Whitman Leads Herzöge to Best Finish in Franchise History

Wolfenbüttel GERMANY (May 1, 2009) - Just over six months ago Connor Whitman stepped on the court for his fist professional basketball game as a starting point guard for the Herzöge Wolfenbüttel. Since that time his team has completed its 30-game schedule and with Oxy's former star guard leading the way, the Herzöge have performed so well that they are expected to move from the Pro B to Pro A league next year.

The 2008 graduate of Occidental College is enjoying his time overseas and has been highly productive in a league where he is one of the only Division III athletes. Whitman relishes facing opponents who played at large Division I schools, which include the University of Oregon, Ohio State University and Bucknell University. 

"Most of these guys make the big mistake of overlooking me because I played at a small college," replied Whitman when asked to explain what he attributes his great year to. 

"It was evident from my experience this year that most of the guys I face in the German professional league who come from larger NCAA Division I universities have a more difficult time transitioning from the less significant roles they played in college than I did coming from an outstanding small college program at Occidental where my role was much more significant."

During the 2008-09 season, Whitman lead the entire league in three-point field goals made with 106. He averaged 17.4 points per game, which was second on the Herzöge and ranked 21^st among all players in the 16-team league in scoring. By far his most memorable game of the season came on Dec. 6 when he dropped 43 points on 12-for-13 shooting against Landshut. Ten times has he scored more than 20 points and incredibly in only three games he failed to reach double-figure scoring.

Whitman, who played 37 minutes per game, shot 40.1% from the field overall and held a 39.4% clip from three-point range. In addition to his shooting prowess, he grabbed 3.8 rebounds per game and dished out 3.8 assists per game. He also stole the ball 1.4 times per game for the Herzöge.

“We started the season as a vastly underrated organization and the goals of our team were to stay in the league,” he recollected. “Coming into the season the record for victories in a season was 13, and we have surpassed that, nearly doubling the win-total (22-8) and finished second overall in the league.”

The top two teams are granted the opportunity to move from Pro A to Pro B, something that Herzöge Wolfenbüttel will investigate and hopefully be able to do for the 2009-10 season.

Throughout the season he had the opportunity to travel the country and play in numerous different venues. The largest crowd he played before was a packed venue of 7,000 people in a “rivalry game” between the Herzöge and. Braunshweig, which is only 20 minutes from the team’s home court.

“The atmosphere of the Derby game was great,” Whitman shared. “The game at their house was my favorite place to play because we played in the arena that the 1st division team uses. There was a sold out, rowdy crowd and on top of it all, we won.”

Overall the season was a huge success, which Whitman credited to a well balanced team and a great chemistry.

"Connor has turned into an outstanding point guard.” Head Coach Mahmut Ataman said of the Oxy grad. “Coach Newhall described Connor as a shooting guard who could play point guard, but at our level most shooting guards are in the 6-foot-4 to 6-foot-6 range. Connor has worked hard on his ball handling skills and has become more of a true distributer.  He is also an outstanding on ball defender. The best compliment that I can give to Connor is that he is fundamentally sound and a complete player."

Whitman continues the success of Occidental's basketball alumni to play at the international level.

"I have known Coach Newhall for many years,” said Herzöge president Bobby Junger. “In addition to signing Song Cun, Sam Betty and Connor Whitman all from Occidental he has also given me many recommendations of quality players who have fit well with our club." 

Following the success that Whitman has experienced this year, he is sure to have additional international basketball opportunities in the future. 

“I think that my first professional season has been very successful and I am excited to see what this year has opened up for me.”