BY CORA TASSET
Fort Hays State Men’s Basketball will be graduating four seniors in May 2020. Devin Davis, Aaron Nicholson, Calvin Harrington, and Jake Hutchings all have different experiences with Fort Hays. Nicholson is currently working on his fifth year as a Tiger and Hutchings is finishing up his first year as a Tiger.
“All four of them are very nice kids and do well in school and they were really the type of people that you want in your program,” Head Coach Mark Johson said.
The team went 18-11 their freshman year and ended up 4th in the MIAA. In their sophomore year they ended 19-12 and 7th in the MIAA. Their junior year they were 18-11 and 4th in the MIAA again. This year was a rebuilding season that ended 14-14 for the men’s team.
These Tigers have won 69 out of 117 games. They have won 49 out of 64 games in Gross Memorial Coliseum and 20 out of 53 games on the road.
Aaron Nicholson was the first to come to Fort Hays, following in the footsteps of his older brother. He played in 14 games in his freshman year before suffering a season-ending injury. After that, he played in all 88 games for the rest of his basketball career. Nicholson ended his career with a total of 762 points and 123 rebounds. This season he averaged 8.9 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.
“Aaron is one of the toughest kids we have had in our program, he’s a hard worker and he is always trying to make himself better,” Johnson said. “He definitely leads by example and had really become a solid contributor for us.”
Calvin Harrington was the next player to join the Tigers. He started out his career Bemidji State in Minnesota, then traveled to Nebraska and played at Northeast Community College before he arrived at FHSU. Harrington totaled 211 points and 140 rebounds as a Tiger. This season he averaged 4.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
“Calvin had a lot of stability with a high basketball IQ and really does all the little things that may go unnoticed in stats, but really helped us win some games,” Johnson said.
Devin Davis was the third player to join Fort Hays. He transferred from Allan Hancock College in California. He earned All-Western State Conference First Team his sophomore year in California. Davis was quick to tally 505 points and 216 rebounds as a Tiger. This season he averaged 9.4 points and 8.4 rebounds each game.
“Devin is a competitive kid, a really strong physical player, and is an instant offense at times,” Johnson said.
Jake Hutchings just joined the Tigers for the 2019-2020 season. He began his basketball career at Howard College in Texas and earned All-Western Junior College Athletic Conference First Team Honors as a sophomore. Hutchings then transferred to Chaminade University in Hawaii and then joined Fort Hays. He has 261 points and 111 rebounds. His average this season is 9.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
“Jake really brought in the height for us and he could really shoot the ball and stretch the defense,” Johnson explained. “He was only here for a year, but he made a really good impact and had some big games for us.”
After the tenth-place tiebreaker didn’t go their way, FHSU’s season wrapped at 14-14 and 7-12 this season and finished their season ranked 11 in the MIAA; however, the contributions the senior class made cannot be overlooked.