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 2001 Kentucky Wesleyan men’s basketball squad.
40 TEAMS | 40 YEARS
WEEK 17: 2001 Kentucky Wesleyan Men’s Basketball
SEASON SUMMARY
The 2000-01 Kentucky Wesleyan College men’s basketball team finished 31-3 on a year in which the Panthers secured their eighth NCAA Division II Championship in the sport. The Panthers, who suffered all three setbacks in GLVC play, won the national title without a great deal of conference hardware to show for it. KWC finished second overall to an 18-2 Southern Indiana ballclub, was shut out of all three major postseason awards, and claimed only one of the 10 All-Conference nods. The Panthers opened the season with their largest scoring output of the year – a 136-72 victory over Lees McRae. The game marked the first of five occasions in which KWC eclipsed the century mark. Kentucky Wesleyan was 12-0 to start the season before suffering its first setback at Lewis on Jan. 13, 75-70. Just one week later, the Panthers suffered their worst defeat of the year with a 20-point loss at Northern Kentucky. After knocking off three GLVC opponents following that loss, KWC slipped one last time – a 63-62 loss at Missouri-St. Louis, a team that the Panthers beat 101-70 in the third game of the season. At the GLVC Championship Tournament inside Roberts Stadium in Evansville, Indiana, KWC controlled the bracket with a 91-84 win over Lewis in the opener, an 84-67 semifinal win over Northern Kentucky, and a 91-74 victory over Southern Indiana in the title game. The Panthers’ closest test of the year came at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. KWC edged Hillsdale 73-71 and then beat Northern Kentucky 59-57 to pick up the regional title. At the NCAA Championships, Wesleyan disposed of Southwest State 85-66 in the national quarterfinal, outlasted Tampa 85-84 in the national semifinal, and topped Washburn (Kan.) 72-63 for the national title in front of 3,025 fans at Centennial Garden in Bakersfield, California, and before a nationally-televised audience of 2.4 million people on CBS Sports. The Panthers were led by Gino Bartolone, who scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point land. Lorico Duncan and Marshall Sanders contributed 13 points each, while Duncan added 11 rebounds.
IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS
Gino Bartolone
- Four consecutive NCAA Championship games (Division II record)
- Four consecutive 30-win seasons (NCAA record)
- Best four-year record in KWC history (127-11)
- KWC career record for most games played (133)
- KWC career record for most three-pointers made (285)
Lorico Duncan
- Consensus first-team All-American (NABC/Basketball Times/Division II Bulletin)
- NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player
- NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player
- GLVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player
- NABC All-Great Lakes Region First Team
- All-GLVC First Team
Chris Landry
- CBS Sports/Chevrolet Player of the Game (NCAA Championship)
- NCAA Great Lakes Regional All-Tournament Team
Anwar Perry
- Four consecutive NCAA Championship games (Division II record)
- Four consecutive 30-win seasons (NCAA record)
- Best four-year record in KWC history (127-11)
- NCAA Great Lakes Regional All-Tournament Team
- GLVC All-Tournament Team
- All-GLVC Honorable Mention
Marshall Sanders
- NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team
Ray Harper
- National Coach of the Year (NABC/Division II Bulletin)
- Winningest active NCAA Division II coach (148-19, .886)
- Only coach to earn four consecutive 30-win seasons (1998-2001)
- NCAA record for most wins in the first five seasons (148)
- Only DII coach to lead team to four consecutive trips to the NCAA Championship game (1998-2001)
LASTING LEGACY
The 2001 Kentucky Wesleyan squad won its record-breaking eighth NCAA Division II Championship and second in three seasons, which also gave the GLVC its fifth national title in men’s basketball. The Panthers set NCAA basketball history with four consecutive 30-win seasons and a Division II record of four straight appearances in the championship game. They also set a league record of four straight GLVC Championship tournament titles. Seniors Gino Bartolone and Anwar Perry set three Division II records by playing on four 30-win teams, playing in four consecutive NCAA Championship games, and 20 straight NCAA tournament games. Together they led the Panthers to a 127-11 record for a 92 percent winning percentage in four seasons. Ray Harper was name National Coach of the Year for the third year in a row by winning his second national title in three seasons. His five-year record at KWC improved to 148-19 for an 88.6 winning percentage and an average of 29.6 wins per season. Harper also set the all-time NCAA coaching record with a fourth consecutive 30-win season by surpassing Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp. He also became the second coach in NCAA history to make four straight trips to the NCAA championship game. UCLA’s John Wooden was the first with seven.