MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Next Man Up]

Looks like the Titan roster has thinned out a bit, especially in terms of height. These underclassmen have dropped off the roster. Nate Seputis 6'9", Cole Khoury 6'8", Brendan Smith 6'8". All these guys had good stats coming out of high school. I know you can't keep them all, but ouch, that's some serious height. Sam Painter also gone. He also had great stats and was very athletic.

Brendan Smith was not a Titan last season so he did not "drop" off the roster unless you are considering the
2019-2020 roster. As a freshman that season, it appears he did not ever play in a game. He may not have even dressed.
As a sophomore last season Cole Khoury played 4 minutes and had 2 points and 2 rebounds.
Nate Seputis graduated from high school in 2020. He is not listed on the 2020-2021 IWU roster. Pretty good trick to "drop off the roster" after evidently never appearing on it in the first place. 
Sam Painter also didn't play last season. In 2019-2020 he played 5 minutes, scored 2 points and had 3 rebounds.

So it appears only Khoury "dropped off" from last season?
It also appears, that despite whatever height these guys might have been, none of them can be considered any type of real loss to the team who will be very successful without any of them.
The bottom line here is that neither height nor glittering high school statistics are any guarantee of success at the college level. We see all-conference, all-area, and all-state HS players fail at the college level on a consistent basis. This is especially true in one of the country's top conferences, a classification in which the CCIW is surely included.

[Titan Q]

IWU will have 3 scrimmages:

* Sunday 10/24: Green/White

* Tuesday 10/26 at Olivet Nazarene

* Saturday 10/30 at Wabash

[iwu70]

Q, what time is the G/W tomorrow, Sunday? 

'70

[Titan Q]

Q, what time is the G/W tomorrow, Sunday? 

'70

1pm

[iwu70]

Thx. Q.  ms

[Titan Q]

Sounds like the big takeaways from the Green/White were:

1) 6-4 SR G Pete Lambesis played great. 

2) 6-7 JR F Cody Mitchell was impressive. With an open starting spot in the post, this is significant.

3) 6-7 FR G/F Nick Roper looked ready to compete for a varsity rotation spot.


Unofficial leading scorers:

* Cody Mitchell (6-7 JR): 22
* Luke Yoder (6-0 JR): 19
* Pete Lambesis (6-4 SR): 14

[iwu70]

Q, my son and I watched the G/W scrimmage.  All the usual suspects looked good:  Lambesis, Noe, Yoder, Schumacher etc.  Leritz looked good, but was a little frustrated at times . . .  his full array of shots not quite there yet, but I'm sure it will come and he'll have a great year.  Lots of talent and speed out there, with the refs saying the speed and talent on display, the depth, was almost "mid-season form."  But, as you say, the most impressive of all was Cody Mitchell . . . running the floor, blocking shots, defending, going inside and out, hitting threes.  Really amazing . . . if he plays like that consistently, surely a starter.  He really made several amazing defensive plays, as well as shooting it incredibly well . . .  Of course, still a ways to go, with more scrimmages before the season officially starts.  Mitchell just has that long, basketball body and such great movement, now seemingly matched by the intensity and the high-level shooting and defense.  Given their schedule, the TITANS better be bigtime ready from the get-go. 

IWU'70

[Titan Q]

Augie scrimmages at Benedictine tonight at 7pm.

IWU is at Olivet Nazarene...closed to fans.

[Titan Q]

Projected starters for Augustana?

G - Luke Johnson, 5-11/185 Sr
G - Carter Duwa, 6-0/165 Jr
G - Nate Ortiz, 6-3/176 Jr
F - Justin Bottorff, 6-6/200 Sr
C - Dan Carr, 6-8/235 Jr

6-9 transfer Anthony Gilberto is currently injured, but should play a big role for the Vikings in the post this season.

[SpartyBlue]

Projected starters for Augustana?

G - Luke Johnson, 5-11/185 Sr
G - Carter Duwa, 6-0/165 Jr
G - Nate Ortiz, 6-3/176 Jr
F - Justin Bottorff, 6-6/200 Sr
C - Dan Carr, 6-8/235 Jr

6-9 transfer Anthony Gilberto is currently injured, but should play a big role for the Vikings in the post this season.

As a side note: I've wondered if Thomas Hall would join the basketball team.  6' 8" forward, started his career at Air Force's Prep Academy, then last year as a walk-on at Division I Bradley.  Interestingly, this season he was the starting QB for the Augustana football team, but has vanished from the box scores.  He had a serious knee injury as a senior in high school on the football field, could be hurt, but I don't know. Any Vikings fans have any info?

[Gregory Sager]

I think that he was injured in the Augie game versus NPU.

[Augie6]

Projected starters for Augustana?

G - Luke Johnson, 5-11/185 Sr
G - Carter Duwa, 6-0/165 Jr
G - Nate Ortiz, 6-3/176 Jr
F - Justin Bottorff, 6-6/200 Sr
C - Dan Carr, 6-8/235 Jr

6-9 transfer Anthony Gilberto is currently injured, but should play a big role for the Vikings in the post this season.

As a side note: I've wondered if Thomas Hall would join the basketball team.  6' 8" forward, started his career at Air Force's Prep Academy, then last year as a walk-on at Division I Bradley.  Interestingly, this season he was the starting QB for the Augustana football team, but has vanished from the box scores.  He had a serious knee injury as a senior in high school on the football field, could be hurt, but I don't know. Any Vikings fans have any info?

GS is correct about Hall being injured against NPU.  I believe it was a knee, but haven't heard how serious the injury is.  I also speculated on the football board if he would be playing basketball at Augie, as well. Could have been a very nice addition, but that may not be possible if the knee issue is serious.  I think he has a much better chance of experiencing some success and wins playing basketball at Augie than he does playing football.   

[Gregory Sager]

Kept book tonight for NPU's scrimmage against Concordia (IL), and, boy, after a year with no preseason scrimmages it's easy to forget just how butt-ugly they can be. October basketball simply does not lend itself to aesthetic satisfaction. There were so many whistles tonight that I didn't get out of the gym until well after 10 pm for a 7 pm scrimmage. I'm not obligated to keep recording a player's personal fouls once he's reached five (and the team's passed ten for the half), but of the three leading scorers for the Cougars, one racked up eight fouls and another committed seven.

The good news for Vikings fans is that OWU transfer Gabe Johnson is a serious player who will have some success in this league. I like Floyd Bailey, too; he looks more like a CCIW linebacker than a CCIW shooting guard, but he can ball.

[Titan Q]

Randy Reinhardt
@Pg_Reinhardt
Illinois Wesleyan guard Keondre Schumacher has decided to end his college basketball career and will not play his senior season with the Titans.


The Titans lose a big-time shooter off the bench with Keondre's departure. 18-33 (.545) from 3 last season from 3...pretty crazy.

IWU has a bunch of talented guys ready to step into these perimeter minutes though.  Ryan Sroka? Connor Heaton? Hakim Williams? Others?

[USee]

Randy Reinhardt
@Pg_Reinhardt
Illinois Wesleyan guard Keondre Schumacher has decided to end his college basketball career and will not play his senior season with the Titans.


The Titans lose a big-time shooter off the bench with Keondre's departure. 18-33 (.545) from 3 last season from 3...pretty crazy.

IWU has a bunch of talented guys ready to step into these perimeter minutes though.  Ryan Sroka? Connor Heaton? Hakim Williams? Others?

Seems like a decent loss, simply from an experience perspective. Any idea why he hung it up?