MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[stoutguy]

The scary thing is that Whitewater was able to pull it out despite the fact that Darnell Harris went 1-11 and the team shot 35%.  Neither will probably happen too often this year.

So true.  Harris was really bad yesterday and the team shot so poorly.  But like all good teams, when it mattered down the stretch, they stepped up and hit the big shots. 

[Hoopsta22]

What a day up in Superior....it was ALMOST an epic sweep over the Pointers for the boys and girls, which may have made World News!  The boys lead the entire first half and were leading at haltime.  They were also leading the majority of the second half until towards the end when Point put the clamps on defensively and the yellowjackets struggled to score down the stretch.  Superior was red hot shooting for most of the game.  Jarrod Peterson can play!  20 first half points.  He can score from anywhere on the floor...but Tyler Tillema proved to be too much.  I don't remember him missing much at all.  He looks very good!  It was a joy to watch peterson and tillema go back and forth scoring the ball.  I predict him and Peterson will be first teamers.  One thing that I did notice was when the yellowjackets struggled to score late in the second half was that they stopped going inside to big daddy bronson byrne.  Bronson can be solid if he gets deep post catches where he can just take one dribble, turn and score.  Superior could prove to be a wildcard...they are a rollercoaster right now and you never know what you are going to get from them.  They are a jump shooting team with the capability of knocking down a lot of threes.

The girls of UWS on the other hand with the huge win!  What a game....wow

[Greek Tragedy]

On the post game radio interview, Semling usually has someone that had a big impact on the game, your "player of the game" sort of speak.  Usually it's some guy who goes for 20+ or someone who hits the big shot.  Last night, I believe it was Trevor Hass (possibly Ryf) and the reason was because he basically shut down Peterson in the 2nd half.  Yes, he had 20 at halftime, but just six after the break.  Semling really applauded his defense on Peterson in the 2nd half. 

[John Gleich]

On the post game radio interview, Semling usually has someone that had a big impact on the game, your "player of the game" sort of speak.  Usually it's some guy who goes for 20+ or someone who hits the big shot.  Last night, I believe it was Trevor Hass (possibly Ryf) and the reason was because he basically shut down Peterson in the 2nd half.  Yes, he had 20 at halftime, but just six after the break.  Semling really applauded his defense on Peterson in the 2nd half.

Ryf switched onto Peterson after the break and shut him down. And Ryf did the post game interview.

[John Gleich]

#9 UWSP beats UW Superior 79-68

UW Super shot 57% in the first half and led by 3 at the half 37-34 and as many as 7 in the first half.

The Yellowjackets stayed hot in the second half and led 48-40 with just under 16 minutes left.

Point then went on a 9-0 run to take the lead 49-48. It was back and forth for a few possessions but SP retook the lead for good 53-51 on two Clayton Heuer FT's.

Point really turned up the D in the second half and they hit their free throws (24/25 for the game).


Tyler Tillema led all scorers with 34 (many from the line). Peterson for Superior had 20 at the half and ended up with 26.

And Bronson Byrne is still a big boy.

Kudos to Austin Ryf for helping shut down Jerrod Peterson in the second half, which was the key to the win for Point. He was just too quick for Hass to guard and beat him off of screens for most of his first half points. Great job of coaching to make that adjustment. Tyler Tillema had a superb game and if he stays healthy will be on top of the short list for POY in the WIAC.  Made my first ever trip up to Canada and wasn't disappointed as Point played with a lot of heart after withstanding Peterson's hot hand. And yes Bronson Byrne is a really big boy!

That is a loooooong trip!


What was your impression of Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium? And have you been to all the other WIAC gyms?

[Greek Tragedy]

Back when I didn't have a life, i.e., a wife and kid, I tried to make every conference gym.  I didn't make it to Canada.  I don't think I had a passport at the time.  I did make it the Northern Michigan game in 2006.

[stoutfan1]

The scary thing is that Whitewater was able to pull it out despite the fact that Darnell Harris went 1-11 and the team shot 35%.  Neither will probably happen too often this year.

Stout loses to Whitewater after controlling the first 34 minutes of the game. Stout came out of the gates ready to play scoring the first 6 points of the game and not allowing UWW to score until 14 minutes left in the first half. Stout was clearly in control the entire first half with solid defense and a lot of second chance opportunities, they were just unable to connect on most of them, and that was a big reason they went into halftime tied at 23. The second half started like the 1st with Stout jumping out in front and locking Whitewater down defensively. Up 45-40 with 7 minutes to go Stout fell apart with multiple turnovers and missed shots feeding Whitewaters 9-0 run and ultimately losing the game by 6.

I can officially say that Stout is FOR REAL! after questionable competition in nonconference play. Controlling 34 of 40 minutes and missing multiple easy 2nd chance opportunities, they let this game get away. Being much more athletic and extremely improved defensively Stout will be a team to beat in the WIAC this year.

Oman had a decent game gonig 5-14 with 5 boards and 14 points. Kosloske again played extremely solid with 10 rebounds and played his role to the max. Offensively Stout seems to have some wrinkles to iron out and get more points on the board to go with their stellar defense.

On Whitewaters side, they are solid, but will defenitely lose some games. KJ doubles his 3 point attempts (and makes) with a HUGE 4 point play with 14 seconds to play. Alex Merg was surprising with his intangibles playing solid defense and controlling the floor on offense. I think he will be big for them this year. On the other side, Darnell Harris, is a complete wild card. He may not go 1-11 ever again this year, but he is clearly lazy and settles for 30 footers that he doesnt need to shoot. At 6-7 you have to work the inside and take outside shots when allowed. Lazy and fairly selfish Harris may single handedly cost this Whitewater crew more than one game.

[frodotwo]

#9 UWSP beats UW Superior 79-68

UW Super shot 57% in the first half and led by 3 at the half 37-34 and as many as 7 in the first half.

The Yellowjackets stayed hot in the second half and led 48-40 with just under 16 minutes left.

Point then went on a 9-0 run to take the lead 49-48. It was back and forth for a few possessions but SP retook the lead for good 53-51 on two Clayton Heuer FT's.

Point really turned up the D in the second half and they hit their free throws (24/25 for the game).


Tyler Tillema led all scorers with 34 (many from the line). Peterson for Superior had 20 at the half and ended up with 26.

And Bronson Byrne is still a big boy.

Kudos to Austin Ryf for helping shut down Jerrod Peterson in the second half, which was the key to the win for Point. He was just too quick for Hass to guard and beat him off of screens for most of his first half points. Great job of coaching to make that adjustment. Tyler Tillema had a superb game and if he stays healthy will be on top of the short list for POY in the WIAC.  Made my first ever trip up to Canada and wasn't disappointed as Point played with a lot of heart after withstanding Peterson's hot hand. And yes Bronson Byrne is a really big boy!

That is a loooooong trip!


What was your impression of Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium? And have you been to all the other WIAC gyms?

That was the only gym I had not visited and it was a long trip, especially since it was very foggy last night on the way back. I really liked their facility, it looked clean and well kept up with. Their gym bleachers were large with big foot wells for guys with longer legs like me. Disappointing crowd for such a nice facility though, not many and not at all vocal. Student section was across the floor from the larger bleacher section and while nearly full, it was quiet. I can cross this gym off the bucket list. Other than my son and I, the only Point fans were parents/relatives of the players, though we still numbered about 30 or so and did our best to fire up the players.

[John Gleich]

#9 UWSP beats UW Superior 79-68

UW Super shot 57% in the first half and led by 3 at the half 37-34 and as many as 7 in the first half.

The Yellowjackets stayed hot in the second half and led 48-40 with just under 16 minutes left.

Point then went on a 9-0 run to take the lead 49-48. It was back and forth for a few possessions but SP retook the lead for good 53-51 on two Clayton Heuer FT's.

Point really turned up the D in the second half and they hit their free throws (24/25 for the game).


Tyler Tillema led all scorers with 34 (many from the line). Peterson for Superior had 20 at the half and ended up with 26.

And Bronson Byrne is still a big boy.

Kudos to Austin Ryf for helping shut down Jerrod Peterson in the second half, which was the key to the win for Point. He was just too quick for Hass to guard and beat him off of screens for most of his first half points. Great job of coaching to make that adjustment. Tyler Tillema had a superb game and if he stays healthy will be on top of the short list for POY in the WIAC.  Made my first ever trip up to Canada and wasn't disappointed as Point played with a lot of heart after withstanding Peterson's hot hand. And yes Bronson Byrne is a really big boy!

That is a loooooong trip!


What was your impression of Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium? And have you been to all the other WIAC gyms?

That was the only gym I had not visited and it was a long trip, especially since it was very foggy last night on the way back. I really liked their facility, it looked clean and well kept up with. Their gym bleachers were large with big foot wells for guys with longer legs like me. Disappointing crowd for such a nice facility though, not many and not at all vocal. Student section was across the floor from the larger bleacher section and while nearly full, it was quiet. I can cross this gym off the bucket list. Other than my son and I, the only Point fans were parents/relatives of the players, though we still numbered about 30 or so and did our best to fire up the players.

It's a relatively tough gym to play in for a few reasons... I seem to recall it being on the colder end of gyms... It's certainly not small like River Falls and there's that huge expanse behind behind the small set of bleachers. I commend them for actually setting up the smaller set... I've seen gyms that have huge capacity that are only 5% full and that's almost worse.

They certainly aren't packing 'em in there... and I seem to recall a few vocal fans. There were so few that the hecklers could be heard very clearly. And it especially is difficult if you've got a scrappy Superior team. I remember when we lost to them up there in 03-04 before the first National Title run... SP actually shot a better shooting percentage than Superior, and though Sup got to the line 25 times versus just 11 for Stevens Point, Superior kept getting offensive rebounds at opportune times and off of missed rebounds, then scoring.

It was one of those games that you look at the box score and you can't figure out how SP lost... But for people who didn't see the game, how physical is was and how scrappy the play was, it's hard to really understand.

There's hardly any energy in the gym... it's cold and the baskets were just a little bit different. I can't remember from watching recent webcasts if they've improved it with other recent improvements up there...

But you can see that the basket supports weren't symmetrical behind the basket... they were off to the right of the hoop. You can see it here a little bit:



(this is from as recent as 2009)

Normally, the baskets swing up towards center court or back away from center court when they're suspended up near the ceiling. At Superior, they swung up and to the right of the hoop... and the supports were offset towards the right as well.  It was a very unique backdrop.

By no means am I saying that I blame the baskets for poor play or anything like that... but it's just very different from other basket supports in the conference, and that, along with the quiet, big gym, and the long trip, is part of the reason (in addition to Superior just being scrappy at home) that it's tough to play up there!

[badgerwarhawk]

The scary thing is that Whitewater was able to pull it out despite the fact that Darnell Harris went 1-11 and the team shot 35%.  Neither will probably happen too often this year.

Stout loses to Whitewater after controlling the first 34 minutes of the game. Stout came out of the gates ready to play scoring the first 6 points of the game and not allowing UWW to score until 14 minutes left in the first half. Stout was clearly in control the entire first half with solid defense and a lot of second chance opportunities, they were just unable to connect on most of them, and that was a big reason they went into halftime tied at 23. The second half started like the 1st with Stout jumping out in front and locking Whitewater down defensively. Up 45-40 with 7 minutes to go Stout fell apart with multiple turnovers and missed shots feeding Whitewaters 9-0 run and ultimately losing the game by 6.

I can officially say that Stout is FOR REAL! after questionable competition in nonconference play. Controlling 34 of 40 minutes and missing multiple easy 2nd chance opportunities, they let this game get away. Being much more athletic and extremely improved defensively Stout will be a team to beat in the WIAC this year.

Oman had a decent game gonig 5-14 with 5 boards and 14 points. Kosloske again played extremely solid with 10 rebounds and played his role to the max. Offensively Stout seems to have some wrinkles to iron out and get more points on the board to go with their stellar defense.

On Whitewaters side, they are solid, but will defenitely lose some games. KJ doubles his 3 point attempts (and makes) with a HUGE 4 point play with 14 seconds to play. Alex Merg was surprising with his intangibles playing solid defense and controlling the floor on offense. I think he will be big for them this year. On the other side, Darnell Harris, is a complete wild card. He may not go 1-11 ever again this year, but he is clearly lazy and settles for 30 footers that he doesnt need to shoot. At 6-7 you have to work the inside and take outside shots when allowed. Lazy and fairly selfish Harris may single handedly cost this Whitewater crew more than one game.

I wonder what your assessment might have been if the one time you watched him play was against Illinois Wesleyan.

Nice to see KJ Evans have a big night.   

[Mr. Ypsi]

The scary thing is that Whitewater was able to pull it out despite the fact that Darnell Harris went 1-11 and the team shot 35%.  Neither will probably happen too often this year.

Stout loses to Whitewater after controlling the first 34 minutes of the game. Stout came out of the gates ready to play scoring the first 6 points of the game and not allowing UWW to score until 14 minutes left in the first half. Stout was clearly in control the entire first half with solid defense and a lot of second chance opportunities, they were just unable to connect on most of them, and that was a big reason they went into halftime tied at 23. The second half started like the 1st with Stout jumping out in front and locking Whitewater down defensively. Up 45-40 with 7 minutes to go Stout fell apart with multiple turnovers and missed shots feeding Whitewaters 9-0 run and ultimately losing the game by 6.

I can officially say that Stout is FOR REAL! after questionable competition in nonconference play. Controlling 34 of 40 minutes and missing multiple easy 2nd chance opportunities, they let this game get away. Being much more athletic and extremely improved defensively Stout will be a team to beat in the WIAC this year.

Oman had a decent game gonig 5-14 with 5 boards and 14 points. Kosloske again played extremely solid with 10 rebounds and played his role to the max. Offensively Stout seems to have some wrinkles to iron out and get more points on the board to go with their stellar defense.

On Whitewaters side, they are solid, but will defenitely lose some games. KJ doubles his 3 point attempts (and makes) with a HUGE 4 point play with 14 seconds to play. Alex Merg was surprising with his intangibles playing solid defense and controlling the floor on offense. I think he will be big for them this year. On the other side, Darnell Harris, is a complete wild card. He may not go 1-11 ever again this year, but he is clearly lazy and settles for 30 footers that he doesnt need to shoot. At 6-7 you have to work the inside and take outside shots when allowed. Lazy and fairly selfish Harris may single handedly cost this Whitewater crew more than one game.

I wonder what your assessment might have been if the one time you watched him play was against Illinois Wesleyan.

Nice to see KJ Evans have a big night.

Good point!  On the CCIW board he has been anointed a d1 player.

[stoutfan1]

The scary thing is that Whitewater was able to pull it out despite the fact that Darnell Harris went 1-11 and the team shot 35%.  Neither will probably happen too often this year.

Stout loses to Whitewater after controlling the first 34 minutes of the game. Stout came out of the gates ready to play scoring the first 6 points of the game and not allowing UWW to score until 14 minutes left in the first half. Stout was clearly in control the entire first half with solid defense and a lot of second chance opportunities, they were just unable to connect on most of them, and that was a big reason they went into halftime tied at 23. The second half started like the 1st with Stout jumping out in front and locking Whitewater down defensively. Up 45-40 with 7 minutes to go Stout fell apart with multiple turnovers and missed shots feeding Whitewaters 9-0 run and ultimately losing the game by 6.

I can officially say that Stout is FOR REAL! after questionable competition in nonconference play. Controlling 34 of 40 minutes and missing multiple easy 2nd chance opportunities, they let this game get away. Being much more athletic and extremely improved defensively Stout will be a team to beat in the WIAC this year.

Oman had a decent game gonig 5-14 with 5 boards and 14 points. Kosloske again played extremely solid with 10 rebounds and played his role to the max. Offensively Stout seems to have some wrinkles to iron out and get more points on the board to go with their stellar defense.

On Whitewaters side, they are solid, but will defenitely lose some games. KJ doubles his 3 point attempts (and makes) with a HUGE 4 point play with 14 seconds to play. Alex Merg was surprising with his intangibles playing solid defense and controlling the floor on offense. I think he will be big for them this year. On the other side, Darnell Harris, is a complete wild card. He may not go 1-11 ever again this year, but he is clearly lazy and settles for 30 footers that he doesnt need to shoot. At 6-7 you have to work the inside and take outside shots when allowed. Lazy and fairly selfish Harris may single handedly cost this Whitewater crew more than one game.

I wonder what your assessment might have been if the one time you watched him play was against Illinois Wesleyan.

Nice to see KJ Evans have a big night.

Good point!  On the CCIW board he has been anointed a d1 player.

It is the first and only time I have seen Harris play and really know nothing about him other then reading a few write ups (http://clevelandstatehoops.blogspot.com/2011/09/darnell-harris-commits-to-cleveland.html). How old is he? Since he went to a prep school I am interested in that. To be considered a D1 player and come out to a D3 school and go 1-11 is pretty embarassing. Not saying a man has to come out and drop 30 everynight, but at 6'7" to settle for 30 footers time after time and you are supposed to be a D1 athlete playing against D3 athletes (for the most part) you should be able to control a game. There aren't many guys in D3 that are going to be his size, he needs to compete against, but Aaron Jenny, at 6'1" dominated him in the low post and controlled where he went. He has a lot to work on and has 4 years to do it..... just have to see how hard he works and how bad he wants it.

[Greek Tragedy]

I was kind of curious about your comments as well since, as Ypsi pointed out, over on the CCIW page he's the best thing since sliced bread. Of course, as I pointed out previously on the same page, he hadn't done anything prior to that game. I would assume he's of "normal" age as he probably went to high school for two years and then went to prep school for two years. It sounds like he never made it to D-1 to even redshirt, so he might be 19, if not just 18. Maybe he got lazy after his huge game, who knows. I guess we will have to wait for our resident Whitewater fan to chime in, if Badgerwarhawk chooses to.

[voice]

I was at the game and interviewed Coach Miller after the game. In the interview Pat praised Darnell for his effort in the game. He led WW in rebounding.  The game is much more than scoring.  I was taken back by previous comments questioning Darnell Harris. A freshman playing in his first WIAC road game has been an eye opening experience for a lot of previous players!!

[John Gleich]

I was kind of curious about your comments as well since, as Ypsi pointed out, over on the CCIW page he's the best thing since sliced bread. Of course, as I pointed out previously on the same page, he hadn't done anything prior to that game. I would assume he's of "normal" age as he probably went to high school for two years and then went to prep school for two years. It sounds like he never made it to D-1 to even redshirt, so he might be 19, if not just 18. Maybe he got lazy after his huge game, who knows. I guess we will have to wait for our resident Whitewater fan to chime in, if Badgerwarhawk chooses to.

From some basic internet research by Titan Q and myself, it looks like he went to HS in Milwaukee through his traditional junior year, then went to Texas for a year (senior year), then went out to California for a "prep" year.

09-10 - Junior Year - Milwaukee Hamilton

http://www.maxpreps.com/athletes/o81_0wOu60aQO12A0QsxOg/basketball-winter-09-10/profile-darnell-harris.htm

After his Junior year, he transferred to Texas:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/101441709.html

http://www.maxpreps.com/news/uYANYLPmEd-YiQAcxJSkrA/milwaukee-transfers-a-wake-up-call-in-wisconsin.htm

10-11 Senior year - Christian Life Center Academy, Humble, TX

http://www.maxpreps.com/athletes/x60YVB4eFkKNixd464Kc9Q/basketball-winter-10-11/profile-darnell-harris.htm

Christian Life Center Academy

They list him as a 2011 Alum:
http://sports.clc-church.com/alumni/

And apparently, he committed to Florida International in the fall of 2011.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/news/_/id/55591/darnell-harris

http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=21442.msg231549;topicseen

http://www.slamonline.com/online/college-hs/high-school/2010/09/harris-headed-to-fiu/

According to this piece, though, he never signed with Florida International:
http://shockernet.net/forum/showthread.php?10988-Darnell-Harris-to-Cleveland-State

And after the summer of 2011, he still hadn't signed anywhere...

Then there was this:
http://shockernet.net/forum/showthread.php?10988-Darnell-Harris-to-Cleveland-State&p=262789&viewfull=1#post262789

And this:
http://www.fiugoldenpanthers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&p=21936

I don't want to put a lot of stock in message board info (    I know, irony, right?) but it looks like there may have been some qualification issues, but it wasn't just Darnell... there were lots of kids who went to CLCA that had issues qualifying.

11-12 Prep year - La Joya

http://www.maxpreps.com/athletes/Noo5qJG9E02_-g6BMdR8rw/basketball-winter-11-12/profile-darnell-harris.htm

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/144795/darnell-harris

And last fall, he committed to Cleveland State:

http://cleveland.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?pr_key=84847

http://shockernet.net/forum/showthread.php?10988-Darnell-Harris-to-Cleveland-State&p=266590&viewfull=1#post266590

But he didn't sign right away...
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/936445-cleveland-state-signs-three-during-early-signing-period

Then I found something that says he did sign "grant-in-aid" (whatever that means... see the bottom half of the article):
http://clevelandstatehoops.blogspot.com/2011/11/cleveland-state-67-st-bonaventure-64.html

Listed as a 2012 alum of La Joya Prep:
http://www.wavehoops.com/pages/alums



So, all of that told, it appears that Darnell had some issues qualifying for a D-I basketball scholarship. Coach Miller has done a great job with players who have had issues elsewhere for whatever reason, getting them back on track and headed in the right direction. Whitewater might just be the best place for him... and I think after his performance in Bloomington, Warhawk fans agree!