The Henry Domercant era of Eastern men’s basketball officially ended Tuesday night as the Panthers ended their 2002-2003 season with a record of 14-15.

“I don’t think we’ll ever again have anybody like Henry in the way of charisma, character and smile,” Eastern head coach Rick Samuels said. “He truly does use all of God’s gifts.”

Eastern’s leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker, the 6-foot-4 guard, became the 26th player to reach 2,600 points in NCAA history.

“I’ve been here for 23 years and never had a kid maximize his potential and maximize his opportunities more than Henry,” Samuels said. “There will never be another one, I can assure you of that.”

Domercant and fellow guards Craig Lewis, J.R. Reynolds and Ramon Taylor, along with center Jan Thompson, played their last game in the 76-63 loss at Murray State in the Ohio Valley Conference Quarterfinals match-up.

“I will always keep in touch with these seniors,” Samuels said.

Domercant is currently the OVC all-time leading scorer with 2,602 career points. Domercant may end the season as the nation’s second leading scorer, averaging 27.9 points per game, to cap an incredible five-year career at Eastern.

“No matter what Henry said, he’s had a good time in college,” Samuels said.

Samuels described his relationship with fellow four-year players Lewis and Thompson, who were also along for the 2001 NCAA Tournament ride:

“Craig was a kid that he and his coach didn’t always see eye-to-eye but provided great consistency,” Samuels said. “Jan was such a selfless person who was willing to put his teammates in front of himself.”

The Panthers’ (14-15, 9-7) second leading scorer Reynolds (12.3 ppg), and Taylor came as junior college transfers and had their last two seasons end in Murray, Ky.

“J.R. did an exceptional job of becoming a team leader emotionally this season,” Samuels said.

The surprising aspect of the Panthers’ season was their disappointing overall shooting performance of 38 percent from the field.

“We just didn’t shoot the basketball very well this year, and that shocked us,” Samuels said.

Samuels believes the lack of developing a second scoring threat and a consistent lineup around Domercant was because of inconsistency and injury.

“Those types of things happen, but Jan could have helped us when he was injured against bigger teams, and Jake Sinclair’s bronchitis really set him back,” Samuels said.

Eastern’s future looks bright even though OVC predictions for the 2003-2004 squad may be quite low without Domercant.

“I think that we will be better than anybody thinks next season,” Samuels said.

Eastern will have to look to fill Domercant’s shoes with freshman Josh Gomes and a pair of newcomers at guard – New Mexico State transfer Emanuel Dildy and Cortez Forte, who was not officially eligible to practice or play this season.

“Josh Gomes has a better shooting stroke than Henry, and Emanuel Dildy is a true point guard that will create some excitement,” Samuels said. “If academics can take care of themselves, Cortez Forte will be a big factor for us.”

Samuels and the Panthers’ coaching staff is looking for improvements from other key elements of the returning 2002-2003 team, including junior forward Jesse Mackinson.

“Jesse Mackinson has uncles that are his height and 250 pounds, so he needs to put on weight,” Samuels said. “That kid just can’t keep weight on.”

Andy Gobczynski, and David Roos had frustrating seasons and will be expected to contribute more next season, while Joey Cortez will have more responsibility after being red-shirted.

“Andy was pressing too hard trying to help the team, and we are expecting a much better season from David,” Samuels said.

“Our goal of Joey Cortez was to get him to look like he didn’t need a meal, but he really wants to play.”

Eastern’s coaching staff will need to fill a hole left by the team’s five departing seniors.

“This was a very special group of kids that meant a lot to me,” Samuels said.