MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wooscotsfan]

Does anyone have info regarding any of the incoming recruiting classes from the NCAC?  It seems as though most of the classes should be pretty set by now.

With the disclaimer that I found this information on other chat boards, two of Wooster's incoming frosh recruits appear to be Bryan Wickliffe and Kevin Truitt:

Bryan Wickliffe is a 6'5" forward out of Columbus St. Charles.  He averaged ~22 ppg, 8 rpg and apparently received at least one D2 recruiting offer from a West Virginia school.  Wickliffe made this year's All-Ohio Team in Division I as an Honorable Mention choice.  He also appeared on HoopScoop's Class of 2007 Top 100 players in Ohio list.

Kevin Truitt is a 6'0" point guard out of Marysville High School that was recruited by several NAIA schools.  He is Marysville's all time assist leader.  Kevin is also a superb golfer (79 average) and was selected as a Columbus Dispatch scholar athlete this year (excellent grades).  Reminds me of Van Horn.

[ScotsFan]

Thanks for the info wsf. 

[imderekpoe]

Bryan Wickliffe is a 6'5" forward out of Columbus St. Charles.  He averaged ~22 ppg, 8 rpg and apparently received at least one D2 recruiting offer from a West Virginia school.  Wickliffe made this year's All-Ohio Team in Division I as an Honorable Mention choice.  He also appeared on HoopScoop's Class of 2007 Top 100 players in Ohio list.

I hear that the coaching staff is very high on Wickliffe.  If he's all that they think he is expected to fill Port's position.

I've also heard that they have a big man that they are hoping can start in Vandervaart's spot, but I don't remember any details.  I had some other recruiting news at one point, but didn't get it posted.  I'll see if I can find it when I get home.

[goscots]

Bryan Wickliffe is a 6'5" forward out of Columbus St. Charles.  He averaged ~22 ppg, 8 rpg and apparently received at least one D2 recruiting offer from a West Virginia school.  Wickliffe made this year's All-Ohio Team in Division I as an Honorable Mention choice.  He also appeared on HoopScoop's Class of 2007 Top 100 players in Ohio list.

I hear that the coaching staff is very high on Wickliffe.  If he's all that they think he is expected to fill Port's position.

I've also heard that they have a big man that they are hoping can start in Vandervaart's spot, but I don't remember any details.  I had some other recruiting news at one point, but didn't get it posted.  I'll see if I can find it when I get home.

Evan Will finished the year as the starter in the 5 spot. I doubt a freshman will take his spot unless you meant first sub off the bench.

[ScotsFan]

I think Will is safe at the 5.  Port was a forward so there would be a spot open for Wickliffe to crack the starting rotation as a frosh. 

It'll be interesting to see who cracks the starting lineup for the Scots next year.  Obvious choices are Cooper and Johnson at the guard positions and Will as I said at either the 4 or 5.  From there, it could go many ways.  I would think Bidwell could be the one to replace Van Horn in the starting 5.  And as for the last spot, do the coaches go big with Melick or Elam or does Wickliffe impress enough to gain a starting spot as a freshman?

I read a bit on Truitt and it sounds like he will contend for PT as the backup to Johnson at the point.  He is Marysville's all-time assists leader and it sounds as if he can play defense as well.  The problem is, Wooster is already loaded at the guard spot with Fulk arguably one of the best guards not to start in the NCAC.  Dustin Geitgey also saw significant PT as a freshman last season and I would look for him to be an improved player his sophomore season.  Depending on how many other solid recruits that Coach Moore and co. have reeled in, Wooster could have a very good JV squad this season.

[woosterbooster]

It will be very interesting this fall to see which of this past season's freshmen return and whether or not their games have improved.  Watching them play last season was like riding a roller coaster.  I still don't really know what I saw, whether it was a very good class or a poor one, at least by Wooster standards.  The first couple of weeks of the upcoming season will shed lots more light on this.

[seinfeld]

There is an article in the local Wooster paper touching on changes in the NCAA Selection criteria, Wooster's schedule this year, and recruiting class (which is missing a couple of names, I believe). Either way, I don't see Vandervaart's replacement on this list:

http://www.the-daily-record.com/news/article/2165131

[ScotsFan]

RE:  the recruiting class at Wooster, it looks like Wooster loaded up on forwards this season with 2 of the 5 recruits listed as 6'5" forwards.  Reed played forward at Northwestern, and I believe he is 6'3"-6'4" or something around there.  Interesting that Reed is going to try to play both football and basketball for the Scots.  From the DR article, it noted that he was going to try out at QB for Wooster, a position that seems to be stacked for the Scots as there's supposedly going to be 6 qb's in camp for the Scots competing to fill the departed Schafer's shoes. 

Overall, the Scot's recuiting class doesn't appear to be very big, heighth  wise or depth wise.  Kind of surprising given the tournament success that Wooster had last season.  Also, judging by the smaller recruits, it looks as if the up-tempo, smaller lineup is here to stay and that Wooster is recruiting more players to fit their system.  It appears that the days of the quality big-men being the focal point of the offense at Wooster are over at least for the immediate future.

[wooscotsfan]

Seinfeld - thanks for the link to the Daily Record article. 

As ScotsFan noted, Kaleb Reed out of Northwestern was listed at 6'4" this year on football and basketball lists.  Kaleb Reed was selected All Ohio Division III Special Mention in basketball this season and he was honored at Northwestern HS as a scholar athlete with a GPA above 3.5.  Reed and Dustin Geitgey played together for Northwestern 2 seasons ago.

Judging from the article, the Scots will play another tough non-conference schedule this coming season and it is good to see opponents like Otterbein, St. Thomas, Walsh and Cedarville listed on the schedule.  It will be interesting to see which teams fill out the Mose Hole classic when the full schedule is released.

GO SCOTS!

[Nonbiased Observer]

Remember, Wooster has a 6-8 sophomore on campus and a 6-6 sophomore who looks quite stout in the post. If Steve Moore really wants to dump it in constantly, which I wouldn't think with James Cooper in the backcourt, he'd have a shot with those two and Evan Will.

Kaleb Reed, from what I've seen, looks farther along as a basketball prospect than football. But, with six quarterbacks on the roster, but none of them past their sophomore years, he might have a better chance of an immediate impact in football. When all's said, he's proobably a small forward/power forward hybrid. Like Tom Port without the consistent jumper and the bulk.

[seinfeld]

I believe the two other Wooster recruits that didn't show up in the article are:

Ian Franks - Greenwich South Central
Eric McCloskey - Cardinal Stritch

Five to seven recruits a year is probably just the right number. If you get one or two impact players per recruiting class, then you are in great shape. Wooster had a huge class last year, so they didn't need a lot of players. Plus, when you have a lot of players and only one ball, some guys can feel left out. I don't know the details of why certain guys from last year's freshman class aren't coming back, but a few of them aren't, and I bet at least part of it had to do with playing time.

In football, I think freshmen expect to maybe only see some time on special teams their first year. In basketball, I think there is a little more of an expectation of seeing time earlier, or at least by their sophomore season.

[wooscotsfan]

Seinfeld - thanks for the names of the two additional Wooster recruits.    k+

Both of these guys were guards for Division IV teams in northwest Ohio this past season.

Eric McCloskey scored over 1,000 points in his high school career for Oregon Cardinal Stritch.  The 6'1" guard averaged 16.4 ppg this season and was selected All Northwest Ohio Division IV - Second Team.

Ian Franks was the leading scorer for Greenwich South Central this season averaging ~20 ppg.  Franks actually had a triple double in one game this season.  He was selected All Northwest Ohio Division IV - Honorable Mention.  He was a First Team selection in District 6.

With Cooper, Johnson, Fulk and others returning for Wooster, my guess is that these two recruits will not see much varsity playing time this coming season.

[Nonbiased Observer]

I saw Franks as a junior. He was a stand-still shooter. Terrific shooter if you let him line up and let it fly, but his accuracy decreased immensly off the bounce.

[David Collinge]

Kenyon's 2007-08 schedule is posted.  They open the season in a classic-format tournament at Brandeis, facing the host Judges (20-7 last season) as well as the Tufts Jumbos (15-10).  They return home to participate in the NCAC/OAC challenge, and also have non-conference games with Case Western Reserve (5-20), DePauw (22-6), and Washington & Jefferson (14-14) as well as neighbor Mt. Vernon Nazarene (NAIA, 25-7) and Ohio Christian U. (NCCAA, 12-20). 

After an early December date with Wabash, the Lords open 2008 NCAC play at Wooster (Jan. 5) and hosting OWU (Jan. 9), their only matchups with these conference powers.  I think Kenyon has the nucleus of a good team, and after what appears to be a challenging first half, they could get on a roll in the second half of the season, with their only major obstacles being two games with Witt and one with Wabash in the final 13 games.  I wouldn't be surprised to see Kenyon in the conference semifinals this season, and possibly with a top 4 seeding. 

[David Collinge]

Looking at Kenyon's and Witt's published schedules, it appears to me that the non-Hiram Ohio portion of the "who-we-play-just-once" NCAC schedule looks like this:

Denison: vs. Wittenberg, at OWU (and 2x against Wooster)
Kenyon: vs. OWU, at Wooster (and 2x against Witt)
Oberlin: vs. Wooster, at Wittenberg (and 2x against OWU)
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OWU: vs. Denison, at Kenyon (and 2x against Oberlin)
Wittenberg: vs. Oberlin, at Denison (and 2x against Kenyon)
Wooster: vs. Kenyon, at Oberlin (and 2x against Denison)

That represents no change for OWU or Oberlin from years past, while Wooster and Witt trade second games with Kenyon and Denison. 

Perhaps Nonbiased Observer, who seems to have a grip on Wooster's as yet unpublished schedule, can confirm or refute this.  Any lurkers with connections to any of these programs (i.e. Wooster, OWU, Denison, Oberlin) and might be able to pass along schedules to me offline (dacollinge [at] yahoo [dot] com) would also be welcome.