MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

Kudos to SLIAC.org.... with coach's poll, very nice summarization of each team, with new faces to watch for.... A++

https://spark.adobe.com/page/XYWyKNWKVGU2G/

Yeah. Very nice!

[y_jack_lok]

Kudos to SLIAC.org.... with coach's poll, very nice summarization of each team, with new faces to watch for.... A++

https://spark.adobe.com/page/XYWyKNWKVGU2G/

Yeah. Very nice!

Excellent job, indeed. I notice in the write ups that Iowa Wesleyan has a "newcomer" in Marvin Saintolein. But he is not new to the conference as he was on the Webster roster the past two seasons. Just didn't play much.

[GU1999]

SLIAC Coach's poll is out. 

Webster
GU
Eureka
Spaulding
Blackburn
Fontbonne
Westminister
Mac
Iowa Wesleyan
Prin

https://www.sliac.org/sports/mbkb/index

What do you think of this GU1999?   

I think that the coaches did a very good job with the top two teams.  I have no real feel for anything below that tier.  I want to think that Blackburn should be quite good, as I was really impressed by them last year, but with the loss of Koller and one of their most dynamic players, I think that it a bit of an unpredictable situation.  I'd have them as #3 with my limited knowledge.   I am also inclined to think that Dakota Bennington could be the best player in the league, but I am not sure that Eureka is bringing back enough supporting cast mates to make them a contender.  I'd have them as #4.  Beyond that, it looks like the league will be down, and possible down substantially.  Spaulding at #3 seems too high from my limited perspective.  I have them at #5.   I think that the 2019/20 version of the league will be all about Webster & GU. 

The focus on who starts for GU is really not all that interesting to me as the rotations of the 5 man lines are not arranged in such a way as to put your best 5 on the floor to start the game. 

It will be interesting to see how the losses of Wilcox and Dix weigh on their respective teams.  My thoughts are the Wilcox could have a larger effect than Dix.  Dix was certainly a catalyst for GU's shift to the System and he was a very productive 4 year player, but Wilcox was Websters best player and was on the court most of the game.  Also, Wilcox appeared to me to be their heart and soul kind of guy.  GU should be able to reload in Dix's position with younger players and the new SoCal transfers.  Two kids that stood out as potential contributers from last years class were Frs Oldham (Herron HS, Indiana) and Yeats (Belleville East, IL) as both are high ceiling guys.  I am pleased to learn that RaKim and Sonti are playing again as they will add experience and depth.  I was not aware of that as Santi was playing as he sat out last year and as well for RaKim as I thought he was a Sr last year.   

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Gotta agree that Wilcox is a significant loss for Webster. But gotta disagree that he was a "heart and soul kind of guy" for the team. That goes to Tankins in my opinion. It seemed to me last season that Webster always played better with Tankins on the floor.

[GU1999]

Fair point.  Only watching Webster remotely, I fully admit my perception could be off to WAY off. 
Regardless, I think that they are the team to beat.  I was quite impressed by WU last year. 

[WUPHF]

I hope the Webster players approached the off season knowing that they could be part of something special.  They could be.

[GU1999]

SLIAC Coach's poll is out. 

Webster
GU
Eureka
Spaulding
Blackburn
Fontbonne
Westminister
Mac
Iowa Wesleyan
Prin

https://www.sliac.org/sports/mbkb/index

What do you think of this GU1999?   

I think that the coaches did a very good job with the top two teams.  I have no real feel for anything below that tier.  I want to think that Blackburn should be quite good, as I was really impressed by them last year, but with the loss of Koller and one of their most dynamic players, I think that it a bit of an unpredictable situation.  I'd have them as #3 with my limited knowledge.   I am also inclined to think that Dakota Bennington could be the best player in the league, but I am not sure that Eureka is bringing back enough supporting cast mates to make them a contender.  I'd have them as #4.  Beyond that, it looks like the league will be down, and possible down substantially.  Spaulding at #3 seems too high from my limited perspective.  I have them at #5.   I think that the 2019/20 version of the league will be all about Webster & GU. 

The focus on who starts for GU is really not all that interesting to me as the rotations of the 5 man lines are not arranged in such a way as to put your best 5 on the floor to start the game. 

It will be interesting to see how the losses of Wilcox and Dix weigh on their respective teams.  My thoughts are the Wilcox could have a larger effect than Dix.  Dix was certainly a catalyst for GU's shift to the System and he was a very productive 4 year player, but Wilcox was Websters best player and was on the court most of the game.  Also, Wilcox appeared to me to be their heart and soul kind of guy.  GU should be able to reload in Dix's position with younger players and the new SoCal transfers.  Two kids that stood out as potential contributers from last years class were Frs Oldham (Herron HS, Indiana) and Yeats (Belleville East, IL) as both are high ceiling guys.  I am pleased to learn that RaKim and Sonti are playing again as they will add experience and depth.  I was not aware of that as Santi was playing as he sat out last year and as well for RaKim as I thought he was a Sr last year.   

GU's roster is posted.  http://athletics.greenville.edu/sports/mbkb/2019-20/roster

I do not think that the number assignments make sense quite yet as there are a great amount of top players at the bottom of the list with no numbers assigned (like Bateman and Williams)

I will call out a three absences which I am surprised by.  Firstly, Kodi Badger, who was a contributor last year and was well positioned to be a very good candidate to serve in the role as the last line of defense/rim protector in the press.  Next is Oldham and Yeats, the two freshman (from last year) that I identified above as potential contributors.   

The roster does have 42 players listed. 

The roster has 21 players from states other than IL and MO. 

The roster has 9 players from CA. 

The roster has 3 players with hometowns which are not in the US.

The roster does have Freshman Samuel Barber listed.  He is the youngest of Coach Barbers five children.

The roster does have Freshman Grant McCullough listed.  He is the oldest child of former GU standout Matt McCullough.  Matt has the third highest scoring game in SLIAC conference history with a 49 piece against Parks college in the 1995-6 season.  In that game McCullough hit 11 3-pointers which is T-2 for the most in a SLIAC game all time.  Interestingly, reference to McCullough's big performance against Parks does not appear in the SLIAC record book. 

GU rosters are always interesting and it will be interesting to see how this version evolves leading up to the first game. 

[hopefan]

A 42 man roster.....

I just don't understand this on Oct 28.....

[Pat Coleman]

Send them to Grinnell to play football.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

A 42 man roster.....

I just don't understand this on Oct 28.....

They have a JV squad, right?

[hopefan]

A 42 man roster.....

I just don't understand this on Oct 28.....

They have a JV squad, right?

maybe a couple???

[GU1999]

Greenville football lists 74 on the football roster and 42 on the basketball roster.  That is 116 student athletes on two teams at a school that has less than 1500 students annually (including degree completion programming).  74 is quite healthy for GU and is likley a good reason that the team is 5-2 and poised for a 8-2 season and a second place finish in the UMAC.  42 is just huge for a hoops team.  I suspect that there will be attrition by the time the season starts and the roster looks more like last years.  I suspect it settles in the low to mid 30's with 18 on varsity and 18 on JV.   

Grinnell football listed 38 on the football roster and lists 31 on the basketball roster.  What an odd thing to have only 7 less players on your hoops roster than on your FB roster. 

That said, it is insane that GU's current basketball roster has 4 more players listed that Grinnell did to start a Football season. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

A 42 man roster.....

I just don't understand this on Oct 28.....

They have a JV squad, right?

maybe a couple???

With that system, you really need 20 on a team.  Small schools are more and more using JV squads as an enrollment driver.  There's 42 kids who get to say they're playing college basketball.  That's a great thing.

[Gregory Sager]

Greenville football lists 74 on the football roster and 42 on the basketball roster.  That is 116 student athletes on two teams at a school that has less than 1500 students annually (including degree completion programming).  74 is quite healthy for GU and is likley a good reason that the team is 5-2 and poised for a 8-2 season and a second place finish in the UMAC.  42 is just huge for a hoops team.  I suspect that there will be attrition by the time the season starts and the roster looks more like last years.  I suspect it settles in the low to mid 30's with 18 on varsity and 18 on JV.   

Grinnell football listed 38 on the football roster and lists 31 on the basketball roster.  What an odd thing to have only 7 less players on your hoops roster than on your FB roster. 

That said, it is insane that GU's current basketball roster has 4 more players listed that Grinnell did to start a Football season.

North Park's soccer team has 16 more players than Grinnell's football team had.

[hopefan]

Note Greg spoke of the Grinnell football team in the past tense... the players decided they could no longer compete safely with such low numbers and ended their season prematurely by several games.