Coach Kenny Macklin began the 1998-99 campaign in his sixth season as the head coach of the Penn State Altoona's Men's Basketball Progam. Macklin and his Cougars were coming off the best record in the school's history with a record of 23 wins and 6 losses during the 97-98 season.

After enduring a 4-21 record in 1998-99, the Penn State Altoona Cougars are setting their sites on the 1999-2000 season. "We knew coming in the 1998-99 season, playing our first year as a NCAA Division III team, that we would have our hands full" Macklin says.

The schedule for the 98-99 season saw the Cougars play only nine home games. Along with a tough schedule, the Cougar Basketball team lacked size and experience. Macklin says that, "some of our games were decided due to a lack of experience, and some games because of a lack of size."

Guards, Greg Simpson and Josh Baker are the top returning players. Greg and Josh started every game last year and never showed signs of letting up. Greg Simpson, a junior, was the lone upper division student on the team. Josh Baker set a school record for 3 pointers made in one game with 8. On Feburary 4, 1999 against Waynesburg College, Josh went 8 for 15 behind the 3 point arc, scoring a game and season high 39 points. "Josh is one of the purest shooters that I have coached here at Penn State Altoona," said Macklin. But shooting is not all that Josh and Greg bring to the team. They will step in and take the charge from bigger and stronger opponents, rebound, make passes that set their team mates up for easy shot opportunities and whatever else it takes to win. Ronnie Brown will also bring valuable experience to this year's club. "Ronnie has great leaping ability and is one of our more athletic players. Ronnie has great penetration skills," states Macklin. Another player who will pressing hard for playing time is 6' 2" Joey Braha. Coach Macklin said, "Joey is very aggressive offensively and has good instincts on defense."

Coach Macklin says, "The success of this years' club will depend heavily on our returning players and how much they have learned from last year. Also, we will need our new guys to come in and learn quickly. The younger players need to understand that we are all in this thing together and with that type of focus in mind, we can accomplish a lot. We will place much more empahasis on defending and rebounding. I believe that we will be a tighter knit unit than last year. The AMCC is a good conference, one that is fairly new. We are looking forward to becoming a part of the AMCC, playing a full conference schedule and establishing ourselves within the league.

Site created 9/97, last modified 6/99 by Jim Hutchens