MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwumichigander]

Congratulations to our Titans!  First CCIW Championship after oh too many attempts.

Both teams did a terrific job defending the three.  Too many trey attempts by the Thunder IMHO but I am okay with the game outcome.

Difference maker to me was IWU expanding the lead with Leritz and Lambesis  on the bench with four fouls.  Titans played for 40 minutes as a team tonight. 

A great battle by both teams. A great coaching job by both head coaches.  And, a classy post game interview (as always) by Coach Schauer. 

[Ultimate Titan Fan]

Epic game. Won, or in this case, lost at the charity stripe. Just my opinion.

[Titan Q]

IWU is an elite defensive team, and that was one of the best big game defensive efforts I've ever seen.

Congratulations to Ron Rose and the Titans..what a journey that was.

Thank you to Mike Schauer for the first class comments in the postgame.  That's the kind of thing that makes me a D3/CCIW fan.

Exciting times ahead for IWU.

[Titan Q]

My 2021 All-CCIW team...

https://www.iwuhoops.com/all%20cciw%202021.pdf

After Matt Leritz, picking which IWU players to include is tricky.  The Titans play within a very balanced system, where the scoring is really spread around.  I think 6 guys have a strong case:

-Matt Leritz 16/10, .600 FG
-Charlie Bair 9/8, .548 FG, stud defender
-Doug Wallen 12/4, .639 FG, .867 FT
-Pete Lambesis 9/4/3, stud defender
-Luke Yoder 8/3/4, stud defender
-Cory Noe 10 ppg, .536 FG, .429 3-point

And Keondre Schumacher (8 ppg) led the league in 3-point shooting (.545).

I picked Charlie Bair and Doug Wallen.  I hope Pete Lambesis makes it too.

[iwu70]

Q, I'd love to see Charlie Bair on that team, too.  But, I don't think you can leave Lambesis off.   Just my view. 

Great win last night. 

'70

[Titan Q]

Wheaton's Cade Alioth, a senior, is returning next season.

Elmhurst All-American Jake Rhode (missed this season w/ injury) plans to return.

[Titan Q]

IWU played 10 guys in the varsity rotation at different points this season.  The Titans lose two very important pieces in Doug Wallen and Charlie Bair, and return everyone else.

I think there are some extremely talented players ready to fill the Wallen/Bair void in 2021-22. 6-6 freshman Ryan Sroka  should have an expanded role next year - can play anywhere from 2 to 4.  6-5 freshman Connor Heaton, who took the 1st semester off this year, should find his way on the floor.  6-6 freshman Evan Schneider is a big, athletic, skilled post with a chance to fill Bair's role.  There are some other guys with a chance, and there may also be some incoming recruits in the mix.

IWU should have a great team next year.

G - Luke Yoder, 6-0/170 So.   7.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 4.2 apg
G - Cory Noe, 6-2/175 Jr.   10.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.6 apg
G - Pete Lambesis, 6-4/195 Jr.   9.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.7 apg
F - Doug Wallen, 6-5/210 Sr.   12.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.0 apg
F - Matt Leritz, 6-7/235 Jr.   16.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.0 apg
---
F - Charlie Bair, 6-7/220 Sr.   9.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg
G - Keondre Schumacher, 5-11/175 Jr.   8.1 ppg
F - Cody Mitchell, 6-7/205 So.  2.8 ppg
G - Ryan Sroka, 6-6 Fr.  2.8 ppg
G - Lucas Heflen, 6-2 So. 0.7 ppg

[Gregory Sager]

My 2021 All-CCIW team...

https://www.iwuhoops.com/all%20cciw%202021.pdf

I think that Fillip Bulatovic should be the MOP. He's the best player in the league. Plus, he was forced to do a lot on his own, since he really didn't have much of a supporting cast this season. I'd go with Nyameye Adom second, in spite of the fact that he had somewhat of a dud game last night, and Matt Leritz third. Honestly, though, I don't think that the coaches will give it to Bulatovic; they prefer to reward upperclassmen. They haven't handed the MOP to a sophomore since Kent Raymond won it 14 years ago.

The more interesting question to me regards Freshman of the Year. Justin Steinike edged Mike Osborne in scoring and rebounding and also had more steals and a better FG percentage, but Osborne was far better at three-point shooting (Steinike appears to have been the worst volume shooter from behind the arc in the league this season). Osborne also had a better floor game, finishing the season with a positive a:to, while Steinike was well underwater. I could see it going either way -- and I could also see the coaches splitting the difference and naming two FoY winners, as Bob suggests, since they did it six seasons ago with NPU's Jordan Robinson and MU's T.J. Sims.

Wheaton's Cade Alioth, a senior, is returning next season.

Elmhurst All-American Jake Rhode (missed this season w/ injury) plans to return.

Alioth is a surprise, given that Wheaton rarely gets a student-athlete to agree to be a fifth-year senior, comparatively speaking. (Perhaps he's going to enroll in Wheaton's grad school, a la Kent Raymond.) That's why so many of Wheaton's upperclassmen football players didn't enroll this year, per USee; they wanted to use their final year playing a full fall season in which they hope to go deep into the D3 playoffs.

If there was one Wheaton senior I figured would take the fifth year it'd be Nyameye Adom, since he missed his entire freshman season due to injury. He's been listed as a junior this season, although that doesn't mean anything. So the question is whether he's going to take the Joel Kolmodin route and eschew his final season of eligibility in order to graduate on time. It's hard to tell, since Wheaton didn't have a Senior Day ceremony.

Rhode's return in 2021-22 is not news. Mark Kruger's mentioned it in practically every Elmhurst men's basketball broadcast this season. He's indicated that Nick Perry is returning to EU as well.

[Titan Q]

I think that Fillip Bulatovic should be the MOP. He's the best player in the league.

I don't think that is a for sure thing.

-Fillip Bulatovic: 22.6 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 3.5 apg, .478 FG (99-207), .206 3-point (7-34), .579 FT (44-76)

-Matt Lertiz: 16.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.0 apg, .600 FG (60-100), .500 3-point (12-24), .765 FT (13-17)


It's an apples and oranges kind of thing, comparing a wing to a 5.  But Matt Leritz was awfully good this season too.

[Titan Q]

If there was one Wheaton senior I figured would take the fifth year it'd be Nyameye Adom, since he missed his entire freshman season due to injury. He's been listed as a junior this season, although that doesn't mean anything. So the question is whether he's going to take the Joel Kolmodin route and eschew his final season of eligibility in order to graduate on time. It's hard to tell, since Wheaton didn't have a Senior Day ceremony.

Adom will be back.

[Gregory Sager]

I think that Fillip Bulatovic should be the MOP. He's the best player in the league.

I don't think that is a for sure thing.

-Fillip Bulatovic: 22.6 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 3.5 apg, .478 FG (99-207), .206 3-point (7-34), .579 FT (44-76)

-Matt Lertiz: 16.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.0 apg, .600 FG (60-100), .500 3-point (12-24), .765 FT (13-17)


It's an apples and oranges kind of thing, comparing a wing to a 5.  But Matt Leritz was awfully good this season too.

Yes, he was. But Fillip Bulatovic was the best player in the CCIW this season.

[Gregory Sager]

If there was one Wheaton senior I figured would take the fifth year it'd be Nyameye Adom, since he missed his entire freshman season due to injury. He's been listed as a junior this season, although that doesn't mean anything. So the question is whether he's going to take the Joel Kolmodin route and eschew his final season of eligibility in order to graduate on time. It's hard to tell, since Wheaton didn't have a Senior Day ceremony.

Adom will be back.

The Wheaton broadcasters kept calling him a senior last night. Then again, they got a bunch of stuff wrong, such as continually referring to Illinois Wesleyan as an undefeated team, so I wasn't willing to take their word for it.

[Titan Q]

If there was one Wheaton senior I figured would take the fifth year it'd be Nyameye Adom, since he missed his entire freshman season due to injury. He's been listed as a junior this season, although that doesn't mean anything. So the question is whether he's going to take the Joel Kolmodin route and eschew his final season of eligibility in order to graduate on time. It's hard to tell, since Wheaton didn't have a Senior Day ceremony.

Adom will be back.

The Wheaton broadcasters kept calling him a senior last night. Then again, they got a bunch of stuff wrong, such as continually referring to Illinois Wesleyan as an undefeated team, so I wasn't willing to take their word for it.

He is for sure coming back.

[bbfan44]

Epic game. Won, or in this case, lost at the charity stripe. Just my opinion.

Yesterday, Georgetown was 23/23 at the line and beat Villanova by one point.
Wheaton seemed to have free throw difficulty all year. I'd be curious to know how all of the coaches in the CCIW treat free throw "practice".

[GoPerry]

If there was one Wheaton senior I figured would take the fifth year it'd be Nyameye Adom, since he missed his entire freshman season due to injury. He's been listed as a junior this season, although that doesn't mean anything. So the question is whether he's going to take the Joel Kolmodin route and eschew his final season of eligibility in order to graduate on time. It's hard to tell, since Wheaton didn't have a Senior Day ceremony.

Adom will be back.

The Wheaton broadcasters kept calling him a senior last night. Then again, they got a bunch of stuff wrong, such as continually referring to Illinois Wesleyan as an undefeated team, so I wasn't willing to take their word for it.

They actually did honor senior Gavin Hawkins before the NCC game which was notable for not doing so for Alioth and Uveges, the other two players listed as seniors on the roster.  I'm a little surprised at Alioth returning also but I'm glad if he does.

I thought the announcers also way oversold the significance of Leritz and Lambesis picking up their fourth foul.  Yes, it was worth noting once, maybe twice, that perhaps the Thunder might be able to take advantage. But it didn't need to be said every time Wheaton failed to score as if the game hinged on it.  Anyone who's watched the Titans this season knows thier depth and that they have many more weapons than those two. 

I think the coaches will probably vote Adom as MOP.