The Wheaton Thunder men's basketball team will open its 2011-12 season with several key returning players, including four starters from last season's team. In 2010-11, the Thunder posted an 18-8 record, with a third-place finish in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). Wheaton, ranked 25th in the D3Hoops.com Preseason Top-25 poll, will open the season at Loras College.

Thunder head coach Mike Schauer says of this year's club, “I believe that we are a team that will be right in the mix for a conference championship. This is the most talented team I have had here as a head coach, both in terms of their basketball skill and physical athleticism.” Schauer continues, “I think we have a lot of players who can do a lot of unique things that we haven't done in the past. We have the type of team that every night could pose matchup problems for our opponents physically. As I always say, I have no idea if that means we are better than we were the last two years and I have no idea if that means we are better than anybody else, but we certainly are talented.”



Schauer says of him, “Obviously Tim has made most people's first team All-America lists and deservedly so. He is absolutely among the handful of best players in the country. The great thing about Tim is there is virtually nothing on the basketball court that he doesn't do well. He is as versatile a player as I have ever been around. He does almost everything well.”

Senior post player Spencer Schultze (PICTURED LEFT) is another returning starter who brings experience inside for the Thunder. Schultze played in every game last season with 9.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Schauer says of Schultze's work in the preseason, “Spencer has shown great improvement. At this point he is performing at a much more consistently high level than he has the previous two years.” The Thunder mentor concludes, “I would anticipate a very good season from Spencer.”



DeMoss (PICTURED LEFT) played in 21 games last season, including 19 as a starter. He averaged eight points per game last year and at 6' 3”, he gives Wheaton a physical presence. Coach Schauer says of him, “Jon is playing with great confidence and energy. He is somebody we are going to rely on pretty heavily to make that leap to a strong and potentially All-CCIW caliber performer.”

Schauer says of Peters, “Tyler has been among our best players the first couple weeks of practice. I think Tyler has a chance to be an All-Conference player in our league someday. The question simply is when.” The Thunder mentor adds of the 6' 4” Peters, “I would not compare him to Tim, but I think he is in a similar situation to what Tim was in his sophomore year, in that we need him to step in and become one of our leading players. Much of our success will be determined by how quickly and how consistently he can reach that level.” Last season, Peters played in every game as a freshman, including seven as a starter. He averaged 6.2 points per game.

Senior Aaron Garriott transferred to Wheaton in 2009 from SIU-Edwardsville; however, he was unable to play in the 2009-10 or 2010-11 seasons due to recurring knee injuries. The 6' 4” guard is set for a return to the court this year. Garriott played in every game as a freshman for the Cougars, averaging 8.9 points per game at SIU-E. Schauer says of him, “Aaron is an unique physical talent at our level. For those of us that have been following Wheaton basketball for awhile, he is probably the closest approximation to the physical gifts of Wesley Pitts. He probably is not quite as athletic as Wes was, but he is probably a little more skilled as a basketball player.” Schauer continues, “Even after the knee injuries he is still significantly above the bar of most small-college guards. I don't know how much his knees will let him contribute or will let him be on the floor for us. But I know this, I have seen enough to know that whatever minutes he gets he will be productive for our team. He is simply physically superior to most people at our level.” 


Senior guard Stephen Pierotti (PICTURED RIGHT) was injured in the opening game of the 2010-11 season and sat out the remainder of his junior campaign. Pierotti played in 27 games, including 22 as a starter in the 2009-10 season. Schauer notes, “Steve, unfortunately, had to have follow-up knee surgery that is going to put him out until close to Christmas. Unfortunately that means he will miss another chunk of games. We miss Steve because he is an automatic defensive option that is unique because he is a very gifted defensive player. I am hopeful that Steve's career ends with him being healthy and competing.”


Junior guard Nate Serenius battled through injuries to play in 13 games last season. Schauer notes of him, “The great thing about Nate is that he is a guy who can score.” The Thunder mentor adds, “Whether he can defend well enough or do the little things well enough to maintain or exceed the minutes he got last year has yet to be determined. Because we have such great depth at guard, he is one of the guys that is now competing pretty intensely for playing time. His advantage is that he is the best offensive player of that group.”

Schauer notes of a pair of second-year players, “Sophomores Tad Fisher and Billy Berglund have both adopted the tradition of guys like Tom Sovocool, Josh Kvam and John Shackelford as guys who know their talent level isn't the same as some of the other guys on the team, but they want to contribute and compete to help Wheaton basketball. It is encouraging at this point to watch those guys embrace that role, regardless of how many minutes they may or may not get.”

The Thunder brought in several newcomers to the program to add to the continued strength of the nationally-ranked program. Schauer says of Smith, 6' 6” forward, ”Peter Smith is a very gifted freshman who at 6'6" can shoot the ball from the perimeter and posses the athletic ability to finishing above the rim. As with most freshmen Peter is still learning to compete in practice and make adjustments to the physical nature of the college game.  However his ability, coupled with our need for depth at forward, makes it likely that Peter sees playing time at some point this season.” He adds of 6' 9” center Joe Sokovich (Watertown, Wis./Watertown), “Joe is going to be very good. He is a very skilled six-foot-nine post player, who has great hands, great footwork, with good touch around the basket. He still needs to learn how hard you need to play at the college level. He is a guy who will probably see spot minutes at best this year, but certainly will be a part of who we are in the future, he is a very good player. Schauer concludes, noting of guard Caleb DeMoss, “Caleb DeMoss is a guard who is very skilled. He can handle the ball well and shoots it well. He is a very competitive kid.”