The 2003–04 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team represented Wright State University in the 2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season led by head coach Paul Biancardi.

Season summary

Paul Biancardi Jim O’Brien protégé Paul Biancardi brought credibility and stability to Wright State Raiders basketball. He was regarded nationally, having most recently been assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Ohio State.

The experienced assistant coach arrived with relatively little fanfare and went straight to work by filling roster holes and preparing his team. He acknowledged the high goals that the school sets, but set the table by saying “. . . we’re not going to talk about that now. We have to take small steps before we can take big steps.” He cited the need to take his time hiring assistants, and promised to work hard at recruiting.

Regular season The outlook for 2003-04 was bleak. The season began with the new coach wishing for a deeper bench and another month to prepare. The Raiders had two star senior leaders in Seth Doliboa and Vernard Hollins, but then it was freshmen and two senior role-players. It was unclear who would step forward and contribute. Two things worked in Biancardi’s favor. The two senior stars would both finish the season all-league, and freshman recruit DaShaun Wood turned out to be one of the most talented players in Wright State history.

Not unexpectedly, the season began poorly. The Raiders opened with a three game losing streak, including a loss to NAIA Cedarville. After six games they only had one win. But then signs of life were found and the Raiders went 3-3 in the next six games. Partway through this stretch redshirt freshman Drew Burleson join the team and provided a welcome spark. In the next six games Wright State went 6-0 and was back in the basketball business.

The freshmen class flourished with extended playing time that the unbalanced roster provided. "We’re seeing real growth," observed Biancardi about Alex Kock, Drew Burleson, DaShaun Wood and Zakee Boyd.

The regular season ended with disappointing losses to UIC and Green Bay, but 10-6 in the league was good enough for a fourth place finish. It was a successful season, far above any preseason expectations.

Tournament Wright State’s lack of experience and thin roster finally caught up with them with an early exit to lowly Loyola in the Horizon League tournament.

Roster Changes Joining DaShaun Wood recruited from Detroit Douglass High School. Alex Kock walked on out of DeKalb, Indiana Zakee Boyd as a highly regarded prep star from Newark, NJ. Vova Severosa from Vilnius, Lithuania recruited out of Birmingham Groves High School in Michigan Rick Poole walked on from Charmiade-Julienne High School Joe Bozeman walked on from Fairborn Zach Williams transferred from Ohio State and would have a redshirt transfer year

Leaving Lloyd Walls dropped out of school before the season. Trent Vaughn quit the team before the season.

Roster

Schedule and results

!colspan=12 style=| Midwestern Collegiate Tournament

Source

Awards and honors Vernard Hollins MVP Tyson Freeman Raider Award Seth Doliboa First Team All Horizon League Vernard Hollins Second Team All Horizon League DaShaun Wood All Newcomer Team Paul Biancardi Horizon League Coach of the Year

Statistics Number Name Games Average Points Assists Rebounds 00 Vernard Hollins 28 16.3 456 130 166 15 Seth Doliboa 28 15.0 420 29 207 00 DaShaun Wood 28 8.7 243 88 116 4 Drew Burleson 28 7.6 213 8 117 40 Alex Kock 28 7.3 203 42 90 33 Zakee Boyd 28 5.9 164 14 49 12 Vova Severosa 28 4.8 133 5 102 3 Braden Bushman 11 0.9 10 3 5 21 Mark Starkey 12 0.8 10 0 5 2 Rick Poole 12 0.4 5 2 5 14 Joe Bozeman 0 0.0 0 0 0 Source

References