Thank you for checking out Basketball Across Minnesota, my weekly look at some of the state's top hoops stories, from preps to pros. — Marcus Fuller
Carleton athletic director Gerald Young knew replacing a coaching legend with his men's basketball hire last spring would not be an easy choice.
Guy Kalland retired last March after 38 seasons and 506 victories with the Division III program in Northfield. His replacement obviously had enormous shoes to fill.
Nobody knew the Knights better than Ryan Kershaw, who was Kalland's assistant for nearly a decade. The job, though, asked for someone who had a new vision for what could take Carleton to another level.
"One of the things that the players were looking for in a new coach was someone who could be different," Young said. "They wanted to have a little more freedom to play with a faster pace. That's the biggest difference is the pace and the style we play."
In Kershaw's first season, Carleton's offense has become one of the 10 most efficient in D-III nationally. That combined with the team's experience put the Knights on a historic pace for success.
Saturday's game at rival Macalester will be a matchup of 1-vs.-2 in the MIAC standings. Carleton (19-3) needs only three wins for the most in the program's 114-year history. The first outright MIAC title in exactly 100 years is within reach, although that includes a stretch from 1925 until 1983 when the Knights were in the Midwest Conference. Their last outright title in either conference was in 1965-66.
"I'm very lucky in my first year as head coach to have as talented and experienced team as we have," Kershaw said. "The continuity helps. The players' familiarity with me and my familiarity with them. But above all when we're talking about success on the basketball floor, having the talent, having the experience, with great depth and great leadership, those are the key characteristics."