MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[fcnews]

Hoops fan - Welcome. We are not big in numbers (posters), those that we do have are very passionate about the game. We usually keep some line of topics going all summer. Why? Cause none of us can wait till Oct. 15th. What school or conference do you follow?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I'm a big follower of the Commonwealth Coast Conference up in New England, a conference that is fairly comparable to the SLIAC.  A bunch of small, private schools without much national attention that likes to think once in a great while we can send a competitive team to the tournament.

I'm in the Kansas City area now for grad school, which is like d3 no-man's land.  I've made the trek up to Grinnell once to see the circus, but other than that, I live on d3hoops.com.  I keep up with the national stories and overall trends as much as I can.

I'm really honing in on this space because it looks like Fontbonne might be a big time sleeper next year and I'm looking to hop the bandwagon before it gets crowded.

[hopefan]

Just as long as Hoops fan doesn't get blamed for something Hopefan says, or vice versa.....

[y_jack_lok]

Welcome Hoops Fan. If Kansas City is D3 no man's land, Saint Louis is a D3 Mecca with the 3 SLIAC schools -- Fontbonne, Webster and Maryville -- plus Wash U from the UAA. Fontbonne and Wash U are next door neighbors and Webster is about 5 miles, tops, from those two. Maryville is out west off I-64 just west of I-270 a quick 20 minute drive from the other 3 schools. You might want to consider transferring to Saint Louis, if watching hoops 3-4 days a week from mid-November thru mid-March wouldn't interfere with  your studies.

Hopefan is the glue that keeps us posters together. Even though we all root for different schools, this season just concluded many of us met each other for the first time and have been able to put our partisanship aside to enjoy the competition and each other. You are welcome on this site anytime.

[sully309]

I was thinking after watching the championship game last night that Fontbonne could be to the SLIAC next year what Florida was to the NCAA tournament this year. Hear me out on this...they should have back all five starters (maybe six if Parker is added back to the mix) and, despite the low-ball approach by fcnews, they will be the favorites heading into next season.

That brings me to another similarity between the two teams. Remember last year, Florida was a #3 seed I believe. They weren't even ranked at the beginning of the 2005-06 season. They were the last undefeated team in that season, hit a rough patch, and then picked up again to win the SEC and NCAA tourneys. Despite teams like UCLA, North Carolina, and Kansas being consistently better than Florida in 2005-06 and seemed to have more talent on paper than Florida coming into this past season, Florida was still the favorite based off the hot playoff run, or because people really thought from the beginning they were the best team, or both.

Obviously, things worked out great for Florida. They had the bulls-eye on their backs all season, but still repeated. Which brings me back to Fontbonne. There were teams consistently better than FU last season, as witnessed by Font's #4 seed in the SLIAC Tourney. Was Florida the favorite this year because they were the best team or becuase of they caught fire at the right time the year before? Both? What about Fontbonne? Will they be the favorites because they really are the best team, or will it be because they will be the defending champs? Both? Neither? Needless to say, FU will be getting a lot of team's best efforts next season.

[y_jack_lok]

Fontbonne will be the SLIAC favorite entering next season because of the way they finished this year and because they have everyone back. Will Fontbonne be the best team in the SLIAC next season? Well, that's why they play the games.

[Pat Coleman]

MacMurray's women's coach leaves too. Hardly a vote of confidence for the department lately.

[y_jack_lok]

I believe heard/read somewhere that the Althetics Director at MacMurray is fairly new -- like this academic year is his first year perhaps ?? -- so that may have something to do with the changes going on. Also, MacMurray is in a search for a new president, the current one stepping down on June 30th of this year. Will there be anyone around to steer the ship???

[hopefan]

I wish MacAttack would chime in on this - he's pretty well in tune with what's going on at Mac - with a huge personal interest in the stability of the basketball program.  The Mac ladies' team was down to 7 players at season's end - just a lot of problems.....

[Pat Coleman]

I believe heard/read somewhere that the Althetics Director at MacMurray is fairly new -- like this academic year is his first year perhaps ?? -- so that may have something to do with the changes going on. Also, MacMurray is in a search for a new president, the current one stepping down on June 30th of this year. Will there be anyone around to steer the ship???

AD left as well, as our front-page story notes.

[fcnews]

Will the last person leaving Mac's Athletic Office please turn out the lights.

I'll have to admit that while following the "Gator's" this year I did notice a slight similarity to the FU squad. Very slight. All though Storandt does have better rotation then Noah. FU's three man rotation of Fogerty, Storandt and Lovette is a poor man's version of Noah, Horford and Richards. Lovette looks younger then Richards.

Green and Humphrey - Mccoy and Branch - Time will tell.

Corey Brewer may not of had the stats, but I think by far the most complete player.
Trevor White does not yet have the defensive skills but with his size and threat from the arc he does cause similar match up problems in the SLIAC.

Fournie, Parker and Dill make a pretty solid top nine.

The best thing about the FU squad compared to U of F, FU kids will be there for four years.

And EC_SID FU has a bulls-eye every nite in the SLIAC. Schools have feasted on FU's couple of down years. But ask any SLIAC coach who they most want to beat and I wouldn't be suprised if they didn't say FU. Been that way for awhile.

So I am going to stand up and be a man and say, "FU deserves to be a favorite".

On the recruiting front - We all know how this works ! FU is off to a good start on the freshmen class for next season. Verbal decisions from local players, a point guard, 6'3 swingman, and 6'8 post player (Not who your thinking of Hope). All three players will be recognizable names in this area. FU is building a pretty good foundation for the future.

The local flavor of players that the Griffin's are getting will help build our fan base. We are not Wash U,, but if your wanting to watch local kids continue to play we are an entertainment option.

[y_jack_lok]

Question for Pat Coleman. Where/how did you get the news of the multiple changes in the MacMurray athletics program? Nothing yet on the MacMurray website about it. I'm not questioning the accuracy of your story, and I know from posts on this site that MacMurray is not good at keeping its website up to date. I'm just interested in how you came by the information.

[sac]

Its official, Hettinga to Lake Superior State University.  MacMurry's budget woes make the list of reasons he left.

http://lssulakers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/040407aaa.html

[Pat Coleman]

yjack -- I used the following sources: Lakeland release. Phone call to MacMurray athletic department (very evasive secretary, who then bounced me to student life, who bounced me to a dead line). Google search. Previous news research for football.

[hopefan]

Here is an excerpt from the release Sac mentioned:

"Although he has a talented recruiting class coming in for 2007-08, Hettinga sought a move due to severe budget cutbacks in MacMurray's athletics program and wanted to return to Michigan."

Assuming the talented recruiting class refers to kids he recruited for Mac, I wonder how many of them will stick to their decision when they find coach has moved, along with the rest of the department and the President....

Wow, what a mess....  or at least seemingly a mess to us outsiders.   And it is either as bad as it appears and MacAttack is not talking, or he's on spring Break!!