MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Witt4ever]

DC,

I see a name on the Wittenberg roster that is familiar. Tim Beck, a junior forward. If my memory serves me correctly, he was a fairly strong recruit of Wittenberg's two years ago. I guess he left school, and now he is back. Here is a little note about him from the Daily Dose two years ago:

http://www.d3hoops.com/dailydose/2005/06/25/the-latest-on-the-recruiting-trail/

Interesting how a bogus twin brother of Schwab appears in the season outlook, but not a real big man named Beck (who I also believe may be related to a Beck that played at Earlham in the past).

Beck missed last year with an ACL. Romero returns after sitting out last year with an achilles injury. Caraway quits again and this time does not return, reportedly enrolled at Wright State due to money issues.

[David Collinge]

So, was Travis the one to leak this info about his 'mythical' twin brother?  And was it done as merely a joke, or was it more of a psychological ploy to psyche out the rest of the league to think that coach Brown and the Tigers were holding an ace or two up their sleeves???

I know you're kidding, but just for the record I'll say that there certainly was no hidden agenda or subterfuge involved.  I wasn't there when the joke was delivered (evidently during the media day conference call two weeks ago), but I have no reason to suspect that it was anything other than an attempt at humor, probably of the self-depricating variety.

[David Collinge]

Wooster opens the season Friday, hosting the Al Van Wie/Rotary Classic with Farmingdale St., Otterbein, and St. Thomas. 

Farmingdale was 18-10 last season, finishing tied for fourth in the Skyline Conference.  As far as I can tell, there has not been a preseason poll done for the conference, but the Rams seem to be among the conference favorites.  As far as I can tell, the Rams have never played in Wooster before, nor have ever faced the Scots.

Otterbein had a strong team last season, finishing 16-11 and losing to Capital in the OAC semifinals.  They must find a way to replace all-America center Tyler Ousley, however, and are projected by the OAC coaches to finish a distant 8th this season.  The Cardinals last appeared in Wooster as part of the 2003 Van Wie Classic, where they defeated Brockport St. and lost to Wooster.

St. Thomas spent the entire 2006-07 season in the D3Hoops.com top 10, and claimed both the regular season and tournament titles in the MIAC.  They received a bye in the first round of the NCAA tournament, but were ousted by surprising Carroll College.  UST finished the season 24-4 and ranked 10th.  The Tommies featured two all-Americans in Isaac Rosefelt and Bryan Schnettler, both of whom are playing professionally this season.  Without these stars, the Tommies have been projected to finish 3rd in the MIAC this season.  They did, however, receive 18 points in the preseason D3Hoops.com top 25 poll, the equivalent of a ranking of #42.  St. Thomas last visited Wooster for the 2005 Van Wie Classic, falling in overtime to UW-Stout and handily defeating Kalamazoo to take third place. 

[woosterbooster]

Is anyone planning on setting up an NCAC weekly "Pick-em" this year?  Getting close to start-up time.

[imderekpoe]

Is anyone planning on setting up an NCAC weekly "Pick-em" this year?  Getting close to start-up time.

I was going to ask too, but I figured the person that mentioned it first would get the job!!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Is anyone planning on setting up an NCAC weekly "Pick-em" this year?  Getting close to start-up time.

I was going to ask too, but I figured the person that mentioned it first would get the job!!

You must have missed the memo - this year the second to bring it up is elected!

[woosterbooster]

Funny.  I got a different memo entirely.  Said something about having the initials "D.C." as being the main requirement...

[David Collinge]

Yeah, okay, I guess it's my turn in the barrel again.  I'll sod something up over in the pickem room.

[imderekpoe]

The preview for this weekend's Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic has been posted on Wooster's website: http://athletics.wooster.edu/mb/news/2007-08/van_wie.php

In lieu of admission, canned/boxed food items will be collected at the door by the Wooster Rotary for the People to People Food Pantry.  http://pages.sssnet.com/rotaryclub/

[ScotsFan]

Yeah, okay, I guess it's my turn in the barrel again.  I'll sod something up over in the pickem room.

I was hoping someone would step up to the plate!!!    I will gladly relinquish my duties at running the Pick'em!

And, just for the record, yes I was just kidding about the hidden agenda thing.

[David Collinge]

About 24 hours to the opening tip! 

I hope ScotsFan, Witt4Ever, TigerUp07, Wally, LG, Seinfeld, Mr. Ypsi, Billy, EarlhamAlum, and everyone else out there (especially newcomers and/or folks from the "Forgotten Four"--Allegheny, Hiram, Oberlin, OWU) are planning to join us in the Pick 'Em competition this year.  There's 23 points at stake in Week 1, so if you miss out it'll be tough to catch up later in the year.  Come log your picks, and I hope to see all of you at an NCAC gym soon! 

[David Collinge]

Here's Zach Bollinger's preview of tonight's game vs. Farmingdale, published in today's Daily Record, and complete with the following addendum:

EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to erroneous information provided by Wittenberg head coach Bill Brown during conference media day, it was reported in Tuesday's NCAC men's basketball preview that the Tiger roster would include newcomer Trent Schwab. It was, apparently, Brown's attempt at humor and was not intended for publication.

Trent Schwab does not exist. However, Travis, a four-time first-team NCAC selection, will be an assistant to Brown at Wittenberg this season.

[smedindy]

I think that someone could pull the Plainfield Teacher's College gag on the Daily Record

[wally_wabash]

Alright, I'm about to OD on football...so I'll take a quick hoops respite.  I'm looking forward to catching the LGs opener tonight.  There seems to be quite a bit of buzz around this squad.  Lots of returning players, Zimmer is getting some national recognition, Simkus is back, and there is quite a bit of noise being drummed up about a freshmen who played in high school with Oden and Conley over in Indianapolis.  I'm anxious to see how it all comes together. 

What I'm not anxious to see are NCCAA and NAIA schools.  These games essentially do not count for Wabash for any sort of tournament resumé they may want to build.  Bordered on the immediate east by the HCAC, CCIW on the west, and MIAA to the north, there are plenty of D3 schools around that I think Wabash should be filling its invitationals with D3 teams (preferably in-region).  I realize that the problem here is that 2 out of every 3 D3 schools are hosting a tipoff tournament/classic of some sort and there just aren't enough teams to go around, but I'd really like to see Wabash schedule at least two other D3s for these events.  Perhaps scheduling multiple years in advance would help?  How far in advance does Wooster schedule its Mose Hole and Van Wie invitationals?  Wooster always seems to have good D3 fields for those events. 

[David Collinge]

REMINDER

For those interested in the NCAC Pick 'ems competition, Week 1 picks must be posted by 3:30 PM this afternoon (time of the Denison[w]/Salisbury tipoff).