MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Is there a NCC asst. coach available??

Yes, and I submitted my application to Elmhurst today.      

[Naperick]

Is there a NCC asst. coach available??

Yes, and I submitted my application to Elmhurst today.      

Geez! 

[79jaybird]

AndOne- I agree that Baines would be a nice fit for Elmhurst.  I used to love his pre and post game interviews on the air.  Even when it was tough to find some positives, he was always uplifting.  I know many former players liked Baines too.  I just hope Elmhurst's new hire will be able to get EC back into the "hunt", which I know is easier said than done.

[NCF]

Regarding Elmhurst and Coach Scherer-
Mark Scherer is a great person and a great leader. Nobody should question his ability to motivate players and be a leader on and off the court. He has been able to mentor a number of quality players over the years in Knuppel, Martin, etc.  Were the Wins not there recently?  Maybe not enough, but Elmhurst has never been a bball prowess.  IMO, Scherer helped put Elmhurst bball on the map.

Moving forward- I think Elmhurst needs to find a proven winner who is looking to stay at the school for the long haul.  Not somebody who plans to be at the school for just 2-3 years and then move on to something else.  With the last few years being a tailspin back to the lower rungs of the CCIW ladder, I think you (EC) can ill afford to choose a newbie who has not been immersed in the CCIW competition.  Just my 2 cents.

Just my 2 cents as well: a newbie who is excited to build a program might just be what Elmhurst needs. Don't discount  a newbie- he may turn out to  be a diamond in the rough.

[79jaybird]

Agreed, sometimes newbies to emerge into greatness.  If you are IWU, Augie, Wheaton, Carthage, etc. who have proven themselves over the years I could see that.  IMO Elmhurst needs veteran (proven) leadership. 

[Titan Q]

Regarding John Baines, I wonder if he considers the Elmhurst job a step up from NAIA St. Francis?  I could see it either way - on one hand, he is clearly a CCIW/D3 guy at heart, but on the other he now has the ability to give scholarships while still tapping into that deep Chicago area pool of talent.

There is also the reality of how incredibly hard it is to build a contender in the CCIW.  The league has four Top 25-caliber programs right now, led by four really good coaches, in Illinois Wesleyan, North Central, Wheaton, and Augustana.  Carthage is a solid 5th and Millikin is pushing hard to get in the mix.  Whoever takes the Elmhurst job will have to work their tail off just to finish 4th in 3-4 years.  This reality can be attractive to some and a deterrent to others.

[Titan Q]

Jayquan Lee (West Aurora H.S.) to North Park...

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130312/sports/703129565/print/

[Titan Q]

"Despite his D-1 success, Giannini still a D-3 guy"

http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20130326/SPORTS/303260018/NCAA-Despite-his-D-1-success-Giannini-still-D-3-guy

[Gregory Sager]

Jayquan Lee (West Aurora H.S.) to North Park...

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130312/sports/703129565/print/

No, that's premature. Jayquan Lee verbally committed to NPU some time ago, but the financials aren't worked out yet.

Not very good journalism on the part of the Daily Herald. A reporter should always double-check what a high school player tells him or her about which college he or she has chosen.

I have fingers crossed that it all works out; I've been hoping to see him wear a Vikings uni ever since I heard a couple of months ago that he was on the NPU radar. Tom Slyder describes him as "a winner".

[Mr. Ypsi]

Congratulations to d3hoops.com All Americans Landon Gamble (first team) and Derek Raridon (fourth team).

Since d3hoops.com had Derek as the midwest region POY, their placements on the teams came as a surprise, but certainly both are well deserving.

[kiko]

In addition to the recognition for the two North Central players, Augustana's Ben Ryan was recognized as the d3hoops.com rookie of the year.

Congrats to all three players on the recognition!

[AndOne]

Congratulations to d3hoops.com All Americans Landon Gamble (first team) and Derek Raridon (fourth team).

Since d3hoops.com had Derek as the midwest region POY, their placements on the teams came as a surprise, but certainly both are well deserving.

A very much deserved honor for Landon.

As Mr. Ypsi indicated, Derek's placement, while a great honor, initially seems a little surprising given that he was D3Hoops own Midwest Region POY, and was selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division III All-America first team.

[iwu70]

Congrats to the three CCIW players for post-season All-American honors. 

Time to recruit, recruit, recruit!

DI dance bigtime this weekend.  Had visitors here this weekend from MSU, and they were flying directly back from Hong Kong to Indy to attend the MSU-Duke match-up late Friday night, US time.  True fans.

I remember the phrase from the Mondale run for President, "Where's the Beef?", but I guess now it's "Where's the Spring?"

All best to CCIW chatsers.  Slow baseball and softball seasons developing . . . the way things are going for the major league baseball season, seems I'm going to have to put some of my beloved NY Yankees into "assisted living."  Strange season to think that the Nationals are a very legit claimant as favorite this season in the AL.

IWU70 

[Mr. Ypsi]

In addition to the recognition for the two North Central players, Augustana's Ben Ryan was recognized as the d3hoops.com rookie of the year.

Congrats to all three players on the recognition!

I had totally overlooked that!   Good catch.

[Pat Coleman]

Yep. There were a couple of games this weekend that had a significant impact on our picks, I'd say.