MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[tomt4525]

Deerfield senior Blake Ehrke (6-4) plans to attend UW-Stevens Point and play basketball for the Pointers.

I mentioned Ehrke to UWSP one of the first posts on the last page....he was tweeting with Matt Koerner about being roommates in college.

[AppletonRocks]

And it continues...another recruit for La Crosse...6'3" G Mason Denoyer of Lakeside Lutheran will play for Coach Koelbl.  I know they just won the regular season and that gives reason for recruits to give a longer look at La Crosse, but how many minutes do these kids think are available??

Are they sending 10 guys over to Western Tech for a year 

[AndOne]

And it continues...another recruit for La Crosse...6'3" G Mason Denoyer of Lakeside Lutheran will play for Coach Koelbl.  I know they just won the regular season and that gives reason for recruits to give a longer look at La Crosse, but how many minutes do these kids think are available??

tomt--

It really doesn't matter how many minutes are available. You have to remember tha a vast majority of kids being recruited out of high school were the best or close to the best players on their HS teams. This often applies to not only D1 & D2 kids, but D3 players as well. They have usually been starters and played heavy minutes since they began playing basketball. When you talk to many of these kids, it quickly becomes obvious that they absolutely cannot fathom the possibility that they will not continue on the same path, even when moving up a step on the competitive ladder. Confidence is a good thing, but tons of kids neglect to include a dose of reality in the formula. Some coaches have no qualms about goosing that expectation by, if not outright promising, strongly suggesting that if the recruit comes to his school he will start or at least play x number of minutes as a freshman.

A perfect example is Augustana of the CCIW. They have been one of the nation's top teams for some time now. If for no other reasons than tradition/reputation, it's natural kids want to play there. For CCIW outsiders, Augie has historically collected bigs. And, no, I am not suggesting their coach is one of those who makes false promises. So far this season, they have received comittments from 6 players 6'6" or taller. They will have 5 players 6'6" or taller returning. Assuming all are PFs or Centers, that is 11 kids vying for 2 positions! Do you think any of the 11 don't think they are going to start or at least play meaningful minutes? If you do, don't bet the farm. Going back to my original premise, it really doesn't matter how many minutes are available. Everybody thinks they are going to get the minutes that are. The horizon is clouded with many layers of disappointment. 🙃

[Just the stats]

Point fans...

I don't remember UWSP ever carrying more than 15-16 players.  With returners and known incoming recruits, the roster sits at 18.  I don't think the recruiting class is done either.  There leaves a possibility of some returnees not playing, but I won't speculate on that.  What is everyone's thoughts on a possible larger roster??  What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages??

Obvious advantages is that you cast a wider net on players across the state.  If you hit on just a couple players each recruiting class, you're going to have a program with staying power.  Disadvantage I see is that more practice players equals less attention for each player.  I hope it wouldn't hurt their development over their careers but there is a realistic chance that could happen.

Thoughts??  It seems that this is becoming more normal.  You look at La Crosse and Whitewater and they could carry rosters in the twenties at this point.

Ever is a long time. You can thank the redshirt ban (I think at least in part) on the smaller roster size.

If you go back to the Jack Bennett years, we carried more than the NCAA Tournament roster max of 15*.

*Teams can only dress 15 for NCAA games and though we had more than 15 on the roster, we only dressed 15, between the redshirts, guys who shared jerseys, or guys simply being practice players

96-97 - 18
97-98 - 20
98-99 - 21
99-00 - 20
00-01 - 21
01-02 - 19
02-03 - 20
03-04 - 20
04-05 - 19

Jack Bennett retired in the fall of 2005 and Bob Semling took over

05-06 - 15
06-07 - 15

I'm not sure if they have practice players that just aren't on the roster... but they have only kept right at that 15 man roster (so everybody on the roster with a jersey).

That has meant than Point has dressed fewer than the allowable maximum (for NCAA games.... there is no restriction for the regular season - see Grinnell) EDIT: when there have been injuries.


Positives vs. Negatives:

Negatives - a player has a higher view of himself than the coach does (or than reality... or both) and thinks he should be playing more (or playing, in general). Of course, there's nothing about 16 players that can cause this. If you've got 6 kids, then whoever doesn't start can feel this way.

- It can create a divide between those who are playing and those who are not playing. This is somewhat related to the previous point but it can come to a head if ever one of those second tier players is called upon and they haven't gelled with the first tier.

- If you're trying to do simple 5 on 5 (just two teams) then you've got lots of players standing around doing nothing (unless you have the space to have 10 going 5 on 5 and the other 10 doing something else productive).

- Due to lack of playing time, a higher percentage of players may quit or look to transfer


Positives - a team can run three full squads, with subs, in a competition or rotation-type drill (If offense scores, they stay, new defense on. If defense gets a stop, they move to offense, new defense on).

- Should player(s) get hurt, there's a "next man up" and there are actually men who can fill that role (not so much with just 14 guys on the roster).

- Attrition is less of an issue because you have more players per grade. If you start with 6 freshmen and 2 quit over the years, you end up with 4 seniors. If you just start out with 4, then you're potentially self-limiting the number of upperclassmen.


There are probably more but these were the ones that I came up with off the top of my head.

John, do you know how many assistant coaches Point had each year? I am guessing there is a correlation between number of assistant coaches and number of players kept on the roster.

[badgerwarhawk]

I didn't have time to look at every year but in the 2015-16 season Semling carried 15 players and had 3 assistants.  In 2001 there were 21 and Bennett had 4 assistants and 2 graduate assistants.  It looks like schools were still able to practice red shirts because 6 of the 21 were red shirted. 

[tomt4525]

Former Bemidji St recruit and Luxemburg Casco 6'5" Senior will attend Oshkosh and play basketball for Coach Juckem.  Give Oshkosh another shooter to go with Boots last year and all their size in this incoming class.  Big time get for the Titans.

[Just Bill]

Former Bemidji St recruit and Luxemburg Casco 6'5" Senior will attend Oshkosh and play basketball for Coach Juckem.  Give Oshkosh another shooter to go with Boots last year and all their size in this incoming class.  Big time get for the Titans.

Does this young man have a name? 

[AppletonRocks]

Former Bemidji St recruit and Luxemburg Casco 6'5" Senior will attend Oshkosh and play basketball for Coach Juckem.  Give Oshkosh another shooter to go with Boots last year and all their size in this incoming class.  Big time get for the Titans.

Does this young man have a name? 

I think it's Jake Zietler.  Titans will be a force.....wish they were closer to Oconto Falls, especially in winter.   

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/jake-zeitler/R0hRag86EeOZ5AAmVebBJg/default.htm

[tomt4525]

Former Bemidji St recruit and Luxemburg Casco 6'5" Senior will attend Oshkosh and play basketball for Coach Juckem.  Give Oshkosh another shooter to go with Boots last year and all their size in this incoming class.  Big time get for the Titans.

Does this young man have a name? 

Oops, sorry...Jake Zeitler it is...didn't notice I forgot to type it in.  Very good outside shooter and will open up Oshkosh's offensive attack.

[chmarx]

I was in Minneapolis for Minnesota volleyball's Spring game.  Coach McCutcheon had two seniors on last year's Final Four team and has four top line recruits coming in.  Someone asked him about PT, and he said all the players understand that it is earned.

[badgerwarhawk]

Former Bemidji St recruit and Luxemburg Casco 6'5" Senior will attend Oshkosh and play basketball for Coach Juckem.  Give Oshkosh another shooter to go with Boots last year and all their size in this incoming class.  Big time get for the Titans.

Does this young man have a name? 

Oops, sorry...Jake Zeitler it is...didn't notice I forgot to type it in.  Very good outside shooter and will open up Oshkosh's offensive attack.

I was going to mention it but when they came to Williams Center next year I wanted to be surprised. 

[John Gleich]

John, do you know how many assistant coaches Point had each year? I am guessing there is a correlation between number of assistant coaches and number of players kept on the roster.

We always had a handful of guys who were helping. Some of them more frequently than others (most of them were volunteers).

[cubs]

Add another one to the list.....

Seneca 6'1 senior G Kilan Boland plans to attend UW La Crosse and play basketball for head coach Ken Koelbl....

[AppletonRocks]

Add another one to the list.....

Seneca 6'1 senior G Kilan Boland plans to attend UW La Crosse and play basketball for head coach Ken Koelbl....

They are building a new MBB locker room with 35 lockers so everyone has one. 

[ShineTime]

Are the pointers even trying to win the wiac next year?  Lacrosses third team will be better than most teams starting 5.