The West Liberty men finished the 2019-20 season with a 27-4 record, a Mountain East Conference tourney championship and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II tournament.
Like the other remaining 31 teams, the Hilltoppers were left wondering what could have been as the coronavirus pandemic nixed the tournament before it could get under way. Fortunately for coach Ben Howlett’s team, the roster featured nary a senior.
It did lose one starter as Preston Boswell entered the transfer portal and will be playing at nearby California (Pa.) University in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Freshman Mason Shifflet opted to head to Montevallo, and Jon Allesandro also entered the portal and is off to Embry-Riddle.
Still, the Hilltoppers return 11 players, led by first-team All-American Dalton Bolon, the Atlantic Region Player of the Year, along with Will Yoakum and Pat Robinson, who were named first- and second-team all-MEC, respectively.
So, does that mean Howlett could ease up a little on the recruiting trail heading into next season? The answer was a resounding no.
“Recruiting is something I do every day,” said Howlett, entering his fourth season at the helm of his alma mater. “I always devote an hour per day outside of the office, just to recruiting; calling players and coaches, etc. We have to remain in the game with ballplayers and develop relationships with them.”
Who Howlett and his staff are bringing to campus is an embarrassment of riches for a program that annually averages more than 100 points per game and, yet again, led Division II in scoring offense at 102.4 points per game.
In short, have fun fellow members of the MEC. That PPG number isn’t likely to dwindle anytime soon.
Controlled Chaos It’s Not
“We have this reputation of playing as a run and gun team, and we’re not,” said Howlett, who has posted an 81-13 mark in his first three seasons. “We just play at a much faster pace. We’ve been in the top 10 in assists in the last 15 years.”
The Hilltoppers work quickly but aren’t taking that first available shot. They are taking one of the first available good shots. And should the first shot fail, they’re also grabbing boards and sticking putbacks.
Not only did WLU lead the MEC in points, 3-point FG percentage, and assists, but also in offensive and defensive rebounding. Throw in assist-to-turnover ratio, and it’s easy to see how Howlett makes his point. The Hilltoppers are as methodical as they are relentless, but the mental processing speed is on another level.
That’s why it takes a special kind of player to play for WLU. It’s not position-less basketball, but each player is asked to do more than his traditional role demands. It’s a requirement, and the players respond in kind.
“Some people go out and recruit a center, or a power forward; we just go recruit the best possible players,” Howlett said. “We play with three guards the entire game as it’s a guard-oriented system, but our bigger guys can play multiple positions. We can have a back to the basket center, but he can also step out and shoot the 3.”
Pressure is also a factor incoming recruits must deal with; pressure to win big, score big and win by a wide margin.
“(The expectations) are a good problem to have, but we do take every team’s best shot,” Howlett said. “Home or on the road, beating us can make a team’s season. It’s something we talk about and embrace.”
The Shooter – Zach Rasile, McDonald (Ohio)
Rasile turned in a season, nay, a career that few in Ohio may ever approach again.
A four-year starter for his father at McDonald High School, a Division IV school in an area northwest of Youngstown, Rasile etched his name all over the OHSAA record books.
He finished as just the second player to finish atop 3,000 career points with 3,013. His 485 career 3-pointers and 140 as a senior both are state records. The previous single-season mark was one Rasile set as a freshman. Despite facing junk defenses aimed at slowing him down, he averaged 38 points per game, along with 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.7 steals. He hits at better than 50 percent clip from the perimeter.
He was named the Ohio Division IV Player of the Year and was a Mr. Basketball finalist.
“He’s a tough kid, and he set some records that will never be broken,” Howlett said. “He’s a coach’s son, lives in the gym, and is the type of player we want at West Liberty. We had a camp, and our guys were having an open gym, and he came up and played, and from that point on, we wanted him.”
The Shooter Part II – Luke Powell, Barnesville (Ohio)
Another first-team all-Ohioan, Powell’s ability to score is enough to get any coach excited. He finished as the Shamrocks’ all-time points leader with 2,374, surpassing his dad Matt during his senior campaign.
Another perimeter marksman, Powell finished with 105 3-pointers as a senior and 293 for his career, good for seventh and sixth, respectively, in Ohio history. His single season mark is an OVAC record, and his career numbers trail only Fort Frye’s Tyler Engle in the conference.
Powell has preferred walk-on status, so as such, Howlett is unable to officially comment on his talents until the Barnesville standout finally sets foot on campus for the fall semester.
But make no mistake. Powell earned his place on this roster and will become a fixture. Not just a baller, Powell’s prowess in the classroom earned him academic scholarship money.
The Versatile Combo – Elijah Watson, Thornton Fractional South (Ill.)
A quick review of highlight film reveals what gets Howlett excited about this late edition to the recruiting class.
At 6-foot-7, Watson is classified as a small forward. He’s long and athletic, can attack the basket or pull up from mid-range to the perimeter. He also has an above-the-rim skillset. Equally as important, Watson is a tenacious defender, averaging nearly two blocks per game.
“Elijah’s a great fit for our up-tempo system,” Howlett noted. “He has great length and athleticism with the ability to knock down the perimeter jumper or put the ball on the floor and attack the rim. That’s a prototypical Hilltopper skill set.”
Howlett said he first noticed Watson at an AAU tournament in the spring of 2019. He wrote his name down and decided to keep tabs on him, finally reaching out this spring when his skill set became a position of need.
And this is where the Hilltoppers’ program sometimes sells itself.
Watson is from Lansing, Ill., a south suburb of Chicago. He’s never set foot on West Liberty’s campus, but Howlett, plus the school’s track record and reputation, along with a filmed virtual tour of the campus were enough to lure Watson east.
“I’ve never (before) offered a guy a spot without having him and his family on the campus,” Howlett said, adding it’s a leap of faith for the players committing to a school they’ve never seen in person.
But again, the results speak for themselves.
