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	Giving To Dordt

By Steve Hoogland of the Sioux Center News (November 8, 2000 edition)
    With a new conference, the Great Plains Athletic Conference, and with several new faces on the team, the Dordt College mens basketball team looks to build on last years 18-10 record. In the final year of the South Dakota-Iowa Conference last year, the Defenders took a second-place finish in the regular-season standings with a 9-5 SDIC mark.
    We had a really nice year last season, said Dordt coach Greg Van Soelen. One of the keys was that we got out to a good start. We had a couple nice winning streaks of nine wins and six wins and we stayed healthy.
    But now in the new GPAC, the Defenders will certainly see a schedule that will require them to be at the top of their game every night. The 16-game GPAC schedule features two meetings against Concordia, two contests with Sioux Falls and two contests against Northwestern. All three are among the top teams in the GPAC pre-season poll.
    One of the games against Northwestern will be of the non-conference variety, though, since the teams do not have to face each other twice in league play. Dordt also faces GPAC preseason favorite Nebraska Wesleyan early in the season, on December 2, in Lincoln, Nebraska. That is Dordts only match against the Prairie Wolves.
    I think we need to get out to another quick start this year, said Van Soelen. We play Northwestern, Nebraska Wesleyan and Sioux Falls all before December 6, so a good start will be crucial.
    Dordt opens this weekend at the Northwestern (Minnesota) College Tournament in Roseville, Minnesota. The Defenders will open at 4 p.m. on Friday against McKendree. McKendree is ranked No. 11 in the preseason NAIA Division I poll coming off a 25-8 season last year.  It is the second meeting in Dordts history against McKendree. The first meeting came in the second round of the 1988 NAIA National Tournament. The Defenders won the matchup 86-79 in Van Soelens senior season as Dordt advanced to the national tournament.
    Its a rematch of sorts, said Van Soelen, but Im sure probably none of the players even remember that meeting.
    The other two teams in the tournament are the host, Northwestern of Minnesota, and Finlandia from Michigan. For Finlandia, it is the schools first year as a four-year institution. The school was formerly known as Suomi Junior College.
    Van Soelens Defenders lost four seniors to graduation. Three of the seniors were multi-year starters. They were first-team all-SDIC selection Neal Brenneman, third-team all-SDIC performer Randy Oostra and Adam Van Meeteren. Reserve Jason Maas also graduated following last season.
    While there will be a number of holes in the Defender lineup, a number of players who saw significant minutes last year will return. Van Soelen regularly played 10 or 11 players in his normal game rotation during 1999-2000 and quite a number of those players will be back. The team includes four seniors. Heading the list of returners are guards Michael Ribbens and Matt Van Essen. The two are the teams co-captains this year.
    Ribbens started every game in the backcourt last season and contributed 7.1 points and three assists per game. He also was second on last years team with 32 three-pointers.
    He gave us great direction last season, said Van Soelen. He also had some big baskets and was able to shoot the three.
 Van Essen was more of the teams defensive stopper, but also had 4.4 points per game and shot a deadly 43 percent from three-point range and 76 percent from the free-throw line.
    He's always been a force on the defensive end, but last year, he improved his offensive game, too, said Van Soelen. We hope that he can continue to improve offensively.
    Dylan Haak, a 6'5" forward, is another returning player. Haak provided 4.9 points per game as a junior and pulled down 2.1 rebounds. Haak also hit 73.7 percent from the free-throw line last season and hit 48.0 percent from the field.
    He's going to be playing a bigger role this year, noted Van Soelen. He provided some good minutes last season, but we need him to step up and be more consistent as a senior.
    The teams fourth senior is 6'8" Brent Tapper from Dike. Tapper played with South Dakota State University as a freshman in college, but transferred to Dordt following that season. He sat out the next couple years with injuries and did not play. As a senior, he has decided to return to the court with the Defenders. He brings some big size and presence to the court, said Van Soelen.
    But he has been away from the game for a couple years. Hes had some injuries but I think he could be a solid backup with his 6'8" height and 240-pound frame.
    The squad also includes three juniors, including two who saw quite a bit of time on the court as sophomores.  Brian Wassenaar, a 6'1" guard, started as a freshman and sophomore with the Defenders. As a sophomore, Wassenaar scored 7.9 points per game and tied with Ribbens for the team lead in steals with 36 swipes. Wassenaar shot 39 percent from three-point range last season and hit 75.9 percent from the foul line.
    Brian is a good shooter and we have to put the ball in his hands, said Van Soelen. Weve really asked him to concentrate on defense. He's already a good defensive player, but with his quickness, he can be even more of a defensive threat.
    The other returning junior is 6'7" Eric Maas. Maas is the teams top returning player from last season as he scored 11.8 points and pulled down 4.0 rebounds as a sophomore. Maas is an outstanding shooter. He shot 58.6 percent from the field last season and 70.6 percent from the line. He's a good shooter who plays strong inside, said Van Soelen. We'll look for him again this season.
    The other junior on the squad is 68 Jon Rouwenhorst, a forward.  Rouwenhorst, a Buckeye, Arizona, native is a transfer from Menlo College in California. He brings good size to the team.
    The roster includes five sophomores and one freshman. Two of the sophomores played key roles last season. Shawn De Stigter, a 6'1" guard, averaged 4.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game as a freshmen and shot 51.4 percent from the floor and 73.4 percent from the free-throw line.
    Shawn has had a great fall practice, said Van Soelen. He finished last season strong, too, so we look for good things from him.  The other returning sophomore is 64 forward Evan Beimers. Beimers averaged 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds last season. Beimers also handed out 1.2 assists per game and shot 51.3 percent from the field.  Evan was able to get some minutes as a freshman and he played well, said Van Soelen. But hes going to be a big player for us. We'll ask him to do more offensively. Hes also a very good passer.  The other three sophomores are 6'5" forward Ryan Dooyema, 5'10" guard Tyler Schelhaas and 6'5" forward Darin Beckering. All three played on the junior-varsity squad last season.
    The freshman is 6'3" guard Kyle Van Arendonk, who has been an all-state performer on the past Class 2A state runner-up teams at Pella Christian.
    With the entire backcourt returning and not affected by graduation losses, Van Soelen is encouraged. Ribbens, Van Essen, Wassenaar and De Stigter all played a great deal last season and are back this year.  I think that having all of the guards returning is a big plus, he said. It seems to make the transition from one season to another a little easier. We also have quick guards. While the guard court returns mostly intact, the frontcourt has more changes with the returning players taking on new roles.
    We've got good players, but were maybe not as deep, at least at the start of the season, said Van Soelen. One of the important aspects of the season, early, will be developing roles before the team gets into the GPAC schedule.
    When we were in the SDIC, we had all of November and December to develop roles for players before the conference season rolls around, said Van Soelen. Now in the new league, we have our first conference game already on November 29, so that means we don't have as much preparation time.
    The non-conference schedule will be tough as well. In addition to the non-conference game against the Red Raiders, Dordt will be at Buena Vista, an NCAA Division III playoff team last season; at Grand View, an NAIA National Tournament qualifier last year; and at Briar Cliff, a perennially strong team. In addition are the season-opening tournament in Minnesota and a Christmas tournament in Mitchell, South Dakota, featuring Huron, last years SDIC champ, Dakota Wesleyan and Presentation College.