MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Johnny Augie]

Does anyone know how the CCIW JV teams fared this season? Only Millikin seems to post the scores. Naturally I am most interested in how Augie did, but I welcome any info. on the JV scene. I know Mike Thomas' brother is on the Augie JVs. Perhaps he can give a brief rundown on Augie's fortunes.

Mike Thomas is the brother of former Augie point guard Jim Thomas.  They are different players though, Mike is a shooting guard with a little more height and a bit stronger.

Augie had a pretty good JV.  I think they lost once to IWU and once to Blackwell.  They were very competitive and won every game that I saw them play, which was four of them.  It would have been nice too see a couple of the younger guys get more time on the JV rather than sit on the varsity bench.

[augiefan]

Just in case any of the regulars or any others who venture here do not already know, tomorrow night's games and Saturday's championship will be video streamed by Penn Atlantic. Titan Q and one of his regular cohorts will do the play by play. You can go to the CCIW conference website to connect to the video.

For those of us not able to make it to RI, it's great to know we can watch the games from afar. Hopefully the video quality will  be comparable to the Augie-IWU telecast earlier in the year.

All I can say in closing is GO AUGIE !!!

[augie_superfan]

Two scores of Pool C importance early on tonight:

Gordon loses by 16 in the semis of the CCC
York (Pa.) loses by 2 in the semis of the CAC

Both are 22-3 in region now and Gordon should have a QOWI of around 10-10.4 while York (Pa.) will have a QOWI of around 10.75ish.  Two teams with pretty good Pool C resumes atleast in terms of win% and QOWI...both were #1 seeds in conference.

[Gregory Sager]

IIAC regular season champ Wartburg (17-5 West Region) also lost in their conference tourney semis tonight. But Wartburg was only ranked seventh in the West Region (Gordon is #4 Northeast, and York PA is #1 Middle Atlantic), and the Knights began the week ranked only in the mid-fifties on the national QOWI list. I don't think that they have much of a shot at taking a Pool C bid away from another team.

Lakeland, ranked eighth in the Midwest Region, also lost in a conference semi (the LMC's) tonight. Lakeland isn't really much of a threat for a Pool C bid, but the significance of this loss is that it might give the CCIW teams that lose this weekend more of a cushion in terms of a possible drop out of the regional rankings.

[wheels81]

I think Wheaton's JV played pretty good this year.  Filling in for varsity.  I think Harris gets a COY vote and Kemper gets a WTGCFBHIG (where'd this guy come from but his good) award. 
Martin definitely gets POY. 
Go Thunder Women

by the way another school out west somewhere in Idaho, I think is giving up the Crusader mascot.  Another one bites the dust. Sorry Carthage we feel your pain.

[David Collinge]

Wow.  Greg, thanks for pointing out something I missed because I looked at that article before drinking my coffee.  As an astronomy professor who has taught more than half of IWU's senior players, I have a new "What's Wrong With this Statement" test question.  And yes, they will know what's wrong.

Regarding U. of Chicago, evidently Lew Freedman's regional geography is as spotty as his knowledge of astronomy!  It was nice to see a D3 article, but I thought he overplayed the "D3 as poverty case" angle a bit.  I'm sure Chris Martin gets new sneakers when he needs them.

Linda French
IWU Physics Department

Cool! This makes four different CCIW campuses of which I'm aware where at least one active or retired faculty member is an avid CCIW Chat reader. For all I know, the other four may be represented as well.

No wonder our student posters are so well-behaved. 

...not to mention Eastern Michigan U.! 

[Gregory Sager]

Wow.  Greg, thanks for pointing out something I missed because I looked at that article before drinking my coffee.  As an astronomy professor who has taught more than half of IWU's senior players, I have a new "What's Wrong With this Statement" test question.  And yes, they will know what's wrong.

Regarding U. of Chicago, evidently Lew Freedman's regional geography is as spotty as his knowledge of astronomy!  It was nice to see a D3 article, but I thought he overplayed the "D3 as poverty case" angle a bit.  I'm sure Chris Martin gets new sneakers when he needs them.

Linda French
IWU Physics Department

Cool! This makes four different CCIW campuses of which I'm aware where at least one active or retired faculty member is an avid CCIW Chat reader. For all I know, the other four may be represented as well.

No wonder our student posters are so well-behaved. 

...not to mention Eastern Michigan U.! 

And Lebanon Valley College as well.

[dansand]

Does anyone know how the CCIW JV teams fared this season? Only Millikin seems to post the scores. Naturally I am most interested in how Augie did, but I welcome any info. on the JV scene. I know Mike Thomas' brother is on the Augie JVs. Perhaps he can give a brief rundown on Augie's fortunes.

According to Augie's program, the Viking JV team was 10-2 (6-1 against CCIW teams) heading into the game at Naperville. I don't know how they fared there, or if there even was a JV game.

The Vikes' losses were to Black Hawk JC (they split with them on the year) and Illinois Wesleyan. The program didn't give the final score for their loss in Bloomington, but they beat the Titans 77-61 in the rematch at Carver last week. That was the only time I saw them play this year.

Mike Thomas played well in that game, but if I had to pick one of the freshman who stood out, I'd say Alex Washington from Wheeling looked very good.

[Titan Q]

A nice feature article on IWU's Adam Dauksas from today's Pantagraph...

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/02/24/sports/doc43fea3412d174287799333.txt

[augie22]

Nice article on Dauksas.  He makes a fine point when he points out that there is no pressure on those players becuase he is playing the game he loves and he has the opportunity to play it.

Also good luck to all the players tonight in the first annual CCIW tourney.  Man that is going to be crazy in Rock town tonight.  Should be a great crowd and full of anxious/nervous emotion. 

I predict that North Central wins the first game.  I also think that IWU wins tonight if they stay out of foul trouble...(i pray im wrong)!  The reason i say this is because i think Augie won't have a favorable crowd because many students will be on there way home from the second tri-mester ending.  I hope i am wrong here as well.  They also have lost the last 3 of 4.  If they can get back on track tonight they will be able to win tomorrow night.

Good luck to all....should be some great basketball!!!

[iwumichigander]

Congratulations to Jostens Trophy  2006 men's finalists: Keelan Amelianovich, Illinois Wesleyan and Chris Martin, Elmhurst. The award honors the true Division III student-athlete — the athlete that shows excellence in the classroom, on the playing floor and in the community.

[diehardfan]

I just wanted to offer my sincere contratulations to the two CCIW players nominated for the Jostens Award. Keelan and Chris have been by far two of my favorite players to watch in the last couple of years. Keelan and Chris have been a huge part of my motivation to go to all those IWU and Elmhurst games that didn't involve Wheaton, and I'm sure I got the chance to see each of them over a dozen times in their careers. Since I couldn't be clouded by loyalties to their programs, I think I got to know them as players in a unique way... and I've grown to overwhelmingly appreciate what they add to this league and the game of basketball.

Chris is a fantantastic ball player who has overcome a lot of adversity... I've never encountered a player who made me say "wow, how did he do that" more. I basically threw a party when he decided to come back this year... and then I never made it out to see a game...  Nevertheless, I don't think I'll ever forget the game where he was just absolutely trashing my guys.... and I found my self having a hard time being mad at him because what he was doing on the court was so amazing that I couldn't do anything but stand there with my jaw dropped! And then he has heart surgery, and comes back and plays really well again? Too cool!

I've always thought Keelan was everything you could possibly want in a basketball player... He has an insane amount of talent, it was evident from day one for me, when I saw him play a few minutes at the end of the Blackburn playoff game his freshman  year in 2003.... he comes in, shoots this smooth long jumper under pressure, and I just though... "wow... wow... he's going to be a great player in this league." When you combine that pretty jumper of his (that he can make with his eyes closed backward while he is following down) with his unswervable poise, sheer class, and complete lack of showyness, he becomes one of my favorite players that has ever come through this leauge. Keelan is the few players who I have had the privilage of watching since I started following CCIW hoops, who hasn't played for Wheaton, whom I categorically wished we had on our team. And he has about the nicest parents in the world to boot!

I sure all the Wesleyan and Elmhurst fans reading this know how lucky you are to have these two guys in your programs for the last few years. Please accept my sincere congratulations on their behalf for this huge honor! Best of luck to the both of them in March when they decide the winner! 

[diehardfan]

A nice feature article on IWU's Adam Dauksas from today's Pantagraph...

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/02/24/sports/doc43fea3412d174287799333.txt

"This has been so much fun. We all love to play basketball so much," he said. "This isn't pressure. There are people who have disabilities and can't walk. That's pressure. This is just fun. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just foolish."

A nice sentiment.... good words, Adam!

Though, uh, I think he just called all you guys that thought the pressure was getting to IWU stupid. 

Good luck to all the teams in the CCIW playoffs... may be best team win, and represent us well! 

[cardinal20]

Just a friendly reminder if you want a NCC feel of things tonight, WONC will be on the air at 5:40 with the pre-game show. Jason Lamar and Wayne Randazzo will have the call.

The link is www.wonc.org

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Hey, maybe there wasn't pressure.  The only other explanation was poor play, and while no athlete worth his salt would cop to feeling the pressure, I'd rather have that be the reason, if he were me.




...Man did any of that make sense??  I need a nap.