1980–81 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team American college basketball season
The 1980–81 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team represented Wright State University in the 1980–81 NCAA NCAA Division II men's basketball season led by head coach Ralph Underhill .
Season summary
Expectations were high for 1980–81 as the 80s began with an upgraded schedule.[ 1]
Roster
1980–81 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
F 24
Rodney Benson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg)
Sr Cleveland St. (TN)
Louisville, Kentucky
F 25
Jeff Bragg 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg)
Sr Marion
Marion, Indiana
G 34
Eddie Crowe 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg)
Sr Carlisle
Carlisle, Ohio
C 42
Steve Hartings 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg)
RS Sr Marion Local
Maria Stein, Ohio
F 45
Leon Manning 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 170 lb (77 kg)
Sr Northwest
Indianapolis
G 20
Keith Miller 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg)
Sr Cleveland St. (TN)
Louisville, Kentucky
F 44
Roman Welch 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg)
Sr S. Plantation
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
G 32
Mike Zimmerman 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg)
Sr Alter
Kettering, Ohio
F 23
Tom Holzapfel 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg)
Jr Greenville
Greenville, Ohio
F 33
Theron Barbour 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) —
Fr Atherton
Louisville, Kentucky
F
Phil Benninger 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) —
Fr New Albany
New Albany, Indiana
F 30
Mike Grote 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) —
Fr Elder
Cincinnati, Ohio
G
T.C. Johnson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) —
Fr Sidney
Sidney, Ohio
G 35
Steve Purcell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) —
Fr Kokomo
Kokomo, Indiana
G 22
Barry Turner 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg)
RS Fr Wilmington
Wilmington, Ohio
Head coach Assistant coach(es) Jim Brown, Bob Grote
Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible(W) Walk-on
Source[ 2] [ 3]
[ 4]
Schedule and results
Date
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site
Regular season
Nov 29, 1980
Wilberforce W 111–72 1–0
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Dec 1, 1980
Miami Ohio W 92–84 2–0
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Dec 3, 1980
Bolling Green W 81–68 3–0
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Dec 6, 1980
Wayne State W 86–65 4–0
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Dec 10, 1980
at St. Leo
W 124–77 5–0
St. Leo, Florida
Dec 17, 1980
at Bellarmine
W 85–76 6–0
Knights Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 20, 1980
District of Columbia W 76–63 7–0
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Dec 22, 1980
Eastern Illinois W 81–73 8–0
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 3, 1981
IUPUI W 81–61 9–0
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 7, 1981
at Indiana Central
W 68–61 10–0
Nicoson Hall Indianapolis
Jan 10, 1981
Marian (IN) W 87–67 11–0
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 12, 1981
vs. Central State
W 72–58 12–0
UD Arena Dayton, Ohio
Jan 14, 1981
at St. Joseph’s (IN)
L 80–87 12–1
Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, Indiana
Jan 17, 1980
Northern Kentucky W 90–76 13–1
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 21, 1981
Bellarmine L 84–87 13–2
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 24, 1981
SIU Edwardsville W 81–65 14–2
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 28, 1981
St. Joseph’s (IN) W 107–79 15–2
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Jan 31, 1981
at Northern Kentucky
W 107–79 16–2
Regents Hall Highland Heights, Kentucky
Feb 4, 1981
at Youngstown State
W 66–59 17–2
Beeghly Center Youngstown, OH
Feb 7, 1981
at Eastern Illinois
L 63–72 17–3
Lantz Fieldhouse Charleston, Illinois
Feb 10, 1981
vs. Central State
W 77–62 18–3
UD Arena Dayton, Ohio
Feb 12, 1981
vs. Kentucky Wesleyan
W 78–60 19–3
Owensboro, Kentucky
Feb 18, 1981
Indiana Central W 92–57 20–3
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Feb 21, 1981
Siena Heights W 86–74 21–3
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Feb 21, 1981
Spring Arbor W 101–62 22–3
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Feb 25, 1981
New York Tech W 69–61 23–3
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
Feb 27, 1981
Kentucky Wesleyan W 96–76 24–3
WSU PE Building Fairborn, OH
NCAA tournament
Mar 6, 1981
Northern Michigan NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional L 64–73 24–4
Western Hall Macomb, Illinois
Mar 7, 1981
Indiana State–Evansville NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional W 88–85 25–4
Western Hall Macomb, Illinois
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
MW=Midwest.
Source[ 5]
Awards and honors
Rodney Benson
MVP
Rodney Benson
All-American Div-II
Roman Welch
All-American Div-II
Steve Hartings
Raider Award
[ 6]
Statistics
Number
Name
Games
Average
Points
Assists
Rebounds
24
Rodney Benson
28
21.9
612
55
229
44
Roman Welch
28
15.1
422
74
184
42
Steve Hartings
29
11.0
319
83
170
34
Eddie Crowe
29
10.9
315
116
72
29
Keith Miller
26
6.4
185
90
61
25
Jeff Bragg
28
5.8
163
57
42
35
Steve Purcell
28
4.6
129
31
75
23
Tom Holzapfel
4
4.5
18
0
8
45
Leon Manning
26
3.8
100
16
77
32
Mike Zimmerman
28
2.7
75
49
47
33
Theron Barbour
21
2.6
54
13
47
30
Mike Grote
16
2.0
32
11
10
_
Phil Benninger
5
1.4
7
1
12
22
Barry Turner
9
1.1
10
2
12
Source[ 7]
References
^ Paul, Meyer (October 15, 1980). "Wright State gets its just 'desserts' . The Journal Herald . Vol. 173, no. 248. Journal Herald Inc. p. 10. ^ Paul, Meyer (October 15, 1980). "Wright State gets its just 'desserts' . The Journal Herald . Vol. 173, no. 248. Journal Herald Inc. p. 10. ^ Paul, Rolphes (October 15, 1980). "Wright State looks good on paper" . Dayton Daily News . Vol. 104, no. 35. Cox Media. p. 21. ^ Nuhn, Gary (October 25, 1970). "WSU Now Enjoying Luxury of Working on Big Floor" . Dayton Daily News . Vol. 94, no. 47. Cox Media. p. 13 D. ^ "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 .
Venues
WSU Physical Education Building (1970–1990)
Nutter Center (1990–present) Rivalries People Seasons NCAA national championship in bold
