MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Dan Mulkerin, starting center on NPU's 1987 national championship team, and his son, Sean Johnson, would sit with me at NPU games when Sean was in HS.  Sean grew to 6'10" and his Dad lamented that NPU did not even attempt to recruit Sean.  Now I see the freshman son of Mike Barach, who was on that '87 team and I believe was a CCIW MVP, joins Sean on the Carthage roster.  Will NPU's mens hoops team win more conference games than the football team this year?

Apparently the loyalty to Bosko is greater than the loyalty to NPU.  Seems out of whack with the D3 philosophy (academics first; athletics second), but is probably in line with human nature.

It's a jock thing. A lot of student-athlete alumni tend to be extremely loyal to their former coaches, to the point where that's where their primary loyalty lies. I've talked to ex-jocks from other schools who feel the same way about their former coaches. It's not hard to imagine how the strongest bonds one feels are with the men and/or women who mentored them, and the teammates who practiced, traveled, played, and lived alongside them for four years.

That explains why Freddie Kruse, Dan Mulkerin, and Mike Barach have all sent their sons to Carthage to play for Bosko. What it doesn't explain are all of the daughters of NPU men's basketball alumni formerly under Bosko's tutelage who have gone to Carthage to play other sports, such as John Prochaska's daughter (women's lacrosse and women's basketball), Scott Stenmark's daughter (women's soccer), and now Marc Horner's daughter (women's volleyball). It's a bizarre coincidence that has a minor parallel with North Central women's basketball, as the current edition of the Cardinals lady hoopers features the daughters of two of Bosko's other former North Park basketball players, Jim Foley and Jeff Pearson.

Something that might be at least a contributory factor in the daughters of former NPU men's players now playing at North Central is the fact that NCC Head Coach Maggie McCloskey-Bax spent 2013-2017 at Carthage. 🤔

[Gregory Sager]

Something that might be at least a contributory factor in the daughters of former NPU men's players now playing at North Central is the fact that NCC Head Coach Maggie McCloskey-Bax spent 2013-2017 at Carthage. 🤔

Are we now playing "three degrees from Kevin Bacon", in which Bosko Djurickovic is subbing for Kevin Bacon? 'cause, I gotta tell you, that kind of game is gonna make my head hurt.

[Titan Q]

A look at what the final Top 25 teams from last season lose and return - http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=4097.msg1948474#msg1948474.

[Titan Q]

Through 5 professional games in Germany, IWU's Brady Rose is averaging 21.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game.  He is shooting 75% from 2 (21-28), 47% from 3 (17-36), and 93% from the FT line (13-14). https://basketball.eurobasket.com/team/Germany/ART-Giants-Duesseldorf/6733?Page=3

Rose is the 4th leading scorer in Germany's Pro B league, which has a number of D1 and D2 players as well as accomplished European players.  The league's leading scorer is JoJo Cooper (26.5 ppg), a 2018 grad of D1 Wagner. https://www.eurobasket.com/Germany/basketball-League-ProB.asp

Great to see Brady seizing this cool opportunity.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Where did Aston Francis end up?  I saw an article saying he was going to play in the G-League, but he doesn't seem to be on a roster anywhere.

[AndOne]

Where did Aston Francis end up?  I saw an article saying he was going to play in the G-League, but he doesn't seem to be on a roster anywhere.

Re Aston Francis,

I did some investigating and found a trail which eventually led me to Oshkosh, Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Herd, the developmental G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks. Upon contacting the Herd, I was able to learn that Aston is on the roster for their upcoming training camp. From what I was able to gather, what amounts to tryouts will begin this coming Saturday, 10/26. My source advised that right now, prior to any competition for roster spots, it appears that he is slotted in as the #3 PG. The possibility of his making the roster and final position on the team won't, of course, be known until the completion of camp.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park's roster is posted. There are 26 players who reported for practice this past weekend, 18 of them newbies -- and, of those 18 newbies, 15 are freshmen. The two to watch are the Binion brothers, PG Darion and SG Jacquon, fraternal twins from Kankakee HS who really made a lot of noise down there for the Kays over the past few seasons. I suspect that they are going to figure prominently in the backcourt for NPU for the next four years. Another incoming player who might get a lot of PT is a junior juco transfer, 6'3 Michael Briggs from Michigan City, IN via Kishwaukee CC.

Same old, same old in terms of this season's Vikings suffering from a total lack of size, although at least Matt Mohr is finally healthy and ready to contribute again after the year-and-a-half layover due to the knee injury he suffered midway through his freshman season in 2017-18. One hopes that at least the speed and the shooting ability of the Vikes has been upgraded. With so many freshmen I'm not sanguine that this team will defend any better than the last two NPU editions did.

[Gregory Sager]

Also, it's great to see Michael Hutchinson added to the NPU coaching staff. As an undersized big man who was asked to carry the water for the Vikings during the Henry/Robinson/Lake/Cobbs era, Hutch earned respect around the league for his grit and his refusal to back down against much bigger players. I'm hopeful that he'll help develop a lunch-pail attitude within this very young Vikings roster.

[Titan Q]

IWU's 21-game JV schedule for 2019-20...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/JVSchedule20.html

[hopefan]

Where did Aston Francis end up?  I saw an article saying he was going to play in the G-League, but he doesn't seem to be on a roster anywhere.

Re Aston Francis,

I did some investigating and found a trail which eventually led me to Oshkosh, Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Herd, the developmental G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks. Upon contacting the Herd, I was able to learn that Aston is on the roster for their upcoming training camp. From what I was able to gather, what amounts to tryouts will begin this coming Saturday, 10/26. My source advised that right now, prior to any competition for roster spots, it appears that he is slotted in as the #3 PG. The possibility of his making the roster and final position on the team won't, of course, be known until the completion of camp.

Yikes, Aston Francis... pencilled in as the #3 point guard, for a developmental G League team.... that shows the delta from D3 basketball to D2 and D1 and other international levels....but then, that's why I've loved the D3 level all my life.. it's the level of play many of us can identify with....

[Titan Q]

Where did Aston Francis end up?  I saw an article saying he was going to play in the G-League, but he doesn't seem to be on a roster anywhere.

Re Aston Francis,

I did some investigating and found a trail which eventually led me to Oshkosh, Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Herd, the developmental G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks. Upon contacting the Herd, I was able to learn that Aston is on the roster for their upcoming training camp. From what I was able to gather, what amounts to tryouts will begin this coming Saturday, 10/26. My source advised that right now, prior to any competition for roster spots, it appears that he is slotted in as the #3 PG. The possibility of his making the roster and final position on the team won't, of course, be known until the completion of camp.

Yikes, Aston Francis... pencilled in as the #3 point guard, for a developmental G League team.... that shows the delta from D3 basketball to D2 and D1 and other international levels....but then, that's why I've loved the D3 level all my life.. it's the level of play many of us can identify with....

He is the #3 because he's injured (hasn't been able to play yet) -- still dealing with the leg injury he played on the second half of last year.  Plus, the NBA G league is a really high level of professional basketball -- generally it has the guys closest to the NBA (the guys that just missed the cut).  If you are injured and not playing in that league, of course you're gonna be at the bottom of the depth chart.

Brady Rose (21.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, .594 FG) is the 4th leading scorer in the German Pro B league -- a league with many D1 and D2 standout players.  That's more indicative of what a D3 All-American can do when stacked up with D2 and D1 and other international levels. https://www.eurobasket.com/Germany/basketball-League-ProB.asp

[Titan Q]

IWU's preseason action includes:

* Sun 10/27: Green/White scrimmage (Shirk)

* Fri 11/1: vs Wabash scrimmage (Shirk)

* Tues 11/5: at Southern Illinois (Carbondale) - SIU's season opener

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Where did Aston Francis end up?  I saw an article saying he was going to play in the G-League, but he doesn't seem to be on a roster anywhere.

Re Aston Francis,

I did some investigating and found a trail which eventually led me to Oshkosh, Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Herd, the developmental G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks. Upon contacting the Herd, I was able to learn that Aston is on the roster for their upcoming training camp. From what I was able to gather, what amounts to tryouts will begin this coming Saturday, 10/26. My source advised that right now, prior to any competition for roster spots, it appears that he is slotted in as the #3 PG. The possibility of his making the roster and final position on the team won't, of course, be known until the completion of camp.

Yikes, Aston Francis... pencilled in as the #3 point guard, for a developmental G League team.... that shows the delta from D3 basketball to D2 and D1 and other international levels....but then, that's why I've loved the D3 level all my life.. it's the level of play many of us can identify with....

There have only been a handful of d3 players ever at a calibre to be starting G-League games.  If he's on the roster, it's a big accomplishment.  He's got the skills to be there, which is pretty rare for a d3 players.  We'll see what happens.  Even if it doesn't work out in the G-League - it's a great proving ground for a better start in Europe.

[Titan Q]

IWU hosts the annual Green/White scrimmage today from 1pm to 3.  (One hour of practice and then the scrimmage.)

Here are the combinations for all 4 sessions of he scrimmage - http://www.iwuhoops.com/GreenWhite20.html.

The Titans have a ton of talent on this roster -- looking forward to seeing how it comes together.

[Titan Q]

IWU hosts the annual Green/White scrimmage today from 1pm to 3.  (One hour of practice and then the scrimmage.)

Here are the combinations for all 4 sessions of he scrimmage - http://www.iwuhoops.com/GreenWhite20.html.

The Titans have a ton of talent on this roster -- looking forward to seeing how it comes together.

Leading scorers for the 3 10-minute varsity sessions:
* Keondre Schumacher: 19 pts (5-11 So. G)
* Charlie Bair: 16 pts (6-7 Jr. F)
* Gavin Markgraff: 15 pts (6-4 So. G/F)
* Cody Mitchell: 14 pts (6-7 Fr. F)
* Pete Lambesis: 14 pts (6-4 So. G)
* Cory Noe: 12 pts (6-2 So. G)

Matt Leritz, a 6-7/235 So. F, did not play due to injury.  If healthy, I'd say he'd be IWU's starting 5 man.  Hopefully they can get him back before long.

The Titans scrimmage Wabash Friday.  The Little Giants, from the NCAC, return a lot from a 21-6/14-4 team.  They will most likely be ranked in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25.  That will be a good test.