Basketball – The Oberlin Review

Oberlin Celebrates Homecoming Weekend

October 11, 2019

The campus seemed to be abuzz with energy from students and non-students alike when Homecoming Weekend approached. Homecoming Weekend is always a time for members of the Oberlin College and community to come together. Whether it is families coming to Oberlin to watch their student-athlete perform on the field or alumni visiting old friends, there is always something that draws people to Oberlin’s campus. The festivities began Friday with the Heisman Club’s annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony...

Stephany Dunmyer, New Basketball Coach

October 11, 2019

Stephany Dunmyer is starting as the new Oberlin women’s head basketball coach. Originally from Pemberville, OH, Dunmyer majored in Psychology and played varsity basketball for Kenyon College. Named the 2000 North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the year, Dunmyer served as assistant coach at Indiana State University before becoming the head coach of Virginia Wesleyan University, where she stayed for 16 years. At VWU, Dunmyer compiled a record of 250–181 and was named the Old Dominion Athlet...

Varsity Athletes Find Teammates and Friends in Former Competitors

October 4, 2019

Oberlin students come from 39 different states in the U.S. and more than 30 countries around the world. This diversity is reflected in the athletics department, where athletes from all over the world compete for the College. Despite these circumstances, several athletes have had encounters with and even competed against their current teammates during their high school careers. These encounters, while not necessarily significant in the moment, can be a unique experience that later develops in...

Former Varsity Athletes Find That, After Athletics, Life Goes On

Khalid McCalla, Contributing Sports Editor

September 27, 2019

Athletics play a significant role in many Obies’ college experience. Roughly 350 students — over ten percent of the student body — are part of the 21 varsity sports teams offered by the College. Club and intramural sports provide a fun way for students to stay active and compete with one another without the time commitment of a varsity sport. These athletes’ reasons for participating can range from finally trying a sport they have watched for years to the fulfillment of a lifelong dream of participating in college athletics. Most athletes assume that their career will last all four years. However, for many Oberlin athletes, this isn’t the case. Whether it be the result of injuries, or overcommitti...

Yo, You Trying to Hoop?

September 13, 2019

Oberlin can be suffocating at times. Downtown, there is only a handful of restaurants and spaces where you can actually feel that you’re off campus. You could be standing on Main Street but still see King Building or Bibbins Hall, or you could be chilling in The Feve and see a professor — they definitely don’t want to see you, either — and then be reminded of the paper you have due at the end of the week. Suffocating. That’s been the case for me during my time at Oberlin. The College ha...

Canada On The Rise

September 13, 2019

The Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA championship on June 13, 2019. This was the first time in history that the number-one team in the league was not based in America. Nearly four months later, on Sept. 7, 2019, Bianca Andreescu defeated Serena Williams in the final of the 2019 U.S. Open, becoming the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title. Both of these momentous occasions shocked the world, but a closer look revealed that they are evidence of a larger s...

Leo Ross and Bethany Gen, Queer Varsity Athletes

September 13, 2019

Varsity basketball player Leo Ross and varsity soccer player Bethany Gen, both College third-years, have been dating for the past ten months. The two athletes met while working as Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct trainers, a program designed to educate students on combating gender-based discrimination and sexual violence. Throughout their relationship, they have navigated their position as queer Oberlin students, with the added layer of being queer varsity athletes. Their relationsh...

All Good Things Must Come to an End: Jenkins Steps Down After 11 Seasons Leading Women’s Basketball

April 12, 2019

As his players arrived at the gym for practice one Monday afternoon in March 2018, Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kerry Jenkins devised a plan. The 2017–18 team was the first in program history to win the North Coast Athletic Conference title and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament, but Jenkins knew that the Yeowomen’s most daunting challenge of the season would be facing the Messiah College Falcons that Friday, March 2. Messiah, which was ranked No. 15 in Division III at the time, is...

New Year, New Record for Men’s Basketball

February 15, 2019

With 2.3 seconds left on the clock and the basketball in his hands, College junior and point guard Josh Friedkin didn’t miss a beat, swishing an off-balance jumper to secure a triple-overtime victory over the Allegheny College Gators last Wednesday. Three days later, Friedkin posted his first career double-double — 15 points and 10 assists — against the Hiram College Terriers, helping the Yeomen set a new program record for the most North Coast Athletic Conference wins in a season. Fri...

Inexperience Not a Concern for Women’s Basketball

Julie Schreiber, Senior Staff Writer

November 16, 2018

When College senior and women’s basketball co-captain Olivia Canning watched her teammate, College junior and point guard Cheyenne Arthur, nail a few three-pointers in last Saturday’s game against Alma College, she got the feeling that the young team was headed toward another successful season. The Yeowomen, who opened their 2018–2019 season Nov. 10 with a 59–45 win, are approaching the season with both steady optimism and caution. The team is aiming to repeat last year’s NCAC championship, which it took home for the first time in program history, but must confront the challenging experience disparity faced by this year’s younger squad. Teams thrive on consistency; between the 2016–2017 and 2...

Senior Student-Athletes Must Balance Athletics, Academics, Impending Graduation

Alexis Dill, Sports Editor

November 9, 2018

At the conclusion of her junior year, College senior and softball player Emma Downing was unsure if she should apply to the Honors Program in History. She didn’t think she would get in — only seven students were accepted this year — and even if she did, she didn’t know if her schedule would allow for it. Nevertheless, she decided to take the plunge. “There weren’t any other classes I wanted to take, and I wanted to push myself academically and see what I could accomplish,” Downing said. “I knew that coming up with a question and researching it all year to write a 60-page paper would be the hardest thing I’ve ever done academically.” The History and Russian & East European Studies double-major ...

The Jewish Development in the NBA and Oberlin

Julie Schreiber, Senior Staff Writer

October 12, 2018

There are numerous professions in which Jewish people have achieved notable success, but the world of professional sports has not historically been one of them. As a result, many American Jews have long been intrigued when Jewish athletes emerge in a professional sport, especially when they do well — consider Sandy Koufax. This fascination — yes, there are many websites devoted to this issue — is even apparent in fans who are not Jewish. A lot of jokes grow out of this preoccupation, which brings us to the Oberlin men’s basketball team. At a school with a 23 percent Jewish population, 12 of the 20 players on this year’s squad — 60 percent — identify as Jewish. “This [dynamic] has defini...