Dylan Kilgour averages 11.3 points oer game and is the team leader in assists as part of a large freshman class at Macalester. Macalester athletics photo by Chris Mitchell

Tim Whittle took an incredible coaching leap of faith four years ago. From his post as an assistant with back-to-back national champion Washington University, he inherited an 0-25 Macalester program bereft of talent, tradition and anything resembling a winning culture.

Four years later, Whittle is finally seeing the fruits of his intensive labor. Although a 3-4 start is modest by most sets of standards — and his team is on a three-game losing skid to start Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play — consider that the Scots went 1-24 last season, 2-23 in each of the two campaigns prior, and have not come this close to finishing .500 since going 11-14 in 2006-07.

Relatively speaking, this is a quantum leap forward.

“Overall, I'm pretty excited about the progress we've made,” Whittle said. “Everyone says what's different. The players are different — we have nine freshmen. But even the returnees have done a nice job of incorporating the guys into the core values of the team. We've spent a lot of time developing what the program is going to be from a player's perspective versus what coach says it's going to be.”

If we are discussing Macalester in terms of Top 25 appearances and NCAA Tournament contention sometime in the future, it will likely be because of that nine-player freshman class that is an anomaly both in terms of quantity and quality, especially at a school renowned for being academically stringent.

Most schools in the MIAC can develop their youngsters early through junior varsity games and set roles, but the Scots are trying to build something schools such as No. 5 St. Thomas have already established. Although there are going to be growing pains — such as being on the wrong end of a 6-1 closing run in a 75-70 loss to MIAC rival St. Olaf — there is the 3-1 start the rookie starters Dylan Kilgour (11.3 points), Griffin Glatt (4.9 points, 5.3 rebounds), and Hans Erickson (4.0 points, 4.3 rebounds) helped author the season-opening stretch which included an impressive victory at Occidental.

Whittle refers to his three freshmen starting, and the freshman class collectively, as “an exciting kind of shot to the arm to have nine new guys that are excited about changing the overall culture and overall outcome at the end of the game.”

They fit the coach's criteria of possessing high character, first and foremost, but also a competitive streak and a commitment to the family atmosphere he has fostered by having his players over for meals and to watch college basketball and football.

“There's a different atmosphere,” said senior Pierce Peters, the Scots' scoring leader at 20.2 points per game. “It was more upperclass-dominated back then. They were used to a different system. And now that we have several years under this new program, there's a lot more experience with the coaching staff. There's more of a camaraderie.”

More than the camaraderie, though, the newcomers have infused fresh talent into a program lacking for depth. Kilgour is running the show and Whittle already referred to him as “a very good Division III player.” Practices are more competitive, but most importantly, the upperclassmen such as Peters and senior forward Sam Marshall (12.9 points, 6.3 rebounds) have allowed the freshmen to help pilot the direction in which this program is heading.

“Coming into this year with nine really exciting guys and guys who can contribute a lot has really helped a lot,” Peters said. “It's kind of reenergized the upperclassmen.”

Added Kilgour: “We're trying to push each other and in that, we're pushing the upperclassmen. Everybody's getting better. And also, from last year I heard they only had 9-10 guys active at times. With a full roster, we can definitely do more things in practice.”

When Whittle took over at Macalester after it went 0-25 in 2008-09, he and athletic director Kim Chandler discussed a four-to-five year timetable for a turnaround. In year four, the Scots are beginning to show signs of something.

“I think this is a place that you can build a sustainable, lasting tradition in basketball,” said Whittle, noting the athletic department's support and the $45 million Leonard Center. “It's taking a lot of work to get it to where we wanted it to be.

“The resources are there, the commitment is there with the facilities, the academics are there. Now it's just a matter of finding guys who want all three pieces.”

Kelly enjoying homecoming at Gustavus Adolphus

Laurie Kelly helped St. Thomas to the Division III national championship as a player, then coached in Division I for more than a decade before returning to D-III. Gustavus athletics photo

The additional resources and prestige accompanying a Division I coaching job proved no match for the lure of family, which made Laurie Kelly's decision to return to her roots and take the Gustavus Adolphus women's job after nine seasons of leading Northern Arizona to its greatest success easy.

For the first time in 13 years, the Rochester, Minn., native spent this past Thanksgiving with her parents.

“Now as the mother to two little girls (Morgan, 9, and Madison, 7), this is an opportunity for them to be by their grandparents and be by their cousins and aunts and uncles,” said Kelly, a 1993 graduate of St. Thomas (as Tommies star Laurie Trow) who has also coached at Division I Binghamton. “I really enjoy the co-parenting role I have now with my husband (Matt). At the same time, I still get to work with student-athlets and coach the game that I love.”

After losing two of its first three games to Simpson and Division II Minnesota-Mankato, Gustavus heads into its winter break on a string of five victories. All of the Gusties' wins have come against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition, although they have yet to face what Kelly considers the top three teams in the MIAC: No. 4 St. Thomas, Concordia, and St. Mary's.

However, Gustavus returns 11 letterwinners from last season's 20-7 squad, including the MIAC's returning rebounder in Abby Rothenbuehler (13.6 points, 9.1 rebounds). The Gusties have adapted nicely to Kelly's demands and expectations, lending hope that they will be able to make a push towards their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007.

“We all had to get on the same page with her right away. We all knew we had to step things up,” Rothenbuehler said. “Every day you had to come to practice ready to go because she doesn't take practices lightly. She is phenomenal at pushing us. And she gets on us when we're not doing things well.”

Through eight games, there is a lot to like about Gustavus. Junior guard Julia Dysthe (12.9 points) and senior forward Kelsey Florian (10.2 points) give the Gusties experienced leadership and scoring balance alongside Rothenbuehler.

And of course, there is the new coach who is immensely enjoying her homecoming.

“The thing I love is that they love to play basketball, they don't play because they are getting a scholarship. There's something to be said for that,” Kelly said.

“The players in Division III want to win just as much as the players in Division I. From that part of it it's still the same game of basketball.”

Rochester's DiBartlomeo expands repertoire

Rochester coach Luke Flockerzi called it “nitpicking” when he recalled asking his three-time All-University Athletic Association guard John DiBartolomeo to diversify his game this offseason, but truth be told, the senior point guard is currently playing the best ball of his career for the No. 11 Yellowjackets (10-0).

Fueled by the motivation of Rochester missing out on an NCAA at-large invitation last March as well as his coach's critique, DiBartolomeo honed his mid-range game while playing in a summer league at New York City's Chelsea Piers, as well as two in his hometown of Westport, Conn. A member of the UAA's Silver Anniversary Team, the 6-0 floor general is averaging a career-best 22.9 points on a four-year-high 48.4 percent shooting that includes a prolific 30-for-56 (53.6%) effort from beyond the arc.

“Last year I got caught up in 3’s and getting to the basket,” DiBartolomeo said. “My coach was on me about finding a kill spot.”

Flockerzi's rationale for telling DiBartolomeo to expand his offensive repertoire, despite averaging 19.1 points in 2011-12, boiled down to this: “He was indecisive about where he wanted to go to finish. We had him try to focus on not necessarily deciding in the moment, but deciding what spot he wanted to get to on the floor and finish.”

While DiBartolomeo attracts the headlines for the Yellowjackets' rise in the headlines — and rightfully so, as he contributed 29 points and 10 assists in last Saturday's 86-80 home win against Hobart — he is he is not a one-man show. Junior swingman Nate Vernon (13.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 50.7 FG%, 44.4 3FG%) is enjoying his finest season, while the frontcourt of 6-8 sophomore Tyler Sankes (9.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 17.1 minutes off the bench), 6-8 senior Rob Reid (9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 67.7 FG%) and freshman Tyler Seidman (8.4 points) has given Rochester inside-outside balance.

However, if the Yellowjackets are to atone for missing out on an NCAA appearance this time around, they will look to DiBartolomeo using his mid-range game to continue his high-scoring ways. Flockerzi is effusive in his praise of his star player, saying, “He's gotten noticeably better every year. He's just never stopped working.”

Although DiBartolomeo ranks seventh all-time at Rochester in scoring (1,396 points) and should crack the top-five before season's end — he also ranks fifth with 446 assists — he said he pays no attention to the Yellowjackets' all-time charts.

His focus is clear: Helping Rochester return to the NCAA Tournament for the time since leading his team to the Sweet 16 in 2011.

“Hopefully when it comes the end of the year we're competing for the UAA title and at least an at-large bid,” DiBartolomeo said. “Last year we were kind of the bubble and missed out ... I think everybody is pretty hungry about not letting that happen again.”