MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Above The Rim]

Dornfeld sounds like a nice pick up for the Jays. They have some talented players to replace. Thanks to the Reade family and friends Geneseo has usually been fertile recruiting ground for Augie but not this time.

I believe North Central also has a player from Geneseo on its basketball roster---freshman guard Kevin Gillespie. It appears Geneseo players go to at least a couple of places besides Augie.

[Above The Rim]

This is not a comment one way or the other on Erik Dornfeld, but I'm not particularly impressed by a Chicagoland-based recruiting website that thinks that Judson is a D3 program.

Not to mention their seemingly surprised observation that the concerned player's commitment is "further proof as to how successfully the CCIW continues to recruit the state of Illinois."

Duh---Its like they just discovered the I in CCIW is for Illinois rather than Iowa or Indiana.

[petemcb]

This is not a comment one way or the other on Erik Dornfeld, but I'm not particularly impressed by a Chicagoland-based recruiting website that thinks that Judson is a D3 program.

Not to mention their seemingly surprised observation that the concerned player's commitment is "further proof as to how successfully the CCIW continues to recruit the state of Illinois."

Duh---Its like they just discovered the I in CCIW is for Illinois rather than Iowa or Indiana.

or Inverted......which, depending on your feelings about Wisconsin, might be a good thing.

[petemcb]

This is not a comment one way or the other on Erik Dornfeld, but I'm not particularly impressed by a Chicagoland-based recruiting website that thinks that Judson is a D3 program.

Not to mention their seemingly surprised observation that the concerned player's commitment is "further proof as to how successfully the CCIW continues to recruit the state of Illinois."

Duh---Its like they just discovered the I in CCIW is for Illinois rather than Iowa or Indiana.

Just wait till they find out that there are a bunch of Wisconsin natives dotting the rosters around the WIAC. 

[petemcb]

Come to think of it, I heard, and forgot to mention, that there are some guys from the western Michigan area with Dutch surnames headed for Hope and Calvin.  I love this time of year........chock full of surprises.

[BlueJay21]

Well now that my playing days are over I figured I would join this site to maybe provide some inside info about the Elmhurst Basketball program. Love to see some kids committing to Elmhurst. The coaching staff does a tremendous job with recruiting and they work extremely hard. Hopefully they can land some of their top recruits to keep this program at the top of the CCIW!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Welcome aboard, Ryan!

[79jaybird]

Bluejay21- If you are who I think you are, you had a great 4 year career at Elmhurst and hope your working world experience is just as successful.

Nice recruit for Elmhurst yes, however I don't put a lot of emphasis on recruits until they start paying dividends on the field(s).  I have been on many teams where we would pick up notable recruits and they end up being main stream or sub par.  Hope this kid turns out to be a success for the Blue/White.

Frankly, Elmhurst has some big shoes to fill in a short amount of time and needs some of the (to be) upperclassmen to lead the team and pick up where Ruch, Burks, Strzemp left off.

Boyd cannot be a one man team this year.

[Gregory Sager]

Welcome to CCIW Chat, Ryan, and congrats upon an outstanding and productive career for the 'jays.

[titan2000]

Chalk up a recruiting win for Augustana's medical school.

I always thought Augie only had a school of veterinary medicine. After all, they DO have an equestrian team. Did anyone know this?

Maybe Luke was confused after Coach G's crafty recruiting pitch?

I know I met a girl from Augie once and she looked a lot like a horse. 

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Chalk up a recruiting win for Augustana's medical school.

I always thought Augie only had a school of veterinary medicine. After all, they DO have an equestrian team. Did anyone know this?

Maybe Luke was confused after Coach G's crafty recruiting pitch?

I know I met a girl from Augie once and she looked a lot like a horse. 

Then there was the football player from Augustana who was so proud that he had been able to put the jigsaw puzzle he got for Christmas together he had to show all his teammates.

"It only took me two months," he said, "And the box said three to five years."

[dansand]

...continuing the Augustana thread, but with a more positive spin...

Another very nice addition to Augie's recruiting class. Jonathan DeMoss from St. Charles North. He's an athletic (also a very good football player) 6-4, 195-pound wing who played through a pretty serious elbow injury as a senior. He had surgery on it after the season. He was recruited by several CCIW schools and had D1 interest from UW-Green Bay, Western Michigan, Eastern Illinois and Miami of Ohio (where his dad played).

http://basketball.dailyherald.com/story/?id=287896

http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2009/03/12/16717515/index.xml

[Above The Rim]

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/sports/highschools/1536455,6_2_NA21_BHOOPS_S1.article

Here is a perfect example of what CCIW, and probably other DIII schools are up against when it comes to the recruitment/commitment of "bigs." Meyerhoff, a 6'8" center out of Benet Academy in Lisle, IL, was courted aggressively throughout the entire season by a couple or more CCIW schools as well as some teams from other leagues. I'm sure Benedictine and Aurora, among others, were on him. While he did put together a nice season, he frankly looked like a very good DIII player. Fortunately for him, he probably played his best basketball down the stretch, including, I believe, a 26 point effort against Neuqua Valley in his final game. Enter latecomer Utah Valley State who finally made the DI offer that Meyerhoff accepted. Anyone ever hear of Utah Valley State? Must admit, I hadn't. Its in Oren, Utah and has been a DI independent, but will begin play next year in the Great West Conference which features teams like Houston Baptist, North Dakota State, and Texas-Pan American. Chicago State will also join the league next year.
Its interesting to note that the administrative office for the Great West Conference is located in Naperville, IL, home to CCIW member North Central.

Acceptance of DI offers fulfills many high school players dream of playing at the highest level and, in these difficult economic times, is certainly a financial godsend to the family finances. However, as in this case, it takes the player far from home, places him at a school even many who follow the sport closely haven't heard of, robs his parents of the chance to see him play regularly, and virtually casts him into a black hole as far as local press coverage and ever hearing of the player again. Lastly, and most importantly, there is no guarantee of any significant playing time which would have been virtually a certainty in DIII.
Hopefully, Joe will enjoy a productive and enjoyable career in Utah both in the classroom and on the basketball court. If things follow a differing course, perhaps we'll see him, and possibly others in the same situation, on the pages of the local sports sections again in the future.

[augiefan]

My guess is that Utah Valley State would not have won the CCIW title last year nor would they have beaten Wash U. Just a guess but bottom feeder DI programs are usually doormats used by established DI programs to pick up easy wins.

[augiefan]

Jon DeMoss is another potentially fine recruit for Augie with good size for guard. He was severely hampered by his FB related elbow injury on a StChas North team with lots of other offensive talent. He'll have to play better defense to get time at Augie, but he's an athlete, so he should be able to get the job done on D once Coach G yells at him a few hundred times.

Keep the Augie insults coming Dennis, if helps you avoid thinking about the sad status of the NPU basketball program. Once the glory days return to NPU, I am sure your post will be more positive.