MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Does anyone have any word on any CCIW-related exhibitions/scrimmages prior to the start of the season?  I need a fix.

NCC SCRIMMAGES:

1. 10/29 vs. Concordia-Chicago @ 6:30

2. 11/6 vs. U of Chicago @ 7:00

Both at home in Naperville

Thanks, Mark.  I appreciate that.  Speaking of U of C, whatever happened to those two Whitney Young guards reputed to have D1 potential/interest?  Did they enroll at U of C, are they playing, and, if so, why aren't we hearing more about them?  That was a couple of years ago, wasn't it?  I figured I might do better with this question on this board.  And, while we're at it, is there any word on the basketball comings and goings of Luke Johnson?

No problems, Pete.

Luke "I'm too good for D3" Johnson-

No D1 offers out of HS, so from Wheaton Academy to, in the most logical progression  , Carthage. Yep, Carthage.
2011-2012--Played at Carthage where as a 6'9" 230 pound PF, "Softy" Johnson disdained much under the basket contact and preferred to hang out beyond the arc and launch three bombs. He left Carthage after telling Bosko "I'm a D1 player. I'm a future NBA player."
2012-2013--After leaving D3 Carthage, the D1 and future NBA player apparently took a wrong turn (or 2), and showed up at Benedictine! Yep, Benedictine. Stayed 1 year and left because, again, "I'm a D1 player. I'm a future NBA player."
2013-2014--Not known to have played anywhere. Apparently just sat around on his $ss waiting for the D1 offers to roll in. Reportedly, there was interest in/contact by/of Evansville, Loyola Il, NIU, UNLV, & Wichita St. Not known if the interest/contacts were by the schools or, more likely, Johnson.
2014-2015--Like the infamous D-Day, Johnson's current status is "Whereabouts Unknown." Perhaps he has enrolled at the renowned D1 University of Mars where his dad, who may be even further removed from reality than Luke, was recently hired as the AD. 

[AndOne]

Speaking of Whitney Young grads, one will be playing in the CCIW This season.
Erwin Henry, a starter on Young's 2014 IL State Championship team is a member of this season's North Central team. Erwin was the 4th leading scorer and rebounder on a team where the top 3 players went to Duke, Georgetown, and St.. Louis. Erwin is a 6'2" "tweeter," who may be a college 2 or 3. It's quite possible he will see time at both positions. While there are usually few freshmen starters in the CCIW, and also relatively few who even see appreciable minutes, I feel Erwin will almost assuredly be one of the latter, and be a meaningful contributor for this year's Cardinals.

[Gregory Sager]

Does anyone have any word on any CCIW-related exhibitions/scrimmages prior to the start of the season?  I need a fix.

NCC SCRIMMAGES:

1. 10/29 vs. Concordia-Chicago @ 6:30

2. 11/6 vs. U of Chicago @ 7:00

Both at home in Naperville

Thanks, Mark.  I appreciate that.  Speaking of U of C, whatever happened to those two Whitney Young guards reputed to have D1 potential/interest?  Did they enroll at U of C, are they playing, and, if so, why aren't we hearing more about them?  That was a couple of years ago, wasn't it?  I figured I might do better with this question on this board.  And, while we're at it, is there any word on the basketball comings and goings of Luke Johnson?

Whitney Young alumnus Nate Brooks is a power forward for U of C, not a guard.

Speaking of Whitney Young grads, one will be playing in the CCIW This season.
Erwin Henry, a starter on Young's 2014 IL State Championship team is a member of this season's North Central team. Erwin was the 4th leading scorer and rebounder on a team where the top 3 players went to Duke, Georgetown, and St.. Louis. Erwin is a 6'2" "tweeter," who may be a college 2 or 3. It's quite possible he will see time at both positions. While there are usually few freshmen starters in the CCIW, and also relatively few who even see appreciable minutes, I feel Erwin will almost assuredly be one of the latter, and be a meaningful contributor for this year's Cardinals.

While I'm glad to hear that Erwin Henry's on top of social media enough to be labeled a "tweeter," I think that for basketball purposes he's probably better described as a tweener.

[AndOne]

A tweener indeed. Not that I am a social media superstar, but I do know the difference between a tweener and a tweeter. Returning to my investigator roots, a little investigation reveals my new iPad sometimes changes words to what it thinks the poster means. In typing "tweener" 5 times, it changed it to "tweeter" each time. It seems my mistake in this case was to believe what I typed was what appeared on the screen. 

[Gregory Sager]

NPU's scrimmaging at home against Dominican on November 5, and up in Sheboygan against Lakeland on November 10.

The Vikings have lost the services of center Corey Griffin for the season due to a leg fracture that's going to require surgery and the implantation of a steel rod in his leg. That's a massive loss for the Park, as the transfer from Milwaukee Area Tech was going to be NPU's starting center; the coaching staff considered Griffin to be a potential difference-maker. Now it'll fall upon sophomores Joe Biko (who grew two inches over the summer and is now a legit 6'8) and Matt McNamara (who dropped about 20 pounds after last season and is down to a svelte 230) to pick up the slack at the five spot.

[Gotberg]

NPU's scrimmaging at home against Dominican on November 5, and up in Sheboygan against Lakeland on November 10.

The Vikings have lost the services of center Corey Griffin for the season due to a leg fracture that's going to require surgery and the implantation of a steel rod in his leg. That's a massive loss for the Park, as the transfer from Milwaukee Area Tech was going to be NPU's starting center; the coaching staff considered Griffin to be a potential difference-maker. Now it'll fall upon sophomores Joe Biko (who grew two inches over the summer and is now a legit 6'8) and Matt McNamara (who dropped about 20 pounds after last season and is down to a svelte 230) to pick up the slack at the five spot.

Very sorry to hear about the injury - basketball is one thing but this will carry with him for the rest of his life.

NPU has been seriously unlucky at the center position under the current coaching regime.  Can't remember names, but the 6'10 Freshman, the 6'8'' D1 transfer, now this...

Hopefully they can add depth at this position for future years.

[TitanPride]

Article from the QC Times on Augie's expectations:

http://www.qconline.com/sports/college_sports/vikings-hope-process-leads-to-big-results/article_6500b127-80a8-552d-a248-05a972befb38.html

[Gregory Sager]

NPU's scrimmaging at home against Dominican on November 5, and up in Sheboygan against Lakeland on November 10.

The Vikings have lost the services of center Corey Griffin for the season due to a leg fracture that's going to require surgery and the implantation of a steel rod in his leg. That's a massive loss for the Park, as the transfer from Milwaukee Area Tech was going to be NPU's starting center; the coaching staff considered Griffin to be a potential difference-maker. Now it'll fall upon sophomores Joe Biko (who grew two inches over the summer and is now a legit 6'8) and Matt McNamara (who dropped about 20 pounds after last season and is down to a svelte 230) to pick up the slack at the five spot.

Very sorry to hear about the injury - basketball is one thing but this will carry with him for the rest of his life.

No, it's my understanding that the rod will be surgically removed once the healing process is finished. Griffin expects to come back and play for the Vikings in 2015-16.

NPU has been seriously unlucky at the center position under the current coaching regime.  Can't remember names, but the 6'10 Freshman, the 6'8'' D1 transfer,

Austin Wood was the 6'10 freshman center who got homesick and quit school within two weeks of the start of the 2012-13 school year. As for former Vikings still on campus, there's 6'11 Wali Mouzaoui and 6'8 Mike Gabriel ... both still full-time NPU students, neither one an NPU basketball player anymore.

now this...

Hopefully they can add depth at this position for future years.

Recruiting quality centers gets tougher and tougher every year, thanks to the ongoing increase in the number of four-year schools that offer basketball scholarships. It has a trickle-down effect, too; power forwards are getting harder and harder to find as well, because there's so much crossover between PFs and Cs, and you'll often see players who would've been small forwards in the past at this level playing power forward. I'm seeing more and more teams opt for a three-guard look, because it's a lot easier to find decent perimeter players than it is to find decent forwards.

[petemcb]

I know of a Chicagoland HS post player, 6'5", who has heard from five or six CCIW schools as well as one or two WIAC schools.  Two or three of them have hosted visits for him and had fairly serious conversations with him.  Two more of them have visits in the works.  NPU is not one of those schools.  I see much less of NPU on the recruiting trails locally than most of the other CCIW schools and even some of the WIAC schools.  Greg, do you know if Coach Slyder spends most of his time recruiting Indiana and Michigan?  Or are they counting on re-establishing the Covie pipeline?   

[AppletonRocks]

NPU's scrimmaging at home against Dominican on November 5, and up in Sheboygan against Lakeland on November 10.

The Vikings have lost the services of center Corey Griffin for the season due to a leg fracture that's going to require surgery and the implantation of a steel rod in his leg. That's a massive loss for the Park, as the transfer from Milwaukee Area Tech was going to be NPU's starting center; the coaching staff considered Griffin to be a potential difference-maker. Now it'll fall upon sophomores Joe Biko (who grew two inches over the summer and is now a legit 6'8) and Matt McNamara (who dropped about 20 pounds after last season and is down to a svelte 230) to pick up the slack at the five spot.

Very sorry to hear about the injury - basketball is one thing but this will carry with him for the rest of his life.

No, it's my understanding that the rod will be surgically removed once the healing process is finished. Griffin expects to come back and play for the Vikings in 2015-16.

NPU has been seriously unlucky at the center position under the current coaching regime.  Can't remember names, but the 6'10 Freshman, the 6'8'' D1 transfer,

That will be helpful in getting through airports later in life.

[Titan Q]

The D3Hoops.com preseason Top 25 - http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2014/10/defending-champs-return-to-top-spot.

[iwu70]

As expected, three CCIW programs in the D3hoops.com top 25.  Still think #4 for IWU is a bit high, but we'll take it as it's clearly only pre-season, more based on past achievements than on the performance of the current year's squad.  We'll see how they do.  Lots of potential and I surely hope for a good run again like last season.  Augie and WC will be tough, esp. on the road.  Looking forward to the G/W game, soon.

IWU70

[Gregory Sager]

I know of a Chicagoland HS post player, 6'5", who has heard from five or six CCIW schools as well as one or two WIAC schools.  Two or three of them have hosted visits for him and had fairly serious conversations with him.  Two more of them have visits in the works.  NPU is not one of those schools.  I see much less of NPU on the recruiting trails locally than most of the other CCIW schools and even some of the WIAC schools.  Greg, do you know if Coach Slyder spends most of his time recruiting Indiana and Michigan?  Or are they counting on re-establishing the Covie pipeline?

No, Tom and Cordell mostly work the suburbs, same as always. In fact, three of this year's freshmen are north suburban natives and three are from the western suburbs. You must simply not be crossing paths with them. It happens.

No such thing as a "Covie pipeline," really. There hasn't been one since North Park joined the CCIW in the early '60s. The Covenant just isn't large enough to provide a suitable pool of potential D3 basketball players.

But if you'd like to pass along the name of the 6'5 guy, I'd be more than happy to make an inquiry with Tom and Cordell!

[Gregory Sager]

The D3Hoops.com preseason Top 25 - http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2014/10/defending-champs-return-to-top-spot.

That's a real head-scratcher of a preseason poll.

[Pat Coleman]

The D3Hoops.com preseason Top 25 - http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2014/10/defending-champs-return-to-top-spot.

That's a real head-scratcher of a preseason poll.

It's a real head-scratcher of a preseason.