Season in Review: Men’s Basketball Has Season for the Record Books

Oskaloosa, Iowa—The 2019-2020 men’s basketball team entered the season with numerous unknowns, as the squad entered the campaign with 11 newcomers and four returners.

Little did the coaching staff know, this team would come together and go on a historic run that netted them both Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships. It was the fourth time WPU has won the conference regular season championship and the third time winning the tournament championship since joining the league in 2015-2016.

Under the direction of Head Coach John Henry in his 18th season, William Penn finished with a 30-3 overall record and 21-3 record in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. The 30 wins tied them with the 2017-2018 team for third-most wins all-time.

The Statesmen kicked off their season in a huge way, defeating Presentation 140-53 inside the Penn Gymnasium. The 87-point win was the third largest margin of victory in the program’s history. Eight players reached double-figures, guided by Karmari Newman (Jr., Detroit, Mich., Digital Communications) with 20 points.

Coach Henry saw the potential in this team early on with their willingness to play selfless basketball.

“This team shares the ball well.” Coach John Henry said postgame, “Anytime you have 36 assists you will win.”

WPU ran through the remainder of its pre-conference schedule picking up four more wins against Great Lakes Christian, Grace Christian, William Woods, and Lincoln (Ill.) before opening Heart play with a matchup against #9 Benedictine. Both teams struggled to find their offensive rhythm in the first half but a big second half courtesy of Dexter Hood (Sr., Tuscaloosa, Ala., Wellness and Recreation) and the Statesmen defense led them to an 84-58 win. Hood finished with a team-high 18 points while Eddie Daley (Jr., DeWitt, Mich., Business Management) grabbed 10 boards.

“It was a slow start and grind but we eventually pulled away in this one.” Head Coach John Henry said postgame, “Eddie Daley earned respect today, he worked all week to rehab an injured ankle because his team needed him and he played well.”

After suffering its first setback of the season with a tough 99-94 loss against MidAmerica Nazarene on the road, William Penn bounced back with a 107-86 win on November 23 against Missouri Valley in Marshall, Missouri. Newman was red-hot from beyond-the-arc knocking down seven three-pointers on his way to 25 points. The win marked a career milestone for Coach John Henry as he collected his 400th career win.

Postgame, Coach Henry gave credit to all of those who helped him reach the career milestone saying, “I want to thank every single player who has ever played in my tenure as head coach here at William Penn. I want to thank Brandon Lehart, Joe Mckinstry , Blake Sandquist and every assistant coach that we have had here. Getting 400 wins is a celebration for all the players and coaches not just me.”

On November 26 the annual Toilet Paper game commenced in the Penn Gymnasium as WPU took on Grand View. Newman nailed a three just over a minute into the game and the celebration was on as the fans threw their toilet paper and covered the court. After the court was clear, the Statesmen took it to the rival Vikings and pulled out a 101-71 win. Brandon Faison (Jr., Charlotte, N.C., Sports Management) stuffed the stat sheet narrowly missing a double-double with 12 points and nine boards while adding five assists.

“Always good to win the Toilet Paper Game. I didn’t think we played particularly well but we won.” said Head Coach John Henry postgame, “Thank you to all the community members who came out tonight for giving us a large crowd with most of our students gone for the holiday.”

The Statesmen won the next eight games to extend their winning streak to 11 before being upset on the road against Benedictine. After picking up a 106-92 win over Graceland on the road, William Penn was once again upended by Clarke in a down-to-the-wire contest 78-77.

Following the loss to Clarke, WPU began to play its best basketball of the season which led to a historic tear through the Heart of America Athletic Conference.

On February 24, the Statesmen avenged the early season loss to MNU with a conference clinching 112-79 win. Kevion Blaylock (Jr., Houston, Texas, Information Technology) was huge as produced an 18-point, 18 rebound double-double. It was the fourth time in five years the Statesmen cut down the nets as winners of the Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season crown.

“This is a special team and I’m so happy for them, both players and coaches,” said head coach John Henry, “Fourth title in five years is unreal and unthinkable in this conference and we just did it.”

William Penn picked up wins over Mount Mercy (101-77) and Peru State (93-88) to close out the regular season.

After defeating Evangel (90-75) and MidAmerica Nazarene (89-75) in the first two rounds of the conference tournament, the stage was set with another showdown between #5 William Penn and #22 Clarke for the conference tournament championship in the Penn Gymnasium.

The Pride gave the Statesmen their best but it was not enough as WPU pulled out a 96-90 win to complete the Heart of America Athletic Conference sweep and mark their 12th consecutive win, the fifth-longest win streak in program history. Nathan Gehring (Jr., Waukee, Iowa) dominated down low as he logged a double-double, finishing with a team-high 26 points to go along with 17 rebounds.

It was the 12th time in the John Henry era that WPU Basketball has made the conference tournament final and the seventh the time a team has won it.

Unfortunately, it was the last game this group played together as their season was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As the #2 seed in their bracket, the Statesmen were set to take on Central Baptist in the opening round of the NAIA National Championships in hopes of a magical March run.

It ended the collegiate career of Hood, however, he was heavily honored as he took home the Heart of America Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards while being named to the all-Heart First Team squad and an NAIA D1 men’s basketball All-American (first team).

Multiple others were also honored as Blaylock was named to the all-Heart first team and All-American third team. Newman was also named first-team all-Heart as well as an All-American honorable- mention. Gehring was named second-team all-Heart and Daley was named all-Heart honorable-mention to round out the honors.

Despite the sudden end to the season the 2019-2020 William Penn men’s basketball team will go down as one of the best to ever don the Navy and Gold and with almost everybody returning in 2020-2021 the program looks to continue their run of dominance next season.

“I will forever believe, say, and argue that the 2020 William Penn Statesmen are the National Champions,” Said Head Coach John Henry, “I will also forever love them being family and so much fun to be around. It was a great ride! I wish we could’ve finished it but it doesn’t change the times we all shared.”