MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

North Central has received a commitment from Jamis Nelson of Oak Park-River Forest. Despite being only 6'4" Nelson's quickness and athleticism usually resulted in his being assigned to defend the opponent's best post player. He will most likely need some additional development before being ready to make a significant contribution. However, reports are he is still growing. Accordingly, with the additional size, strength, and seasoning, he will hopefully be in the position to become a force down the line. The potential is certainly there.

[Titan Q]

Ron Rose has added 3 more solid recruits...

Dan Schouten, 6-5 F (Downers Grove South)

Chris Stamas, 6-2 SG (Glenbrook North)

Josh Sutton, 6-5 F (Lincoln)


Complete information here:

http://iwuhoops.blogspot.com/

[iwumichigander]

Ron Rose has added 3 more solid recruits...

Dan Schouten, 6-5 F (Downers Grove South)

Chris Stamas, 6-2 SG (Glenbrook North)

Josh Sutton, 6-5 F (Lincoln)

Fantastic recruitment work by Ron Rose, assistants and athletic department staff. With these additions to the five previously announced, the rating bar is raised in all likelihood from excellent to outstanding. On first glance, this incoming class is a good as IWU's 2002 class which included Dauksas, Amelianovich, Arnold, Chris & Cory Jones, and others.  It could very well contend for the best incoming 2007 D3 freshman class honors.

The question you got to ask - is IWU done yet? I don't know but am more than willing to 'stay tuned'.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Q,

With such a large recruiting class, does it look likely the Titans will be fielding a JV team this year?

[Titan Q]

Q,

With such a large recruiting class, does it look likely the Titans will be fielding a JV team this year?

Yes, there will be a JV team.

[Titan Q]

Ron Rose has added 3 more solid recruits...

Dan Schouten, 6-5 F (Downers Grove South)

Chris Stamas, 6-2 SG (Glenbrook North)

Josh Sutton, 6-5 F (Lincoln)

Fantastic recruitment work by Ron Rose, assistants and athletic department staff. With these additions to the five previously announced, the rating bar is raised in all likelihood from excellent to outstanding. On first glance, this incoming class is a good as IWU's 2002 class which included Dauksas, Amelianovich, Arnold, Chris & Cory Jones, and others. 

That class produced two 1st Team All-Americans/CCIW M.O.P.'s...that is a tough comparison to make before these kids even get to campus.

That said, this is a tremendous class.  Ron Rose has done a heck of a job with his first recruiting class and his entire staff should be commended.  No full-time assistant coach in the CCIW worked harder, or more effectively, on the recruiting trail this year than IWU's part-time assistant Chad Hutson.  And David Steinbrueck and Dennis Martel were huge factors as well.

This group should get IWU back in the CCIW contention/Top 25 mix sooner than later.

[iwumichigander]

That (2002) class produced two 1st Team All-Americans/CCIW M.O.P.'s...that is a tough comparison to make before these kids even get to campus.

That said, this is a tremendous class.  ...This group should get IWU back in the CCIW contention/Top 25 mix sooner than later.

Agreed.  To clarify, my comparison is recruitment class to recruitment class coming in as freshman based upon what each class liked like on paper.

I in no way intended any inference that the 2007 class will neccessarily achieve what the 2002 did.  While on paper it is possible, this 2007 class has yet to prove it on the court.

And what a JV team this one will be!

[dansand]

Coach G has wrapped up his 2007 recruiting class:

Brett Wessels, 6-2, 190 Combo Guard Bettendorf, IA/Transfer from Iowa
Keaton Frye, 6-4, 205 Swing Man Eldridge, IA/Transfer from Valpo
Mike Avallone, 6-4 Shooting Guard Naperville, IL Neuqua Valley HS
Kyle Nelson, 6-7, 195 Forward Deerfield HS
Amin Ekalino, 6-9, 185 Center  Rock Island HS
Drew Croegaert, 6-1, 165 Point Guard Geneseo HS
Bryant Voiles, 6-7, 175 Swing Man Bryon HS
Tyson McCreight, 6-2, 160 Guard Sherrard HS

I imagine the transfers will be ready to make an impact immediately, and Coach G is very excited about the upside of the high school kids. Nelson, Ekalino, and Avallone were their top three priorities of the high school seniors and I think all received interest from other CCIW schools. Ekalino's a great story. He's from Sudan and has only played basketball for three years. It'll be fun watching him develop.

Here's the release:

A trio of Quad City area standouts have put the finishing touches on the 2007 men's basketball recruiting class and Augustana head coach Grey Giovanine is enthused about the players who will be joining his program next year. Amin Ekalino (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.), Drew Croegaert (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) and Tyson McCreight  (Sherrard HS, Sherrard, Ill.) have all announced that they will be members of the Vikings this fall. They join five other players to give Giovanine a class of eight players and he is excited about the group.

"This group should allow us to stay at the top of the CCIW and continue to strive for national prominence," said Giovanine who has led Augustana to three College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championships in the last five years (2003, 2005 and 2006) and two straight NCAA Division III national playoff appearances. "This is a fine class of student athletes with outstanding potential."

Ekalino, Croegaert and McCreight will be joined by NCAA Division I transfers Brett Wessels of Iowa (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) and Keaton Frye of Valparaiso (North Scott HS, Davenport, Iowa) and current high school seniors Kyle Nelson (Deerfield HS, Deerfield, Ill.), Mike Avallone (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) and Bryant Voiles (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.).

Ekalino, a 6' 9", 185 pound center, has only played organized basketball for three years and he made tremendous progress for head coach Thom Sigel and the Rocks. He led the Western Big Six in blocked shots, totaling 72 on the year and he was the Mediacom "Player of the Game" against Davenport North in the Iowa/Illinois Shootout last December. He was an all-area performer and he scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Rock Island beat United Township to win the Class AA regional.

Croegaert, a 6' 1", 165 pound guard, was a first team all-conference performer in the North Central Interscholastic Conference and was selected as the Maple Leaf MVP. He was a special mention all-state performer by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association and was a three time all-Quad City Metro performer by the Moline Dispatch. He was also on the Geneseo Thanksgiving Tournament all-tournament team. He averaged 13.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while playing for former Augustana standout Brad Storm. His senior season was hampered by a wrist injury. He is also a standout track performer.

McCreight, a 6' 2", 165 pound guard, was a two time first team all-conference performer in the Olympic Conference. He averaged 21.3 points per game as a senior when he scored 576 points, both school records for the Tigers. He was also a two time all-area performer and was a special mention all-state selection. He helped lead Sherrard to the conference title as a sophomore and the regional championship as a junior. He was team captain and defensive MVP as a senior.

Wessels was the Iowa Class 4A "Player of the Year" in 2005 when he led Bettendorf to the state championship. Frye is the all-time career scoring leader at North Scott. Nelson is a 6' 7" forward who had a fine senior year at Deerfield while Voiles is a skilled big man who led Byron to a 29-2 record this past year. Avallone is a 6' 4" shooting guard who led Neuqua Valley to a 25-6 record and led his team in scoring at 11.0 points per game.

This group of players will join an Augustana program that is coming off back-to-back undisputed championship seasons in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin. The Vikings went 22-6 overall this past year and were 11-3 in the CCIW and won their first ever CCIW tournament championship. They were ranked seventh in the final NCAA Division III national poll and made their second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. Augustana was 23-6 overall and 11-3 in the league in 2005-06 and advanced to the "Sweet Sixteen" of the NCAA Division III national tournament.

Augustana head coach Grey Giovanine just finished his eighth year at the helm of the Vikings and he has a record of 142-65 during that time frame. He has been the CCIW's "Coach of the Year" and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's NCAA Division III "Coach of the Year" after each of the last two seasons.

[titanfan]

This class is incredible!

Q, when do we get to start speculating about possible starting lineups for the Titans next year?  Are their still recruits that Ron is waiting to hear from?

[diehardfan]

That (2002) class produced two 1st Team All-Americans/CCIW M.O.P.'s...that is a tough comparison to make before these kids even get to campus.

That said, this is a tremendous class.  ...This group should get IWU back in the CCIW contention/Top 25 mix sooner than later.

Agreed.  To clarify, my comparison is recruitment class to recruitment class coming in as freshman based upon what each class liked like on paper.

I in no way intended any inference that the 2007 class will neccessarily achieve what the 2002 did.  While on paper it is possible, this 2007 class has yet to prove it on the court.

And what a JV team this one will be!

I fixed it

[Titan Q]

This class is incredible!

Q, when do we get to start speculating about possible starting lineups for the Titans next year?  Are their still recruits that Ron is waiting to hear from?

Ron received a significant commitment last night...I will have something on it tomorrow.  Just need to make sure it is official.

There is one final player out there that I really like, but it's a longshot.

[titanfan]

This class is incredible!

Q, when do we get to start speculating about possible starting lineups for the Titans next year?  Are their still recruits that Ron is waiting to hear from?

Ron received a significant commitment last night...I will have something on it tomorrow.  Just need to make sure it is official.

There is one final player out there that I really like, but it's a longshot.

Awesome!  I'm excited to hear about this one. 

Q, once the "longshot" decides, obviously you'll mention him if he chooses IWU, but I'd be curious who it is even if he goes elsewhere.  Would that be info you could share?

[Mr. Ypsi]

That looks like a pretty awesome class for Augie, too.  Any other schools have classes to compare to these?

Of course, to try to keep my enthusiasm from running too far amok, I keep repeating to myself: until they play at the college level, potential is just that - potential!

[iwumichigander]

Agree Mr Ypsi that Augustana class impressive.  As Dansand notes, the D2 transfers could have immediate impact once they get into the Vikings play sets and defensive spacing.  A nice recruiting job by Coach G and staff.

[knarocky22]

Actually they are D1 transfers.  Wessels transferred from Iowa and Frye from Valparaiso.