Bluffton on a recruiting hot streak

BLUFFTON - A good coach can do little without good players. Design, diagram, run drills all you want, but talent goes a long way.

Bluffton University men's basketball coach Guy Neal is a good coach, actually very good. But up until a few years ago, Neal couldn't consistently get good players. Maybe one class would bring a few keepers, but that would be followed by a scattering of scanty classes.

It started about six years ago, though, when one freshman class after another brought key components and future stars. Since then, the Beavers have reeled off four straight winning seasons.

They are 6-2 heading into tonight's game at Adrian.

"This is about the fourth or fifth year where we've had good balance in our classes. We have good players in each class," Neal said. "It wasn't always that way. ... Now, we've gone through a four-year stretch where we've been successful. I think we have the chance to keep that going."

The challenge of landing one solid class at an NCAA Division III program such as Bluffton, much less six in a row, is substantial. While programs in NCAA Division I and Division II, and those in the NAIA can offer athletic scholarships, schools like Bluffton and Ohio Northern cannot.

The recruiting itself is the same across the spectrum - Neal and his coaching staff must sell their school and program to prospective athletes and families - the bottom line can cause a good case of sticker shock. Bluffton's yearly total cost is just over $30,000 while ONU is closer to $40,000.

"The kid and his family not only have to say we like you and this is where we're coming, but we can also afford it," Neal said. "Every year, every Division III coach is told a number of times, ‘Hey, we'd like to come, we just can't swing it. The financial aid package isn't within our range.'

"That's one of the two or three most frustrating things about Division III, when you really like a young man and done a good job recruiting him, and the financials don't work out."

The first class of note, 2002-03, brought future all-American and Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference player of the year Scott Bergman and Eric Sweet. Bergman is one of four players in Bluffton history to total more than 1,000 points and 250 assists, and Sweet is one of nine players to have 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

Those two were followed by another standout pair, Eric Schwieterman and Michael Anthony, another HCAC player of the year who totaled 1,183 points. Schwieterman is second in the Bluffton record books with 313 assists and fifth in steals with 117.

The current senior class came to campus in '05. Colt Cunningham, who is 145 points away from 1,000, Aaron Taylor, Justin Rufenacht and Josiah Stober play vital roles for the Beavers.

This year's freshman class has the chance to rank up there with the best. Neal brought in Clayton Leimeister, Brent Farley, Nick Lee and Mychal Hill.

They are already playing essential roles for the Beavers; Farley is the first player off the bench, while Leimeister and Lee are playing significant minutes.

Next year, though, they will be sophomores and, if recent history is any indicator, a new batch of freshman will roll in to keep the Beavers going.

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