MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

Well, after all the Jeffrey Jordan hype this year, MJ's son has decided to be a "preferred walk-on" at U. of Illinois.  I think the best D1 offer he had when the dust settled was Valparaiso.  Mid-majors like Illinois State and Loyola backed off in the end.

I posted this earlier this year, but after seeing him play, I honestly think Jeffrey is a Division III player.  He might be a 1st Team All-CCIW player as a senior, but not the M.O.P..  It absolutely amazes me to see where he is ranked on some of the recruiting websites and where he is placed on the all-state teams.

Jeffrey seems like a first-class kid.  I know he is a great student and just a real solid person.  I was hoping he'd end up at a low D1, where he could play and somewhere away from the media (as much as possible).  At Illinois he will really be in the media spotlight and I'm just not sure that is the best case scenario for him.  We shall see.

[north central]

Titan Q good point I was hoping Jordan ended up at a small d1 also because he wont play much at illinois and he is overated. But I think he could have been good at valpo.  Honestly he seems to be no better than Antione Mcdaniel from Cathage 2002 or 2003  and they play a similar game.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Q,

Continuing with the way-too-early speculation on the starters, would I be off with a front line of Gant, Nussbaum, and TBD?  (This assumes that Brian will be coming back 100%.)

From what I've read, if Jeffrey Jordan was Jeffrey Smith he'd probably be d3.  Still, it is hard to fault a kid for continuing to hope that lightning will yet strike, and he can match the old man!  (Which could also explain walking on in the Big 10 rather than taking a low level scholarship - I suspect that tuition is not a major concern! )

[Titan Q]

Q,

Continuing with the way-too-early speculation on the starters, would I be off with a front line of Gant, Nussbaum, and TBD?  (This assumes that Brian will be coming back 100%.)

I'll take a stab when the recruiting process is over.

[Titan Q]

Titan Q good point I was hoping Jordan ended up at a small d1 also because he wont play much at illinois and he is overated. But I think he could have been good at valpo.  Honestly he seems to be no better than Antione Mcdaniel from Cathage 2002 or 2003  and they play a similar game.

I don't think Jordan is anywhere near as good as Antoine McDaniel.  Or Keelan Amelianovich for that matter.  Or several recent CCIW superstars.

[onlooker]

TitanQ
Intresting info on 2 guards . Do you have any info on the 5's or 4's

Thanks

[Titan Q]

TitanQ
Intresting info on 2 guards . Do you have any info on the 5's or 4's

Thanks

Well, right now IWU has Ed O'Callaghan coming in (who is a 4/5) but could certainly use as many good big guys as they can get. 

[Late nite]

I just heard he was "considering Wesleyan". It may have been just as a student, but that seems doubtful as I believe he did not consider not playing basketball. Perhaps he, at one point in the season, just wanted to see if IW had any interest in him. I'm not really sure--just reporting what I was told.
I did see him play 3-4 times this season including a game in which he scored 25, and another game in which his team defeated Duncan Lawson's team where he played well. So, I know he can contribute in the CCIW. There was discussion here recently about how well Avallone will contrbute in the conference. Having seen both play, I would say Hulett shoots at least as well if not better than Avallone.

Also, do you feel any of the incoming Titan freshmen guards will displace any of the returning guards either as a starter or a significant minutes player? What is Dwyer's status as far as rehab/recovery from his injury?

Only time will tell---The situations of both players suggest we may find out about Hulett before Avallone

[iwumichigander]

Everything considered, here in late April my guess is that IWU's starting backcourt in 2007-08 will be:

PG Travis Rosenkranz (5-11 FR)
SG Andrew Gilmore (6-3 JR)

With recruiting not done as yet, I agree with Bob.  And, in the pre-season score book Rosenkrantz & Gilmore are written in pencil.  I really believe every spot is "wide open".  Upperclassmen will have to earn a starting role and freshmen will have to win it. 

The only IWU incoming freshman point guard assured of a starting role I can think of in recent years was Korey Coon.  Adam Dauksas did not get a starting assignment until the sixth non-conference game of the 2002 season following two back to back losses by IWU.

[Titan Q]

Here are some photos of Zach Freeman from the Collegiate Basketball Invitational...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/cbi1.jpg

http://www.iwuhoops.com/cbi3.jpg

http://www.iwuhoops.com/cbi4.jpg

http://www.iwuhoops.com/cbi5.jpg


In this one, two D3 guys (Zach and Virginia Wesleyan's Brandon Adair) appear to be having a good time...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/cbi2.jpg


I spoke to Zach last week about the event and he enjoyed the trip.  He said the players were treated very well and he made some great friends.  Zach seemed to be a little surprised that he didn't feel out of place with some of the great D2 and NAIA players -- I could tell that after that event, he felt like he could play with any of those guys.

The basketball itself wasn't great -- kind of like the NBA all-star game.  Not the kind of event an unselfish D3 player is going to shine.

Zach father Bob e-mailed with the pics and said:

"I left Wadsworth feeling like a stranger to the game of basketball... it has evolved into a game of
pushing, shoving, holding, and being a selfish showboating shooter.  The games I saw were nothing
like I remembered basketball to be... but I guess it is just a mirror of the NBA and other professional
sports in general.  It also made me very grateful of the 4 extra years I/we were able to watch A and Z play
at IWU and how very special the Shirk Center is and what a great conference the CCIW is...It is about "student" athletes and not "athletes" as students....  I am very happy that Andrew and Zach
chose IWU.  It was a great fit for them in academics as well as in sports!"


That'd be a nice message for any parent to hear who's son or daughter is making that tough decision between paying for a D3 education or accepting a NAIA or D2 scholarship.

[north central]

Titan Q that was a very nice message from that parent. And i can say from having played division 3 and division 2 basketball it is like night and day. division 3 players are truly special individuals who play ball for one reason and one reason only: the love of the game. There are  no agendas or people trying to impress scouts  or get their numbers. Division 3 basketball is so pure and division 2 kids , from my experience really thought thery were just in school to play basketball.

[diehardfan]

Here are some photos of Zach Freeman from the Collegiate Basketball Invitational... Not the kind of event an unselfish D3 player is going to shine.

Nice to see one of my favorite CCIW players in the Wheaton Orange!

Do you have any info on what his stats were for the games? I didn't remember seeing his name mentioned in any of the D3hoops.com articles, which I thought was odd. Since Zach was such a dominant player in DIII this past season, had a great way of getting to the basket on both ends of the court, and scored so gosh darn much this season, and was the focus of his teams offense and every teams defense, I had sorta assumed that he would have been one of the DIII players to stand up and make some noise and prove that we should have had more players there...

[Pat Coleman]

Here are his lines:

## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
22 Zach Freeman........ *  3-5    0-0    2-3    1  2  3   1   8  3  1  0  0  19
22 Zach Freeman........ *  6-7    1-1    0-1    1  2  3   4  13  1  0  0  0  20
22 Zach Freeman........ *  1-2    0-0    4-4    1  0  1   5   6  2  0  1  0  16

[onlooker]

TitanQ
Intresting info on 2 guards . Do you have any info on the 5's or 4's

Thanks


Well, right now IWU has Ed O'Callaghan coming in (who is a 4/5) but could certainly use as many good big guys as they can get


Any news on who they are still recruiting? Are they getting close?

Thanks

[titanfan]

It sure has gotten quiet in here.  Any other recruiting info?  It seems like this is the time a lot of final decisions should be made.  I know the normal IWU student deadline is usually May 1st.