MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

North Park's 2017-18 non-conference schedule is set:

date	opponent	2016-17 record
Fri., Nov. 17	BLACKBURN (North Park Classic)	12-13
Sat., Nov. 18	ILLINOIS TECH (North Park Classic)	22-6
Tue., Nov. 21	CHICAGO	16-9
Tue., Nov. 28	UW-OSHKOSH	17-11
Sat., Dec. 9	@ Coe	10-15
Sat., Dec. 16	@ Lake Forest	14-11
Wed., Dec. 20	vs. TBA (@ Transylvania tourney)	(Transy 17-10)
Thu., Dec. 21	vs. TBA (@ Transylvania tourney)
Wed., Feb. 7	EAST-WEST	?

This will be the first time ever that North Park has hosted a tipoff tournament.

The fact that NPU will be playing Coe in Cedar Rapids on December 9 indicates that the Vikings have a CCIW bye that day, as the three December CCIW dates are Saturday, December 2; Wednesday, December 6; and Saturday, December 9. Naturally, their second bye is the Wednesday, February 7 date on which they'll be hosting East-West.

This will be the first time since 2008-09 that the Vikings haven't played Trine. In fact, the absence of any MIAA team at all on the sked is pretty conspicuous. In both of the past two seasons NPU played four MIAA teams, and the Vikings played three MIAA teams in each of the three seasons before that.

Transylvania hasn't posted its schedule yet, and I'm very curious to see who else is showing up for that tournament in Lexington.

Emory & Henry is one of the other two teams that will be at the Transylvania tourney, and the fourth participant hasn't been finalized yet. E&H went 20-8 last season; the Wasps finished third in the ODAC, one game behind the league's co-champions, and reached the ODAC tourney final before losing.

This could turn out to be a pretty good tournament.

[AndOne]

North Park's 2017-18 non-conference schedule is set:

date	opponent	2016-17 record
Fri., Nov. 17	BLACKBURN (North Park Classic)	12-13
Sat., Nov. 18	ILLINOIS TECH (North Park Classic)	22-6
Tue., Nov. 21	CHICAGO	16-9
Tue., Nov. 28	UW-OSHKOSH	17-11
Sat., Dec. 9	@ Coe	10-15
Sat., Dec. 16	@ Lake Forest	14-11
Wed., Dec. 20	vs. TBA (@ Transylvania tourney)	(Transy 17-10)
Thu., Dec. 21	vs. TBA (@ Transylvania tourney)
Wed., Feb. 7	EAST-WEST	?

This will be the first time ever that North Park has hosted a tipoff tournament.

The fact that NPU will be playing Coe in Cedar Rapids on December 9 indicates that the Vikings have a CCIW bye that day, as the three December CCIW dates are Saturday, December 2; Wednesday, December 6; and Saturday, December 9. Naturally, their second bye is the Wednesday, February 7 date on which they'll be hosting East-West.

This will be the first time since 2008-09 that the Vikings haven't played Trine. In fact, the absence of any MIAA team at all on the sked is pretty conspicuous. In both of the past two seasons NPU played four MIAA teams, and the Vikings played three MIAA teams in each of the three seasons before that.

Transylvania hasn't posted its schedule yet, and I'm very curious to see who else is showing up for that tournament in Lexington.

Emory & Henry is one of the other two teams that will be at the Transylvania tourney, and the fourth participant hasn't been finalized yet. E&H went 20-8 last season; the Wasps finished third in the ODAC, one game behind the league's co-champions, and reached the ODAC tourney final before losing.

This could turn out to be a pretty good tournament.

Opposite directions  ...............

While NPU is hosting its first tip-off tournament, NCC, which had hosted a season opening tip-off tourney for many years, discontinued doing so a couple years ago mainly due to the difficulty of attracting 3 other NCAA D3 teams. Also, there were some late cancellations over the years that forced a real scramble to find a new 4th team to fill out the tournament. This resulted in some NAIA teams participating, as well as some teams with obscure basketball affiliations that were, frankly, somewhat of an embarrassment to have as participants. While this sure wasn't NCC's choice, discontinuation of the tournament eliminated the problem.
It's nice that NPU was able to put together an attractive tourney. 👍

And, while the eastern Vikings (bring back the longship) will be absent of MIAA competition this upcoming season, NCC will play at Alma on 12/15, and host Albion on 12/19.

[AndOne]

Due to their annual long holiday break from Thanksgiving day to the first Monday in January each year, the NCC Cardinals have traditionally taken "small," and "big" trips each basketball season. The small (bus) trips are usually 3 days somewhere in the Midwest where they will either go to a 2 day tournament or Classic at a single location or, play 2 single games at 2 different schools. The big (plane) trips are where the Cards roll the NCC jet out of the infamous Hangar, and fly off to a tournament in a nice warm weather locale. Past trips have been to places such as Hawaii, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, Daytona Beach, Orlando, and Miami.

These "big" trips traditionally come just before or just after Christmas. However, this year, the Cardinals will depart from the norm and take their annual big trip (very) early in the break.
On Wed., 11/22, the Cards will jet off to the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. After Thanksgiving dinner on the beach on Thurs, they'll play Western Region powerhouse Whitworth on Fri 11/24, and Lewis & Clark on Sat 11/25 in Honolulu. They'll see the sights on 11/26 before returning home 11/27.
Not the traditional over-the-river trip to grandma's for Thanksgiving dinner for sure.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park's 2017-18 non-conference schedule is set:

date	opponent	2016-17 record
Fri., Nov. 17	BLACKBURN (North Park Classic)	12-13
Sat., Nov. 18	ILLINOIS TECH (North Park Classic)	22-6
Tue., Nov. 21	CHICAGO	16-9
Tue., Nov. 28	UW-OSHKOSH	17-11
Sat., Dec. 9	@ Coe	10-15
Sat., Dec. 16	@ Lake Forest	14-11
Wed., Dec. 20	vs. TBA (@ Transylvania tourney)	(Transy 17-10)
Thu., Dec. 21	vs. TBA (@ Transylvania tourney)
Wed., Feb. 7	EAST-WEST	?

This will be the first time ever that North Park has hosted a tipoff tournament.

The fact that NPU will be playing Coe in Cedar Rapids on December 9 indicates that the Vikings have a CCIW bye that day, as the three December CCIW dates are Saturday, December 2; Wednesday, December 6; and Saturday, December 9. Naturally, their second bye is the Wednesday, February 7 date on which they'll be hosting East-West.

This will be the first time since 2008-09 that the Vikings haven't played Trine. In fact, the absence of any MIAA team at all on the sked is pretty conspicuous. In both of the past two seasons NPU played four MIAA teams, and the Vikings played three MIAA teams in each of the three seasons before that.

Transylvania hasn't posted its schedule yet, and I'm very curious to see who else is showing up for that tournament in Lexington.

Emory & Henry is one of the other two teams that will be at the Transylvania tourney, and the fourth participant hasn't been finalized yet. E&H went 20-8 last season; the Wasps finished third in the ODAC, one game behind the league's co-champions, and reached the ODAC tourney final before losing.

This could turn out to be a pretty good tournament.

Opposite directions  ...............

While NPU is hosting its first tip-off tournament, NCC, which had hosted a season opening tip-off tourney for many years, discontinued doing so a couple years ago mainly due to the difficulty of attracting 3 other NCAA D3 teams. Also, there were some late cancellations over the years that forced a real scramble to find a new 4th team to fill out the tournament. This resulted in some NAIA teams participating, as well as some teams with obscure basketball affiliations that were, frankly, somewhat of an embarrassment to have as participants. While this sure wasn't NCC's choice, discontinuation of the tournament eliminated the problem.
It's nice that NPU was able to put together an attractive tourney. 👍

I doubt that it will be a long-term fixture on the schedule, a la NCC's now-terminated tipoff tourney and Wheaton's Pfund Tourney, for the very reason that you mentioned. It simply worked out that NPU was able to get three other D3 teams to commit for the opening weekend, so it sort of evolved into a classic-format tournament. In fact, the way that it all played out ended up forcing NPU into a situation in which it's had to book East-West as the ninth non-con opponent (which is certainly not ideal) in order to avoid playing Illinois Tech twice, because Blackburn didn't want to play the Scarlet Hawks.

(Gustavus Adolphus is the fourth team in NPU's tourney, which is not as attractive a name in D3 men's basketball as it used to be. The Gusties were a national powerhouse a dozen years ago, and they've had a twenty-win season as recently as 2011-12. But they bottomed out at 5-20 this past season, so I'm not expecting much. At this point, I'd rather have the Vikings play Blackburn than GAC. If last season holds true to form, the Beavers will be a better tune-up for the rigors of the CCIW than will the Gusties, and Blackburn's likely to finish the season with a better record as well. On the other hand, GAC does appear to be bringing back a more experienced team than does Blackburn.)

I keep wondering how long Wheaton is going to be able to keep making a go of it with the Pfund. At least once in recent seasons Mike Schauer has been forced to re-format the tourney to fit three teams rather than four, which is always a pain in the neck.

And, while the eastern Vikings (bring back the longship) will be absent of MIAA competition this upcoming season, NCC will play at Alma on 12/15, and host Albion on 12/19.

I have mixed feelings about not playing any MIAA teams. On the one hand, the competition's been good; North Park has had some great battles with Alma over the past four years, and the Vikings actually came out on the short end of the stick overall in their eight-year series with Trine. And this means that, for the first time in his Vikings career, Colin Lake won't have any games close to home for his senior season. (That's a minor consideration, though, since that only involves one player.) On the other hand, four games against non-Rivalry MIAA teams isn't a sound strategy for burnishing a team's potential SOS numbers. It means that you're playing half that league, and when Calvin and Hope aren't among the four it means that you're by definition playing a bunch of teams that are almost certain to sport not-great records by season's end (Alma two years ago being a conspicuous exception), and you're going to be put in the frustrating position of watching those four teams beat each other on a nightly basis in January and February, leveling out your SOS.

One or two MIAA teams, like NCC is playing, is probably the optimum package. But I have no complaints about NPU's upcoming schedule, aside from having to play East-West. It looks like it's going to be a good mix, with plenty of strong opponents.

[kiko]

Back when I actually played soccer, during the games we weren't involved in, but our friends were, we would do commentary in our worst British voices from the bleachers.

These aren't bad British voices, per say, but you've given me an excuse to post a link to one of my all-time favorites...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5fGSBsfq8

[Pat Coleman]

I'm not a public speaker by any means and I don't like standing up and doing speeches or the like. However, if I had practice, I'm confident I would like doing PBP and commentary.

I know plenty of people who've done both, but I've found that most people prefer doing either one or the other. (I'd be interested in finding out Pat's, Gordon's, D-Mac's, and Bob's preferences.) The two tasks have some things in common, but each has its own required skill set and/or area of expertise.

I definitely prefer to do play by play. Other than baseball, I'm just not good enough with recognizing trends and the X's and O's of the game to be an effective color analyst.

On one of the other topics currently circulating: E&H was definitely looking last year to figure out what it could do to improve its schedule and make itself an effective at-large tournament contender going forward.

[petemcb]

Greg, or anyone else aware of the situation, what is the deal with East-West?  East-West used to be a pretty bad NAIA D2 team in the CCAC, I believe.  Their website currently lists the EWU Phantoms as an "extracurricular activity".  Are they transitioning to D3? I don't think of them as the stereotypical D3 type of institution.  Maybe they've just become a club sport?

[Gregory Sager]

No, it's a genuine varsity sport. Based upon what I heard in a recent WGN radio interview with EWU head coach Tommie Posley and a couple of his players, at least some of the Phantoms are receiving scholarship money. EWU does not have an affiliation at the moment, not even USCAA. The school isn't transitioning to D3, because I'm not sure that it even has another varsity sport besides men's basketball. It does list "tennis" as a sport (no gender indicated) on the extremely meager school website, but there's no link to it and no online info about it anywhere.

But the Phantoms do play intercollegiate basketball against a wide variety of teams. Last season they played a lot of NAIA competition, such as Roosevelt, Madonna, Robert Morris-Chicago (twice), and St. Francis (IL), and at least one juco (Malcolm X). They also played everyone's favorite D1 whipping boy, Chicago State, and the Cougars thrashed the Phantoms by 28. The Phantoms have also functioned over the past few seasons as a useful fill-in for D3 programs that have had late schedule alterations, such as North Park this coming season. That was the case for Chicago last season, when EWU came into the Ratner Center as the fourth entry in the Maroons' Thanksgiving week tourney. In that tournament the Phantoms lost to Carroll by 17 (although it was a six-point game with four minutes and change to go) and to DePauw by nine.

Tommie Posley, who has worked as a substance abuse counselor at Cook County Jail and in several positions as a youth counselor for not-for-profits, is as much a guidance counselor, mentor, and father figure to his players as he is a coach. He has a passion for getting at-risk kids off the streets in Chicago and into school by using basketball as a lure, so I think that a lot of his players haven't followed the traditional path of entering college immediately after high school. Because EWU isn't a part of the NCAA or NAIA, there's no umbrella organization that forces him to take in kids that meet a certain academic qualifying standard, either. But I don't scorn him or EWU for that. In fact, I applaud him. He makes no bones about the fact that his players are in school to get an education and a degree, and that basketball is a secondary concern. He's doing important work in this city by making a positive impact in the lives of young men whose peers are being lost left and right to death or prison.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I'm not a public speaker by any means and I don't like standing up and doing speeches or the like. However, if I had practice, I'm confident I would like doing PBP and commentary.

I know plenty of people who've done both, but I've found that most people prefer doing either one or the other. (I'd be interested in finding out Pat's, Gordon's, D-Mac's, and Bob's preferences.) The two tasks have some things in common, but each has its own required skill set and/or area of expertise.

I am comfortable doing both and try to be as good doing both as I can in as many sports so I am hire-able... this freelance thing hasn't been going as well as I hoped, or had planned, the last five years.

That said, there are some sports I rather do PBP and avoid color if I could (though, I nearly sucked it up for a gig in a few weeks):  women's lacrosse is the head of that list. I have actually had to call the last two D3 final fours by myself for NCAA.com, so I had to shift into some color... and I nearly was going to be the color person for this year's final four (until something conflicted, sadly), but I am FAR more comfortable doing PBP in that sport.

I will say, the two jobs are actually very different. Having done solo broadcasts for so long, I can slide in and out of both, but when I am doing PBP I try hard to stick to calling the game and throwing softballs to my analyst. When I am analyst, I try hard to stick to breaking down the action or pointing out things I am seeing that may be off camera... but then get done in time so the PBP can get back to the action (I can tell you a lot of color people I have worked with who don't pay attention to the clock, game, or whatnot and just keep talking... blowing off places where the PBP person should be the voice).

Anyway... long answer... sorry about that. I love doing both, I am more comfortable as I have gotten older doing PBP over color and there are some sports I try and avoid color altogether (WLAX is not the only one).

[AndOne]

Greg, or anyone else aware of the situation, what is the deal with East-West?  East-West used to be a pretty bad NAIA D2 team in the CCAC, I believe.  Their website currently lists the EWU Phantoms as an "extracurricular activity".  Are they transitioning to D3? I don't think of them as the stereotypical D3 type of institution.  Maybe they've just become a club sport?

As Greg reports, the East-West basketball "program" does some good in getting some inner-city kids off the street and into more constructive activity in what appears to be a non-traditional academic setting.
As far as the possibility of transitioning to D3 as Pete inquires about, Greg also points out that basketball appears to be EWU's only varsity sport. Actually, there appears to be some question if it is truly even a true varsity sport as in looking at their web site, it appears to be more of a club sport type atmosphere. Beyond that, even if EWU offered many/several varsity sports, it's doubtful the NCAA would consider the institution very attractive from an academic standpoint. The school was founded in 1980 and became accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) in 1983. However, this organization was dissolved in 2014. The school then became accredited by something called the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). But EWU was then placed on probation by the HLC in July, 2015. Chief among the reasons for probation was that EWU fails to fulfill the claims it makes for an enriched educational environment, and that it fails to give ongoing attention to records pertaining to retention, persistence, and completion rates in its degree programs. I found nothing indicating the institution has emerged from said probation. Additionally, the latest available statistics show that only 9% of students graduate with a degree within six years of enrolling. This is one of the lowest graduation rates in the entire country. Accordingly, it doesn't seem the NCAA would be very desirous of having EWU as a member. The institution evidently used to be NAIA affiliated, but it no longer enjoys that relationship either.

[Gregory Sager]

Greg, or anyone else aware of the situation, what is the deal with East-West?  East-West used to be a pretty bad NAIA D2 team in the CCAC, I believe.  Their website currently lists the EWU Phantoms as an "extracurricular activity".  Are they transitioning to D3? I don't think of them as the stereotypical D3 type of institution.  Maybe they've just become a club sport?

As Greg reports, the East-West basketball "program"

The scare quotes are not necessary, Mark. It is an intercollegiate basketball program. It's a minimalist one by CCIW standards, but having an intercollegiate basketball program is actually a fairly low bar to hurdle. All you need is a budget, a coach, players, some uniforms, insurance, a place to practice, access to transportation, and a willingness to accept phone calls from Grinnell's Dave Arseneault.

does some good in getting some inner-city kids off the street and into more constructive activity in what appears to be a non-traditional academic setting.
As far as the possibility of transitioning to D3 as Pete inquires about, Greg also points out that basketball appears to be EWU's only varsity sport. Actually, there appears to be some question if it is truly even a true varsity sport as in looking at their web site, it appears to be more of a club sport type atmosphere.

No, it's a varsity sport in the generally-recognized sense of the word. Club sports don't offer scholarships, so the school is spending money on the program. Don't be swayed by the lack of information about the team on the EWU website. The school doesn't have a sports information director -- or, apparently, any athletics staff at all aside from Tommie Posley -- so it's not the least bit surprising that the details about the Phantoms on the EWU website are so sparse.

Beyond that, even if EWU offered many/several varsity sports, it's doubtful the NCAA would consider the institution very attractive from an academic standpoint. The school was founded in 1980 and became accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) in 1983. However, this organization was dissolved in 2014. The school then became accredited by something called the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).

The HLC is the successor organization to the NCA. It's recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the regional accrediting agency for the midwest (19 states in all). It's the accrediting agency for all nine members of the CCIW (and pretty much all of the rest of the four-year schools in Illlinois and Wisconsin), as well as for your alma mater out there in Lincoln. It is headquartered in the Chicago Fed (aka the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the massive fortress at the corner of LaSalle and Jackson in the Loop), so don't get any big ideas about breaking into the HLC's offices in order to monkey around with the accrediting paperwork of any CCIW rivals.

But EWU was then placed on probation by the HLC in July, 2015. Chief among the reasons for probation was that EWU fails to fulfill the claims it makes for an enriched educational environment, and that it fails to give ongoing attention to records pertaining to retention, persistence, and completion rates in its degree programs. I found nothing indicating the institution has emerged from said probation. Additionally, the latest available statistics show that only 9% of students graduate with a degree within six years of enrolling. This is one of the lowest graduation rates in the entire country.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has viewed the EWU website. It's clearly an institution that operates on spit and baling wire -- which is a little surprising, since it inhabits some of the priciest real estate in the entire midwest. U.S. News & World Report actually shows EWU with a 10% graduation rate, but that's splitting hairs. That's a very bad number; Chicago State, which everybody in Illinois knows is close to moribund, was the subject of an investigative piece in the Trib last year when the CSU grad rate dropped to 11%. (Northeastern Illinois University's graduation rate, by comparison, looks positively robust at 20.1%.) East-West's 31% retention rate is just as troubling, as it's well below half that of the 70% or so national norm. It's obviously a school that is not in good health.

Accordingly, it doesn't seem the NCAA would be very desirous of having EWU as a member.

In spite of its lip service on the subject, I doubt that the NCAA really cares all that much about graduation rates; there's a sizable number of NCAA members (mostly D1 and D2 mid-sized public institutions) whose grad rates are in the teens, and I haven't heard anything about the NCAA coming down on them. East-West's probationary accreditation status might be more of a concern for the NCAA, if for some unfathomable reason EWU suddenly decided to add a dozen sports and apply for NCAA membership.

The institution evidently used to be NAIA affiliated, but it no longer enjoys that relationship either.

The NAIA is a lot less particular about a school's bona-fides than is the NCAA. I suspect that the reason why EWU dropped its NAIA membership was because it didn't want to pay the annual organizational dues.

[sac]

Accordingly, it doesn't seem the NCAA would be very desirous of having EWU as a member.

In spite of its lip service on the subject, I doubt that the NCAA really cares all that much about graduation rates; there's a sizable number of NCAA members (mostly D1 and D2 mid-sized public institutions) whose grad rates are in the teens, and I haven't heard anything about the NCAA coming down on them. East-West's probationary accreditation status might be more of a concern for the NCAA, if for some unfathomable reason EWU suddenly decided to add a dozen sports and apply for NCAA membership.

The NCAA uses something called APR, Academic Progress Rate since 2004.  If you fall below a certain level you can be banned from NCAA post-season play.  The most notable institution to receive an APR penalty was Syracuse basketball who lost scholarships and were banned from the post-season.   Seems like there was a 5-7 football team that was excluded from a bowl game recently because of APR but I can't recall who.

[Gregory Sager]

The APR only calculates the academic progress of student-athletes on a specific team, not the academic progress of the student body as a whole.

[AndOne]

NCC RECRUIT

North Central has received a commitment from and welcomes Max Farson, a 6'3" 195 lb. wing out of Rockford Boylan HS.
A starter in every game for the Titans, he averaged 6.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 3.1 APG. While these aren't eye popping stats, Max made his mark on the defensive end of the floor, usually taking the opponent's top scoring guard or wing and being a valuable contributor to his team which finished the season at 27-5.

[AndOne]

NCC RECRUIT

North Central is pleased to announce that they have received a cardinal commitment from Garrett Fant, a 6'1" SG from Lake Park HS in Roselle. Garrett became a primary recruiting target of the Cardinals almost from the first game of the season, and was followed closely throughout. He was
the 2nd leading scorer in DuPage County this past season.

* All-Conference, First Team - DuPage Valley Conference
* All Area, DuPage County - Daily Herald
* All State Class 4A Fourth Team - Illinois Basketball Coaches Association

* Points per game - 19.0
* Assists per game - 4.1
* Rebounds per game - 4.0
* Free Throw % - 79.1%
* Field Goal % - 54.6%
* Three Point % - 51.5%