MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[markerickson]

Greg and I briefly discussed NP hoops at the soccer match versus Wheaton.  Greg advised that former West Aurora PG Sheldon Evans will suit up this year for the Vikings.  Evans probably saw some guard action, but he had stiff competition from teammates Justin Cerasoli (Seton Hall, now at Ole Miss) and the once promising, but distracted Jaeh Thomas (Florida A&M).  The W-A team also had current Illini starter Shawn Pruitt.

Hopefully Sheldon can play the point at the D3 level!

[armywife]

Basketball season is almost here, it's going to be fun following the games on this board. I learned more about Augustana's team by reading Q's comments than I did from their web site. Thanks Q. I hope they live up to the hype. I think Coach G is a very good coach, it will be fun to see how they do this year. I think someone out there is going to surprise everyone, It could be IWU or Elmhurst.

My daughter received a packet from IWU a couple of weeks ago. She considered applying just to give her cousin, Shaun, a hard time. Actually, I think the only reason she didn't apply there is because her heart is set on UMHB in Texas. We'll see what happens. In any case, I'm glad that a d3 school is tops on her list.

[augiefan]

It's great to hear from armywife a/k/a Shaun Clements aunt. Hope all is well with Shaun and your family. Hopefully, armyhusband has stayed out of harm's way in Iraq. We are all praying for a resolution of that war as soon as possible.

[augiefan]

Although NCC is the prohibitive favorite going into the 2006-07 season, the CCIW is always full of surprises. I like Augie's chances to be competitive, but I would never underestimate an IWU team, even a young one with a new coach. For the record I think IWU is lucky that Trost has moved on to Lewis U. I also think Bill Harris gets as much out his players as any coach in DIII. Wheaton too can surprise. If they do, maybe our favorite Wheaton fan will get back in touch.

All in all other than NCC (1st) and NPU (8th) it is up for grabs. Can't wait for the fun to begin.

[Gregory Sager]

Greg and I briefly discussed NP hoops at the soccer match versus Wheaton.  Greg advised that former West Aurora PG Sheldon Evans will suit up this year for the Vikings.  Evans probably saw some guard action, but he had stiff competition from teammates Justin Cerasoli (Seton Hall, now at Ole Miss) and the once promising, but distracted Jaeh Thomas (Florida A&M).  The W-A team also had current Illini starter Shawn Pruitt.

Hopefully Sheldon can play the point at the D3 level!

Sheldon Evans didn't probably see action at West Aurora, Mark, he was the starting PG for the Blackhawks. He played alongside Cerasoli and Thomas in a three-guard set, with Pruitt as the primary inside scorer.

I did some Google research on Evans. What surprised me in calling up all of those old Daily Herald game stories from Evans' senior year at West Aurora was how prominently he figured in them. Here was a team that is an annual state powerhouse, coached by one of the active legends of Illinois high school basketball (Gordon Kerkman), that featured two top-level D1 recruits and a soon-to-be D1 recruit ... and yet the 5'10 PG keeps getting mentioned in each game story as the second- or third-leading scorer who also drops a bunch of dimes, or as the player who scores three or four baskets in a row to build up a Blackhawks lead. It was quite an eye-opener. Evans clearly didn't have the size to be a D1 point guard, but if those Daily Herald pieces are to be believed he seemed to be able to play at the same high level as his more celebrated teammates.

Paul Brenegan and Steve Schafer are very high on Evans. He was one of their primary transfer recruiting targets during the off-season, and although it took right up until the start of the semester for his finances to get sorted out, his arrival on campus gave the coaching staff a big lift.

NPU has had chronic problems at the PG spot ever since the Buck Pates era ended, and the problem was never more acute than it was last season. You can't get a program unstuck from the bottom of the standings without good PG play, and while NPU brought in some freshmen this season who have very strong potential at that posiition, it was clear that the Vikings need someone who can step in right away and run the point at a high level for at least one season, maybe two. The coaches seem to think that Evans is just the ticket in that respect for NPU. I sure hope that they're right; my research indicates that there's a very strong possibility that they are.

[kenoshamark]

Took in the Carthage scrimmage against Ripon tonight.  Considering Ripon was ranked third in the MWC pre-season poll (behind two very strong teams - Lawrence and Carroll) I thought Carthage performed quite well.  Carthage won the first session (20 minutes) 35-29, the second session (10 minutes played by the JV level) 15-4, but lost the third session (20 minutes) 43-41.   

Starting lineup included Brian Schlemm, Milos Vukosavljevic, Bill Shemerdiak, Billy Jacklin and Joe Higgins.  Trey Bowens is out with a minor injury (should be back next week) and Higgins only played about 5 minutes total as he was ill.   Would have liked to seen Bowens with the starters (not sure who would have started between Jacklin and Shemerdiak) and some more time for Higgins. 

Schlemm and Milos (sticking with the first name) were the big offensive weapons tonight.  I can see why Bosko is happy to have Milos in the program, he is a terrific outside shooter for his size.  He must have dropped 6 or 7 treys over the course of the evening and will present some matchup problems for some of the bigger 4's who will have to cover him. 

Schlemm was a monster at times tonight and had to have scored 20 plus points on a combination of power moves and a couple treys.  If he can play like he did and keep his head, Carthage has a chance to stay competitive against the upper level teams in the league. 

Carthage definitely needs a third scorer and that should be Bowens once he is healthy.  There were to many times tonight when that third weapon would have been helpful.  Higgins, Nav Thompson and Scott Hood all run the point well but they really aren't going to look to score and Jacklin is more of role player as well.  Shemerdiak hit a couple shots but he wasn't really looking to be an offensive threat either. 

The bench provided some good output.  Neb played well as the night rolled along but he has to stay away from the fouls he picked up tonight.  He is the only true backup post player to Schlemm and if Schlemm loses his cool (seems like he is only one bad call away from a technical at times) and Neb is in foul trouble, Carthage will struggle with their post defense.  I'd like to see Neb and Schlemm in the game at the same time but I think Bosko knows he needs to rotate them in order to keep them fresh and a consistent post presence. 

[kenoshamark]

Nav Thompson got the majority of the point guard minutes with Higgins out and besides Hood, Thomas Nute played some decent minutes at the point.  Some of the freshmen received some key minutes including Sean Fendley, Eric Moore, Richard Williams and Cody Hilton. 

Looks like the freshmen class has some nice potential and hopefully this will be a class that can stick it out together and build some consistency that has been lacking the past few years.

I noticed what I felt was some good chemistry from the team.  I like the makeup of this group and with as young as they are, good things could be coming down the road.  This is such a good league I can see why the pre-season rankings put Carthage down low but this team could surprise a few people.   I think once Bowens and Higgins are at full speed I'll have a better idea of what the potential is but at first glance, I like what I saw. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

km,

I think the obvious question (after last year) is 'how is Trey doing academically'?!

You just can't afford to lose him for the conference season!

Does he look safe for the whole year?

[augiefan]

Does anyone know Augie scrimmage schedule before their 11/17 opener? There is nothing on the Augie athletic site.

[kenoshamark]

Mr. Ypsi, 

That is a subject I have no idea about.   I prefer not to get into those types of discussions with the people I know, but lets hope Trey is heading in the right direction academically.   The fact that he has fought through some obstacles and continues to stay in school is a very positive thing in my mind.

[Mr. Ypsi]

km,

Understood.  Good luck to him.

[cardinalpride]

Although NCC is the prohibitive favorite going into the 2006-07 season, the CCIW is always full of surprises. I like Augie's chances to be competitive, but I would never underestimate an IWU team, even a young one with a new coach. For the record I think IWU is lucky that Trost has moved on to Lewis U. I also think Bill Harris gets as much out his players as any coach in DIII. Wheaton too can surprise. If they do, maybe our favorite Wheaton fan will get back in touch.

All in all other than NCC (1st) and NPU (8th) it is up for grabs. Can't wait for the fun to begin.

Augiefan, why do you believe IWU is better off without Trost?  I thought Trost did an outstanding job at IWU during his 5 year span.  IMHO, there isn't a program in the country that wouldn't take 3 Conference titles and a final four appearance during a five year stretch.  Why do I get the feeling  Trost isn't appreciated very much in IWU land?  Is it just me?

[robberki]

I would assume it's because Trost didn't live up to the expectations set for him by the IWU fan base. Not that the aren't happy with conference titles, but IWU entered the last couple seasons as one of, if not THE, favorite by many people to win the national title. Heck, I seem to remember some people casually believing that IWU could beat Illinois. Certainly, Trost had as much talent as anyone in the country, but soime people fail to realize that winning national titles is as much about luck as it is about skill.
All that being said, it never seemed to me like Trost was the best in-game coach in the CCIW. He was a good recruiter, but there are other coaches I'd rather have on the bench.

[BigPoppa]

It's not about the X's and O's... it's about the Jimmys and Joes. Great recruiting makes up for poor coaching and great coaching makes up for poor recruiting. The top programs have both good recruiting and good coaching.

That being said, I am in no way insuating that any of the CCIW coaches fall into either side of this debate.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I'd have to agree with Rob to a point.  It seems unfathomable to me that the IWU class of 2006 graduated without a single NCAA D3 title.  I know how hard it is to win and how much competition is out there, so I'm not begruding them anything.  They played hard and Trost coached hard, but at the same time I can see where his reputation at IWU won't be as glorious as it could have been, or as glorious as the supporters were planning for it to be.