MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[ShineTime]

If point is stripped of the 2015 title that would be a shame.  I can't think of anybody on this planet that truly believed that team was going to be national champions after losing the big 3 from previous year.  Talk about a group of very good but not overly athletic guys playing hard nosed ball and getting it done.  Did everyone see the video on wsau of Sean mccann speaking about the sanction?  I actually believe that is the truth I can't tell you how many times I observed nick Bennett and others from the back to back teams playing ball in the gym together prior to start of season.  Those guys were gym rats and apparently that can mean your cheating

[fredfalcon]

Neither Chris Jones nor Cole Van Schyndel listed in box score. Knobloch plays 5 minutes, scores no points? Jones probably injured/recovering. Unexplainable start for WW. However, EC is a good team, and will be in it to the end. And so will WW.

Platteville is better than they looked tonight. No team shooting 30% looks good, and they didn't.

Stout evidently is under-rated, stoutly.

[Brian R. Carroll]

How did the Pointers respond to turmoil in the program ? Remarkably well. Shooting the lights out and driving to the hoop repeatedly, the visitors won fairly easily at Mitchell Hall. Congratulations are in order.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Dave--Several institutions in D-3 (large and small, private and public) have told me that their (not extravagant) travel costs to national championships were not properly reimbursed such that they needed to raise money to fund their participation.   That seems extreme.  I can't imagine any team in the D-1 tourney needs to do that.  I stayed in the Wisconsin Badgers hotel at the 2000 and the 2015 Final Four, and they were not at the Red Roof Inn.   Is a decent bus, a clean room and a few meals too much to ask if you qualify for a D-3 Championship?  Is the funding that you suggest is increasing not getting to the schools and being absorbed in investigations like the Point scandal?   

I really appreciate your digging into the rules and explaining them at such depth.  It appears to me there are many ways that a "practice" could occur inadvertently and violations of this type are likely rampant.  Point may be more guilty, but I suspect many coaches are not fearful of the Oct. 15 rule but all the other means they can hold a "practice" you documented.

It should be interesting to see how Point impacts the WIAC race now that it's started.  They can do some damage for sure.  Seems they are dead to rights on this; not good judgement on their part.

There is no way I can speak to what you talk about per travel costs not being properly reimbursed. I am around a LOT of teams in national tournaments (and not just basketball), I am also pretty close to a lot of ADs, and not once has anyone said they have had problems. I do know that the NCAA has limits to what they will reimburse (i.e. 15 members of a team, if you have more and send them you pay for them). There was a number of years when the early rounds were not covered by the NCAA - they allowed them to take place if the division agreed schools would pick up the costs... but that was late 90s?

As for the comparison to the Badgers, you simply can't make that comparison. Division I basketball is the chief reason the NCAA has as much money to distribute as it does. Heck, it is the reason Division III can have the tournaments we have (size and travel). If that money wasn't there, we would be talking about some pretty different national tournaments.

As for Division III championship tournaments, the hotels in the early rounds are secured by the host school - the challenge can be schools in towns with limited options or the hotels in those locations are already booked with other events (heck, we have trouble with that for the Hoopsville Classic some years, especially if the Ravens are home that weekend). The hotels in Salem are pretty nice, so no reason to complain.

As for meals, each school/team gets a per diem for each member covered by the NCAA. I believe that per diem covers both meals and hotels - maybe transportation as well (I need to check again). The per diem is $95/day. It has raised $5/day every year until two or so years ago when the deficit was so severe, they had to put a hold on it and even dialed it back $10/day per person. That has stopped and the increase is back on (I believe). And yes, I said hotel, food, and maybe transportation.

So of course it isn't going to cover the Four Seasons or something. That is why teams aren't going to stay in the most posh hotel possible (if it was available in the first place). However, the $95/day isn't that bad. When two to four people stay in a room, a hotel room of $100/night (guessing) is only going to be $25/person/day.

But again, Division III gets 3.18% of the budget - it is a very difficult argument to ask for more when Division III brings nothing to the table financially. But let's not pretend Division III is getting screwed. We have a 64-team tournament, the football championships are the biggest in the NCAA, same with lacrosse, field hockey, soccer - name a sport.

I have no idea why teams are having problems being reimbursed... I would have to hear about each case before I would dare make any comments about them.

And the comment that the money not getting to teams is going to investigations is a bit over the line. 75% of the Division III budget is spent on all of the championships. The rest goes to management and other items. I think that is pretty damn good. To give you a comparison, the budget last year was a shade under $30mil. $21.3mil went to the championships. Men's basketball spent $997,000 on last year's championships. I do not see where in the Division III budget investigations is listed - there is a very good chance they fall under the general NCAA budget since the same "office" runs those. (Investigations and compliance issues are very much separated from those who run the NCAA and the divisions. I was told recently that even the head of Division III, VP Dan Dutcher, doesn't find out a school's punishment until we in the media do - an hour before the NCAA announces it to the public. That means he finds out at least 24 hours after a school finds out.)

If you are curious what the budget was last year, here is the link: http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2015-16DIII_BudgetFacts_20160512.pdf

Finally, as for the practice description... yes, I am sure many schools are in violation, but unless they self-report or someone reports them, the NCAA isn't going to really find out about it. However, I can also tell you that many more schools are not in violation. And here is the kicker to what I am reading out of UWSP. The coach is in charge of his program. He/she needs to institute a an "air of compliance" and if they do their job correctly and lead appropriately, there won't be any problems. That is why UWSP has had their violations apparently escalated to major violations along with the allegation that Bob Semling "did not promote an atmosphere of compliance." What they are basically saying is whether on purpose or because he wasn't paying attention, Semling did not make sure the rules were being followed or "practices," whether they were official or team open-gym gatherings, were not being conducted properly. We will learn more when the NCAA makes their case (or if information gets out), but clearly this wasn't an occasional practice or moment that was a mistake. The NCAA investigator clearly found bigger problems. I have been told on several occasions that this was not exactly a surprise within the UWSP administration. I can't say much more, but trust me when I say I believe the report is going to be rather revealing on the extent of these things. I actually hope I am wrong.

[fredfalcon]

Stout guy, my comment above is supposed to be to you not to stoutly. Always proofread.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

As the season continues to march along, we continue to see more and more twists. There aren't many more answers despite being about halfway through the season.

Sunday night on Hoopsville, Dave continues the coverage of the UWSP investigation and punishments. Athletics Director Brad Duckworth will join the show to discuss everything that lead up to the decision to suspend Bob Semling the rest of the season and why they handed the program over to Kent Dernbach.

Also tonight, the WBCA Center Court segment makes its season debut. The first guest this season will be Emory women's coach Christy Thomaskutty. Not only will we learn more about why Thomaskutty has been so intregal as a member of the WBCA board, but learn why she thinks it is important to give back to the game she loves. We will also learn more about the Eagles who have their first game in UAA action now complete.

We will also dip into the Northeast, Atlantic, South, and Central regions to get a sense of how some teams off the radar, and others very much on, are doing as the midseason turn arrives. You can also contribute to the new "Hoopsville Mailbag." Email questions you may have to the show at hoopsville@d3hoops.com.

Watch Hoopsville starting at 7:00 PM here (http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2016-17/jan8) or on Facebook Live. You can also watch the show On Demand download and or listen to the podcast(s). Information below.

Guests and/or topics include (in order):
- Brad Duckworth, UW-Stevens Point Athletics Director
- Alex Lang, Brooklyn women's coach
- Christy Thomaskutty, Emory women's coach (WBCA Center Court)
- Charlie Averkamp, Benedictine women's coach
- Kevin Bettencourt, Endicott men's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
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Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

[AppletonRocks]

Glad the Stevens Point AD will join you.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Glad the Stevens Point AD will join you.

We had technical problems at the start of the show when we planned to have him on... we apologize. He is going to be featured in about 20 minutes (9:00 PM ET) if you are still around.

We are happy to have Brad Duckworth join us. We know him from his Alverno days and really appreciated he felt us worthy to talk to us. It is a very interesting conversation (since it was pretaped) that I think is worth listening to for those close to UWSP and those who are not. He is as frank and open as he possibly can be.

Tune in here: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2016-17/jan8

[AppletonRocks]

Interesting and open conversation, more than I would have expected....well done Dave.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Interesting and open conversation, more than I would have expected....well done Dave.

Thank you. I have known Brad for some time and was thrilled to hear he was willing to come on the show. I was nervous on what he could or couldn't say, but I think we found a good area of what I knew I could ask and what he knew he could answer. I appreciate the compliment.

[Greek Tragedy]

I'll have to listen to the podcast. At about what time mark is that interview? Thanks!

[TheOsprey]

I'll have to listen to the podcast. At about what time mark is that interview? Thanks!

It's at about the two hour mark.  Towards the end of the show.

[tomt4525]

Eau Claire North standout, Austin Werdin, has committed to play basketball at UWRF.

[Greek Tragedy]

Badger,

Is Chris Jones hurt. Not sure if I missed a post on that...thanks.

[cubs]

Badger,

Is Chris Jones hurt. Not sure if I missed a post on that...thanks.

Go back and look at Page 1225 again Old School....  It's right above the La Crosse vs Whitewater recap that you also missed last week.