MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Denny McKinney]

He did not appear in the 2 games against FU. And, you gotta believe a JV player would of attended the varsity contest. At least some. He would of caught my eye as a spectator at some WU games.

The case of Kevin Miller. This poster hopes it's not a medical issue. I commented to Yjak last season that his weight had reached a point that I was a concerned spectator. That is just not a healthy situation.

I'm hoping the man took a year off to work on this and be back. Saw him play several times his senior year, while watching Lisch. Some of the best post moves I've seen in this area for a few years. Good Luck Kevin.

The youngman from Cali had some talent and a body built for Sliac ball. I caught a JV game he played in against FU. Dominated and had 20+ and controlled the boards.

[Denny McKinney]

Friday presented the most incredible day for the Coach's Classic Golf Tournament. Great day of gathering and a little competition. Very successful day. I think oral auction brought like $12.000. Thanks to all those "viewers" for your support. And you know who you are. 

Yours truly had a Branson Golf get away weekend with all the perks donated! I think it brought a nice $600 price.

Fridays fundraiser supports the Men and Women's basketball and both golf teams.

Coach made an inspiring speach to end the evening. It took a scorching 55 to win the tourney. Those two mulligans for $25 come in handy. And, good for the event.

Great day of visting. Three players from the first FC team. Players and family from past to this years freshmen familes. Super great corporate support. If you can fundraise you can go to Florida for five days and play one game. And open the season on Michigan Ave. on it's biggest day.

It was the Fontbonne Family at it's best. Thanks again all.


 

[Denny McKinney]

Heard this weekend that Webster's Kevin Miller is attending U of I as a student. Shame. The young man could of been a force in the SLIAC.

[LBJ6]

Close personal friend of Miller's. He is currently attending UMSL pursuing a criminal justice degree, and is out of the game of basketball. At the end of the year last year he sat out the last couple weeks of last season, if you can remember, with a partially torn Pateller Tendon is his left knee. After strong influence from his doctor, and consulting with family and friends, he decided to throw in the towel with basketball.

[Denny McKinney]

Thanks LBJ6. The person that told me that had saw Kevin alot this summer. Must of got the schools wrong. Please wish Kevin the best of luck for me. An extremely nice young man.

[LBJ6]

I will pass the message along, thanks for the kind words...

[Denny McKinney]

 It sure feels like that time of year. Two weeks till the balls start bouncing. When you have saw your first game at 6 days old and started sitting on the bench when you were four. I can't imagine a fall without basketball. Still the greatest game.

[Denny McKinney]

Less then two weeks till practices start and the board is a buzz. Hopefan didn't even finish his season previews.

Hope all are well.

[hopefan]

Denny.....  as you know, some coaches are open and willing to communicate, others aren't..... Greenville said wait a while longer, Eureka, Prin, Spalding and Blackburn chose not to respond......I hope everyone enjoyed Fontbonne, Webster, Westmin, and Mac.......  Wish the board was more active.... I've about given up.......

[WUPHF]

Wish the board was more active...I've about given up.

If you chose not to post here, how would I know that the Lindenwood Belleville campus had a team?  You never know what Lindenwood will do next.

I am excited for the season to start again.  I am sure I will see you at the Fontbonne and Webster (vs. WUSTL) games.  Maybe MacMurray and a few others.

[Denny McKinney]

Hopefan there are not many posters. But, a ton of people read your posts. Keep up the good work.

WUH - LU - Belleville are entering their first season. They are coached by former FU assistant Scott Spinner (Head Coach) and former FU player Chad Fournie (Assistant). I'm not sure of their affiliation. From what I he they had alot of scholarships to offer.

[WUPHF]

LU - Belleville are entering their first season. They are coached by former FU assistant Scott Spinner (Head Coach) and former FU player Chad Fournie (Assistant). I'm not sure of their affiliation. From what I he they had a lot of scholarships to offer.

I apologize for the non-SLIAC distraction, but this is very interesting.

It looks like LU-Belleville is part of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (http://www.theuscaa.com/landing/index), a sanctioning body that has about 70 members, including community colleges, state school branch campuses, technical schools among others.

The application to join the USCAA is a one-page PDF with annual dues of $3,000.  They market themselves based on the tag line "leveling the playing field" and offer quotes from member schools about how they did not have postseasons before, and now they complete is loads of championships.

In regards to the program, the schedule is an interesting hodge podge of schools.  Everything from UMSL to Grinnell to Logan Chiropractic College to Meramec (twice).  And, the roster is loaded with transfers and community college transfers.  That must be how it works sometimes when you start a brand new program. 

[hopefan]

Wonder if UMSL (or anyone else for that matter) thought they were scheduling the main campus of Lindenwood???....

on the other hand... you couldn't ask for two better guys to start a program than Spinner and Fournie... both 'my kind of' players at Webster and Fontbonne... tough nosed, run through a brick wall guys.....and surely thrilled to be asked to coach a startup situation.....

[Gregory Sager]

LU - Belleville are entering their first season. They are coached by former FU assistant Scott Spinner (Head Coach) and former FU player Chad Fournie (Assistant). I'm not sure of their affiliation. From what I he they had a lot of scholarships to offer.

I apologize for the non-SLIAC distraction, but this is very interesting.

It looks like LU-Belleville is part of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (http://www.theuscaa.com/landing/index), a sanctioning body that has about 70 members, including community colleges, state school branch campuses, technical schools among others.

The application to join the USCAA is a one-page PDF with annual dues of $3,000.  They market themselves based on the tag line "leveling the playing field" and offer quotes from member schools about how they did not have postseasons before, and now they complete is loads of championships.

In regards to the program, the schedule is an interesting hodge podge of schools.  Everything from UMSL to Grinnell to Logan Chiropractic College to Meramec (twice).  And, the roster is loaded with transfers and community college transfers.  That must be how it works sometimes when you start a brand new program. 

Yup, that's exactly how it works -- and the scenario never changes, either. I can tell you that, going all the way back to the late 1950s when North Park transitioned from a junior college into a four-year college, head coach Ted Hedstrand was forced to come up with a real mixed bag of opponents. Some were bona-fide four-year schools with long athletic histories (including current CCIW rival Augustana), some were junior colleges or two-year branch campuses (including the school that is now UIC), some were the junior varsities of large universities (including DePaul's and Loyola's JVs), and one was the type of club team familiar to SLIAC fans (Great Lakes Naval Base).

Of course, it's different when your new program is accepted straightaway into an established conference. Roosevelt University in downtown Chicago, which discontinued intercollegiate sports two decades ago, is reviving its sports teams this year. It was accepted immediately into the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference and the NAIA, so the Lakers are playing a first-year basketball schedule this coming season against what is for the most part established and reputable programs. Other Chicago-area schools of recent intercollegiate-sports vintage, such as East-West University, Robert Morris - Lake County, and Indiana Dabney University, don't have a conference and thus have to go the more standard hodgepodge scheduling route that Lindenwood-Belleville is about to experience.

North Park didn't have the benefit of a conference, either, when it started playing varsity sports in the 1958-59 school year. It phased out playing two-year schools and JV teams (and the Great Lakes Naval Base team) after two years and was able to assemble a more legit small-college schedule, and after two more years as an independent North Park joined the CCIW for the 1962-63 school year.

The bottom line is that it's hard to get reputable four-year schools of long standing to schedule you until you've been around for awhile and have achieved some credibility as a program.

Incidentally, familiar SLIAC foe Robert Morris - Springfield is also a USCAA member.

[Denny McKinney]

Greg- There are a large number of transfers for one main reason. Lindenwood made an agreement with SWIC that they would not recruit Il. HS seniors.

Along with Spinner's coaching duties, he is also the AD.