Wilburt,

I am glad that Fisk has joined a conference and I hope they do well.  I'm also glad to hear you say that they've made many positive changes to the athletic program.  Just curious, but what are some of those positive changes (besides leaving D III)?

Is Fisk going to be adding some sports or are they going to stick with just three sports (the Fisk website lists men's and women's basketball and women's softball)?

I think Fisk is a great academic institution with a great history.  I don't think they were pulling their weight in terms of athletics (besides men's basketball, in which they were very good) a few years ago in the GSAC.  That has nothing to do with race, and only with results on the fields and courts and some issues of not showing up for scheduled competitions.  I think the charges of racism were unneccasary and unfounded, and feel that calling someone a racist is a serious charge that shouldn't be thrown around lightly.

Best of luck to Fisk in their future endeavors.  I wish them great succes in the GCAC.

Colincondihillary

Are you referring to the racist Randy Lambert?  Or the racist GSAC in general?  Because you flat out said Randy Lambert was a racist with nothing to back your claim up with. 

1)  If an Irishman is invited into a club, but after a few years of not adhering to his end of the bargain in terms of being a member of the club, the Irishman  quits the club or is encouraged to leave the club by the very person or persons that invited him in the first place, does that make that person or persons that invited them racist against Irish people? 

2)  If, hypothetically, Randy Lambert were black, would you have called him a racist?  Or did you call him a racist because he is white, which would, actually, be judging him based upon the color of his skin?

3)  Isn't Spelman still in the GSAC?

Things are not always black and white...

Wilburt,

You said that the GSAC has not had great relationships with Black Colleges (plural).  What other historically black colleges has the conference not had a great relationship with?  Spelman?  Any others?  You said it's a fact, so there has to be others, if that statement is true.  Please elaborate.

How many athletic teams does Fisk currently field?  I checked out their website and could only find men's and women's basketball, which is fine if that's what they want to do.  But it's not fine in terms of being a member of a conference. 

Wilhe and Wilburt,

Wilhe:  what the heck are you talking about?  the webmaster's declaration of no coverage?  I have no idea what that means... but if you are insinuating Pat is a racist, you're nuts.  As for Maryville going to the NCAA tourney over Fisk in 2003... I guess you are ignorant of the fact that the GSAC does not get an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney for it's champion.  In fact, the GSAC is not guaranteed it will get a team into the NCAA at all.  The NCAA chose Maryville based on it's 22-6 record that year... it passed over Fisk because of it's 14-14 record that year.  So ripping the GSAC for Maryville going over Fisk just illustrates how ignorant you are.

Wilburt,

The only person I ever recall you calling a racist is Randy Lambert, and on Jan. 5 he was in Lagrange, GA.  He was also in LaGrange on Jan. 6.  On Jan. 7, he was in Demorest, GA.  So the only person you have ever accused of being a racist could not have been the one to ALLEGEDLY make the comment in a bistro in Orlando.  Heck, I don't even know who the GSAC commish is... but to take one unnamed source and treat his/her word as gospel and say "I told you so" seems to be pretty irresponsible. 

Fisk was not kicked out.  They resigned their membership.  Granted, they probably did so because the writing was on the wall, but the fact remains that besides men's basketball (where they had some really good teams), the rest of their athletic program was a joke.  They were not showing up for games.  They were losing 20-0 in soccer, 30-0 in baseball, 9-0 in tennis, etc.

Your rush to say I told you so based on Wilhe's post was quicker than Mike Nifong could count to three.

Congrats to Bondi... she is what DIII athletics are all about!

Just did this for the GSAC board... the current D3hoops front page intrigued me.  The DPU women easily had the best attendance, and outdrew all but one of the men's teams (Centre), which is pretty impressive.

1)  CC men...           425 (a good figure, but not close to Murval at 1474)
2)  DPU women...     373 (I'm sure figures were helped by hosting NCAA games)
3)  TU men...            359
4)  MC men...            333
5)  DPU men...          298
6)  OU men...            294
7)  SW men...            252
8)  US men...             248
9)  TU women...         233
10) OU women...       228
11) RC women...       205
12) RC men...            183
13) SW women...       152
14) AC men...             150
15) US women...        146
16) MC women...        145
17) CC women...        123
18) AC women...         116
19) HC men...               97
19) HC women...          97  is Hendrix's support that bad or are these #'s off? It's
                                          seems odd they are both at 97...

Where would Depauw's women's average of 373 put them nationally?  Murval was at 562 and not even in the top 10.  It's not like there's a lot to keep the town of Greencastle occupied...

   

The Murval women averaged 562 fans to lead the conference by a good margin.  I wonder if that puts them close to a top 10 national ranking (the men were 6th).

GSAC attendance figures:

1)  MC men...         1474
2)  MC women...     562
3)  PC men...          399
4)  PC women...      301
5)  LC men...           242
6)  AS women...      217
7)  LC women...      170
8)  HC women...      124 (outdrew their men)
9)  HC men...           102
10) WC women...     52
11) SC women...      10 (I can't believe this is correct)

Like the men, the Murval women's homecourt advantage has to help...

Congrats to the Murval men... are we sure those numbers aren't inflated a bit, though?  1,474 is a LOT... regardless, congrats!

GSAC attendance figures:

1)  MC men.....      1474
2)  MC women...    562
3)  PC men...         399
4)  PC women...    301
5)  LC men...         242
6)  AS women...    217
7)  LC women...    170
8 )  HC women...    124
9)  HC men...         102
10) WC women...   52
11) SC women...    10???  that can't be right...

How accurate these #'s are, who knows... but it would be just another explanation of why Murval is so tough at home... not sure what their home record is the last few years, but I know it's good.

"... he may of just had an above workout when he was here, but from what I saw..."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it illegal to be holding workouts with recruits, or even watching them play in any way when they are on campus?

Old Lion,

I don't want this to come off as negative, but I'm curious as to what Piedmont's assist average is at home and on the road, and against DIII competition and against the Christian schools...  the averages could be pretty close at home and away, and pretty close against DIII and Christian schools.  I honestly don't know... just curious.  Since you are the "KING OF ALL STATS", I thought you might could find those #'s.  If they are pretty consistent, then I am impressed as well.  If they are not, well, assists are different than points or rebounds or shots attempted in that sometimes they can be a little more subjective and come down to who is doing the stats.  Just a thought...

That being said, I don't think there are many better twosomes than Baldwin and Green... Bobby and Bo might  have them by a nose.  I would have to say that Baldwin is one of the best DIII players I have seen this year.  I think he is the best player in the conference.  That being said, I agree with other posters that his #'s are inflated because he plays for Piedmont as opposed to Maryville.  Put him on Maryville and his #'s go down considerably, just as Bobby's would go up at Piedmont.  So stats don't tell the entire story.  Even though I just said I think he's the best player, I'm not sure he deserves POY since his team is probably only going to win 2 conference games.  I definitely don't think Hairston deserves POY, as good as he is.  His team is probably going to finish 0-6 and has won three games all year.  Right now, I've got a toss-up between Bobby and Baldwin, with the last couple of weeks possibly deciding it.

You did points per shot for players... how about for teams?  In conference?  South Region?  Nation?  I wonder where Piedmont falls?

A couple of shockers on the SCAC men's side... Sewanee over DePauw and Hendrix over Trinity... Granted, Trinity is down from the last few years and Hendrix seems to be playing well, but the margin surprised me.  Sewanee should be pretty strong now that they are healthy... how did they force DePauw into shooting 30 3's?  SW over Austin was somewhat expected, and Centre over OU is not a big surprise, but the score was... Centre held OU 30 points below their average...

I agree with Frank... I don't see many easy games anywhere on the schedule...

I don't expect Hendrix to win any of the three games you mentioned... there is no way they win at DePauw... if they beat one of the TX schools at home, then perhaps they are a better than I think or the TX school are not as good as I think...

Don't get me wrong... the SCAC is a solid conference, but I remember some saying that there might be two top 5 to top 10 teams, three top 25 teams, the SCAC being one of the best conferences in the nation, etc...  I don't buy any of that...

Trinity is good but not at the level they were a couple of years ago...  they got pounded pretty good by the only two top 25 teams they have played... the MHB win was a nice one, but nothing earth-shattering... I think Trinity very well may get back into the top 25 before it is all said and done... their conference schedule is favorable in that they only play OU and DPU once each and they've already beaten RC at home... they will wind up with a pretty good record so you are right, they may re-appear in the top 25... but if they lose to DePauw, that will make them 0-3 against other top 25 teams... my point is that they are good, but not sure they are at a "national" level...

Oglethorpe is giving up a lot of points, but they did last year as well... I think that is because of their style of play and pace more than anything... their press was pretty good last year, but their half court D was only average... if you can beat their press, you can beat them... they have certainly underachieved thus far, but I'm not counting them out just yet...

Southwestern could be the third best team, but you have to remember that RC beat them in TX, so don't discount them or OU... SW does have the benefit of having the same schedule as TU, which means they only play DPU once, as well as OU...

I'll still stick by my statements... I think the "pretty good" teams will fight for 2-5, with TU having the inside track at #2 because of their schedule... but with the conference record against top 25 teams at 1-5, and some losses to "others recieving votes", the teams besides DPU just haven't shown me they are top 25 material yet... the bottom teams in the conference are not very talented and bring the overall conference competitiveness down quite a bit with them...

but as you said, it is early...

At the break, it looks like DePauw will be a runaway winner once again... I don't think anyone else is in their class...  DePauw is a legitimate national power and final four possibility... their depth is amazing.  I could easily see them running the table...

The conference appears to be three-tiered... DePauw; pretty good; not very good... the pretty good includes Trinity, Oglethorpe, Rhodes, and Southwestern... all of these teams can beat a good team on any given night, but none of them are top 25 caliber, in my opinion... Trinity was trounced by Howard Payne and Hardin-Simmons... Oglethorpe has yet to beat a quality team (a win at Emory was a decent win)... Rhodes was outscored 50-12 in the second half against Trinity and hasn't played the toughest of schedules... Southwestern has the impressive win against Hardin-Simmons... they are much improved again this year, but I think they and Coach Ruder are still a year away... I wouldn't be surprised to see them overtake Trinity before long as the top SCAC team in TX...

Hendrix and Sewanee are somewhat of question marks... Hendrix has a great record but have a cupcake schedule... Sewanee has surprising wins over OU and Thomas More, but a loss to LaGrange... they are much improved over last year, but still not that good...

The other three teams have a long way to go to be competitive...

Overall, I think the conference may be a bit over-rated... definitely not capable of having 2 teams in the top 5 or 10 as someone wrote in the pre-season... just look at the conference teams results against other top teams... way ahead of the GSAC, but not close to the ASC... DePauw is really the only team I see as being top 25 material, but they are a legit top 5

At the break, this is the closest the GSAC has ever been... last year at this time, it was obvious Maryville was the top team in the conference (obviously, late season injuries to Bobby and Monte changed things)... 

Right now, I'd call it a toss-up between LC and MC, with Piedmont close behind.  If you take a look at common opponents, you might have to give MC a slight edge.  MC beat Oglethorpe on a neutral court by four, split with Emory in a home and home, and beat Sewanee by 17 at home.  LC lost to Oglethorpe by five on a neutral court, split with Emory, and beat Sewanee four at home.  Based on this, plus LC's inability to beat MC, I'll give MC the edge.  That being said, I'll pick LC to beat MC in LaGrange, but think MC will return the favor at home.

Piedmont looks to be pretty good this year as well.  Baldwin is putting up some monster #'s... in the only common opponent category, they lost at Oglethorpe by five... put up a good win at NC Wesleyan and put a scare in a pretty good NAIA team...  Since opening weekend, they seem to be playing pretty well (4-2 vs. DIII competition... the two losses at OU and a six point loss to #15 Averett).  They could very easily win this thing...

Huntingdon, as expected, is rebuilding this year, but they seem to be improving and have battled a couple of SCAC teams to the wire the last couple of games... their style of play can always win a game, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them go 0-6.  I would be surprised to see them win 2 or more games in conference play...

At the break, it looks like Maryville is once again the head of the class and should go unchallenged in the... let's face it... EXTREMELY weak GSAC.  If they stay healthy, another trip to the NCAA's should happen...

Head of the class:  Maryville -probably not quite as good as last year, but still a solid team... though don't seem to be top 25 worthy... two good wins to start the season and a home win against a decent OU team... depth could be a problem... don't see them making noise in the big dance

Fighting for a DISTANT second:  Piedmont, Agnes Scott, LaGrange-  Piedmont seemed like it would be a sure second, but they have been underwhelming thus far.  I'll still pick them over a surprisingly improved LaGrange and an also underwhelming Agnes Scott... thought they would really be better this year.

Also-rans:  Huntingdon, Spelman, Wesleyan... don't even need to talk about these programs... at least they take the conference to seven teams...

Wilburt is very good at labeling and jumping to conclusions without knowing someone or without knowing all the facts of a situation...  feel free to check out the GSAC discussion of late May/early June...  He has some really great posts, loves his university deeply, and is obviously an intelligent man, but he does tend to jump to conclusions rather freely when race is the issue... I wish he were a little less cynical about people in general...