As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moment, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.
Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
1995-96 Men's Basketball: CMS 70, Upper Iowa 58
There was very little indication that the 1995-96 CMS Men's Basketball team would have one of the most successful seasons in program history as it navigated through a very difficult year. CMS athletic director John Zinda passed away in the summer of 1995, and men's basketball coach David Wells assumed double duty and took the AD reins to start the year. Then Wells was diagnosed with cancer and underwent radiation treatments while still trying to coach the team and run the department. That was followed by the passing of assistant athletic director and sports information director Grayle Howlett early in the basketball season, and then the sudden passing of freshman point guard Brian Smith's mother as the season rounded down the stretch.
The Stags kept taking all of those body blows, though, and kept bouncing back. A buzzer-beating three-pointer for a 72-70 overtime win over Cal Lutheran with three weeks left in the regular season would prove to be pivotal, as CMS would edge Cal Lutheran by just one game and earn the SCIAC title (and the league's bid to the NCAA Tournament). After securing the bid with a win at Pomona-Pitzer, the Stags went on the road in the first round and defeated Upper Iowa 70-58, behind 20 points off the bench from Darren Gravley on 6-10 shooting from three, 17 points from Bill Cornelius, 15 points from Joe Whitlach, and 13 assists from Smith. That win advanced the Stags to the NCAA Second Round for the first time in program history, before coming up just short of reaching the sectionals with a 63-62 defeat to Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Kevin Zitar (17.8 ppg) was named the SCIAC Player of the Year and was a second-team NABC All-America selection, while Cornelius (11.2 ppg) and Whitlach (12.5 ppg) were second-team All-SCIAC. Smith ended the season with 134 assists, averaging 5.7 per contest.
Kevin Zitar:
In my opinion, that was the best team to ever wear the Stags jersey. We had five guys that shot 40% from 3 (Whitlach, Cornelius, Gravely, Lin and Paisley), arguably the best pure point guard in Stags history (although only a freshman at the time and unlucky later with injuries, Brian Smith), a 6'8" big man that was money from 15 feet (Kellison) and me (Second Team All-American). We had a slow start but we finished the year 18-3.
Adversity: It was a very tough year off the court for that team. Coach Wells was battling cancer and was undergoing radiation treatments between practices and games. The team admired/respected his courage and fight but we missed his energy.
More Adversity: We unexpectedly lost our friend and huge supporter, CMS SID and Assistant Athletic Director, Grayle Howlett, after our first Chapman game (seventh game of the year). He had such high hopes for the team and we, at that point, were not living up to expectations (2-5 start).
Adversity has a way of refocusing motivation and dialing in execution. After game seven, we rallied around our love for Grayle, Coach wrapped up his cancer treatments and we put the freshman in the starting line-up. Result: an 18-3 finish.
The Cal Lu game at Cal Lu: always a tough place to play. Their undersized "crackerbox" gym was rocking but the Stags came to play. With little time left in overtime and us down by 1, Wells had to call 2 timeouts in a row while Athletic Trainer extraordinaire, Steve Graves, superglued my eyebrow back together (caught a stray elbow and was bleeding everywhere). Benefiting from that extra rest, and staying true to the notion that good teams "find a way to win", Joe Whitlach drained a 3 with no time left on the clock to seal the game. An amazing finish to an amazing game.
Upper Iowa University: Middle of nowhere and colder than any of us had ever been. The crowd was directly on top of our bench and the nice people of Upper Iowa transformed into the nastiest fans I've ever been around; which made beating them more fun. The environment was very hostile but the game was not as close as the score. Upper Iowa got blitzed by our 3-point barrage; when our guys were "on" opposing teams had no chance. I'm guessing we hit 15 threes that game.
Wisconsin Whitewater: The game was at home and we led the whole game until four seconds left. Chalk it up to March Madness; still have nightmares. They were tough but we were in control all game. One of our key players was battling foul trouble most of the game and made a poor decision in crunch time to pick up his fifth. Unfortunately, I have to see that guy in the mirror every morning.
A couple other fun facts for the year:
Ken Scalmanini was assistant coach in '95-'96 but did get his first win as "acting head coach" when Coach Wells couldn't make the second Chapman game.
We clinched league our last SCIAC game against Pomona at Pomona; and we cut down their nets.
Brian Smith:
To this day, I cannot thank Kevin and the rest of the juniors and seniors for their support and trust in me. A lot of guys had to make room for the "freshman" including Darren and Terry. They both were incredibly supportive of the new kid on the block.
I'm forever grateful to Coach Wells for trusting in me to take over the point guard role (even if it took three games for him to start a freshman).
I agree with Kevin, I think it's the best team ever to wear the Stags uniform. The talent on that team was unmatched. Best team I've ever been a part of. The combination of great wing players and inside game made for very difficult match ups for every opponent. As a point guard, it was heaven having so many weapons at my disposal.
On the tragedy side, I lost my mom half way through our season. I missed one game after her death, La Verne at home, and we lost. I returned to a team / extended family that supported me and gave me the motivation to fight through all that was going on around me.
I still recall some great memories with the team:
- Driving the team van through the snow of Upper Iowa
- Celebrating our Upper Iowa win
- Every time Bill C took a shot – Larry Legend status
- Joe W for being the most effective player, ever
- Kevin for defining what a player/friend/big brother should be – open, honest, direct; lead by example; protect your back
Hardest parts of that year:
- Knowing what Coach Wells was battling
- Our loss at home against UWW. Completely my fault for being lazy in the last couple of seconds. Terrible defense on my side for not keeping my man in front of me...like Kevin, I still have nightmares.
Joe Whitlach:
This being the only season that I put on a Stags Basketball uniform, hindered with injuries, I can say that it was a special season, filled with much adversity, which is why I believe the season played out the way it did.
Coach Wells' diagnosis was something that hit all of us pretty hard, yet we had to process and deal with this individually and collectively as a group. I believe that Coach Wells' fight with cancer, radiated within the team. Players could see how much he was fighting; showing up on days when he really didn't feel that good; trying to coach and elevate his voice, even when it didn't allow. There came a point during the season when all the players were 110% committed to making the season about Coach Wells…he is fighting for us, we better fight for him more.
Coach Scalmanini being new to the program; however, was being thrust into a position probably far before he thought was going to happen or that he was ready for. The players loved Scali's enthusiasm and energy. I still remember in practice Scali demonstrating how to get through a screen and pretty much running Darren Gravley over (sorry Darren). I am sure that I wasn't the only player thinking, "that's a foul," not necessarily getting through the screen.
I do remember us starting the season slowly, and thinking "what the heck is going on?" We have great players and we should be winning these games. It took some time for the players to figure out their role. Kevin was such a key center piece, and it just took a little bit of time for the other players to mold around him. I remember at some point thinking that Brian should be our point guard, regardless of being a freshman.
Key moments:
Starting out league play strong. I wasn't familiar with these teams or their players, so the rivalry and intensity was all new to me.
Beating Cal Lutheran at home and on the road. One of the strategies that worked well was our 1-2-2 defense, and me playing at the top, which prevented their point guard from being able to drive and/or shoot over me. The road game as Kevin mentioned was pretty wild. I remember Kevin having his eye split open and thinking, "there is no way that he is going to take himself out," and calling the 2 consecutive timeouts for Steve to at least temporarily stop the bleeding.
I remember taking the ball out from under our own basket with the entire length of the court to go. I want to say that there was maybe 6-7 seconds on the clock. I threw it in to Brian and was just slightly trailing to see how their defense was playing. About half court I see the player assigned to me drifting over towards Brian, as if they are going to double team. I remember thinking, this is our opening; Brian is going to kick this back to me and without hesitation I am shooting this in rhythm. The scenario played out and Bingo (the great Ralph Lawler), at the buzzer for 3…Stags win by 2. I turned after the shot went in and ran over in front of their student section and just stood there with a big smirk, for all the s..t they were spewing throughout the game. I remember getting rushed by all our teammates. Truly an amazing game!!!!
Beating Pomona at home in the first meeting; and yes, cutting down the nets in their gym for the conference championship.
Losing both conference games to La Verne, and they weren't even that good that year.
Upper Iowa game – Middle of nowhere, snow and cold as can be. As a shooter, always trying to get a good feel for the hoops and depth perception. I remember when we had our practice time, there were glass windows at the top of the arena and the sun was shining through, creating a glare so going into the game, I didn't have a great feeling for my shot. Hostile environment; arena was packed; however, I remember thinking that we are going to beat this team. As Kevin mentioned, between Darren, Bill and myself, I think we made somewhere between 15-20 threes. Every time Upper Iowa drew close, another timely three was hit to put them at bay. You could literally see the momentum shifting and their fans becoming increasingly concerned. I knew at that point, we had weathered their best shot and we were going to go back to CA victorious.
Wisconsin Whitewater – we should have won this game as well. We were in control throughout, with the lead, until a rebound putback with a few seconds left on the clock. Still remember this game as if we just played it yesterday.
Great memories from that season for sure! I still have a picture with my dad and younger brother, from after our Redlands game at home displayed in my house today.
1995-96 Men's Basketball Roster
Head Coach: David Wells
Assistant Coach: Ken Scalmanini
James Cannaday (Sr., CMC)
Bill Cornelius (Sr., CMC)
Darren Gravley (Sr., CMC)
Michael Kellison (Sr., CMC)
Tim Lin (So., CMC)
Scott Marshall (Sr. CMC)
Terry Omata (Jr., CMC)
Jon Paisley (Fr., CMC)
Rob Ream (So., CMC)
Don Rock (Fr., CMC)
Paul Seilo (Fr., CMC)
Brian Smith (Fr., CMC)
Jeremy Vandervoet (Fr., CMC)
Joe Whitlach (Jr., CMC)
Kevin Zitar (Sr., CMC)
