Scoring: Ahmad Swygart (19.3 ppg) Ricardo Stetson (11.4 ppg) Reggie Felix (8.5 ppg)
Rebounds: Ahmad Swygart (5.7 rpg) Reggie Felix (5.3 rpg) Peter Howard (5.1 rpg)
Assists: Chris Bailey (4.2 apg) Ricardo Stetson (3.1 apg) Ahmad Swygart (2.2 apg)
Steals: Chris Bailey (2.1 spg) Peter Howard (1.4 spg) Ricardo Stetson (1.3 spg)
Blocks: Ahmad Swygart (0.9 bpg) Peter Howard (0.7 bpg) Henry Akacem (0.5 bpg)
Graduating
Kenny Cross (2.9 GPA) 1.9 ppg 2.7 rpg 0.8 apg 0.5 spg 0.2 bpg (96 games, 10 starts)
Ahmad Swygart (3.5 GPA) 14.8 ppg 4.4 rpg 1.9 apg 1.2 spg 0.7 bpg (86 games, 76 starts)
Peter Howard (4.0 GPA) 5.7 ppg 4.6 rpg 1.2 apg 1.1 spg 0.5 bpg (83 games, 66 starts)
Henry Akacem (4.0 GPA) 3.3 ppg 2.1 rpg 0.6 apg 0.4 spg 0.4 bpg (78 games)
Ben Heard (3.2 GPA) 2.5 ppg 1.7 rpg 0.9 apg 0.6 spg 0.4 bpg (93 games, 13 starts)
Awards
Patriot League Player of the Year: Ahmad Swygart
Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year: Ahmad Swygart
Patriot League Coach of the Year: Tex Kauferhalter
1st Team All Patriot League: Ahmad Swygart
APRIL 9, 1948 . . . The Drexel Dragons offered me an interview for their open position, and though it would be a slight prestige bump jumping to the Colonial Athletic Association, it would be a huge step back based on their 8-22 (8-10) finish this year and the relative lack of talent on their team compared to what we’ve built up here. At this point I’m quite comfortable working to build on the foundation I’ve developed at Army. Meanwhile, we’ve signed our sixth and final recruit of the upcoming season: Jaquay Jones, a 6’7” power forward from Windsor, Vermont, is another solid two star player who had been overlooked by many despite his solid grades (3.0 GPA, 1010 SAT), excellent athleticism, good ability to score inside, and solid overall potential. He’s a player, like many others I’ve targeted, who will take work to develop into the kind of defender who can thrive here. But I like what he brings to the table, and his coaches all say he’s got the work ethic for it. We should again have the best recuiting class in the Patriot League, and I’m hoping we’ll crack the national Top 100 this year.
APRIL 16, 1948 . . . We had two assistant coach openings, needing to replace a player development coach and a lead scout. With Jason Baxter taking up $63,000 in salaries, we needed to fill the two open positons for under $50,000 if we wanted to not impact recruiting in a bad way. And I think we found two coaches to fill the positions who have what it takes to succeed here at Army. Lovell Mason, 39, will join us as my second assistant; the former third assistant at Duquesne will take over as lead scout for our program on a salary of $32,500 per year for four years. He is rated 54% as a scout, which is a huge improvement over what we’ve had working for us before. Meanwhile, Dixie State’s former third assistant, Brian Finneman, 57, will be joining us as our practice and development coach. He’s rated 35% in development, also a huge improvement, and will earn $16,500 per year for the next five years.
I asked for a bump in our budget, but the school says work with what we have for now, and being that it is the Army chain of command, I didn’t really expect much different. So we’ll have enough to recruit regionally again, but mostly it’ll be finding the best in-state players and then perhaps a few good out-of-state kids in March if we have any money left.
SEASON FOUR
1948-49
1948-49
Coach Information
Name: Rolf “Tex” Kauferhalter
Age / Record: 26 (67-37, .644)
Contract: $84,000 / 5 Years
NCAA Appearances: 2 (1946-1947)
NCAA Tourney Record: 1-2 (.333)
NIT Championships: 1 (1948)
NIT Appearances: 1 (1948)
NIT Record: 5-0 (1.000)
Patriot League Titles: 2 (1946-1947)
Patriot League Tourney Titles: 2 (1946-1947)
Patriot League Coach of the Year: 2 (1947-1948)
Reputation: 19% (+4)
Offense: 24% (+2)
Defense: 72% (+5)
Recruiting: 30% (+5)
Scouting: 45%
Development: 30% (+4)
School Information
School: Army Black Knights
Location: West Point NY
Conference: Patriot League
Arena: Christl Arena (5,043 Cap)
Budget: $147,000 ($112,000 Assistants / $35,000 Recruiting)
Facilities: C
Academics: B+ (SAT Min: 960)
School Prestige: 21% (+1)
Conf. Prestige: 24% (+1)
Job Goals
1. Finish in the Patriot League Top 3.
2. Win 15+ Games.
Assistants
AHC: Jason Baxter (68, $63,000 / 3 years, Rep: 14%, +3) - Recruiting (33%)
2nd: Lovell Mason (39, $32,500 / 4 years, Rep: 9%) - Scouting (54%, +28)
3rd: Brian Finneman (57, $16,500 / 5 years, Rep: 8%) - Development (35%, +14)
MAY 1, 1948 . . . We have two scholarships to fill this year, so $35,000 should be plenty to work with in doing the job. But I’m hoping we can do well enough this year to get that budget increase for next year. Our recruiting class stunned everyone in the Patriot League by coming in 38th nationally, almost forty spots ahead of Lafayette, our nearest conference competitor. But only time will tell how quickly the young plebes respond to the rigors of this school’s highly regimented academic program and the difficulty involved in learning my defensive system.
MAY 29, 1948 . . . Make that four scholarships to fill. Travis Willis and Sam Lindsey couldn’t handle the fact that they have to work hard even if they’re not getitng the playing time they want, and they’re bailing on the Academy. I get it, this place isn’t for everyone. But for those who thrive here there’s a ton of opportunity to better your life. I just have to keep trying to find those kids.