MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[UWBadgers]

St. Thomas will "involuntarily'' leave conference no later than spring of 2021. Apparently, Tommies bowed to the certainty of being voted out by the needed nine of 13 conference school presidents.

[WUPHF]

I'll say, in thinking about the possibility of St. Thomas joining the WIAC, I have to think that the Presidents of the WIAC schools see this is as a quasi-system organization that binds most of the schools in the Wisconsin system together.

Obviously, UW-Superior is out as are Wisconsin, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside and the branch campuses, but system politics being what they are, I would say that the WIAC schools are not going to risk changing an organization that binds most of the similiary-situated regional campuses together.

There may be reasons at the athletic department level, but I just don't see it happening.

[WW]

I'll say, in thinking about the possibility of St. Thomas joining the WIAC, I have to think that the Presidents of the WIAC schools see this is as a quasi-system organization that binds most of the schools in the Wisconsin system together.

Obviously, UW-Superior is out as are Wisconsin, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Parkside and the branch campuses, but system politics being what they are, I would say that the WIAC schools are not going to risk changing an organization that binds most of the similiary-situated regional campuses together.

There may be reasons at the athletic department level, but I just don't see it happening.

Agree. There are valid athletic-department level reasons to consider admitting St. Thomas to the WIAC. But once that discussion reaches higher offices, I think it will get shut down pretty quickly.

That said, I'd welcome their baseball program to the WIAC tomorrow.

[tomt4525]

Very...Very...early offseason Power Rankings, my opinion of course.

1.  Oshkosh
Return Fravert and Flynn and that could make up the best frontcourt in the country.  Peterson, Duax and Vlotho are solid pieces as well.  D2 Transfer, Eddie Muench, will step into big minutes as well.  Should definitely start the season ranked in the top 5, very well could be number 1.
Incoming Players: Quinn Steckbauer- Merrill, Levi Borchert- Kimberly, Will Mahoney- Appleton West, Nick Otto- Appleton Xavier, Eddie Muench-Transfer from D2 Rockhurst

2.  La Crosse
Dernbach has been able to reel in multiple players since his start at La Crosse that have turned down D2 offers to play at La Crosse.  Ethan Anderson last year and Austin Westra this year will form a solid nucleaus in the future.  Josh Dahlke showed he can be a player as well, plus not many 6'9" players with agility go the D3 route.  Terek Nesheim and Sam Burkart also play some good minutes for the Eagles.
Incoming Players:  Noah Kollock- Almond Bancroft, Zion Turner- DC Everest, Henry Noone - Lourdes Academy, Joey Platz- Milwaukee Marquette, Austin Westra- DeForest, Cole Kleiner- Cuba City, Jimmy Volbrecht- Transfer from D2 Duluth

3.  Platteville
The Pioneers return an extremely talented backcourt with Alex Ranney, Quentin Shields, Carter Voelker and Kyle Tuma.  If Justin Stovall makes big strides, this team can make some noise.
Incoming Players:  Brad Neis- De Pere, Cam Paske- Lakeside Lutheran, Stryker Fitzsimons- Darlington, Samuel Meerstein- GB New Lutheran, Jaden Kreklow- New Glarus

4. Whitewater
This ranking probably has more to do with what I expect from WW.  They only return Tywon Bressler and Riley Jensen who played consistent minutes from last year.  They bring in a big class and I'm sure they aren't done yet, every year they bring in some bigger names via the transfer route.  I'm waiting to see what happens there.
Incoming Players:  Will Pytelski- GB Southwest, Carter Budenz- Highland CC(IL), Rocky Martinez- Waukesha West, Chombi Lambert- Manitowoc Roncalli, Austin Gates- Bartlett(IL), Brian Conoghan- New Trier(IL), Jordan Wilkins- West Chicago(IL)

5. Stevens Point
UWSP hasn't been able to bring in the talent through recruiting to sustain the program these past 3 years.  They won a title in 2015, brought in a great class that is graduating this year.  Also had talented transfers Nate Dodge and Mark Nelson come in and graduate this year.  They have some solid players who can play some roles but no stars.  They need to continue recruiting the transfer market or they could be in danger of not even being able to play 5 on 5 in practice if the injury bug hits.  Best guess at starting lineup would be Garret Nelson, Aaron Knez, Blake Ehrke, Brandon Spray and Matt Koerner.  After the starters, the freshman better come ready to play.
Incoming Players:  Mayson Hazaert- Wrightstown, Kaden Clark- Appleton East, Logan Mulhern- Osseo Fairchild

6. River Falls
UWRF will have a very formidable front line.  Ross Ingersoll, Julian Jackson, Alex Ohde and D2 Duluth transfer Luke Harris could very well carry them.  If Jack Stensgard and Matt Keller can provide consistent outside scoring, they are dangerous.  Of my rankings, I think UWRF is most likely to make a big jump. 
Incoming Players:  Bailey Blanchard- Clear Lake, Jake Reeck- Winona(MN), Jamer Shrumm- Farmington(MN), Luke Harris- D2 Duluth transfer

7.  Eau Claire
They have a solid nucleus coming back in Spencer Page, Sean Miller, Cole Rabedeaux, Cam Kuepers and Blake Wacholz.  Some added size should help and if Clay Kujawa comes back healthy they will compete and come play themselves higher than this 6 spot.
Incoming Players:  Nathan Hau-EC Memorial, Garret Bruchs- Poynette, Kyle Daost- Southern Door, Kendrick Williams- Joliet Central(IL), Brock Voigt- Sun Prairie, Alex Voigt- Sun Prairie, Carter Hanke- Marathon

8.  Stout
Stout has been at the bottom for awhile now and I think they are improving the talent level for this upcoming year, they aren't there yet.  Jon Ciriacks, Luke Geiger, Garret Parks, Kyle Williams, Kaden Koski and Josh Mericle will be in the rotation but Stout will need some incoming players to make a huge impact to move up these standings.
Incoming Players:  Preston Briggs- Traverse City(MI), Cory Hoglund- McDonnell Central, Kyle Jackson- Lincoln Park(IL)

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

You forgot St. Thomas ...

[Greek Tragedy]

Nice post, tom! +1

Here's an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the WIAC being a possible destination for St. Thomas. No definitive answers, just saying they might be open to the possibility.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/2019/05/24/wiac-may-realistic-option-minnesotas-st-thomas/1213577001/

[WUPHF]

MADISON – The University of St. Thomas, which arguably clearly fields the most successful NCAA Division III athletic programs in the state of Minnesota, is looking for a new conference.

I fixed it for them...

[WUPHF]

"Some people have been under the impression – erroneously so – that we would not consider someone who is not a UW system school," said Karner, who plans to retire after the 2019-'20 academic year. "That has never been our policy.

"Now having said that, in 23 years I can count on one hand the number of schools that have approached us about being a full member. And all of them, after some preliminary discussions, what it came down to was that from a competitive level, the WIAC wasn't what they wanted to take on.

"I was even approached by a Division II school a number of years ago. And no, it wasn't UW-Parkside. And they ultimately decided: We just don't think we can compete with you guys."

Humble words by the WIAC commissioner. [sarcasm]

[Gregory Sager]

MADISON – The University of St. Thomas, which arguably clearly fields the most successful NCAA Division III athletic programs in the state of Minnesota, is looking for a new conference.

I fixed it for them...

The league has won the men's basketball title 15 13 times – four by UW-Whitewater, four by UW-Platteville, four by UW-Stevens Point and last season by UW-Oshkosh.

Me, too.

[5 Words or Less]

UWSP MBB NCAA rules infraction

https://web3.ncaa.org/lsdbi/search/miCaseView/report?id=102747

... University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's (UWSP's) failure to monitor the men's basketball program, which allowed playing and practice seasons and recruiting violations to continue over five academic years.   The head men's basketball coach also violated head coach responsibility legislation and the former athletics director (athletics director) engaged in unethical conduct ...

UWSP's failure to recognize and adequately act on several indications that the men's basketball program routinely conducted impermissible athletically related activities outside of its declared playing and practice seasons. Some of these activities involved impermissible tryouts. Although the activities took place in a highly visible area and multiple individuals reported them to the athletics director, the violations continued over five academic years before UWSP identified and stopped them. The head coach acknowledged that he was personally involved in the violations and failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance. The athletics director also admitted that he acted unethically when he knowingly furnished false or misleading information during the investigation. UWSP gained an extensive competitive and recruiting advantage because of the violations.

[Pat Coleman]

Indeed. That was fairly big news and was discussed widely at the time.

[tomt4525]

Princeton(MN) 5'10" PG and QB, James Flicek, will continue his football and basketball career at UW-River Falls.

[tomt4525]

Cambridge and former NDSCS 6'1" G, Jacob Horton, is transferring to UW-Stout.  It looks like he redshirted at NDSCS and should have 4 years of eligibility.

https://a.hudl.com/profile/8934538/Jacob-Horton

[tomt4525]

Former Sun Prairie and Madison College 6'2" PG, Sean Suchomel, will continue his basketball career at La Crosse.

https://www.hudl.com/profile/3505956/Sean-Suchomel

[5 Words or Less]

Indeed. That was fairly big news and was discussed widely at the time.

Oops, my bad ...