Class of 2015 Commitments

Trinity Basketball has now received five commitments for next year’s incoming freshmen class. The following players will be wearing maroon come October 15:

Charles Allen 6’3 Guard – Second Baptist School, Houston, TX – Averaged 18 points and 6 rebounds for a Texas 4A TAPPS semifinalist. Voted First Team All-District and Second Team All-State. Charles is an athletic guard who rebounds/defends very well, while combining deep shooting range and the ability to score in various ways off the dribble.

Jimmy Clark 6’3 Wing – Rockford Lutheran School, Rockford, IL – Averaged 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists his senior season. Voted to the Big Northern All-Conference Team, Illinois 1A/2A All-State Fourth Team, and a Rock River Senior Classic All-Star Game selection. Jimmy is a very physical perimeter player with the ability to score the ball in various ways and willing to do the dirty work for his team’s success.

Matt Hopper 6’4 Wing – Rock Canyon High School, Highlands Ranch, CO – Averaged 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists while shooting 40% from the three-point line. A three-time All-Continential League selection, while being named to the First Team his season year. Voted a Colorado 5A All-State Honorable Mention and Academic All-State selection. Matt brings tremendous athleticism to the wing position, with the ability to step out and make the deep three-point shot. He will also be playing on the Trinity Football team, where he was a First Team All-South Metro selection at the quarterback position.

Craig Saltarelli 5’11 Guard – Fairview High School, Boulder, CO – Averaged 14 points and 5 assists for a Colorado 5A State Runner Up. Named to the All Colorado State Tournament Team his junior season. Voted First Team All-Front Range League and Second Team All-Region, as well as, a two-time Academic All-State selection. Craig brings a great amount of versatility at the guard position, with the ability to score from anywhere on the court, along with a natural sense of finding open teammates.

William Young 5’10 Guard – St. John’s School, Houston, TX – William is transferring in from Arizona State where he was a redshirt freshman last season for the Sun Devils. In high school, he averaged 18 points, 8.5 assists, and 1.5 steals. A two-time TABC Large Private All-State and three-time All-Southwest Preparatory Conference selection. William is a gifted ball handler/passer and a true point guard with the ability to make big plays.

We are thrilled to bring in this athletic and skilled group of players, all of whom epitomize today’s “student-athlete.” Please join us in welcoming Trinity’s Class of 2015!

Guardian of the Game

Every year the National Association of Basketball Coaches holds their convention in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Men's Final Four. During the convention, the NABC hosts its annual awards show honoring many different levels of accomplishments throughout college basketball. This year, our own Coach Pat Cunningham received the "Guardian of the Game - Advocacy Award." This is quite the honor, as there are only four "Guardian of the Game" awards given each year - Leadership (Don Meyer, Northern State), Education (Charlie Coles, Miami, OH), Service (Bill Self, Kansas), and Advocacy (Pat Cunningham, Trinity), and recognizes Coach Cunningham for his years of hard-work serving the NCAA and NABC.

If you know Pat Cunningham, and haven't done so already, feel free in joining the Trinity Basketball Community in congratulating Coach for this tremendous (and most necessary) recognition.

2011 SCAC Tournament Wrap Up

There was some terrific basketball played at this past weekend's SCAC Tournament in Jackson, MS. The Tigers came out of the gates on fire Friday against Rhodes, but came up two points short of making the championship game against DePauw on Saturday. It was a tough way to end the season, but our guys "left it all on the court" and we couldn't have been more proud. For our players that are returning, this will hopefully motivate them to continue to improve over the off-season and build on this year's successes.

It was amazing to find ourselves in position to make a run at the SCAC Title this season, especially considering the slow start we had; but, that is a testament to the type of players we have on our team. They bought into what we were trying to accomplish as a group and therefore were successful. That attitude and dedication to the team was apparent in Saturday's game against DePauw. We were down early by double digits and it would have been very easy for our guys to start trying to take over the game individually, but instead, they continued to play the way the coaching staff was asking them to and gave themselves a chance to win the game at the end. Collective efforts like that often go unnoticed when a team loses, but it was really a defining quality in this year's team.

We're Goin' To Jackson

As much as we didn't want to call it a revenge game against Southwestern on Friday night, it sure felt like it. The intensity was high and the two teams fought all the way to the end, where the Tigers were able to avenge a heartbreaking loss to the Pirates on the late game heroics of Nick Caputo in early December. On Saturday night, the Tigers gave University of Dallas (who is currently a Division III Independent) a taste of what it will be like in the SCAC next year, as UDallas will join the SCAC beginning in the Fall. We couldn't have had a better "Senior Night," as our two seniors combined for 36 points (Luke Caldarera - 21 and Sam Dworkin - 15) and leading us to victory.

The Tigers finished the regular season strong, winning their last 6 games, ending with a 15-10 (11-5 SCAC) record, and earning the West Division #1 Seed for this weekend's SCAC Tournament - as Mr. Cash would sing, the Tigers are goin' to Jackson! The Tigers will match up against the East's #4 seed, Rhodes College, who are playing their best basketball right now and will prove to be a very difficult first round game. This year, the men's tournament will play the first round games at Belhaven University's Heidelberg Gymnasium, and the rest of the tournament at Millsaps College. The Tiger's will tip-off the tournament at 1 p.m. on Friday.

Click here for the 2011 SCAC Tournament Website.

Senior-Day Saturday

The last two seasons, Trinity Basketball has graduated a great deal of players (6 in 2009, 5 in 2010); each class leaving large holes to fill numbers-wise and talent-wise. This year's senior class is only comprised of two student-athletes, but will leave just as big of shoes to fill. Saturday's contest against the University of Dallas will be our annual "Senior Day," honoring the Tigers' Class of 2011. Now would be a good time to talk about these student-athletes.

#33 Sam Dworkin - 6'4 Forward - Portland, OR
Sam is definitely one of the most enjoyable personalities to come through Trinity Basketball. His light-heartedness and geniune ability to connect with his teammates through humor will never be matched, but don't let his smile fool you, Sam is also one of the hardest working players to wear the maroon and white. Seeing limited in-game minutes in his first three seasons, Sam came to work every day in AND out of practice. While others would sulk and lose motivation to better themselves as players, he jumped at every opportunity to develop his skills and athletic ability - some would call him a gym rat or workout junkie. Whatever you call him, Sam worked hard to become one of the conference's major three-point threats. This season, as a key contributor for the Tigers, Sam has kept defenses honest by being able to spread the floor and shoot with range. He is also a vocal leader on the floor - encouraging his teammates and generating enthusiasm every game. Off the court, Sam is a member of the Phi Sigma Chi fraternity and a double major in Business Marketing and Spanish.

#40 Luke Caldarera - 6'4 Forward - Houston, TX
Luke came into Trinity his freshmen year as a typical "Division III Tweener." Considered too short to play post, but not quick enough to play on the perimeter at the Division I level. Often high school players are passed up on athletic scholarships because of this "tweener" tag. The word "tweener" couldn't have sounded better to Trinity Basketball. Over Luke's career, he has been a key contributor to the success of the program through his ability to score and rebound the basketball. Having arguably the best midrange shot in all of Division III didn't come naturally to Luke though. He put in the hours (whether it was just him and a ball, on the shooting machine, or with coaches during the season outside of practice) and worked to become one of the most dangerous offensive threats the SCAC has seen the last four years (2-time First Team All-SCAC and 2-time NABC Second Team All-South Region). After Luke graduates, Trinity won't just miss a top 10 scorer in the history of the program,; we will be missing an energetic, passionate, and tremendous teammate. Off the court, Luke is a double major in Business Marketing and Finance.



Again, while it may appear that we are ony losing two players from this year's roster, what the Class of 2011 brings is so much more - work ethic, enthusiasm, dedication, passion (and always a great sense of humor, hence the above picture!). It will be exciting to see how they finish their already successful careers here in the next few weeks!