MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

Westminster's Recruits.....    my comments in red


Joe James 6'3" gd            Vianney High School  12 ppg 51% from Field, 80% FT%   had good games vs some good teams

Charlie Henderson 6'5" fwd        Rock Bridge High School    10 ppg, 6 rpg at top level competition....  check out Titan Q's writeup back on May 2 in this room

Taylor Allen        Center      6'5"  Fatima High School    20 ppg, 10 rpg  small school ...    All district... also All State in Soccer

Greg Wright       fwd       6'5" Herman High School    12 ppg, 10.5 rpg All 4 rivers, All district


Transfers

Logan Ray            6'0" guard           Dixon High School William Woods University   Listed as one of top guards in Missouri by Mo Prep Sports in 2007, but I couldnt find anything on College experience... he was not on William Woods roster last year

Jordan Maxwell 6'0" guard          Lynn High School Brown Mackie CC   All District at Lynn in 2007... again couldn't find anything on college experience

Looks like 3 or 4 solid frosh, but the transfers will be a mystery.... I need help from someone at Westmin who sees these guys play in the fall!!               

[Denny McKinney]

Former Fontbonne player Brian Fogerty was invited to try out this weekend for the STL Pioneers. This is a new team in the ABA. Games will be played at the Family Arena.

At the last premeir camp in Chicago, Brisn was chose for the All Star game and chosen as one of the 10 featured players.

The young man has worked hard for this oppurtunity. Let's wish him luck.

[hopefan]

There is alot out there on the Internet reagarding the ABA --   it is truly the lower level minor leagues of professional hoops....  There are teams and divisions all over the country, and the handful of rosters I looked over had mostly Division one players from low to mid level schools....  The Indiana team had two Division 3 players on their roster, from Anderson and Manchester....   still, a fun opportunity for someone like Brian Fogerty, to test his skills against guys who played D1 and D2... can Fogerty play at this level... he'll have to do it with a physical style of play and work his butt off... he'll see guys bigger, quicker, higher than he's seen at Fontbonne...  but if he makes it, and gets to play, I'd pluck down the cash to support a D3 player at that level!!!!  Check out this writeup on usbasketball.com:

St.Louis Pioneers on the move - Aug 11, 2010 (by Gianni Pascucci)
The ABA St. Louis Pioneers are quickly putting together a great organization from top to bottom for the City of St. Louis. Team owner James Graham and the Pioneer ownership wasted no time in generating a buzz around town. The head coach will be Jamaal Davis (6'10''-F-79, college: Cincinnati), who was an outstanding post player and win for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Davis said he is excited to be a part of the organization and has a lot of surprises in store for the upcoming season. Jamaal has also played in the ABA as well as enjoying a very productive stint overseas. The team also announced Marcus Collins will oversee operations as the team's General Manager. Collins has a great hold on basketball in St. Louis as he ran, created and organized some of the top high school events and exposure workouts in the city for the past nine years. He has also secured partnerships and sponsorship deals with corporate giants as McDonalds, Dr. Pepper, NIKE, US Navy and Radio One. The Pioneers will be hosting their second tryout in St. Louis on August 28th at STL Sports Center located at 6727 Langley Avenue from 1230-430pm.

There is also a site stlpioneers.com, that has only an introduction, but should fill up with info as the team is organized and a schedule is developed.  This could definitely catch on in the area if the team keeps at least several local players...

[Denny McKinney]

Good research Hopefan.

The coach of the Chicago ABA team and one of the people behind the exposure camp Brian went to recommended him to the Pioneers.

At the camp and this weekend Brian will be competing for a SF spot. Brian is down to 214 and is in tremendous shape. His improvement from behind the arc is unbelievable.

One things for sure. No one will out work him.

Good Luck Brian.

[Denny McKinney]

The ABA is a stipend type league. Ben Hebl from Maryville played in one last year. Grand Forks, maybe. The ABA plays all weekend games. But, if your a DIII player with a dream to play pro ball. Does the level really matter? Your getting paid to play.

My money is on he makes it. He is healthy for the first time in years. And we all know he is a very strong player and that could cause mismatches. I think the young man gets a shot.

[hopefan]

Great to hear that Ben Hebl is still playing....  funny thing is, I found him on the Internet on the Texas Fuel... and it lists his school as a school in Germany... but I found a couple videos, and it is our Maryville Ben Heble....  one of the videos was him talking about hoping for a chance to play in Europe, so perhaps he got that shot, and then came back and is playing ABA in Texas....  Hebl was a good player in the SLIAC, fun to watch firing up all the long range jump shots, but not at Fogerty's level as far as consistent performance night in night out.....

[hopefan]

and so, how did Brian Fogerty do yesterday in his tryout with the Pioneers?

[Into_the_Blue]

Last time I talked to Hebl, a couple years ago, he had a tryout in Europe the following week.  Never heard if he made it but it sounded like he was going to keep at it until he got on somewhere.

Sorry for my absence from the board! 

[hopefan]

Blue  great to hear from you... Hebl had a wonderful ponytail and a glass of wine in front of him  on the video I saw... still playing ball, life seems good!!!!

[Into_the_Blue]

still no word on fogerty?  guess roster annonced in october?  tryout in wichita soon, maybe i should go...haha

hebl has it made if hes still playing and getting paid.  sounds nice

[hopefan]

As the school year starts, my mind turns even more to D3hoops.... have readers (there seems to be no other writers) noticed that Fontbonne's new Athletic site already has this season's schedule up?   NOTE to Fontbonne SID - why not turn it into the D3hoops crew so the schedule is also complete on these pages?

The schedule is tough... and I usually complain about Fontbonne going soft...  but disappointing from a fan perspective in that there are only two HOME non conference games, along with the matchup with Wash U across the street.  The season opens up for the Griffs on the road at D2 Central Mo on a Wednesday Night, then to Chicago for the Moody Bible tourney (sorry fans, I still have disdain for this yearly wasted weekend, where Fontbonne is always put up against some bandit NAIA school in the first round, then plays Moody the second night  -  two who cares games, rather than finding a good d3 weekend that might be worth traveling to see)...   Then it's Robert Morris Springfield on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving as the first home game.. hopefully a game that's a win and gives fans a chance to see many of the new faces wearing purple in action... 
Then on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, CCIW's North Park at home.  I really look forward to that one as it will not only show us to what level the Griffs have progressed at that point in time, but I've never personally seen North Park play, but have memories of being in awe of there championship performances back in the day.  Also hoping we may get a visit from Prominent North Park alum and D3hoops.com hall of famer Greg Sager.  It's guys like Greg and TQ and Sac up in the Michigan room that have really kept these boards running while the rest of us are just passing through.. I for one, am very appreciative, and I TRY to keep things perking in the SLIAC room like they have in the CCIW room and MIAA room... it isn't easy..
After that, the SLIAC season opens on Wednesday, Dec 1, and the Griffs jump right into the fire hosting SLIAC preseason favorite Westminster.
Other non conference games are at Wash U on Wednesday, Dec 8 (wondering if this game won't be intriguing... Wash U loses so much to graduation.... definitely a rebuilding, or at least a 'show me' season for them), at D1 Austin Peay that Saturday afternoon (ok, the point spread did start at 40, but it has fallen to 25 as I hear more good things about Fontbonne recruits), at Rose Hulman the following Tuesday (I like this game - always a test for the Griffs), then a two + week gap to a game vs D2 Tampa down in Florida between Christmas and New Year's.
The SLIAC schedule then begins in earnest on Wednesday Jan 4. 

So the makeup of 9 non conference games are a D1, game, 2 D2 games, likely 3 non NCAA games, and 3 very good D3 games.   Only 2 at home +Wash U...  very, very tough...   4 or 5 wins will be a major accomplishment, but new fans, don't get discouraged if there are only 2 or 3.....

[hopefan]

chuckle smirk etc... I'm either playing to a very tough audience, or no audience at all...

[hopefan]

Webster's schedule is up on their site, and as usual, Coach Bunch presents a very tough non conference schedule in an effort to prep the gorlocks for the SLIAC.  

After an early November Exhibition with SIUE, Webster opens at home with its own Classic...  if the schedule is to be believed, there are 5 teams playing over two days..  Webster will play Sewanee on Friday nov 19 after Millikin plays Nebraska Wesleyan, and then on Saturday Webster plays Nebraska Wesleyan, preceded by Principia playing Sewanee..... perhaps milikin had room for only one game?   Still an entertaining group of schools.. and Nebraska Wesleyan should present a challenge...

Thanksgiving week is off, then the Gorlocks host Illinois Wesleyan on Monday the 29th... The Titans will likely be rated in the Top 5 in the country preseason...

The Conference season starts that week with Mac and Eureka,  Then Webster travels to D2 Drury on Wednesday Dec 8, and to Holly Springs Mississippi to play Rust on Dec 11.  They stay on the road to play in the Sewanee tourney the following weekend, per the Sewanee schedule, opening with Sewanee on Friday and Berry College, a school  currently in the process of moving from the NAIA to D3, on Saturday.
Nothing over Christmas, the conference starts up in Jan, but Webster sqeezes in Wash U on January 12, a Wednesday, and Missouri S&T (Rolla) on February 1.

In Sum, 6 D3 games, 2 D2 games, and a game with an NAIA-D3 'tweener'.  Four games at home, going down to Rust or Sewanee would be a fun trip....  Rolla easy to drive to

[Gregory Sager]

chuckle smirk etc... I'm either playing to a very tough audience, or no audience at all...

Don't get discouraged, Hopefan. I don't know if any SLIAC coaches or administrators have told you this, but you perform a valuable service here. And those of us from outside the SLIAC rely upon you to give us an idea of what's going on in that league and what to look for.

[magicman]

chuckle smirk etc... I'm either playing to a very tough audience, or no audience at all...

Don't get discouraged, Hopefan. I don't know if any SLIAC coaches or administrators have told you this, but you perform a valuable service here. And those of us from outside the SLIAC rely upon you to give us an idea of what's going on in that league and what to look for.

hopefan,
I agree with Greg and I check this board 3 or 4 times a week to see what you've been posting. I count on you to keep me informed concerning the SLIAC, and you certainly do a great job of that.