Eureka Looking to Continue Program’s Run of Success
EUREKA – To Eureka men's basketball coach Chip Wilde, this preseason hasn't felt all that different from other preseasons.
And for the Red Devils, that's a good thing. Heading into his 16th season at Eureka, it's a familiar rhythm and a process that Wilde knows as well as anyone.
"You're always trying to get the returners back into the swing of things," Wilde said. "You're trying to plug in transfers that have played college basketball before, but haven't played in our system, and then you're teaching the freshmen what it's all about."
Under Wilde and his coaching staff, Eureka has been one of the top teams in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the past five years.
The Red Devils made it to the SLIAC semifinals in 2018, and came on strong late and seized their first SLIAC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament berth in 2019.
The 2019-20 team fell just short of making the SLIAC Tournament, and the 2020-21 team was primed to capture the league title until its season was cut short due to COVID-19.
Last year, Eureka finished second in the SLIAC with a 10-4 league record and went 15-12 overall. The Red Devils made it back to the SLIAC Tournament semifinals and came up one win shy of competing for a conference tournament title.
Despite losing several key players from last year's squad, Wilde believes this year's team has the pieces to continue the program's run of success and meet the standard set by its previous teams. The Red Devils were selected to finish third in the SLIAC preseason poll.
"I think we have a lot of weapons," Wilde said. "Individually, for sure – it's more about jelling as a team on both ends of the floor. I think we have some size, length. We have a different set of guards that are trying to learn to play in the system, and also playing with bigs that we usually don't have.
"I think it's all there."
The Red Devils are looking to replace the production of three starters from last year's team: 2021-22 SLIAC Player of the Year Ian Milsteadt, All-Defensive Team point guard Jalen Hosea and energetic wing J'Len Crawford. However, the team also returns a pair of All-SLIAC Honorees in Logan Dorethy and Charlie McKinty.
Dorethy, a 6-foot-7 fifth-year senior, joined the Red Devils last year after previously playing for Hannibal LaGrange and former SLIAC foe MacMurray. Once he shook the rust off, he re-established himself as one of the SLIAC's most formidable post presences. He averaged 19.1 points per game in SLIAC play, gathered 6.3 boards per game and shot 55.8 percent from the floor while garnering All-SLIAC Second Team honors.
McKinty, 6-foot-4 senior forward, had a breakout junior season. As a sophomore transfer, he earned a spot in the starting lineup but tended to play a supporting role, averaging 4.6 points per game. Last year, he posted a career-high 16 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 36.1 percent from distance. With several explosive performances early in the season, he proved he could be the best player on the floor on any given night, and at the end of the year, he received All-SLIAC Third Team honors.
"Both of them are picking up where they left off," Wilde said. "Charlie is an exciting player that can score in a lot of different ways, and he's always getting better on the defense end. Logan has been around college basketball for a while now. He's pretty crafty around the rim, and he can get a lot of things done."
Another veteran who will play a major role this season is senior Austyn Ellison. After playing the minutes of a starter while coming off the bench last year, he's moved into a starting role this year, going back and forth between the 1 and 2 guard position. He contributed 6.3 points, 2.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds and one steal per game last year, and posted a team-high 18 points and five assists in Eureka's season opener at Monmouth this week.
Along with Ellison, the team has a nice core of returning players who were contributors last season in seniors Andrew Gonzalez, Blake Castonguay and Zach Briggs, junior David Hill and sophomore Sam DeJesus.
"Losing both of our starting guards last year, I think it's been in his mind that he was going to have to step up," Wilde said of Ellison. "And I think our other returners have specific skill sets that will fill roles and fill in spots where we need them. Whether we need physicality, whether we need them at the defensive end, or we need somebody to get a shot or get a rebound, I think that's what the rest of our returners can do for us, and I think they'll have a little bigger role than in years past."
As has been the case in past years, Wilde and his coaching staff have also brought in a slew of newcomers who are eager to contribute. When the Reds Devils opened their season at Monmouth on Wednesday, four of them contributed significant minutes.
Cody Baer is a 6-foot-10 forward and junior transfer who has previously played for Southwestern Illinois College, Minnesota State University and Carl Sandburg College. He scored 14 points and had eight rebounds in his Red Devil debut. Noah Persich is a 6-foot guard who previously played for Parkland College and Southwestern Community College. He notched 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting while hitting 4 of 5 3-point attempts and dishing four assists at Monmouth.
"Noah and Cody have been around and have a lot of experience," Wilde said. "They just don't have a lot of experience playing at Eureka College and they don't have a lot of experience playing for me, but when they figure that out, it's going to really click for them."
Morton product Ben Carter is a 6-foot-4 forward and a promising freshman who stepped into the starting lineup due to McKinty being out with an injury, and 6-foot-6 Lincoln transfer and former men's volleyball player Garrett Hooker has been a hard-working forward off the bench.
The team also welcomes back forward 6-foot-6 junior forward Nolan Thier, who was previously on the 2019-20 squad, and benefits from the senior leadership of Logan Dilley and Adam Greer.
Eureka opened the season on Wednesday without a key starter in McKinty due to injury and lost 83-75. The Red Devils led by as many as 18 points early in the second half at Monmouth, but the home team erased the deficit and snagged the win on opening night.
"We were getting stops, we were rebounding, we were getting in transition, and we were flowing pretty well," Wilde said. "And then in the second half, we weren't getting as many stops, it was harder to get in transition, and we weren't scoring as much.
"It was a tale of two halves."
The Red Devils (0-1) will look to take their next step forward on Friday at 5 p.m. when they host Aurora (1-0) in a highly-anticipated home opener at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center. It will be the first matchup between the two teams since 2006.
