Dan Lytle
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December 8, 2003
Lytle Likely Out for Season
The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men’s basketball team has learned that preseason All-American senior center Dan Lytle (Edwardsville) may be out for the season with a herniated disk in his back.
Lytle, who transferred to SIUE from Evansville for his final year of eligibility, played in four games this season, averaging nearly 10 points a game and six rebounds per contest.
“Lytle has been hurt from day one,” SIUE Coach Marty Simmons said. “He did a good job trying to play hurt, but his situation progressively got worse. I’m upset no one got the chance to see him play healthy.”
Dan Heimos (Waterloo), a 6-11 transfer from Nebraska, figures to be one of the candidates to fill the role in the post. Heimos is averaging five points per game and has a team-high 11 blocked shots. His 1.83 blocks per game is second in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
“When a player like Lytle goes down, it’s up to the entire team to reach down and bring more production to the table,” Simmons said. “One player cannot replace him.”
SIUE will take to the road for a Saturday contest at 5-0 Missouri-Rolla, who plays host to Calvary Bible on Monday night. SIUE then returns home for two more non-conference matchups before resuming GLVC play Jan. 2, 2004, at Missouri-St. Louis.
SIUE is coming off a win against Bellarmine and a loss to Kentucky Wesleyan to move its overall record to 3-4 and its GLVC mark to 2-2. The Cougars are in fifth place in the conference standings.
“We have a week to prepare for the Rolla game so that will allow us to get better on the practice floor,” Simmons said. “We need to shore some things up and get more consistent in our play.”
Tyler Hackstadt (Okawville) leads the squad with 13.3 points per game. Ron Jones (Kankakee) follows with 11.7 points per game. Calvin Sykes (Chicago) has averaged 10.3 points per game while registering a team-leading eight steals.
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