MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Merrigan was from Tennessee,

I seem to remember that Merrigan played at Glenbrook North. Must have been a different recruit out of Tennessee. http://athletics.millikin.edu/roster.aspx?rp_id=197

Sorry. I had the right initials, the right school, and the right era, but the wrong guy. It was McKinley Maples I was recalling, not Matt Merrigan. Nice catch, newCCIWfan!

http://mountainpress.uber.matchbin.net/printer_friendly/7604403

It looks as though that might be former Millikin assistant coach Anthony Figueroa in the pic accompanying the story, not Marc Smith. But it's hard to tell.

I think that some of this might be regionally oriented as well. I remember when former Millikin head coach Marc Smith recruited Matt Merrigan to play for the Big Blue back in the spring of 2010. Merrigan was from Tennessee, and there was a "signing" announcement in his local paper that came complete with a pic of the kid signing a piece of paper with his beaming parents and Marc Smith hovering over his shoulders in the standard signing pose. I commented on CCIW Chat at the time that Merrigan was from a part of Tennessee that didn't have a lot of D3 schools nearby, so perhaps either the newspaper in question wasn't familiar with D3 policy or Merrigan and/or his folks wanted to have some sort of ceremony like that of all of his local peers who were going off to play for nearby NAIA schools.

As mentioned above, I believe this would be a recruiting violation if it occurred today. However, I'm not sure what rules were on the books when Marc Smith attended Merrigan's signing day.

Sounds like this might be an interesting conversation to pass along to the ASC football room.

[sac]

Colin Lake 5-7  G  Ottawa Lake-Whiteford (Michigan, near Toledo)  will attend North Park

Apologies for not knowing if he has sent his deposit in yet.  This will have to do, http://monroecountybasketball.com/2014/04/17/lake-to-play-at-north-park-university/

Lake was named Class C player of the year by bankhoops.com.

Lake scored 47 against one of the best teams in Michigan this past year, Detroit Consortium.  He has range, lets say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHrcKfI-Soo

I held off on posting this, for precisely the reason you mentioned. (His deposit may actually be in by now, but I haven't heard about it yet.) NPU beat out Albion, Adrian, and Millikin for Lake. Aside from all the honors and statistical accomplishments he earned, Lake also had a workout with a MAC school, Toledo. Tod Kowalczyk and his staff loved Lake's game, but just couldn't see their way to offering a player that small a scholie to a MAC school.

Small or not, this is a kid who appears to have some nice CCIW potential.

MAC coaches didn't learn anything from Earl Boykins if they are afraid to recruit a player just because of a height deficiency!

How many MAC coaches are left from the Boykins era?

[joehakes]

There are no Millikin coaches in the picture of McKinley Maples.  They would not have been there per NCAA DIII rules. 

[Gregory Sager]

I thought it looked a little like Figueroa, but it was hard to tell. Thanks, Joe.

(Even if they had been tempted to come out for the "signing", that's a long way to go for a fake ceremony. )

[Titan Q]

Colin Lake 5-7  G  Ottawa Lake-Whiteford (Michigan, near Toledo)  will attend North Park

Apologies for not knowing if he has sent his deposit in yet.  This will have to do, http://monroecountybasketball.com/2014/04/17/lake-to-play-at-north-park-university/

Lake was named Class C player of the year by bankhoops.com.

Lake scored 47 against one of the best teams in Michigan this past year, Detroit Consortium.  He has range, lets say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHrcKfI-Soo

Just watched the video.  This kid is little, but he can really play.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Colin Lake 5-7  G  Ottawa Lake-Whiteford (Michigan, near Toledo)  will attend North Park

Apologies for not knowing if he has sent his deposit in yet.  This will have to do, http://monroecountybasketball.com/2014/04/17/lake-to-play-at-north-park-university/

Lake was named Class C player of the year by bankhoops.com.

Lake scored 47 against one of the best teams in Michigan this past year, Detroit Consortium.  He has range, lets say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHrcKfI-Soo

I held off on posting this, for precisely the reason you mentioned. (His deposit may actually be in by now, but I haven't heard about it yet.) NPU beat out Albion, Adrian, and Millikin for Lake. Aside from all the honors and statistical accomplishments he earned, Lake also had a workout with a MAC school, Toledo. Tod Kowalczyk and his staff loved Lake's game, but just couldn't see their way to offering a player that small a scholie to a MAC school.

Small or not, this is a kid who appears to have some nice CCIW potential.

MAC coaches didn't learn anything from Earl Boykins if they are afraid to recruit a player just because of a height deficiency!

How many MAC coaches are left from the Boykins era?

Probably none, but surely they check out the history of the MAC just a bit.   Maybe Earl didn't put down a big enough beat down on Toledo!

And Earl was significantly shorter than Colin Lake (unless they are faking his height like they faked Earl's).  (He came in listed as 5'8", went to the NBA as 5'5" - from colleagues who taught him, 5'3" was closer to the truth.)

[bopol]

How many MAC coaches are left from the Boykins era?

None. 

Toledo is one of the top teams in the MAC now, so they might be in a position to take a pass on a potential contributor depending on needs.  There are a lot of other teams that could use a point guard though.  The league is full of good athletic 6'3" players, but they never have the bigs and the point guard play is usually skittish.  I think most coaches in the league would give the kid a good look no matter what the height if they thought he could play at that level.

[sac]

Colin Lake 5-7  G  Ottawa Lake-Whiteford (Michigan, near Toledo)  will attend North Park

Apologies for not knowing if he has sent his deposit in yet.  This will have to do, http://monroecountybasketball.com/2014/04/17/lake-to-play-at-north-park-university/

Lake was named Class C player of the year by bankhoops.com.

Lake scored 47 against one of the best teams in Michigan this past year, Detroit Consortium.  He has range, lets say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHrcKfI-Soo

I held off on posting this, for precisely the reason you mentioned. (His deposit may actually be in by now, but I haven't heard about it yet.) NPU beat out Albion, Adrian, and Millikin for Lake. Aside from all the honors and statistical accomplishments he earned, Lake also had a workout with a MAC school, Toledo. Tod Kowalczyk and his staff loved Lake's game, but just couldn't see their way to offering a player that small a scholie to a MAC school.

Small or not, this is a kid who appears to have some nice CCIW potential.

MAC coaches didn't learn anything from Earl Boykins if they are afraid to recruit a player just because of a height deficiency!

How many MAC coaches are left from the Boykins era?

Probably none, but surely they check out the history of the MAC just a bit.   Maybe Earl didn't put down a big enough beat down on Toledo!

And Earl was significantly shorter than Colin Lake (unless they are faking his height like they faked Earl's).  (He came in listed as 5'8", went to the NBA as 5'5" - from colleagues who taught him, 5'3" was closer to the truth.)

Boykins seems to get shorter every year.

[Gregory Sager]

And Earl was significantly shorter than Colin Lake (unless they are faking his height like they faked Earl's).

I've never stood next to him, so I couldn't tell you. Tom Slyder says Lake could be as short as 5'6, but I doubt that he's any smaller than that.

Colin Lake 5-7  G  Ottawa Lake-Whiteford (Michigan, near Toledo)  will attend North Park

Apologies for not knowing if he has sent his deposit in yet.  This will have to do, http://monroecountybasketball.com/2014/04/17/lake-to-play-at-north-park-university/

Lake was named Class C player of the year by bankhoops.com.

Lake scored 47 against one of the best teams in Michigan this past year, Detroit Consortium.  He has range, lets say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHrcKfI-Soo

I held off on posting this, for precisely the reason you mentioned. (His deposit may actually be in by now, but I haven't heard about it yet.) NPU beat out Albion, Adrian, and Millikin for Lake. Aside from all the honors and statistical accomplishments he earned, Lake also had a workout with a MAC school, Toledo. Tod Kowalczyk and his staff loved Lake's game, but just couldn't see their way to offering a player that small a scholie to a MAC school.

Small or not, this is a kid who appears to have some nice CCIW potential.

MAC coaches didn't learn anything from Earl Boykins if they are afraid to recruit a player just because of a height deficiency!

How many MAC coaches are left from the Boykins era?

Probably none, but surely they check out the history of the MAC just a bit.   Maybe Earl didn't put down a big enough beat down on Toledo!

And Earl was significantly shorter than Colin Lake (unless they are faking his height like they faked Earl's).  (He came in listed as 5'8", went to the NBA as 5'5" - from colleagues who taught him, 5'3" was closer to the truth.)

Boykins seems to get shorter every year.

Well, he's getting older and needs to add more calcium to his diet.

[newCCIWfan]

According to a Millikin Admissions Tweet, Millikin has received 2 commitments.

Nathan Biggs, 6-6 Forward from Parkway Central HS in St. Louis. Looks like Biggs was Player of the Year in the Suburban South. Senior Year: 15.9ppg, 53% FG%, 6.7rpg.

Brent Schluter, 6-4 Wing/Forward from St. Joseph-Ogden. Schluter was a 2nd team IBCA All-State (Class A/AA). He averaged 14.2ppg as a junior. I haven't been able to find his scoring average this season.

[Gregory Sager]

I've sat on this news for the past two or three weeks by request, but it's now gone public:

Carroll is rejoining the CCIW.

[hickory_cornhusker]

I've sat on this news for the past two or three weeks by request, but it's now gone public:

Carroll is rejoining the CCIW.

I was shocked when I heard a couple of hours ago.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Carroll looks like they will be much more competitive than they were the first go-round.  Still, I've long thought that 8 teams was the perfect conference size.  So I have mixed feelings about this.

[Gregory Sager]

The rumor's been kicking around the MWC for awhile now. I first got wind of it through a sports information director within the MWC (not Carroll's). I confirmed it through a couple of well-placed sources, one of them being North Park AD Jack Surridge.

This move comes through the presidents of the CCIW's member institutions. People will no doubt be puzzled as to why the CCIW is moving in this direction, given the fact that it unbalances the league by making it nine schools rather than eight. But the answer to that is that the people who have to make the logistical decisions regarding schedule-making and the like -- the coaches and ADs, in other words -- aren't the drivers behind the league's expansion. It's the presidents who made the decision.

There was a lot of bad blood between Carroll and the eight remaining CCIW members when Carroll left in '92, given the statements that the Carroll president at the time made about the MWC being a better academic league, etc. But that's all water under the bridge now. That president is long gone from the Carroll campus, as are all of the presidents of the eight remaining CCIW schools who were there to take umbrage back in '92. Time heals all wounds.

It's certainly not unprecedented for the league to welcome home a prodigal son, either. Carroll is the fourth school to leave the CCIW and then come back, following in the footsteps of Carthage (left in 1952, returned in 1961), Elmhurst (left in 1960, returned in 1967), and Wheaton (left in 1960, returned in 1967).

[veterancciwfan]

Carroll back is good for football as scheduling 3 nonconf. games is not that easy. I think Carroll has lacrosse, not sure. It's good academically. Basketball will not follow the previous Friday at Carroll, Sat. at Carthage format that existed. I imagine that IWU and Millikin will play Saturday road games in Waukesha and Kenosha and vice versa. Making the conf. tournament will be tougher. I really enjoyed the video for the 5'7" NPU recruit. Looks like an exciting player. Hey, maybe he will have a growth spurt like Dylan Overstreet did after he arrived at IWU.