MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[NCF]

I just noticed on SLIAC.ORG that Webster's Stefan Whittingham  was voted to the National Association of Basketball Coaches 2012 Midwest All-District Team.  Whittingham was named to the Division III Midwest All-District Second Team.

This is wonderful recognition - great to see that the efforts of one of ours from a lesser conference can still be appreciated when there are so many outstanding schools and individuals in the midwest region.   Congrats to Stefan and Webster University.

I'm telling you, watch out for the SLIAC next year!!

Which teams will be fighting it out for #1?

[hopefan]

new card fan...I appreciate your interest... I really do...

if all underclassmen return, Webster returns 5 starters plus a super in Willie Trimble, who sat out this year;  Eureka returns 5 starters; Mac returns 4 starters plus one or two bench people who played significant time; and Westmin returns 4 starters if you include leading scorer Joe Prophet who went down with a knee injury the last week of the season.  Those are your Conference tourney teams from this year...

Add to that Spalding, who will be in their first year of conference and NCAA full eligibility... They would have been in the tourney mix this year if they hadn't have been on provisional status.. they return 5 starters plus 2 very good players (one is Dewhon McAfee, who was conference MOP 2 years ago) who sat out last year.

Only Greenville who was in the mix this year seems to have lost so much talent to graduation that it seems to be a rebuilding year.  Blackburn, Prin, and Fontbonne were out of the running this year and would need significant improvement from recruiting to challenge next year  (all 3 have new coaches in 2011-12 however, and they'll be hitting the recruiting HARD)

That is 5 good teams at our level who should all get better with the experience factor....   Now the question is, is better good enough to move up that rung on the Midwest ladder where we can compete with the upper level of the MWC, HCAC, or NATHCOM, and compete with 3 or 4 teams in the CCIW... that's what the SLIAC has to accomplish so we aren't automatically penned in as a bottom one and done seed in the tourney... we need to get that first rounder on a neutral court in a 2-3 game rather than being first round fodder for a host team.

SLIAC teams have dramatically upgraded their non conference schedules...  we now have to start taking that experience and start winning some, or more than some, of those games..... Just playing good schedules is not enough.

[NCF]

new card fan...I appreciate your interest... I really do...

if all underclassmen return, Webster returns 5 starters plus a super in Willie Trimble, who sat out this year;  Eureka returns 5 starters; Mac returns 4 starters plus one or two bench people who played significant time; and Westmin returns 4 starters if you include leading scorer Joe Prophet who went down with a knee injury the last week of the season.  Those are your Conference tourney teams from this year...

Add to that Spalding, who will be in their first year of conference and NCAA full eligibility... They would have been in the tourney mix this year if they hadn't have been on provisional status.. they return 5 starters plus 2 very good players (one is Dewhon McAfee, who was conference MOP 2 years ago) who sat out last year.

Only Greenville who was in the mix this year seems to have lost so much talent to graduation that it seems to be a rebuilding year.  Blackburn, Prin, and Fontbonne were out of the running this year and would need significant improvement from recruiting to challenge next year  (all 3 have new coaches in 2011-12 however, and they'll be hitting the recruiting HARD)

That is 5 good teams at our level who should all get better with the experience factor....   Now the question is, is better good enough to move up that rung on the Midwest ladder where we can compete with the upper level of the MWC, HCAC, or NATHCOM, and compete with 3 or 4 teams in the CCIW... that's what the SLIAC has to accomplish so we aren't automatically penned in as a bottom one and done seed in the tourney... we need to get that first rounder on a neutral court in a 2-3 game rather than being first round fodder for a host team.

SLIAC teams have dramatically upgraded their non conference schedules...  we now have to start taking that experience and start winning some, or more than some, of those games..... Just playing good schedules is not enough.

Thanks for the outlook (I am  a Eureka alum). Well, that looks like you will have a competative league in 2012. Upgrading non-conference schedules is huge. I am glad North Central is doing that as well this season. You are correct in stating that playing good schedules is not enough. You've got to win some of those games to interest recruits. Today's players want to play for teams that have a chance to make the play-offs regularly. Good luck to your team in 2012!

[MObball41]

Heard from a source close to the Westmin bball team that the Blue Jays are bringing in 6'7'' transfer Brian Schlemmer.  Not sure what school he was at before, but heard he was impressive at a recent open gym. AC Slater, do you have any more info on Schlemmer? Any info on recruiting classes throughout the conference? I realize it is still kind of early for that, but curious to hear about new faces for next season.

[hopefan]

Heard from a source close to the Westmin bball team that the Blue Jays are bringing in 6'7'' transfer Brian Schlemmer.  Not sure what school he was at before, but heard he was impressive at a recent open gym. AC Slater, do you have any more info on Schlemmer? Any info on recruiting classes throughout the conference? I realize it is still kind of early for that, but curious to hear about new faces for next season.

Well MO.. either you are one of the 3 stooges and Schlemmer is Curly, and you are pulling our leg,  or you yourself have been been taken....  Brian Schlemmer played a little soccer for Westminster in 07-08, 08-09, and would be a 5th year senior this year... likely he's a frat brother who was mediocre in the frat league....

[MObball41]

Hope, not sure what you're referring to with all that. I'm just passing along information I received. I do not follow Westminster soccer closely so I can't say I knew there was a Brian Schlemmer that played in 07-08, 08-09.

On another note, I encourage you all to vote for Joe James' shot for buzzer beater of the year on d3hoops.com. I believe he is currently in second place in the voting.

[hopefan]

Well Mo, then it comes down to your leg has been pulled, or there is more than one Brian Schlemmer associated with Westminster?      Check your source....

[AndOne]

OK--Under the "rumor" umbrella.........

I apologize for not being able to provide more info at this time, but let it suffice to say there is a good chance a SLIAC team will be in position to pick up a VERY nice transfer for the 2012-2013 season. Going a little further, TWO conference teams (and probably only 2) should be in prime position to make the acquisition. Should either one not at least get a foot in the door, I think it can be said that team doesn't have its eye on the ball, and really isn't keeping on top of things as far as being aware of ways to improve their team. It will be interesting to see if one of the SLIAC team rosters includes a prominent transfer next year.

[hopefan]

Intriguing post Andone.. unfortunately, besides me, this room doesn't get excited about much, so I'm probably the only one to get an adrenaline kick out of it... because my push is to make the league better from top to bottom, I'll root for Blackburn, Fontbonne or Greenville to get stronger with a transfer add and get into the mix to challenge for a top 4 spot.. Prin, sorry to say, likely needs more than what any one individual could bring to the table....  However, when you marry two schools like you did, one's thoughts go to Fontbonne and Webster more than any other combo....  Thanks for the tip....

[NCF]

Intriguing post Andone.. unfortunately, besides me, this room doesn't get excited about much, so I'm probably the only one to get an adrenaline kick out of it... because my push is to make the league better from top to bottom, I'll root for Blackburn, Fontbonne or Greenville to get stronger with a transfer add and get into the mix to challenge for a top 4 spot.. Prin, sorry to say, likely needs more than what any one individual could bring to the table....  However, when you marry two schools like you did, one's thoughts go to Fontbonne and Webster more than any other combo....  Thanks for the tip....

Since you brought it up, do you think a conference can ever be/stay tough from top to bottom or do you think there is always a top, middle and bottom tier to each conference? Just food for offseason thought.

[hopefan]

newcard... I think more possible with the SLIAC than some other leagues... because there seems to be no possibility that the SLIAC could ever get a kid, or several kids, who are so dominant, that they would/could elevate teams to a level clearly above all other teams....  Fontbonne was close to that level several years ago, but even they didn't have that singular player (they did it with a combinaton of a good scoring guard, a tough nosed scoring forward, and a very strong kid in the middle)...  This past season, the 'middle' group was non existant, unless one considers the 7-8 teams the middle and no 9 Principia the bottom. There really was no predicting games between teams 1-6... only one of the 6 faces significant graduation losses this year... but both Fontbonne and Greenville could get right back in the mix with a good recruiting year...

As I have no horse in the race, I simply sit back and enjoy the even competition...

Would I like to see one team get so much better that they could win a tourney game?   not if it ruined the competitiveness within the conference....  I want to see the CONFERENCE rise to that level.....

[hopefan]

OK--Under the "rumor" umbrella.........

I apologize for not being able to provide more info at this time, but let it suffice to say there is a good chance a SLIAC team will be in position to pick up a VERY nice transfer for the 2012-2013 season. Going a little further, TWO conference teams (and probably only 2) should be in prime position to make the acquisition. Should either one not at least get a foot in the door, I think it can be said that team doesn't have its eye on the ball, and really isn't keeping on top of things as far as being aware of ways to improve their team. It will be interesting to see if one of the SLIAC team rosters includes a prominent transfer next year.

Sophomore Alex Dragicevich is transferring from Notre Dame.

The 6-foot-7 Dragicevich averaged 6.6 points in 34 games this season
Notre Dame announced that Dragicevich will transfer after the semester following two years mostly spent coming off the bench..


I think he could find a starting spot in the SLIAC!!!

[NCF]

newcard... I think more possible with the SLIAC than some other leagues... because there seems to be no possibility that the SLIAC could ever get a kid, or several kids, who are so dominant, that they would/could elevate teams to a level clearly above all other teams....  Fontbonne was close to that level several years ago, but even they didn't have that singular player (they did it with a combinaton of a good scoring guard, a tough nosed scoring forward, and a very strong kid in the middle)...  This past season, the 'middle' group was non existant, unless one considers the 7-8 teams the middle and no 9 Principia the bottom. There really was no predicting games between teams 1-6... only one of the 6 faces significant graduation losses this year... but both Fontbonne and Greenville could get right back in the mix with a good recruiting year...

As I have no horse in the race, I simply sit back and enjoy the even competition...

Would I like to see one team get so much better that they could win a tourney game?   not if it ruined the competitiveness within the conference....  I want to see the CONFERENCE rise to that level.....

I have no "vested interest" playing bball, but I love the game. I wondered with all the talk about the CCIW being "down" this year, that you could really ever have a truly competitive league from top to bottom. It always seems to separate into top and bottom halves. I do agree about watching games that are not competitive, I usually stop watching after the first half (or earlier) when the game is dominated by one team.

[NCF]

OK--Under the "rumor" umbrella.........

I apologize for not being able to provide more info at this time, but let it suffice to say there is a good chance a SLIAC team will be in position to pick up a VERY nice transfer for the 2012-2013 season. Going a little further, TWO conference teams (and probably only 2) should be in prime position to make the acquisition. Should either one not at least get a foot in the door, I think it can be said that team doesn't have its eye on the ball, and really isn't keeping on top of things as far as being aware of ways to improve their team. It will be interesting to see if one of the SLIAC team rosters includes a prominent transfer next year.

Sophomore Alex Dragicevich is transferring from Notre Dame.

The 6-foot-7 Dragicevich averaged 6.6 points in 34 games this season
Notre Dame announced that Dragicevich will transfer after the semester following two years mostly spent coming off the bench..


I think he could find a starting spot in the SLIAC!!!

Isn't NOT getting enough playing time the main reason a lot of athletes transfer? Hopefully, he finds a place that is truly the right fit for him.

[Gregory Sager]

OK--Under the "rumor" umbrella.........

I apologize for not being able to provide more info at this time, but let it suffice to say there is a good chance a SLIAC team will be in position to pick up a VERY nice transfer for the 2012-2013 season. Going a little further, TWO conference teams (and probably only 2) should be in prime position to make the acquisition. Should either one not at least get a foot in the door, I think it can be said that team doesn't have its eye on the ball, and really isn't keeping on top of things as far as being aware of ways to improve their team. It will be interesting to see if one of the SLIAC team rosters includes a prominent transfer next year.

Is C.J. Goldthree looking to go back home to the St. Louis area, a la Clayton Cahill, Mark?