MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

NPU press release on the McGhee hire.

[markerickson]

Given his title, I wonder if McGhee is a full-time employee.  I have no idea, but who was the last Viking assistant coach to have full-time, on-campus employment?  Bosko?

[Gregory Sager]

Given his title, I wonder if McGhee is a full-time employee.  I have no idea, but who was the last Viking assistant coach to have full-time, on-campus employment?  Bosko?

No, it was Marlon London ... Edwind's predecessor.

Every North Park men's basketball coach has had a full-time assistant since the Keith Peterson era in the mid-'90s (not counting said assistant being given such minor add-on tasks as  intramurals coordinator, which essentially meant hiring a student to run intramurals and then giving him or her the key to the gym closet).

McGhee's title actually reinforces the fact that he's full-time. You don't call somebody an associate head coach, which is a step above mere assistant coach as far as titles go, if he's not full-time. Marlon London was also tabbed as the associate head coach by Tom Slyder.

[markerickson]

So staffing level has not contributed to decades of woeful seasons.

[Gregory Sager]

Correct. The problem with North Park men's basketball for most of the past three decades has been the inability of NPU coaches to recruit and develop capable teams, not the amount of coaching man-hours available to do those things.

[WUPHF]

Millikin is getting a new athletics facility with reportedly more to come.

https://herald-review.com/sports/college/millikin/millikin-announces-plans-for-6-7-million-facility-for-athletes/article_086b1690-dd06-11ec-b4a8-6b93c6632d87.html

[Next Man Up]

Smiles are abundant in the North Central Basketball office today as 6'7" Class 4A All-State forward Julian Triffo from Maine South HS has reconfirmed his commitment to the Cardinals. Julian had originally committed in early March, but withdrew the commitment and reopened his recruitment following the unexpected resignation of 18 year Head Coach Todd Raridon. However, after further investigating things, including talking with some major players on the D3 stage, he realized he still felt most comfortable with his original decision.

[Next Man Up]

NCC RECRUIT

6'2" SG Sean Molloy of Lane Tech in Chicago has committed to North Central.
For the season the Public League All Star averaged 21.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.1 APG, and 2.0 SPG

[WUPHF]

Jordan Robinson is apparently competing as part of the TBT.  That is pretty cool.

Is Brady Rose still playing overseas?

[Gregory Sager]

Jordan Robinson is apparently competing as part of the TBT.  That is pretty cool.

Yep. Here's the We Are D3 squad:

https://thetournament.com/teams/we-are-d3/

[Gregory Sager]

North Park's updated schedule:

https://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Among other things, the game at Benedictine has been moved up from the middle of January, deep in conference play, to New Year's Eve. That's an improvement. I also like the fact that North Park SID Tyler Woolbright is listing the two dates in the CCIW schedule in which NPU draws the bye. In an odd-numbered conference like the CCIW, that's a handy thing to have listed in the schedule.

[WUPHF]

Jordan Robinson is apparently competing as part of the TBT.  That is pretty cool.

Yep. Here's the We Are D3 squad:

https://thetournament.com/teams/we-are-d3/

Thanks! Much easier than waiting for the players to be announced on social media.

[nescac1]

I see Jarred Houston on that squad -- I thought maybe he was coming back for a fifth year ... but does this mean that is no longer a possibility? 

[Next Man Up]

Jordan Robinson is apparently competing as part of the TBT.  That is pretty cool.

Is Brady Rose still playing overseas?

Jordan Robinson, first team CCIW, and first team All-American as a junior for North Park in 2016–2017, but who then encountered difficulty, fell off into the great Laurentian Abyss, and was unable to return to school for what would have been his senior season.

Brady Rose—The most recent season I can find stats on is for 2020–2021 when he played for Beroe, Bulgaria so he might not be playing anymore.

[Gregory Sager]

I have no idea why Mark felt the need to be so cryptic in his mention of the end of Jordan Robinson's NPU career, nor why he even felt that it was necessary in the first place to bring up the topic of why Jordan didn't play for the full four years. But I'm going to set the record straight here, just so that nobody gets the wrong idea from Mark's "encountered difficulty" and "unable to return to school" insinuations.

Jordan didn't make grades. That's why he didn't play in 2017-18, and that's why he left school. That's not a crime, nor is it deserving of social stigma. The world is full of people who don't have college degrees, and the number of former college students who didn't finish is legion. Also, upon leaving NPU Jordan didn't tumble into an underwater valley in the North Atlantic; on the contrary, he went to the Pacific. He moved down to Mexico and played for a team in Acapulco.

I'm happy to see him repping D3 in the upcoming tourney as part of the We Are D3 team. Jordan's a good guy, and I always wish the best for him.