MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[TheOsprey]

I just got done watching the championship game on cstv and was thoroughly convinced the Tommies could have destroyed d3 runner-up richard stockton.  Wash U did what they wanted, when they wanted.  They took a 10 point lead in the first half and were content just to sit on it and cruise to their 2nd straight title.

also, they're showing the d3 hockey championship game and referring to minnesota's own gusties as "goosetayvus", GAC up 1-0 early in Lake Placid.

I see why your karma nearly matches your posts!!  Shoulda, coulda, if...!!

[basketballlover]

2008-09 Men's All-America Team from d3hoops, http://www.d3hoops.com/all-american/menallam09.htm Johnson made 2nd team and Madson 3rd. Where is the MIAC MVP? He didn't even make honorable mention...hmmm
Congrats to the two of them on a great season and careers.

[Pat Coleman]

I just got done watching the championship game on cstv and was thoroughly convinced the Tommies could have destroyed d3 runner-up richard stockton.  Wash U did what they wanted, when they wanted.  They took a 10 point lead in the first half and were content just to sit on it and cruise to their 2nd straight title.

I suspect the final Top 25 poll will reflect that as well.

[Pat Coleman]

The Aquin did a great documentary on the Tommies' run to the Elite Eight. Well worth the time investment to watch this.

http://www.stthomas.edu/aquin/090320AlmostPerfect/index.html

[Drake Palmer]

I'd like to add my congratulations as well for Carleton's Zach Johnson and Bethel's Tim Madson as D3 Hoops All-American honorees.  They both had great careers and these awards are a nice recognition for their outstanding accomplishments.

Ironically, this national recognition of Zach Johnson reminds me of the Biblical verse which stated:

A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house.

I think Pops was right, next season maybe the MIAC coaches should outsource their post season awards selection to the College Sporting News committee. 

[Drake Palmer]

Final D3 Hoops Top 25

Here are the top 5...

# Team W-L Pts.
1 Washington U. (25) 29-2
2 Wheaton (Ill.)  26-4 580 3
3 St. Thomas  30-1 
4 UW-Stevens Point  24-5
5 Richard Stockton  30-3 

[Drake Palmer]

Jeez, a little deserted out here in MIAC flyover land.  A 3-peat series of posts spread out over a 24-hour period of time? 

Here's another in a series of interesting post season awards.  Check this out - UST's Joe Scott makes the NABC 3rd team All-American. NABC Division III All American Team

[sumander]

Jeez, a little deserted out here in MIAC flyover land.  A 3-peat series of posts spread out over a 24-hour period of time? 

The doldrums hit even quicker than usual this year! 

[columbianmaffia]

i got stuck in the doldrums one time when i was sailing to africa in my canoe with the sail i attached to it with duct tape...lucky for me i brought lots of pickled foods and canned chicken to tide me over

[papahoops]

Ok, I am inspired by Drake to get some discussion rolling before post season doldrums take over.....Now that the season is over, does anyone think someone can seriously challenge UST next year in the MIAC? Given what they have coming back and what I see as their closest real competitiors are losing, it would not surprise me to see another clean conference sweep for the Tommies. They have the returning league MVP , best returning point guard in the league, and a 6'8" versatile front court player who I believe is a likely first team all conference candidate. Throw in 4 other solid returnees from their 11 man rotation and I am afraid "league balance" will not be term that is thrown around next year. All they need is another D2 transfer and we can turn out the lights. I hope I am wrong, as I would like to see more competition at the top of the league. Mose was able to be far to comfortable at games this year, and I am afraid his lack of stress will continue

[piperinsider]

I have a feeling it will be Hamline's year next year.  How many times have I said that the past nine years? Nine, I think.

Former Piper Jon DeRock and the SMSU Mustangs are in the DII Elite Eight in Massachusetts, which gets underway tomorrow. Much like the Tommies, SMSU goes 10-deep. DeRock and the bench average 30 points per game.

[Drake Palmer]

Pops - I'm gonna have to side with you on this one.   UST should definitely be the favorite next year & I really don't see anyone pushing them with the possible exception of SJU.   Although it will certainly be difficult to match this season's success, I would think UST will be the prohibitive pre-season favorite, which is not necessarily a good thing.

Whether it's UST, or SJU or Bethel, or anyone else that wins the MIAC title, I'm of the opinion that our league winner needs to be pushed & challenged by other teams on a weekly basis to contend on a national setting - the Big Dance. This year's UST team was an exception as they had a great blend of senior leadership, talent, discipline & other intangibles that came together for them in a magical like season.

However, looking into a crystal ball, things look a little murky for next season in terms of an infusion of talented newcomers.  While I'd be the first to admit that I don't follow the high school game as closely as I used to, I just don't see or hear a lot of buzz about any major impact players that can come in & shakeup the league as freshmen or transfers. And I do hope I'm wrong. 

In years past we've had the borderline D1 & D2 players who for whatever reason decided to play D3 ball.   I'm thinking of players like Tom Conboy, Ben Van Thorre, & transfers such as Tim Brown, Isaac Rosefelt, Mike Keating, Mike Moberg, Joe Scott etc.  When I scan the current top high school prospect lists, most of the players being heavily recruited are the D1 types & not much is being said about the other players. 

For example, several years ago there was a nice buzz going on around the board when word started leaking out about Jon DeRock enrolling at Hamline & Sam Wiener transferring from SW State.  Or when Tyler Westman transferred from SDSU (?) & Ryan Lieser transferred from NDSU to play at SJU, Mike Moberg transferring back from Niagara, Keating from Vermont, and Tim Brown from Mankato State etc.  It was those types of players that made the league more competitive.  Anybody hear if Zach Filzen from Northfield was transferring back to MN?  The last I'd heard he had left No. Arizona where he was on a basketball scolie.

On a related note, due to current economic conditions, it will be interesting to see if the western WIAC schools such as UWRF & UW-Stout start picking off more metro area players in the next couple of years. Coach Berkhof from River Falls already practically lives over in the cities. 3 of his starters this year were from the cities & they will be playoff contenders in the WIAC next season.

Which brings me to an idea I'd like to try.  Continued in next post...

[Drake Palmer]

The following is a list of players who were selected to play in the high school coaches' All-Star games next month.   Whenever someone hears about a player going to a college & planning on playing ball, they should add the info & or new player's name to this list, & then cut & paste into a new post as we wind our way through the spring summer months.

If the player is a D3 player we should bold the name, bold & change color if they're headed to a MIAC school.  This way we can attempt to keep tabs on where this year's seniors will be going to school next fall.  I'll start this out & then show an example of how we might want to add players as we go along.  I'll also add what sketchy info I might have on any of these players.

Robbie Anderstrom, New Life Academy (older brother played at AO's school)
Derrick Cattrysse, Mankato West
Mike Fitzgerald, St. Thomas Academy (older brother played at Marquette?)
Chris Halvorsen, Henry Sibley (scholie to Valpo - brother of UST's Anders H.)
Cedric Martin, Mpls. Washburn
Caleb Palkert, Southwest Christian (big athletic center? - good D3 prospect?)
Taylor Steinbauer, Owatonna
Isaiah Thomas, Fridley
Zach Towle, Concordia Academy (little scoring machine, holds state record for career 3s.)

Jordan Aaberg, Rothsay
Brandon Brekke, East Grand Forks
Sam Dower, Osseo - scholie: Gonzaga
Mike Felt, Redwood Valley (PI don't you like this kid's talent?)
Josh Figini, Chisago Lakes (D2 recruit?)
Shaun Jensen, Spring Lake Park
Aaron Lindahl, Benson
Zak Mathson, Cambridge-Isanti
Marc Sonnen, Tartan - scholie: Northern Iowa
Dion Suggs-Young, St. Paul Johnson

Mike Muscala, Roseville (D2/D3 stud?)
Dylan Rodriguez, Blaine
Tom Sawatzke, Monticello
Eric Shulstad, Pelican Rapids
Kellen Taylor, Wayzata (good bloodlines, Dad's a former Gopher, has an older brother at an Ivy league school?)
Scott Theisen, Champlin Park
Mike Vorwald, Worthington
Nate Wolters, St. Cloud Tech (very nice 2G - likely St. Cloud State?)
Rodney Williams, Robbinsdale Cooper - scholie: Gophers
Matt Zager, Shakopee

Mike Brusewitz, Henry Sibley - scholie: Wisconsin (Tubby stop the Badger bleeding) 
David Burnham, Minnehaha Academy (Minnehaha has 2-3 other quality seniors)
William Giddings, Blaine
Dylan Hale, Mpls. Washburn - likely D2/NAIA ?
Jordair Jett, St. Bernard's - quick, quick, quick, High D2/D1
Connor O'Brien, New Prague
Chris Palmer, Bethlehem Academy
Josh Pedretti, Maple Grove (apparently all the MIAC coaches love this kid)
Tyler Pendleton, Cedar Mountain
Tydan Storrusten, Pelican Rapids

[Drake Palmer]

Basketball Prospects 3-24-09

Robbie Anderstrom, New Life Academy (older brother played at AO's school)
Derrick Cattrysse, Mankato West
Mike Fitzgerald, St. Thomas Academy (older brother played at Marquette?)
Chris Halvorsen, Henry Sibley (scholie to Valpo - brother of UST's Anders H.)
Cedric Martin, Mpls. Washburn
Caleb Palkert, Southwest Christian (big athletic center? - good D3 prospect?)
Taylor Steinbauer, Owatonna
Isaiah Thomas, Fridley
Zach Towle, Concordia Academy (little scoring machine, holds state record for career 3s.)

Jordan Aaberg, Rothsay
Brandon Brekke, East Grand Forks
Sam Dower, Osseo - scholie: Gonzaga
Mike Felt, Redwood Valley (PI don't you like this kid's talent?)
Josh Figini, Chisago Lakes (D2 recruit?)
Shaun Jensen, Spring Lake Park
Aaron Lindahl, Benson
Zak Mathson, Cambridge-Isanti
Marc Sonnen, Tartan - scholie: Northern Iowa
Dion Suggs-Young, St. Paul Johnson

Mike Muscala, Roseville (D2/D3 stud?)
Dylan Rodriguez, Blaine
Tom Sawatzke, Monticello
Eric Shulstad, Pelican Rapids
Kellen Taylor, Wayzata (good bloodlines, Dad's a former Gopher, has an older brother at an Ivy league school?)
Scott Theisen, Champlin Park
Mike Vorwald, Worthington
Nate Wolters, St. Cloud Tech (very nice 2G - likely St. Cloud State?)
Rodney Williams, Robbinsdale Cooper - scholie: Gophers
Matt Zager, Shakopee

Mike Brusewitz, Henry Sibley - scholie: Wisconsin (Tubby stop the Badger bleeding) 
David Burnham, Minnehaha Academy (Minnehaha has 2-3 other quality seniors)
William Giddings, Blaine
Dylan Hale, Mpls. Washburn - likely D2/NAIA ?
Jordair Jett, St. Bernard's - quick, quick, quick, High D2/D1
Connor O'Brien, New Prague
Chris Palmer, Bethlehem Academy
Josh Pedretti, Maple Grove (apparently all the MIAC coaches love this kid)
Tyler Pendleton, Cedar Mountain
Tydan Storrusten, Pelican Rapids

Drew Mathews, Bethlehem Academy - UST
Jake Lippert, Farmington - UST

[VOJ]

Pops - I'm gonna have to side with you on this one.   UST should definitely be the favorite next year & I really don't see anyone pushing them with the possible exception of SJU.   Although it will certainly be difficult to match this season's success, I would think UST will be the prohibitive pre-season favorite, which is not necessarily a good thing.

Whether it's UST, or SJU or Bethel, or anyone else that wins the MIAC title, I'm of the opinion that our league winner needs to be pushed & challenged by other teams on a weekly basis to contend on a national setting - the Big Dance. This year's UST team was an exception as they had a great blend of senior leadership, talent, discipline & other intangibles that came together for them in a magical like season.

However, looking into a crystal ball, things look a little murky for next season in terms of an infusion of talented newcomers.  While I'd be the first to admit that I don't follow the high school game as closely as I used to, I just don't see or hear a lot of buzz about any major impact players that can come in & shakeup the league as freshmen or transfers. And I do hope I'm wrong. 

In years past we've had the borderline D1 & D2 players who for whatever reason decided to play D3 ball.   I'm thinking of players like Tom Conboy, Ben Van Thorre, & transfers such as Tim Brown, Isaac Rosefelt, Mike Keating, Mike Moberg, Joe Scott etc.  When I scan the current top high school prospect lists, most of the players being heavily recruited are the D1 types & not much is being said about the other players. 

For example, several years ago there was a nice buzz going on around the board when word started leaking out about Jon DeRock enrolling at Hamline & Sam Wiener transferring from SW State.  Or when Tyler Westman transferred from SDSU (?) & Ryan Lieser transferred from NDSU to play at SJU, Mike Moberg transferring back from Niagara, Keating from Vermont, and Tim Brown from Mankato State etc.  It was those types of players that made the league more competitive.  Anybody hear if Zach Filzen from Northfield was transferring back to MN?  The last I'd heard he had left No. Arizona where he was on a basketball scolie.

On a related note, due to current economic conditions, it will be interesting to see if the western WIAC schools such as UWRF & UW-Stout start picking off more metro area players in the next couple of years. Coach Berkhof from River Falls already practically lives over in the cities. 3 of his starters this year were from the cities & they will be playoff contenders in the WIAC next season.

Which brings me to an idea I'd like to try.  Continued in next post...

Drake I think you are right...UST is the top dog and will be until someone says otherwise.  As for your point about contending on the national level...the J's definitely are testing themselves with the toughest non conference schedule in the league...3 from WIAC and two DII schools, SCSU and MSU-Moorhead...no UMAC pushover in sight...

Oh and only one of those 5 will be played on Jim and Ade Smith Court...