while he doesn’t like the term “expectations” and setting them for his players, he does have think the Bishops can finish well if they do what needs to be done.

“If we go in and play well and prepare and have confidence going in, I would think a top five finish would be great,” he said. “If we play really well we can definitely do better than that.

“We didn’t set a goal for what our finish should be for that tournament, we just want to go out each day of practice and each day at the event and worry what we have to worry about and the score will dictate at the end where we finish, and we have no control of that. We’re just going to control what we can control and go from there.”

Football ‘still not satisfied’

By Taylor Smith

Sports Editor

The Ohio Wesleyan football team returns one year after tying Wittenberg for the first conference championship in 23 years, and now their eyes are set on larger goals.

The Bishops won their first game of the season Saturday, Sept. 7, at Selby Stadium when they defeated Bluffton 37-20.

Starting quarterback senior Mason Espinosa said the team missing the NCAA tournament last year while still winning a share of the conference title was motivation for the offseason, but they still plan on taking it one game at a time.

“We’re not satisfied with tying for a conference championship; we’re only going to be satisfied with winning it outright and going 15 games and winning it all,” he said. “We set out goals at the beginning of the season and first and foremost we have to take care of the regular season, obviously 1-0 every week.”

Which explains why Mason said the team’s motto this year is S.N.S., “still not satisfied.”

Mason is one of nine returning starters for the Bishops’ offense, coming off his junior season in which he threw for a school record 3,371 yards and was named first-team All-NCAC, as well as NCAC Offensive Player of the Year.

Second-year head coach Tom Watts also returns with some new awards on his mantel. In his first season with the Bishops, he led the team to nine wins, tying the school record, and was named Regional Coach of the Year in NCAA Division III.

Watts said Mason is one of the best players and one of the most diligent he has ever seen, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the team.

“Everybody sees Mason as this big kid that can throw, but what people don’t really see is his leadership—the way he prepares, I’ve never seen a kid work as hard as does in the off season,” Watts said. “Even in the summer—he stayed around this summer and worked hard through out the whole summer. He’s contagious; he makes guys around him better.

“Guys listen to him, they follow him; he’s phenomenal and the sky is the limit for this kid, not just because of the amount talent he has, but because he is humble. He’s not an ego guy; he’s a team player.”

Mason is joined by an offense that brings a lot of depth, according to Watts, and will pose quite the threat to opposing teams.

“I think where a lot of teams pigeon hole their guys into playing a certain position, our guys are pretty versatile and that wreaks havoc,” Watts said. “When going against another team to try and prepare for a certain look, a certain way, you know you’re getting things thrown at you that look different.”

Watts named a mix of student-athletes that will be sharing the ball on offense this season.

Pre-season All-American and second-team All-NCAC junior tight end Calvin Cagney, second-team All-NCAC senior wide receiver Dave Mogilnicki, honorable mention All-NCAC junior running back Kevin Herman, senior tight end Erik Wall, junior wide receiver Steven Uhler and senior wide receiver Scott Jenkins, were a few he named.

“We’re very fortunate and, you know, there’s only one football, and all those guys are pretty unselfish and realizing it’s just about what’s the end result,” Watts said.

 

The Bishops defense returns only six starters this year after losing names like second-team All-NCAC outside linebacker Tyler Swary and three-time first-team All-NCAC defensive end James Huddleston, who led the NCAC in tackles for a loss last year.

Senior linebacker Justin Segal, an honorable mention All-NCAC and one of the six returning starting Bishop defenders, said they have great multi-year starters like senior defensive lineman John Valentine and senior nose guard George Newcomb. He also said first year starters like junior linebacker Chris Mondon, stepping up for Swary, and sophomore nose tackle Dom Wilson have stepped up to fill the vacancies.

Fortunately, Huddleston didn’t go too far. He returns this season with the Bishops as a member of the coaching staff, working with the linebackers and defensive coordinator Pat Delaney.

Segal and Watts each said Huddleston is doing a great job transitioning from player to coach and what makes him a strong leader is his credibility with the players and the fact that most have seen the way he plays and goes about his business.

“He’s doing well,” Watts said. “I think he’s been enlightened that there’s a little bit more to coaching than he originally thought, but he works his tail off.

“He sees this as a career. He sees this as an opportunity to do something that he loves to do. I think the guys just naturally listen to him because they know what type of player he was, but he draws that line as far as being a student and being a coach.”

Huddleston, voted the team’s most valuable player last year, said the conversion from player to coach has been an enlightening learning process.

“It’s a lot different when you have to know everyone else’s assignments, instead of just yours…I never realized how much it took to make things move the way they did last year (as a member of the team) and this year (as a coach),” Huddleston said. “I’m happy to be able be able to see both sides of the coin.

“Sometimes I feel like I can do a better job with what I am doing, but I have to take the time to learn to be able to be a coach. At the same time it’s learning something new, I just have to learn everyday and get better everyday.”

With a 1-0 record for the season, several members of the Bishops’ football organization said the goal each week is to go 1-0 and focus on one opponent at a time.

“If we take one game at a time, let the chips fall the way they fall and as long as we prepare and treat each team with respect, obviously we fear nobody, but we’ve got make sure we show respect and do our preparation that we need to do,” Watts said.

After having a bye week last weekend, the Bishops keep their attention on Kenyon as they face off Saturday at Kenyon, looking to go 1-0.

Men’s Soccer

By Taylor Smith

The Ohio Wesleyan men’s soccer team returns nine of 11 starters and is off to a strong beginning while looking to improve on last season’s early exit in the NCAA tournament.

Head coach Jay Martin returns for his 37th season with the team, recording a 4-0 record to start this season. Two of those wins came Friday and Saturday, when the Battling Bishops hosted the Adidas Invitational at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex.

The Bishops defeated the Christopher Newport University Captains 3-2 in double overtime Friday. On Saturday they beat the Colorado College Tigers in a 6-2 rout.

The Bishops, who are ranked 10th nationally, entered halftime Friday night with a 0-0 tie despite outshooting the Captains 13-2 in the period.

CNU forward Jalon Brown put the Captains on the board first with an unassisted shot from the middle in the 53rd minute. OWU tied the game 10 minutes later with a header by sophomore midfielder Lonnie Barnes off a corner from senior midfielder Matt Shadoan.

Junior Colton Bloecher scored in the 70th minute to put the Bishops up 2-1, but CNU’s Keith Phelps tied the game 13 minutes later with a chip shot over OWU keeper junior Colin Beemiller.

After regulation ended in a draw, the teams played 18 minutes of sudden death overtime until junior back Drew Pang tapped in a goal off a corner kick from Shadoan.

After lifting his team 3-2 over CNU in double overtime, Pang said the experience was great as the team still looks to improve.

“I feel great; it’s my first (college) goal,” he said. “It’s more important that we got the win and rest up for tomorrow… (We) have high expectations so we’re just looking to get better.”

Senior back and team captain Jacob Eganhouse said the team needs to concentrate and command control of the game sooner than they did.

“We have to focus on one game at a time,” he said. “I think tonight (in the CNU game) we came out a little slow and waited for the game to come to us rather than take it, so tomorrow we have to refocus and start back from scratch, almost.”

On Saturday the Bishops once again entered halftime in a draw, with the score 2-2 this time after first half goals from Bloecher and sophomore midfielder Brian Schaefer.

OWU took the lead eight minutes into the second half with a side volley from 20 yards out by senior back Peter Jacobi into the top left corner of the Tigers’ goal.

The Bishops scored three more goals in the half including Bloecher’s second goal of the game in the 60th minute.

Martin, the winningest coach in college men’s soccer history with 625 wins, said he expects the team to win the conference championship and make a run in the NCAA tournament. But he said the team’s experience might not be enough.

“Yes, they’re experienced players and some of them are four-year starters and we have the best depth of any team I’ve ever had,” Martin said. “But we don’t have any leadership on the team. My expectations on the team are that we play much better than we did tonight (CNU game). I don’t even care about the outcome of the game; we didn’t play well. So I expect us to win the conference, I expect us to get into the NCAA tournament, I expect these guys to play a little better than they did tonight.”

Eganhouse agreed with Martin and said it’s great for the team to have amount of depth and experience this year’s team posses.

“We can play 20 guys on a night no problem, which is unlike other teams, so the depth and experience will definitely help against some of these teams that are a little more shallow,” Eganhouse said. “As the season goes on we’ll have more legs.”

Martin said Eganhouse is the leader in the back, but he is too far removed from the attacking players to make an impact on them and the team must get somebody to lead up top.

“You don’t have to be vocal, you don’t have to yell and scream, but you can lead by example and we don’t have anybody doing that,” he said.

One of the two players to graduate last year was four-year starter and three-time All-NCAC keeper Paul Hendricks. Junior Colin Beemiller has assumed the starting keeper position and is thriving, according to Martin.

“I’m very pleasantly surprised that Colin is Doing great,” Martin said. “We didn’t know how he would react since he sat behind Paul, didn’t get much time, but he’s doing really well.”

Beemiller said he is comfortable in the goal and owes most of that confidence to his teammates.

“It feels good, but I give a lot of credit to them (the team) because I was ready,” he said. “It wasn’t much of a step because I got in some scrimmages and stuff, got some playing time. It feels good to be the number one this year.”

As the Bishops continue their season, Eganhouse said the team has plenty of enthusiasm and incentive stemming from last year’s loss to Centre College in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“It was definitely too early for us to get out of the tournament, earliest it’s been in a long time,” he said. “It was motivation for the off-season; we worked hard and the new guys coming in know what our expectations are already. It’s fuel for the fire.”

Eganhouse said the proof of their hard work is in their first four wins.

Beemiller said everyone was dissatisfied with how last year’s season ended and the team now has even more to prove this season.

“I feel we reacted nicely; we were all pretty disappointed,” he said. “I don’t think any of us thought we should go out that early, and this year we’re trying to make a statement and definitely go deeper (into the NCAA tournament).”

Transparency of the Greek Community

By Marilyn Baer and Taylor Smith

According to the university website, Ohio Wesleyan monitors over 120 student organizations on campus, 17 of which are Greek.

These fraternities and sororities are private organizations that commit themselves to community service, bettering their members and various national philanthropies.

While Dana Behum, assistant director of Student Involvement for fraternity and sorority life, loosely monitors Greek organizations, their respective national headquarters hold them accountable most strictly.

Because of this tie to a national or even international organization, Greek life acts somewhat autonomously within the boundaries of the university.

“They are required to submit data at my request, but more so chapters and individual Greek organizations report to their national headquarters,” Behum said.

The type of data the university and Behum collect consists of recruitment numbers, updated officer positions and an updated roster of organization members. Any other information, such as what percentage of the campus is Greek or how much money was raised for a philanthropy in an entire year, is collected at the request of alumni or the Board of Trustees and is compiled into one lump amount, whether it is membership or philanthropy funds, to prevent the fraternities and sororities on campus from being compared to one another.

“I collect data for recruitment numbers,” Behum said. “A lot of times alumni want to know how many joined the organization, what percentage of the students on campus are Greek, things like that. I do collect, you know, how many dollars were raised throughout an entire year. Then I might publish that information in a university report, but I publish it as a total number rather than an individual because they’re not comparable side by side.”

This additional data is submitted typically without documentation in a Google document or through email.

Ten members of the Greek community were interviewed—some in compliance with their respective chapter, others not—and two of them believed philanthropy funds should be reported to the school. Most felt only grades and rosters needed to be reported.

One member of a fraternity said some fraternities’ main motivation is not to help those around them.

“Some fraternities value charity more than others and it would be unfair to force a fraternity into doing philanthropies because then it’s not charity; it’s work,” he said. “That would really defeat the whole purpose.”

A member of Phi Psi said he believed the university should not interfere.

“I think being in a Greek organization gives you your own responsibility and in return you should be in charge and not have an outside source interfere,” he said.

One member of Delta Tau Delta agreed that Greek groups should remain autonomous.

“Greek organizations are national organizations and some are even international,” he said. “What they do reflects their organization on a much broader plane than what they represent to the school. Basically, it’s a self-solving issue. The school doesn’t have to enforce a status quo because that is done on the national organization. Though much more easily enforced on a local level, it isn’t necessary.”

One fraternity member said he felt philanthropy data should be reported to the university.

“I believe administrations should be involved in organizational philanthropies, and how it benefits the community,” he said.  “I also think it is beneficial for administrations to acknowledge (and) keep track of philanthropic contributions because it reflects well upon them when they’re able to pull philanthropic numbers for university recruitment and even national awards”

Communication between the university and Greek life is apparently more than a little difficult.

“Although some chapter leadership is required to meet with me four times in their active role, I never hear from them, they don’t respond to me,” Behum said. “And they are required. I think that is more of a personal response than a representation of their whole group.”

Aside from leaders of the respected members of the Greek community failing to stay in contact with her, Behum said the inter-house or inter-chapter organizations of some fraternities and sororities “can be confusing.”

“I have a list of officers and it is not accurate because they do rotate, or sometimes people do resign from their position, as well,” she said.

As positions change, Behum is not able to always keep track of who is in charge in each organization. This makes it harder for her to keep tabs on the information each fraternity and sorority is suppose to share with the school.

Fraternities and sororities being compared to each other is one thing that prevents their respected leaders and members from working with members of the press and sharing information with the public. Behum said she thinks it’s not a transparency problem, but more of members being cautious about being compared.

“It’s not that they’re not proud of what they’ve done, it’s not that they’re not willing to be transparent; they’re just guarded,” she said. “I think Greek life a lot of times gets a negative, people assume that the story is going to be negative.”

Behum isn’t wrong that Greek life can sometimes get a negative reputation. A March 2012 Transcript article by sophomore Noah Manskar, current editor-in-chief, addressed a sexual assault legal battle that a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon initiated charging his accusers with “libel, emotional distress and abuse of process.” Although the man was no longer a student at OWU, it shed an unflattering light on the house. One member of the fraternity refused to comment or answer interview questions because of this article.

More recently, an email leaked to Deadspin in April by a member of the University of Maryland’s chapter of Delta Gamma has gone viral and attracted attention to the school’s Greek community. The email, sent out by a chair member of their chapter, demands her fellow sisters to be more sociable with the “pretty good frat” they were paired up with for Greek Week and contains quite a bit of profanity.

One fraternity member said it’s not that Greek organizations don’t want to speak with the press, but that they have restrictions on doing so.

“I don’t think organizations are reluctant to speak with press; I think that organizations have their set rules/by laws etc that establish who specifically is allowed to talk to the press on behalf of their organization, or chapter,” he said.

One OWU sorority member said any information she shares or comments she makes had to be submitted to her sorority’s national headquarters for approval because it would be representing the entire international organization. She said this is generally a two-week process.

Another fraternity member said he thinks Greek life has a problem with the press.

“The press always seems to try to portray Greek Life in a negative light,” he said. “When members of the Greek community are representing Greek life, they have to be very careful and political with what they say.

Members do not have to share information with the press, and the compiling of the data Behum receives makes it difficult to decipher. Additionally, fraternities and sororities are required to send in large packets of information to the Order of Omega for the Greek Awards, which includes total philanthropy fundraising, but these packets are viewed by judges only, made of OWU faculty and staff, and are shredded once the judging is over.

The lack of actual documentation is startling to some non-Greek students.

One non-Greek student said in an email she thinks “(i)t’s alarming that fraternities and sororities don’t have to provide documentation proving how much money they raised at a philanthropy event or how much that philanthropy actually received.”

Another non-Greek student said she understands why members of the Greek community are reluctant to talk to the press, but also said she thinks representatives of the Greek community need to be responsible for their actions and organization.

“Accountability is essential to the integrity of the Greek system and their student representatives,” the student said. “Reputation is also important on campus and if a Greek affiliation is being dishonest it should be recorded.”