MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Just for fun, I'm going to throw out the reminder that former Wheaton Assistant and Anderson Head Coach Owen Handy is back in town. That's a resume worthy of consideration if he's interested.

I would think a national search would be conducted.  And I would have to believe that Handy would be interested and given strong consideration.

Good point. I'd forgotten about Owen. And for that he'll never let me hear the end of it.

Owatonna, MN.

That's pronounced 'Ozz-Way-Go', correct?

[Gregory Sager]

News from Wheaton coming soon. Stay tuned.

Mike Schauer is telling everybody he meets in Fort Wayne that he's not stepping away from his coaching duties at Wheaton. Consider the rumor quashed.

[Gregory Sager]

Congrats to Tyson Cruickshank upon being named NABC D3 Player of the Year.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

News from Wheaton coming soon. Stay tuned.

Mike Schauer is telling everybody he meets in Fort Wayne that he's not stepping away from his coaching duties at Wheaton. Consider the rumor quashed.

He said he almost signed up to post here just to tell you all you're crazy.

[crusader_nation]

News from Wheaton coming soon. Stay tuned.

Mike Schauer is telling everybody he meets in Fort Wayne that he's not stepping away from his coaching duties at Wheaton. Consider the rumor quashed.

It wouldn't make sense for Mike to step down as coach right now. His son Jacob is coming back to play a fifth year, so we should expect that Mike will coach through next season.

But between now and the end of next season, we shouldn't be surprised if Mike announces he's stepping down to take the AD job. I have no inside information other than that Mike would be a great fit for the AD role, and there are a number of names that Wheaton could consider to take over the basketball program, several that have already been cited here.

I'd imagine that Mike could coach at Wheaton as long as he wants, given the success he's had and how much he's respected within the institution. It's a matter of how much longer he wants to coach versus other ambitions he may have at Wheaton or elsewhere.

[Gregory Sager]

News from Wheaton coming soon. Stay tuned.

Mike Schauer is telling everybody he meets in Fort Wayne that he's not stepping away from his coaching duties at Wheaton. Consider the rumor quashed.

He said he almost signed up to post here just to tell you all you're crazy.

Mike's well aware that this has been a live subject for quite awhile now. He and Dave even talked about it in his Hoopsville interview back on January 19:

DAVE: Wheaton's a big overall athletic department. Normally, those in that role are not coaches, and this "acting [athletic director]" tag has been on for awhile, sir. What ... do you know the future? Do you want to be AD and step away from coaching? I know that's putting you on the spot a little bit, but I am curious.

MIKE: Yeah, and that's a fair question. I think that the answer I always give, Dave, is, um, I've been doing this ... this is my thirtieth year of head coaching, um, and I don't know that I'm going to do this 'til I'm 65. Uh, but I also don't know that I'm ready to stop, either, so the broad answer is that I don't know that I'm going to coach to retirement, but I don't know that I'm ready to give up coaching yet. So I really haven't thought too much about it, um, and the time will come when there will obviously need to be that discussion, but ... um, Wheaton's given us a little, a little runway here and [is] not putting a lot of pressure on me to decide, and um, uh, to open the AD position here for a little bit longer. So, how's that for a political non-answer?

It's hardly "crazy" to speculate about someone who deliberately (and very uncharacteristically) gave a somewhat halting "political non-answer" to an earlier public inquiry about his future.

But, Mike's response today is much more in keeping with his usual straight-shooter persona ... so, if he's telling people flat-out in Fort Wayne that he's not vacating the first chair on the Wheaton sideline, then as far as I'm concerned he's not vacating the first chair on the Wheaton sideline.

[Gregory Sager]

... and, yes, I'm aware that this is a weaker metaphor for Mike than for most head coaches, because Mike almost never actually sits in the first chair on the Wheaton sideline during a Wheaton game.

[Stertorous Thunder]

Congrats to Tyson Cruickshank upon being named NABC D3 Player of the Year.

That's an incredible honor and I'm pleasantly surprised that Tyson Cruickshank garnered enough national attention to win the award, given that 1.) he wasn't the primary focal point of his own team until this season, 2.) he was not a preseason All-American selection, and 3.) he didn't necessarily run away with the CCIW conference player of the year award because there were at least two other players (Matt Helwig and Kolden Vanlandingham) that were likely under consideration.

I don't know when the voting happened, but it also wouldn't surprise me if the March 11 Elite Eight game against Christopher Newport swayed the outcome by a disproportionate degree.  In the second half, when Cruickshank threw his team on his back and almost defeated what might be the top team in the country, I could understand some voters deciding that was enough to make their final decision.

[Stertorous Thunder]

It wouldn't make sense for Mike to step down as coach right now. His son Jacob is coming back to play a fifth year, so we should expect that Mike will coach through next season.

When I heard Mike Schauer's non-committal answer during the Hoopsville interview about whether or not the interim modifier would be removed from his AD title, I assumed that this was going to be his final season.  But when Jacob Schauer didn't participate in the Senior Night festivities, I had exactly the same thought and wondered if Mike might stick around and have them finish together. Of course, by that logic, Mike might be ready for another four years if his youngest son chooses to attend, and is able to make the roster, at Wheaton in the following season.

I also understand why Mike might be annoyed at all of this speculative talk and rumor generation about his job and family, so if you're lurking on this thread and reading this Mike, I apologize.  Some of us are about to go through hoops withdrawal and this helps us ease into the summer.

[Gregory Sager]

I also understand why Mike might be annoyed at all of this speculative talk and rumor generation about his job and family, so if you're lurking on this thread and reading this Mike, I apologize.  Some of us are about to go through hoops withdrawal and this helps us ease into the summer.

He might be annoyed about it, but he's well aware that it comes with the job. And it's actually something of a compliment; trust me, there's D3 men's basketball programs out there to which everyone is so indifferent that nobody would bother spreading rumors about its coaching status.

[Stertorous Thunder]

He might be annoyed about it, but he's well aware that it comes with the job. And it's actually something of a compliment; trust me, there's D3 men's basketball programs out there to which everyone is so indifferent that nobody would bother spreading rumors about its coaching status.

That's true. I just looked up Wheaton's average home attendance this season, and at 949 attendees per home game, they outdrew more than 50 D1 programs. (In D3, they ranked seventh nationally behind the Illinois Wesleyan loyalists in the sixth spot.)

[GoPerry]

He might be annoyed about it, but he's well aware that it comes with the job. And it's actually something of a compliment; trust me, there's D3 men's basketball programs out there to which everyone is so indifferent that nobody would bother spreading rumors about its coaching status.

That's true. I just looked up Wheaton's average home attendance this season, and at 949 attendees per home game, they outdrew more than 50 D1 programs. (In D3, they ranked seventh nationally behind the Illinois Wesleyan loyalists in the sixth spot.)

I've thought about this a few time this season when thinking about TJ Askew.   I did a quick survey a few weeks ago of last seasons average CMS attendance at ball games as well as away games.  There were some pretty low numbers, sometimes less than 200.   I don't recall seeing many over 400 or so.  I'm sure playing in front of some larger crowds, home and away, had to be fun for Askew this season.

[Gregory Sager]

Ethan Andre, a 6'0" guard from Belvedere North, has committed to Augustana. He had multiple CCIW schools looking at him.

[GoPerry]

Congrats to Tyson Cruickshank upon being named NABC D3 Player of the Year.

That's an incredible honor and I'm pleasantly surprised that Tyson Cruickshank garnered enough national attention to win the award, given that 1.) he wasn't the primary focal point of his own team until this season, 2.) he was not a preseason All-American selection, and 3.) he didn't necessarily run away with the CCIW conference player of the year award because there were at least two other players (Matt Helwig and Kolden Vanlandingham) that were likely under consideration.

I don't know when the voting happened, but it also wouldn't surprise me if the March 11 Elite Eight game against Christopher Newport swayed the outcome by a disproportionate degree.  In the second half, when Cruickshank threw his team on his back and almost defeated what might be the top team in the country, I could understand some voters deciding that was enough to make their final decision.

This is terrific recognition for Cruickshank and well deserved.  I can't help but think this is also a bit of a makeup for the huge 2019 oversight (understatement).

[mr_b]

Congratulations to Sean Smith on his selection as D3Hoops National Coach of the Year.  Well deserved!