1979–80 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team

1979–80 Wright State Raiders men's basketball
1979–80 Wright State Raiders men's basketball
NCAA tournament, 3rd Place Great Lakes Regional
Record	25-3 ( )
Head coach	Ralph Underhill (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Jim Brown; Bob Grote;
Home arena	WSU PE Building
	Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 →

The 1979–80 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team represented Wright State University in the 1979–80 NCAA NCAA Division II men's basketball season led by head coach Ralph Underhill.

Season summary

The 1979-80 Raiders dominated, running off an astounding 25-3 record. They made their third trip to the NCAA Division II tournament.

Roster

1979–80 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	33	Flenoil Crook	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Jacksonville	Louisville, Kentucky
F	40	Joe Fitzpatrick	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Mt. Healthy	Cincinnati, Ohio
C	42	Steve Hartings	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Marion Local	Maria Stein, Ohio
G	30	Bill Wilson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Jr	Eastmoor	Columbus, Ohio
F	24	Rodney Benson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Cleveland St. (TN)	Louisville, Kentucky
F	25	Jeff Bragg	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Marion	Marion, Indiana
G	34	Eddie Crowe	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Carlisle	Carlisle, Ohio
F	45	Leon Manning	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Northwest	Indianapolis
G	20	Keith Miller	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Cleveland St. (TN)	Louisville, Kentucky
F	44	Roman Welch	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	S. Plantation	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
G	32	Mike Zimmerman	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Alter	Kettering, Ohio
F	23	Tom Holzapfel	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Greenville	Greenville, Ohio
G/F	35	Clay Pickering	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Hoban	Akron, Ohio
G	22	Barry Turner	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Wilmington	Wilmington, Ohio

Head coach

Ralph Underhill

Assistant coach(es)

Jim Brown, Bob Grote

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Source^[1]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 12, 1979	Oakland	W 84-58	1–0	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Dec 3, 1979	Campbellsville	W 93-79	2–0	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Dec 5, 1979	at Indiana Central	W 95-84	3-0	Nicoson Hall Indianapolis
Dec 8, 1979	Wayne State	W 92-75	5-0	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Dec 10, 1979	at Miami Ohio	W 83-68	6–0	Millett Assembly Hall Oxford, Ohio
Dec 13, 1979	Armstrong State	W 99-85	6-0	UD Arena Dayton, Ohio
Dec 15, 1979	Otterbein	W 69-65	7-0	UD Arena Dayton, Ohio
Dec 20, 1979	St. Joseph’s (IN)	W 115-81	8-0	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Dec 22, 1979	Bellarmine	W 102-79	9-0	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 3, 1979	Wilberforce	W 82-58	10-0	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 7, 1980	vs. Central State	L 60-69	10-1	UD Arena Dayton, Ohio
Jan 9, 1980	Indiana Central	W 84-74	11–1	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 12, 1980	Heidelberg	W 97-55	12–1	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 16, 1980	at St. Joseph’s (IN)	W 72-68	13–1	Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, Indiana
Jan 19, 1980	Elmhurst	W 101-59	14–1	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 23, 1980	Marion	W 122-86	15–1	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 26, 1980	at IUPUI	W 92-77	16-1	Harry E. Wood Continuing Education Center Indianapolis
Jan 30, 1980	at Northern Kentucky	W 116-66	17-1	Regents Hall Highland Heights, Kentucky
Feb 2, 1980	Thomas Moore	W 73-70	18–1	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Feb 4, 1980	at Rice	L 78-84	18–2	Autry Court Houston, Texas
Feb 9, 1980	at Bellarmine	W 66-63	19-2	Knights Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 11, 1980	Missouri–St. Louis	W 82-69	20-2	UD Arena Dayton, Ohio
Feb 16, 1980	Northern Kentucky	W 88-70	21-2	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Feb 18, 1980	Youngstown State	W 72-61	22-2	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Feb 23, 1980	SIU Edwardsville	W 97-88	23-2	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Feb 25, 1980	at Missouri–St. Louis	W 78-71	24–2	Mark Twain Sports Building St. Louis, Missouri
NCAA tournament
Feb 29, 1980	Eastern Illinois NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional	L 64-73	24-3	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Mar 1, 1980	Southern Indiana NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional	W 88-85	25-3	WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

Source^[2]

Awards and honors

Rodney Benson	MVP
Roman Welch	MVP
Eddie Crowe	Raider Award
Steve Hartings	Raider Award

^[3]

Statistics

Number	Name	Games	Average	Points	Assists	Rebounds
44	Roman Welch	27	17.9	484	48	225
24	Rodney Benson	28	15.6	436	37	180
30	Bill Wilson	28	11.3	316	133	74
42	Steve Hartings	28	9.9	277	71	169
34	Eddie Crowe	26	9.8	255	92	68
45	Leon Manning	26	7.0	181	23	111
20	Keith Miller	26	5.0	129	32	41
25	Jeff Bragg	27	4.6	123	36	48
35	Clay Pickering	25	4.5	113	7	61
32	Mike Zimmerman	21	3.4	72	31	23
40	Joe Fitzpatrick	14	1.6	23	1	26
23	Tom Holzapfel	15	1.5	23	10	18
33	Flenoil Crook	3	2.7	8	0	1
22	Barry Turner	3	1.0	3	1	1

Source^[4]

References

^ "1979-80 Basketball Press Book". Wright State Athletics. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
^ "Wright State Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved October 23, 2023.
^ "Wright State Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved October 23, 2023.
^ "1979-80 Statistics" (PDF). Retrieved October 28, 2023.

[1] "1979-80 Basketball Press Book". Wright State Athletics. Retrieved October 28, 2023.

[2] "Wright State Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved October 23, 2023.

[3] "Wright State Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved October 23, 2023.

[4] "1979-80 Statistics" (PDF). Retrieved October 28, 2023.

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v t e Wright State Raiders men's basketball
Venues	WSU Physical Education Building (1970–1990) Nutter Center (1990–present)
Rivalries	Dayton
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championship in bold