MBB: Midwest Conference

[Gregory Sager]

I've always been in favor of a full-round robin.

Full double round-robin, actually. The MWC already had a round robin. It just didn't have everyone take a complete second pass through the league; there were always two teams on each team's schedule against whom they only played one game.

[Greek Tragedy]

Yes.  Indeed, that's what I meant!

[Gregory Sager]

I wonder if the NCAC, which was following a just-short-of-a-double-round-robin schedule similar to the MWC's, will follow suit and extend its conference season to a full double round-robin?

[The Roop]

The double round robin may be a compromise to the formation of a new conference; which lost momentum quickly.

[haterinthehouse]

Looks like a lot of moving and shaking within conferences in the near future:
www.acm.edu

[Gregory Sager]

Looks like a lot of moving and shaking within conferences in the near future:
www.acm.edu

[Pat Coleman]

That talk keeps coming up and I've gotten conflicting off-the-record reports on it. Think we need to keep waiting and see what happens.

[TurtleHead]

Looks like a lot of moving and shaking within conferences in the near future:
www.acm.edu

Please tell me they are not talking about this conference again.  MWC is just starting to have some sort of normalcy compared to the other conferences in the country. 

[The Roop]

Officially they never stopped talking about it. However, the only schools left in the mix are the 7 ACM members from the MWC and Cornell from the IIAC.

[augiefan]

Does anyone have a list of the 2010 recruits committed to MWC schools? Particularly any who might be headed to Beloit College, which showed a glimmer of returning to respectabilty last season. Over on the CCIW board the Augie and IWU recruiting classes are pretty much completed and posted. May 1st is always kind of a deadline for committing to the DIII schools, so we should have some names soon.

[Titan Q]

Does anyone have a list of the 2010 recruits committed to MWC schools? Particularly any who might be headed to Beloit College, which showed a glimmer of returning to respectabilty last season. Over on the CCIW board the Augie and IWU recruiting classes are pretty much completed and posted. May 1st is always kind of a deadline for committing to the DIII schools, so we should have some names soon.

A little Google work turns up that Beloit is getting 6-3 Chris Bremner from Shining Mountain Waldorf School in Boulder, Colorado...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi5sPidsyXk

http://www.dailycamera.com/high-school-sports/ci_14783406#axzz0m8QMSR8m

Looks like a wing-type player...and looks pretty good.  (Of course, the level of competition in those highlights looks to me like it is lower than Illinois Class 1A basketball...the smallest of the small schools.)

I assume he is the brother of the Bremner who was Beloit's MVP in 2009-10.  (Sorry if this has already been posted and is old news.)

[Titan Q]

And this is a post I made last week...

An article that mentions 2 Illinois kids heading to St. Norbert...

http://www.mchenrycountysports.com/columnists/columns/2010/04/08/r_cuvzpt93t8swq9dppm0cog/index.xml

* Chad Ljunggren (6-0 G, Prairie Ridge) - 15.2 ppg

* Josh Rappaport (6-3 F, Grayslake Central) - 17.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg


Rappaport made the Daily Herald's Lake County All-Area team...

http://basketball.dailyherald.com/story/?id=363123


Rappaport's high school team played in a Christmas tournament at Illinois Wesleyan this year.  I remember a few people who went to several games saying he was one of the best players in the tournament (which featured a bunch of D1 kids).  His biggest challenge at the next level is that he is a 6-3 inside player.   

[Gregory Sager]

Does anyone have a list of the 2010 recruits committed to MWC schools? Particularly any who might be headed to Beloit College, which showed a glimmer of returning to respectabilty last season. Over on the CCIW board the Augie and IWU recruiting classes are pretty much completed and posted. May 1st is always kind of a deadline for committing to the DIII schools, so we should have some names soon.

It's not that cut-and-dried. Yes, May 1 is the national Candidates Reply Date Agreement deadline, but in practice this is not set in stone. Plenty of schools will take in late admits who don't put in their deposit by May 1 if there are still spaces available; this is particularly true of schools who accept commuter students (because one of the reasons behind the CRDA is to allow schools to plan their room-and-board arrangements for next fall, and this obviously doesn't apply to commuters). That's why over in the CCIW room we always hear first about Augustana's and Illinois Wesleyan's recruits, while the recruiting announcements from Elmhurst, North Central, and North Park typically come later in the cycle.

[jam8788]

Ripon College Names Julie Johnson New Athletic Director
April 22, 2010

RIPON, Wis. – Ripon College is proud to announce Julie Johnson as the institution's new athletic director, effective at the end of the 2009-10 academic year. The current athletic director, Bob Gillespie, will remain Ripon's head coach for both baseball and men's basketball, and an instructor in the exercise science department. Gillespie has served as athletic director since 1992.

Johnson becomes the first female athletic director in Ripon College history and will continue to serve as head coach of the Red Hawk women's basketball team. She has been assistant athletic director since 2002.

"The College owes a debt of gratitude to Bob for his leadership of the athletics department during the past 18 years," said Gerald Seaman, vice president and dean of faculty. "Julie is a charismatic and passionate advocate of Red Hawk athletics, and we're confident our programs will continue to flourish under her leadership."

Johnson was named to the Ripon College Hall of Fame in 2005 for her commitment to the education of students through the classroom and athletic competition. This school year is Johnson's 20th at Ripon College, where she has become the school's winningest women's basketball coach with a career record of 272-199.

"I'm looking forward to this new opportunity and the challenges it will provide," said Johnson. "I hope to bring the same focus and dedication to this role as I expect from my players on the court."

Johnson came to Ripon in 1990 from South Dakota State University where she received her master's degree in exercise physiology while serving as an assistant women's basketball coach. Johnson also earned her bachelor of science degree in health, physical education and recreation at Dakota State University in 1988. A four-year starter on the Trojan's women's basketball team, Johnson was a three-time all-conference selection and the Dakota Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player in 1987 as well as the NAIA District XII Player of the Year.

Anyone know why Gillespie stepped down?   Sounds like he had a lot on his plate.

[Gregory Sager]

Ripon College Names Julie Johnson New Athletic Director
April 22, 2010

RIPON, Wis. – Ripon College is proud to announce Julie Johnson as the institution's new athletic director, effective at the end of the 2009-10 academic year. The current athletic director, Bob Gillespie, will remain Ripon's head coach for both baseball and men's basketball, and an instructor in the exercise science department. Gillespie has served as athletic director since 1992.

Johnson becomes the first female athletic director in Ripon College history and will continue to serve as head coach of the Red Hawk women's basketball team. She has been assistant athletic director since 2002.

"The College owes a debt of gratitude to Bob for his leadership of the athletics department during the past 18 years," said Gerald Seaman, vice president and dean of faculty. "Julie is a charismatic and passionate advocate of Red Hawk athletics, and we're confident our programs will continue to flourish under her leadership."

Johnson was named to the Ripon College Hall of Fame in 2005 for her commitment to the education of students through the classroom and athletic competition. This school year is Johnson's 20th at Ripon College, where she has become the school's winningest women's basketball coach with a career record of 272-199.

"I'm looking forward to this new opportunity and the challenges it will provide," said Johnson. "I hope to bring the same focus and dedication to this role as I expect from my players on the court."

Johnson came to Ripon in 1990 from South Dakota State University where she received her master's degree in exercise physiology while serving as an assistant women's basketball coach. Johnson also earned her bachelor of science degree in health, physical education and recreation at Dakota State University in 1988. A four-year starter on the Trojan's women's basketball team, Johnson was a three-time all-conference selection and the Dakota Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player in 1987 as well as the NAIA District XII Player of the Year.

Anyone know why Gillespie stepped down?   Sounds like he had a lot on his plate.

So does his successor. Gillespie is the men's basketball head coach, the baseball head coach, and an instructor in the exercise science department -- but Johnson is the women's basketball head coach, a professor in the exercise science department, and the faculty chair of the exercise science department as well. Sounds to me like one overworked person handing off his responsibilities to another overworked person.

The ongoing trend in D3 is for schools to hire athletic directors who are full-time administrators and do not have coaching or classroom responsibilities. F'rinstance, last week Carroll hired a full-time AD, the first time that the school has ever had one. At least two other MWC schools, Lake Forest and Beloit, also have full-time ADs. Every school in the CCIW has a full-time AD.