MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

Some random thoughts.... and questions....  as the first day of practice approaches.

All of a sudden, with Eureka's Jordan Kindred playing Football in his senior season, I'm beginning to follow the SLIAC schools that play football a little more  ... looks to me like we fall in the middle to lower portion of the UMAC..  Eureka and Greenville each have one loss in Coference, both to St Scholastica and both big margins, and St Scholastica lost close to Northwestern Minn, who hasn't lost in conference... Westminster has 3 conf losses and lost to Eureka... Mac has yet to win, but played Greenville close...  I need to find a SLIAC matchup to see if there is a nice fall Saturday out there.  I would think that any SLIAC matchup can be a close game....

Ran into Coach Schaffer of Fontbonne..  along with his anticipation (all those new faces) and trepidation (toughest non conference schedule of any SLIAC team), he also mentioned great excitement that a local hs Big man (senior to be) is showing real interest in becoming a Griff...how about a hig-low game in a couple years with the kid from Borgia and this guy... WOW!!!

I was looking at Webster's returning group, know nothing about how new frosh might fit in, but they may have enough coming back to make some noise in the SLIAC... I have that much confidence in Coach Bunch... Hollis Edwards at point, Bradfish, Robinson, Ahmed Smith at the 2,3,4 spots all can score... but can they rebound with stronger forward types... Huskey and Lawrence Williams have to get better in the middle, I thought last year neither played to their potential... I can't get the level of outstanding play that Huskey gave us for a good part of his freshman year out of my mind... and Williams looks big and strong and shows some offense.. he needs to prove he deserves 15-20 minutes per game.  Not mentioning Dietrick Sooter.. must improve in his decision making if he is going to be a help....he needs to show he can adjust his game to fit in....
Fontbonne ... as I said, all those new faces... very curious as to which returning players will fit in, and which will turn in their gear...  One thing for sure, the program needs to identify a couple of upperclassmen who will be leaders/mentors to these frosh.. I doubt there will be any room for anyone thinking 'self' rather than 'team'....

Spalding... we need to hear from someone who knows...  McAfee?, Cutzinger?...  Did all the other key people return?  I heard the staff had to do alot of recruiting of their own players....oops roster is up... cutzinger, McAfee are there!!!!  Brasher in the middle working with those guys... TOUGH to defend...

Westmin.. can't wait to see new faces, especially JC'rs... so glad Joe Prophet healthy and on campus... only missing experience (and height) in the middle... Prophet Lee James and Tolson is a heck of a nucleus..... but who will defend Lessen, Whitlock, Brasher?

initial thoughts.... 1st three barring negative hits on the people we know  Eureka (will Kindred be ready), Westmin (can transfers step in and blend), Spalding (will Mcafee and Cutzinger play at previous level) ... 4th spot... lots of what if's  Mac seems the favorite (who can play point, can Dylan Burton return to form)  , can't rule out Webster (is there really enough?); Greenville and Fontbonne could surprise dependent on level of play of new faces....  Blackburn is very excited about their recruits, though I only know names, not quality....  Prin, well...who knows...

[ecreddevils]

Some random thoughts.... and questions....  as the first day of practice approaches.

All of a sudden, with Eureka's Jordan Kindred playing Football in his senior season, I'm beginning to follow the SLIAC schools that play football a little more  ... looks to me like we fall in the middle to lower portion of the UMAC..  Eureka and Greenville each have one loss in Coference, both to St Scholastica and both big margins, and St Scholastica lost close to Northwestern Minn, who hasn't lost in conference... Westminster has 3 conf losses and lost to Eureka... Mac has yet to win, but played Greenville close...  I need to find a SLIAC matchup to see if there is a nice fall Saturday out there.  I would think that any SLIAC matchup can be a close game....


initial thoughts....  Eureka (will Kindred be ready), Westmin (can transfers step in and blend), Spalding (will Mcafee and Cutzinger play at previous level) barring negative hits on the people we know... 4th spot... lots of what if's  Mac seems the favorite (who can play point, can Dylan Burton return to form)  , can't rule out Webster (is there really enough?); Greenville and Fontbonne could surprise dependent on level of play of new faces....  Blackburn is very excited about their recruits, though I only know names, not quality....  Prin, well...who knows...

This is EC's best chance at a winning record in awhile--this would be huge for our program.  Sam Durley is a bigtime arm and our defense up front is as good as it has been in awhile. You missed a great game at Westminster a couple of weeks ago (you're from St. L?).  This weekend's game against MN-Morris should also be a good one.

Basketball:  I'm making EC the clear favorite.  All five starters back, plus the possible re-addition of DT Thornton and the addition of a couple of good transfer pieces make this team even more formidable than last year.  Kindred will be ready, Misuraca and Nailor can also handle the ball.  Lessen should tear up this conference in the post. Fritsch is an all-conference, multi-tool player.   Our bench is much deeper than last year.  I really feel like the regular season and conference tourney are EC's to lose.

[hopefan]

EC  Stay with me this year  (meaning keep us informed of what's going on in Eureka)!!!!!!   The obvious question on Eureka to me .. yes down in St Louis... is depth... especially with Kindred on the football field this fall...  if any of the starters get hurt, can someone fill the role.. Misuraca is a key.. Thornton is so Big (Wide), can he give more than a couple minutes at a time, can he defend the smaller quicker guys he'll have to face... otherwise, I really like that ironman 5.  wish coach Wilde would communicate with me, I know nothing about the new faces.....

[hopefan]

Got a couple of interesting PM's in the last week.. one from a Eureka College insider who is NOT as excited about the quality of Eureka's recruiting class as ecreddevils is... time will tell... I notice Thornton is on the roster...
Also a nice note from a regular poster in a different room.. saying he enjoyed reading my comments and keeping it real...  it's nice to be appreciated...  While I may tend to get a little too real at times, the nice thing about not having a favorite pony in the race is that I can write about the way I see things...  and I certainly lavish praise as easily as I may bring up fault.  ANYONE who has opposing views could write here, or PM me, or email me...discussion of that nature, while showing respect for opposite views, would make things a lot more fun in the SLIAC room... 

Anyway... happy Oct 15th... it all gets started today... I am really excited about the upcoming season ( though the news of Webster's personnel losses temper things a bit)...  I've heard about new faces likely to play a prominent role at Greenville, Westminster, Fontbonne, Blackburn, MacMurray, and some new 'old' faces at Spalding..  plus everyone back at Eureka, and Webster still returning some talent....   it will be a great year.

Preseason returnees to watch   (just to refresh our memory)

Eureka -  Dustin Fritsch, Mark Lessen, Jordan Kindred, Rian Nailor, Niko Riviera

Webster - Roman Robinson, Cody Bradfisch, Hollis Edwards, Dietrich Sooter, Ahmad Smith, Jarrod Huskey, Lawrence Williams, Dan Zehner

Westminster - Verdis Lee, Joe Prophet, Joe James, Skylar Tolson, Mookie Valandra

MacMuray - Luke Bishop, Cole Busch, Clayton Whitlock, Dylan Burton, Brady Slagle, Cody Best, Dylan Guthrie

Fontbonne - Bryton Curtis, Dan Lisch, Yada Demisse, Greg Gentry, Eric Hamilton, Tyler Gentry, Andrew Chism, John Reese

Spalding - Jametrius Brasheer, Dewhon McAfee***, Cody Cutsinger***, Tyler St Julian, Thomas Blakemore, Quayshon Hamilton, Montray Robinson, Brandon Gabriel     (Just noticed big man Robert Pittman is NOT on roster...  a shame, he really impressed me last season as a potential dominant....)

Greenville - Alex Mumphard, Ben Giertz, Simon Martin, Kyle Martin, Jose Garcia? (listed as a junior last year on Gville Roster, as a senior in SLIAC stats??)

Blackburn  -  Brandon Hill, Brandon Adams    -   WHAT an OPPORTUNITY for new faces!

Principia - Stanley Beal, Kenny Sydness -  HELP!!!!

[ecreddevils]

Got a couple of interesting PM's in the last week.. one from a Eureka College insider who is NOT as excited about the quality of Eureka's recruiting class as ecreddevils is... time will tell... I notice Thornton is on the roster...


Eureka -  Dustin Fritsch, Mark Lessen, Jordan Kindred, Rian Nailor, Niko Riviera

No idea who the "insider" is or why they wouldn't be excited.  This year's team is the best we've had since the national championship, in my estimation.  I guess you could you could make a case about "recruiting class," but that changes year-to-year depending on transfers.  The Sauk pipeline has been good to us.  If the current roster holds for next year, post size will be an issue, but we'll worry about that LATER.  Other players who I think will contribute considerably:  Misuraca (at point), Dunlap, Webster, Fehr at guard and Crite and Lincoln at forward.

[hopefan]

  This year's team is the best we've had since the national championship, in my estimation. 

Had no idea Eureka had a run to the national championship... would have liked to have seen that!!!!

Seriously, the writer of the PM shares your excitement regarding Eureka's chances this year.... he only questioned the amount of help this year's new faces might be able to offer.....

[Former Devil 40]

Hopefan - 1994 was when Coach Dave Darnall and Eureka won the NAIA II Championship.  It was a unique year becuase Eureka had to follow the regulations from NAIA and NCAA Div 3(which means they had no scholarships to give out with the NCAA affiliation but played against teams that offered scholarships).  There was a plethera of talent on that team including 3 big names - Chris Petersen, Troy Tyler, and Chris Eaton.  Some of these guys still come around during homecoming.  I have gotten a chance to watch the National Championship game on video with Coach Darnall....let's just say these guys might not have lost a game in 4years in the SLIAC. 

ecreddevils - I personally don't see much of an impact being made from the bench.  Misuraca is a nice backup to Nailor I agree with you there, but I dont see much after that.  I haven't seen Dunlap or Lincoln play so I can't really comment on them.

Also in regards to this being the best team since the 1994 championship team I guess we will have to wait and see.  There have been a few good teams since then.  When Eureka was still in the NICC somewhere around the 04-05 season I believe they went something like 17-10.  The NICC was IMO a stronger conference than the SLIAC (Rockford, Aurora (with Larry Welton), Clark, Benedictine,...).  Then you have Eureka's 2 title game runs in 06-07 and 09-10.  I know I am probably leaving other good teams out since 94 but these are 3 that I can remember off the top of my head.

I am as excited about Eureka as anyone else but I am not going to say they will run away with the Conference Title.  I think the team that Eureka should worry about most is Spalding.  They return a lot of talent and one of the best gaurds in conference in McAfee.

Tip-off can't come soon enough.

Good Luck to Eureka in Canada.  It's a once in a lifetime experience I'm sure all the players will enjoy.

[SLIACFAN]

Welcome to a new season! Practice started yesterday and I can't wait for the games to begin! I joined up late on here last year, but this year I plan to be on board here for the whole season. I want to start my giving my preseason top 4:

1. Spaulding- Big return of McAfee after a year of sitting out...He's that good folks
2. Mac- A lot of veterans return from a heartbreaking loss in the championship a year ago (Burton, Slagle, Busch, Best, Bishop, Whitlock, and Guthrie)
3. Eureka- Same story as Mac, returning a lot of guys from last year.(Fritsch, Lessen, Kindred)
4. Webster- No surprise here, always have to include these guys.

[hopefan]

Hey.. I love the activity... looking back he last couple of months, posters and probable affiliations are:

Webster.....   YJack
Fontbonne...   Louhoopsfan
Mac...  SLIACfan
Westmin...  AC Slater, MoBall41
Eureka.... ECReddevils, Former Devil 40, ECRD83
Greenville.... GCPanther01
Spalding....   There were a couple of posters  last year....   come on back
Blackburn....  When BC was in title contention several years ago, there were several posters... it's die as the program went downhill... hopefully a return to winning ways might bring out some activity
Prin...  don't know if there has been a poster in a LONG time....

What I'm getting at is I hope this is a sign that we have a bunch of people that really appreciate Sliac Hoops and might keep writing during the season... it makes things alot of fun....

[y_jack_lok]

Just checked the Webster schedule. The two tourney games at Spalding on 11/23 & 24 are going to be against NAIA schools Cincinnati Christian University and Asbury College (Asbury, KY).

Also found out today that I have to be in Chicago for work on the first weekend of hoops action. So many games to see (men's and women's) at Webster and I will miss them all.

[ecreddevils]

Hopefan - 1994 was when Coach Dave Darnall and Eureka won the NAIA II Championship.  It was a unique year becuase Eureka had to follow the regulations from NAIA and NCAA Div 3(which means they had no scholarships to give out with the NCAA affiliation but played against teams that offered scholarships).  There was a plethera of talent on that team including 3 big names - Chris Petersen, Troy Tyler, and Chris Eaton.  Some of these guys still come around during homecoming.  I have gotten a chance to watch the National Championship game on video with Coach Darnall....let's just say these guys might not have lost a game in 4years in the SLIAC. 

ecreddevils - I personally don't see much of an impact being made from the bench.  Misuraca is a nice backup to Nailor I agree with you there, but I dont see much after that.  I haven't seen Dunlap or Lincoln play so I can't really comment on them.

Also in regards to this being the best team since the 1994 championship team I guess we will have to wait and see.  There have been a few good teams since then.  When Eureka was still in the NICC somewhere around the 04-05 season I believe they went something like 17-10.  The NICC was IMO a stronger conference than the SLIAC (Rockford, Aurora (with Larry Welton), Clark, Benedictine,...).  Then you have Eureka's 2 title game runs in 06-07 and 09-10.  I know I am probably leaving other good teams out since 94 but these are 3 that I can remember off the top of my head.

I am as excited about Eureka as anyone else but I am not going to say they will run away with the Conference Title.  I think the team that Eureka should worry about most is Spalding.  They return a lot of talent and one of the best gaurds in conference in McAfee.

Tip-off can't come soon enough.

Good Luck to Eureka in Canada.  It's a once in a lifetime experience I'm sure all the players will enjoy.

That 94 team had a little of everything.  Here's a blurb from the EC website:

The crown jewel of Eureka's celebrated men's basketball history remains the 1994 NAIA Division II national championship.  The Red Devils set a school record with 27 victories that season, while the trio of Chris Peterson (653), Troy Tyler (613) and Chris Eaton (610) compiled the three highest single-season point totals in program history.  Tyler would become the program's all-time leading scorer that season with 2,119 points, while Eaton set the single-season rebounding record (363) to become the program's all-time leading rebounder with 925 career boards.

There were some good squads and players in the 00s, but I feel this current group is slightly better than those (09-10 would be a close second).  Time will tell! Play ball!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The Preseason Top 25 is out: http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2012-13/preseason

[hopefan]

The Preseason Top 25 is out: http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/men/2012-13/preseason

As per usual, the SLIAC was shutout on voting... but how cool is it that MIT is preseason No 1...  what a combo of Athletics and Academics!!!!

[Former Devil 40]

There were some good squads and players in the 00s, but I feel this current group is slightly better than those (09-10 would be a close second).  Time will tell! Play ball!

I am just curious as to how long you have been following the program and which teams during the 2000's you saw play? 

Hope has a SLIAC school ever recieved top 25 votes (preseason or regular season)?

[hopefan]

There were some good squads and players in the 00s, but I feel this current group is slightly better than those (09-10 would be a close second).  Time will tell! Play ball!

I am just curious as to how long you have been following the program and which teams during the 2000's you saw play? 

Hope has a SLIAC school ever recieved top 25 votes (preseason or regular season)?

I'm thinking not... I did a very quick run through of 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 voting when Webster and Fontbonne were both pretty good and didn't see a single vote... until a SLIAC team steps up and beats some GOOD teams... in non conference games... it just is not going to happen..  ie, has a SLIAC team beaten a TOP 40 team .. ever?  or in the last 10 years?  Fontbonne came close to Wash U one year..also within a couple in the tourney to one of the southern schools; Maryville had wins over McKendree and Mo Bap one year, but they weren't NCAA Teams... I enjoy the relatively level playing field that theSLIAC presents within the conference, but realistically, we have to get much, much better....  I can remember a fellow that got excited about Webster 2 years ago...with good reason.. Nick Jones, Willie Trimble etc... NICE team... The guy had huge thoughts of NCAA performance... heck, they got blown out by Auggie...  When Fogerty etc were seniors and coming off the close loss in the tourney the prior year, many of us dreamed of a tourney win... Bang, blown out at Wheaton....to my mind, we're simply at a different level than a wished for top 100....and I don't know if a SLIAC school can ever recruit the talent level necessary to get there....  which doesn't bother me all that much... the competition within the league is what I find to be the most fun....