MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[DPU3619]

Do any SCAC teams field a JV team in basketball?How many players are generally put on the varsity roster?

Field is a relative term, I think.  I believe DePauw plays like one or two a season, if that. 

I believe the rule is that you are allowed to dress 15. (I think that's the number.  May be off by a couple.)  You can have as many on the roster as you want, but only 15 are allowed to dress on a given night.  You can change those on a game-by-game basis if you choose.

[daBulls]

You can dress as many as you want at home, 15 on the road.  Most teams carry 12 on the road.

Watch out for Rhodes this year.  I would be shocked if they didn't finish in the top half of the conference.

[brave heart]

Okay,What do you base this prediction on? 3-11 to the top half of the conferance means there must have been some good recruits that came.

[daBulls]

I don't know about their recruits.  I have heard they are not in need of a lot because they return virtually their whole team from last year.

I say that for a few reasons.  They return the leading scorer in the conference from last year, Cory Smith, who is just a junior.  Along with Smith, they started two freshman last year, either one could have been newcomer of the year last year (in my opinion).  If you follow dIII hoops at all you would realize that it is very tough to win with freshman.  I would say that is even more true in the SCAC.  Rhodes lost 6 games by less than 10 points, two of those in OT, in SCAC play.  That is a mark of a young team (only one senior last year and he was hurt more than half of the season).  The team seemed to play better on the road than at home.  I can't explain that one, but with a young team if they have already figured out how to play and win close games on the road the future could be bright.  With only one senior and two juniors, and the senior and one of the juniors both missed numerous games with injury, you are going to struggle.  The talent is there, and it is still young.  The three best players are a junior and two sophmores, but they all got significant experience last year.  They still have a weakspot in the post.  They need a big man that can defend and rebound with the better post players in the league.  They have numerous big bodies, they just need one to step up.  I am not saying they are going to win the league, just don't be suprised if they end up in the top half and are in the mix.

[DPU3619]

So with the roster they had last year they're the 4th or 5th best team in the league? 

You'll have to forgive me, but I just don't think so.  Aside from Smith, they can't score.  You've got nothing after the conference's leading scorer.  They were taken to the house on the boards.  They were near the bottom in FG defense.  Near the bottom in FG%.  Next to last in TO margin. 

I don't know who they're going to beat this year that they finished behind last year.  DePauw is still strong.  Centre lost a lot, but is still better than Rhodes.  Millsaps had 0 seniors last year. Hendrix has two double digits scorers back.  Trinity's good for .500.  Oglethorpe lost everybody sans Kareem Shaheed and the littler Watterson. They're just about the only team that was better than Rhodes this year that might struggle (depending on recruits) to get to .500 in the conference this year.

[daBulls]

DPU have you never seen young teams get better the next year?  A year of experience and the weight room can do wonders for a team.  The current Millsaps team is a great example.  As freshman and sophmores that group was inconsistent and struggled at times.  As juniors last year they won 18 games.  As seniors this year they should be favored to win the league. 

Last year, on a consistent basis, Smith was their only scorer.  Although senior Joe Thompson is a career double digit scorer (he was out a handful of games last season with an injury).  I have to names for you, both sophmores, Reid Hamilton and Jared Hoskins.  Hamilton had twenty on at least two conference opponets last year and Hoskins averaged just under 10 points as a freshman, not to mention he hit more than one game winning shot for the team.  Both started on and off throughout the year and gained invaluable experience, but in the end because of youth could be inconsistent at times.  I can see them having four double digit scorers with Smith averaging more like 14 or 15 a game.  Trinity made a run to championship game last year.  Rhodes and Trinity split two very close games (one into OT) and I didn't see much difference in the two.  Hendrix beat Rhodes at home in OT with Rhodes not having Thompson.  I think Rhodes is just as good as Trinity and could perhaps surpass them because they have more size.  Again, the Lynx need one of their big bodies (and they have a number of them, look at their roster) to step up.  If that doesn't happen then things will be tougher, but they should still be much improved.

[DPU3619]

DPU have you never seen young teams get better the next year? 

Yes, I have.  But while Rhodes is doing that, so is everyone else.  Millsaps doesn't even need anybody to step in.  DePauw and Centre are both bringing multiple bigtime contributors back and are looking for a young fill-in here or there. And I wouldn't count out Pat Cunningham quite yet.  Last year was a very un-Trinity year. 

Without Rhodes showing some kind of drastic improvement in shooting the basketball, I just don't believe that the improvement will be an earth-shattering one.  This isn't your older brother's Rhodes team.  Rami Almefty isn't walking through that door.  Mladen Mrkaic isn't walking through that door and Matthew Jakes isn't walking through that door.  It's awful tough to take a team from 3-11 in the conference to a world beater in one season.  And I don't think they'll finish ahead of Millsaps, Centre, DePauw, Hendrix and perhaps Trinity and Oglethorpe.  Sure, you'll probably finish ahead of Austin, Sewanee, and Colorado College, and likely BSU (Hard telling what they're going to get, although I imagine it ain't gonna be pretty.. 14 freshmen and 2 juniors.)  Might be in the mix with Southwestern if they have to keep running Princeton.  I just don't think they'll improve to be better than the top tier teams.  Which would put them in the bottom half of the conference. 

Sure, they might jump up a beat a couple of good teams here and there or push some teams to the final horn (like you mentioned they did last year), and they might get to 5 or 6 conference wins.  I personally wouldn't pick 'em to finish much higher than that, though.  Get back to me in a year or two, though.  They'll be back.  Coach Hilgeman will get the pieces he needs.

[irion]

I saw the previous posts about Pursell.  Can Sewanee finish in the top half of the league?  Are their any freshmen that can contribute?

[brave heart]

DPU have you got any inside on the recruits coming in to the program?Schott and Oiler are the Seniors but we lost a few last year to graduation.

[DPU3619]

DPU have you got any inside on the recruits coming in to the program?Schott and Oiler are the Seniors but we lost a few last year to graduation.

Heard a rumor or two about a couple promising freshman, but nothing particularly concrete.  You've still got Moore, James, and Werntz in the back court and Oilar & Schott up front.  That's a pretty good 5 to throw out there. 

Losing Sakel hurts a lot.  I don't know if Coach Fen is exploring a Moore & James back court, or if he'll look to a freshman shooter.  McDonald was a great contributor and he will obviously be missed, as well.  Although, there are plenty of quality bodies to step right in down low.  I liked Tom Callen, athough he's more of a wing player. Maybe Eric Hagen can step up this year.  Kid's a pretty big feller down there and I liked his style down low. 

[frank_ezelle]

It's amazing to see so much activity on the board so early.  Without a doubt, men's basketball is the most competitive sport in the SCAC.  Just a couple of points here and there seem to seperate a whole bunch of teams and the difference between finishing in the top 5 or out of the tournament isn't nearly as wide a gap as it once was.

It looks like Millsaps is returning all of their players from last year.  There was a question about point guard Allen Odum since he graduated in May, but he is back at Millsaps to get his MBA.  I don't have the impression that there is anyone new who will challenge for a starting spot, but isn't surprising with all of the main players coming back from last year.

It should be a great season and hopefully we'll have more people posting from more schools this year.  There's a very active board going about SCAC football and I'd love to see that carry over to basketball.

[Pat Coleman]

There was a question about point guard Allen Odum since he graduated in May, but he is back at Millsaps to get his MBA.

That's one of the things I love about Division III. Reminds me of what one of the Final Four coaches said about his point guard compared to William Paterson's Horace Jenkins.

"He's going to the NBA, while (our guy) is going to get an MBA."

[d3allstar]

lets not forget about the potential SU has this year. they lost one senior i feel that matt caplan is capable of being the most dominant player in the scac. last year the pirates were plagued with injuries and if their roster remains injury free they are capable of being the team to beat. also, centre and de pauw will be making visits to SU this year and the pirates can be tough to beat at home with BUC faithful.

[brave heart]

When do SCAC teams release their rosters? I can't wait!

[KentATM]

all I know is the Austin College men have nowhere to go but up.