Herd Insider Magazine - Official website. Cover Marshall Sports since 1998

By Woody Woodrum, HI Sr. Editor --

HUNTINGTON - Marshall men’s basketball coach Donnie Jones and Herd women's basketball coach Royce Chadwick debuted the 2009-10 edition of their Thundering Herd basketball teams at Thursday Night Thunder as part the annual Herd Madness in the Cam Henderson Center, and the new big man was immediately a favorite of the 3,000 or so Herd fans in attendance.

"Our talent level has gotten better," said Jones, "and you didn't get to see Damier Pitts or DeAndre Kane tonight, two or our better players. We are working hard and playing hard and these guys are working to get better.

"We're younger than we were last year, but our talent has improved. It's going to take awhile for our young guys to learn what to do, but talent makes up for a lot of mistakes."

The women’s team, winners of 122 games under Chadwick in eight seasons at MU, started the evening with a scrimmage. The Green team earned a 18-5 victory over the White.

Fifth-year senior forward Chantelle Handy, who played this summer for Great Britian's National Team, scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds to pace the Green. Junior forward Tynikki Crook had four rebounds and scored one point.

Chadwick also introduced his newcomers, including freshmen Veronica Ruiz, Adrian Randall, Verda Holland, Erica Woods and junior college player Mystee Dale, from East Central Junior College in Mississippi. Dale won both National Junior College Player of the Week awards and was named an All-American after averaging over 19 points per game.

The men's night began with a series of drills before shifting to the dunk contest. 6-foot-11 inch freshman center Hassan Whiteside was awarded the dunk contest title by a vote of fans. Whiteside scored 109 over the two rounds of competition to edge out sophomore guard Shaq Johnson by five points, as Johnson scored 104 in two rounds.

South Florida transfer forward Eladio Espinosa was third, sophomore forward Dago Pena was fourth and Antonio Haymon, a junior college forward, was fifth in the dunk contest. Haymon is eligible this season, while Espinosa will sit out this season as a transfer and then have three seasons to play.

Moving onto the team three-point shooting contest, the five-man squad of senior forward Tyler Wilkerson, senior combo guard Chris Lutz, junior forward Tirrell Baines, sophomore point guard Damier Pitts and true freshman guard Bobby Horodyski scored 22 points to earn top honors.

The men concluded their session with a scrimmage in which the White team defeated the Green, 35-28, but the story of the night was the play of Whiteside. The frosh, known for defense and shot-blocking, was certainly all that with four blocked shots and four steals in the 15 minute scrimmage. But Whiteside also hit four-of-six shots and scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds.

"We may have to play Hassan at the point some," said Jones of one of the big man's steals and coast-to-coast score. "Or maybe we need better point guards," kidded Jones. "He really changes shots, and the ones he didn't get, he changed. Nigel Spikes will be like that, too, the guys are bookends.

"It allows Tyler Wilkerson and Tirrell Baines road, face the basket, and we have got a lot of guys underneath. Tirrell has really worked hard."

Baines led the White with 11 points, hitting 5-of-6 from the field as the White shot 66.7 percent (16-of-24) from the floor. Haymon had a 3-for-5 shooting evening for seven points, including a free throw, and had two rebounds. Senior point guard Darryl Merthie hit 2-for-4 from the floof and dished four assists to go with a steal.

Espinosa was 1-for-2, scoring two points, with a rebound and assist. Walk-on freshman Noah Fischer, from Ripley, W.Va., hit his only shot for a three and had three assists and a steal.

Johnson led the Green squad with 11 points as he also made 5-of-6 field goal attempts and dished out three assists. Wilkerson scored six points on 3-of-6 shooting, with two rebounds and two steals, while Dago Pena had four points, shooting just 1-for-8 with a sore shoulder that caused him to miss ten days of workouts, and grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

Cam Miller, a transfer from Western Carolina who sat out last year, also struggled in his first action with a 1-for-5 night, including 0-for-4 from three for the 6-foot-9 sophomore from nearby Wheelersburg, Ohio. Lutz was 0-for-2 while sophomore Nigel Spikes had a 2-for-3 first outing, scoring five points. Spikes sat out with academic concerns last year.

“It was a players night,” said Jones. “Tonight was a showcase for the kids after all of the hard work in which they put in during the Summer. I thought Tirrell and Shaq both made shots and played hard. These young guys, they have to learn to run hard every day, and that's what our older guys have to get them to do."

"This event is very important to us. Dago Pena came to watch this two years ago when we were recruiting him, and its important to see the fans supporting the players here. This is a great place to play."

Combined, the Herd was 5-for-5 from the free throw line and 18 of 28 shots were assisted on.

Jones also announced there will be a free public scrimmage on Saturday, October 24, at 4 p.m., after the Thundering Herd football game with UAB that kicks off at Noon. "We will have officials and scrimmage about six quarters, after we get that big win against UAB," said Jones.

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