Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the Great Lakes Valley Conference will celebrate its 40th anniversary by recognizing 40 teams that made a significant impact both on campus and at the Conference level. This week’s featured team is the 1990 Kentucky Wesleyan men’s basketball squad.
40 TEAMS | 40 YEARS
WEEK 13: 1990 Kentucky Wesleyan Men’s Basketball
SEASON SUMMARY
The 1990 Kentucky Wesleyan College men’s basketball program finished 31-2 on the season, including a 16-2 mark in GLVC action, both of which were school records for wins. The Panthers earned the 1990 NCAA Division II Championship with a dominant offense and stifling defense, showcasing its depth on the team as four players averaged in double figures. Corey Crowder paced all Panthers with 18.5 points per game, followed by Vincent Marshall (12.1), LeRoy Ellis (11.1) and Tim Griffin (10.1). Ranked in the national preseason poll at No. 2, the Panthers moved into the No. 1 position for five weeks during the season before finishing fourth in the final poll before the postseason. The squad entered the month of January 10-0 and 2-0 in GLVC play and would go on to post an 8-1 mark over the next 30 days. Kentucky Wesleyan’s lone setback in January came at Southern Indiana in an 84-78 defeat. On the final weekend of Conference play, the Panthers would be tripped up at Saint Joseph’s, 79-75, which was one of just four games KWC was held below 80 points. The Panthers eclipsed the century mark on 14 occasions, and would go on to average 97.4 points per game with a 20.7 scoring margin as well. Once in the postseason, KWC eliminated Ferris State and Ashland to win the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on its home court in Owensboro, setting up a three-game run in the Elite Eight for the NCAA title. In the national quarterfinal, the Panthers were taken to overtime for just the second time all year, but survived a 91-90 battle with Southeast Missouri. KWC topped North Dakota 101-92 in the national semifinal and left no doubt in the title game with a 93-79 result over CSU Bakersfield.
IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS
Corey Crowder
- Kodak/NABC All-America First Team
- Basketball Gazette All-America First Team
- Basketball Times All-America Second Team
- NABC All-Great Lakes Region First Team
- GLVC Player of the Year (1990 and 1991)
- All-GLVC First Team
- NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team
- NCAA Great Lakes Regional All-Tournament Team
- 1988 GLVC Freshman of the Year
- Inducted into GLVC Hall of Fame in 2002
LeRoy Ellis
- All-GLVC Second Team
- NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team
- 1989 GLVC Freshman of the Year
Tim Griffin
- All-GLVC Honorable Mention
Vincent Mitchell
- NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team
- NCAA Great Lakes Regional All-Tournament Team
Wayne Chapman
- Kodak/NABC Division II National Coach of the Year
- Kodak/NABC Division II Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year
- GLVC Coach of the Year
LASTING LEGACY
The 1990 Kentucky Wesleyan squad secured the GLVC’s second men’s basketball and overall NCAA Championship, just three years after the Panthers picked up the 1987 crown. KWC secured its sixth NCAA Division II men’s basketball title in 1990, which tied them with UCLA as the only schools across all three NCAA divisions to own six national titles. Corey Crowder would need the 1991 season to become the school’s third four-time All-GLVC honoree, but Crowder still holds the distinction of being Kentucky Wesleyan’s lone student-athlete inducted into the GLVC Hall of Fame. At the time of his induction, the two-time first-team All-American was also lauded as being the first GLVC student-athlete to play in the NBA, as he earned assignments with the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs franchises. Crowder headlined a senior group that saw the 1990 season cap four straight GLVC Championships, including the last two that were outright titles under the direction of Wayne Chapman, the 1990 GLVC Coach of the Year who concluded his five-year tenure in Owensboro shortly thereafter with an 128-29 record and 66-16 GLVC mark from 1986-90. In the next two years under head coach Wayne Boultinghouse, the Panthers would secure shares of the 1991 and 1992 league crowns, giving the program six consecutive championships – the longest streak in league history.