MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[fcnews]

I'll put this subject to bed. After checking Oakland City' s schedule they play 12 games vs. DII schools and one D1. They also appear on the NCAA Website as a membership school. Greg or Hope please enlighten me on how they are not considered DII, but instead NCCAA "the bottom rung".

[pantherpride06]

Maryville (Hanover & Transylvania): 0-2
Transylvania is a tough team.  We struggled with them last year and Hanover (knowing them because i'm from Indiana) usually have a good squad.

Greenville (Concordia, Ill. & Dominican, Ill.): 1-1
I have go to give my boys atleast one win.  I hope.  ick....  I should be there and will hive some updates.

Webster (Transylvania & Hanover): 1-1
Chris Bunch knows how to pull out some tough wins.

Westminster (Rhodes & Hendrix): 1-1
I know nothing about either team but Coach Mitchell has got a strong core of boys this year.

Eureka (Manchester & UW-Eau Claire/Ama): 2-0
Again, I know nothing about these two teams. Judging by the hype I am hearing, I'll give them the weekend sweep.

Lincoln Christian (St. Louis Christian): 0-1
I believed they lost to SLCC last year and Scott Womble has an okay group.

Fontbonne (Moody Bible): 1-0
Show me the number FCNews.  Let's see 'em shoot lights out again.  If they don't do it v. Moody than it'll be tough in the SLIAC...  (Just messin' FC.)

Blackburn (Dominican, Ill & Concordia, Ill): 2-0
Should be the best of the four teams there.  Between Dom, Con, and GC last year, I think we all had about 15 wins combined.... ick.

Let's see, if my math is right, I have the SLIAC at 8-6 (all games according to the SLIAC page.)  Probably over estimating myself.  We ought to do this and keep track for all the loyal SLIAC posters!

[Gregory Sager]

I'll put this subject to bed. After checking Oakland City' s schedule they play 12 games vs. DII schools and one D1. They also appear on the NCAA Website as a membership school. Greg or Hope please enlighten me on how they are not considered DII, but instead NCCAA "the bottom rung".

Who said that Oakland City wasn't considered D2? Not me. Nor did Hopefan insinuate any such thing. As he said, in the "D3 vs. D1/D2/NAIA/NCCAA" room only schools that do not have dual affiliation are considered to be NCCAA. It's quite commonplace for NCCAA schools to hold dual affiliation. Greenville, for instance, is dually affiliated with both NCAA D3 and the NCCAA. Several schools in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (Judson, Olivet Nazarene, Trinity Christian, and Trinity International) are dually affiliated with both the NAIA and the NCCAA.

When a school is a dual affiliate of both the NCAA and the NAIA (i.e., Nebraska Wesleyan), it has to declare for one organization or the other for postseason purposes prior to the end of the regular season every year. Both the NCAA and the NAIA have rules that stipulate such a requirement. The NCCAA has no such rule. Thus, a school such as Greenville or Trinity Christian can declare itself for either the D3 or the NAIA-2 tourney (as Greenville does every year), and should the Panthers or Trolls fail to make said tournament, the NCCAA will welcome them with open arms into their postseason tournament. Greenville has participated in the NCCAA tournament several times over the past few seasons. Still, nobody considers the Panthers to be an NCCAA program on this website; Greenville declares itself eligible for D3 postseason play; it plays in a D3-affiliated conference; and it plays a full schedule of D3 teams.

However, there's another stipulation involved. D2, like the other two divisions within the NCAA, has minimum scheduling requirements. In order to be eligible for the D2 tournament, a D2 member school must play a minimum of 22 games against D1 or D2 competition, and at least 16 of those games have to be against in-region D2 opponents. (D3 has a similar rule; all schools eligible for the D3 tourney must play half of their games against in-region D3 opponents, unless a waiver request by the school is submitted to the D3 Men's Basketball Championships Committee that proves it was impossible for that school to meet the scheduling requirement.) As you said, Oakland City will play only 13 games against D1 and D2 schools. The Oaks are therefore not eligible for the D2 tournament. They're thus a D2 team only in a nominal sense.

Greenville (Concordia, Ill. & Dominican, Ill.): 1-1
I have go to give my boys atleast one win.  I hope.  ick....  I should be there and will hive some updates.

Blackburn (Dominican, Ill & Concordia, Ill): 2-0
Should be the best of the four teams there.  Between Dom, Con, and GC last year, I think we all had about 15 wins combined.... ick.

Nope. Concordia (IL) went 11-16 last season, and Dominican went 13-13. The Cougars return all five starters from last season, and they've added a lot of size in their freshman class -- three 6'9 guys and a 6'7, 220 guy. Dominican will definitely be better than last year (I saw them scrimmage last Saturday), and they should be one of the title contenders in the new eleven-school NAthCon. Concordia (IL) should also do pretty well in the new conference.

My guess is that the two SLIAC schools will return home this weekend with 0-2 records. But I certainly look forward to hearing your firsthand impressions of the two River Forest teams, especially since North Park will be playing Concordia (IL) next week.

[dynasty22]

I don't think Blackburn is on the road for the opening games. I believe we are hosting the tournament in which Concordia and the other teams we'll be playing.

[Mac Attack]

Good post pantherpride 06 - but left out the Mac-Millikin game I think...

Saw where Monmouth gave Coe a tough go in a scrimmage last week. Coe is pretty good, getting some Top 25 votes. Monmouth comes to Jacksonville next week. Hmmmm....

...and then "everybody in the pool" from Grinnell comes calling, followed by a trip to Lincoln Christian.

Would be great if the Highlanders could go 2-2 or better out of the gate. Last season Mac lost some tough games early and really dug themselves a hole. Lost the first five games of the season, four of them by 10 or less points. Probably could have won all four but the helter skelter style, turnovers, and poor team defense proved to be lethal. I don't think that will happen this season. Shot selection, ballhandling, passing, defense, and teamwork is MUCH improved. Whether or not that will translate into wins, no one knows. But with the addition of Farrid Coleman at point guard, a rejuvinated Zach Kowa at the post, and a healthy and eligible Brady Greene,  Mac appears to be stronger, quicker, and tougher. Mix in returning contributors Nick Hipshir, Neil Compton, Jerel Robertson and Dawson Huff -along with nice bench play from Billy Long, Nick Schmidt, Seth Whalum and Jim Michaels - the team has some depth and ability to compete and hopefully win the close games they lost last year.

Millikin will prove to be tough opener for the Highlanders, as the Big Blue will be considerably bigger, stronger, deeper, and have a tremendous young point guard in Drew Gensler. Korte Long had 19 points and 18 rebounds against Mac last year, and I would expect another very solid game from him. We just won't be able to match up with him, and I expect we'll get in foul trouble trying to guard him. Millikin will be blending in some freshmen and returning players who were injured last year, so it will be interesting to see how quickly things come together for them. If Mac shoots well and stays out of foul trouble, it could be a dandy.

Bottom line is Coach Hettinga will work hard at installing his system of play, which I think the players will pick up very quickly. He emphasizes the value of each possession, quality passes and quality shots, tough man-to-man defense, and aggressive rebounding. The team goes about ten deep, but I don't think you will see anymore "five in, five out." Those days are over. I think you'll see three or four players get 20-plus minutes a night, and three or four more get ten-plus minutes. That's the way it should be.

After posting back-to-back 9-16 seasons and having a lean recruiting year because of the late hiring of Hettinga, the predicted seventh place SLIAC finish in the pre-season poll was to be expected. Mac will be tested early, with trips to Webster, Fontbonne, and Eureka all by January 16. If Mac is above .500 after January 16, I think they will be poised to make a legitimate run at the top four. If they're below .500, it will be much more difficult. But it's WAY too early to look that far ahead. Highlanders need to taste some success early on and avoid any prolonged losing streaks. The rest of the season will take care of itself.

[fcnews]

Just to clarify, FU and the SLIAC's websites list one game at Moody Bible. It is actually a four team tourney. FU opens play Friday against NAIA Hannibal - LaGrange, the second game will be the hosts facing D3 Philadelphia Bible. Winners and losers play Saturday afternoon. I'll try to post results following both.

FU goes 1-1

[pantherpride06]

Well, I'm all over the road.  I think I'll give Fontbonne a 1-1 on the weekend.

My greatest appoloigies to CURF & DOM.  I might have been recalling a few years ago.

[Beaver_SID]

I don't think Blackburn is on the road for the opening games. I believe we are hosting the tournament in which Concordia and the other teams we'll be playing.

Blackburn Hosts the North/South Classic which features Blackburn, Concordia, Greenville, and Dominican. Also, BC lost the scrimmage against IL-Weslyan by 12 points. The scrimmage was broken down into three intervals. BC had a strong showing  in the first intervals. Leotis Howard had an amazing showing, I dont have access to stats at this moment but I do believe he put up 20pts. himself in the first interval. I will post actual game stats later today. The second interval was coaching ran situations and stats were not taken for this portion. The third interval was mostly bench players getting some PT. Again, I will post stats later today when I have a chance to get into the office.

[Beaver_SID]

I should have read some earlier posts I would have had more to say!

"I saw a little of the Blackburn scrimmage Friday. Their gym is almost as dark as Hampden-Sydney's and the rims were rock hard. It was not conducive to a good scoring effort."

Above quote is part of a post on the CCIW board from "veternacciwfan".

I took a lot of flak last March for mentioning how dark Blackburn's gym is. But as a result they improved the lighting for the SLIAC tournament.  Could it be they took out the lights added for the tournament? Even with the added lighting it was still darker than most gyms.

@ the scrimmage BC was having trouble with wiring only half of the lights were on completely and the other half stayed in the warm-up stage the entire competition. As part of the set-up crew all was done before the game to correct the problem but to no avail.

im talkin about these blackburn fans who down everyother school and think they are superior to anyone else...why be at a school where the administration could care less about you...you work so your school can save money and give back..but yet they are building a 6million dollar science center rather then fix up the ghetto warehouses you call a campus..

Who in the hell does this guy think he is? I dont think BC fans or I have not said a damn thing about any other schools since the fan situation of last season. Sorry to say it but your the only one talking noise about another team. Again, I would like to emphasis that BC is not just a bunch of farm kids. I myself come out of the East St. Louis school district, and some of the schools base is Chicago oriented. BC does have a large central Illinois basis,  but we apologize if that is not up your obviously oh-so-high standards.

[hopefan]

FCnews, I think you are sandbagging us  -  Fontbonne's possible opponents on Saturday are both likely at a level capable of being beaten  -  Moody Bible had nothing in the way of last season's record on their site, but I hardly think of them as top level competition....  Philly bible finished under 500 last year as a first time member of the very weak NEAC - a conference that truly rivals the Sliac  as one of the lower level conferences in D3 - and I note that last year, on a trip to the midwest, they lost to Wabash by 40 -  While Wabash may be rated above SLIAC teams, I don't think they are 40 points better in a normal year.  I really think, unless Philly has gotten much better, that FU will get two wins.

[hopefan]

BCSID, assuming you are very close to the program, I'm curious as to how the veteran players are doing with the new coach  -  it had to be tough to see a personable guy like Coach K leave  -  how's the new coach adapting?
I'm really curious about the hiring, given the new coach was coming off a couple of very disappointing seasons at his old school - BUT, I am the first to say that not in all cases are wins and losses the whole story  -  would just like to hear a little more.....

[Beaver_SID]

-Adressing the loss of talent comment @ BC-

BC is returning the Player of the Year/ Newcomer of the Year in Zak Allen
Also returning is Zeb Hammond a 1st Team all confrence player, and two big bodies in Grant Lamsargis and Ryan Smith,  a good outside shooter and contribution player in Allen Dehority,  and three year starter in Bryan Waters.

The only players lost from last season were Todd Stevens, Jake McWhoter, Luka Djedovic, and Matt Maddox.

Luka was the player of the year from two years ago,  but did not contribute as much as would be thought to last years team.
Todd, was a great leader and senior presence for the Beavers and will be missed on the starting 5.
Maddox was a presence under the rim and liking will be missed.
Jake, was a great off the bench contributor, and is defintily a loss to the depth of the BC bench.

[Beaver_SID]

BCSID, assuming you are very close to the program, I'm curious as to how the veteran players are doing with the new coach  -  it had to be tough to see a personable guy like Coach K leave  -  how's the new coach adapting?
I'm really curious about the hiring, given the new coach was coming off a couple of very disappointing seasons at his old school - BUT, I am the first to say that not in all cases are wins and losses the whole story  -  would just like to hear a little more.....

Senior Allen Dehority is a worker in my office as well as one of my very good friends. From what I have heard from him Coach Chandler has stepped in good way. His own system has minor clashes with the old Coach K, and he says that makes it extremly easy to adapt. Coach did show some jitters at the IL-Weslyan scrimmage. Before the game Coach thought that the scrimmage would be a closed gym match with little or no fan support and showed a little concern when he found out that usually half the student body shows up for anything in that gym! Probably just opening day nerves for a new coach, but we'll defintily find out this weekend opening up this tourny!

[hopefan]

Scrimmaging the Big Green would be a little intimidating for anyone - my hats off to coach for taking up the challenge

and hey, I have one more thing to say in a very serious  vein - D3 hoops is my passion - yes I take great abuse form my Billikin season ticketholder work mate, but I played coached and supported D3 hoops for almost 40 years now (Yes, I played D3 hoops before there was D3 hoops - referred to as 'college Division" back then) -  I'm really enjoying the writings and knowlege from FCnews, BlackburnSID, Yjak, panther, and MacAttack - and Ill be rooting via the internet (family duties have me sidelined the next two weekends)  for every SLIAC win possible.  If anyone representing Westminster, Eureka, Prin or LCC is out there, please join us - home perspective of teams is entertaining to read, and helps us know what to expect when we eventuaally see your teams play.  While I remain a fan of Maryville, my good friend Gene Myers has retired from the bench, so this year I will likely be a more general SLIAC fan - going to the best SLIAC matchup on a given night, particularly in the St Louis area.  I enjoy writing about what I see - so please, no one take offense - if your kids look good, 'll say it; but if they gave the game away, I'll say that too.  this is a great place for hoops nuts like myself to discuss these games!!

[redrum]

you hit it on the nose when you asked the question about the new coach hopefan...blackburn hired a new coach coming off bad seasons at his previous school, so how does that qualify him for his current job? its all apart of blackburns administrations plans, slowly cut off each sport 1 by 1, make them have bad seasons so their will be next to no recruits wanting anything to do with your program..blackburn had potential to be DECENT this year, but after hiring a coach who is well below .500 at his previous school...hahaha good luck...