The 2005–06 Wright State Raiders men's basketball team represented Wright State University in the 2005–06 NCAA Division I men's basketball season led by head coach Paul Biancardi.
Season summary For the first time in three seasons the Wright State Raiders began the year as an experienced team. They returned six upperclassmen, including three major contributors, and three sophomores who had played significant time as freshmen. This season also saw the opening of a dedicated basketball practice facility, the Mills Morgan Center / Setzer Pavilion.
The season was up and down. It featured impressive wins against both regular season champion Milwaukee and runner-up Butler. It included a frustrating 1-5 record against Mid American Conference teams. There was a four game winning streak and two four game losing streaks. The Raiders had a chance for more, but 1-3 to end Horizon League play put them in a five-way tie for third place.
They exited the Horizon League Tournament early at 6th seed Illinois-Chicago, however the spirited comeback gave supporters reason for optimism about the future of their team.
Ultimately, that future would be with a new head coach.
Aftermath Coach Paul Biancardi's coaching career would be unceremoniously cut short by a recruiting scandal from his time at Ohio State.
Wright State had hired Biancardi in part due to his association with the very successful program that Jim O’Brien was leading at Ohio State. This turned into a liability just a year later when O’Brien was fired by Ohio State due to an ongoing NCAA recruiting violation investigation. Biancardi had been O’Briens recruiting coordinator.
Biancardi’s second and final, third year at Wright State were then spent under the cloud of the investigation.
Because Ohio State has a large national following, the story was a media sensation with regular updates both in Dayton and nationally. Both O’Brien and Biancardi disputed that violations had occurred, and O’Brien eventually won damages for wrongful termination.
On March 10, 2006 the NCAA issued its report on the situation and cited failings by O’Brien, Biancardi and The Ohio State University. Biancardi was given a “show cause” penalty, which would prevent him from performing his recruiting duties for a period of about 18 months. Effectively this meant that he could no longer serve as an NCAA basketball coach.
For the second time in ten years Wright State had lost a respected basketball coach to a public scandal, and for the third time Athletic Director Mike Cusack would search for a new basketball coach.
Roster Changes Joining Tyrone Scott (G) from Schoolcraft Community College. Walter Chancellor (F) from Wabash Valley Junior College. Robert Eldridge (G) a recruit from Richmond. James Craft (C) recruited from Mercerburg Academy.
Leaving Zakee Boyd left for "a change in scenery." Lorenzo Shine transferred to seek more playing time.
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=| Midwestern Collegiate Tournament
Source
Awards and honors DaShaun Wood First Team All Horizon League + Horizon League All-Defensive Team
Statistics Number Name Games Average Points Assists Rebounds 00 DaShaun Wood 28 17.9 502 131 126 4 Drew Burleson 28 12.5 350 42 144 50 Jordan Pleiman 28 10.5 295 5 188 22 Tyrone Scott 24 6.8 162 20 47 11 Jaron Taylor 28 4.4 122 61 65 2 Scottie Wilson 26 3.4 89 7 71 34 William Graham 28 2.7 76 59 52 52 Walter Chancellor 27 2.6 69 2 72 3 Everett Spencer 22 2.7 60 14 23 24 Reinaldo Smith 14 2.1 29 5 13 23 Parysh Munroe 14 1.1 16 1 13 32 James Craft 18 0.4 8 0 8 5 Robert Eldridge 18 0.2 2 3 3 Source
References