As Season Ends, Whittaker Ends Record-Shattering Campaign
Whittaker Ties Career Scoring Record as Eagles win 5th Game
Feb 1, 2005- Nathan Whittaker tied the 11-year-old SHS career scoring record last night in action against Hillsboro.  He draws even with Derek Dace, perhaps the most celebrated athlete in the history of Sullivan athletics.  Barring an injury, he will take sole possession of the top spot Friday night at homecoming, against traditional rival St. Clair.  Good seats are likely to go fast, so if you plan to witness this historical event, be advised to come early.  JV start time is 6:00, with the varsity contest to follow.   Whittaker reportedly exited the game voluntarily with over 30 seconds left and the game in hand, paving the way for a magical moment Friday night.  Josh McMillen added 21 points, providing the difference, in addition to Whittaker's slightly above average 42-point effort, as Sullivan won their 5th contest of the season.  Guard Tyler Crouch also reached double figures at 12.   Sullivan's season record now stands at 5-14, with 5 games remaining.
	Whittaker Poised to Shatter Records
January 30, 2005- Active Sullivan Eagles Basketball legend and likely Four-Rivers Conference MVP Nathan Whittaker is poised to break several major Sullivan records in the coming days.  He now has 618 points on the season.  With 6 games left on the schedule, he needs to average just over 21 points in the remaining games to break Rob Sanders' 24 year-old single season record of 745.       For all intents and purposes, Whittaker has already broken the single-season points per game record held for 48 years by Cleo Cline, which stood at 23.9 PPG.  Whittaker is currently averaging 34.3 points on the season, and even if he is shut out for the remaining 6 games, he would finish at 25.75 PPG.         Whittaker now has 2063 career points, just 42 short of Derek Dace's 11 year-old mark of 2105.  With his season-high so far sitting at 45 points, it is conceivable that he could break this record tomorrow night against Hillsboro.  The more likely scenario, however, would have him breaking the record sometime in the first half of Friday night's homecoming contest against St. Clair, which would be a storybook scenario in front of what could be the biggest crowd in the history of the program.         In addition, Whittaker is climbing quickly up the career rebounding list.  By combining Jody Brown's compilation of the career rebounding list with the Post-Dispatch's statistics from this year, Whittaker's rebounding total stood at 633 prior to the Salem game, leaving him with 7 games left to amass the 40 boards he needs to catch Doug Cuneio at #5 all-time.  He began the season at #9 and has already passed Butch Miller (8), Jarrett Dace (7), and Gary Biermann (6).  However, there is disagreement between Coach Brown's totals and those of the Post's website, which taken on their own would put his pre-Salem total at 655 (22 more than Coach Brown's).  Using the Post's figures, Whittaker is almost certain to close his Eagles career as the #5 rebounder in school history.  In either case, he will apparently end up behind only Derek Dace (1236), Rob Sanders (901), Phil Coppage (765), and Jason Woodcock (720).          Whittaker began the season at #7 on the career 3-pointers list at 82, and has since passed Matt Lattimore (86), his brother Justin Whittaker (88), Matt Tiefenbrunn (89), and Michael Rubenstein (91).  Prior to Salem, his total was 113, behind only Brett Strauser (137) and Derek Dace (154).  He would need to average about 3.4 treys over the final 7 games to seize the 2 slot, which, although possible, seems highly unlikely, since he is averaging just over half that (1.8) for the first 17 games.          Though there are still at least 2 or three players who could arguably be called the greatest in Eagle Basketball history, Nathan Whittaker's myriad accomplishments over the past 4 years have certainly earned him a prominent place in any such discussion, and The Eagles Nest wishes him and his fellow Eagles great success over the remaining games of the 04-05 season.
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Feb 25, 2005- With the close of the Sullivan Eagles Basketball Season, so goes the career of Nathan Whittaker, without question one
of the program's top few players of all time, and arguably its best ever.  During the course of the season, Nathan staked his claim to
several of Sullivan's most prestigious records, and planted himself near the top of several other lists.  Here's is a quick rundown of
those for which I have figures available:

Career Scoring: Whittaker scored 2256 career points, besting the 11 year old record of 2105 held by Derek Dace.  He had begun
the season at 1445, third on the list behind Dace and Rob Sanders, who had 1574.  Whittaker surpassed the record on Friday,
February 4, in the homecoming loss to St. Clair while shooting a free throw early in the first half.

Career Rebounds: Whittaker moved to #5 on the career rebounding list, as his 160 rebounds in '04-'05 pushed his career total to
688, passing Butch Miller (532), Jarrett Dace (564), Gary Biermann (611), and Doug Cuneio (673) on the all-time list.  He finishes
his career behind Derek Dace (1236), Rob Sanders (901), Phil Coppage (765), and Jason Woodcock (720).

Career 3pt. FGs: Whittaker moved to #3 all-time for career three-pointers.  His 47 for the '04-'05 campaign give him a career total
of 129, behind only former teammate Brett Strauser (137) and all-time leader Derek Dace (154).  Over the course of the season, he
moved from the 7 slot to his final standing, passing Matt Lattimore (86), his brother Justin Whittaker (88), former teammate Matt
Tiefenbrunn (89), and Michael Rubenstein (91) along the way.

3pt. FG, Season: Nathan's 47 three pointers on the season moved him into a 7th place tie on the all-time list with Brett Strauser's
'02-'03 campaign.  Prior to this season, his own '02-'03 effort had been good for a 20th place tie, but he has now bumped himself
and Rich Clover ('93-'94) out of the top 20.  The single season record remains firmly in the hands of John Reed (73 in '87-'88), with
Brett Strauser (62 in '03-'04), Matt Lattimore (61 in '94-'95), Kevin Carey (60 in '88-'89), Michael Rubenstein (59 in '98-'99), Derek
Dace (55 in '93-'94), and Justin Whittaker (48 in '00-'01) behind.  For those keeping score, Nathan was a career 42.3% shooter
from beyond the arc.

Single Season Scoring: Nathan set the single season scoring record at a whopping 811 points this year, topping the old mark of 745
set by Rob Sanders in '80-'81.  He had already established himself as numbers 6 (583 points in '03-'04) and 13 (532 points in
'02-'03), but now occupies the #1, 7, and 14 spots.

PPG, Season: Whittaker easily surpassed the 48-year-old points per game record of 23.9 held by the late Cleo Cline, finishing the
season with an average of 33.8, or nearly half-again as much as the former record.  In doing so, he also bumps himself to #4 and
#17 on the list for his '03-'04 and '02-'03 seasons, in which he scored 23.3 and 19 PPG, respectively.

Single Season Rebounding: Although his senior season total of 160 failed to find a place among the top 25 rebounding seasons, his
sophomore total of 218 has him in a 22nd place tie with Brian Rhodes from '98-'99.

Assists, season: Whittaker's sophomore season also earned him a 20th place tie with Chad Johnson's '96-'97 campaign for assists,
with 106.

      I do not pretend that this is a complete list of Whittaker's records and leaderboard appearances.  It only reflects his place on
all-time lists which I currently have access to.  Some key lists such as games played, career assists, blocks, and steals, which
Whitaker may appear on are not currently available.  For those that just can't get enough Whittaker, Nathan will be playing for the
University of Missouri-St. Louis Rivermen next season, where he is expected to make an immediate impact as a freshman.

      Fellow Eagle seniors Conor Tierney and Brian Turntine also closed out their Sullivan careers Tuesday.