MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[izzy stradlin]

IWU has landed 6-1 PG David Molinari from Peoria Notre Dame H.S.  Molinari made several 3A/4A all-state/all-area teams.  For example...

- IBS Large School, 4th Team
- 2011 Peoria Journal Star Big School all-area team
- AP 3A Honorable Mention


Molinari's father is Jim, the head coach at D1 Western Illinois, and formerly the head coach at Minnesota, Bradley, and Northern Illinois...

http://www.goleathernecks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12000&ATCLID=1437627


Jim Molinari transfered to IWU from Kansas State and played alongside Jake Sikma.  From 1979 to 1989 he worked under Ray and Joey Meyer at DePaul.

David Molinari is a very good recruit for the Titans.  His final decision came down to IWU and playing for his father at WIU, where is older brother Billy is a redshirt freshman.


http://www.pjstar.com/sports/preps/x905911471/2011-Journal-Star-All-Area-Big-School-Boys-Basketball-Team

Good get for the IWU.    I know Wheaton tried to recruit David.

[all blues]

In 1973, Millikin actually defeated Bethany 51-7 in the Boot Hill Bowl.  The good folks in Kansas invited Millikin back again in 1974 to meet Div II Washburn, a game Millikin lost 21-7 after having 7 TDs called back.

According to this website, the nickname "Vikings" ranks #15 among the most common nicknames of high school, college, and professional sports teams. On the other hand, there are only two schools in America that go by the "Swedes" moniker. One is NAIA member Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, and the good folks at Bethany no longer appear to be "Fighting" anymore. They're merely the Swedes now, probably for reasons of political correctness.

[Titan Q]

I think IWU's recruiting class is wrapped up.  To my knowledge, the players who have committed to the Titans are below.



- Randy Azuogu, 6-1 G/F (Desert Mountain H.S., Scottsdale, AZ) - 10.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg

- Drew Blumenshine*, 6-8 F/C (Peoria Notre Dame H.S.) - 7.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg

- Brandon Heyen, 6-7 F (Paxton-Buckley-Loda H.S.) - 12.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg

- David Molinari*, 6-1 PG (Peoria Notre Dame H.S.) - 8.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 7.3 apg

- Parker Musselman*, 6-8 F/C (Normal Community H.S.) - 12.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg

- Dylan Overstreet*, 6-3 SG (Paxton-Buckley-Loda H.S.) - 17.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 5.7 apg

- Connor Wheeler*, 6-1 PG/SG (DuQuoin H.S.) - 21.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.9 apg, 3.8 spg

- Josh Wiggs, 6-8 F (Woodlawn H.S.) - 14.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg


* These are the players who seem to me (my opinion only) to be IWU's "top recruits."  I will say that outside of these, I am very intrigued by Azuogu (very well built already, and athletic) and Heyen (great height for a perimeter player...interested to see if he is mobile enough to play the 3 in college...a D3 head coach told me that Heyen could be a real sleeper recruit for the Titans).


Just came across the name "Josh Wiggs" this morning...don't know much about him.  He's on the IBCA all-star game South roster.

http://register-news.com/sports/x559276847/Wiggs-selects-Division-III-school-for-basketball

These are the teams for the annual IBCA 1A/2A all-star game, to be played June 25 at IWU's Shirk Center (D3 commitments that I know of noted)...

1A/2A NORTH SQUAD...Coach Rodney Kellar[Ridgeview]
Kyle Anderson-Newark
Dylan Overstreet-Paxton-Loda-Buckley Illinois Wesleyan
Codey Funk-El Paso-Gridley
Matt Krause-Deer Creek-Mackinaw  Wheaton (committed for baseball...I'm not sure if basketball too?)
Brayden Teuscher-Rockford Christian  Washington U.
Alex Koch-Illinois Valley Central
Jens Kennedy-Dwight
Demetrius Mobley-Immaculate Conception
Juis Jacob-Rock Falls
Jake Spietz-Brimfield
Michael Murry- Princeton
Brad Dunlap-Eastland
Josh Fenoglia-Midland
Alex Schwabb-Peru-St.Bede
Sam Ford-Oregon

1A/2A SOUTH SQUAD...Coach Rob Flanagan[East Richland-Olney]
Brad Hamilton-Pittsfield
Jerrod Gaston-Murphysboro
Nick Schumacher-Teutopolis
James Jenson-Effingham St.Anthony
Derek Thompson-Teutopolis
Conner Wheeler-DuQuoin  Illinois Wesleyan
Collin Mingo-Springfield Calvary
Dylan Guthrie-West Central  MacMurray
Corey Ayala-Massac County
Drake Vermillion-Beardstown
Hunter Sutton-North Mac
Zach Main-Camp point Central
Tylor Duckworth-Anna-Jonesboro
Josh Wiggs-Woodlawn Illinois Wesleyan
Sam Brown-Nashville


(I have not seen the 3A/4A roster anywhere yet.  You'd think the IBCA website would have this stuff, but it does not.)

[Titan Q]

IWU has all kinds of roles up for grabs heading into the summer.  As I see it, players who will truly end up in the mix for 2011-12 varsity time are:

PG (wide-open)
Eliud Gonzalez, 5-9 Sr
Stephen Rudnicki, 6-3 Sr
David Molinari, 6-1 Fr
Connor Wheeler, 6-1 Fr

SG
Jordan Zimmer, 6-5 Sr
Brady Zimmer, 6-4 So
Dan Oswald, 6-2 Jr (healthy?)

SF
John Koschnitzky, 6-6 Sr
Eric Dortch, 6-3 So

PF
Victor Davis, 6-5 So
Andrew Ziemnik, 6-4 So
Dan Schouten, 6-5 Sr

F/C (wide open*)
Nick Anderson, 6-9 So
Kevin Reed, 6-7 Jr
Drew Blumenshine, 6-8 Fr
Parker Musselman, 6-8 Fr


* I've heard from multiple people that 6-9 center Ryan Connolly has decided not to play basketball next season for the Titans.


The Titans have a lot of young talent ready to step in - next year will be very interesting. 

[titanfan]

A recruit for augie.  Josh Prosser from Eureka.

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/college/x1539861023/College-Recruiting?mobRedir=false

[augiefan]

The usual fine recruiting class for IWU. Lot's of potential in their new group.

Augie has also picked up some talented high schoolers in their 2011 freshman class. However, the statistics cited in the PJS article and the low level high school competition in Eureka's conference would lead one to believe that Josh Prosser might be a bit of a stretch for CCIW competition. Is anyone familiar with his skills and ability to play at the CCIW level. Hopefully, he will be an asset to the Augioe program in a few years.

How are the rest of the teams doing on the recruiting front? I know Carthage and Wheaton have some good talent coming in next season with more to come. Have not heard much on the NCC recruits for next year, but last year's freshen were so talented, I'm sure they have filled some holes as well.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

congratulations to Nick Williams who got his degree from North Park University this morning - along with my son Tim - Nick got a warm round of applause from his appreciative fellow students.

[Titan Q]

Augie has also picked up some talented high schoolers in their 2011 freshman class. However, the statistics cited in the PJS article and the low level high school competition in Eureka's conference would lead one to believe that Josh Prosser might be a bit of a stretch for CCIW competition. Is anyone familiar with his skills and ability to play at the CCIW level. Hopefully, he will be an asset to the Augioe program in a few years.

I don't know anything about Josh Prosser, but this time of year, I think it is important to remember that not all recruits are pursued equally.  Some of the high school seniors picking colleges were recruited very heavily, and were considered recruiting "priorities"...others were possibly not pursued much at all.

It seems to me like there are basically 3 tiers of recruits:

I. High priority ("top recruit")

II. Medium priority (pursued fairly aggressively, but mostly as insurance in case Tier I player at a given position goes elsewhere)

III. Low priority  (a "walk on" of sorts)


I think the ability of a Division III coach to take kids from all 3 tiers is very different than for a scholarship level coach who has to make more black & white decisions on kids.

Just saying, when we see a local newspaper article about Player A going to so-and-so college, we should not assume that player was a "Tier I" or even "Tier 2" recruit.

[Titan Q]

How are the rest of the teams doing on the recruiting front? I know Carthage and Wheaton have some good talent coming in next season with more to come. Have not heard much on the NCC recruits for next year, but last year's freshen were so talented, I'm sure they have filled some holes as well.

My gut feeling is that the best CCIW recruit "on the board" is Luke Johnson (6-9 F, Wheaton Academy, heading to Carthage).  A coach, whose opinion I value very much, recently told me (paraphrasing), "This is a 4-year starter and someone who will be a CCIW M.O.P. candidate as a JR and SR."

I'm confident some of the kids heading to IWU, Augustana, and Wheaton are going to be good players too.  After that, I don't have much/any information on who is coming to North Park, North Central, Elmhurst, and Millikin.  I'm sure those names will eventually hit the board.

[Gotberg]

congratulations to Nick Williams who got his degree from North Park University this morning - along with my son Tim - Nick got a warm round of applause from his appreciative fellow students.

I hope he enjoyed his commencement speaker:

http://northpark.edu/News/Current-News/Mayor-Daley-at-Commencement

[Dennis_Prikkel]

congratulations to Nick Williams who got his degree from North Park University this morning - along with my son Tim - Nick got a warm round of applause from his appreciative fellow students.

I hope he enjoyed his commencement speaker:

http://northpark.edu/News/Current-News/Mayor-Daley-at-Commencement

it truly was an honor for north park to have Mayor Daley make his last public appearance at the school's commencement.  My son was thrilled to shake his hand and get his picture taken with him.

[AndOne]

Huge commitment for Carthage - 6-9 F/C Luke Johnson from Wheaton Academy (16.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg).

http://www.kcchronicle.com/2011/05/02/preps-247-wheaton-academys-johnson-commits-to-carthage/bx0nwkt/

His ESPN recruiting page says "considering Evansville Aces, Wichita State Shockers, Loyola (IL) Ramblers, UNLV Rebels, Northern Illinois Huskies."

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/115708/luke-johnson



Now the next step is deciding where to go to continue his basketball career, as an ankle injury during the summer hurt Johnson's recruiting process. He is still hoping to receive a Division I offer in the near future, though heading to a prep school for a year to build up his value is not out of the question.

"I'm still deciding," added Johnson, who started playing basketball at the age of four. "During the summer, I had been talking to schools like NC State, Richmond, Evansville and Loyola among others. I sprained my ankle in July during the recruiting period and I missed a lot of time where colleges would have been able to look at me. And now a few of those schools have already given away their scholarships.

"I'm still working back from it (the ankle injury). And I'm looking at prep schools as well where maybe I could get back from this injury and get back to where I was."
[/b]
http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/centraldupagepreps/boysbasketball/x1707784300/Johnson-s-switch-justified

How are the rest of the teams doing on the recruiting front? I know Carthage and Wheaton have some good talent coming in next season with more to come. Have not heard much on the NCC recruits for next year, but last year's freshen were so talented, I'm sure they have filled some holes as well.

My gut feeling is that the best CCIW recruit "on the board" is Luke Johnson (6-9 F, Wheaton Academy, heading to Carthage).  A coach, whose opinion I value very much, recently told me (paraphrasing), "This is a 4-year starter and someone who will be a CCIW M.O.P. candidate as a JR and SR."

I'm confident some of the kids heading to IWU, Augustana, and Wheaton are going to be good players too.  After that, I don't have much/any information on who is coming to North Park, North Central, Elmhurst, and Millikin.  I'm sure those names will eventually hit the board.

While Johnson has the potential to be an upper echelon CCIW player, lets not rush to anoint him just yet.
* We recently heard a rumor that last year's best freshman is "shopping himself" to scholarship schools. True? Maybe, maybe not. His coaches and teammates say no. However, Mr, Johnson basically ignored the vast majority of, if not all, D3 courtship attempts during the season. Furthermore, if you were paying attention at all, you could have fairly easily detected a demeanor that said "I'm a D1 player." The current freshman referred to above exhibited no such behavior during his senior season.
* Is he now going the D3 route due to a slower than anticipated recovery from his ankle injury?
* As he stated in the above referenced article "I'm looking at prep schools as well as where maybe I could get back to where I was." Perhaps a stop at the D3 level until he is able to "get back to where I was"?
* Did he suddenly have an epiphany after meeting his future teammates and/or strolling the bucolic Carthage campus and enjoying the idyllic setting as the gentle winds off Lake Michigan wafted lightly across the campus?
* Perhaps he was wooed by Bosko's promise of "protection" in the form of 280 pound Raul Guzman and the likewise corpulent 290 pound Tyler Pierce.  
Wait--didn't a certain poster identify those players as embarrassments to the Carthage program during last season?
* In short, isn't it a bit premature to label a player who hasn't played even one college yet, let alone a CCIW conference game as a  MOP candidate in 3-4 years? Especially one who never seemed to want to be live in D3land in the first place??

Mr. Johnson could well stay at Carthage all 4 years and certainly has the potential to achieve stardom both in the short and long term. I just think that with so many variables at hand---in this case more than usual for an entering freshman--its a little early for such lofty accolades.
Maybe the mystery coach predicting such is the same one who initiated the rumor about last season's top freshman looking for higher level money and then allegedly asking the poster to remove the post. Maybe he is right about both!! Maybe not. We'll see.
But, maybe he ought to stick to coaching.

Also--(Wheaton fans help me out here)---Isn't it a bit strange that Johnson landed at Carthage given Wheaton Academy's close association with Wheaton College, including Academy head coach Paul Ferguson formerly being the top assistant at WC?

[AndOne]

I think IWU's recruiting class is wrapped up.  To my knowledge, the players who have committed to the Titans are below.



- Randy Azuogu, 6-1 G/F (Desert Mountain H.S., Scottsdale, AZ) - 10.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg

- Drew Blumenshine*, 6-8 F/C (Peoria Notre Dame H.S.) - 7.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg

- Brandon Heyen, 6-7 F (Paxton-Buckley-Loda H.S.) - 12.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg

- David Molinari*, 6-1 PG (Peoria Notre Dame H.S.) - 8.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 7.3 apg

- Parker Musselman*, 6-8 F/C (Normal Community H.S.) - 12.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg

- Dylan Overstreet*, 6-3 SG (Paxton-Buckley-Loda H.S.) - 17.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 5.7 apg

- Connor Wheeler*, 6-1 PG/SG (DuQuoin H.S.) - 21.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.9 apg, 3.8 spg

- Josh Wiggs, 6-8 F (Woodlawn H.S.) - 14.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg


* These are the players who seem to me (my opinion only) to be IWU's "top recruits."  I will say that outside of these, I am very intrigued by Azuogu (very well built already, and athletic) and Heyen (great height for a perimeter player...interested to see if he is mobile enough to play the 3 in college...a D3 head coach told me that Heyen could be a real sleeper recruit for the Titans).

Just came across the name "Josh Wiggs" this morning...don't know much about him.  He's on the IBCA all-star game South roster.

So, out of 8 recruits, you identify 5 of them as "top recruits." Then you indicate you are "very intrigued" by 2 of the remaining 3 players, and add a comment about the 8th player being on the IBCA all-star game South Roster.

Sounds like players good enough to be "intriguing" and to be in an all-star game featuring the state's top players could also be classified as "top recruits."
I sense IWU has 8 "top recruits."
Nice!

[dansand]

Sounds like Coach G and his staff have wrapped up this year's class, so here's a rundown:

Alex Dziagwa, 6-9, 190, Brookfield, IL (Riverside-Brookfield HS)
2010-11 (Sr.): 11.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.4 bpg, 62% FG

*2011 IBCA Class 3A/4A Special mention All-State
*2011 Suburban Life Cook County All-Area
*2011 All-Metro Suburban Conference

Dziagwa's college decision


Danielius Jurgutis, 6-0, 185, Darien, IL (Downers Grove South HS)

*2011 Suburban Life South DuPage County All-Area
*2011 Daily Herald DuPage County Honorable mention All-Area

Starting point guard for 25-4 DGS...Averaged about 10 ppg, better than 2-to-1 assists to turnovers.

Downers Grove South's Lithuanian connection


Cole Miller, 6-4, 180, Muscatine, IA (Muscatine HS)

Muscatine HS     GP-GS   FG-FGA   Pct 3FG-FGA   Pct  FT-FTA   Pct  Off Def  Tot  Avg   A  TO Blk Stl  Pts  Avg
2008-09 (So.)... 22-21   88-196  .449  15-46   .326  35-40   .875   28  95  123  5.6  19  55   4   9  226 10.3
2009-10 (Jr.)... 22-21  105-208  .505  26-65   .400  28-37   .757   22  94  116  5.3  37  57   3   7  264 12.0
2010-11 (Sr.)... 23-23  119-258  .461  34-93   .366  65-84   .774   27 114  141  6.1  45  65   4  12  337 14.7

*2011 Class 4A All-Sub-State 5
*2011 Quad-City Times Honorable mention All-Metro
*2011 Muscatine Journal 1st team All-Area
*2011 2nd team All-Mississippi Athletic Conference
*2011 IBCA Senior All-Star game
*2011 Iowa-Illinois Senior Showcase
*2010 3rd team All-Mississippi Athletic Conference

Cole Miller


Josh Prosser, 6-3, 175, Goodfield, IL (Eureka HS)
2009-10 (Jr.): 9.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.4 apg
2010-11 (Sr.): 9.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 76% ft, 2.5 apg, 19 stl, 19 blk

*2011 IBCA Class 1A/2A Special mention All-State
*2011 Bloomington Pantagraph Honorable mention All-Area
*2011 1st team All-Corn Belt Conference
*2010 (2010-11 season) Prairie Central Hawk Classic All-Tournament
*2010 Honorable mention All-Corn Belt Conference

Seventh at state in Class 1A in the high jump (6-5) as a junior...His brother, Jordan, plays at Bradley.

Prosser torn between two sports


Mark Roth, 6-0, 155, Washington, IL (Washington HS)

Washington HS    GP   FG-FGA   Pct 3FG-FGA   Pct  FT-FTA   Pct  Off Def  Tot  Avg   A  Stl  Pts  Avg
2007-08 (Fr.)...  5    0-0       -   0-0       -   0-0       -    0   0    0  0.0   0    0    0  0.0
2008-09 (So.)... 25   42-107  .393  37-95   .389   8-11   .727    3  30   33  1.3  24   10  129  5.2
2009-10 (Jr.)... 26  103-276  .373  82-215  .381  37-48   .771   10  46   56  2.2  38   21  325 12.5
2010-11 (Sr.)... 31  128-279  .459  91-201  .453  62-78   .795    9  70   79  2.5  82   32  409 13.2

*2011 IBCA Class 3A/4A Special mention All-State
*2011 Peoria Journal Star Large School 2nd team All-Area
*2011 Pekin Daily Times Class 3A/4A All-Area
*2011 1st team All-Mid-Illini Conference
*2011 ISC City/Suburban Senior All-Star Classic
*2010 Pekin Daily Times Class 3A/4A All-Area
*2010 1st team Mid-Illini Conference

Brother of IHSA all-time 3-point leader Matt Roth (Indiana U.)...His 91 three's this year are fourth-best in school history (Matt has the top three totals) and his 82 last season rank 10th...His 210 career treys are third in school history behind Matt Roth's 466 (!) and Todd Foster's (Purdue, 1993-96) 226.

Mark Roth


Brandon Thompson, 6-1, 175, Galesburg, IL (Galesburg HS)

Galesburg HS     GP   FG-FGA   Pct 3FG-FGA   Pct  FT-FTA   Pct  OR  DR  Reb  Avg  PF   A  TO Blk Stl  Pts  Avg
2008-09 (So.)... 26   29-76   .382  15-39   .385  15-25   .600   6  24   30  1.2  42  45  33   0  26   88  3.4 
2009-10 (Jr.)... 31  116-244  .475  33-94   .351  58-74   .784  20  60   80  2.6  60 107  42   0  41  323 10.4 
2010-11 (Sr.)... 32  202-393  .514  49-107  .458 153-194  .789  29 138  167  5.2  62 143  70   2  43  606 18.9

*2011 IBCA Class 3A/4A 3rd team All-State
*2011 Champaign News-Gazette Honorable mention All-State
*2011 All-Western Big 6
*2010 Charleston Holiday Tournament MVP ('10-11 season)
*2011 IBCA All-Star game
*2011 Iowa-Illinois Senior Showcase
*2011 Review Atlas All-Star game

Galesburg Register Mail
Dispatch/Argus

[dansand]

Also, an interesting piece on Kyle Nelson in today's QC Times:

http://qctimes.com/sports/college/augustana/article_bc23d05e-7f6c-11e0-9419-001cc4c002e0.html