The opening at BW has me back on d3hoops.com after a long absence checking to see if anyone has heard anything regarding the BW position. I have to think Coach Kibler, currently the Head Coach at Hiram, would be a strong candidate for this position. He was Steve Bankson's top assistant during the school's hay days and had a lot of success recruiting. He obviously knows NE Ohio, and been a part of several winning programs. I noticed he was at the University of Charleston for a year and they won the Inaugural MEC championship beating West Liberty St. before he returned to become Hiram's Head Coach. Before that he was Steve Fleming's assistant for a couple years at Hiram. Coach Kibler recruited me and has my vote for hardest working, best recruiter, and honest coach I had the opportunity to deal with. BW would be smart to bring him back. Has anyone heard anything? Certainly looking forward to this outcome. And since when does the OAC turn over 3 coaches in 1 year?

Fuline??!! REALLY??!! WOW!! while this has to be an upgrade from what we had....this smells of Kehresism!! This was our best applicant? I guess I'll have to get over my shock and get on the Fuline wagon. This will be interesting. Go Purple Raiders!!

Latest rumor regarding UMU coaching vacancy. Dan Peters, Akron assistant coach. Use to be head coach at YSU, and assistant at OSU & Cincinnati. I would think a Thad Matta phone call might carry some weight. I'm guessing he's not a young buck, no pun intended, but none the less. Interesting name.

FINALLY!! Coach Kehres has finally pulled the plug! Long overdue in my estimation, of course thats a personal issue I have with the man as a coach. My experience at Mount was not a good one with Coach Hood - like many others might I add. I've heard Coach Montgomery from Hoover, and Terry Weigand from akron as well. Any other names? I doubt Vanderwal would leave Marietta with so much coming back. Timing is everything!! Kehres has hired a lot of young people recently..."go-getters". Would this be a position filled by a D1 assistant? Another D3 assistant? What D3 head coaches might apply? Any rumors, thoughts/opinions?

Has to be a tough pill to swallow if your Coach Moran & the Blue streaks....season comes to a screetching end with probably your worst 20 minutes of bball all season. Got me thinking... what will next year look like in OAC with JCU & Marietta having basically evryone back? Here's what I found:

Marietta everyone back including POY, 2 1st teamers, and a HM.
JCU everyone back but Mo Haynes.
Capital loses 32.1 ppg biggest losses in conf.
ONU everyone back and maybe best player in league in schnelle
Otterbein loses 2 players 7ppg, Davis back POY candidate....gonna have to catch ONU v OTT nxt yr for that
Heidelberg loses 12.6ppg but has 2nd teamer and HM player back
Mt. loses 23.8ppg 2nd biggest losses after Capital
Wilmington everyone back including 2nd teamer and a HM
BW loses 8.5 but has Freshmen of the yr. and many young guns including Mentor's Jaron Crowe
Muskie loses 5.3ppg


With that information Im early predicting another Pioneer V Blue Streak battle for 1st.
ONU, Wilmington & Otterbein nxt 3.
Cap, Berg, BW nxt 3, with Mount & Muskie sitting out tourney and battling for cellar!

Anyone else crazy enough to weigh in on thoughts for nxt year?

WOW!!! What a come back for Pioneers! Ruined my prediction of a Blue Streak championship, but sounds like it was a game of 2 halves. Congrats to Coach VanderWal & Mr. Halter for COY & POY awards. Looks to be an interesting 1st rd. match-ups in Marietta this weekend. Good luck Pioneers!!

As expected Blue Streaks and Pioneers saturday. Final 81-74. Shontz, Hartnett, and Hester lead victory. My question is this - does loser of the championship have any shot at playing in NCAA?

Taking in the JCU - Capital game before the storm. Back & forth game, big technical by Haynes gave Cap chance to cut it to 6. Crusaders shooting awful from FT line somewhere around 50%. Still taking JCU to win tourny over Pioneers. 6 pt lead with 2:54 to go.

POY thoughts? COY - Has to be Vanderwal! If Marietta doesnt win tourny are they out of NCAA's? A 1st rd. match-up with Wilmington not very rewarding for a 1 seed. Pioneers won by 11 & 6 vs Quakers this year. If Marietta who has really found ways to win all year long doesnt win tourny, is anyone but JCU capable of winning OAC tourny and representing conference in NCAA? How about grades for this year? Here's mine;

Pioneers A -easy, JCU A- lots of injuries and tough loss in teammate Matt Crozier, Capital B+ better than expected but losing 2x to #9 BW prevents an A, ONU B ok young team, Heidelberg C - expected lil more, Otterbein B - solid .500 season as always competed, Wilmington D underachieved, new roles after heavy graduation losses never materialized, Mt. U C - as expected, BW D - young, injuries derailed a lil, but still underachieved, Muskie C - lack of talent but competed. I'd also like to hear tourny predictions. Im taking JCU but I dont anticipate much of an NCAA run, maybe a game or 2 at best.

WAlum,
Not just New Concord, Berea & Alliance too! BW 9th place 2 out of last 3 yrs...unimaginable! Alliance's Mt. Union Purple Raiders hasnt finished in the top 5 since 2003! Raiders last 7 finishes 2011 -7th, 2010 - 7th, 2009 - 7th, 2008 - 8th, 2007 9th or 10th, 2006 - 8th, 2005 -7th, 2004 6th but did make championship game.  Raiders average losing margin in OAC tourny since 1999 - 15pts. Basically Coach Hood has had 5 good years in 19, and only once did they play in the NCAA's, 1997. That team was sic good with Shipp & Richards inside. 8 straight years in the bottom half of the OAC? C'mon man! Mt. Union gots to be better than that no?! Thank Goodness we have football! Question is, is it Kehres who doesnt care about hoops as AD/Football Coach or is it Coach Hood? My vote - BOTH! Cant believe Kehres has allowed the bball program to fall this low. And it appears BW may be headed in similar direction under Sheldon.

Life in the OAC...BW (last place) sweeps Capital (#3 seed) after losing both times to #9 Muskingum. #8 Wilmington beats #2 JCU. Mount 6-3 first time around OAC, 1-6 after 7 2nd time. Its official BW & Muskie out of tourny. 123 set, 456 all tied up, and Wimington & Mount battling out for 7-8.

Some random thoughts....I doubt Marietta wants to play Quakers in 1st round, JCU must win tourny to get in NCAA, JCU-BW no longer a rivalry, Otterbein winning and Mt. losing as I predicted, dont think BW would rather have Banskon at the helm? Yellow Jackets out of OAC tourny 2 out of 3 years since his departure! And people want Reynolds out at Otterbein?! Crazy, best coach in the league!! Schools underachieving...per my usual horn blowing....BW and Mount!! Next year...Cap drops, Marietta everyone back, JCU still contender, ONU/Otterbein/Wilm/Berg better but middle of the pack, BW - has to be better, cant get any worse!, Muskie & Mount same ol same old!

Question how will Marietta do come NCAA Tourny time? Will they win OAC tourny?

P.S. Bouncer1... thanks for the correction (Bankson not Bankston), think I've made that mistake before.

Took in the JCU v Otterbein game tonight - exciting game. Just looked at the scores, surprised by Mt.'s win over Quakers. Guess I was wrong about Quackers making 2nd half surge. Big game coming up for Wilmington & Muskies - winner probably makes tourny as 8 seed. Noticed Pioneers play JCU & Cap. last week of season - big games in deciding title. Marietta should at least share with 2 easier games next week, but I should bite my tongue, this is the OAC. What's the deal in Berea? Another loss to Muskie? When was last time Muskie swept YellowJackets? BW is officially in last place. Considering their location and facility not sure how that happens. Your 25 minutes from downtown Cleveland!! Aint like Marietta, Muskingum, Heidelberg, Wilmington or even Ada. A lot of schools/players on cleveland's west side alone. Just within 40 minutes there are more schools around BW than Muskie, Marietta, Wilmington, and Ada combined!! Bring back Bankston!! I dont care if he's 85 - he won! Sheldon 93-136 lifetime, 29-42 at BW both 40% Bankston won 56%!!

DIII Insider,
Coach Burson was old-school, his teams were always competitive but rarely competed for OAC championship. He did become a leading teacher of the princeton offense late in his career. I think he may have led the team to a OAC final 4 1x utilizing that offense. Biggest difference b/w him and the Ford's... his career was defined there and he putting a lot more into than the Geno or Gene.

Ranking the OAC coaches -
#1 Dick Reynold's - winningest OAC coach all-time I believe. a National Title.
#2 Mike Moran - kids play hard and have won a lot of OAC championships under him, though I'd say the catholic school affiliation and location are tremendous advantages.
#3 Damon Goodwin - I agree - kids always play hard and are well prepared.
#4 Vanderwahl - getting it done or right place, right time?
#5 Hunt - has made Quakers significant in OAC
#6 Gholson - solid job thus far
#7 Rhodes by default - early returns not pretty
#8 Sheldon - not real impressed with
#9 Hood - 1 championship season in 20 yrs. at Mt. Union - really?? Football school or not - come on man!
#10 Ford - knows the game but isnt fully invested in getting the job done, in his prime #4


Not sure why I descriminate vs Coach Ford and not Coach Reynolds other than their body of work in OAC.

WALUM,
Dont expect BW or Muskie to be competing in the top half of OAC any time soon. Coach Ford was a much better HS coach at Cambridge where he many times had better talent. Lack of recruiting to New Concord isnt helping...tough job. They have one of the more veteran teams in conference and yet are in last place. Big show down coming up with BW for 9th & 10th place. BW is young with talent, especially Kenny Payne. Problem is Sheldon cant win close games or out coach any OAC coaches. He needs the best talent to win and even then is not a sure thing, not that anything ever is in the OAC. I just know his Heidelberg teams never won till his last year and even then they finished 2nd, yet had the most talented team. They did win OAC tourny, but were a 1 and done in NCAA. After 9 years on the college scene Sheldon has had 2 winning seasons. 1 at Berg and 1 at BW (14-11). Forecast in Berea - not so sunny future!!

FYI - Coach Chris Kibler who was Steve Bankson's top assistant for several years at BW is now at Hiram College. I know Coach Kibler is a very good recruiter (bc he tried to recruit me)and coach. Also, Hiram beat BW this year at BW, and last year at Hiram. Not sure how long he has been at Hiram, but from what I understand, BW did not give him a shot at the job. Kinda sad situation from what I hear. I'm sure things would be different in Berea. PS Hiram is 3-1 vs OAC, tho lost came to Muskie.

Also - hate to brag but I did predict the Mt. Union collapse, wilmigton rise coming on, tho my JCU pick is not looking so hot.

DIII Insider,
No I dont expect any coaching changes. I'm simply saying these programs would/will be better when new coaches take over. It's D3 and firings shouldnt be like they are in D1. Its obvious these are RETIREMENT jobs - jobs that only open when a coach retires ie Burson, Bankson, Campoli. Moran, Goodwin, & Hood been there for awhile now. Reynolds will probably be next to retire, but I dont see that happening in next couple years.