MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

I've now seen 6 of 9 schedules for SLIAC schools...  not yet seen Westminster, Eureka, and Principia

here they are, and how I rate them, best to worst

1)Fontbonne  plays:
   at Central  (18-8)
   at Wash U  (20-7)
   vs Edgewood  (23-7)
   vs MSOE  (10-15)
   at Rose Hulman  (20-9)
   at Millikin  (1-24)
   vs Augustana (19-7)
    2 games at Daytona Beach vs TBD among Bates Oglethorpe, Concordia (Wi), Simpson, Roanoke,   Washington and Lee, and Marymount.
  Brutal schedule for a team that will be finding itself...   but great prep to make a run for a SLIAC tourney spot.


2) Spalding
   vs Transylvania  (23-5)
   vs Asbury  (12-17)
   vs Cincinnati Christian (12-19)
   at Indiana Southeast  (26-8)
   at Anderson  (15-12)
   at Thomas More  (20-8)
   at Gardner Webb  (D1 - 12-20)
   2 games ECAC Holiday tourney in Mass opponents not yet known
Wish there were more D3 schools, particularly in the Spalding tourney where they and Webster play two non-NCAA teams   I rated Spalding just slightly ahead of Mac under the assumption of 2 Good opponents in Massachusetts...  but the trip itself is a big positive.


3) MacMurray
   at Knox  (3-20)
   Rust at Webster (12-13)
   Sewanee at Webster  (13-13)
   Wartburg at UW Platteville  (11-14)
   at UW Platteville  (14-12)
   at McKendree  (18-12)
    vs Augustana  (19-7)
    vs Wash U  (20-7)
    vs Iowa Wesleyan  (12-14)
Only Knox is soft... builds nicely to Augie and Wash U in mid Dec..  Iowa Wez is late January

4) Webster :
   vs Sewanee (13-13)
   vs Rust  (12-13)
   Cincinnati Christian at Spalding (12-19)
   Asbury at Spalding  (12-17)
   vs Wash U  (20-7)
   at Elmhurst  (12-13)
   at Rust  (12-13)
   at Lindenwood (St Charles)   (28-3)
   at Dominican  (6-19)
Webster's schedule not nearly as strong as in past

5) Blackburn
   2 of these 3 at Illinois college tourney...  Illinois college (6-17)  Benedictine  (13-14)   Dubuque  (17-9)
   vs Millikin  (1-24)
   at Rhodes  (18-9)
   vs Hendrix at Rhodes  (6-19)
   at Dubuque (17-9)
   at Aurora  (13-13)
   at Rockford  (12-14)
   Monmouth  (7-16)
Nice schedule for a team that has only 2 guys returning who saw significant time last year... the positive is that it's 9 D3 games...

6 Greenville
   vs Hendrix at Westminster  (6-19)
   vs Rhodes at Westminster  (18-9)
   vs Lincoln Christian  (9-17)
   at St Louis Pharma  (10-14)
   Vs St Louis Christian  (?? - ??)
   vs Mid Continent Christian  (12-20)
   vs Missouri Baptist  (18-13)
   at Dominican  (6-19)
Greenville continues their streak of having the weakest non conference schedule......       

 

[Gregory Sager]

Hopefan, I would rank the top three as MacMurray, Fontbonne, Spalding. MacMurray's schedule is a little less regionally-oriented than Fontbonne's, but the Highlanders will play tougher opponents on average than will the Griffins.

I thought that perhaps Greenville was scheduling for the NCCAA tourney rather than for the D3 tourney, since Greenville has participated in that organization's postseason tourney before (although not in the recent past). This is what Maranatha Baptist did throughout its years as a NAthCon member. However, the only NCCAA opponents that the Panthers are playing this year are Lincoln Christian and Mid-Continent Christian. Neither Missouri Baptist nor St. Louis Christian is an NCCAA member. And nothing, other than geographical convenience, explains the presence of St. Louis Pharmacy on the Greenville sked.

[hopefan]

Greg, my rating system can be seriously influenced by 'how many of these games would I really like to see'....  given that impact, Fontbonne and Spalding pushed ahead, as Mac's first 5 games are a little wishy-washy, though I'd like to see Platteville given their favorable history and being a WIAC school....

[Gregory Sager]

Don't be fooled by the records. I'm fairly confident that UW-Platteville is going to be better than Central, Edgewood, and Rose-Hulman ... and McKendree is a member of the GLVC, one of D2's toughest leagues.

[hopefan]

Regarding my comments on Eureka in my previous writeup  :  I just reviewed the Eureka College Football Roster........   Jordan Kindred is NOT on it!!!

[FU_SID]

Fontbonne has launched a new athletic website. It can be found at www.fontbonnegriffins.com

[ecreddevils]

Regarding my comments on Eureka in my previous writeup  :  I just reviewed the Eureka College Football Roster........   Jordan Kindred is NOT on it!!!

Well, if you looked at the roster on the website, it's from 2011.  By all info, Kindred is playing WR for the football team.  He played in a live scrimmage last Friday against Millikin. 

On another note, looks like we have a really solid transfer who scored over 30 points in an IHSA state tournament game two years ago.

[hopefan]

Regarding my comments on Eureka in my previous writeup  :  I just reviewed the Eureka College Football Roster........   Jordan Kindred is NOT on it!!!

Well, if you looked at the roster on the website, it's from 2011.  By all info, Kindred is playing WR for the football team.  He played in a live scrimmage last Friday against Millikin. 

On another note, looks like we have a really solid transfer who scored over 30 points in an IHSA state tournament game two years ago.

DARN,  You're right..  would have thought that roster would be THIS season, given practice has started... but....

Can you tell us any more on the new face... name? here did he go last year?

[louhoopsfan]

Received a nice note from Todd Creal at Mac, which got my mind back to SLIAC basketball and the upcoming season...  I've seen so little recruiting info from most of the schools that it's difficult to write much of substance... maybe the coaches will communicate more after the new faces arrive on campus... let's hope so....   what I can do is write out the questions I have regarding each of the teams as we begin to think about hoops....

Webster:   Well, it's no secret now to anyone close to the program,that unless somthing has changed,  Webster has lost conference MVP Stefan Whittingham to D2 Lincoln U in Pennsylvania.  Just a darned shame, I'd imagine finances were a major factor, but can a good player in a lower level D3 conference be successsful at the D2 level where most all players are ATHLETES... I wonder....  So how does Webster replace that scoring and rebounding?  Will Ramon Robinson return from California for another year, or also look for a different option? and what of Willie Trimble?  Webster has won with better jumpers, better quickness, the last several years, but won't have that advantage this year unless Robinson and Trimble show up.

Fontbonne:  What do you do with a mix of 7-10 kids returning from an awful team, and 10-15 new faces.. who's going to go, who's playing JV, how many guys will be in the rotation on the varsity... does loyalty get rewarded, or does Coach Scafer go with the new faces?  And does Clayton Cahill suit up for the Griffs.. something that could be worth 3-5 more wins for a team that will likely struggle again,  but will gradually begin to develop with new faces....

Eureka:  Can't figure out why emails to coach Wilde are totally ignorred.... well, let's see, I did write a letter in support of ECSID several years ago, but not in any way condemning that young man's dismissal from the college, only that as a fan I appreciated the coverage of D3 Basketball that he had provided....  Well, as far as the upcoming season goes, my question would be is if Eureka was able to recruit strong enough talent to lend some bench depth to the returning starting 5.  Two or three solid players would really help when starters need a break or get in foul trouble.  Also... has anyone yet talked Jordan Kindred out of trying Football???   Don't do it Jordan!!!!   Think NCAA Tourney!!!!!!

Mac :   The obvious question is can Mac find a replacement for graduated point guard Clint Lee....  Coach Creal has recruited at least two potential candidates... can they fit right in....  and more interesting to me, and something that will generate wins, can Dylan Burton bounce back from an injury riddled sophomore season and return to the form he showed Frosh year... if so, I still think he's a first team all Conference talent.....

Prin :  good grief.... this may have been the least talented program in D3 last year, and they lost some of the talent they did have to graduation...   can they find anyone to play ball with Kenny Sydness and Stanley Beal??

Greenville : Lost alot to graduation, but still have a solid nucleus returning, and a recruiting class that reads great on the Greenville site and that the coaches are very excited about... can the recruits come in and immediately play at the level of the graduating seniors... Greenville is one of my favorite D3 schools due to quaint town, game time atmosphere, good guy coaches and players...  I'm anxious to see how the new faces fit in....

Westmin :  The SLIAC's NCAA rep from last year loses one very good player to graduation, Kurt Kovach, and I'm very curious if Joe Prophet can return from a devastating knee injury suffered at the end of the season....   if Prophet can't play, or depending on what level he can play at, depth will suffer... not alot showed off the bench last year, so again, how will new faces impact the program... tough to replace any of the incumbent starters, but depth at the big man positions or at point will surely help....

Blackburn : This team will show a whole new look as graduation took a major toll....  with only Brandon Adams and Brandon Hill returning with any experience, a huge recruiting year is needed....What did they get?

Spalding :  2011 League MVP Dewhon Mcafee and Cody Cutsinger sit out last season in order to play a year of SLIAC hoops with the program eligible for NCAA this season....   a heck of a risk (another year of classes- ugh) .. will it pay off... will they be in physical and mental shape to play?  Will they be received positively by the guys they left last year.... ie, someone who played last year is gonna get pushed out this year....   interesting situation.....

Just my two cents:

Webster - I feel like Coach Bunch always has Webster prepared to compete in the SLIAC no matter what he is working with. There is no question that Whittingham is a big loss, but I think Coach Bunch will have his team prepared come December whether it's with returners or some new faces to the program.

Fontbonne - Let me just say, wow, Coach Schafer brought in a big recruiting class to say the least. The roster is already posted on Fontbonne's new athletic site... 28 players! Looks more like a Grinnell roster than Fontbonne. Obviously, not all of these guys will be travelling and playing with the varsity team. Coach Schafer is bringing in some solid talent such as Richard Dorhauer and Blake Welch from the St. Louis area. I think they can play for this team right away. Congrats to Coach Schafer on bringing in so many freshman to the program - 16 guys - but it will be interesting to see what guys stick around and who becomes unhappy with playing time/lack of, etc. and transfers elsewhere.

Westminster - The only players to graduate that logged serious minutes were Kovach and Kelsey Weymuth. Mookie Valandra is a player who should be able to step right in for Weymuth. As for Kovach, that's hard to replace. In regards to depth at the point, I think they should be fine. They are getting a quick guard in STLCC transfer Jordan Jones and a good incoming freshman PG Blake Stonecipher from the St. Louis area. I saw both play this summer. They don't exactly play the same style, but I liked both of their games from what I saw: Jones is very quick, to say the least. He gets to the basket well and is a solid defender; Stonecipher is more of a shooter who can also take it to the rim if overplayed and does a good job of finding open guys for scoring opportunities.

[hopefan]

A check of sites shows no sked yet up for Westmin, Prin, or Eureka....

but Eureka has posted its football roster and indeed Jordan Kindred is on it....so I ask the question, especially to CCIW or MIAA readers, does anyone remember a football - basketball 2 sport athlete, especially one who is capable of being an all conference level basketball player... yes, I know soccer - basketball athletes exist, and obviously basketball athletes couple with spring sports such as baseball, golf, or tennis....  but this situation seems so unusual, when considering Kindred hasn't played football at Eureka his first 3 years, and is coming off a serious knee injury that occurred two years ago.....Seems like he's playing with fire, plus taking 3 months away from hoops right before his senior year...  lots of head-scratching on this one....  would love to know the motivation behind the decision....

[hopefan]

lou... welcome to the board... and good post.... I haven't seen all the names going to Westmin yet, Coach Mitchell always waits until school starts to communicate with me... but I heard from a couple sources they also got a VERY good kid from outstate Mo.... 

[Mr. Ypsi]

hopefan, I can't offhand recall any recent examples, but back in my era, Steve Laub was a first team all-conference player in football, basketball, AND baseball - all four years!  (Not sure he was all-conference all four years, but he was a four-year starter in all 3 sports.)

Nowadays, I suspect coaches would be pretty leery of that much diversity.

[louhoopsfan]

lou... welcome to the board... and good post.... I haven't seen all the names going to Westmin yet, Coach Mitchell always waits until school starts to communicate with me... but I heard from a couple sources they also got a VERY good kid from outstate Mo....

I can't confirm but that would be another nice pick up. Do you happen to know whether he's a guard, post, wing, etc?

[hopefan]

lou... only heard that he is from Blair Oaks......

[Dutch32]

A check of sites shows no sked yet up for Westmin, Prin, or Eureka....

Eureka's schedule will go online as part of the department's new website launch next week (9/6).