MBB: NESCAC

[JEFFFAN]

Well at least we have two NESCAC teams in the women's finals!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Domer, I agree with your assessment of Ross (not based on his game vs. Williams this year, but more generally).  Last year, I could not BELIEVE how advanced he was for a first-year player.  He is going to be a first-team all-American this year (and maybe even national POY if he has a massive Final Four) and if he stays healthy is a good bet for at least one POY.  He could absolutely be a mid-major D1 player right now in my view.  If he continues at this pace, he will be right there in the Mike Nogelo / Joey Flannery / Aaron Toomey / Jimmy Bartolatta category of all-time New England D3 greats (list not meant to be all-inclusive, but those are the first guys who immediately come to mind ...).

Ross (like Flannery) could easily be playing at any of the Patriot League schools..........with the exception of this year's Bucknell team. How he didn't get any mid-major looks, nor D-2 looks is mind blowing, unless he was a very, very late bloomer. A free Lehigh (where he could play) education is worth about $300K.

I believe there were some D1 looks, but just not the right one.

[WPI89]

Congrats to your all NESCAC ladies final!

[Bucket]

Congrats to Jack Daly on his 4th-Team All-American honors!

http://www.d3hoops.com/awards/all-americans/men/2018

[toad22]

Congratulations to Dale Wellman, coach if the Nebraska Wesleyan basketball team, and former assistant, under Dave Paulsen, at Williams. Dale is a great coach, and a really fun guy to be around.

[Old Guy]

Williams just released its admissions decisions (a record-low 12 percent admitted from a record-high 9500 applicants) so hopefully more recruiting news (if any still to come) in the near future ...

I suspect you'll find just about every NESCAC school claiming record high applications: blame the common application (fill out one application, send it to multiple schools. NESCAC has cachet).

[mathteacherjedi]

14 minutes into the Michigan game, Duncan Robinson is 3-3 from 3 point land and has scored 9 of Michigan's 21 points. 

[ContinentalDomer]

When did Nebraska Wesleyan move from then NAIA to D3 in men's basketball?  It appears that some of their athletic teams were NAIA and some may have been D3 through 2015-16.  Just curious as to whether or not any of the players on this year's b-ball title team were once scholarship players.

[Gregory Sager]

When did Nebraska Wesleyan move from then NAIA to D3 in men's basketball?  It appears that some of their athletic teams were NAIA and some may have been D3 through 2015-16.  Just curious as to whether or not any of the players on this year's b-ball title team were once scholarship players.

None of them were scholarship players. D3 bylaws stipulate that a school cannot join D3 and use players to whom it had once given athletic scholarships. That's one of the reasons why there is a four-year provisional period before a school attains full D3 membership; it allows the school to purge itself of student-athletes whom it had agreed to give athletic scholarships.

But that had nothing to do with Nebraska Wesleyan, because Nebraska Wesleyan never gave athletic scholarships in the first place. NWU had been a dual member of NCAA-D3 and NAIA from D3's inception in 1973 until two years ago, when it dropped NAIA membership. As a dual member, NWU had to declare the previous May what affiliation it would take on for postseason purposes the following school year, D3 or NAIA. Nebraska Wesleyan, which has always felt itself more philosophically aligned with D3, typically declared for D3 -- which is why it had appeared in 14 previous D3 tourneys prior to this season. In fact, NWU made the Final Four on four previous occasions, finishing third in 1985, 1986, and 1988, and second in 1997. It did file as NAIA for certain sports, however; in those instances, Nebraska Wesleyan's teams were among that minority of NAIA teams that represented schools that did not give out athletic scholarships.

NWU's problem vis-a-vis D3 has always been that it exists on a D3 island; it is very geographically isolated, as the nearest D3 neighbor, Buena Vista, is a three-hour drive, and there are only two other D3 campuses within four hours' drive, Simpson and Central. It continues to be a problem even today; traveling to IIAC games is a haul for every Prairie Wolves team, and scheduling D3 non-conference games presents a series of hurdles for the NWU head coach in each sport.

Therefore, NWU was a member of an NAIA league for decades, first the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and then the NIAC's successor league, the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Nebraska Wesleyan was the only D3 member of those leagues, and, thus, the only member that did not offer athletic scholarships. That, plus the fact that D3 schools are restricted to shorter seasons than NAIA schools in just about every sport, put NWU at a competitive disadvantage. Interestingly enough, though, NWU often did pretty well in various sports in the NIAC/GPAC, men's basketball being a noteworthy example.

Because it is so hard for NWU to schedule non-conference games against D3 opponents, and because the school played most of its games within an NAIA league, the school had to annually petition the NCAA for an exemption to D3's rule that half of a team's games must be played against D3 opponents. That was an additional headache with which NWU had to deal. Small wonder that, when the IIAC offered a spot in the league to NWU, the school jumped at the chance and exited the GPAC, dropping the dual NAIA/NCAA affiliation as well in the process.

Bottom line, Nebraska Wesleyan had no basketball players on scholarship who are no longer getting scholarships, because Nebraska Wesleyan has never given out athletic scholarships.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

When did Nebraska Wesleyan move from then NAIA to D3 in men's basketball?  It appears that some of their athletic teams were NAIA and some may have been D3 through 2015-16.  Just curious as to whether or not any of the players on this year's b-ball title team were once scholarship players.

None of them were scholarship players. D3 bylaws stipulate that a school cannot join D3 and use players to whom it had once given athletic scholarships. That's one of the reasons why there is a four-year provisional period before a school attains full D3 membership; it allows the school to purge itself of student-athletes whom it had agreed to give athletic scholarships.

But that had nothing to do with Nebraska Wesleyan, because Nebraska Wesleyan never gave athletic scholarships in the first place. NWU had been a dual member of NCAA-D3 and NAIA from D3's inception in 1973 until two years ago, when it dropped NAIA membership. As a dual member, NWU had to declare the previous May what affiliation it would take on for postseason purposes the following school year, D3 or NAIA. Nebraska Wesleyan, which has always felt itself more philosophically aligned with D3, typically declared for D3 -- which is why it had appeared in 14 previous D3 tourneys prior to this season. In fact, NWU made the Final Four on four previous occasions, finishing third in 1985, 1986, and 1988, and second in 1997. It did file as NAIA for certain sports, however; in those instances, Nebraska Wesleyan's teams were among that minority of NAIA teams that represented schools that did not give out athletic scholarships.

NWU's problem vis-a-vis D3 has always been that it exists on a D3 island; it is very geographically isolated, as the nearest D3 neighbor, Buena Vista, is a three-hour drive, and there are only two other D3 campuses within four hours' drive, Simpson and Central. It continues to be a problem even today; traveling to IIAC games is a haul for every Prairie Wolves team, and scheduling D3 non-conference games presents a series of hurdles for the NWU head coach in each sport.

Therefore, NWU was a member of an NAIA league for decades, first the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and then the NIAC's successor league, the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Nebraska Wesleyan was the only D3 member of those leagues, and, thus, the only member that did not offer athletic scholarships. That, plus the fact that D3 schools are restricted to shorter seasons than NAIA schools in just about every sport, put NWU at a competitive disadvantage. Interestingly enough, though, NWU often did pretty well in various sports in the NIAC/GPAC, men's basketball being a noteworthy example.

Because it is so hard for NWU to schedule non-conference games against D3 opponents, and because the school played most of its games within an NAIA league, the school had to annually petition the NCAA for an exemption to D3's rule that half of a team's games must be played against D3 opponents. That was an additional headache with which NWU had to deal. Small wonder that, when the IIAC offered a spot in the league to NWU, the school jumped at the chance and exited the GPAC, dropping the dual NAIA/NCAA affiliation as well in the process.

Bottom line, Nebraska Wesleyan had no basketball players on scholarship who are no longer getting scholarships, because Nebraska Wesleyan has never given out athletic scholarships.

I was impressed at just how committed the NWU people were to d3 this weekend.  I got to talk to Cooper Cook's father Kevin, who played on two NWU final four teams in the 80's and is now a trustee at the school.  He said he's always felt much more connected to d3, even as the school was playing in an NAIA conference.  In fact, he suggested that the move to the IIAC was largely due to the increasing size of the Great Plains conference - with less and less non-conference games available, they just weren't able to keep connected to d3.

Nebraska Wesleyan has always been a committed d3 school and it's good to see that they're connected more closely now.

Just for your list, Greg, I believe Grinnell has got to be closer than 4 hours away, too.

[JEFFFAN]

One Mammoth team with two straight national championships and a 66 game winning streak!

[Gregory Sager]

I was impressed at just how committed the NWU people were to d3 this weekend.  I got to talk to Cooper Cook's father Kevin, who played on two NWU final four teams in the 80's and is now a trustee at the school.

I vaguely remember him from North Park's semifinal win over NWU in 1985, although the most memorable player for the Plainsmen during that three-Final-Fours era was their superstar, Dana Janssen.

He said he's always felt much more connected to d3, even as the school was playing in an NAIA conference.  In fact, he suggested that the move to the IIAC was largely due to the increasing size of the Great Plains conference - with less and less non-conference games available, they just weren't able to keep connected to d3.

I hadn't thought about the size of the GPAC being a problem for NWU's ability to play non-conference games against D3 teams, but that makes sense. I was surprised that, when Pat and Dave interviewed Dale Wellman last night and brought up the possibility that NWU's national championship might make some of the Nebraska NAIAs consider D3, nobody brought up the fact that Concordia NE and Doane had had exploratory seasons in D3 earlier this decade.

Nebraska Wesleyan has always been a committed d3 school and it's good to see that they're connected more closely now.

Just for your list, Greg, I believe Grinnell has got to be closer than 4 hours away, too.

You're right. Grinnell is three and a half hours away. I forgot that Grinnell, like NebWes, is practically right on I-80. Too bad that Grinnell isn't a conference foe for NWU, although it's a logical non-conference choice for scheduling for the Prairie Wolves -- if Grinnell can be termed a logical scheduling choice for anybody other than Greenville or Rhodes, that is.

[ContinentalDomer]

Thanks for the history.  Good stuff.

When did Nebraska Wesleyan move from then NAIA to D3 in men's basketball?  It appears that some of their athletic teams were NAIA and some may have been D3 through 2015-16.  Just curious as to whether or not any of the players on this year's b-ball title team were once scholarship players.

None of them were scholarship players. D3 bylaws stipulate that a school cannot join D3 and use players to whom it had once given athletic scholarships. That's one of the reasons why there is a four-year provisional period before a school attains full D3 membership; it allows the school to purge itself of student-athletes whom it had agreed to give athletic scholarships.

But that had nothing to do with Nebraska Wesleyan, because Nebraska Wesleyan never gave athletic scholarships in the first place. NWU had been a dual member of NCAA-D3 and NAIA from D3's inception in 1973 until two years ago, when it dropped NAIA membership. As a dual member, NWU had to declare the previous May what affiliation it would take on for postseason purposes the following school year, D3 or NAIA. Nebraska Wesleyan, which has always felt itself more philosophically aligned with D3, typically declared for D3 -- which is why it had appeared in 14 previous D3 tourneys prior to this season. In fact, NWU made the Final Four on four previous occasions, finishing third in 1985, 1986, and 1988, and second in 1997. It did file as NAIA for certain sports, however; in those instances, Nebraska Wesleyan's teams were among that minority of NAIA teams that represented schools that did not give out athletic scholarships.

NWU's problem vis-a-vis D3 has always been that it exists on a D3 island; it is very geographically isolated, as the nearest D3 neighbor, Buena Vista, is a three-hour drive, and there are only two other D3 campuses within four hours' drive, Simpson and Central. It continues to be a problem even today; traveling to IIAC games is a haul for every Prairie Wolves team, and scheduling D3 non-conference games presents a series of hurdles for the NWU head coach in each sport.

Therefore, NWU was a member of an NAIA league for decades, first the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and then the NIAC's successor league, the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Nebraska Wesleyan was the only D3 member of those leagues, and, thus, the only member that did not offer athletic scholarships. That, plus the fact that D3 schools are restricted to shorter seasons than NAIA schools in just about every sport, put NWU at a competitive disadvantage. Interestingly enough, though, NWU often did pretty well in various sports in the NIAC/GPAC, men's basketball being a noteworthy example.

Because it is so hard for NWU to schedule non-conference games against D3 opponents, and because the school played most of its games within an NAIA league, the school had to annually petition the NCAA for an exemption to D3's rule that half of a team's games must be played against D3 opponents. That was an additional headache with which NWU had to deal. Small wonder that, when the IIAC offered a spot in the league to NWU, the school jumped at the chance and exited the GPAC, dropping the dual NAIA/NCAA affiliation as well in the process.

Bottom line, Nebraska Wesleyan had no basketball players on scholarship who are no longer getting scholarships, because Nebraska Wesleyan has never given out athletic scholarships.

[gordonmann]

I asked the IIAC leaders who were at the women's final four to watch Wartburg how bad the travel was with NWU in the fold. They said the longest trips are 6 hours which is tough on a week night, but the rest are pretty manageable. 

[Gregory Sager]

I asked the IIAC leaders who were at the women's final four to watch Wartburg how bad the travel was with NWU in the fold. They said the longest trips are 6 hours which is tough on a week night, but the rest are pretty manageable.

Your conversation partners from this past weekend have a gift for understatement, Gordon.