"Wheeler! Wheeler! Wheeler!" the student section of LeFrak Gymnasium roared. Dan Wheeler '07, quad-captain of the men's basketball team, had just scored the 1,000th point of his career on senior day against Wesleyan University. Using his unorthodox, overhead shot, Wheeler did what he has been doing his whole career at Amherst; he shot over his defender and nailed a three.

What preceded the shot was just as typical of Wheeler. After Wesleyan called a timeout and the Amherst team huddled together on the sideline, Head Coach Dave Hixon '75 told Wheeler he had just three points to go.

Wheeler had no idea what Coach Hixon was talking about. "I was like, 'Three from what?'" Wheeler said, "It wasn't even on my mind." This sort of selflessness has typified Wheeler en route to becoming the 21st Amherst player to ever reach the 1,000-point milestone.

"True humility is one of the rarer virtues; he has it," said Professor of English Barry O'Connell, faculty liasion to the basketball team for the four years Wheeler has been here. "When he leaves, there's going to be a large hole both on the campus and on the team, but people may not notice it because he's never called attention to himself-ever," O'Connell added.

Before he leaves, though, Wheeler will seek to add on to his historic legacy. Along with Tim McLaughlin, Dan O'Shea and Mike Salerno, the senior quad-captains make up the winningest class in Amherst men's basketball history, with a four-year record of 105-12. Wheeler has been the scorer of the class, leading the entire teamthis year with an average of 13.8 points per game.

Wheeler's versatile style of play has made it difficult for opposing teams to match up with him, as he has made himself at home both in the paint and beyond the three-point arc. No matter where he is on the offensive side of the court, Wheeler has one constant in his game-his unconventional, behind-the-head shot. "He has what most people would call a very unique shot," Hixon said, "It's hard to block, it's behind the head. It's not a proper shot. It's not a textbook shot that you would teach. But he's a great shooter."

Wheeler said that he has always had a slightly unorthodox shot, but that the shot of today really began to take shape during his first two years here. "I was going up against all these guys that were bigger than me and had these long arms, and I think it was probably created more out of necessity than anything," Wheeler said, "The college game is much faster and the guys are bigger, and you just have to do whatever you can to get a shot off." This year, according to Wheeler, he has yet to get a shot blocked.

"It was definitely an unconscious thing," Wheeler added, "I remember coming back home in the summer and playing with my friends, and they'd be like, 'Whoa, what'd you do with your shot.' I'd be like, 'I don't know,' but they were going in, so I figured I didn't want to mess around; I just let it happen."

Home for Wheeler is Bloomington, Minn., a suburb of the Twin Cities. He attended Jefferson High School, where he played baseball, basketball and, in his senior year, football. During the college selection process, Wheeler wasn't sure if he was going to play basketball in college. He was planning on applying to, among other places, Princeton University, Duke University and the University of Notre Dame-schools where he may have tried to walk on as a basketball player but were not recruiting him. Ultimately, the lure of Amherst's basketball program, coupled with its academics, persuaded him to apply early and pass up the bigger schools.

"Ever since the basketball season started [my first year], all my second thoughts disappeared, and it's been an incredible experience," Wheeler said of his time at Amherst. "Just being able to be in an environment that's so tight knit, both with the students and professors … I couldn't imagine going to a place that was bigger where you didn't know everybody you saw walking around … or you couldn't e-mail your professors and ask them questions."

Wheeler is an American Studies major, in addition to being pre-med. Despite the rigors of the basketball season, he is also writing a thesis on eugenics in 20th-century America. "He's an interesting person. It's sort of what you want, it's what you hope you get here," Hixon said. "Someone who is a very good basketball player and also very academic, very much curious about what they want to do."

Next year, Wheeler plans on doing research at the University of California, San Francisco, before attending medical school. As of now, he wants to be an orthopedist. "I think that type of job would allow me to translate my experience athletically to my career, which would be great," Wheeler said.

This season has had a familial feel for Wheeler as he has been accompanied by his brother Steven, a first-year on the team. "When I left for school, he was just like a little kid," Wheeler said, "I think it's been great to have him out here, and kind of share my last year with him."

"They both, I think, have always had a certain admiration for each other," Jim Wheeler, Dan and Steven's dad, said. "I know Steven's always looked up to Dan as kind of a mentor both in school and at basketball. They have a little bit of an ongoing rivalry, but they like each other's game and they really like each other …. From a parent looking in, it seems like it's been a lot of fun for both them to play together."

The Wheeler parents have had a very close view of their sons' season together, as they have been living in Amherst, in a rented apartment, since Jan. 1. Jim, a retired doctor, has been here permanently, while the Wheelers' mom Nancy is still working, so she's had to periodically fly in and out of Amherst.

They both were on hand for Amherst's dramatic NESCAC quarterfinal win on Saturday over Bates College. In that game, Wheeler was his typical self, nailing five threes en route to 17 points. In the defining moment of the game, Wheeler hit two consecutive three-point shots in a span of two seconds to give Amherst its first lead of the game-a lead it would never give up. After the second three, Wheeler stormed down the court in a moment of fury. "That's as pumped up as I've ever seen him," said Jim Wheeler. "I thought he was going to run through the wall or something."

Though the season is still not over, with the NESCAC Tournament ongoing and the NCAA Tournament looming, it is clear that with Wheeler gone next year, there will be a large gap both on the basketball team and on campus. "I've taught here for a long, long time, and having people I've worked with graduate is always hard, but Dan is one of those people, along with Tim McLaughlin, that I actually think is kind of irreplaceable here," O'Connell said. "He is in fact a good man, and more mature than many undergraduates should even be expected to be. Modesty, high academic ability, high athletic ability, generosity to others, being a great older brother, a son that never gave trouble to his parents. My God, you could only envy someone so good as that."