MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Hugenerd]

I dont read this board, so I am not sure if it has been posted previously, but have you guys seen this:

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?key=/ncaa/ncaa/ncaa+news/ncaa+news+online/2009/association-wide/tebow+heads+2010+top+viii+honorees_12_17_09_ncaa_news

I didnt realize he was pursuing his Masters Degree, I thought he was playing in Spain.

CCIW stars can do both!

Can't MIT national POYs multitask?!

He is still on L'Hospitalet's roster on their website:

http://www.cbhospitalet.com/seniora.html

So how do you pursue a master's at Wheaton and play in Spain at the same time? 

[CCIWFAN3]

Overseas leagues don't go from October-June like the NBA. Most are only 4 months long.  That leaves plenty of time for college, especially with all the online courses that are now available.

[augiefan]

If the nonconference results to date are a preview of things to come, this does not promise to be a banner year for the CCIW on the DIII National scene. There's really no dominanr team like Wheaton last year. However, it looks like the race for the CCIW championship is wide open with Carthage, IWU, Wheaton and Augie looking like the most promising candidates right now, probably in that order. So far the remaining 4 teams have been so inconsistent, some good games some awful ones, that it is hard toi assess their impact on the race, other than one or more contenders will be punished for taking them lightly.

I still think we get two CCIW teams in the NCAA tourney, but it looks like it will be a challenge for any team to get past the Sweet 16, although any team with a player like Steve D. has a shot. He's the reason I rank Carthage as the frontrunner for the regular season title and the automatic bid with a conference tourney win.

[CCIWAlum]

Overseas leagues don't go from October-June like the NBA. Most are only 4 months long.  That leaves plenty of time for college, especially with all the online courses that are now available.

Thats not true at all.  Australias league runs during the Summer.  Thats one of the shorter overseas leagues to play in.  Many of the normal European leagues actual seasons like Germany, Lux, or Ireland run from Sept or Oct through April or May.  And then if its a serious club you can count on getting there a month earlier for preseason.

[Hugenerd]

Overseas leagues don't go from October-June like the NBA. Most are only 4 months long.  That leaves plenty of time for college, especially with all the online courses that are now available.

Thats not true at all.  Australias league runs during the Summer.  Thats one of the shorter overseas leagues to play in.  Many of the normal European leagues actual seasons like Germany, Lux, or Ireland run from Sept or Oct through April or May.  And then if its a serious club you can count on getting there a month earlier for preseason.

That is what I thought as well.  The seasons are pretty long, even though they dont play as many games.  I know that in Italy's Serie A (from following Bartolotta), their regular season runs from the beginning of October to the end of May (plus preseason and postseason).

[CCIWFAN3]

Ramond isn't in the top league.

[Hugenerd]

Ramond isn't in the top league.

I know, he is in the LEB Silver league (3rd highest in Spain), I was just stating the length of the season for Italy's top league as an example, because that is the European league I have been following the most this season.

[CCIWFAN3]

Kent went to Spain in August and his league goes thru April.

Any DIII guys or even Americans in the Italy league you follow? If so, how are they performing?

[Hugenerd]

Kent went to Spain in August and his league goes thru April.

Any DIII guys or even Americans in the Italy league you follow? If so, how are they performing?

Jimmy Bartolotta, the DIII POY last year from MIT, is on Air Avelino roster in Serie A in Italy.  He has been practicing with the team since the beginning of the season, but has not played in a game yet because he is waiting on his Italian passport.  Air AV is at their quota for American players (they have DeMarcus Nelson, Dee Brown, and Chevon Troutman on their squad), so Bartolotta needs an EU passport or Visa to be eligible for games.  I dont know of any other DIII players in that league, but every team has 2-3 Americans on it, mostly former NBA/D1 players.

[CCIWFAN3]

I thought they were going to lift the American quota.

I've heard the biggest problem is the work Visa.  I know a DII player who was planning on leaving for Ireland in Oct and he was still waiting for his work Visa in Nov. 

[Gregory Sager]

You're calling a CCIW student-athlete a "big goon"?

No, I'm not. I'm guessing what a CCIW coach would say to his center when instructing him how to play against Connolly. If anything, I made the language less colorful than what you'd hear out of the mouths of most CCIW coaches.

One of my all-time favorite Bosko quotes came during his tenure as North Park's head coach. The Vikings went through a rough stretch in a game against a terrible Elmhurst team that featured two or three players who were in the 6'2, 220 range, a stretch in which the Bluejays cut a 15-point NPC lead down to about four or so.

Bosko called a timeout, and as soon as his Vikings huddled up he screamed at them, "You're getting beat by a bunch of short, fat white guys!"

I was sitting two rows up behind the visitors bench at Faganel -- close enough to hear every monosyllabic bellow Bosko unleashed that night -- and I had to bite through my lip to keep from laughing. Only in the world of basketball does 6'2, 220 translate as "short and fat." But it worked; NPC pulled away after that timeout and won in a romp.

[Hugenerd]

I thought they were going to lift the American quota.

I've heard the biggest problem is the work Visa.  I know a DII player who was planning on leaving for Ireland in Oct and he was still waiting for his work Visa in Nov. 

I am not sure about that technicality, but either way he cannot play until he gets an Italian passport or a Visa.

[AndOne]

I also added IWU's Dan Schouten, who has gone from JV player to first post off the bench in a hurry.

I don't think there is a whole lot of doubt that if Dan Schouten had not been injured and recovering from subsequent shoulder surgery for almost his entire first 2 years at Wesleyan, that he would be starting for the Titans in place of O'Callaghan.
In fact if Koschnitzky was not currently injured, I believe IWU's front line would be Kosch, Schouten, and Sexauer.

Schouten had a more productive high school career, and is better in almost all facets of the game than O'Callaghan with the possible exception of rebounding. And, as Schouten gains strength, his board work will likely improve. Schouten's superiority is most apparent as a shooter/scorer. Despite only recently entering the rotation his shooting percentages, both from the field and the line, are already better than O'Callaghan's. Additionally, in only about 1/4 the minutes, he already has almost 1/2 the number of points O'Callaghan has scored. To top things off, Schouten is a much more hard-nosed and tougher player than O'Callaghan who often plays soft, especially in avoiding contact rather than going up strong underneath with the ball.    

Maybe.  But if we're playing the "what if they weren't injured for two years" game, it's probably fair to suggest 6-9 Eric McCullough would be in the starting mix too...ahead of Schouten.  (A frontcourt of Koschnitzky, Sexauer, McCullough.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR1tF7Y8ltI

McCullough has been injured his entire first two seasons at IWU (serious hip condition...surgery on both after last season)...hopefully he gets one of those back via hardship waiver (medical redshirt).

Injuries to Koschnitzky, McCullough, and Schouten are good examples of why it is so important to have depth.  Seems like every year at recruiting time, someone will say, "What are they going to do with all those guys?" regarding this school or that school that brings in multiple guys at the same position.  You just never know what's going to happen.  

As far as O'Callaghan, he is the 5th leading rebounder in the CCIW right now.  That's basically his role, and he does alright.  He needs to get better in a lot of areas, but the Titans do need his rebounding presence in there...especially with Koschnitzky out.

Also maybe. I seem to remember quite a bit of talk about McCullough prior to last season with regard to a strong possibility that after his 1st or 2nd year, he might give up basketball to concentrate on a combination of his studies and baseball. Wasn't he more accomplished as a baseball pitcher than a basketball player coming out of high school?

As far as O'Callaghan being the 5th leading rebounder in the conference, I can only surmise that many missed shots must be caroming off the rim directly into his hands.

[Gregory Sager]

Kent went to Spain in August and his league goes thru April.

Any DIII guys or even Americans in the Italy league you follow? If so, how are they performing?

Jimmy Bartolotta, the DIII POY last year from MIT, is on Air Avelino roster in Serie A in Italy.  He has been practicing with the team since the beginning of the season, but has not played in a game yet because he is waiting on his Italian passport.  Air AV is at their quota for American players (they have DeMarcus Nelson, Dee Brown, and Chevon Troutman on their squad), so Bartolotta needs an EU passport or Visa to be eligible for games.  I dont know of any other DIII players in that league, but every team has 2-3 Americans on it, mostly former NBA/D1 players.

IIRC, the rule in the Italian leagues is that anyone who has/had a grandparent who is/was an Italian citizen is counted as an Italian for roster purposes. That's why Italian-American players such as Mike D'Antoni and Vinny Del Negro were important assets in Serie A -- it allowed Serie A teams to add an extra American to their rosters. If Bartolotta has an immigrant grandparent, he might be (literally!) grandfathered in as an Italian in Serie A as well.

[Hugenerd]

Kent went to Spain in August and his league goes thru April.

Any DIII guys or even Americans in the Italy league you follow? If so, how are they performing?

Jimmy Bartolotta, the DIII POY last year from MIT, is on Air Avelino roster in Serie A in Italy.  He has been practicing with the team since the beginning of the season, but has not played in a game yet because he is waiting on his Italian passport.  Air AV is at their quota for American players (they have DeMarcus Nelson, Dee Brown, and Chevon Troutman on their squad), so Bartolotta needs an EU passport or Visa to be eligible for games.  I dont know of any other DIII players in that league, but every team has 2-3 Americans on it, mostly former NBA/D1 players.

IIRC, the rule in the Italian leagues is that anyone who has/had a grandparent who is/was an Italian citizen is counted as an Italian for roster purposes. That's why Italian-American players such as Mike D'Antoni and Vinny Del Negro were important assets in Serie A -- it allowed Serie A teams to add an extra American to their rosters. If Bartolotta has an immigrant grandparent, he might be (literally!) grandfathered in as an Italian in Serie A as well.

I believe he is, but there is still some processing time.  From what I heard, if he had waited in America it could have taken about 6 months to process, etc., but if he went to Italy he would have the opportunity to practice with the team while the paper work was processed and it would take significantly less time (~2 months, I believe).