Top 25 talk

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Not to spoil what I'll probably say on Hoopsville (of course, only the real die hards are on the boards right now anyway), but Maryville is my preseason sleeper this year.  They return the entire team and they gave the eventual champs a pretty decent showing in the first round last season.  There's a few others I think are "to-watch" teams, but maybe we'll save something for the show.

[sac]

Not to spoil what I'll probably say on Hoopsville (of course, only the real die hards are on the boards right now anyway), but Maryville is my preseason sleeper this year.  They return the entire team and they gave the eventual champs a pretty decent showing in the first round last season.  There's a few others I think are "to-watch" teams, but maybe we'll save something for the show.

You must have better rationale than this, they were down 22 at halftime.

[WUPHF]

I hate to pile on, but I watched the NWU-Maryville game in person and Maryville had a pretty decent showing through the first 10 minutes before NWU hit the gas and it was over.

They played a better early season game against Emory, but the Eagles quickly jumped out to a double digit lead and held that lead for most of the game and topped the century mark for the second and final time last season.

I agree though, you got to like any tournament team who returns everyone.

[Greek Tragedy]

Not mentioned as a "top 3 returning scorers" for Stevens Point is the return of Ethan Bublitz who missed all but one game last year. The previous year he led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals, I think.

Thanks.  I edited my original post to include Bublitz. 

Greek, what is your preseason WIAC order (in terms of poll ranking candidates)?

It'll be interesting to see how everyone votes the WIAC teams to start the year. The obvious choice would be to put Oshkosh in the Top 5 and probably should be as they only lose one starter in Noone, and he was the 5th leading scorer. But, more importantly, they lose their coach. The new head coach is in-house, so hopefully there won't be much of an adjustment period.

I'm thinking Point may be ranked ahead of Platteville. They lose leading scorer MJ Delmore, but get back Ethan Bublitz from injury. So, you could say they return everyone.

Platteville loses two starters, so that could be an advantage to Point in terms of rankings.

Whitewater may not start in the Top 25, but could be in there before the conference season kicks off. They actually have a pretty good nc schedule, at least for them, so they'll have their opportunities to prove themselves. I don't think anyone know what went wrong there last year, but expect a bounce back season with everyone returning.

So, Oshkosh will probably be Top 5, Point and Platteville in the low teens and Whitewater getting some votes.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Not to spoil what I'll probably say on Hoopsville (of course, only the real die hards are on the boards right now anyway), but Maryville is my preseason sleeper this year.  They return the entire team and they gave the eventual champs a pretty decent showing in the first round last season.  There's a few others I think are "to-watch" teams, but maybe we'll save something for the show.

You must have better rationale than this, they were down 22 at halftime.

As opposed to Whitman or Aurora?  I mean, half the teams in the tournament stuck with them and half didn't.  I didn't think Maryville played poorly - maybe like a team near the bottom of the Top 25 would've played.  They also improved as the year went on.  I guess there could be some disagreement over what "sleeper" means - mine is usually more broad than "title contender" although I would've given (and probably did) this same description about NWU at this time last year.  You never know.

[nescac1]

Where does Yeshiva fit in?  Bascially everyone back and the incoming frosh Ryan Turell is one of the most acclaimed to come into D3 that I can recall (in the Kent Raymond / Duncan Robinson / Aaron Toomey catetgory in terms of hype, though who knows if he will be that good) ... if he is the real deal, they should be very interesting. 

[HOPEful]

Where does Yeshiva fit in?  Bascially everyone back and the incoming frosh Ryan Turell is one of the most acclaimed to come into D3 that I can recall (in the Kent Raymond / Duncan Robinson / Aaron Toomey catetgory in terms of hype, though who knows if he will be that good) ... if he is the real deal, they should be very interesting.

In the same line of thinking, keep an eye on Olivet. Former Oregon Duck, 6'10" Trevor Manuel will be suiting up for the Comets this season. Olivet shared the MIAA regular season title with Hope last year and the former 4 star, ESPN Top 100 recruit should turn a few heads.

[Greek Tragedy]

Where does Yeshiva fit in?  Bascially everyone back and the incoming frosh Ryan Turell is one of the most acclaimed to come into D3 that I can recall (in the Kent Raymond / Duncan Robinson / Aaron Toomey catetgory in terms of hype, though who knows if he will be that good) ... if he is the real deal, they should be very interesting.

My worthless opinion is that they won't sniff the Top 25 unless they put together an unbeaten run before the new year. They were only 3rd in the Skyline and although they did make the NCAAs, they were beaten pretty handedly. Last year, they lost to Ramapo and Williams by large margins, so they would probably have to beat both this year to turn some heads. Farmingdale only loses one starter, so they may win the SKY again, and I'm pretty sure Farmingdale didn't see any Top 25 votes.

[Pat Coleman]

Who is eligible and will suit up for Yeshiva? That's the overarching question here, for sure.

[sac]

Where does Yeshiva fit in?  Bascially everyone back and the incoming frosh Ryan Turell is one of the most acclaimed to come into D3 that I can recall (in the Kent Raymond / Duncan Robinson / Aaron Toomey catetgory in terms of hype, though who knows if he will be that good) ... if he is the real deal, they should be very interesting.

In the same line of thinking, keep an eye on Olivet. Former Oregon Duck, 6'10" Trevor Manuel will be suiting up for the Comets this season. Olivet shared the MIAA regular season title with Hope last year and the former 4 star, ESPN Top 100 recruit should turn a few heads.

I think Olivet could be good eventually, but that schedule is punishing.  Comets are replacing 3 starters and 5 of their 9 regular rotation guys.

Manuel is like for like with Jalen Adams statistically probably after that though its quite a few fresh faces and unknowns.   Noted they've pulled in several JC guys this year. so they'll be mostly Sr's/Jr's again.

[AndOne]

Not mentioned as a "top 3 returning scorers" for Stevens Point is the return of Ethan Bublitz who missed all but one game last year. The previous year he led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals, I think.

Thanks.  I edited my original post to include Bublitz. 

Greek, what is your preseason WIAC order (in terms of poll ranking candidates)?

It'll be interesting to see how everyone votes the WIAC teams to start the year. The obvious choice would be to put Oshkosh in the Top 5 and probably should be as they only lose one starter in Noone, and he was the 5th leading scorer. But, more importantly, they lose their coach. The new head coach is in-house, so hopefully there won't be much of an adjustment period.

I'm thinking Point may be ranked ahead of Platteville. They lose leading scorer MJ Delmore, but get back Ethan Bublitz from injury. So, you could say they return everyone.

Platteville loses two starters, so that could be an advantage to Point in terms of rankings.

Whitewater may not start in the Top 25, but could be in there before the conference season kicks off. They actually have a pretty good nc schedule, at least for them, so they'll have their opportunities to prove themselves. I don't think anyone know what went wrong there last year, but expect a bounce back season with everyone returning.

So, Oshkosh will probably be Top 5, Point and Platteville in the low teens and Whitewater getting some votes.

I think one thing that definitely went wrong at Whitewater last season was the mysterious non return to school of Chris Jones, UWW's leading scorer in 2016-2017. Having pursued academic excellence at 3, or was it 4, schools on his journey to Whitewater and the NBA, the Poster Boy of Transfer unexpectedly didn't show up for what would have been his senior year. The fact that his no show was an unexpected event is evidenced by the fact that he was named a pre-season All-American last season. Obviously, if his had been known, D3Hoops wouldn't have wasted their time considering him for inclusion on the team. At any rate, Jones' being MIA left a huge void.

Another thing that was a problem and certainly didn't help things was WW's poor A/TO ratio, and their commission of more TOs than assists.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Where does Yeshiva fit in?  Bascially everyone back and the incoming frosh Ryan Turell is one of the most acclaimed to come into D3 that I can recall (in the Kent Raymond / Duncan Robinson / Aaron Toomey catetgory in terms of hype, though who knows if he will be that good) ... if he is the real deal, they should be very interesting.

My worthless opinion is that they won't sniff the Top 25 unless they put together an unbeaten run before the new year. They were only 3rd in the Skyline and although they did make the NCAAs, they were beaten pretty handedly. Last year, they lost to Ramapo and Williams by large margins, so they would probably have to beat both this year to turn some heads. Farmingdale only loses one starter, so they may win the SKY again, and I'm pretty sure Farmingdale didn't see any Top 25 votes.

I was there in person.  A lot will depend on the roster, but their top four guys from last year were more than legit - pretty quick drop off after that.  The coach has been recruiting hard nationally - including bringing in a very good freshman from California.  He told me last year, if this kid showed up, he'd be the best player on the team day 1.  A lot of ifs, but if he's there, everyone is back, and they've added some depth, that team is at least in the conversation.  Maybe  not preseason - and you're right, teams from weak conferences do tend to have to prove themselves on the court, but they're potentially nobody to be messed with.  We'll know a decent amount early, since they host Williams around Thanksgiving.

[HOPEful]

I think Olivet could be good eventually, but that schedule is punishing.  Comets are replacing 3 starters and 5 of their 9 regular rotation guys.

Manuel is like for like with Jalen Adams statistically probably after that though its quite a few fresh faces and unknowns.   Noted they've pulled in several JC guys this year. so they'll be mostly Sr's/Jr's again.

Agreed. That schedule is INSANE.

Also, saying Manuel is like-for-like statistically with last years MIAA MVP, plus a couple inches in height... you have my attention.

[sac]

I think Olivet could be good eventually, but that schedule is punishing.  Comets are replacing 3 starters and 5 of their 9 regular rotation guys.

Manuel is like for like with Jalen Adams statistically probably after that though its quite a few fresh faces and unknowns.   Noted they've pulled in several JC guys this year. so they'll be mostly Sr's/Jr's again.

Agreed. That schedule is INSANE.

Also, saying Manuel is like-for-like statistically with last years MIAA MVP, plus a couple inches in height... you have my attention.

Oh I just mean he's a 20 and 10 kind of player, the right things have to happen for anyone to get those high averages Adams had.  Manuel has a better outside game than Adams but is less of a slash to the basket kind of player, yet he'll get a lot of points around the basket.

Not sure he's the jumping jack rebounder Adams was either, but he'll get his fair share.  I think his biggest impact is going to be on the defensive end.  School and MIAA shot blocking records are within his reach.   Think of Olivet's games a year ago and now erase about 10 opponent points each game.


I should have added about the schedule that they could be really good but a 7-4 record at New Years won't turn many heads of people who don't look into their schedule deeply.

[HOPEful]

I should have added about the schedule that they could be really good but a 7-4 record at New Years won't turn many heads of people who don't look into their schedule deeply.

Agreed. 4 games against D2 teams (one exhibition) and a trip west to play Dubuque, Loras, Greenville, and NWU... Throw in Thomas More, Carthage, Wheaton, and Elmhurst... good grief. They could go 6-6 through that and still be a good team!