MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[matblake]

I see that North Park is down to 3 candidates for the presidential position.  I took a look at the bios and it doesn't really seem as if any of the candidates are extremly positive or extemely negative toward sports.  There does seem to be a large fund-raising component.  Also, since I have no idea how colleges and universities work, my guess is the Board of Trustees vote on necessary measures (fund raising, new building, where monies are allocated) and the President is on the Board of Trustees, but does not have the final say in some of these choices.  Anybody have any insights?

[playballalldatime]

Well, one name stands out and that is John Baines, Asst. coach of Elmhurt. With his experience as an assistant and a graduate of IWU, this should be a NO BRAINER for the IWU AD -

John Baines, a member of the 1997 NCAA Division III national championship team at Illinois Wesleyan University, is entering his sixth season as an assistant coach for the Bluejays.

Baines, of Bloomington High School, served as the head sophomore coach for the boys' basketball and baseball teams.

Baines earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Illinois Wesleyan, where he was a two-year starter for the men's basketball team. During his time there, the team compiled a 103-14 record, won an NCAA Division III national championship, participated in two Final Fours, made four Sweet Sixteen appearances and won three CCIW titles.

A native of Bloomington, Baines and his wife, Terri, reside in Carol Stream.



If indeed Trost is headed to Lewis (we are all waiting impatiently to find out), I would guess that Denny will look for someone from "The Family".  Not just someone who has coached there or graduated from there, but someone who has played there and has a wealth of successful coaching experience.  If that is true, it surely shrinks the pool of candidates down to a small puddle.  I hear n

[Knightstalker]

Dennis you are a musician?  I too am a musician which explains why I work as an IT consultant to pay the bills.  I was a classical guitar major at NJCU.

[matblake]

Thanks Dennis.  I am aware of the centrality of the Covenant Church to North Park.  I currently attend a Covenant Church and a large percentage of people went to North Park if they didn't go to the in state schools like Michigan or Michigan State.  Since I went to the school in the Western suburbs that isn't Elmhurst or North Central I often get the "You went to Wheaton....how nice" treatment.  

Interesting bit about the covenant/non-covenant tension that I am sure is felt much more in the non-student areas of administration and alumni issues. 

[Titan Q]

I wasn't planning on posting anything on the Scott Trost situation today, but since the Pantagraph and WJBC are now reporting it, I guess I should.

As has been speculated here already, coach Trost will be leaving IWU to take the head job at Lewis.  As the coach of the Titans, Scott's record was 101-37 overall (.732) and 50-20 (.714) in the CCIW.  After that first season at IWU (12-12, 6-8), he was 89-25 (.781) overall and 44-12 (.786) in the league with 3 championships.  Under Trost, the Titans made the tournament 4 times, knocking off a number of top-ranked teams on the road - #2 Wash U in 2003, #2 Hanover in 2004, and #1 Lawrence in 2006.   The 2006 Final Four trip will be commemorated with the 4th banner to hang from the Shirk Center rafters.

As someone close to Titan basketball, I can tell you that Scott was put in a very tough position, following a legend at Illinois Wesleyan.  To say that first year wasn't easy would be a huge understatement.  Obviously, Scott perservered and did an outstanding job as the head coach of the Titans.  He recruited two All-Americans in his first IWU recruiting class (Adam Dauksas and Keelan Amelianovich) and a player that has a chance to be one in his second class (Zach Freeman).  I will remember the Scott Trost Era for the athleticism of the players and how hard the Titans played every single game and just in general, how fun Trost's teams were to watch.  More importantly, I will remember these past 5 years for the caliber of the student-athletes he brought to Illinois Wesleyan.  Just as Dennie Bridges did for so many years, Scott Trost landed some first-class kids that IWU fans could really get behind.  As a fan, I appreciate everything Scott did for IWU basketball...he will be missed.  I'll be a fan of the Lewis Flyers.

I am not sure what the plan is for finding the next coach, but I've heard it will be a national search...I think that is very appropriate.   IWU is a desirable job and I think it is only right to see who is out there.  I have no doubt Illinois Wesleyan will find a great coach.  The school got it right in 1945, 1965, and 2001.

[Titan Q]

As was posted here recently, IWU received a verbal commitment from Hersey point-guard Sean Dwyer.

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/dwyercommits.html

Dwyer understood the possibility of Scott Trost leaving when he made his decision, so the news will not impact his decision.  Obviously, the impact is different from recruit to recruit, but I know Scott was upfront with all of the student-athletes he was recruiting.

I spoke to John Camardella (a coach at Hersey) at length about Dwyer...to hear John speak of Dwyer as a player and a person has me very excited that he'll be a Titan.  I think Dwyer has a 5.1 GPA on a 5.0 scale (never have been sure how you get a higher GPA than the top of the scale, as I never had to worry about it) and it sounds like he is a leader on the floor and off.   I think IWU has found a really good CCIW player and student here.

[David Collinge]

According to my father the only World Series that really counted was the 55 series when his beloved Dodgers beat the hated Yankees.  Then they packed up and left town a couple of years later and my father hated them, well the owners anyway until the day he died.  They broke his heart, he always insisted that Ebbets Field was the best place to watch a game ever.

I understand that the replacement for Shea Stadium (still in the planning stage) is going to be a replica of Ebbets Field in many respects.

I am not sure what the plan is for finding the next coach, but I've heard it will be a national search...I think that is very appropriate.   IWU is a desirable job and I think it is only right to see who is out there.  I have no doubt Illinois Wesleyan will find a great coach. The school got it right in 1945, 1965, and 2001.

My vote is for Dave Kunka.

[advoice]

My guess on the replacement for Scott Trost is Jim Molinari.

Jim is currently an assistant with the Minnesota Gophers. He is looking to stay one step ahead of the posse as Don Munson has been rumored to be fired soon. He is also a IWU grad who played for Coach Bridges.

I'm sorry but John Baines has absolutely no shot at this job. If you think the premier job in the CCIW will hire an assistant from the CCIW, you do not understand the philosophy of hiring coaches.

Jim Molinari would do an outstanding job in Bloomington.

[advoice]

Inside information on how the Trost hiring went down...

Mark Scherer was actually offered the job last friday and turned it down for family reasons. Lewis in turn offered the job to Trost on Monday. Meanwhile, Scherer had a change of heart and called Lewis attempting to accept the job. Lewis told Coach Scherer that they had already moved on to its next candidate and the job is being offered to Trost.

Trost takes the job on Monday night.

If Trost had not taken the job, Ben Wierzba would have been next. Jack Bennett tried to take a page from his brothers book and wanted to bring along his son as an assistant with the intention of him taking over the reigns in a few years. Lewis did not react very well to that request.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

OK, this 5.1 business is outrageous.  I've never heard of that.  I thought the 4.0 thing weas standard, with 5.0 for honors classes.  So now we've extended it again?  Are there kids taking graduate level work in 12th grade?

[omaha]

I see that North Park is down to 3 candidates for the presidential position.  I took a look at the bios and it doesn't really seem as if any of the candidates are extremly positive or extemely negative toward sports.  There does seem to be a large fund-raising component.  Also, since I have no idea how colleges and universities work, my guess is the Board of Trustees vote on necessary measures (fund raising, new building, where monies are allocated) and the President is on the Board of Trustees, but does not have the final say in some of these choices.  Anybody have any insights?

Your description is essentially correct, although the president of NPU yields a lot of power.  The president (and the administration) develop many of the policies and plans and present them to the board of trustees for approval.  Although the board has the final approval the president is a member of the board and has a lot of imput in the decisions and the board usually follows the president's recommendations. 

The president of a school has a big impact on sports. Dr Horner knew North Park needed to upgrade its athletic facilities. He was instrumental in getting the board to approve the recent fund drive that provided funds for the soccer field-track, the Holmgren Athletic Complex and the Helwig Recreation Center.

[Jim Matson]

Well Dennis, my choice (not that it matters) is for the guy from Messiah College.  He isn't a Covie, but he is a strong believer and comes from a school with a winning athletic tradition.

I also like Noth Park's new football coach.  Has North Park ever had a guy with this much experience?

[True Basketball Fan]

Inside information on how the Trost hiring went down...

Mark Scherer was actually offered the job last friday and turned it down for family reasons. Lewis in turn offered the job to Trost on Monday. Meanwhile, Scherer had a change of heart and called Lewis attempting to accept the job. Lewis told Coach Scherer that they had already moved on to its next candidate and the job is being offered to Trost.

Trost takes the job on Monday night.

If Trost had not taken the job, Ben Wierzba would have been next. Jack Bennett tried to take a page from his brothers book and wanted to bring along his son as an assistant with the intention of him taking over the reigns in a few years. Lewis did not react very well to that request.

How the heck do you know that Coach Scherer turned down the job, then tried to call back and accept it on Saturday?  There's probably only 10 people that would know IF that really happened, maybe not even that many.  I'm not trying to pry into your business about your sources and/or your connection, but that is very specific information.  Either you are directly involved with the parties or your stories are slippery.   

[markerickson]

Various NPU subjects:

I'd heard Heintzelman dropped out because NPU wasn't willing to give him the salary he commanded.

No way would Molinari go to IWU.  Perhaps he'd replace Monson.

Regarding the new football coach, the official NPU press release didn't note any on-field accomplishments because U of Buffalo probably had as bad a record as NPU since the former elevated to DI status.  If you think NPU blew two and three years ago, next year will be even worse.  NPU lost their QB (a three-year starter) who took every snap in 2005, a good WR, and several key defensive players.  NPU had virtually no running game last year.   

[Ralph Turner]

Hoops fan, I got an extra grade point for taking honors classes in the 1960's.  I graduated with a 4.17 out of a possible 4.17.  The Salutatorian in my class who went to MIT had a 4.53 out of a possible 4.53.  Nothing new.  My high school honors classes helped me place out of 40 hours of College Class credit. I did not have to take College English!

In fact, my nephew took freshman college English at the local junior college as a substitute for the Senior High School English.