MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Into_the_Blue]

The evolution of Webster has taken it well beyond its initial days as a small women's liberal arts college. The Webster of today operates as a comprehensive, innovative institution of higher education. In 1983, the school renamed itself Webster University to reflect this development.

[Into_the_Blue]

The History of Webster University

In the early days of the American frontier, poor children were forgotten when it came to education. The Sisters of Loretto, a Catholic religious organization founded in 1812, set out to offer a solution.


The Loretto Community dedicated itself to providing education to those who normally might not possess an opportunity to obtain one. It's this mission that remains at the heart of Webster University today.

The Sisters of Loretto laid the cornerstone for Webster University on Nov. 1, 1915. Originally named Loretto College, the school was one of the first Catholic women's colleges west of the Mississippi River. It was progressive for its time, providing higher education to women when it was not generally made available.

Loretto College opened with eight Sisters of Loretto teaching class for five students. Two students populated the first graduating class in 1919.

Five years later, in 1924, the school changed its name to Webster College to avoid confusion with Loretto Academy, a school operated by the Loretto Community on Lafayette Avenue in St. Louis. The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited Webster College the same year.

Decades of Change

After struggling through the depressed economy of the 1930s, Webster College saw gradual growth in the 1940s and 50s. Student enrollment started to climb and the physical dimensions of the campus continued to expand beyond Webster and Loretto halls.


But it was the 1960s that saw the most change at Webster College.

Webster opened its doors to its first male students in 1962. Two men enrolled that first year, although the list of available classes for men remained limited. Six years later the school went fully coeducational with no restrictions on the number of classes male students could take.

A grant from the Ford Foundation allowed Webster College to launch its Master of Arts in Teaching program in 1963. The program sought to provide a master's program for teaching professionals who couldn't afford to abandon their everyday work. It was Webster's first venture into offering evening classes for full-time professionals.

Finding it increasingly difficult to finance the college from internal resources, the Sisters of Loretto transferred ownership of the school to a lay board of directors in 1967. The lay board remains in place today, operating Webster as a private, nonprofit, non-denominational university.

The Education of Working Adults

The popularity of the evening programs in St. Louis prompted Webster College to expand its offerings across the state. In 1966, Webster offered its first courses outside of St. Louis at a campus in Kansas City, Mo. It offered a full Master of Arts program there starting in 1973.


Webster modeled its Kansas City curriculum after the successful Master of Arts in Teaching program launched in St. Louis. Although it was geared toward those in the management and service-related fields, it kept the intensive nine-week courses taught by practicing professionals.

Webster College clearly tapped into an unmet educational need at this point — a practical higher education option for working adults unable to put their lives on hold.

The practicality of this approach attracted the attention of the U.S. Government. In 1974, the U.S. Department of Defense invited Webster College to become the first to open an extended campus program at Fort Sheridan near Chicago. The program provided military personnel a convenient location to obtain higher education.

The offerings only grew from there. Webster University now offers programs at more than 90 locations throughout the United States, including at 32 metropolitan campuses, 21 corporate sites and 42 military installations.

Going Global


In the 1970s, few European universities offered a flexible, American-style education. Webster College sought to be one of the first. In 1978, Webster opened a campus in Geneva, Switzerland, capitalizing on the global perspective the city would add to a student's education.

The Geneva campus became a popular one, not just for Americans looking to study in Europe, but with Europeans seeking an American-accredited education. The popularity of the program led to the establishment of other European campuses: Vienna, Austria; Leiden, the Netherlands; and London, England.

Campuses since have been added in Shanghai, China, and Cha-Am/Hua Hin, Thailand. These locations add a global perspective that stretches across the Webster curriculum.

Innovative Education for the 21st Century

The evolution of Webster has taken it well beyond its initial days as a small women's liberal arts college. The Webster of today operates as a comprehensive, innovative institution of higher education. In 1983, the school renamed itself Webster University to reflect this development.


Webster University expanded the breadth of its offerings by creating five distinct schools and colleges: the School of Business and Technology; the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts; the School of Education; the School of Communications; and the College of Arts and Sciences.

The university boasts more than 20,000 students at its worldwide campuses and more than 101,000 alumni. And although the university operates more than 100 locations around the world, the home campus of Webster University remains its largest in student population and physical size. More than 7,250 students study at the 47-acre campus in Webster Groves, Mo.

Traditional-aged students. Adult learners. International students. Military personnel. Webster University serves them all, dedicated to providing quality higher education with small class sizes and a blend of theoretical and practical knowledge. Excellence in education remains its primary purpose.

[Into_the_Blue]

looks like wikipedia has a webster athletics section

[Into_the_Blue]

SLIAC First Half Stats of Interest (at least to me):

WC has shot 30 more free throws than the next closest competitor and made 31 more. 

Blackburn, worst record in the league, worst team defense in the league...86.5 ppg allowed

Webster with the highest assist total is 7th in team field goal percent.  Imagine if they made a few more shots....

Prin has only shot 72 FT's....really...72 in 8 games.  someone teach those guys to pump fake

Marc Randle is averaging a double double.  10.8 pts 10.6 rebs

Kam Bell with the Eurekas first recorded triple double  20 pts, 10 rebs, 10 assts

Todd Zimmerman has 47 Assists, his team has made 47 free throws.

Josh Branch leads the league in steals per game and uniforms stolen (or maybe just not turned in yet...)

[Mr. Ypsi]

In regards to Coach McKinney,  I think he has to have been doing something right in the last 3 years to have won the Conf Tournament.  Superior talent maybe, but that only takes you so far.  Coaching can win and lose a lot of games and in his case hes won 750.

Again, why is coaching ability considered to be something completely separate from recruiting ability? Recruiting is part of the job of coaching, especially at the D3 level where coaching staffs have limited size and time resources, and head coaches have to assume much of the burden of direct contact with, and wooing of, prospects (if not most or all of it). Even at the D1 level, where there are several full-time assistants whose primary task is to handle the recruiting, you can argue that recruiting is still a major function of the head coach, because the head coach is ultimately responsible for who signs those letters of intent and who doesn't, and because he has the capacity to hire and fire those assistants who are doing the heavy lifting in the recruiting department.

Several times in this room people have tried to denigrate Coach McKinney by downplaying his coaching and by attributing all of Fontbonne's recent success to its talent level. (I'm not necessarily accusing you of doing that, ec_fan.) Hel-lo, people ... who do you think got those players into Fontbonne uniforms in the first place? Chuck Berry? August A. Busch IV? Albert Pujols?

Recruiting is part of coaching. Many coaches would argue that it's the largest part. You can't disparage someone's coaching at the D3 level by attributing his success to his players, because he's the one who brought in the players in the first place.

Dennie Bridges wrote, "My consistent answer when I'm asked what is most important in producing championship teams is recruiting.  If you want the best chance to win, be certain you get off the bus with the best players, and let the other coach try to "out-coach" you."

Since he won 17 CCIW titles, and one national title, I'll take his word for it!

[I_HAD_GAME]

Thanks for the welcome Hopefan. As I've only seen Fontbonne, Eureka, Webster and Principia, I don't know how much I'll be able to contribute. The way it is now it looks like Westminster will probably be hosting. That means I probably won't be attending. Wife, kid, chores........

I will be following the action on this board. Watching the NFL games this weekend, at a local watering hole, I bumped into a Former Fontbonne player. Who also is a regular reader of this page. You start reading when your a player and then your just addicted.

[hopefan]

Back to All Conference chat

Last week definitely changed my thinking on several of my original first team selections...

My original picks were
Zasada, Eureka
McAfee, Spalding
Vislay, Westmin
Moore, Webster
Forest, Fontbonne

Well as the stock market goes up and down, so does the performance of players....

Zasada stays

McAffee stays, though he did have a tough game vs BC

Vislay stays, but seeing Westmins win vs Webster just continues the confusion regarding who makes first team All Conference from Westmin - Vislay, Millard, Crawford?   It's a real debateable issue - ie in the Webster game none of them had more than 12 points or 4 rebounds; Millard had 5 turnovers, Vislay goes 4 for 11, 1 for 5 from 3's...  But they demolish Webster...   it's really a tough call. 

Moore falls off... all of a sudden he has seemed to lose the intensity that was the reason I had him there to begin with...  he really seems to just be giving the ball up and not getting involved enough in the offense...

Forest falls off . all indications are that his performance is falling right along with Fontbonne's

So I'm looking for two new first teamers

I'm going with:
upset special    Mark Randall Mac   14 and 18 rebounds  in two conference games this week is enough to convince me  - as Blue mentioned, he's averaging a double double in conference  and I didn't even know who this oung man was untilI saw him vs Fontbonne!!!

and..... gotta go with Kam Bell....  he's been fantastic except in the two games I've seen... but I'll be watching the stats closely vs Westmin and Webster...

Others who stay close...  One giant game for Jones doesn't move him up, Sykes is close, Sichting too

that old debate - compare Sykes stats to any individual from Westmin - it's VERY clear who has better stats... and as Westmin supporters will say hey, the guys are doing what they have to to WIN, but is it fair to Rod Sykes because he (theoreticly) does not have a solid supporting cast.....  Easy to argue either side.....

[hopefan]

3 very interesting games tomorrow night

Greenville at Fontbonne   -  well, Someone has to win this game - Fontbonne should want it to prove something to everyone out here - they can win without Josh Branch, and that the nucleus of players have some pride in their performance -  This game is absolutely critical to Greenville if they are to have any playoff chance  - CRITICAL

Mac at Eureka  --Mac needs an upset to get closer to Webster for third place, and to show Eureka that they can beat them if they meet in the first round of the playoffs...  Eureka seems too athletic, but Mac plays physical....  For Eureka, another loss would rule out any shot at catching Westmin - a win would help their hold on second place.

Webster at BC  -  Tough game for Webster, but one they really need - BC's gym so hard to play in - would be a game to remember for Blackburn if they could win  -  watch out for the upset   -  and how about the ladies' game??

[WUPHF]

Please forgive me for posting this here because this is only very loosely related, but there was a very interesting conversation here about the Maryville University transition to Division II from Division III.  Apparently, Lindenwood is preparing for a move from NAIA to Division II as well:

http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2010/01/25/stcharles/special_feature/doc4b5a2bc4114f4731860137.txt

Incidentally, Maryville is winless against Division II opponents on the season.

[sac]

Please forgive me for posting this here because this is only very loosely related, but there was a very interesting conversation here about the Maryville University transition to Division II from Division III.  Apparently, Lindenwood is preparing for a move from NAIA to Division II as well:

http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2010/01/25/stcharles/special_feature/doc4b5a2bc4114f4731860137.txt

Incidentally, Maryville is winless against Division II opponents on the season.

Tiffin University(Ohio)  is in the process or has already made this move .............but I have no fancy links to anything pertinent.

[hopefan]

Can't decide what kind of game I'll see over at Fontbonne tonight  -  the Griffs getting it together and rallying vs an out of control tempo Greenville squad....  or a down Fontbonne squad simply unable to match up with Greenville's speed and getting beat in a high scoring affair......    I know it doesn't mean much in the standings, but I'm anxious to watch......

[I_HAD_GAME]

Can't decide what kind of game I'll see over at Fontbonne tonight  -  the Griffs getting it together and rallying vs an out of control tempo Greenville squad....  or a down Fontbonne squad simply unable to match up with Greenville's speed and getting beat in a high scoring affair......    I know it doesn't mean much in the standings, but I'm anxious to watch......

This tempo and squad just beat Webster. I won't be attending a game tonite so look forward to the posts.

As it appears Fontbonne's chances of getting back are nill, I guess we'll have a Newbie going to the NCAA's. Something to look to. Since the conference has gone back to the post season tourney in "05. Westminster is 2-3, Webster is 1-5. Mac 1-1 and EC 1-1 in tourney play. Homecourt could be huge advantage. This also would sew up another horrible first round match up for the winner.

I wish we had the SLIAC tourney to look forward to.

[Gregory Sager]

Please forgive me for posting this here because this is only very loosely related, but there was a very interesting conversation here about the Maryville University transition to Division II from Division III.  Apparently, Lindenwood is preparing for a move from NAIA to Division II as well:

http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2010/01/25/stcharles/special_feature/doc4b5a2bc4114f4731860137.txt

Incidentally, Maryville is winless against Division II opponents on the season.

Lindenwood's AD is uninformed about the organization of which he is a member:

"The reality is, unless you're from the Midwest, you don't know what the NAIA is," Creer said. "Lindenwood has come a long way in the past 20 years, so it is time to bring more recognition to the university."

The NAIA has a very prominent presence down south and in the far west. The northeastern part of the country is really the only region where the NAIA's presence is minimal.

Maryville is 2-17 this season, and as WUH said the Saints are winless against D2 teams thus far. Their two wins have come against Webster and NAIA member Willliam Woods. The Saints have an average losing margin of 19 this season, although that's somewhat distorted by the 45-point loss to Missouri-St. Louis and the 65-point loss to Southern Indiana. On the plus side, the Saints only lost by one to UW-Parkside last week.

[Mr. Ypsi]

In addition to the south and far west, I assume the NAIA must be big in the mountain states; d3 certainly ain't there!

[eurekafan2233]

Eureka's Kam Bell named to d3hoops.com team of the week.  Averging 27.5 pts and 10.5 boards and i think like 5 assists. Pretty good honor.  http://www.eureka.edu/athletics/menbsktball/pr/0910/BellSelectedtoD3hoops.comTeamoftheWeek.shtml