Billy Donlon was given an unwelcomed birthday surprise Tuesday. With the team already plagued by a glut of injuries, Donlon found out two more of his players were joining the unofficial disabled list.
Senior guard Chrishawn Hopkins and Joe Thomasson were involved in a T-Bone accident on campus, which caused the duo to sustain possible concussions. The injuries came at a time WSU was already without forwards Steven Davis and JT Yoho along with guard Kendall Griffin.
The five players account for 55 percent of Wright State's scoring and 53 percent of its rebounding.
All five players watched from the bench Thursday night. Out of the five players, all but Griffin could return at some point this season. As time slips away on the season and the losses mount, it has been hard for Donlon to watch.
“I don’t know if there has ever been a college basketball team that is playing without their best six players, and then playing all year without their best four players” Donlon said. “Five of them are legitimate injuries. You feel bad for the kids, and that is the reality.”
Out of Wright State’s nine healthy players, only one came into this season with significant Division I experience.
“I have to be fair to those new guys to college basketball,” Donlon said. “The one thing is I don’t want them to feel, ‘Man this season is so hard, I don’t know if I want to do this anymore.’ Those guys have a lot to be proud of. It isn’t showing on the scoreboard, but they have a lot to be proud of."
Both Thomasson and Hopkins were coming off double figure games at Cleveland State.
“I thought both guys were turning a corner,” Donlon said.
Both players are expected to miss Sunday’s game versus Youngstown State and are highly likely to miss next week’s game versus Oakland according to Donlon.
Collie earns praise from Donlon
Wright State junior Daniel Collie was placed into an unfamiliar role on Thursday. Coming out of halftime, Donlon opted to play the inexperienced walk-on guard who had played a total of 62 combined minutes in three years at WSU. The decision paid off.
Collie completely shutdown UIC guard Paris Burns after Burns had 19 points in the second half. The spark Collie provided was something WSU needed to get back into Thursday’s contest.
“Collie is a pit bull,” Donlon said. “The other guys see how he is battling through the ball screen on Burns. Burns was a non-factor in the second half.”
Wright State rallied from down 15 at halftime and led by two at several points in the second half. His energy nearly gave WSU a win despite the Raiders being severely shorthanded.
“He made the difference, Daniel Collie was the difference in the game,” Donlon said.
Arceneaux honored before the game
Fighting through injuries, WSU guard Reggie Arceneaux reached the 1,000-point plateau last Saturday at Cleveland State joining 28 others who have scored at least 1,000 points in program history. Arceneaux’s minutes were limited Thursday as he scored seven points.
Arceneaux received a commemorative basketball from Donlon and WSU Director of Athletics Bob Grant before the start of Thursday’s game.
A broken bone in his foot has bothered Arceneaux for nearly the last two months.
“Reggie is playing hurt,” Donlon said. “He is in serious pain, I don’t think his injury can get any worse, but he is playing hurt. He is trying in his senior years as he doesn’t get another chance.”
Donlon bars players from talking
Wright State players were unavailable for comment after Thursday’s game. Donlon said it was the first time since he started as head coach in 2010 that he decided not to make players available to members of the media after the game.
“They have been through a lot this week, it is the only time I have done it,” Donlon said. “They’ll be made available Sunday.”
