MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[RogK]

Back in January of 1974, when I was a fairly dull-witted youth, I saw Millikin's Leon Gobczynski pour in 46 pts at Wheaton.
He had quite a few massive scoring outbursts during his career. See : https://www.millikin.edu/sites/athletics/mbasketball/Pages/40PointScorers.aspx
I recall him being approximately 6'10" and scoring a lot from about 5 to 8 feet away from the hoop. I believe dunking was prohibited during that era.
I also saw Sikma and Hamming vs Wheaton circa 1974 and remember them as unusually agile for their height.
Gobczynski did not score 40 vs Sikma, according to the above link. Wonder if he got in the 30s once or twice?

[Gregory Sager]

Watched NPU's open gym in Helwig Rec Center this afternoon. Man, the Vikings have players coming out of the woodwork -- eighteen newbies to go with thirteen returnees. It's unlikely that the Park will go into the season with 31 players on the active roster, of course, but this is good depth with which to work.

And the Vikings got some very good recruits. I don't have the names, heights, and high schools of all eighteen -- NPU will be issuing a press release in a few days to announce the newbies -- but I can name some of them:

Zac Boster, G, 6'1, Huntley
Haris Habibovic, F/C, 6'2, Lincoln Park
Michael Henley, F, 6'7, Lincoln Park
Deon Lockhart, G, 6'1, Uplift
Josh McNaughton, G, 5'11, McHenry
Wali Musawi, C, 6'11, Algiers, Algeria
Brett Peterson, G, 6'1, Westfield State (soph)
Ron Robinson, G, 5'9, De La Salle
Nate Rummel, C, 6'7, Conant
Mike Woolf, G, 6'0, Leyden
Stephawn Woodley, F, 6'5, Decatur Eisenhower / juco (soph)

There's also a kid from St. Patrick whose name escapes me at the moment, and a left-handed guard from the suburbs named Schmidt who will also pitch for the baseball team.

This is a class that assistant coach Chris Edquist describes as "the best I've seen in the ten years I've been here," and I can see why. Most of the players whom the coaching staff had targeted as being near or at the top of their list this past year are players that they landed and are listed above. Zac Boster, who graduated a year ago and attended McHenry CC but didn't play there (which makes him a freshman in terms of eligibility) was in the King of the Hill trey-shooting finals in Peoria a remarkable three years in a row. Mike Woolf and Deon Lockhart are combo guards whom the coaching staff worked very hard to land and are very excited to have on campus. Ron Robinson's another guard whom they see as having CCIW potential. He was the point guard who fed 6'8 superstar Mike Shaw all the way to an Illinois scholarship last year for De La Salle. And they really like the toughness quotient of the MASCAC transfer, Brett Peterson.

Michael Henley is a big, big "get" for North Park. He was at the top of the recruiting clipboard last year, didn't get the D1 scholie he thought he'd get, decided to go the juco route in order to get it that way -- and spent a miserable year in the lonely hills of central Texas redshirting at Blinn College. He's back in the city now, and NPU's got him. He may be Jorge Gonzalez's heir apparent at power forward, although the coaches also like the sophomore juco transfer from Decatur, 6'5 Stephawn Woodley. He's got a very live body.

Nate Rummel is a legacy (I went to NPC with his dad) who is something of a late bloomer. He joined the Conant team as a junior, and didn't start until he was a senior. Paul Brenegan went to watch another prospect play in a Mid-Suburban League game and ended up spending the entire game watching Rummel. He talked to him afterwards, and, voila! the kid had nobody recruiting him and both of his parents are North Park graduates. He's raw, but he's supposedly got the soft hands, quick feet, and coachability that could make him the next Schniedermeier. He's also got the kind of frame on which they can put another 15-20 pounds of upper-body muscle via the Helwig weight room.

Mark Erickson alluded last week to "the tall guy who attended games last year," and he's referring to Ibrahim Walid (Wali) Musawi, the player whom Paul Brenegan & Co. are hoping will one day turn the crackerbox into Wali World. Wali is a legit 6'11, and, unlike a lot of 6'11 guys who find their way into a D3 uniform, he can walk and chew gum at the same time. In fact, he can do more than that: Wali played for the Algerian National Team. He has game. But, unfortunately, he has gut. Wali hasn't played competitively in several years, during which time he's been earning a living driving a cab on the mean streets of the Windy City and striving to get his permanent residence here (which qualifies him for student aid). I shouldn't be unfair to him, as he really doesn't have a Connolly-type gut at all. It's not hard to distribute 270 pounds on a 6'11 frame and still have it look decent. He's just big, that's all -- really, really, really, really big. But, until he's conditioned and has scraped the rust off of his game, he'll most likely be a JV player. That's fine, since the presence of Emanuel Crosby and the amazing return of Phil Schniedermeier should give the Vikings plenty of time to physically hone both Wali and his fellow freshman Nate Rummel.

Who knows if Wali will pan out? He's really a roll of the dice at this point. Still, it's hard not to close your eyes and imagine what a 6'11 player with high-international-level basketball experience could do in a CCIW context ...

[Mr. Ypsi]

Gobo was obviously a load, but I haven't gotten any flack about picking Jesse Price as Millikin's all-time best player.  Jesse was a 'poor man's' Magic Johnson - I'd bet he could have been great even at point guard.

While there is no way I'm picking a full starting line-up for Millikin, I'll go ahead and make Gobo the center and (usually the center) Price the 4 (or any position he wants to be! ).

[Gregory Sager]

I will basically yield to Q's line-ups, with the qualifier that Sheldon Thompson has got to be on the list somewhere - what other nationally prominent program would have a 6'2" guy as their #2 all-time rebounder?

Three words, Chuck: Jeff Gibbs, Otterbein.

[Gregory Sager]

Gobo was obviously a load, but I haven't gotten any flack about picking Jesse Price as Millikin's all-time best player.  Jesse was a 'poor man's' Magic Johnson - I'd bet he could have been great even at point guard.

You won't get any dissent from Dennis Prikkel, that's for sure. He once said that Jesse Price may have been the greatest CCIW player he ever saw. And I know that he's said on at least one occasion that Gobo didn't play a lick of defense. Seriously, though, who's gonna argue with you about your effort at the defensive end of the floor when you're dropping 30, 40 points on every opponent you face?

Rumor mill has it that Wheaton's Aaron Garriott is not going to play for the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance this season. Confirm or deny, anyone?

[Mr. Ypsi]

I will basically yield to Q's line-ups, with the qualifier that Sheldon Thompson has got to be on the list somewhere - what other nationally prominent program would have a 6'2" guy as their #2 all-time rebounder?

Three words, Chuck: Jeff Gibbs, Otterbein.

Ah, yes - forgot about him.  I'm guessing that Shellie would be willing to share that podium!

Wali sounds like an intriguing project.  Let's see - 6'11" sounds familiar.   That was the listed (at least) height of Jack Sikma and Ben Strong.   If he can 'grow' to even half their talents, you've got a keeper.

[Gregory Sager]

Back to the Park:

I was simply amazed to see Phil Schniedermeier out on the floor this afternoon, looking none the worse for wear for his ACL tear and surgery last January. I've gotten so used to the ACL recovery and rehab period being a year or so that I didn't think anyone could come even close to playing as well and at as fast a pace as I saw Schniedermeier play this afternoon. What's even more amazing is that he didn't live in the training room and the weight room over the past half-year; in fact, he spent several months studying abroad in Austria last spring. Somehow he's made it back this far this fast. Kudos to him, and I hope that his dedication rubs off on his teammates.

Kendall Greer is back and at full speed as well. And, man, how great it was to see Clayton Cahill back out on the floor with a basketball in his hands. He's a difference-maker, and it's great to have him back. Paul Brenegan's going to have some difficult decisions to make in terms of sorting out who gets playing time, and how much. It's a great problem to have.

While the sked hasn't been posted yet, I can pass along the identities of NPU's eleven non-conference foes. The four home games will be against Concordia (IL), Trine, MSOE, and Edgewood. The seven road games will be at Carroll, Loras, Coe, Spalding, Fontbonne, and, in NPU's first trip to the East Coast since the 1980 national quarterfinal game at New Jersey City (then called Jersey City State), the Vikings will play in Salem State's classic-format tournament on December 28-29 against Regis and Williams. That's what I call a nice tune-up right before the CCIW slate kicks in -- a game in Massachusetts against the national runner-up, which will come back loaded this year and will undoubtedly be ranked in the preseason top five.

[hopefan]

Greg... what time should I pick you up at the train Station in St Louis?

[Gregory Sager]

Let's wait and make sure that it's a weekend game before I buy my Amtrak ticket.

[hopefan]

Fontbonne Schedule has it SATURDAY Nov 27   3:00 PM     hoping to find a doubleheader, but Webster plays at same time that day, and Wash U is at Hanover that Sunday....

[markerickson]

NPU freshman Rummel does not have his dad's body type.  I think pops was 5'7" 230 as an undergrad.  I don't think Greer will see much PT if the Lincoln Park kid is as good as advertised. 

[Gregory Sager]

NPU freshman Rummel does not have his dad's body type.  I think pops was 5'7" 230 as an undergrad.

You must be thinking of someone else, although it's true that Nate Rummel's a lot taller than his dad. Mike Rummel was about 6'1, 180 during his NPC days, maybe 6'2 at the most.

[markerickson]

Greg:  I was thinking of some guy that was friends with Bruce Pimentel, and these two guys introduced Rodent, Palmbumbler, Swanstumbler, et al to Second City in our first year in Burgh.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

I'm back from my summer-long exile.... did you miss me? 

I've been lurking for the past week, but waiting until September 1 to get back on board.

All-time North Park team that I've seen over 45 years, hmmm....

[nescac1]

Interesting to see that North Park will play Williams, the Ephs' first game vs. a CCIW team (I think) since Wheaton ended the Williams record home winning streak back in 2005.   Should be the first real test for the Ephs, as the first part of their schedule looks very weak, outside of, perhaps, a game at Wesleyan (who could be the most improved team in the Northeast after relying primarily on frosh last year). 

Williams isn't quite as deep, big, or experienced as last year.  But, they are a bit more athletic, and they do return two all-American caliber players in Wang and Whittington, plus a third guy who could reach that level in a year or two in Nate Robertson.  The Ephs will have to rely on a few young players who haven't played much at all, including two incoming frosh who figure to be the top guys off the bench.   Where does North Park project in the CCIW pecking order (I assume that IWU and Carthage, as likely pre-season top five teams nationally, are at the top?).