MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[witt4ever]

Mark Caraway was a true catch for Witt but he decided not to play for Witt or any school for that matter. Tired of basketball. He is listed in the student directory but I do not know if he is enrolled.

Looks like also that a number of players from last year are not returning.
Players not returning, of note, Mark Balthrop, Alex Collins, Jeromy Romero and the player that I thought would have the most impact this  year, Brandan Barabino. What a waste of talent!!!  Another Chris Clark/Raymar Hampshire (football) situation? Fans still talk about the Hampshire situation.

A local player to watch out for is Matt McCurdy, a junior, Spfld. Catholic Central HS. Who knows if he will play this year as he was listed on the roster last year and never played.  Mc Curdy can shoot it deep. Sound familiar?

Another Jordan Copeland? In case anybody ever asks "Name the best Witt recruit that never played a game for the Tigers?" the answer, Copeland. The Spfld fans were really excited about Copeland coming to Witt. He was injured his whole college career (ankle) and works now for Dayton Freight in Cleveland, I believe. Copeland was a true scorer and leader at Spfld South. He was going to be the next Iannarino/Croci.

Players that were listed in the June News-Sun recruit article and are now, not on the roster:
Grant Forsythe, Casey McCoart, RT Murphy (Witt ex-football coach's  grandson from FLA), JT Thompson and the aforementioed Caraway.

Best of recruiting class :

-Trent Bailey 6' shooting guard from Portland, IN (listed in Hoosier Hoops Report as one of  Indiana's top players)


-Gregg Hill, 6' shooting guard from Redford, MI. Honorable Mention All-Michigan.

-Jace McGonigle 5'10" shooting guard from West Jefferson, OH
3rd Team All-Ohio. My pick to make immediate impact since Caraway is out of the picture.

-Kevin Murray 6'2" shooting guard from Carmel, IN. Listed in Hoosier Hoops Report as player to watch. Special Mention All-Indiana

My Outlook:

Wittenberg could be a special team on the National scene.
The Rochester Tourney will show how good or bad. Rochester was a final 4 team last year.

Wittenberg could be 3-3 or 6-0 before the Wooster game.

Dec. 10 seems too early for me for such a significant matchup.

What do I know, NCAC commissioner Collins likes the football arrangement.

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Looks like Beck is no where to be found, oh well:


http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/mbasketball/roster05-06.html

[ScotsFan]

A post player fashioned after a former Wooster player, need I say more.

I've seen quite a few post players fashioned after that certain Wooster player over the past couple of years.  That doesn't mean they have the talent to go along with that particular body type...

I do agree with you about the early matchup between Witt and Woo.  This is waaaaay to early for such a significant game.  What was the NCAC thinking when they put together the schedule??!!  It just makes no sense to me whatsoever.

[smedindy]

They were thinking they need to get all the game scheduled. I would prefer all conference games after the non-conference season, but that won't happen. And since it can't happen, don't give preferential treatment.

[seinfeld]

If anyone cares, Wooster beat Otterbein in a scrimmage Friday by about seven points or so. Had a big second-half lead before nearly blowing it.

Interesting to see that Denison and Kenyon were able to schedule regular-season games with Akron and Wright St., respectively. I wonder what the spreads on these games will be.

[smedindy]

Wow! Denison at Akron (on Pearl Harbor Day)! I don't think Akron is that strong - I'd say about thirty.


Jan. 9 - Kenyon at Wright State. Fitty? Fitty five?

[wally_wabash]

Coming soon to a message board near you:  2005-2006 NCAC Hoops Pick 'Em! 

The only question is where we'll house such a board.  Pat put the football pick 'ems in the General Football area.  Are we doing the same thing with hoops or should we keep our pick 'em boards regional?

[David Collinge]

Here's another tidbit to keep in the backs of your minds as the season gets underway.  Coming into the '05-'06 season, #1 Illinois Wesleyan and #3 Wooster are tied for second among D3 schools in all-time wins.  As Titan Q notes on his website devoted to the Titans (http://www.iwuhoops.com/), each has 1395 wins (IWU 1395-782, COW 1395-735), trailing only Wittenberg (1507-609).  Wesleyan looks to be the better team (I believe Wooster may be somewhat overranked at #3), but as usual Wooster has the easier schedule.  Those of us who care about such esoterica will enjoy watching this go back and forth this season.

[Titan Q]

DC, we're gonna hold ya off this year, but then I'm gonna have to concede this little race.  We can't keep up!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Q,

Since we already gave up a game against the Illini, and still face Hanover and (probably) Puget Sound, even if we win the national title this year, we MAY not hold them off!

We don't get to have two games each against Hiram, Earlham, etc.!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Q,

Touche - but then they don't have Elmhurst and Augie twice!

Without in any way denigrating CoW, I would have to say that we have the more difficult schedule.

And, even if we hold them off for one more year, schedules suggest that they will take over soon!

[Clark W. Griswold]

David, I don't know if I would say that Wooster is overrated at #3.  They have 2 legitimate All-American candidates and I look for Cooper to have a breakout season.  Not to mention Van Horn, Fulk, and some nice freshman talent.  Also, I hear Yoder has been playing very well.

[David Collinge]

That's okay, Clark, I don't expect a lot of agreement with my statement in this room! 

I think Wooster will out-win IWU, both because of the softer conference schedule and because Wooster stands to play more games than IWU (before the NCAA tournament, at least.)  I believe the CCIW is starting their 4-team championship tournament this year, but that's still one round shorter than the NCAC.  Plus IWU has already burned off one of their 25 regular-season games by playing the aforementioned exhibition vs. Illinois.  That means the Titans will have a maximum of 26 games vs. the 28 the Scots are eligible for (the maxima are reached if both make their conference finals.)  I don't think Wooster will lose two more games than IWU.  I'd guess something like 23-3 for IWU and 24-4 for Wooster.  Then it would be a race to see who gets deeper in the NCAAs.

Q uses the right terminology when he says "hold ya off."  IWU has been #2 in this horse race for years, with Wooster slowly catching up.  We caught them last year and, unless the circumstances change, in all probability will pass them for good this year or next. 

[ScotsFan]

This race for #2 with IWU should be a fun one this year.  Kind of like Michigan and ND in their pursuits of the all-time best winning percentage in college football.  IWU has the slightly better team, but Wooster has the weaker conference.  It will basically come down to how well IWU can tip-toe through the gauntlent that is the CCIW.

In regards to Wooster's being overrated or not, you could make valid arguments for or against whether or not their ranking is a bit inflated.  When looking at the other teams in the top 10 though, I really don't see it as much of a stretch.  Yes, the Scots are implementing a new system, and they did lose depth at the post, but they are still loaded with talent.  I just want the season to start so we can actually see just how good or bad Wooster is.

Seinfeld,  I've been meaning to comment on some of your thoughts you put out last week so here they are:

-- Wooster and Witt play in early December for the first time in a long time. Maybe Wooster can take advantage the inexperience Witt will have in the backcourt early in the season

Yes, but Wooster will be playing an entirely new system of basketball.  Just how comfortable will the Scots be in that new system less than a month into the season.  Although, to support your point, Witt's inexperienced backcourt could have trouble with the pressure defense that Woo will be implementing too.

Also, I wouldn't go as far as to say that the NCAC is ahead of the OAC from a depth perspective just yet.  The NCAC is definately making strides in that direction, but the OAC is still deeper than the NCAC IMHO.  It is nice to know that teams like Denison are really coming on and aren't just an automatic 20+ point victory anymore.  Wooster and Witt are still the class of the league, but the gap between 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th is closing.  Should be a fun season to see who locks up the 3 and 4 seeds in the NCAC tournament.  I could be wide open!

[Clark W. Griswold]

I think the Scots will be perfectly comfortable in the "new system" in plenty of time for the Witt matchup, mainly because their offense won't change that much.  Coach Moore's teams have always looked to push the ball and play uptempo against most of the teams on their schedule.  Not to mention the perimeter players got most of the shots last year anyway.  Mealer and Schlingman combined didn't take as many shots as Port last year

[ScotsFan]

I must admit, I am a bit surprised not to see Russ, Borchers, Port or Witucky anywhere on the Preseason AA team.  I really thought for sure at least one of the Witt bigs would make the list.  Oh well, I guess the list you would really want to make comes at the end of the season.