MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[Jacketlawyer]

Although I am disappointed, I have to agree with algernon that RMC needed to AT LEAST win in the quarters to have much of a chance.  From what I have heard, I don't even think they were considering themselves by the time Sunday and Monday rolled around.  It is very interesting that Irmer is going to be playing against Guilford, and I think it will be interesting to see how he fares against some ODAC competition.  He got minutes sparingly in his short time at RMC, but I know Rhoades thought highly of him while he was there. 

As unfortunate as it was for the Jackets to lose early in ODACs, I hope the leaders on that team will use it as fuel for next year.  They have quite a crew comng back, with a sophomore class that saw a great deal of minutes, as well as excellent senior leaders in Short and Varela.  I would imagine they will be a tough match-up.

Good Luck to VaWes and Guilford this weekend, represent the ODAC well!

I agree with all of this, and I'm already looking forward to next season.  Good luck to the Marlins and the Quakes.

[jboogie33]

I am so proud of my boys winning the ODAC. Guilford really deserved it. I feel proud to be a quaker and play with those guys in the beginning of their careers. Now as far as the gym being full. I think Guilford will have a large crowd but this weekend is the beginning of spring break for the school. So alot of the student body may not be there due to planned trips . I know one thing will be there cheering on my former teammates. Question how are the teams in the bracket? I seen GC pound Averett already this year. How are the other schools?

[hasanova]

I am so proud of my boys winning the ODAC. Guilford really deserved it. I feel proud to be a quaker and play with those guys in the beginning of their careers. Now as far as the gym being full. I think Guilford will have a large crowd but this weekend is the beginning of spring break for the school. So alot of the student body may not be there due to planned trips . I know one thing will be there cheering on my former teammates. Question how are the teams in the bracket? I seen GC pound Averett already this year. How are the other schools?

Hey, jboogie33 - I enjoyed watching you play and I'm glad to see you online!  Coopersharpe & ludge can point me out at the games if I don't see you first - come by and say hello.

The Widener Pride are 22-5, St. Mary's Seahawks 17-11, Averett Cougars 14-14 & Guilford Quakers 24-4 with GC being the only ranked team (#8 this week with one vote for 1st).  Obviously, all got hot at the end of their seasons & won their conference tournament.    I think SMC has won about 6 in a row, but GC has a 16-game streak on the line.  Playing at home & based on comparative strength, Guilford will be favored.  GC defeated AU 83-62 early in this season, but has never faced Widener or St. Mary's. 

I'm not sure how many Quaker fans will attend, but I bet AU also brings some folks from Danville & southside VA!  It should be fun!

[algernon]

My bet is that Guilford will defeat St. Mary's on Friday evening and then defeat Widener on Saturday evening.

[algernon]

As unfortunate as it was for the Jackets to lose early in ODACs, I hope the leaders on that team will use it as fuel for next year.  They have quite a crew comng back, with a sophomore class that saw a great deal of minutes, as well as excellent senior leaders in Short and Varela.  I would imagine they will be a tough match-up.

The Yellow Jackets may very likely be the ODAC's preseason #1 for 2008-2009.  These are the significant losses to graduation:

Guilford:  Ben Strong, Caleb Kimbrough, Eric Belkowski

Virginia Wesleyan:  Tyler Fantin, TonTon Balenga, D'Juan Tucker

Randolph-Macon:  Jeremy Dixon

Roanoke:  Josh LaPorte, A. J. Dowell, Ben Shrader, Keith Carter

Washington & Lee:  Greg Bienemann, Femi Kusimo

Hampden-Sydney:  Troy Kaase, Drew Prehmus, Tyler Murray

Bridgewater:  Josh Fox, Jay Strotman, Andrew Cathlin

EMU:  Brad Parkes, Corey Bailey, Jered Lyons

Emory and Henry – no significant losses to graduation

Lynchburg:  Kwame Safo, Evan Fancourt

[DenbowsRoomie]

Good post Algernon.  I'm interested to see how the ODAC recovers from losing some top-shelf talent across the board in this year's grad class.

W&L likely will have to rely more on its guard-play next year, with Goodman and McHugh as the experienced starters.  That being said, the Generals should still be relatively deep in the front-court but will lack a dominant scorer that Bienemann was.  With Zac White, Ryan Owers, and the Bens (Goetsch and Heller), W&L could throw out a variety of options.

I look for Kirk Jones to have a big season from the wing for W&L in '08-'09.

[hasanova]

In addition to the three starters - Strong, Kimbrough and Belkoski - Guilford will also lose steady 6th man Ray Edmond.  To say the Quakers will be a different team in 2008-09 is an understatement!

Now, next year, Tyler Sanborn will have to be a big presence in the middle and look for Clay Henson to score more.  I'm just guessing, not knowing who's in the recruiting pipleline, but I think you'll see Martin Stephenson, T.C. Anderson and George Neville as possible starters.  Not sure of the guard mix, but I know Rhett Bonner will get a lot more minutes also.  I've heard we're working on some big men from Winston-Salem, but I can't confirm it.  Hope so!

If that fails, maybe we can cut and dye Ben's hair blonde and pretend he has a long lost brother in Sweden, Sven Strong! 

[GuilfordAlum]

      Just wanna add to Jboogie and say how proud i am also of my former teammates. That last Va Wes game for them seemed like one for the ages. I remember listening to Belkoski on the internet cast mention that during the later minutes of the game when things got tight that he and Balenga discussed how "they wouldn't want it any other way" as far as playing each other for the ODAC title. 
      Anways, I also want to add, from my own personal opinion, that Macon should be in the tournament. And it is always hard, probably for their seniors, when you think back about all the shoulda coulda wouldas. I recall last year with the quakers, with all the close games where they could of gone either way, and if perhaps one more of the those games went the other way, then Guilford prob wouldn't of made the tournament. I've worked a ton of camps, and listened to Mike Rhodes speak a couple times, and I believe that he will have them well prepared for next year. More so, when you listen to him speak and teach, you realize why he was fomer POY, and national champ at Leb. Valley.
      Concluding, I am on the edge of my seat the rest of the way out. Good luck to the Marlins and the Quakers!!!

[baselinejam]

Good post Algernon.  I'm interested to see how the ODAC recovers from losing some top-shelf talent across the board in this year's grad class.

W&L likely will have to rely more on its guard-play next year, with Goodman and McHugh as the experienced starters.  That being said, the Generals should still be relatively deep in the front-court but will lack a dominant scorer that Bienemann was.  With Zac White, Ryan Owers, and the Bens (Goetsch and Heller), W&L could throw out a variety of options.

I look for Kirk Jones to have a big season from the wing for W&L in '08-'09.

Amen brother

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

My bet is that Guilford will defeat St. Mary's on Friday evening and then defeat Widener on Saturday evening.

You may be giving Widener a little too much credit. But then again... Averett isn't much either. Hmm!

[matty]

can you feel the madness in the air yet? I think it could be an interesting tournament especially on the left side of that bracket. VWC or Guilford? Who do y'all think has the toughest road to Salem? It may be easy to pick VWC because they will most likely have to win on the road and road games in the ncaa tournament especially in Pennsylvania haven't been very kind to the Marlins. But with teams like Wash U (final four team in 07) UW-Stevens Point (former champion) Wooster (final four 06, 07), UW-Whitewater and Mary Hardin Baylor waiting on the horizons, Guilford's run might be just as tough. Any thoughts?
Anyway, good luck to Guilford and VWC in the dance. Ursinus is a little far for me to drive to follow Wesleyan but Greensboro is kind of in my backyard so I will look forward to watching and pulling for Guilford on friday and maybe saturday. Wouldn't it be sweet to have an all-ODAC final in Salem in a few weeks? Keep your fingers crossed.

[WhoWouldaThought]

In responding to who (Guilford or VW) has the easiest road to Salem, the first thing that comes to mind is that they both got lucky.  The Top 5 teams from the last poll are all in the top half of the bracket while Guilford and VW are in the bottom half, and on different sides.  In addition to that, if you look at their brackets individually, Guilford avoided what I feel is the toughest opening weekend of all.  Looking at the upper half of Guilford's bracket, you have a rematch of last year's consolation game in Salem with Wooster taking on Washington on opening day March 7th!! The winner of that game, in all likelihood, gets the task of playing the host Augustana, champions of the CCIW on March 8th.  Also on the upper half of that bracket is St. Thomas, Chicago, & UW Stevens Point  who have all been in the Top 25 virtually all year.  The lower half of the bracket has Guilford, Mary-Hardin Baylor, and Millsaps.  So in summary, Guilford shouldn't have too many issues getting through the first weekend, but the sectional round is going to be a challenge with likely opponents being Millsaps and Augustana.  For Virginia Wesleyan, lets just say that whoever made the brackets may have a rooting interest for them to get back to Salem for a 3rd consecutive year.  They are in by far the easiest bracket with no teams, besides Virginia Wesleyan, that really jump out.  Ursinis is a potential March 8th matchup which would be a true road game for VW.  Ursinis' non-conference schedule was decent, playing 3 NESCAC teams and going 2-1.  They beat W&L by 5 on a neutral floor the 2nd game of the year.  Their other loss was to Immaculata (18-9) who got the automatic bid out of the PnAC.  25-2 overall and 18-0 in your league is impressive, but they certainly don't play in the strongest conference so it will be interesting to see how they fair against VW especially considering that Ursinis has not lost at home all year.  If they can get by Ursinis, their 3rd game would likely be easier than their 2nd, playing on a neutral floor against a team like Gettysburg.  A win there would put them in an elite 8 game against a team like Rochester, Mass-Dartmouth, or Trinity (Conn.).  Rochester has lost 5 of their last 11 so I wouldn't expect them.  My guess would be Trinity based on the conference they play in.  So if both Trinity and VW can get past 2nd round road games, I would expect them to meet in the elite 8.  Synopsis, I think Guilford has the easier opening weekend because it is against lesser competition and they are at home.  Overall though, I think their Sweet 16 and Elite 8 matchups would be much tougher so I would say Guilford has the more difficult road.  Should be interesting.   

[allsky7]

In responding to who (Guilford or VW) has the easiest road to Salem, the first thing that comes to mind is that they both got lucky.  The Top 5 teams from the last poll are all in the top half of the bracket while Guilford and VW are in the bottom half, and on different sides.  In addition to that, if you look at their brackets individually, Guilford avoided what I feel is the toughest opening weekend of all.  Looking at the upper half of Guilford's bracket, you have a rematch of last year's consolation game in Salem with Wooster taking on Washington on opening day March 7th!! The winner of that game, in all likelihood, gets the task of playing the host Augustana, champions of the CCIW on March 8th.  Also on the upper half of that bracket is St. Thomas, Chicago, & UW Stevens Point  who have all been in the Top 25 virtually all year.  The lower half of the bracket has Guilford, Mary-Hardin Baylor, and Millsaps.  So in summary, Guilford shouldn't have too many issues getting through the first weekend, but the sectional round is going to be a challenge with likely opponents being Millsaps and Augustana.  For Virginia Wesleyan, lets just say that whoever made the brackets may have a rooting interest for them to get back to Salem for a 3rd consecutive year.  They are in by far the easiest bracket with no teams, besides Virginia Wesleyan, that really jump out.  Ursinis is a potential March 8th matchup which would be a true road game for VW.  Ursinis' non-conference schedule was decent, playing 3 NESCAC teams and going 2-1.  They beat W&L by 5 on a neutral floor the 2nd game of the year.  Their other loss was to Immaculata (18-9) who got the automatic bid out of the PnAC.  25-2 overall and 18-0 in your league is impressive, but they certainly don't play in the strongest conference so it will be interesting to see how they fair against VW especially considering that Ursinis has not lost at home all year.  If they can get by Ursinis, their 3rd game would likely be easier than their 2nd, playing on a neutral floor against a team like Gettysburg.  A win there would put them in an elite 8 game against a team like Rochester, Mass-Dartmouth, or Trinity (Conn.).  Rochester has lost 5 of their last 11 so I wouldn't expect them.  My guess would be Trinity based on the conference they play in.  So if both Trinity and VW can get past 2nd round road games, I would expect them to meet in the elite 8.  Synopsis, I think Guilford has the easier opening weekend because it is against lesser competition and they are at home.  Overall though, I think their Sweet 16 and Elite 8 matchups would be much tougher so I would say Guilford has the more difficult road.  Should be interesting.   

     Hey WWT.....can you send me your address so I can put you on my Christmas card list? I along with numerous other Fighting Scots will want to send you one. 

     GO SCOTS!!

[LCasid]

Hornet Head Men's Basketball Coach John Swickrath Announces Resignation

http://www.lynchburg.edu/x12205.xml

[emufan]

1. LCasid has to be Scottie 2 hottie,  correct?

2.  Did he really resign, or is this like JMU and Coach Dean Keener, where the school forces him to resign?