MBB: American Rivers Conference

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

For the third consecutive year, Hoopsville will air for 12 hours as the regular season enters the final four weeks. Dave McHugh will chat with coaches, administrators, student-athletes, and others involved in Division III basketball from around the country. Other guests will include those who have Division III roots or appreciate the division and the game along with the student-athletes who play the sport.

Hoopsville will air from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (and maybe later) on Thursday, February 4 live from the WBCA/NABC Studio. You can see what guests are scheduled, get more information, and watch the show here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2015-16/feb4

You can also read the press release about the show: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/hoopsville-marathon-2016

Here is the guest list as we speak. All times are Eastern and subject to change. Additional guests to be added if and when necessary:


   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Time	Guest	School
10:15am	Connie Tilley	St. Norbert (WBB) - WBCA Center Court
10:40am	Jamie Purdy	Peidmont (WBB)
11:00am	Keri Carollo	UW-Whitewater (WBB) - Nat'l Committee Chair
11:20am	Brent Pollari	Saint Mary's (Minn.) (WBB)
11:40am	Kent Madsen	No. 21 Wheaton (Ill.) (WBB)
12:00pm	Russell Loyd	Rose-Hulman (MBB)
12:20pm	Kevin Broderick	Nazareth (MBB)
12:40pm	Justin Scott	Arcadia (MBB)
1:00pm	Sam Hargraves	No. 12 Alma (MBB)
1:20pm	Lenny Reich	Mount Union (SID)
1:40pm	Maureen Webster	Clarkson (WBB)
2:00pm	Betsy Witman	York (Pa.) (WBB)
2:20pm	Sara Lee	Denison (WBB)
2:40pm	Klay Kneuppel	Wisconsin Lutheran (MBB)
3:00pm	Brian Van Haaften	Buena Vista (MBB) - Nat'l Committee Chair
3:30pm	Sydney Moss	No. 1 Thomas More (WBB)
3:45pm	Aaron Rousell	Bucknell (WBB) - former Chicago coach
4:00pm	Tim Shanahan	Staten Island (WBB)
4:20	Pat Cunningham	Trinity (Texas) (MBB) - NABC Coach's Corner
4:50pm	Bubba Smith	Sewanee (MBB)
5:15pm	Ben Strong	Former Guilford All-American
5:30pm	Kevin Connors	ESPN SportsCenter Anchor - Ithaca alumnus
6:00pm	Kristen Dowling	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (WBB)
6:20pm	Allison Coleman	Sage (WBB)
6:40pm	Landry Kosmalski	Swarthmore (MBB)
7:00pm	Dave Niland	No. 23 Penn State-Behrend (MBB)
7:20pm	Aaron Galletta	Lasell (MBB)
7:40pm	John Baron	Gwynedd-Mercy (MBB)
8:00pm
8:20pm
8:40pm	Melissa Hodgdon	Wheaton (Mass.) (WBB)
9:00pm	G.P. Gromacki	No. 2 Amherst (WBB)
9:20pm	James Wagner
9:40pm	HAPPY HOUR	Free-for-all of calls, tweets, and fun!

We hope to get at least the full show on a podcast, or several podcast, during the on Friday. You can find it here:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

And a reminder the Hoopsville Fundraising Project has begun yet again. Please consider helping us cover Division III basketball the way it deserves to be covered. If you can not donate, please don't worry about - we understand. At least share the campaign with anyone you think might be interested: http://igg.me/at/hoopsville-fundraiser/x/6029509

Also, if you know any advertisers interested in promoting their company or products on the show, send them our way: hoopsville@d3hoops.com

Thanks!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Regional Rankings: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2016/02/10/first-2016-regional-rankings-released-today/

[doolittledog]

Dubuque clinches the outright conference title with 2 games to go.

Standings...

Dubuque 10-2  17-6
Simpson  7-5   14-9
Loras   7-5   12-11
Central 6-6   15-8
Wartburg 6-6  13-10
B Vista   4-8   9-14
Coe   4-8   9-14
Luther 4-8   5-18

Dubuque, Simpson, and Loras have locked up places in the conference tourney.  All other teams are still in the hunt for a spot in the tourney. 

Remaining games...

Wednesday 2/17
Dubuque @ Wartburg
BVU @ Simpson
Luther @ Coe
Central @ Loras

Saturday 2/20
Luther @ Wartburg
Central @ Dubuque
Simpson @ Loras
BVU @ Coe

[Alfredeneumann]

How did the coaches do with pre-season rankings
Standings   School       Pre-season    +/-
1      Dubuque         1       =
2      Wartburg         3       +1
3      Simpson         8       +5
4      Loras            6       +2
5      Central         4      -1
6      BV            2      -4
7      Coe            5      -2
8      Luther         7      -1

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Final public regional rankings are out: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2016/02/24/third-ncaa-regional-ranking/

[doolittledog]

Congrats to Central winning the tourney title and a trip to the NCAA's

If you are a Nebraska Wesleyan fan and are curious about the IIAC, here is the last half decade results. 
Conference record - conference titles - tourney titles

Dubuque 51-21  (1) (2)
Buena V  46-26  (2) (1)
Central   39-33  (1) (2)
Coe Coll  38-34 (1)
Luther    37-35  (1)
Wartburg 34-38
Loras    28-44
Simpson  22-50

[doolittledog]

Loras has parted ways with HC Greg Gorton.

http://www.duhawks.com/news/2016/3/1/loras-announces-change-in-leadership-to-mens-basketball-program.aspx

[Alfredeneumann]

Loras has parted ways with HC Greg Gorton.

http://www.duhawks.com/news/2016/3/1/loras-announces-change-in-leadership-to-mens-basketball-program.aspx

Finalist annnounced
http://duhawks.com/news/2016/3/31/loras-announces-head-mens-basketball-coach-finalists.aspx
Finalist of Conf. interest - "Jason Steege, current assistant coach at Wartburg College, is a 10 year coaching veteran, all of which coming with the Knights. In his six seasons as the assistant coach at Wartburg, Steege has helped lead the Knights to three appearances in the Iowa Conference Tournament Championship games. A graduate of Wartburg College, Steege earned his bachelor's degree in business administration and will complete his master's degree program in physical education at the University of Northern Iowa this spring."

[AndOne]

As we have known for a few weeks now, former Elmhurst (CCIW) assistant Chris Martin was selected as the new Loras head man. I hear Coach Martin is currently in the process of conducting interviews for his assistant(s) position(s).

[doolittledog]

Andre Norris looking at pro options.

http://www.thonline.com/sports/local_sports/article_0093dddb-79b7-5d9d-b618-2e691bbf7da0.html

From the article...

Since graduating, Norris has been competing in the Midwest Basketball League — a start-up minor league development league that helps low profile players get noticed on bigger stages. He's playing against players who competed at Division I schools and professionally overseas.

Last week, the MBL named Norris an All-Star. He's the leading scorer on the Cedar Valley CourtKings (based in Waterloo, Iowa).

Norris definitely has a future in pro basketball. The question, for now, is: Where?

"I think this is exactly what Andre needed to do," said Gary Rima, CourtKings general manager and owner. He added the MBL is intended to move players on to higher levels. It's intended for players like Norris — players who didn't get a lot of exposure in college.

"He needed to get himself in a league like this," Rima said. "He has excelled and shown that he can play with these guys."

As for the pros, the calls are coming, Rima said. Norris had to hire an agent, and he's getting serious looks from pro teams in China, Japan and Italy, among others. Rima said Norris has much-desired versatility — he has the height to play in the post, the range of a perimeter player and is a threat on both ends of the court.

"The biggest thing I like to see in a player is when the competition you face gets tougher and better, that you have the ability to elevate your game," Rima said. "He's come into a league that has players that played overseas, in the NCAA tournament. Andre Norris has outplayed them. He's played better and better.

"I think he's the complete player."

[Alfredeneumann]

Well it's hoops time. Wartburg off to 3-0 start.

126-100 win over Grinnell. Knights shot and made 1 3. A shot clock beater.

90-83 win over Marian
83-72 win over #21 UW-O to win Buzz Levick Tournament.

[Klompen]

Central also off to a great start at 4-0.  We played Grinnell last night and just like with Wartburg it was a high scoring affair with
Central winning 143-128.  Central struggled with ball handling last night, ending with 28 turnovers.  Seemed like they have a fast paced plan for passing the ball quickly down court for quick scores, but clearly sending signals where the ball was going and having passes intercepted over and over again.  They need to clean that up.  Central rarely took 3 point shots, getting the ball under the basket repeatedly and while they set a record for shooting percentage, it still seemed like they missed a lot of easy shots.  Hard to imagine what the score might have been.  In spite of my complaints, the Dutch look to have a lot of talent this year and a lot of new players getting time.  As the season progresses they have the potential to be one of Central's best.

[Klompen]

As stated as the season progresses they have the potential to be one of Central's best.  But they clearly did not live up to their potential tonight.  I had the game on as I was doing other things, so I did not watch it start to finish, but from what I saw tonight, they looked flat, had no sense of urgency and were not well prepared for tonight's game.  I want to say the Kohawks were the far better team tonight, and they were the better team tonight, no doubt about it.  But neither team actually looked good in my opinion.  Then again, I only watched off and on.  From the parts I saw, I was glad to have gotten some other things accomplished.  A disappointing start for the Dutch, but you get out of it what you put into it and they didn't put forth the effort tonight. 

I will say, I am not a big fan of the coaching attitude of let them play and work it out on the court that seems to be the trend at Central and maybe other schools.  In the old days there was the call time out, try to break momentum, talk to the players, etc.  That seems to be old school now, but sometimes the team needs it.  Then again, the coaches did not have them prepared for this game either.   

I think this team needs to find an identity and it is early in the season with a lot of new players on the varsity team.  Tonight they took a lot of 3's (not just at the end).  Against Grinnell they rarely tried a 3.  Find a combination that works instead of all one way or the other.  Hopefully they will learn lessons about coming in prepared and playing their game, whatever that ends up being, and build to a consistent level of play for the rest of the season.  Just hopefully not at tonight's woeful level.   

[doolittledog]

What's up with conference play starting in November? 

Am I really senile and can't remember, or did conference play usually start in January in the past?

[Pat Coleman]

What's up with conference play starting in November? 

Am I really senile and can't remember, or did conference play usually start in January in the past?

When you add a team, you have to add conference dates. I'd say most nine-team conferences play conference dates in November.