MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[frodotwo]

It could be this one http://www.tripsports.com/#!phoenix/c137r

There aren't any teams listed but that is the correct time frame

[tomt4525]

So...with the season approaching, I figured I would make some predictions.  First off, these are premature rankings for the conference.  For instance, Whitewater had a few transfers from last year that weren't listed on their roster...If those guys are playing this year like I expect, they are very formidable.  If they aren't, they will be relying on a lot of young players, still be good though.

1) Whitewater     Like I said, I'm expecting transfers like Brendan Ortiz to be playing this season but I'll await their roster.  They lose a ton of talent in Young, Evans, Egan and Odegaard.  Their returners who will be relied on are Drew Bryson, Xzavier Moananu and Ron Patten along with the transfers.  If they gel as a team, sky is the limit.

2)  Stevens Point    Also lose a ton of talent in Richard, Ryf, Ritchay and Lutz.  Expectations weren't at a normal high level last season and they take home the title, I expect just to reload with maybe a few growing pains early on in the season.  Pelkofer and McGann will have to become the go to scorers and maybe more importantly, they need to find some complimentary options.  Freeborn, Unteidt and Zuiker I think will find themselves getting a lot of minutes.  They also need some help at the point guard spot where some of the newcomers will help like Nelson and Nardini.  I'm excited to see them scrimmage to get a better feel for what newcomers are ready to play.

3)  Oshksoh    They return everyone and was really playing well at the end of the season.  If Oshkosh ends up in the top 2, it wouldn't surprise me.  Olson was a star the second half of last year and I expect much of the same for this year.  If the supporting players improve, they are gonna be a tough team to get wins against.

4)  River Falls    Also return everyone with a great nucleas to work around in Erickson, Christensen, Herum, Goodwin, Timlin, Pearson, and Rockett.  If Erickson is playing well, they can beat anyone, I think as he goes this team goes. 

5)  Eau Claire    Berkeley, Mau and Effertz graduate but Eau Claire played so many guys that they still return a ton of experience.  Hjelter and Kalien is a great backcourt to work around and have size up front to go with it.  It may not seem like it that I have them slotted 5th, but I expect Eau Claire to be much improved.

6)  Platteville    Big losses of Nemitz, Stocki and Manning will hurt this team.  Boston Johnson, Matt Ostreich and Cory Vaasen need to have big years for a Platteville team to surpass my prognostication of a 6th place finish.  I don't know much about their newcomers, but they could use some to emerge and help out.

7)  Stout     Lose their best option in Ragland, but return everyone else.  Ahsenmacher is a guy they can build around but not much else was very impressive last season. 

8)  La Crosse    Their losses will be tough to overcome.  Zuiker and Schmidt were huge for them and I don't think their returners can make up for it.  A few years ago I didn't expect La Crosse to ever drop down this far, and maybe I'm wrong...I just don't expect them to have enough offense to win many games in the league.

Have at it fellas, like I said...it's too early for this...I'd prefer to wait for the rosters to be posted...but this could instigate some chatter at least.

[Greek Tragedy]

If he's  around, I think La Crosse get Skogman back too. He was injured last year. Maybe Collom will give up on his acting career and return to the hardwood too.

My apologies if it's the other way around. Regardless, one was hurt and one chose another career path.

Oshkosh will probably be the sexy team this year, but somehow Point and Whitewater always find a way. We've  learned from the past that all because a team returns everyone doesn't mean they'll  be much better. As a fan of the league, I really hope someone, aside from the aforementioned, challenges for the  conference title. I never would've guessed  Point and Whitewater would run away from everyone else the way they did last year. It was actually disappointing.

[tomt4525]

If he's  around, I think La Crosse get Skogman back too. He was injured last year. Maybe Collom will give up on his acting career and return to the hardwood too.

My apologies if it's the other way around. Regardless, one was hurt and one chose another career path.

Oshkosh will probably be the sexy team this year, but somehow Point and Whitewater always find a way. We've  learned from the past that all because a team returns everyone doesn't mean they'll  be much better. As a fan of the league, I really hope someone, aside from the aforementioned, challenges for the  conference title. I never would've guessed  Point and Whitewater would run away from everyone else the way they did last year. It was actually disappointing.

I'm almost positive it was Skogman who pursued an acting career and Collom was the one who got injured.  If either one of them is back, I would move La Crosse up atleast a spot or 2.

[chmarx]

Skogman is, indeed, the actor.  I don't know Collum's status.

[badgerwarhawk]

So...with the season approaching, I figured I would make some predictions.  First off, these are premature rankings for the conference.  For instance, Whitewater had a few transfers from last year that weren't listed on their roster...If those guys are playing this year like I expect, they are very formidable.  If they aren't, they will be relying on a lot of young players, still be good though.

1) Whitewater     Like I said, I'm expecting transfers like Brendan Ortiz to be playing this season but I'll await their roster.  They lose a ton of talent in Young, Evans, Egan and Odegaard.  Their returners who will be relied on are Drew Bryson, Xzavier Moananu and Ron Patten along with the transfers.  If they gel as a team, sky is the limit.

Moananu and Patten are both gone.  Moananu for family reasons.  Patten for other reasons.  We do have a couple of transfers.  One who was enrolled last year but didn't play and another from Cardinal Stritch.   I haven't really had time to check with anyone in the program to learn anything more.

[The Dino Man]

First time poster, long time reader...been to my fair share of WIAC games over the past 20 years, looking forward to a participation medal on this site, maybe some orange slices at half time.
Thanks for the early pre-season picks, without Monanu and Patten, I'd say WW is vying for third behind SP and Oshkosh. River Falls certainly played well during the conference season, they may be good enough to break through a bottleneck at the top that I believe will include Oshkosh, SP, WW, Platt and RF. Don't think EC has enough to contend with these guys, outside of maybe ruining someones chances for a berth at the end of the year.
SP-seems like they brought in a nice group of HS players. Fredrickson seemed to have a lot of the WIAC's attention. Semling does a good job of getting his guys to play his way, should be another good Pointer team.
WW-I don't ever count Pat Miller out. Recruiting of transfers is tricky business, but he seems to have it down "Pat". Don't know if they have HS kids coming in...but they should, at some point.
Oshkosh-Easy to dislike this team, mostly because of their coach, but they should have everyone back from a group that upset the National Champs in the conference tourney and Platt on their home floor. Don't know if they have much start talent as I didn't think Olson was that when I watched him last year...older and wiser?
River Falls-Had a really good group of big guys that I think will be among the best in the league. They played hard for the Falcons coaching staff and I would be surprised if they aren't among the top seeds going into the conference tourney. Last year they had a horrendous non-conference record, hopefully this year is not a repeat.
Platteville-Oestreich, Vaassen and Johnson are three of the better players in the league...Oestreich might be the best point guard in the league. Who did they bring in...replacing Stocki and Manning isn't easy but I'd be shocked if Gard doesn't have them towards the top of the league.
EC-Never really impress me when I get the chance to watch them.
Lax-Who will they bring in? They played a young group last year, especially towards the end...maybe that helps them this year?
Stout-Raagland get another year of eligibility? If not, they may have a better record...hurt them more than helped?
-The Dino Man

[Greek Tragedy]

Welcome Dino! Hope to hear more from you throughout the year!

[Greek Tragedy]

It's  possible 11 wins takes the conference crown this year. A four-team race is on the cards with River Falls  and Oshkosh  returning everyone and Point and Whitewater  always in the mix.

Stout: 0-16
Nowhere to go but up for the Blue Devils. They lose Ragland, but hopefully the Kujak brothers return from injury. Ahsenmacher will lead the way while Patterson showed signs of being a good ball player in his freshman year. They should improve to 2 or 3 wins this year with no real highlights to look at from 2014-2015.

La Crosse: 6-10
With only a home win against River Falls to show for as their highlight last year, it'll be tough sledding this season. The Eagles lose Zuiker and Cameron, so scoring may be an issue this year. They also won't have Trent  Schmidt and De Bruin. Staege and Coenen return, as does Rihn. Collom was an AC-HM two years  ago, so maybe he'll come back and make a difference. 

Eau Claire: 6-10
The Blugolds can look back at their sweep of La Crosse and a win vs Platteville  as positives heading into this season. They lose Mau but Hjelter should be back from a near year-long injury. Add to that Kalien, Martinek, Kohner and Moody and Eau Claire looks primed to improve on last year's 6 wins.

Platteville 9-7:
Boston Johnson will lead the way after the departures of Stocki and Manning. Vaassen and Oestreich return as well. They swept the Titans last year and also won at La Crosse  and nearly pulled one out vs Whitewater  befor losing by one. 9 wins will be hard to match this year.

Oshkosh 8-8:
Might be the favorite this year to some, but I think they lack the "it" factor. They ended the 2015 season with road conference tourney wins at Platteville  and at Point before falling at Whitewater. But they still had 4 conference losses outside of Point and Whitewater. Everyone is back, so getting to double-wins has got to be the goal.

Whitewater 15-1:
Could this be an off-year for the Warhawks? They lose nearly everyone. Gone are their top 7 players with news that Muhammad and Patten are not returning either. Only Bryson comes back as the only one who played significant minutes. We can always count on a solid recruiting class from Miller, so let's not completely count them out yet. They might be hard pressed to reach 10 conference wins this season.

River Falls 10-6:
With 8 of 10 players returning that averaged double-digit  minutes, River Falls can improve on last year's  3rd place finish. Aside from their four losses to Point and Whitewater, they had a 1 point loss at La Crosse and a 2 point loss at Oshkosh. Their two home losses to Point and Whitewater were by single digits, so they are close. Their 2015-2016 roster is already up and they've added three senior transfers.

Stevens Point 15-1:
Tough to lose 4 senior starters, but they lost 3 AC players the previous year too. So until someone proves Semling wrong, they are the team to beat. Pelkofer and McGann will lead a young team (in terms of minutes played) that will include another solid recruiting  class. Their nonconference schedule may be harder than the 14-game conference grind.

[tomt4525]

Heard some news recently...a guy I was impressed with, Robby Nardini, has already quit the basketball team at Point.  I felt he was a guy that could probably play spot minutes this season and would be a go to guy later in his career with his shooting ability.  Nelson, Unteidt and Zuiker will probably end up being the guards this season along with Pelkofer and McGann if you want to call him a guard.  I still like the rotation.  The bigs have to improve their scoring output with Gjertson, Freeborn, Geodeke and possibly a freshman Tauber getting some minutes.

Also, Eli Rockett has transferred out of UWRF.  He was a solid player for them last year.  I guess this isn't shocking since their roster is already posted, minus their incoming freshman.

[Greek Tragedy]

Too bad about Nardini. Based on his highlights on youtube, looked like a pretty exciting player. Did he quit Point too (transferring)?

[tomt4525]

Too bad about Nardini. Based on his highlights on youtube, looked like a pretty exciting player. Did he quit Point too (transferring)?

I haven't heard reasoning or if he's leaving Point all together yet.  When I hear, I'll pass it along.  It seems to me that Point needs to stick to recruiting Wisconsin kids, the Illinois kids haven't been working out lately.  Last one I remember is Jason Kalsow, he turned out alright I guess.

[The Dino Man]

It has nothing to do with Wisconsin/Illinois kids. Nardini could have left any school at the start of it. He probably saw who he is going to compete with for time and wasn't willing to either A) wait or B) compete

Over the past couple years it seems like there are more and more kids who are not willing to stay at a place to compete for playing time. Although I am new to posting on the board, I have seen a lot of kids on in-coming schools recruiting lists who don't make it to the actual roster...am I wrong?

Time for bed...why am I still awake? Must almost be basketball season!!
-The Dino Man

[Greek Tragedy]

I agree. I don't  think it has anything to do with Illinois. I would think when getting recruited, you already  have an idea of who you'll be competing with. I can do that by just looking at the roster and fellow recruits coming in. Coming to a top program like Point, I would think you'd expect competition and realize even if you don't start until your junior, or even senior, year that it's very possible you'll  be rewarded with conference championships and possibly a national championship and multiple NCAA tourney bids.

In my previous post I said it may take 11 wins to win the conference this year. I still had a 16-game schedule in my head. With only 14 games now, I think 10 could take the title.

[tomt4525]

I made the comment about stopping recruiting Illinois in jest....Illinois has too much talent to ignore, a lot of schools to distribute that talent...but too much talent regardless.  Dernbach and Semling do their due diligence with who they recruit, which in D3 is even tougher...a lot more turnover than there is at scholarship schools.