MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Returning/departing players from 2013-14 CCIW rotations...

North Central (14-11, 7-7)

G - Pat Rourke, 6-3/170 Sr

It seems that the NCC athletic machine has successfully reincarnated one former basketball player into a 2nd athletic life as a soccer player. 

http://northcentralcardinals.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=6798&path=msoc

[robertgoulet]

Returning/departing players from 2013-14 CCIW rotations...

North Central (14-11, 7-7)

G - Pat Rourke, 6-3/170 Sr

It seems that the NCC athletic machine has successfully reincarnated one former basketball player into a 2nd athletic life as a soccer player. 

http://northcentralcardinals.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=6798&path=msoc

I also see that the goalie's name is Tim Howard. Impressive!

[iwu70]

Kiko, only Chinese opera for me!  Fifty-three Chinese (from China!) in the new IWU Class of '18, so I'm sure I'll find some good Chinese opera there somewhere.

Still hoping for a Rossi return, though Q has disabused me of any such notion.  Glad to have him on campus for sure.  Nice guy.

Only less than two weeks now for football -- oops, that's not supposed to be in this chat space.

Back on campus now, great to see all the new changes, new paved roads, new students and student athletes, and the beginnings of the addition to Shirk happening.

Nothing negative here, only sweetness and light at dear 'ole IWU. 

IWU'70

[markerickson]

One of the lead stories is Mr. Robinson transferring from Williams to Michigan.  The story claims he has to sit out a year.  Going from D3 to D1 means you have to sit?  That does not make sense.

[Mr. Ypsi]

One of the lead stories is Mr. Robinson transferring from Williams to Michigan.  The story claims he has to sit out a year.  Going from D3 to D1 means you have to sit?  That does not make sense.

If you go down (up?), from d1 to d2 or d3, or d2 to d3, you don't have to sit.  If you go up (down?) from d3 to d2 or d1, or d2 to d1, you have to sit a year.  I'd assume it is to protect against the big money programs tampering with stars from the 'lower' divisions.

In DR's case it is for the best - he is definitely a potential starter (maybe even a star) in the Big Ten, but he is currently WAY too skinny and fragile-looking to survive.  A year with the Michigan strength coaches will do him a world of good.

Based on what I saw in Salem, he is doing the right thing (for him - though probably not for Williams!  They go from a FF candidate to will they make the tourney.), but he's GOT to power up.

[Pat Coleman]

One of the lead stories is Mr. Robinson transferring from Williams to Michigan.  The story claims he has to sit out a year.  Going from D3 to D1 means you have to sit?  That does not make sense.

It absolutely does -- as Mr. Y posits, it keeps D-I from using us as a farm system. It's a decent deterrent from D-I poaching D-III's best players.

[AndOne]

Congrats to North Central's Mitch Raridon, now officially named as NCC's new top assistant and recruiting coordinator.

http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/2014/09/11/mitch-raridon-named-assistant-father-todd-north-central-college/

[Titan Q]

Augustana is ranked #3 in the Sporting News preseason D3 poll.

http://www.athletics.augustana.edu/news/2014/9/14/MBB_0914143322.aspx

2014-15 The Sporting News Division III Top Ten
1. Amherst (27-4)
2. UW-Whitewater (29-4)
3. Augustana (20-8)
4. Williams (28-5)
5. Cabrini (26-2)
6. Albertus Magnus (28-3)
7. Dickinson (24-7)
8. Randolph-Macon (20-7)
9. Virginia Wesleyan (24-7)
10. Rhode Island College (20-9)

[iwu70]

Q, do you find that Augie ranking a bit high?  I know they have everyone coming back and all, but still seems a bit optimistic to me. 

Guess we'll all have to make our CCIW predictions soon -- within a month or so, when practices start and we start the run-up to another exciting CCIW basketball season. 

IWU70

[Mr. Ypsi]

Q, do you find that Augie ranking a bit high?  I know they have everyone coming back and all, but still seems a bit optimistic to me. 

Guess we'll all have to make our CCIW predictions soon -- within a month or so, when practices start and we start the run-up to another exciting CCIW basketball season. 

IWU70

Not to speak for Q, but I think Augie's ranking is, if anything, too low - I would have had UWW #1 and Augie #2.  The two that are almost certainly over-ranked are the NECSAC teams.  Amherst lost a TON of talent to graduation (if you add up the weights of their graduating players, that statement is probably almost literally true), while Williams not only graduated the best player in D3 by the end of the season (he lost too many games to injury to be a viable POY candidate), Michael Mayer, but had Duncan Robinson, quite possibly the POY for the next three years (what happens if you combine Tim Duncan and David Robinson in a D3 player?  Duncan Robinson!) transfer to Michigan.  By the time UM's strength coach has him for a year (which he must sit out for the transfer), I honestly think he will not only be a starter in the Big Ten, but a star.  (His only short-coming in Salem was a wispy-thin body that D1 bigs would devour.)  I have trouble seeing either Amherst or Williams as top 10, never mind #1 and #4.

I have no idea who I would replace Amherst and Williams with in the top 10.  I wish I could say IWU, but they graduated almost all their bigs.

[Titan Q]

Q, do you find that Augie ranking a bit high?

No.  I think anywhere in the top 5 is right.

[Gregory Sager]

Augie is right where it should be. The Doggies are clearly one of the nation's top three teams coming into this season.

I agree with Chuck that the NESCAC powers appear to be a bit high, but, given the track record of Amherst and Williams for reloading, I would not discount the chances of either team before the season's even started. I just don't know if I'd have them in the top ten at this point.

Then again, this is The Sporting News preseason ranking we're talking about. As I say every year concerning this ranking (and the similar Street & Smith preseason ranking up until 2008), this ranking lacks the credibility and thoroughness of the d3hoops.com Top 25 preseason poll, and should not be taken all that seriously. Similarly, I don't hold the DIII News preseason ranking in nearly as high esteem as I do the d3hoops.com poll. You just can't beat the fact that this site's poll has 25 regionally-balanced experts who participate in it.

[havej]

As I recall Augie had a high pre-season ranking at this time in 2011, but they ended up having trouble making shots and the year they had fell below expectations.

How much perimeter shot making do they return this year outside of Hill?

[madzillagd]

Amherst will be up there in the end I think.  They loaded up with 6 guys last year (which is very unusual for a NESCAC team) after their championship and are bringing in a couple D1 transfers this year.  They will have the talent, it's just a matter of how long it takes Hixon to get them on the same page.  Williams on the other hand will definitely drop.  1 of their 3 recruits gone from last year, probably only 1 of the recruits this year will have an immediate impact.  They'll be lucky to be Top 25 when it is all said and done. 

[badgerwarhawk]

If anyone is over ranked it could be us.  We have some nice players returning and one recruit that will see significant playing time but we lost an awful lot with those players who have graduated.  Bryson and Merg were probably our two best defenders and both contributed offensively as well.  Harris was a decent defender as well and provided a big body in the paint.