MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Denny McKinney]

Retention, Retention, Retention. Hope most of these young men remained in school somewhere.

This was part of a previous discussion I think. I can see more of this coming.

[y_jack_lok]

Retention, Retention, Retention. Hope most of these young men remained in school somewhere.

This was part of a previous discussion I think. I can see more of this coming.

I think hopefan's reference is to playing basketball only, not whether they are still in school somewhere.

[Denny McKinney]

I got that part Yjak. I just said I hope these guys thought to stay and finish the more important part of the equation.

[y_jack_lok]

I hope so, too. But life is complicated and college is expensive. As you have so well stated many times, lots of these kids face serious obstacles to completing a college education. We wish them all the best.

[hopefan]

As I hadn't talked to anyone regarding new faces at Webster, I found the boxscore of their game with UTM interesting... as Yjak informed, 3 top scorers were Bradfish. Huskey, Whittingham... no surprises there... and Hollis Edwards obviously started at point...  the 5th starter was a new face, Dietrick Sooter, listed as 5'9" on the roster... Sooter played at Meramac CC, and while I couldn't find stats, I did find an article about a 2 point win over SWIC, and he was the leading scorer with 24.  Also saw that in high school at small school Pierce City, he was a huge scorer... had 54 in one game. Most minutes off the bench were given to another new face, Roman Robinson, a 6'3" forward out of a CC in California...don't know if he was buddies with Willie Trimble or not.. he had 8 points and 5 boards vs UTM

Here is what I found on Merritt CC's site:
ROMAN ROBINSON 6"3 GUARD (RODRIGUEZ HS) FAIRFIELD, CA HAS COMMITTED TO NAIA D1WEBSTER UNIVERSITY IN SAINT LOUIS, MO.                     Maybe Webster has a secret dual association???

So as I thought, it's a whole new game for Webster...  Only Huskey with much size, and he's hardly the type of player to give you 35 minutes.. nope, it appears Webster will have to rely on the run and shoot game... lots of 3 pointers, hopefully lots of penetration and dish from Edwards....

[y_jack_lok]

Most minutes off the bench were given to another new face, Roman Robinson, a 6'3" forward out of a CC in California...don't know if he was buddies with Willie Trimble or not.. he had 8 points and 5 boards vs UTM

A "source" says there is no connection between Trimble and Robinson. A different "source" said that Dietrick Sooter is a good shooter (sorry, I couldn't think of a way to avoid the rhyme) although he didn't have a good shooting game Friday.

[hopefan]

No exhibitions this past weekend  that I'm aware of...next one is Mac at SIUE this coming Thursday..  Fontbonne is at Mo Western on Saturday, Westmin is at Central Mo on Saturday,  And Prin is at Maryville on Monday the 14th...

Regular Season opens on the 15th!!!!   (I'll surely be at Mac at Wash U that night!!)

Scheduling of note... how big of a fan are you... Saturday Nov 19 at Webster is an opportunity to see FOUR games at Webster...  the Women play the 2nd game of their tourney in the afternoon, Rust vs Concordia at 1:00 and Webster vs Maryville (Tenn) at 3, then head upstairs to get something to eat, then back down to the gym  for Maryville Tenn men vs Rust at 6 (which is a critical 'B Group' game nationally) and Webster vs Bluffton...
I really think Webster AD Tom Hart should pony up for some free pizza for anyone who stays for four games... ( Tom, I can eat a lot of pizza) 

[GC Panther 01]

Burnout at a low level D3 school?   read- doesnt really love the game.

[metaljacket]

 Dewhon McAfee and Cody Cutsinger are sitting out this year for Spalding. The rumored reasoning is so that they can play in a conference tournament and potential NCAA tournament before they graduate.

[hopefan]

metal  thanks... you were our good source of info on Spalding last year...   was waiting to see if you would respond....  in reality, I see nothing wrong with the move... these guys had the thrill of playing in a conf tourney for an NCAA spot taken away from them due to the timing of Spalding's move to the NCAA, and the way around it would seem legal and justifiable.... the obvious theory is get your 4 years of play in 5 years... just have to make sure they don't lose the psychological edge and fitness over that year......  And Spalding is hardly shorthanded, though they'll obviously miss the scoring and leadership that McAfee and Cutsinger provide....

[y_jack_lok]

I suppose if it was going to take 5 years to graduate anyway this makes sense. But if you can graduate in four years I see no reason to assume the expense of another year. Unless they can do as Sean Wallis did at Wash U, after sitting out a year due to injury, and be a grad student. Does Spalding have graduate programs?

[metaljacket]

I believe Spalding does have graduate programs. However, I would assume that both student athletes would have been back for a 5th year either way.

Not sure if I agree with you Yjack about assuming the expense for another year if you could graduate in 4 years. These athletes, once in college are only guaranteed 4 more years of playing organized sports. If a season gets taken away because of injury or other personal reason, and that student stays on track to graduate but wants to come back for another year anyway to get one last chance to play, I fully support that. They only have 1 year to play the game for the rest of their life...They have the next 60 years to work and pay off that one year of tuition.

[WUPHF]

Off Topic: Washington University hosts Webster in round one of the NCAA National Volleyball Championship on Friday.

[y_jack_lok]

Valid points, metaljacket. With a son just 2+ years out of college (debt free fortunately due to a generous tuition scholarship -- we paid room, board, and expenses) I know what a burden kids and their families face paying off college debt, especially in the current economic climate. Many of my son's friends have major debt and no jobs, or lousy jobs. Happily, my son has a decent job. But, as you say, you only get one chance to do this and if a student and his/her family are willing/able to deal with the financial ramifications, then they should make the choice they feel is right for them.

[y_jack_lok]

Off Topic: Washington University hosts Webster in round one of the NCAA National Volleyball Championship on Friday.

Just FYI, there is a Division III Volleyball posting board on this site, too.