Indeed quite an impressive bounce back by HSC.  Talk about going from famine to feast!

Wins tonight for Roanoke, Bridgewater and W&L.  Lyncburg lost scoring just 35 pts.  Ugh.

3sdown, so RMC plays Washington & Jefferson?  I like Washington & Jefferson over RMC in football, but I don't know about basketball?  I'll go with RMC.

Lynchburg lost to Mt. St. Joseph.  And Roanoke beat Johnson & Wales.  Any details on those?

Who are the many good shooters on the HSC roster expected to turn it around?
Should be interesting game between VWC and Maryville.  Perhaps a good comparison gauge insofar as HSC and VWC are playing the same teams in the same tournament.

Guilford with a great start this season!!  I guess thats why the coaches gave Guilford that #3 vote despite losing Strong.  The confidence is carrying over to this season.  Guilford guards are putting up impressive stats.

Thats a surprising loss for VWC at LaGrange but there have been alot of early season upsets this year across the top 25. 

Someone mentioned that HSC starters other than Turner King were 1 for 30 from the field vs. Maryville.  Other than King, the other four HSC starters are 4 for 44 from the field in their first two games.  Other than King, HSC starting guards do not have one field goal in their first two games despite logging high minutes.  Those are astonishing stats.  Hopefully for HSC thats just a slump??

RMC put it on Messiah pretty good tonight. 

EMU is still the sleeper team to watch.  Overall, look for great parity in the ODAC.

I doubt that HSC and Va Wesleyan are playing each other in the LaGrange tournament.  My guess is that HSC will play Maryville and LaGrange, and that Va Wesleyan will also play Maryville and LaGrange.  That is how these tournaments involving two teams from the same conference are usually set up.   That will be two tough games for Maryville though.

Many teams have lost quite a few seniors, but the ODAC has a reputation for attracting good new coaches and new players so this could be an unexpected  great year for the ODAC.  RMC with Short, Hunter, Brown, Varela & co. will be a force.  But keep your eye on sleeper EMU (George Johnson, D.J. Hinson) and Lynchburg (the new coach will bring a new system and a new D-1 attitude and perhaps some new faces).  Woolridge and a coach make Lynchburg legit.  Bridgewater has excellent talent (Trawick among others) and I am confident that the new coach at Bridgewater will be no chump.  ODACHOOPS mentions the 2 new transfers at HSC and if they are as advertised, then HSC has the ingredients with 2, perhaps 3 point guards (Lawton, Mudd & Dillard), shooters and scorers (King & Matthews) and some experience inside (Lasko, Trops & Payne) along with a new coach from the D-1 ranks bringing a new approach from William & Mary.  Oh, and did I mention VWC and Guilford with quality returners from last year's NCAA tourney teams.......No easy games in the ODAC this year.

With all the quality seniors graduating last year, and the influx of new coaches, this should be a most interesting year in the ODAC and one that should see some parity apart from perhaps RMC.  Plus, I still believe that EMU is the sleeper team to watch.

We know the top returners - Woolridge, Short, King, Trawick, Oblitey, Henson, Peery, among others.  

I am wondering who those sleeper players to watch might be this year.  I am referring to those guys who may not be considered top returners today, but who might come into their own this year and be the new major contributors to their teams and make a difference.  Any candidates out there?

bballlover, your points are well taken.  AAU exposure can be a frustrating hit or miss experience for the lower D-1 player.  Plus, the whole AAU scene is just disgusting anyway. 

But you hit the nail on the head.  Most of those kids are better off being seen at an AAU tournament by a D-III coach and then recruited as a diamond in the rough, rather than going through four frustrating years in D-1. 

My guess is that most of the top 15 players in the ODAC had fairly serious D-I interest in high school which did not lead to an offer - for whatever reason.  But, year in and year out, I think the top 15 players in the ODAC have the talent to comprise a pretty good small D-I team.  Certainly the ODAC top 15 could not compete in the Big East or ACC, but I would have confidence in that team, for example, in the Patriot League, among other smaller conferences.  That is not a knock against the Patriot League.  The ODAC is one of the top 5 or 6 D-III conferences and has some very good players. 

Now, whether as a team the ODAC "all star team" could compete at a smaller D-I level is a completely different issue, because there is more to winning at any level than just raw talent.  I will throw in coaching and chemistry just to name a few of the variables.  But, from a talent perspective, there is enough talent in the top 15 of the ODAC to compete at a low D-I level.

Look at it in reverse.  It is not necessarily true that a D-I transfer to the ODAC always dominates or even excels in the ODAC.  I can think of a few such D-I transfers over the years who failed to excel in the ODAC.  Why?  A skinny young 18 year old freshman with a D-I jump shot can turn into a stronger, taller more athletic junior who could compete at the low D-I level at age 20 - but maybe not when he was 18.  So, sometimes, it is just a matter of timing and development.  D-I coaches are in love with athleticism and strength.  That is often what prevents an ODAC player from getting a scholarship to a smaller D-I school at age 17 or 18.

Another fact to consider is that there are not enough scholarships to go to all of the kids who could play at the smaller D-I level, especially when you add in JUCOs and foreign players. 

Finally, playing D-I just to play D-I could turn what should be the best four years of your life, into the most frustrating four years of your life.  For example, if a kid has a choice to play D-I at Longwood or at New Jersey Institute of Technology (0-29 last year), or play in the competitive ODAC with some academic aid, I would advise that kid to go to an ODAC school every time. 

Quote from: kramsay on June 16, 2008, 05:07:16 PM
I think Coach Vick returning to H-SC is going to be a bigger deal than most non H-SC fans think.  Coach Smith had a nice run, but his two most successful seasons (barring his first year with Jeff Monroe, Brandon Randall, etc) were the two seasons he had an amazing recruiter (Chad Warner) bringing in the class.  Vick is at least as strong a recruiter as Warner and after his years playing for and sitting beside Tony Shaver he should know something about X's and O's as well.  He has some work to do this summer before anyone should get too excited about next year, but there should be a significant change in the type of play coming out of H-SC before too long.

I believe that Chad Warner recruited last year's freshmen and sophomore classes at HSC.  So, if what you say is true about Warner as a recruiter, HSC should have a good nucleus already. 

The program has fallen??  HSC won the ODAC two years ago.  In 2007-2008, HSC had a winning season and lost in the semi finals of the ODAC tournament to Virginia Wesleyan and return 5 out of their top 8 and have unbelievable support from alumni and have great facilities and do everything first class and the "program has fallen"?

As someone pointed out on this board many weeks ago, many ODAC teams graduated some very solid senior players this year, including Guilford, VWC, W&L, Roanoke & HSC. 

W&L, Guilford and Roanoke did not play their younger guys alot of minutes.  RMC and Eastern Menonite played their freshman alot of minutes this past year.  (I think EMU is the sleeper team).  VWC played two freshman - Carlton & Simmons - alot of minutes.  Two freshman at HSC averaged double figure minutes per game, and HSC returns three starters.  Both Lynchburg and HSC will have new coaches which can often provide a spark.  And, of course, alot can happen between now and November.

So, every team - including HSC - has much to look forward to this upcoming season.  I am not sure that it is the best thing for this board to continue to create bulletin board material for HSC's new coach!

If what ODACHOOPS says is true - that HSC has only one returning player who can score, create shots or knock down shots from the perimiter - maybe the rest of the HSC players should consider a transfer to VWC where the players apparently get enough financial aid to go for free!!! 

Certainly RMC and VWC will be the favorites leading into next year but the HSC cupboard is certainly not bare.

For the 2007-2008 academic year, Sewanee's cost was $30,438 for tuition; $222 for fees; $4,560 for room; and $4,220 for board.  Thats $40,000 minimum no matter how you slice it.  So, it won't get any easier to recruit at Sewanee which, on top of the cost, has not had even 1/10 of the success or basketball tradition of Hampden Sydney.  I am not aware of any schools in the ODAC whose tuition rates are going down. 

I could have been mistaken, but I think I saw the letters "E&H" on Billy's hat in that video.......