MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[tjcummingsfan]

While I never knew Will, I could tell by his attitude on the court in the few games I saw him play against North Park that he was a great person.  If I'm not mistaken Will would be the one who would be the first to grab a towel to wipe off the floor so the refs, or whoever else wouldn't have to.  Something as simple as that made it very clear that he was a very good, very genuine person.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the Landry family as well. 

[petemcb]

TJ, that is a great reminder/testimonial re: Will's in-game comportment.  I have seen the same type of selfless service during some of Wheaton's games.  Will was always quick to get a guy a cup of water during a timeout, and was quick to pass a cup to a teammate before taking one for himself.  He was a tireless worker, willing to do the thankless work, a consummate team player and gentleman.  I wish God's peace to Will's family and all who knew him.

[Gregory Sager]

I think that Eric and Pete really summed it up with two words in terms of the impression that I had of Will Landry as a basketball player: Genuine and selfless. He struck me as being a very classy young man who was a credit to the college whose name he wore on his uni. He was also a very solid role player for Wheaton, a tenacious rebounder who was one of the best defenders at the power forward position that the CCIW has seen thus far in this decade.

My thoughts and prayers as well are with the Landry family and with Bill, Ferg, Nate, Owen, and everyone else connected to Wheaton basketball. It's a terrible thing when someone so young dies, but Matt Nadelhoffer's comforting sentiments expressed above are mine as well.

[Jim Matson]

I think of the Illinois Wesleyan football player's death earlier this year, and now a young Wheaton grad loses his life as well.  It is a sad thing.

Prayers and thoughts to Will's folks and his family and friends.

Will was a follower of Christ and so I am confident in his place in Heaven, but whenever a young man with all of the giftedness that has been mentioned above passes away, it is really tough to deal with...

[diehardfan]

I know most of you are out too far to make it, but Mrs. Landry just told me that the wake will be on Thursday, Sept 22 from 4pm to 8pm, and the funeral will be 10:30 on Friday Sept 23rd. Both are in Poughkeepsie NY.

I know that a memorial service will be set up sometime at Wheaton, but the specifics haven't been set up yet.

It's crazy, you know, the last thing I said to Will was probably something like "see you at a game next season."

I'll let everyone know when I know more, but in the meanwhile...

live fully, love deeply

April

[hopefan]

I know some of you like to hear of the obscure - well, I was aware that some D3 schools schedule games with schools from the USCA (ie Robert Morris Springfield) and the NCCAA  (ie Moody Bible), but I came across Rhode's schedule and found them playing a game with Messenger College.  It seems this is the second year in existance of the ACCA , formerly the NBCAA.  Messenger has only 100 students, but the Association has a National Championship - schools such as Dallas Christian, Hillsdale Free Will, Barclay College, and Crowley's Ridge participated last year.   EVERYONE plays Hoops!!!!  Can any of you shed any light on these schools???

[dansand]

Hope fan,

All three of the organizations you mentioned (NCCAA, USCAA, ACCA) are made up of Christian schools of various sizes and athletic levels. The NCCAA, I think, is probably the most competitive, at least for basketball. It's divided into divisions for primarily liberal arts schools (Division I), most of which have dual membership with (usually) the NAIA and (occasionally) the NCAA. Division II is made up of smaller Bible colleges (I'm not really sure what constitutes a Bible college and what differentiates them from Christian colleges). The USCAA also has a few schools that cross over with NAIA and NCAA affiliations, but I think by and large their schools aren't as competitive on those levels as the NCCAA's. The ACCA is made up entirely of smaller schools and I'm pretty sure are at the lowest level on the competitive scale. If your interested, here are their websites:
www.accathletics.org
www.thenccaa.org
www.theuscaa.com

Also, let me say how sorry I am to here about the death of Will Landry. It's been a tough month or so for the CCIW in that regard. It shows, as much as we all love sports, there are still things that are a lot more important.

[dansand]

On the NCCAA, USCAA, ACCA topic:

The Massey Ratings site breaks down its college basketball ratings by affiliation.

www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=cb

[True Basketball Fan]

I've seen some of the ACCA schools play, and no offense, but is like watching high school JV teams at best.  But, I know they're at the place they're at for a much greater reason, basketball is something they love and do for recreation.

[Gregory Sager]

The USCAA doesn't just consist of Christian schools. Like the NCAA and the NAIA, it's a catch-all division. In fact, the two USCAA schools that're best known for consistently scheduling games against D3 competition, Robert Morris - Springfield and Newport News Apprentice School, are not Christian schools.

According to the constitution of the NCCAA, their Division One is for teams that give financial aid specifically to student-athletes. Division Two is for schools that do not, and which furthermore require their students to graduate with at least 20 semester hours or 30 quarter hours of Bible. Although it's not spelled out as such, my guess is that schools that don't give financial aid specifically to student-athletes, but don't require 20 sh / 30 qh of Bible, either, are lumped in with the scholarship schools in the NCCAA's D1.

[True Basketball Fan]

What would Moody Bible in Chicago fall into?

[Gregory Sager]

MBI is an NCCAA D2 school. So is Lincoln Christian College, which is currently in the pipeline to enter D3's provisional ranks next year (they'd become a full member of D3 in 2010) and is joining the SLIAC. Another NCCAA D2 member is Grace Bible College, the small institution in Grand Rapids that Hope and Calvin have periodically used as a pre-conference punching bag.

[Titan Q]

I've been out of town for about a week and was stunned to hear the Will Landry news.   I did not know him off the court, but Will always seemed like a such a first-class individual on the court.  He represented the best in Wheaton College and in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

My sympathies go out to his friends and family.

[Cardsfan4life]

I just want to throw out that the Cardinals are returning 3 of 5 starters and only losing actually 1 good player (Pat Flanigan).  I know I didn't put Mike Wilson but that guy is a joke.  He did nothing for the Cardinals on the defensive end and didn't exactly fit into the kind of system Coach Raridon runs.  Also they will have Anthony Simmons who will be a 1st team all conference.  They got a few good recruits coming in.  One of them being Chris Drennon from Normal.  The other being Raridon's son Mitch.  This guy may not be the tallest kid but he is extremely smart and can shoot the lights out.  He could definetly fill in for Mike Wilson's open spot.  This year they wont fall off like they did mid season last year. 

-Cardsfan4life

[mtwilson]

As a first time "poster" and a former CCIW basketball player I know its never too early to start looking at the season.  Obvious choices for conference champs are Wheaton and Wesleyan.  After all, they have to two best players in the conference; Dauksas (sorry for the spelling) and Raymond are the best all around players in the league (followed closely by Martin and Simmons).  The Cards will improve drastically in conference as last year a lack of off season routine came around to hurt them midway through the season.  Raridon has them doing a much more rigorous off season routine which will carry them to anywhere from 2nd to 4th in the conference.  Simmons will have a "break out" year proving to be the best big man in the conference and a not so sleeper pick for all-american honors.  Wesleyan will look to avenge a disappointing post season realizing many of those players days in basketball are limited.  Wheaton will produce because thats what good programs based around hard work and accountibility do. Elmhurst, North Park, Carthage, and Augustana all have many questions unanswered but I will say that McAdams Thornton is a special D3 player with much potential.  I look forward to a great season and can't wait to start some meaningful CCIW basketball talk!