MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

It seems that Miles Curry, a junior forward who was expected to start at the 4 spot for IWU this season, has suddenly left the team. While not known for his shooting, and not expected to be one of the Green Team's top scorers, Curry was expected to be a major force on the boards, helping fill the rebounding void created by the graduation of Jaylen Beasley. His departure could prove to be a major loss.
He has been removed from the IWU roster.

Yes, I tweeted this yesterday...


@IWUhoopscom
I have learned that 6-6 junior Miles Curry, expected to start at the 4 this season, has left the basketball team for personal reasons.  Big loss for @IWUBasketball.  Best of luck to Miles in the future.


Miles is an impressive young man...I hope he does great in whatever he chooses to do post-Titan hoops.

The Titans will miss Curry's athleticism for sure.  Fortunately, IWU has some talented options at the 4 spot.  I'm pretty sure 6-7 F Charlie Bair is now the guy.  From what I've seen and heard, I think Charlie is going to be a really good player.

Well, I am not a tweeter, but this is solid confirmation of what I posted about Curry yesterday.

Did he leave school or just the basketball team?

[AndOne]

Yes, IWU roster up.  Some notable departures for sure.  Lots of talent returning.  My guess, speculation early on:

PG -- Rose -- Wolfe
2 -- Bonnett and ?
3 -- Gregoire and Doug Whalen
4 -- Baker and Miles Curry
5 -- O'Neil and Brice Robinson

Plenty of experience on the perimeter.  My view is that the IWU season will rise and fall largely on how much Baker and O'Neil improve, dominate the paint.

It should be interesting.  Others will step up, perhaps have their turn in the IWU program scheme of things.  Some very good JV talent last year, now having a shot.

IWU'70

I'd say Rose, Bonnett, and O'Neil are for-sure starters.  And I feel like Curry is an almost-for-sure guy.  After that it seems like things are pretty up in the air in terms of the final starter and all of the reserves.

I think there are two freshmen who have a chance to make the rotation.

Sophomore Doug Wallen is a guy that seems to have a really high ceiling.

Should be fun.  This is the most talented IWU roster in a while.

I think it would take an act of God to prevent Rose, Bonnett, and O'Neil from being in the starting lineup, especially considering Rose & Bonnett are first team all-conference players, and O'Neil seemed to make steady improvement last season.

Curry's biggest contribution should be as a rebounder as the Green Team will have plenty of outside shooting. Offensively, he'll be most valuable as a slasher and short range jump shooter. I suspect teams won't be very worried if he wants to start firing up jumpers from a little further out because he frankly isn't a very good shooter from beyond 12-13 feet.

I've been wondering if Brice Robinson might peek out from behind the curtain this year. After being highly recruited out of high school, he has been virtually invisible the last two years. If he is going to be counted on as a backup low post 5, I think that might spell trouble for IWU's inside game as he doesn't have the reputation of being a very hard-nosed player, or of having much experience at all playing inside, preferring instead to pop from outside. Also, the fact that he couldn't beat out Tyler Burdine for PT last season doesn't inspire much confidence. I think soph Charlie Bair might be an entirely plausible alternative.

The Titans will miss Curry's athleticism for sure.  Fortunately, IWU has some talented options at the 4 spot.  I'm pretty sure 6-7 F Charlie Bair is now the guy.  From what I've seen and heard, I think Charlie is going to be a really good player[b/].

I am not at all surprised about Bair. In fact I posted the above thought about him previously.
He was certainly a load in HS. If I remember correctly, he was the leading rebounder in DuPage Country as a senior. Lots of potential for sure.

[AndOne]

Carthage preview was in the K-News today.  Typical coach speak for the most part.  Bosko feels they are flying under the radar as no one knows what they really have in the building.  Talks about the significant transfers and great additions in the freshman class. 

Of the transfers, points out Kedrowski (very good offensive player), Laketa also being a good offensive player with great range from outside of the arc and Cook being an explosive, dynamic guard (out with an injury and expected back at practice next week). 

The only starters mentioned are Mike Canady (the only senior on the roster) at the point and Baltimore.   

As far as returners he mentions a few, but Brad Perry was not mentioned at all.  He is on the roster, so not sure what to take from that.

Just read the article...the Perry non-mention is a great catch KMark.  I wonder how that plays out this season...I know he disappears at times during games, but geesh, I hope they haven't given up on the big guy.  He gets easy buckets when he gets it down low.

File under.........We'll know soon enough

Yesterday I advised kenoshamark about a rumor that I and a couple of associates have heard recently regarding Brad Perry.
That being that he has sustained a knee injury and is going to be out for an unspecified but possibly extended length of time. Kenoshamark evidently did a little investigating and found the preview article referenced above, which was just posted yesterday.
As indicated, there is no mention of Perry whatsoever which is more than a bit odd as he is certainly a player that you would have projected would start for Carthage this season, or be a major player at the least. Perhaps the non mention by Bosko, and the fact he is still listed on the roster signifies he will be out initially, but is expected back at some point this season. As Carthage begins their season tonight at Lake Forest, I guess we'll find out soon enough. 🏀

No Perry tonight in the first half for Carthage.

[AndOne]

Or in the 2nd half.

[Gregory Sager]

TODAY:
Lake Forest upended Carthage, 74-65, on the North Shore. The Foresters were unable to pull away, but they led throughout the entire second half and kept a multiple-possession lead for the last twelve minutes of it. Kienen Baltimore led the Red Men with 20, while Preston Laketa contributed 14 in his Carthage debut. Prodigal son Jordan Kedrowski led the Red Men with nine boards but went only 3-11 from the field, as Carthage shot a measly 35% as a team and turned the ball over 16 times. It's the first time in 13 seasons that the Red Men have lost their season opener.

YESTERDAY:
Millikin edged Dubuque, 76-71, at the Griz. Davante Harrell had a career night, going 29 and 10 with a 15-15 performance from the charity stripe. Zach and Calvin Fisher each scored 10 points, while Jordan "Student Body" Cunningham grabbed nine rebounds in only 13 minutes of action.

[GoPerry]

Good luck to the Thunder in their opener tonight vs Ripon.  Lots of anticipation for this team.  Defense and rebounding is always important but especially key this season.

I noticed on the roster that Trevor Gunter is listed at 210 lbs which is 15 heavier than a year ago 195.  Hopefully it's all added muscle but even if not, it's still a welcome plus for what he'll be called on to do this season.  At 195 he was very undersized to play the 4 or 5.  At 210, now he's only slightly undersized. 

[Titan Q]

Here is my 2018-19 IWU season preview...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/preview2019.pdf

[iwu70]

Thanks, Q.  Hoping the Titans put it all together early on . . . looks like a very strong team. 

Really sorry about Miles Curry.

Looking forward to the opening games at The Shirk tomorrow -- women and men.

IWU Titan volleyball just took down 7-8 time national champions Wash U in the second round of the regional NCAA Volleyball tournament at Ratner.  Probably tomorrow vs. U Chicago for all the marbles, regional championship game.   Great stuff.

Good to see the TITANS football as Co-Champions this year, taking it to NPU 40-13 today.

IWU'70

[WUPHF]

IWU Titan volleyball just took down 7-8 time national champions Wash U in the second round of the regional NCAA Volleyball tournament at Ratner.  Probably tomorrow vs. U Chicago for all the marbles, regional championship game.   Great stuff.

Women's Soccer will pay back the favor tomorrow...

[iwu70]

Looks like IWU volleyball plays Aurora tomorrow.  U C lost.  Again at UC, @Ratner.

If IWU - Wash U in soccer tomorrow @ Wash U, another good match-up.  IWU always seems to have some trouble with Wheaton and Wash U, in women's soccer.  We'll see.  Tomorrow is another day.   Stay tuned.

Great of the IWU women volleyball to get past Wash U, a (what?) 7-8 time national champion!  Winning 3-1 today.  All close.

'70

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 74
Ripon 64

Aston Francis, 26pts, 10 rebs, 9-29 FG, 7-15 3FG
Nyameye Adom, 17 pts, 4 rebs
Kobe Eichelberger, 11 pts, 4 rebs
Luke Peters, 8 rebs, 8 assists

Trent Jones, 27 pts, 10 rebs
Cal Schultz, 11 pts, 6 rebs

A little sketchy but Wheaton pulls out the win over a pretty solid Ripon team.  It was, yet again, a tale of two halves for Aston Francis – ice cold and not good in the 1st half / warmed up and launching eye popping 3s in the 2nd.  Ripon had a lot of their own way early leading 39-30 at the half.  Trent Jones is a very impressive player and good scorer.  But Wheaton turned up the defensive intensity, held the Red Hawks to 25 pts in the 2nd, and used a 14-0 run to get back in the game and then extend to the W.

The Thunder got some excellent contributions from Sophs Nyameye Adom, Gavin Hawkins and Frosh Tyler Cruickshank.  Adom got injured early last season and saw no action.  But now healthy he's a very talented and quick player with finishing ability.  It would be a welcome surprise (to fans anyhow) if he becomes a solid part of the scoring load this season.

[Gregory Sager]

Looks like IWU volleyball plays Aurora tomorrow.  U C lost.  Again at UC, @Ratner.

If IWU - Wash U in soccer tomorrow @ Wash U, another good match-up.  IWU always seems to have some trouble with Wheaton and Wash U, in women's soccer.  We'll see.  Tomorrow is another day.   Stay tuned.

Great of the IWU women volleyball to get past Wash U, a (what?) 7-8 time national champion!  Winning 3-1 today.  All close.

'70

For crying out loud, Mark ...

IWU Titan volleyball just took down 7-8 time national champions Wash U in the second round of the regional NCAA Volleyball tournament at Ratner.  Probably tomorrow vs. U Chicago for all the marbles, regional championship game.   Great stuff.

Women's Soccer will pay back the favor tomorrow...

Don't encourage him, WUPHF.

[crusader_nation]

Wheaton looked rough in the first half tonight. Francis' shot wasn't falling and none of his supporting cast stepped up. But they turned it around in the second half, largely because Francis got going and Adom really showed what he's capable of.

Also worth noting that Wheaton didn't get out rebounded tonight, which was a big problem for them last year. We'll see if that keeps up.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Wheaton show a lot of 3-guard line-ups with Adom on the court with Francis and Peters. They can play up-tempo and give Francis a safety valve.

The season will rise or fall on Francis, for sure, but it does look like he may have some help to ease the burden a little bit. Looking forward to next weekend's tournament play.

[Gregory Sager]

Either Rockford is really awful or Carroll has been severely underrated, because the Pios won a 100-63 walkover tonight at Van Male. Five Carroll players reached double figures, as Paul Combs got sixteen of his boys into the game.

Millikin had an easy time of it at Principia, as the Big Blue pulled away in the second half en route to a 96-76 win. Mark Scherer got nice games out of two of his frosh, as Jake Hampton chaired the proceedings with 21 points and Calvin Fisher contributed 15. Both came off the bench and only played 15 minutes apiece. Last season's daily double for the Decaturites, Elijah Henry and Davante Harrell, had 16 and 15, respectively, as the Big Blue had a shooting line of .571/.611/.778. I'm sure that Mark Scherer would love to bottle that formula.

[WUPHF]

Don't encourage him, WUPHF.

I was going to come back and remind him that his Titans were ranked higher by the AVCA, but duly noted, I'll drop it...