Season In Review: 2022-23 Stags Basketball
Written by Michael Haas, CMC '79
CMS continues its streaks of consecutive winning seasons and SCIAC tournament appearances
Stags throw in a 21-win season for good measure
The 2022-23 edition of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags basketball showed the ups and downs of the longest of college sports schedules. A healthy CMS squad raced out to a strong start and held its own over the four-month long trek only to fall victim to injuries at the end of the road.
But along the way, the Stags brought a lot of action, energy, and excitement to Roberts Pavilion, the home of CMS basketball and one of the premier Division III arenas. The Stags went 21-5 on the year with a second-place finish in the highly competitive Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. This marks the 19th top-two finish for CMS over the past 23 years. No other conference school can make that claim, just as no other SCIAC member can talk about 25 consecutive winning seasons. And with its entry in the conference post-season tournament, CMS is the only SCIAC team to be in the tournament every year since post-season play began in 2008.
Leading roles came from all class members: seniors and freshmen and sophomores and juniors. Let's meet the players who made up the 2023 version of Stags basketball: six seniors, one grad student, four juniors, three sophomores, and three freshmen brought their talents to the hardwood with grand success.
Josh Angle (Sr., CMC, Lake Oswego, OR) not only took CMS and the SCIAC by storm, but all of Division III. A team captain and floor leader, he led the team in scoring and was one of top statistical stories nationally.
Bryan Kenyon (Sr., CMC, Manhattan, NY) may have shown the most growth of any of the retuning players. Not just that he returned to be the starting point guard once again, leading the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, but with the maturity he showed on the court by advancing his game both offensively and defensively.
And the same can be said of Rhett Carter (Sr., CMC, Sudbury, MA). Another returning starter (at the post position) whose play greatly exceeded his 2022 performance with this scoring ability and his control of the boards.
Kiran Kruse (Sr., CMC, Menlo Park) earned a starting spot in 2022-23 and made the most of the opportunity. He and Angle complemented each other well in the backcourt with their scoring abilities as Kiran used all parts of the court to put points on the board for CMS.
Justin Pratt (Gr, CGU, Lafayette) began the year as a sixth man and then stepped up to a starting spot at the power forward position late in the year. He showed his readiness with both his offensive and defensive prowess.
Coming off the bench was Joey Ganley (Sr., Edina, MN) who stepped up for the Stags throughout the season whenever called upon in a variety of roles and positions.
Jordan Hunt (Sr., HMC, Piedmont) also found himself called upon as injuries took their tolls, and being a veteran, he produced and excelled within the CMS system bridging gaps in seamless fashions.
Max McCalla (Jr., CMC, Manhattan Beach) improved from his debut season and came off the bench and earned a starting spot as conditions mandated. He was called upon for scoring and defense and delivered again and again.
Connor Printz (Jr., CMC, Waterbury, CT) and Lucas Grandison (Jr., HMC, Berkeley) also advanced from their rookie seasons for CMS as they played a greater part of the Stags reserves corps coming off the bench as outside forwards.
Matt Meredith (So., CMC, Orinda) started as a freshman and retained that starting role as a sophomore once again leading the team in rebounding while adding to his scoring arsenal. A mid-season injury derailed his season and his contributions to the CMS attack.
Stuart McCallum (So., CMC, Lexington, MA) and Lucas McEachern (So., CMC, Noisy le Roi, France) who had played reserve roles at the forward position as freshman showed their mettle as they also matured into more involved roles for the Stags. Nate Dominick (Jr., CMC, Allen, TX) missed the season with an injury but continued to play a big part in the team's progress behind the scenes.
James Frye (Fr., CMC, Orinda) improved steadily during the season and earned a starting spot at the small forward/wing position. Cahal Connolly (Fr., CMC, Oakland) extended the tradition of excellent players coming from Bishop O'Dowd high school in the Bay Area. He fit right into the CMS game plan and contributed throughout the season. Luke Jacobson (Fr., CMC, Glendora) also made his impact at the post position inside providing timey relief.
The season opened with an upset win over nationally number two-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor. The only preseason set back was to top-ten ranked St. Thomas (TX) as the Stags also piled up wins over Northwest Conference opponents Lewis & Clark, George Fox, and Pacific, local NAIA rival Bethesda, and a back east challenge from Haverford.
Included in the nonconference accumulation of victories were two at the David Wells Classic. This is the highly-touted Division III tournament that brings outstanding academic schools that have respected basketball programs in their own rights to Claremont for a weekend of basketball at its finest. 2022 was no exception as CMS faced off against University of Puget Sound and UC Santa Cruz and came away with two wins for the weekend.
Amid the non-conference games in December, CMS also opened it SCIAC schedule in grand fashion with wins over Chapman and Occidental.
Once winter break ended, CMS garnered two more non-conference wins and then went into the balance of the SCIAC season with high hopes. And those hopes were met with 11 conference wins in a 13-game stretch including series sweeps over Whittier, Caltech, Cal Lutheran, Redlands, and subsequent wins over La Verne, Occidental, and Chapman.
But as the season waned, injuries took their toll as three starters were lost in the final two weeks of the season. Despite the circumstances, CMS still finished conference play at 13-3 with a second-place finish two games behind the leader. This allowed the Stags to have the number two seed heading into the SCIAC post-season tournament. As we reported earlier, CMS is the only team to participate in all 15 editions of the tournament. And it has come away with eight tournament championships.
The 2023 tournament would not turn out in the Stags' favor as their depleted squad fell in the tournament semifinals.
Not to be forlorn, post-season activities brought more highlights to CMS.
The all-conference teams were full of CMS selections. Josh Angle once again was selected first-team All-SCIAC and was joined by Rhett Carter, Bryan Kenyon, and Kiran Kruse. Kenyon's selection was highlighted in that he was selected SCIAC Defensive Player of the Year.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches named Angle first-team All-District 10 and placed Kenyon to the second-team All-District.
The honors continued for Josh Angle. He was named a D3hoops.com third-team All-American. In addition, College Sports Communicators (fka CoSIDA) honored Angle as the Division III Academic All-America Team Member of the Year Award. This means that Josh was the top Division III men's basketball player representative on the Academic All-America team. Finally, Angle was nominated as one of the ten men's finalists for the Josten's Trophy which recognizes the outstanding Division III basketball player of the year.
The season wrapped up with the team's post-season banquet.
Brian Kenyon was again chosen as the team's best defensive player. James Frye was honored as the most improved player. Finally, Josh Angle was voted the team's most valuable player for the second straight year.
Kiran Kruse and Justin Pratt were the recipients of the Kampe Hustle Award. This is the award named in memory of former Stags all conference player Chris Kampe (CMC '85) who passed away from cancer in 1993 but who inspired his teammates to play with the highest level of determination and exemplary effort.
The final team award passed out each year is the Bob Sunshine captains award which was given to Josh Angle, Brian Kenyon, and Kiran Kruse. The award was renamed in honor of former Stags captain Bob Sunshine who graduated in 1961 and who was the program's first captain back in 1958-59.
Another highlight of the year came when Kevin Zitar (CMC '96) was inducted into the Ted Ducey CMS Athletic Hall of Fame. Kevin was a member of the 1996 SCIAC championship and NCAA round of 32 team while earning All-SCIAC, All-West Region and All-American honors.
We also need to report, sadly, the passing of Craig Ducey (CMC '73). Not just being the son of former Stags head coach Ted Ducey, Craig was a four-year starter, an All-SCIAC performer, and a member of the 1970 and 1972 conference championship teams.
Looking forward to 2023-24, Coach Ken Scalmanini and his long-time staff are excited for the next version of Stags basketball. The returning members from the 2022-23 team and the highly anticipated recruiting class bring continued high expectations for another successful season.
As always, we thank you for your support of CMS Stags basketball. Please watch for new developments at cmsathletics.org. In addition, the website has archives of great CMS Stags basketball memories along with bringing all games for streaming and live stats.