By Paul Siegfried
Herald Press Sports Editor

There could not be a more obvious question for Huntington University men's basketball coach Steve Platt. 

How can he ever find a way to replace two of the best players ever at the school, two players who each scored more than 2,000 points, both of whom were All-Americans including one who was the national player of the year? 

The obvious answer is that Platt can't replace Alex Kock and Kyle Ganton. Kock was a three-time Mid-Central Conference player of the year, NAIA Division II national player of the year and a three-time All-American. Ganton left HU as runner-up to Kock as the top player in the MCC and was a second-team choice for All-America.  

Along with another graduate in point guard Jared Yoder, the three left as the winningest class in Forester history. 

But Platt has had similar questions posed to him at the start of each year over most of the last decade. 

"We're losing two great players and a floor leader, but the thing I keep reminding myself of is that I can't think of a college basketball program that's had nine straight years of having an All-American," says Platt, who begins his 14th season as head coach. "We've had seven first-teamers, a second-teamer and a third-teamer in there, and last year we had two of them. In the past nine years, we've had seven conference players of the year come from our school. We've lost key players in the past and have been able to move on and be successful. That's kind of the way we're approaching it. We've always had players step up." 

The players returning will have a lot to live up to. Huntington went to the NAIA Division II national championship game two years ago and were among the favorites for the title last season before a first-round tournament upset to Florida Memorial, finishing with a 29-5 record. 

The lineup begins with 6-6 Doug Sheckler, the lone senior on this year's squad. While playing in the shadow of two of the country's best players the past three years, Sheckler has nonetheless been an important part of the Foresters' success over that run, and at times a dominating player in his own right. 

"He's somebody who is a special player. He was content — if Alex and Kyle were playing well — to not be concerned with his own stats. But you look at the game up at the Memorial Coliseum against IPFW, he had 36 points and was by far the best player on the court against a Division I school," says Platt. "We know what he can do. He played against Greg Oden in the state championship game for Columbia City. He knows how to carry a team and I think he wants to do that. He believes in himself and we believe in him. He's ready to be the guy to take the big shot." 

Sheckler averaged 12.9 points a game last season for HU, and grabbed 5.3 rebounds per contest. He led the Foresters with 55 blocked shots while playing in the paint. While Sheckler is comfortable with his back to the basket, Platt may also take advantage of Sheckler's soft shooting touch and move him out to a wing spot on occasion, where he can set up mismatches. 

Platt will also be counting on his senior to be the team's leader. 

"I can't put any undue pressure on him, because he can handle it. He knows what we're all about and this is his team," says Platt. "He needs to be a player-coach on the floor, and if he sees something that needs changed, he needs to do it." 

Platt will also count heavily on 6-1 junior guard Kyle Benge, who averaged 8.9 points a game last season. A proven scorer at Plymouth High School, Benge will join with Sheckler in taking up the slack of the more than 50 points a game lost to graduation. 

"He plays with a lot of confidence," says Platt. "He'll be somebody who welcomes the opportunity to play more of a major role. When he was at Plymouth, he was used to shooting every shot when he was open." 

The scoring ability on the team is there, says Platt, but his major concern is who will run the offense. 

"I don't know if it's fair or not, but I'm more concerned with that point guard position. It's such a key position," says Platt. "Jared knew the speed we wanted to play at, he knew who we wanted to get the ball to. You can have an All-American, but if you don't know how to get him the ball, what can he produce?" 

Platt will have to rely heavily on a group of sophomores who have plenty of potential, but who are also largely untested. 

"We had a couple of kids who just didn't get the minutes because of who was there in front of them," says Platt. "They were kids who we thought could be major contributors if we needed them to be. Now they're a year older and I think they're ready for their turn." 

Leading that group is 6-4 guard Luke Smith, who has shown flashes of his ability. Smith has impressed Platt enough that Smith was named the Foresters' third captain along with Sheckler and Benge. 

"Luke Smith is an interesting guy. In our very first exhibition game last year he led us with 24 points. But he had two All-Americans ahead of him and was the fourth or fifth option, and he was kind of hesitant the rest of the year," says Platt. "Now I think he realizes we need him to get 15 or 16 points a game, so he's really going to be looking for his shot. We think he'll have a super year for us." 

Another pair of sophomores who will add an inside presence to the HU lineup are 6-7 Kevin Kyle and 6-6 Neil Stoffel. 

"Kevin Kyle has really worked hard this summer. He wanted to play more last year, but he's somebody who has prepared himself to play more this year just because of his hard work," says Platt. "He's improved his outside shot. I challenged him to be more of a Gabe LaGrange-type player and be a man on the inside but also be able to step outside." 

Stoffel, from Huntington North, is also ready to make his mark after only averaging four minutes a game as a freshman.  

"Neil Stoffel is probably our most improved physically," says Platt. "He's gotten stronger and I think spending a whole year battling Alex, Doug and Kyle only made him better.  I know he feels his opportunity is now and he's ready to step up." 

Two other sophomores who could work their way into the rotation are 6-4 David Lash, a multi-role player, and 6-1 guard Kyle Johnson. 

There are also some first-year players who could have an impact. Blaise Henry is a 6-3 sophomore guard who transferred to Huntington from Bethel. Kellen Zawadzki is a 6-3 freshman guard from Tipp City, Ohio, and Tyler Shively a 6-1 freshman guard from Columbia City. 

Two other freshman recruits are 5-8 guard Andrew Mock of Wawasee and 6-5 Alex Nafziger from Wauseon, Ohio. 

Unlike past seasons when the lineup has been pretty much set, Platt says there's an unknown factor to this year's group. 

"For the first month or so, who knows what's going to happen? You're obviously going to be playing some kids a lot who haven't gotten a lot of playing time before," he says. "I'd be lying to you if I didn't wonder if this is going to come together. You can only observe so much in practice. We're going to have to find out how they perform in games. Everybody's going to get minutes so we can see who our best players are." 

But that doesn't mean the objectives have changed. The Foresters still aim to win another MCC regular season and tournament title, and want to get back to Branson, Mo. and make a run in the NAIA national tournament. 

"When I first came in 14 years ago, we set goals because I thought at that time we needed that. Now, it's kind of an unspoken thing," says Platt. "We've averaged 26 wins over the past few years, and now those things are kind of expected. We're disappointed if we're not in the mix, but we're also mature enough to know it's not just going to happen." 

Reaching those goals means managing a solid non-conference schedule and also surviving a rugged Mid-Central Conference, arguably the best in the country top to bottom. 

But it's a simple formula for Platt. 

"If you win the games you're supposed to win, and especially if you're winning in January and February, in our conference, we're going to be up there in the rankings and we're going to be in good shape," he says. 

In the preseason coaches' poll, Indiana Wesleyan was voted the favorite in the MCC this year, with Grace second, Bethel third and Huntington fourth. 

After opening the season at home Nov. 7 against Indiana Tech, the Foresters go on the year's biggest road trip to Springfield, Mo., for a tournament hosted by another annual NAIA power in Evangel University. 

They'll return home for another tough game against Cedarville (Ohio). The other non-conference powerhouse opponent is Georgetown (Ky), which visits Huntington January 9. 

The Foresters will be in the friendly confines of the Merillat Complex a lot this season, with 17 of their 30 games on their home floor. 

"As I get older, I like home games. I don't necessarily like being out on the road," jokes Platt. "What we've tried to do is to get people to come here and play because we've got a great crowd and love playing at home. But you want to do that with a young team, to give them a comfortable feeling." 

Platt says the biggest thing his inexperienced team understands is that putting on a Huntington University uniform carries a big responsibility. 

"There's a feeling every year that we have to match what we did the year before. That's kind of the tradition we've had," he says.  

That tradition is what has helped Platt and the Foresters reload despite losing the likes of previous All-Americans Jeff Shepherd, Gabe LaGrange, David Porter, Adam Hill and Ryan Thwaits over the years. 

"We've built an unbelievable reputation. But the way it works is that it's hard to stay there," says Platt. "If you don't take it seriously, you can start falling, and you can go downhill a lot faster than you went uphill. But if you work hard, the wins and all that goes along with that will take care of itself."