MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

Titan Q · July 08, 2008, 08:49:28 PM

Quote from: kenoshamark on July 08, 2008, 03:00:55 PM
He would fill a role that is desperately needed - big strong power forward type.

Mark, I remember Jeffery as a big-bodied small forward, and not a power forward. In 2005-06, 128 of his 333 FGA (38%) were 3's. My guess is that most of his other FGA were mid-range jumpshots. I could be wrong, but I don't think he has much of a low post, back-to-the-basket game. I remember him as a perimeter player.

kenoshamark · July 08, 2008, 11:35:25 PM

And One,

I will keep my ears open and advise accordingly....

BTW, how do the Carthage teams looks down at Deerfield?

kenoshamark · July 08, 2008, 11:42:31 PM

Bob,

I'm a bit torn on this one....short term reward vs. the long term best interest of the program...

I'd prefer to start building the program the way it was 7/8 years ago but that appears to be more challenging than I can understand. I think Bosko wants to win so bad right now that these type of situations are worth it.

Yes, you are correct, Kyle played more of a small forward role in his previouss stint and he has always liked to play around the perimeter even in high school. He still may fill that role if he indeed comes back but at least defensively, he has to play as a power forward. I like to think he would be more of a back to basket threat as he has filled out a bit more since he left Carthage and Shemerdiak really should be the small forward next year.

As I said, lets see how this really plays out.

Gregory Sager · July 09, 2008, 02:12:58 AM

Quote from: kenoshamark on July 08, 2008, 11:42:31 PM
Bob,

I'm a bit torn on this one....short term reward vs. the long term best interest of the program...

I'd prefer to start building the program the way it was 7/8 years ago but that appears to be more challenging than I can understand. I think Bosko wants to win so bad right now that these type of situations are worth it.

Bosko's been down this road before. Back when he was the head coach at North Park he had two outstanding four-year big men in the class of '92, center Marc Horner and power forward Chris Stanley. He felt that if he could complement them with a D1-caliber off guard, he could bring the Park back to the Final Four. So for three straight years he went out and got a one-year rental from the D1 ranks to play the two spot: Chris James (Alabama-Birmingham) in '89-'90, Carlos Harris (Northeastern Illinois) in '90-91, and Chuckie Murphy (DePaul) in '91-'92. What resulted were three highly-talented teams that were very good but which each fell short of winning the CCIW, and only one of which made it to the D3 tourney (although it should've been two; Elmhurst tied the Vikes for second place in '92 and the Bluejays got the at-large nod, even though North Park had swept Elmhurst that season).

The three one-year rentals weren't disappointments on the court by any means; each made the All-CCIW third team, and James led the CCIW in free throw shooting during his lone year in royal blue and gold. Nor were they each necessarily bad teammates. But their presence did disrupt the personality of the team, especially because each followed after the other in succession. Part of the reason why those Vikings teams fell short was chemistry; there was a lot of resentment that built up during those three seasons, and not just among the players who were superseded on the depth chart by the senior transfers. As talented as those teams were, they also had a tendency to do a certain amount of self-destructive finger-pointing.

Senior transfers are a roll of the dice for a program. I've seen them work out well: Anthony Lenoir two years ago brought some much-needed toughness to the North Park program, and Jermaine Ellis's athleticism gave the 1999-2000 Wheaton team a dimension it otherwise wouldn't have had. I've seen them work out very well: The addition of seven-foot center Bill Braksick to the '87-'88 Illinois Wesleyan team allowed Jeff Kuehl to move to PF, where he became a superstar, and the Titans went on to make it all the way to the Elite Eight. And I've seen them work out spectacularly well: North Park got to cut down the nets after the '85 national championship game because PG Ernie Hubbard had arrived on the NPC campus to play his last season alongside former Proviso East teammate Justyne Monegain, and the two formed the best inside-outside combo in D3 that year.

But for each success story in terms of senior transfers, there's probably at least one failure. There have been guys who didn't mesh well with their teammates; guys who didn't listen to the coaches because they'd been there and done that somewhere else and they thought they knew it all already; and guys who just plain didn't care as much as did their teammates who had more than one year invested in the program. As I said, it's a roll of the dice.

I don't profess to know anything about Kyle Jeffery or the specifics of his peripatetic college career, but one red flag that I can see is the fact that he's already been at Carthage and left it for another school. I'm not sure how that would play with the Red Men coaches or with his former and future Red Men teammates. I can't honestly remember another situation in which a player left his original four-year school after playing there for a year, transferred to another four-year school and played there for a year, transferred to a third four-year school and played there, and then went back to his second stop along the way in order to finish out his career. As far as I know, this is unprecedented.

Gregory Sager · July 09, 2008, 02:22:21 AM

Anthony Figueroa is back in the CCIW ranks.

If he can teach defense as well as he played it, Millikin's guards are going to be very tough to score upon. Figueroa was the CCIW's best backcourt defender of the past ten years, a statement that I do not make lightly. He made the All-CCIW second team as a senior in spite of the fact that he hardly ever scored, which illustrates just how much respect he earned as the premier "glove" of his era.

petemcb · July 09, 2008, 11:34:46 AM

Quote from: kenoshamark on July 08, 2008, 11:35:25 PM
And One,

I will keep my ears open and advise accordingly....

BTW, how do the Carthage teams looks down at Deerfield?

kenoshamark, this Thursday both Carthage teams will be playing in back-to-back games. The Red Men are playing Augie at 8:10 and "Kenosha Black" will follow that with a game at 9:20 versus North Park (are you reading, Greg?). Attendance for the two teams has been sporadic at best, and their records reflect that, but they have been performing well, given their relative lack of size. A couple of weeks ago, they were leading an Elmhurst team for two thirds of the game before folding, in part due to only having five players, none over 6'3". That Elmhurst team featured Ruch, Hintsche, Macias (I think), Childs and 4 or 5 others. In the end, Carthage lost by 6 or so. It was a very respectable performance. It is hard to believe that Steve D is only a sophomore. What a heady, gutsy player.

petemcb · July 09, 2008, 11:50:23 AM

As I think back, earlier in the league action, the Kenosha Black team (primarily a JV squad that included Justin (sorry, don't know some of the last names), Jon Lee, Matt Weel and two or three others beat the North Central JV team and kept it reasonably close versus a North Central varsity team that included Chris Drennan, losing by 6 or 8, I think it was.

AndOne · July 09, 2008, 01:11:33 PM

Mark--

When the "Redmen" team, which is composed mainly of this coming season's varsity, has played so far this summer, I either haven't been there at the same time or was watching a NCC game being played at the same time. As far as "Kenosha Black" which is mainly last year's JV team, as Pete indicated, (plus Trey Bowens) I have especially noticed two players so far---Jon Lee who is showing very good quickness and an ability to attack and penetrate, and another approx 6'3"-6'4" player whose name I'm sorry I don't know. He has short, kinda dirty blond hair, is left handed, and wears a jersey with #12 on back. Perhaps this will give u a clue to his identity. At any rate, I've noticed some very nice strong inside moves from him, especially along the left side baseline, and also a nice shooting touch from about 10 feet.

AndOne · July 10, 2008, 05:08:11 PM

SEEING IS BELIEVING?

Sod farmers today invaded the NCC campus to apparently harvest the turf from the former practice field area in preparation for the excavation work on the new combined residence hall/recreation center complex. Targeted completion date is 9/1/09. Following completion of this project, renovation of Merner Fieldhouse (the "hanger") is envisioned wherein the final result will be a Camden Yards style modernized facility still maintaining an "old style" atmosphere.

http://www.northcentralcollege.edu/x44823.xml

Titan Q · July 10, 2008, 06:41:42 PM

I never did hear back from anyone at Millikin regarding recruits, but I did talk to someone today who was a little in the loop on Big Blue recruiting. Millikin has six kids coming in and the word is that none are probable future 1st/2nd Team All-CCIW types. Three are from Kankakee High School - I'm sure someone could figure out who those might be. The person I talked to felt like they got a few future role players, but that's about it.

Also on the rumor mill...

* 6-7 Zach Ott is not playing this year.
* The impressive lefty big kid on the JV team last year (sorry, don't know the name, but I thought he was going to be very good) has left Millikin.

Take all of this for what it's worth. I do feel good about where it came from.

Gregory Sager · July 11, 2008, 01:31:28 AM

Quote from: Titan Q on July 10, 2008, 06:41:42 PM* The impressive lefty big kid on the JV team last year (sorry, don't know the name, but I thought he was going to be very good) has left Millikin.

I'm guessing that that's Kyle Taylor, the 6'6 kid from Bement. Millikin brought in another freshman big kid last year, Jackson Scott, who saw some varsity tick the first couple weeks of the season, but I'm pretty sure that he left the team before the CCIW slate began.

kenoshamark · July 11, 2008, 07:15:17 AM

Pete and AndOne,

Appreciate the update on the summer league play by the Redmen.

Titan Q · July 11, 2008, 11:52:00 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on July 11, 2008, 01:31:28 AM
Quote from: Titan Q on July 10, 2008, 06:41:42 PM* The impressive lefty big kid on the JV team last year (sorry, don't know the name, but I thought he was going to be very good) has left Millikin.

I'm guessing that that's Kyle Taylor, the 6'6 kid from Bement. Millikin brought in another freshman big kid last year, Jackson Scott, who saw some varsity tick the first couple weeks of the season, but I'm pretty sure that he left the team before the CCIW slate began.

I'm not positive, but I think it's Darrell Adams, who had 14 pts and 6 blocks vs Augie towards the end of the season...

http://www.millikin.edu/athletics/mbasketball/m-mil23_015.htm

Last year he was listed as a 6-7 freshman center from East Bladen, NC. I remember during the IWU/Millikin JV game in Decatur being very impressed and wondering, "Who is that?"

scacbbfan · July 11, 2008, 07:23:43 PM

MU men's basketball - the problem wasn't the coaching - rather, the lack of commitment from the administration.

AndOne · July 11, 2008, 10:43:00 PM

Quote from: Titan Q on July 11, 2008, 11:52:00 AM
Quote from: Gregory Sager on July 11, 2008, 01:31:28 AM
Quote from: Titan Q on July 10, 2008, 06:41:42 PM* The impressive lefty big kid on the JV team last year (sorry, don't know the name, but I thought he was going to be very good) has left Millikin.

I'm guessing that that's Kyle Taylor, the 6'6 kid from Bement. Millikin brought in another freshman big kid last year, Jackson Scott, who saw some varsity tick the first couple weeks of the season, but I'm pretty sure that he left the team before the CCIW slate began.

I'm not positive, but I think it's Darrell Adams, who had 14 pts and 6 blocks vs Augie towards the end of the season...

http://www.millikin.edu/athletics/mbasketball/m-mil23_015.htm

Last year he was listed as a 6-7 freshman center from East Bladen, NC. I remember during the IWU/Millikin JV game in Decatur being very impressed and wondering, "Who is that?"

I discussed this with NC ass't coach Nate Riley today. Nate said he specifically remembered a Millikin player who was about 6'7" and a lefty as described above who played against NC in a varsity game this past season. Through consulting the box score, he was almost positive it was Darrell Adams also, so it appears TQ is on target regarding the player in question.