MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

When you put Elmhurst's John Ittounas, Wheaton's TJ Askew, and North Central's Mitch Lewis together with the North Park quartet of Kolden Vanlandingham, Marquise Jackson, Shamar Pumphrey, and Quillin Dixon, this season's had the best crop of incoming transfers in CCIW men's basketball history. And it isn't close.

He hasn't had the impact of the others listed above, but Micah Schnyders of Wheaton is another noteworthy transfer. He's technically seventh in minutes played for the Thunder, but only trails five minutes behind Eddie Scott in playing time and has appeared in every game.

If we're counting Schnyders, then we can add two other transfers playing reserve roles who are noteworthy: North Park's Davante "Microwave" Robinson, who is an outstanding trey shooter, and Millikin's Frazier Ott, who has been a real revelation for the Big Blue off of the bench in 2022-23 and will be a big man to be reckoned with in the paint for the next couple of seasons.

[Gregory Sager]

Also, I was looking at the coaches' poll over the weekend.  The group you mentioned above is one of the main reasons why it is ridiculously off-target.

Yep, although it doesn't account for Carthage. The coaches slotted the Firebirds eighth, and yet Steve's boys are sitting all alone in third place in the standings with one week to go. And they're doing it with nary a transfer on the roster; the only noteworthy addition to the team this season is freshman Julian Campbell. Basically, the CCIW coaching braintrust looked at all of the freshmen and sophomores that Steve put out onto the floor during last season's 9-16, 2-14 campaign, factored in the loss of two of CC's three leading scorers (Crishawn Cook and Garrett Horner) and three double-digit-minutes role players in Kyle Kostes, Kyle Czerak, and Tyler Guest, and said, "These guys are going to be struggling just to stay out of the basement in 2022-23."

Everybody knows that I'm a huge Mike Schauer fan, and I take nothing away from what he has done to secure Wheaton's success in the post-Adom era. But if it hadn't been for Sean Smith being the CCIW men's basketball equivalent of the Chicxulub asteroid that struck the Earth 66 million years ago and killed off the dinosaurs, I think that Steve Djurickovic would deserve the CCIW Coach of the Year award (which, of course, Mike Schauer will win anyway).

[Gregory Sager]

And Jordan Boyd, for all of his struggles at the free-throw line, made some big ones in the second overtime to cap his second straight 20-and-10 game. Two must-win road games in one week against the #3 and #4 teams in the CCIW -- and Jordan Boyd comes up huge in both of them. He's gotta be CCIW Player of the Week ... oops, CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week.

Every now and then my pleas get heard by the higher authorities. Congrats to Jordan Boyd upon being named POW!

Wheaton and North Park now have each had three different players win the POW this season. But I have to point out that none of the Park's three winners is named Kolden Vanlandingham -- the selfsame Kolden Vanlandingham who happens to be the CCIW's third-leading scorer in league play (16.7 ppg) and is ranked fourth in steals.

[lmitzel]

Not to hijack a good conversation about transfers, but... I spent way too much time working on this.

With the added bonus of the Millikin-Carroll game on Saturday not mattering for seeding or clinching purposes, thus meaning I only had to build 128 lines instead of 256... here is a look at all of the possible seeding combinations for the CCIW Tournament (link should work and take you directly to Google Sheets).

My favorite Chaos Scenario is the four-way 8-8 tie that gets NCC a 3 seed. Almost as good, the 4-way 7-9 tie that gets Augie a 4 seed.

[kiko]

Also, I was looking at the coaches' poll over the weekend.  The group you mentioned above is one of the main reasons why it is ridiculously off-target.

Yep, although it doesn't account for Carthage. The coaches slotted the Firebirds eighth, and yet Steve's boys are sitting all alone in third place in the standings with one week to go. And they're doing it with nary a transfer on the roster; the only noteworthy addition to the team this season is freshman Julian Campbell. Basically, the CCIW coaching braintrust looked at all of the freshmen and sophomores that Steve put out onto the floor during last season's 9-16, 2-14 campaign, factored in the loss of two of CC's three leading scorers (Crishawn Cook and Garrett Horner) and three double-digit-minutes role players in Kyle Kostes, Kyle Czerak, and Tyler Guest, and said, "These guys are going to be struggling just to stay out of the basement in 2022-23."

Everybody knows that I'm a huge Mike Schauer fan, and I take nothing away from what he has done to secure Wheaton's success in the post-Adom era. But if it hadn't been for Sean Smith being the CCIW men's basketball equivalent of the Chicxulub asteroid that struck the Earth 66 million years ago and killed off the dinosaurs, I think that Steve Djurickovic would deserve the CCIW Coach of the Year award (which, of course, Mike Schauer will win anyway).

Correct - it does not account for Carthage.  Which is why I specifically said:

one of the main reasons

[Gregory Sager]

Not to hijack a good conversation about transfers, but... I spent way too much time working on this.

Not to worry, Lucas. Compared to Drew Pasteur, Matt Snyder, and Bob Quillman, you barely even qualify as a D3 spreadsheet hobbyist.

With the added bonus of the Millikin-Carroll game on Saturday not mattering for seeding or clinching purposes, thus meaning I only had to build 128 lines instead of 256... here is a look at all of the possible seeding combinations for the CCIW Tournament (link should work and take you directly to Google Sheets).

My favorite Chaos Scenario is the four-way 8-8 tie that gets NCC a 3 seed. Almost as good, the 4-way 7-9 tie that gets Augie a 4 seed.

You may have just given Tom Jessee the first good night's sleep he's had in weeks.

Correct - it does not account for Carthage.  Which is why I specifically said:

one of the main reasons

I know. I just thought it provided a good opportunity to shine a light on what Stevie D. and his team have been able to do this season. I think that Carthage's remarkable turnaround is getting lost in the shadow of what NPU has done.

[Gregory Sager]

New poll is out:

* Wheaton moves up a spot from 8th to 7th

* North Park improves in the ORV category to 26 points.

[Stertorous Thunder]

Everybody knows that I'm a huge Mike Schauer fan, and I take nothing away from what he has done to secure Wheaton's success in the post-Adom era. But if it hadn't been for Sean Smith being the CCIW men's basketball equivalent of the Chicxulub asteroid that struck the Earth 66 million years ago and killed off the dinosaurs, I think that Steve Djurickovic would deserve the CCIW Coach of the Year award (which, of course, Mike Schauer will win anyway).

I was surprised to learn that Mike Schauer has never won the CCIW Coach of the Year Award.  For his sake, I hope that he finally wins one as some sort of lifetime achievement award on top of running the table in a very deep conference.  But if I were a voter, I would probably have to set aside my Thunder allegiance and cast a vote for Sean Smith and the astonishing turnaround job at North Park.  There is a historic precedent for splitting the award, so maybe the best outcome would be co-winners.  And if that could happen, I suspect that few would object to a three-way tie with Djurickovic in the mix as well.

[Stertorous Thunder]

I have not been paying attention to the national scene so I am sure there are others, but off the top of my head, I cannot think of any other conference that has as many impact transfers as the CCIW and UAA.

Assuming that the current transfer rules stay in place, the UAA is likely to dominate the portal relative to other D3 programs.  As research institutions with a large variety of programs and departments, the UAA is a great place for a player who redshirted or lost a season due to injury to use their final year(s) of eligibility while they pursue an MBA or other graduate degree.

[Gregory Sager]

Everybody knows that I'm a huge Mike Schauer fan, and I take nothing away from what he has done to secure Wheaton's success in the post-Adom era. But if it hadn't been for Sean Smith being the CCIW men's basketball equivalent of the Chicxulub asteroid that struck the Earth 66 million years ago and killed off the dinosaurs, I think that Steve Djurickovic would deserve the CCIW Coach of the Year award (which, of course, Mike Schauer will win anyway).

I was surprised to learn that Mike Schauer has never won the CCIW Coach of the Year Award.

That's because Wheaton hasn't won the league since 2009, when Bill Harris was still the coach. As I've complained about more than once on this board, the CCIW men's basketball head coaches regard their COY award as something to be automatically given to the coach(es) of the conference champion(s). It's been that way ever since the award was first given at the end of the 2001-02 season; the award winner has always been the head coach of the conference champion, and in years in which the championship is shared, the award is correspondingly shared as well.

I don't know what their reasoning is behind it -- whether it's to keep the peace, or whatnot -- but they aren't required to do it that way. In other CCIW sports (e.g., football), the award is sometimes given to the coach whose team makes the biggest leap forward and outperforms preseason expectations the most. But the men's basketball coaches award it by rote to the champion's coach. That's why I said that Mike Schauer is going to win it, anyway, despite the years that Steve Djurickovic's and (especially) Sean Smith's teams are having. Basically, the only chance Sean has is if NPU is able to catch Wheaton and share the title.

[Stertorous Thunder]

Everybody knows that I'm a huge Mike Schauer fan, and I take nothing away from what he has done to secure Wheaton's success in the post-Adom era. But if it hadn't been for Sean Smith being the CCIW men's basketball equivalent of the Chicxulub asteroid that struck the Earth 66 million years ago and killed off the dinosaurs, I think that Steve Djurickovic would deserve the CCIW Coach of the Year award (which, of course, Mike Schauer will win anyway).

I was surprised to learn that Mike Schauer has never won the CCIW Coach of the Year Award.

That's because Wheaton hasn't won the league since 2009, when Bill Harris was still the coach. As I've complained about more than once on this board, the CCIW men's basketball head coaches regard their COY award as something to be automatically given to the coach(es) of the conference champion(s). It's been that way ever since the award was first given at the end of the 2001-02 season; the award winner has always been the head coach of the conference champion, and in years in which the championship is shared, the award is correspondingly shared as well.

I don't know what their reasoning is behind it -- whether it's to keep the peace, or whatnot -- but they aren't required to do it that way. In other CCIW sports (e.g., football), the award is sometimes given to the coach whose team makes the biggest leap forward and outperforms preseason expectations the most. But the men's basketball coaches award it by rote to the champion's coach. That's why I said that Mike Schauer is going to win it, anyway, despite the years that Steve Djurickovic's and (especially) Sean Smith's teams are having. Basically, the only chance Sean has is if NPU is able to catch Wheaton and share the title.

Fun Story from 2009: My first Wheaton basketball game ever was a packed postseason game, still the most people I have ever seen at King Arena, and I arrived late and had to sit in the only available space in the far corner of one of the end bleachers.  There was this speedy guard running all over the place who, on my first impression, was hogging the ball and throwing up wild, ill-advised, and off-balance shots.  After a couple quarters I noticed that a lot of those crazy shots were falling in and then I went home, did some internet-searching, and learned about the legend of Kent Raymond (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Raymond).  I always regretted that I hadn't started watching games earlier to experience more of his career, but then Kent Raymond 2.0 came along in the form of Aston Francis.

[WUPHF]

Bracket of death! Not a bad way to get your first taste of Wheaton basketball.

[Gregory Sager]

Dylan Schmidt, a 6'4" wing from Johnsburg, has tweeted his commitment to Illinois Wesleyan.

Here's what I have so far in terms of CCIW verbal commits. Again, please feel free to add to the list:

Carroll
Dennis Estepp, 6'0", Grayslake Central

Carthage
Andy Nash, 6'4", Benet

Illinois Wesleyan
Jackson Niego, 6'0", Lyons
Dylan Schmidt, 6'4", Johnsburg

North Park
Caleb Newman, 6'1", T.F. South

As always, a caveat that these are verbal commits. Doesn't mean that: 1) they've put in a deposit; 2) they're registered for 2023-24 classes; 3) they'll show up on campus in the fall; or 4) they'll show up for the first practice of the season.

[Gregory Sager]

First numerical regional rankings are out. Here's Region 8:

1. Wheaton
2. Wash U
3. North Park
4. Elmhurst
5. Carthage
6. Wisconsin Lutheran
7. Marian

[mr_b]

Halftime at the Crackerbox, and North Park and Illinois Wesleyan are tied at 29 apiece.  The teams are a combined 3-for-22 from 3-point range.  Let's see how they adjust their offenses after the break.