FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[79jaybird]

Good points Grant. I know we have talked over the years about these issues.  I played for Krohn and he was one of the major reasons why people wanted to play for Elmhurst.   
NCC has something very special that Elmhurst hasn't had since Beck-    A coaching legend.  Thorne (SR) is a legend in DuPage County and his accolades are well known in the Chicagoland suburbs.   The BEST move NCC ever made was hiring him . Look at how quickly he turned NCC from a bottom 1/3 team with EC/NPU, into a prominent DIII juggernaut.

[Next Man Up]

IMO  it is.  All too often over the years, I have heard of recruits saying,  "I love ____ about Elmhurst, but it's too close to home"  or it's in my back yard.   Academically Elmhurst is one of the best,  but given the choice of going to (i.e. Carthage, Augie/IWU) they go there, because Elmhurst is in their minds,  too close.   

But Mark, the same "disadvantage" applies to North Central. I'm more familiar with NCC recruiting on the basketball side, and over the years there have been numerous suburban kids we've wanted to recruit who have told us "sorry, but NCC is just to close to home. If I go there my mom will expect me to come home almost every weekend." Lots of these kids have still wound up in the CCIW—not necessarily at Elmhurst, but primarily at Augie, Carthage, and to a smaller degree, IWU.
I would assume the football guys have heard the same thing from a good number of suburban area kids that were high on their target list.

[79jaybird]

next man up-   Yes  correct.  Virtually every sport has lost kids to the "too close to the nest"  refrain.   
The last 15-20 years though,  NCC's success has produced great results in recruiting no?    Even on the basketball court,  Raridon gave NCC some new identity and had success.   Baines is starting to do the same with Elmhurst currently.

I just know the perimeter schools MU/IWU/AC/ even Carthage is far enough away from the nest for some,   makes it challenging for Elmhurst.   When I was playing at Elmhurst we had a ton of Floridians.   Recently, I know we have had a lot of MI kids.   

[79jaybird]

Perhaps Elmhurst should look into a current IL HS coach who is producing strong results? But, 
going from HS to college is a big jump and much easier said than done.
Again, I don't know what the answer(s) is 

[Next Man Up]

Maybe the coaching answer is right under the 'Jays nose.
York, as you know the public HS in Elmhurst is called, is undefeated this year and is led by a coach who is certainly familiar with the suburban area landscape—especially the very local west suburban area of which Elmhurst is right in the middle of. 

[79jaybird]

True and the HC at Glenbard West knows the area too.   

[Next Man Up]

Lots of records associated with this year's North Central football team, but here is one of the possibly more bizarre ones.

In this past Saturday's 63-3 win over Augie, senior backup (in name only) RB Terrence Hill had 216 yards rushing, and 3 TDs, on only seven rushes. That's an absolutely insane average of 30.9 yards per rush. Can't help but think Terrence would be starting at 99.9% of other schools.

[Gregory Sager]

The problem I had when I was being recruited by coach Krohn (cough20yearsagocough) was that Elmhurst had a reputation as a "suitcase school" where kids packed up and went home for the weekend more often than not.  It wasn't THE deciding factor in my college choice, but it certainly was a consideration.

I wonder how much of a factor that is, though. The most notorious D3 suitcase school in this part of the country is UW-Whitewater. Aside from football and men's basketball games, the entire UWW student body basically clears out every weekend. It doesn't seem to hurt Warhawks athletics much, although being the D3 state school within closest proximity to both of Wisconsin's two largest metropolitan areas, as well as being within convenient distance of Chicago's northwest and far northern suburbs, mitigates every recruiting problem you could name.

[79jaybird]

"suitcase school" is partly why Elmhurst changed from college to university.  Under the Elmhurst Universtiy name they are attempting to attract more of a global presence.   Again Elmhurst cannot do anything about the geography.  They just have to work around this and hope they can land some solid recruits moving forward.   

[Next Man Up]

True and the HC at Glenbard West knows the area too.   

Yes, Glenbard West, a few miles west of Elmhurst in Glen Ellyn. My Alma Mater where I played FB and BB when I could still walk and chew gum at the same time. The head football coach since 2007 is Chad Hetlet whose record was 102-13 with two State Championships through last year. He employs a very unusual 3-3-5 defense on which he has been asked to speak at numerous colleges and clinics around the country.

One possible problem prying him away from Glenbard West is that he'd probably have to take a pay cut going from GW to a small private D3. Exaggeration for sure, but it seems like Glen Ellyn residents are taxed half their paychecks to operate School District 87—-where the pay is like Heaven! LOL.

Glen Ellyn is only 10 miles from Naperville and NCC. That could be a major factor why there have been very few FB student-athletes at NCC from Glen Ellyn/GWHS over the years. It's too close!
And I don't think NCC has ever had a BBall player from GW.

[Gregory Sager]

I know I've said this before, but I feel compelled to say it again: No offense, Mark R., but your complaints about Elmhurst's geography with regard to recruiting immediately bring this to mind:



When it comes to student-athlete recruitment, especially for football, Elmhurst is a toy store in a mall at Christmastime when compared to North Park.

[wally_wabash]

Lots of records associated with this year's North Central football team, but here is one of the possibly more bizarre ones.

In this past Saturday's 63-3 win over Augie, senior backup (in name only) RB Terrence Hill had 216 yards rushing, and 3 TDs, on only seven rushes. That's an absolutely insane average of 30.9 yards per rush. Can't help but think Terrence would be starting at 99.9% of other schools.

Mercy.  It has to be so deflating to see Greenfield run off for a breather and KNOW that absolutely nothing just got easier for your defense, if even for a couple of plays. 

[79jaybird]

   very true Greg!    My girls will go to Glenbard West but they are still a few years away from attending.   

[Next Man Up]

Lots of records associated with this year's North Central football team, but here is one of the possibly more bizarre ones.

In this past Saturday's 63-3 win over Augie, senior backup (in name only) RB Terrence Hill had 216 yards rushing, and 3 TDs, on only seven rushes. That's an absolutely insane average of 30.9 yards per rush. Can't help but think Terrence would be starting at 99.9% of other schools.

Mercy.  It has to be so deflating to see Greenfield run off for a breather and KNOW that absolutely nothing just got easier for your defense, if even for a couple of plays.

Yep. It's kinda 1 and 1A. On the season Terrence has an average rush of 8.8 yards with 10 TDs.

[markerickson]

North Park has completed a truly epic season once again, netting one victory.  In so doing, the team barely rushed for 800 yards (809) the entire season, averaging 2.6 yards per carry.  They got outscored 386-161 during the 1-9 campaign.

With a half-full glass, the Vikings barely beat Elmhurst (0-10).

Best wishes to the CCIW teams who advance to the playoffs.