A little birdie told me that the St. Mary's hire is done.  An official announcement is expected soon.

A little birdie told me that Nigel Jenkins and Jamison Rusthoven are the frontrunners at SMU.  Hadn't heard Mr. Esposito's name, but I have also heard that an assistant at Macalester may be involved.

As I said, without question Taylor Hall is the leader in the clubhouse for MIAC POY.  Saturday's result reinforced this thought.

Mr. Theisen had a nice all around game, but two things stuck out.  He was 3-9 shooting and his team lost.  Your best player should not have the third most shots in a big game such as this one. 

Mr. Hall's stat line was ridiculous.  15 for 24 shooting - 37 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers. 

Down the street, the Pipers are 1-8 since the incident.  Looking at their schedule they might beat MAC but I don't see any other games where they will be favored.  It could be a long off season at HU.

Kudos to Mr. Theisen on his triple double.  Still, Taylor Hall is the leader in the clubhouse for MIAC POY.  Hall is averaging 21.5ppg (1st in MIAC)  and 10.0rpg (1st) while shooting 58.5% (6th).  Not to mention he leads the MIAC in blocks per game and is top 10 in assists per game.  It truly is a no brainer unless something drastic changes in the next month.

What Mr. Hall is doing is truly amazing.  I have enjoyed watching him play over the years.  I do wonder though, when was the last time someone in the MIAC averaged over 20ppg and 10rpg?  Did Ben Van Thorne do it at MAC??

Also curious to know what the latest development is at the corner of Hewitt and Snelling?  Will Coach Whitmore will return this season??  Will Jason Verdugo keep coaching the team???

I've heard that Siverling is the front runner at UWEC.

Also, look for the Oshkosh coaching position not to be filled until after July 1.  Budget issues.

Good to see some friendly faces posting again on the message board.  A few comments to add to the conversation.

- This could be Coach Koz's best team at STO in a number of years.  He has a good group of seniors and some promising young players.  No excuses this time around.

-What on earth is going on over at Hewitt and Snelling?  My Pipers just can't seem to build any momentum. 

-The MIAC POY, if healthy, is without question Bethel's Taylor Hall.  He has skills that no one else in the MIAC has.  If Coach Westy lets him go, it will be fun to watch.

-My darkhorse team is SJU.  There's more talent in Collegeville then some seem to think.

I can't let you have all the fun Drake    Life is treating me well as I get older, however I'm still a busy man these days, hence the long layoff from posting.

You make a good point about other recruits choosing another MIAC institution over UST despite a generous financial aid package from the Tommies.  I will however bet the farm that that number is quite low if you actually graphed it out.

Speaking of the Bethel Royals, what has happened over there    Coach Westy's program is 18-32 the past two years and I don't see next season changing all that much, although I also don't claim to know who BU has coming down the recruiting pipeline.  Anyone care to take a guess at this one 

The rich just keep getting richer - AKA the Tommies.  Coach Tauer will continue to maintain the high UST standard of excellence.  He is the Recruiting Coordinator and one of the nicest gentlemen I have ever had the pleasure of speaking with.

Regarding the Eden Prairie feeder system for the Tommies.  The bottom line when a player has multiple MIAC schools recruiting him is, generally speaking the school with the best financial aid package wins out.  From my experiences, rarely does another MIAC institution put together a better package than UST.  Add the fact that the Tommie program keeps on winning and it's not hard to see why they continue to secure commitments from outstanding local players.

I have heard that Coach Green is getting a couple of Division 2 transfers from an NSIC school.  If and when I confirm I will pass the information along. 

Prophet - I'm baaack 

Good scoop on Mr. Larson.  I will add to your story with a little knowledge myself.  A little birdie told me recently that Mr. Larson has been replaced by MSU-Mankato assistant coach Gameli Ahelegbe. 

IMHO the finalists for MIAC POY if they were announced today would be:

David Olson - Augsburg
Ray Brown - Hamline
Aaron Burtzel - SJU
Tyler Nicolai - UST
Will Wright - Saint Mary's

I also believe that Carl Hipp of Hamline is still also very much in the discussion.

My vote right now would be for Burtzel.  *And Wonka he's shooting 65% on the year not 75% 

I had some time last night to peruse through the MIAC stats at this early juncture and thought I would offer a few observations.

-Carl Hipp is leading the league in points - 20.8, rebounds -11.8, and blocks -2.8 per game.  Even more impressive is the fact that Mr. Hipp's points don't include a single three pointer.  Could it be that a Piper is in the early lead for MVP  *The other strong candidate appears to be Aaron Burtzel.

-Tyler Nicolai is leading the Tommies in scoring and truthfully it's not even close.  Anyone see this coming  

-SMU's backcourt of Wright and Holland are both averaging over 35min/gm.  Does anyone else see them tiring over the long term  

To expand on the Chairman's previous post.  Carl Hipp had 24 points and 20 rebounds today for the Pipers.  What's more amazing is he did it all in 27 minutes against a quality opponent in Elmhurst.

The game was tied at 38 at the half and was a two-point game with under 3 minutes to play.  The interesting thing is that Hamline did not get a basket from Hipp late in crunch time.  I'm not sure why as I was not in attendance?

Hamline's main problem today was their shooting.  They finished 32% from the field and a dismal 1 for 12 from the 3-pt line.  Tough to win many games with those numbers.

I wonder what will HU look like once Mr. Brown returns?

The Tommies appear to have quite the line-up this season.  My question is as follows (miacsuperfan already alluded to this) but who will be the defensive stopper for UST this year?  I'm not surprised that Winona won the game, but you can't let a team shoot nearly 60% and give up 30 points to one guy.  In recent memory, St. Thomas has always had someone who can slow down the opponent's best player.  I don't know if that's the case this season.

A further look at the box score:

-Great start for Mr. Nicolai at the PG position.  He shot the ball very well, had 5 assists to only 1 turnover and also chipped in with 3 steals.  UST will need him to continue that kind of production
-The second five off the bench for the Tommies could be most MIAC team's starting line-ups, don't you think?  (Alex Healy, Noah Kaiser, John Nance, Josh Pedretti and Peter Leslie)

Drake - The Bethel roster is posted.  The SID is just trying to be a little tricky.  If you go to the BU men's basketball page and click on their roster you have to change the year in the top right hand corner.  The drop down menu reveals 2009-10. 

A quick glance at the Royals roster and the biggest addition is obviously sophomore Taylor Hall, who transferred from Bemidji State.  Mr. Hall had a superb freshman year for BSU and I would expect big things from him this year.  He will be a tough match-up for the rest of the conference.

Other notable additions include former Andover High standout Scott Jesser, who I believe transferred to BU from Valley City, freshman forward Zak Mathson from Cambridge-Isanti who is a hard working, undersized power forward and last but certainly not least is 6-6 freshman Taylor Sparkman from Minnehaha Academy. I expect he will make an immediate impact as well.

...and to brighten your day my friend (Drake) I will make an early bold prediction (subject to change, of course) now that all of the rosters have been announced.  My first gut feeling of the final 6 who make the post-season in 2009-10 will be:

1. St. Thomas
2. Augsburg
3. St. John's
4. Bethel
5. Gustavus
6. Hamline

Fire away....