MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[petemcb]

The Bluejay basketball team is back from Europe where they went 5-1 in places like Brussels, Antwerp, and Paris.....

Hopefully, their one loss wasn't to the 'twerps.

[Gregory Sager]

Since JOTG is in Deerfield it's probably safe to assume that the "Trinity" to which you two guys have referred is Trinity International University, but (just for the record) it is TIU and not Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights that is participating in the summer league, correct?

(This is a recurring problem in Chicagoland hoops; there are two local NAIA colleges that have "Trinity" in their names, so if you refer to one of them you should call it either "Trinity International" (or "TIU"), or "Trinity Christian" (or "TCC").)

[titanfan]

Here is a tenative list of all the college teams playing in the Deerfield Joy of the Game...there are at least 3 or 4 more teams of individuals I believe, but don't quote me on that                     
Augustana               
Lawrence      
North Central 2            
Elmhurst      
NCC Pro               
North Central 1      
Wash Univ                  
Benedictine                        
Trinity                      
Illinois Wesleyan            
Lake Forest      
Redmen   
Kenosha Black   
North Park
St Norbert               
McHenry College

pgkevin---

Good work getting the preliminary listing of the Deerfield (JOTG) teams.
Just taking things one step further, here is the complete breakdown of this season's teams.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Crazy 8's
Augustana
North Central 2
NCC Pro (Alums)
Wash Univ.
Benedictine
Trinity
Illinois Wesleyan
Redmen (Carthage 1, I believe)
Celtics
St. Norbert

WESTERN CONFERENCE
UW LaCrosse
Lawrence U
Elmhurst
North Central 1
Old Gold
Run N Gun
Lakers
Lake Forest
Kenosha Black (Carthage 2, I believe)
North Park U
McHenry College

*Play begins at 7:00 on Thurs, 6/12. Games are Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Playoffs will be on Aug 7, 12, 13, and 14.

For the CCIW teams on this list, does anybody know what players are going to participate?  I remember last year's IWU team was mostly the incoming freshmen.  I wonder if that will be the same this year, or if the freshmen and sophomores will play together.

[Titan Q]

Here is the latest on Kevin Bryant, from Jason Bloom.  This continues to be a very serious situation.

----------
"They got the results from the EEG and they showed some hopeful signs. While the EEG results were not a clear indicator of any type of outcome, Kevin did exhibit some normal background brain activity which is a good thing. The doctor recommended that they not change the course of treatment at this time and take another EEG in 48-72 hours. "

[AndOne]

titanfan----

If you are specifically interested in IWU's roster in the Deerfield league. I would say you will see virtually the roster as last summer with a few additions, and possibly one subtraction. First of all, you can pretty much eliminate kids that don't live in the Chicagoland area, or reasonably close. Its just not worth it to drive 2 hours each way to play 1/2 a summer league game, especially when a kid from outside the area can prob get a group of other local players together and join a league closer to home. There are several teams like that in Deerfield--teams composed of kids who played against each other in high school and who are going to several different colleges, but who band together to form a team to keep active and in practice during the summer.

I believe the "oldest" player for last summer's IWU Deerfield team was Brett Chamernik. Most of the rest of the players were incoming freshmen. For this year, the status of Dan Schouten, who played last year but then sat out the year after shoulder surgery, is up in the air. As far as new additions, I'd say the primary candidates are Gonzalez, Rudnicki, and possibly Koschnitzky based on the towns they are from. With only one team, you can't have too big a roster as PT would be severely limited. It will be interesting to see if any of last year's freshmen who were on the team last summer don't play this year.

[Gregory Sager]

I'm not sure which NPU players are going to participate in the JOTG league. As AndOne said, one of the factors that determines who participates is the proximity of players to Deerfield (which leaves out St. Louis native Clayton Cahill for the Vikings). Another is employment; the vast majority of CCIW players work summer jobs, and while I would guess that most of them are working days, that's not always the case. Even the ones that are working days sometimes aren't able to leave work, eat dinner, and then get to the gym in Deerfield on time. That might be an especially acute problem this summer, what with construction making the Edens Expressway a total mess at evening rush hour. My softball league includes a couple of North Shore churches, and last night the Winnetka Covenant Church people were telling me that it took them an hour or more to get to Foster & Damen on the North Side, where our fields are located.

[Titan Q]

Eliud Gonzalez scored 11 last night as the 4A state champs lost to a Dwayne Wade-led Richards alumni team.  I can't think of many sports superstars who have been as loyal to their alma mater as Wade has been to Richards.



http://www.southtownstar.com/sports/991326,060608sptwade.article

http://yourseason.suntimes.com/boys_basketball/985983,060308bbkrichards.article

Then Wade, ever the competitor, fired a salvo at the 2008 champs.

"Oh, no, we can't lose," said Wade, the fifth pick in the 2003 NBA draft. "Losing is not an option."

Eliud Gonzalez, Richards' starting point guard from the 2007-08 season, remains amazed at Wade's generosity and is expecting the alumni to bring its "A" game.

"He never forgot where he came from," said Gonzalez, who'll attend Illinois Wesleyan in the fall. "He always takes pride in the fact that he's from Robbins. He says it all the time on television. It's taught me to never forget my roots.

"I'm so excited about this game. I haven't been able to sleep the whole week. It's going to be fun. But we're going to come with it. I know they have a lot of pride and they also have D-Wade, but we have pride too. I hope I get a chance to defend him. I'm always up for a challenge."

What about the challenge of preventing the Bulldogs' most famous alum from driving by him and going in for a crowd-pleasing jam?

"I'll foul him before he posterizes me," Gonzalez said. "But it will be clean."

[sac]

Back in the day............(groan)  Magic Johnson used to return to Lansing, MI in the summers and make the summer softball tournament tour with a well known team of ringers.  It was about the only shot the local kids had against him, although I never saw it myself it was rumored that he would pop in on some of the local playground games to show the youngsters a thing or two.  But nothing organized that I can recall untill after he "retired".

Cool thing D. Wade is doing, those kids will have some good memories.

[kenoshamark]

Coach Smith at Millikin sent me a note and said that he'd pass along recruiting news as soon as he could communicate (based on Millikin rules). 

Also communicated with Bosko yesterday via e-mail.  He said they'll be announcing their class later this month. 

[kenoshamark]

Hey Bob,   

Meant to attach the quote to my message....well, take it you haven't heard from Bosko yet?

[Titan Q]

Hey Bob,   

Meant to attach the quote to my message....well, take it you haven't heard from Bosko yet?

Mark, that note I got back from Bosko in early May indicated that Carthage would be announcing its class at some point.  I thought it would have been done by now, but I don't see anything on Carthage.edu. 

I have also not heard from anyone at Millikin and don't see anything on their site.

[Gregory Sager]

Recruitment clocks aren't a static thing. In years gone by, it was common for teams to not disclose their recruits until summer. In the recent past, it's become more of a springtime affair. But Carthage and Millikin are most likely in the same position as North Park this year, which is to say that NPU is waiting on a number of late deciders to commit one way or the other. In NPU's case it involves a fairly large percentage of the prospects courted by the Vikings coaching staff, and that may well be the case with Carthage and Millikin as well.

[Titan Q]

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I pass along word that Kevin Bryant passed away last night at approximately 7:20pm CST.  Kevin is pictured here (left) with fellow IWU Class of 2008 members Jason Bloom, Darius Gant, and Brian Nussbaum...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/sen08.jpg

Just a very, very said situation.  I had the pleasure of getting to know Kevin over the course of his four years at IWU.  He genuinely embodied everything Illinois Wesleyan, CCIW, and Division III athletics stands for.  As a senior who played limited minutes this past season, he did not develop a negative attitude. Instead, he became IWU's hardest worker at practice every day, doing his part to make his teamates better...a contribution that had a lot to do with how well IWU's young players performed in game action in '07-08.  Kevin was a student-athlete in the purest sense of the term who just loved to be part of the team and to compete.  His work ethic and attitude is something we can all learn from.

KB fought the good fight. He touched the lives of many of will be dearly missed.

Please keep Kevin's family, friends, and IWU teammates in your thoughts and prayers.  This is obviously a very difficult time for many. 


http://pantagraph.com/articles/2008/06/09/usports/doc484cb8ee88952241593948.txt

[AndOne]

Terrible news. I'm sick to my stomach. Things like this just aren't supposed to happen to 21 year olds. Hug someone you love today.

Thoughts and prayers to Kevin's family, his teammates, and the entire Wesleyan community.

[wheatonfanaddict]

My sincerest condolences to Kevin's family and friends. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.