MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Drake Palmer]

Just for the record, I voted them #14 - and I do resemble that third part.  He's D3 Tim Tebow.  I was just super impressed by Shaeffer in Salem last year - I think a floor leader like that who can also lead on the stat sheet is pretty darn valuable, especially for a program that routinely reloads.  I'm excited to see what he can do as unquestioned leader this season.

I agree with Dave and Ryan here. Even though I think that Bethel has a very good shot at taking the MIAC champ crown from the Tommies this year, never count the Tommies out. A lot of their bench players would start for various different MIAC teams and I have no doubt they will be able reload and be a consistent force this year. Plus, having Shaeffer and Tauer lead this team is a huge added bonus that no other team in the MIAC has, no not even Wojta and Novak of the Royals can compare. With that being said I am interested to see what the MIAC coaches think on the topic as they vote for the preseason poll.

I hesitate to think that BU will win the MIAC, based on their history of never having done so...they were widely favored in 2009 with Madson / Moberg / Laugen, and that didn't work out.

Would love to see it, but I don't know that they have the depth...it has felt like the past couple of years that their top 5 or 6 could play with UST, but UST went about 10 deep that were as good as BU's starters, so it would feel like the Tommies will reload?  completely qualitative - I know nothing about UST other than the fact that I agree that Schaefer is the kind of player that you would love to have running the show on your team.

I don't think UST has the depth this year either.

Those Bethel UST games in 08-09 were (I hate to use this word, but I will anyway) - EPIC!  Fun, fun, intense ballgames! Some D3 basketball at its best.

Can't wait!

[Smitty Oom]

Brycen Wojta and Collin Olmscheid from Augsburg could both vie for POY honors this year.

I'll take BU's Derek Magnusson as a dark horse...he looked very good as a first year player last year, and if he can keep that up and improve as a sophomore, he will do a lot of damage for Bethel.

I think that Olmscheid has to be the "Vegas Favorite" coming into the year. Not only is he the leagues best scorer and versatile threat but that offense will run through him more so than any player on Bethel or UST. Both Magnusson and Wojta are very good but I see Bethel being more of a balanced scoring attack like we have grown accustomed to seeing out of the Tommies in recent years, not that this is bad (great for translating to wins actually ) but that hurts the value of any Royal in their campaign for POY.

Personal Preseason Poll for POY:
1. CO
2. Shaeff
3. Wojta
4. Weiss
5. Magnuson

[GoldandBlueBU]

I think that Olmscheid has to be the "Vegas Favorite" coming into the year. Not only is he the leagues best scorer and versatile threat but that offense will run through him more so than any player on Bethel or UST. Both Magnusson and Wojta are very good but I see Bethel being more of a balanced scoring attack like we have grown accustomed to seeing out of the Tommies in recent years, not that this is bad (great for translating to wins actually ) but that hurts the value of any Royal in their campaign for POY.

Personal Preseason Poll for POY:
1. CO
2. Shaeff
3. Wojta
4. Weiss
5. Magnuson

That makes sense.  I'd probably swap Magnuson and Wojta...based on what I saw last year, Magnuson has more of a scorers mentality, where as Wojta can score, but often leans toward being a facilitator (to the team's detriment at times, IMO.  There were games last year when I was wishing he would step up and take charge, but he seemed to want to get others involved too much)

Until BU proves me wrong, I'd rate UST as #1, BU as #2.

[Drake Palmer]

Augsburg has its roster posted. Looks like a talented, athletic incoming group of freshmen - Kameron Bettie, Osseo, Isaiah Robinson, Sibley HS, and others. It will be interesting to see how well their games translate to the college level.  Coach Griess and staff have done a terrific job recruiting.  Significant loss for the Dawgs is forward Bret Rasmussen who would have been a senior this year.   I know he sat out one year due to health reasons (?), so he may have graduated? Despite the loss of Rasmussen, I believe the Dawgs should still contend for a top 6 playoff spot.  It also appears they've added 2-3 transfers to help bolster their ranks in the front court.

Very interesting.   

http://athletics.augsburg.edu/roster.aspx?roster=1105&path=mbball

[Smitty Oom]

Augsburg has its roster posted. Looks like a talented, athletic incoming group of freshmen - Kameron Bettie, Osseo, Isaiah Robinson, Sibley HS, and others. It will be interesting to see how well their games translate to the college level.  Coach Griess and staff have done a terrific job recruiting.  Significant loss for the Dawgs is forward Bret Rasmussen who would have been a senior this year.   I know he sat out one year due to health reasons (?), so he may have graduated? Despite the loss of Rasmussen, I believe the Dawgs should still contend for a top 6 playoff spot.  It also appears they've added 2-3 transfers to help bolster their ranks in the front court.

Very interesting.   

http://athletics.augsburg.edu/roster.aspx?roster=1105&path=mbball

Yes you are right, Drake. After a fantastic freshman season for the Auggies Brett Rasmussen (named as West region FY of the Year by D3hoops) sat out for the majority of his sophomore season (only played 2 games) with a broken foot if, I remember correctly. So yes although he had one year left of eligibility left he decided to graduate after four years. If he were to have come back that would have been huge for the Auggies, as I already think they are almost a lock to make the playoffs with the talent on their current roster. I notice Ben Glover is no longer on the roster either, he was the one who tore his achilles last year in an early game (or exhibition?) against Crown. I was thinking that he would come back and be good for them this year. Two interesting transfers the Coaching staff was able to bring in is Mark Delle Vedova (Not to be confused with Matthew Dellevadova) from U. of Sioux Falls and Nick Sabatke from DCTC via Eagan HS. Both were good HS players and is good added depth for them as they lacked that last year. It will be very interesting to see how they these new pieces mesh together with their returning roster.

[tomt4525]

St Thomas has posted their roster

http://www.tommiesports.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/roster

[Drake Palmer]

St Thomas has posted their roster

http://www.tommiesports.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/roster

Thanks, Tom, you beat me to the punch.

I was waiting to hear from a couple of sources, but it appears the prize catch in this year's Tommie recruits is Steffan Musoke from Rogers. A rangy 6-4 2G with good size, quickness, and outside shot.  From what I've been told, Musoke also received a Dease academic scholarship from UST which is awarded to minority students with outstanding academic accomplishments.  Per one high school preps site, Northern Exposure Preps, Musoke was arguably the 12th best Senior in the class of 2016.  He, along with St. Olaf's Nate Albers played in the HS coaches All-star basketball games this past spring.

The other FY for UST  - G Kyle Birr, SF/G Elijah Hannah, & F Tommy Anderson, were all 1,000 point scorers in high school. 

TomT – do you know anything about Tommy Anderson from WI?

P Erik Davis could be the next in a line of talented post players at UST.  At this point, the player I had touted, Sam Gubbrud is currently on the JV roster.

I may very well be eating my words, but my guess is that 1-2 of these FY will step up and get significant minutes soon, as I don't see any a great deal of point production, rebounds, etc. from the UST upper class small forwards and posts.  (Let's see if I can get a rise out of the slumbering purple giant's devotees)   

It could be a big season opener when UW River Falls makes the drive over to play the Tommies next Tuesday night.  The Falcons just beat DII UMD in an exhibition game in double OT last Saturday.    It should be pointed out that UMD was picked to finish 12th in the 16 team NSIC conference, and UWRF was picked to finish 5th in the 8 team WIAC.  However, it looks like the Falcons picked up a couple of key transfers from St. Scholastica and UM - Mankato.

****

In other news, Smitty, any idea why Jack Sowada is no longer listed on the roster for Carleton?  He was one of the FY you had mentioned might contend for the All MIAC FY team.  FY post Kent Hanson could be one of those players who could step up and fill the void that Tianen Chen left behind.

[tomt4525]

St Thomas has posted their roster

http://www.tommiesports.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/roster

Thanks, Tom, you beat me to the punch.

I was waiting to hear from a couple of sources, but it appears the prize catch in this year's Tommie recruits is Steffan Musoke from Rogers. A rangy 6-4 2G with good size, quickness, and outside shot.  From what I've been told, Musoke also received a Dease academic scholarship from UST which is awarded to minority students with outstanding academic accomplishments.  Per one high school preps site, Northern Exposure Preps, Musoke was arguably the 12th best Senior in the class of 2016.  He, along with St. Olaf's Nate Albers played in the HS coaches All-star basketball games this past spring.

The other FY for UST  - G Kyle Birr, SF/G Elijah Hannah, & F Tommy Anderson, were all 1,000 point scorers in high school. 

TomT – do you know anything about Tommy Anderson from WI?

P Erik Davis could be the next in a line of talented post players at UST.  At this point, the player I had touted, Sam Gubbrud is currently on the JV roster.

I may very well be eating my words, but my guess is that 1-2 of these FY will step up and get significant minutes soon, as I don't see any a great deal of point production, rebounds, etc. from the UST upper class small forwards and posts.  (Let's see if I can get a rise out of the slumbering purple giant's devotees)   

It could be a big season opener when UW River Falls makes the drive over to play the Tommies next Tuesday night.  The Falcons just beat DII UMD in an exhibition game in double OT last Saturday.    It should be pointed out that UMD was picked to finish 12th in the 16 team NSIC conference, and UWRF was picked to finish 5th in the 8 team WIAC.  However, it looks like the Falcons picked up a couple of key transfers from St. Scholastica and UM - Mankato.

****

In other news, Smitty, any idea why Jack Sowada is no longer listed on the roster for Carleton?  He was one of the FY you had mentioned might contend for the All MIAC FY team.  FY post Kent Hanson could be one of those players who could step up and fill the void that Tianen Chen left behind.

I'm not too familiar with him but he played on a Muskego team that made it to the State Championship game in the highest classification of Wisconsin.  He was the 3rd scoring option for Muskego.  Their best player, Caleb Wagner, went to Winona St and their 2nd option, Matty Farner, went to Carroll.  From watching his highlights, he isn't overly athletic.  He's a smart, heady player who does a little bit of everything.  He's a good outside shooter but his release isn't the quickest.  Should turn into a solid role player.

[Smitty Oom]

In other news, Smitty, any idea why Jack Sowada is no longer listed on the roster for Carleton?  He was one of the FY you had mentioned might contend for the All MIAC FY team.  FY post Kent Hanson could be one of those players who could step up and fill the void that Tianen Chen left behind.

I personally havent heard anything. However, it appears that he has decided to attend UST as his twitter bio now says "UST 2020 hoops" so I am not entirely sure what happened there as of right now. Interesting development.

[Drake Palmer]

Well, we're down to one last school which hasn't posted their roster - Gustavus.

Lost in the noise of the last day of the election season, Hamline and the Johnnies posted their rosters.   

Hamline

http://www.hamlineathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball&

I have heard nothing about the incoming FY at Hamline, and could really find nothing noteworthy on the net.

SJU

http://www.gojohnnies.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball&

As usual, the Jays bring in a deep class of Freshmen, 15-20 strong. At first glance, the two noticeable additions appear to be 6-5 Wing Ethan Novacinski from St. Cloud Apollo, and 6-3 wing, Will Alexander from Rogers HS.

Novacinski was a 3 time all conference player and played in the MN HS Coaches All-Star Games. 

Alexander was the running mate of heralded Steffan Musoke who enrolled at UST.  Per his bio, Alexander was Rogers' HS all time leader three-point shooting percentage.

[Drake Palmer]

In the annual arms/talent MIAC hoops race it looks like SJU & UST have climbed to the top of the recruiting heap again.  Add two more names to watch for SJU – Jubie Alade from Robbinsdale Armstrong, and Sean Ryan from Eastview.

Kent Hanson at Carleton, Nate Albers – St. Olaf, Kyle Birr - UST, and Jack Jenson at Bethel all could be names to watch this season.

[Smitty Oom]

http://www.miacathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/releases/111116_MBB_preview

Coaches preseason poll is up! I Mostly agree with the rankings. I thought there was a couple interesting things. First off, 4 first place votes for the Royals is about expected, they return a lot and are easily the favorite to take down the Tommies and the 11 year run. I also thought it was interesting that it was so close in points (just one point difference) between the Tommies and the Royals even though the Tommies got 3 more first place votes. By my math, please correct me if I'm wrong, the remaining three coaches that didn't vote for UST to take first awarded them a total of 25 points. This means that an average of 8.3 points or basically a 3rd place finish was the average projected finish for the DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPS WHO HAVE WON THIS CONFERENCE 11 STRAIGHT TIMES according to 3 coaches. This struck me as crazy and honestly absurd. Yes I think Augsburg and the Royals have talented rosters but tough to bet against Tauer adn Schaeffer. Other than that the only thing I noted was how high St. Olaf is at 6. They lost a lot in Figini, Pahl and Aikens and they didn't have much of anything behind them last year. Yes the other 5 teams behind the Oles are also not extremely strong or leave a lot to be determined but this caught my attention.

Smitty's Personal Preseason Poll:
1.St. Thomas
2. Bethel
3.Augsburg
4.St. John's
5.Carleton
6. Macalester
7.Gustavus
8. Concorida
9. St. Olaf
10. Hamline
11.St. Mary's

Lastly, earlier I mentioned my personal favorites to be awarded the MIAC POY and I left out Kevin Grow. Any returning player that was All-Region and averaged a double double needs to be mentioned in the POY conversation. He cracks my top 3 with CO and Shaeff.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Believe it not, the 2016-17 basketball season is just days away. But the season can't start without Hoopsville hitting the air!

Tune in tonight starting at 7pm as Dave talks to the two preseason numbers one teams, finds out how the offseason went for the two defending national championships, and touches bases with the men's and women's basketball committee chairs.

Guests include:
- Kevin Vande Streek, men's basketball committee chair and head coach for Calvin
- Bobbi Morgan, women's basketball committee chair and head coach for Haverford
- John Tauer, head coach for No. 10 St. Thomas men
- Dave Hixon, head coach for No. 1 Amherst men
- Jeff Hans, head coach for No. 4 Thomas More women
- Carla Berube, head coach for No. 1 Tufts women

You can watch the show here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2016-17/nov13

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
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

[GoldandBlueBU]

Smitty's Personal Preseason Poll:
1.St. Thomas
2. Bethel
3.Augsburg
4.St. John's
5.Carleton
6. Macalester
7.Gustavus
8. Concorida
9. St. Olaf
10. Hamline
11.St. Mary's

Lastly, earlier I mentioned my personal favorites to be awarded the MIAC POY and I left out Kevin Grow.

I think it's really tough to go below top 3 or even 4, but I'd be bought in on your rankings as well.  I'm also of the mentality that the conference is UST's until someone proves otherwise and would personally have voted that way. 

I completely forgot about Kevin Grow as well.  He impressed me, given the fact that it looked like a stiff breeze would present danger in him being blown from the court.

I'm interested to see if he's physically changed much between years, as that is the largest barrier to his progression.  If he adds some beef and strength to that frame, he could be a very good player.

[Drake Palmer]

...I completely forgot about Kevin Grow as well.  He impressed me, given the fact that it looked like a stiff breeze would present danger in him being blown from the court.

I'm interested to see if he's physically changed much between years, as that is the largest barrier to his progression.  If he adds some beef and strength to that frame, he could be a very good player.

I dunno, I always thought of Kevin Grow as a wiry, strong post guy.  Olmscheid is the lankier one of the two and not quite as physical, although both are very good players. I see Grow as more of a complete player, while Olmscheid's job is to score.

Finally, tip off is right around the corner, and the Gusties finally posted their closely guarded roster.  Hmmpht.   

https://gustavus.edu/athletics/mbb/roster/