MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Elmhurst pulled away down the stretch against Carthage and took the 88-74 win at Faganel. Jake Rhode had one of those Jake Rhode second halves of his, hitting four treys in the closing stanza and finishing with 21 points and four steals. Wesley Hooker matched him with another 21, while Lavon Thomas added 14 points and a very nice 5:1 ratio (but, weirdly, no rebounds) and Jay Militello grabbed 11 boards and had three steals. The Firebirds were paced by Kyle Kostes, who had 19 and 8, while A.J. Johnson scored 15 and Crishawn Cook added 14. Fillip Bulatovic and Nemi Ostojic each collected six caroms in the losing cause for Carthage.

[kiko]

That was one sloppy game in the Hangar this evening.  And the scorer's table got a workout as 31 players saw minutes.

A random and obscure question for Gregory or perhaps someone else from the NPUverse: we have a good sense of what level of high school player lands in D3.  (To oversimplify, the bulk of the rosters seem to players with non-elite athleticism, non-elite size, some modicum of state or conference recognition depending on the size of their HS, reasonable enough proximity that D3 schools will be part of their college consideration set, and the means to pay for their education.)  There are a million exceptions to this over-generalization but hopefully you get the picture I am aiming to paint.  Coaches and recruiters can look at a kid and say 'D1', or 'D3' or ... whatever other tiers they cluster kids into, and calibrate their recruiting accordingly.

My question relates to NPU's Swedish contingent.  Do you have a sense of where the types of players who land at NPU fit into their local pecking order?  I recognize their system will be completely different.

(Many moons ago my high school soccer team had a German exchange student as the centerpiece of our team.  More accurately, he *was* our team.  Tt was a first year program and there were no youth feeder systems at the time, so if you could walk and breathe, the coach would teach you as many of the rules as you could handle -- including 'don't handle' -- and you were on the team.  Our exchange student was miles better than anyone else, but said he was pretty average back home.)

[Gregory Sager]

By Swedish standards, the Swedes that NPU gets for men's basketball are generally pretty good. They don't wow anybody by American standards, particularly midwestern American standards, but they work hard and generally do a good job of fitting in, mostly at the JV level (although Jonathan Johansson has been a varsity rotation mainstay this season, as he was last season at Triniity International). It's just not a basketball country, so there's a completely different set of expectations for them. They're taught well enough in their local club programs to know the rudiments of the game, and they tend to be decent shooters, but they're largely unprepared for the speed and the ballhandling dexterity of American players at this level.

It's a whole 'nother story in soccer, of course, 'cause that's their sport. Like all European kids, Swedes are taught how to kick and dribble a soccer ball practically from toddlerhood -- and they've been a huge part of North Park's success on the soccer pitch over the years. But college basketball coaches don't typically put a lot of time and effort into recruiting Swedes, because basketball is a niche sport in Sweden. In the winter, hockey, bandy, and skiing (both cross-country and downhill) are the sports that Swedes typically play. This year is, I believe, the first time that Swedish clubs have ever combined to hold a recruiting showcase in Sweden for prospective college basketball players. (I have no idea how well it was attended by American coaches; I'm guessing that Covid complications may prevent us from getting an accurate picture of the level of interest.)

It would be great if the ongoing pipeline of Scandinavian student-athletes at North Park worked out better for basketball (both men and women), as it has for soccer (and to a lesser degree in golf, tennis, and track), but it is what it is.

[lmitzel]

NCC-Millikin tomorrow has been postponed to Monday 2/7.

Wouldn't be surprised to see more dominoes fall.

[lmitzel]

Update to the attendance policy at NCC.

[iwu70]

NPU @ IWU postponed.  Not sure on new date, maybe Thursday.  Stay tuned.

IWU needs a win, a bounce back.  The Titans dropped to #10 in the new D3hoops poll, after their losses this last week @Elmhurst and vs. Concordia of Chicago. 

Six games to go. . . 

Looks like a big one coming in Wednesday/Thursday -- 12-18 inches of snow in B/N and South of here . . . so IWU closed tomorrow, many events in the Twin Cities cancelled, schools closed etc.

Be safe out there, everyone!

'70

[iwu70]

Looks like NPU @ IWU re-scheduled for Monday, 2/7.  FYI.

'70

[Mr. Ypsi]

NPU @ IWU postponed.  Not sure on new date, maybe Thursday.  Stay tuned.

IWU needs a win, a bounce back.  The Titans dropped to #10 in the new D3hoops poll, after their losses this last week @Elmhurst and vs. Concordia of Chicago. 

Six games to go. . . 

Looks like a big one coming in Wednesday/Thursday -- 12-18 inches of snow in B/N and South of here . . . so IWU closed tomorrow, many events in the Twin Cities cancelled, schools closed etc.

Be safe out there, everyone!

'70

12-18 inches!  Pshaw - for those of us who attended IWU during the last Ice Age, that's a mere dusting!

Or did spending so many years in semi-tropical Hong Kong make you soft?!   Still heading to Decatur for the women's showdown tomorrow?  (We're expecting about the same snow accumulation in Ypsi starting overnight tonite and lasting thru Thursday night.)

EDIT:  Just saw your post on the women's board that IWU@Millikin has been postponed, so I guess you're off the hook!

[Gregory Sager]

Downstate wimps. The NCC @ NPU women's game is still on for tomorrow night. If it gets postponed, it'll be because the snow legitimately makes the roads impassable tomorrow, not because somebody thinks a day earlier that they'll be impassable.

(And, no, a postponement tomorrow won't come as a surprise, because everybody on the game staff has already been alerted that a Wednesday postponement announcement is a possibility, and next Monday has already been arranged as a potential reschedule date.)

[WUPHF]

Wheaton highlights from the win on Monday with parts of the end of game celebration because what else do you have to watch...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DVioXX5tqs

[lmitzel]

Wheaton highlights from the win on Monday with parts of the end of game celebration because what else do you have to watch...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DVioXX5tqs

That guy in the shot at 0:12 looks familiar...

And even watching the postgame celebration from in closer? Still zero issue with it.

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Carver:

Wheaton 74
Augustana 63

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 74  Augie 63

26 pts for Tyson Cruickshank, 22 pts with 6 boards for Nyameye Adom.

Another pretty big road win for the Thunder to avenge the earlier home loss.  It keeps them one down in the loss column but basically in control of their own destiny going into a bye weekend.  They will finish with four more tough ones including @ Illinois Wesleyan. But the other three are all home vs Carthage, NPU and Millikin.

Luke Johnson had 13 pts for the Vikings while Dan Carr added 12 pts and 8 rebs.

[USee]

Wheaton's game @IWU has massive implications for the Thunder. Assuming they can hold serve at home vs the rest of their schedule (big if) in games they should be favored, winning @IWU would give the Thunder a sweep and a tiebreaker edge in the league as well as a huge boost to Wheaton's Pool C resume, which has them in decent shape but near the bubble.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The Hoopsville Marathon is here!



The show is hitting the air at 12:00 PM ET and going for at least NINE hours for the 8th Annual Hoopsville Marathon Show.

Show link: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2021-22/marathon

This year's show featured coaches, administrators, student-athletes, and many others around Division III who gave us a sense of the season to date and what is to come. There is only a month or so left in the regular season, so there was plenty to talk about.

The marathon is also a chance to celebrate the final month of the Division III basketball regular season.

Guests include (in order of appearance, subject to change):

• Conner Delaney, Johns Hopkins men's senior
• Frank Marcinek, Susquehanna men's coach
• Dan Krikorian, Chapman men's coach and Co-Host of "Slappin' Glass" podcast
• Minority Coaches Panel:
  
• • Larry Anderson (MIT men's coach)
  • Kam Gissendanner (La Roche women's coach)
  • Jason Harris (UMass-Boston men's coach)
  • Gary Stewart (Stevenson men's coach)
• Gary Stewart, Stevenson men's coach and NABC Board member
• National Committee Chairs:
  
• • Michael Schauer, Wheaton men's coach and men's committee chair
  • Megan Wilson, Luther Associate AD and women's committee chair
• Dan Kenny, John Jay men's sophomore and volunteer firefighter
• Jina DeRubbo, Washington & Jefferson women's coach
• Cameron Hill, Trinity (Texas) women's coach
• Stephen Gabel, Nazareth men's senior
• State of DIII with Louise McCleary, Interim Vice President for Division III
• Jim Haney, Division III Men's Officiating Coordinator
• Fred Roggin, NBC4 LA Sports Anchor and AM570 LA Sports Host
• Top 25 Women's Double-Take with Gordon Mann and Scott Peterson
• "Happy Hour" with friends of Hoopsville and D3 basketball