MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

Seniors from IBS "Small School" First through Fifth teams...

SMALL SCHOOL PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
AARON ARMSTEAD, 6'4", Senior, Chicago Hales Franciscan  UW-Green Bay (D1)

FIRST TEAM:
KYLE ANDERSON, 6'2", Senior, Newark  Delaware (D1)
SAM FORD, 6'2", Senior, Oregon  
JERROD GASTON, 6'2", Senior, Murphysboro  Vincennes U. (JC)
BRAD HAMILTON, 6'1", Senior, Pittsfield  
JAKOB JUNIS, 6'3", Senior, Rock Falls  North Carolina State (D1) - baseball
JOEL LEARNARD, 6'5", Senior, Catlin Salt Fork  Illinois State (D1) - baseball
TYLER MCLANE, 6'2", Senior, East Dubuque  Wayne State (D2)


SECOND TEAM:
KYLE FLOYD, 6'2", Senior, Windsor  Kaskaskia (JC)
HAYDEN HOERDEMANN, 6'3", Senior, Bloomington Central Catholic  Western Michigan (D1)
JENS KENNEDY, 6'9", Senior, Dwight  Quincy (D2)
COLLIN MINGO, 6'7", Senior, Springfield Calvary Academy  Lindenwood-Belleville (USCAA)
DYLAN OVERSTREET, 6'3", Senior, Paxton-Buckley-Loda  
NICK SCHUMACHER, 6'5", Senior, Teutopolis  
CONNOR WHEELER, 6'1", Senior, DuQuoin  

THIRD TEAM:
JOHN AVERY, 6'5", Senior, Newark
PAUL BEENE, 5'10", Senior, Chicago Leo
DEREK BOURKE, 6'2", Senior, Nokomis
DYLAN CRAIG, 6'1", Senior, Murphysboro  Illinois State (D1) - baseball
CODEY FUNK, 6'6", Senior, El Paso-Gridley  Western Illinois (D1) - football
DYLAN GUTHRIE, 6'1", Senior, Winchester West Central
PHIL KUNZ, 6'7", Senior, Trenton Wesclin
BRAYDEN TEUSCHER, 6'2", Senior, Rockford Christian

FOURTH TEAM:
ANDY ADAMS, 6'1", Senior, Orion
COREY AYALA, 6'1", Senior, Metropolis Massac County
SAM BROWN, 6'2", Senior, Nashville
MATT CARLSON, 6'1", Senior, Kewanee
EANN COX, 6'2", Senior, Erie  Kirkwood Community College - baseball
MATT KRAUSE, 6'1", Senior, Deer Creek-Mackinaw  Wheaton (D3) - baseball (basketball?)
ADAM KUNKEL, 5'10", Senior, Red Bud  John A. Logan College - baseball
DAN OLSON, 6'9", Senior, Cullom Tri Point
DRAKE VERMILLION, 6'8", Senior, Beardstown  Quincy (D2)
CLAYTON WHITLOCK, 6'8", Senior, Springfield Calvary Academy  MacMurray (D3)

FIFTH TEAM:
NATE DEVENNEY, Senior, Manlius Bureau Valley
JAKE DEJAEGER, 6'2", Senior, Annawan
MAURICE JOINER, 6'5", Senior, Chicago Leo
ALEX KOCH, 6'5", Senior, Chillicothe Illinois Valley Central
CALVIN LEWIS, 6'5", Senior, Toulon Stark County
MATT MASER, 6'2", Senior, Westville
KODY MICHAEL, 6'9", Senior, Forreston
MICHAEL MURRAY, 6'2", Senior, Princeton  Illinois Valley Community College
CODY OWEN, 6'1", Senior, Chrisman
TERREL WILLIAMS, 5'9", Senior, South Beloit

[Titan Q]

And the seniors from the "Large School" teams...

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
CHASSON RANDLE, 6'2", Senior, Rock Island  Stanford (D1)

FIRST TEAM:
MAX BIELFELDT, 6'8", Senior, Peoria Notre Dame  Michigan (D1)
WAYNE BLACKSHEAR, 6'5", Senior, Chicago Morgan Park  Louisville (D1)
RYAN BOATRIGHT, 5'10", Senior, Aurora East  U Conn (D1)
ANTHONY DAVIS, 6'10", Senior, Chicago Perspectives MSA  Kentucky (D1)
NNANNA EGWU, 6'9", Senior, Chicago St. Ignatius  Illinois (D1)
MYCHAEL HENRY, 6'6", Senior, Chicago Orr  Illinois (D1)
JORDAN NELSON, 5'11", Senior, Lincoln Evansville (D1)
MIKE SHAW, 6'8", Senior, Chicago De LaSalle  Illinois (D1)
SAM THOMPSON, 6'7", Senior, Chicago Whitney Young  Ohio St (D1)

SECOND TEAM:
TRACY ABRAMS, 6', Senior, Chicago Mt. Carmel Illinois (D1)
MACARI BROOKS, 6'3", Senior, Richton Park Rich South  DePaul (D1)
JAMIE CROCKETT, 6'4", Senior, Crete-Monee  DePaul (D1)
JOHNNY HILL, 6'3", Senior, Lombard Glenbard East  Illinois State (D1)
ROOSEVELT JONES, Senior, O'Fallon  Butler (D1)
FRANK KAMINSKY, 6'10", Senior, Lisle Benet Academy  Wisconsin (D1)
GEORGE MARSHALL, 6', Senior, Chicago Brooks  Wisconsin (D1)
DAVID SOBOLEWSKI, 6', Senior, Lisle Benet Academy  Northwestern (D1)
DONIVINE STEWART, 6'1", Senior, Bartonville Limestone  Bradley (D1)

THIRD TEAM:
AARON ADEOYE, 6'6", Senior, Marion
JACCOBY ANDERSON, 5'11", Senior, Springfield Southeast
D'LANDO CARTER, 6'0, Senior, Danville
QUINTON CHIEVOUS, 6'5", Senior, Niles Notre Dame
DESHAWN DELANEY, 6'6", Senior, Chicago Carver  Vincennes U. (JC)
ZACH MILLER, 5'9", Senior, Lombard (IL) Glenbard East  Northern Illinois (D1)
KEANTE MINOR, 6'2", Senior, East St. Louis  Arkansas (D1) - football
ABDEL NADER, 6'6", Senior, Niles North  La Lumiere Academy (prep)
JOSH PIPER, 6'8", Senior, Champaign Centennial  Eastern Illinois (D1)
MIKE POWELL, 5'10", Senior, Chicago Brooks  Rhode Island (D1)

FOURTH TEAM:
JEROME BROWN, 6'5", Senior, Chicago Morgan Park  Illinois-Chicago (D1)
JULIUS BROWN, 5'10", Senior, Country Club Hills Hillcrest  Toledo (D1)
JOEY MILLER, 6'3", Senior, Charleston  Eastern Illinois (D1)
DAVID MOLINARI, 6'1", Senior, Peoria Notre Dame
KANE SWEENEY, 6'4", Senior, Belleville West  Morehead State (D1) - baseball
KIEFER SYKES, 5'10", Senior, Chicago Marshall  UW-Green Bay (D1)
DEMETRIUS TOLLIVER, 6'5", Senior, Chicago Farragut
MIKE TURNER, 6'8", Senior, Chicago University  Northwestern (D1)
TY NEAL, Senior, Carbondale  Murray State (D1)
DARIAN WHITE, 6'3", Senior, Peoria Central  Chicago State (D1)

FIFTH TEAM:
DAVARIS DANIELS, 6'3", Senior, Vernon Hills  Notre Dame (D1) - football
MIKE DOMBROWSKI, 5'11", Senior, Johnsburg
JAKE EVERLY, 6'2", Senior, Woodstock Marian Central Catholic  Hope (D3)
DAVID FRANKLIN, 6'3", Senior, Belleville Althoff
NIC HOEPFNER, 6'5", Senior, East Moline
NICK HOFMAN, 6'3", Senior, Algonquin Jacobs
RYAN JACKSON, 6'1", Senior, Riverside-Brookfield  Lewis (D2)
LUKE JOHNSON, 6'9", Senior, Wheaton Academy

HONORABLE MENTION:
DREW ANDERSON, 6'7", Senior, Rockford Christian
KORY BILLUPS, Senior, Chicago Crane
DREW BLUMENSHINE, 6'9", Senior, Peoria Notre Dame Illinois Wesleyan (D3)
TONY BRADLEY, 6'3", Senior, Alton  Southwestern Illinois (JC)
KRIS BREWER, 6'4", Senior, Carbondale Brehm Prep  Kent State (D1)
ROBERT CALMESE, 5'11", Senior, Decatur Eisenhower
JEFF CLARK, 6'2", Senior, Marion
RAKEEM DICKERSON, 6'1", Senior, Carbondale Brehm Prep
JONATHAN DOSS, Senior, Chicago Taft
GEORGE EDWARDS, 6'5", Senior, Chicago Foreman
DYLAN ENNIS, 6', Senior, Lake Forest Academy  Rice (D1)
JAMES FARR, 6'8', Senior, Evanston
AHMAN FELLS, 6'5", Senior, Chicago Simeon  Illinois-Chicago (D1)
ARMANI FLANNIGAN, 6'7", Senior, Rockford Boylan Catholic
MARK GILCHRESE, 5'9", Senior, Springfield
KEITH GRAY, 6'7", Senior, Chicago Brooks  Northern Illinois (D1)
DESHAWN GREER, 6'5", Senior, Chicago Hyde Park
LUKE HAGER, 6'6", Senior, Chicago Whitney Young  UNC-Wilimington (D1)
ANDRE HENLEY, 6'4", Senior, Chicago De La Salle  Northern Illinois (D1)
SHAQUILLE HINES, 6'5", Senior, Chicago Harlan
GARRETT JONES, 6'1", Senior, Evanston  New Hampshire (D1)
DEJI IBITAYO, 6'3", Senior, Rich Central  Akron (D1)
WILL JENKINS, 6'3", Senior, Peoria Richwoods
TRAVIS KELLUM, 6'6", Senior, Peoria Central
JACK KRIEGER, 6'4", Junior, Plainfield North  St. Xavier (NAIA)
KISTON LEE, 6'3", Senior, Decatur (IL) MacArthur
TYLER LUNDEEN, 6'6", Senior, Morton  Triton (JC)
BRIAN MADSON, 6'5", Senior, McHenry
STANLEY MALCOLM, 5'10", Senior, Chicago Brooks
DERRICK MARKS, 6'2", Senior, Plainfield (IL) Central  Boise State (D1)
GREG MAYS, 6'8", Senior, Crete-Monee (IL)
RASHAUN MCGREW, 6'7", Senior, Chicago Vocational
RASHAWN MCELRATH, 6'6", Senior, Chicago Simeon
ZACH MONAGHAN, 6'2", Senior, Fremd (IL)  South Dakota St (D1)
MATT PALUCKI, 6'7", Senior, Park Ridge Maine South  Washington U. (D3)
TYWON PINCKNEY, 5'10", Senior, Chicago Simeon
TREVOR RICHARDS, 6'1", Senior, Breese Mater Dei  Drury (D2) - baseball
T.J. RIGGS, 6'3", Senior, Bloomington  Ashland U. (D2)
REMY ROBERTS-BURNETT, 5'10", Senior, Joliet West  Western Illinois (D1)
LATREE RUSSELL, 6'6", Senior, Bolingbrook
RYAN SAWVELL, 6'8", Senior, Mundelein  Evansville (D1)
NATHANIEL SMITH, 6'4", Senior, Lincoln  Loras (D3)
CARSON SONNENBERG, 6'5", Senior, Belleville Althoff
DYLAN SPARKMAN, 6'9", Senior,, East Peoria  Illinois-Springfield (D2)
TYRONE STAGGERS, 6'5", Senior, Chicago St. Ignatius Prep
WILL SULLIVAN, 6'2", Senior, Elmhurst York
MIKE SUTTER, 6'4", Senior, Woodstock  Trinity Christian (NAIA)
KEIFER SYKES, 5'9", Senior, Chicago Marshall
GREG TRAVIS, 6', Senior, Chicago Curie  Illinois-Chicago (D1)
DAN TRIMBLE, 6'8", Senior, Geneva
ELLIOT VAUGHN, 6'6", Senior, Batavia  Roosevelt (NAIA)
LETRELL VISER, 5'11", Senior, Aurora East
DEVANTE WILKINS, Chicago Carver
GABE WILLIAMS, 5'10", Senior, Chicago Farragut
JEREMY WOHLTMAN, 6'4", Senior, Effingham
NICK ZEISLOFT, 6'3", Senior, Lyons  Illinois State (D1)

[AndOne]

BREAKING NEWS----

In a major development involving conference scheduling of weekday basketball games:

It appears that after playing weekday games on Wednesdays for as long as anyone can probably remember, the CCIW will be switching its weekday conference games to Tuesdays effective with the upcoming 2011-2012 season. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Most of the women's games have been Tuesday.  Are they switching them to Wednesday, or are they planning double-headers?

[AndOne]

Information available at this time shows that many, even perhaps most, women's games will be played on Wed. However, I don't believe all the women's teams will automatically play every Wed. during the conference part of the schedule. Have not heard of any plans for weekday doubleheaders.

[devildog29]

Moving weekday games to Tuesday seems a curious move as I would have assumed (yes I know the ditty about when you assume), playing on Wednesday was somewhat of a nod to HS games being played on Tuesday.  Additionally, from a recruiting standpoint, I would think this cuts into the amount of HS games CCIW coaches could watch live since they will be playing on the same night.  This is really a head scratcher.  

[AndOne]

Moving weekday games to Tuesday seems a curious move as I would have assumed (yes I know the ditty about when you assume), playing on Wednesday was somewhat of a nod to HS games being played on Tuesday.  Additionally, from a recruiting standpoint, I would think this cuts into the amount of HS games CCIW coaches could watch live since they will be playing on the same night.  This is really a head scratcher.  

An excellent point, Devil.
This was the first thing I thought of when I became aware of the situation. As in the non-athletic business world, the decisions of upper management (in this case either the ADs or the school Presidents or both) sometimes boggles the mind. I'm sure the conference basketball coach's heads are among those being scratched.

Yesterday afternoon I was made aware of NCC's tentative partial 2011-2012 schedule (not on line yet). It did have all the CCIW conference games listed. The first weekday conference game shown was vs Carthage on 1/4/12 which is a Wed.
However, other conference games were listed for 1/10, 1/17, 1/24, 1/31, 2/7, and 2/14 which are ALL Tuesdays.

I then checked other CCIW teams web sites. I believe Wesleyan and Wheaton are the only schools with next year's schedules up yet, but both also show games scheduled for Tuesdays.
If only one school was showing Tuesday games, you might be able to chalk it up to a mistake by the web administrator, but at this point we have 3 schools listing conference games on Tuesdays. Also, these schools women's schedules are showing Wed games. Say it ain't so, Joe!   

[Titan Q]

The new head coach at Millikin is Wheaton grad Matt Nadlehoffer...

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2011/04/nadelhoffer-named-millikin-coach


I think this is a great hire.  Nadlehoffer has a ton of work to do in Decatur - this is almost a build-from-scratch situation (in one of the nation's best leagues) - but I think he'll build it up in time.

Welcome back to the CCIW, Matt!  (I hope Wesley Pitts doesn't have eligibility left.)

[Mr. Ypsi]

Alas, I saw Jesse Price for four years - he has no eligibility left.  Even in his mid-sixties, I'd bet he would be Millikin's best player!

Good luck to Matt Nadlehoffer - he will need it.

He is, indeed, starting from scratch (in a VERY tough league).

[markerickson]

Nadelhoffer's decision is a head-scratcher, IMHO.  He "built" a program, and then leaves before he can enjoy a little more success because he wants to go to Decatur?

I looked up Nader's new playground, La Lumiere Academy (prep), which is located in LaPorte IN.  It is a boarding school with "more than" 200 students.  The Director of Basketball Operations is DelRay Brooks, former player under The General.  I did not find a competitive schedule; LL is probably not competing against South Bend Clay, Michigan City, and other public schools.  I think the decision is academic rather than hoop oriented.  I know virtually nothing about this type of institution - the one that exists between high school and college.  I have not heard of one that exists in IL.

[havej]

Not 100% sure of this but I think Lake Forest Academy offers a year above the traditional senior year in high school.

[Pat Coleman]

Nadelhoffer's decision is a head-scratcher, IMHO.  He "built" a program, and then leaves before he can enjoy a little more success because he wants to go to Decatur?

You make it sound like he's job-hopping but he was there for nine years.

I can understand the motivation of trying to get closer to home, even if it's not the best for your career. But he's also moving into one of the top conferences in Division III sports. Seems like a good move, a no-brainer, even.

[cardinalpride]

The new head coach at Millikin is Wheaton grad Matt Nadlehoffer...

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2011/04/nadelhoffer-named-millikin-coach


I think this is a great hire.  Nadlehoffer has a ton of work to do in Decatur - this is almost a build-from-scratch situation (in one of the nation's best leagues) - but I think he'll build it up in time.

Welcome back to the CCIW, Matt!  (I hope Wesley Pitts doesn't have eligibility left.)

Congrats to Matt Nadelhoffer for being named the new Big Blue Head Coach!

[dansand]

I looked up Nader's new playground, La Lumiere Academy (prep), which is located in LaPorte IN.  It is a boarding school with "more than" 200 students.  The Director of Basketball Operations is DelRay Brooks, former player under The General.  I did not find a competitive schedule; LL is probably not competing against South Bend Clay, Michigan City, and other public schools.  I think the decision is academic rather than hoop oriented.  I know virtually nothing about this type of institution - the one that exists between high school and college.  I have not heard of one that exists in IL.

Ironically, Decatur had a prep school a few years ago. Decatur Christian brought in a bunch of D1 caliber players (including Milwaukee Buck Darington Hobson) for three years or so. I'm not positive, but I think they went back to being a "regular" high school when the NCAA started cracking down on "basketball factories". Brehm Prep in Carbondale is another Illinois prep school. Findlay Prep in Nevada is probably the biggest name right now. I think most prep schools are legitimate educational institutions, but some (Findlay? Decatur Christian?) are really just fronts for powerful basketball programs. I also think it's silly that they present themselves as high schools and compete against high school competition. They're really more like junior colleges. JMO.

[Gregory Sager]

Nadelhoffer's decision is a head-scratcher, IMHO.  He "built" a program, and then leaves before he can enjoy a little more success because he wants to go to Decatur?

You make it sound like he's job-hopping but he was there for nine years.

I can understand the motivation of trying to get closer to home, even if it's not the best for your career. But he's also moving into one of the top conferences in Division III sports. Seems like a good move, a no-brainer, even.

I'm with Pat, Mark. This move is a no-brainer. Nadelhoffer is an Illinois native, and his wife is from Grand Rapids. They're not East Coast people, they're midwesterners. Nadelhoffer played in this league, and he obviously holds it in very high regard. It's a level that's well above the Middle Atlantic Conference's Freedom League. Granted, Decatur is not the posh Main Line suburbs of Philadelphia as far as a home and working environment is concerned -- it's like comparing Kenilworth to Waukegan -- but as coaching jobs go, it's clearly a step up.

(Plus, he'll now get two shots a year at his alma mater and Mike Schauer. What coach in his shoes wouldn't want that opportunity?)

Also, I'm not sure if Mark's intention was to put scare quotes around the word "built" or not, but Nadelhoffer's record at Eastern was not really outstanding enough IMHO to merit the term. Under his tutelage Eastern finished only six games above .500 in nine seasons (119-113). His Eagles teams did not win any championships, either in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference or the MAC Freedom, nor did they make any D3 tourney appearances. His last two teams at Eastern went 13-13 and 12-12. Massey had last season's Eastern team ranked #243 in D3 (out of 411 teams), 22 spots below Elmhurst and 20 above Rockford (coached by one of the other three finalists for the Millikin job, according to Bob, Ryan Rebsom). Millikin, in case anyone's interested, ranked #375 according to Massey.

While it's true that Eastern was much more successful under his tenure than it had been previously, I don't think "built" is the right word to describe what he did there. He basically took a non-entity of a program from pretty close to the bottom to somewhere a bit below the middle. Of course, in Nadelhoffer's defense it should be noted that every job situation is different, and that there may have been some inherent institutional limitations upon what he could hope to accomplish at Eastern. Wins and losses don't always provide a full context to illustrate how a head coach has performed on the D3 level, given the incredible variety of institutions, facilities, geographical settings, financial resources, conference affiliations, and other circumstances that affect on-the-court performance.

I don't know about this being a great hire, but I do think it's a good hire. Nadelhoffer will get a mulligan for at least a couple of seasons, because he is starting, not almost, but completely from scratch. He's got a grand total of eight players on his roster -- if they all decide to return next year and play for a new coach, that is -- and none of them would start on any other team in this league. He will need time to develop recruiting contacts; after nine years on the East Coast, his knowledge of this league and the Chicagoland high school scene will be rusty, and as the coach of the league's southernmost outpost he's going to have to develop a whole new familiarity with downstate high-school basketball, which has been Millikin's traditional bread and butter in terms of recruiting. It can't get any worse for the Big Blue, unless they somehow manage to go winless through an entire season ... and I'm sure that Nadelhoffer can scare up at least one rinky-dink NAIA or USCAA opponent to prevent his team from sporting a bagel on the left-hand side of their 2011-12 season record. But Millikin will probably remain toxically bad for at least another year or two, no matter how hard Nadelhoffer works.

I wish Matt Nadelhoffer well. I want my friend Joe Hakes to see some success at MU -- not at NPU's expense, of course! -- and to a certain degree the failure of anybody in this league is the failure of everybody, just as the success of anybody in this league is in some measure the success of everybody. Millikin's historically bad 2010-11 team dragged down the rest of the CCIW, so the improvement of the Big Blue is in the best interest of the CCIW as a whole.