MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[markerickson]

Early prediction:  Augustana will win the CCIW crown next season and Millikin will finish in sole possession of eighth.

Where did Taylor go after North Central?  I would not necessarily consider going to Chicago State an upgrade.

[iwumichigander]

Where did Taylor go after North Central?  I would not necessarily consider going to Chicago State an upgrade.

Blogged in Transactions by Pat Coleman on Wednesday April 20, 2005
Former North Central men's coach Benjy Taylor was named an assistant coach at Tulane. He was an assistant at Indiana State this past season.
Note: Taylor was also an assistant at Tulane 2006-07.  With the recruiting success Benjy has had in Chicago area; he could do well at Chicago State.

[True Basketball Fan]

Where did Taylor go after North Central?  I would not necessarily consider going to Chicago State an upgrade.

Blogged in Transactions by Pat Coleman on Wednesday April 20, 2005
Former North Central men’s coach Benjy Taylor was named an assistant coach at Tulane. He was an assistant at Indiana State this past season.
Note: Taylor was also an assistant at Tulane 2006-07.  With the recruiting success Benjy has had in Chicago area; he could do well at Chicago State.

He was an assistant at Tulane when Katrina blasted the gulf coast.  I heard they moved their basketball operations up to Arkansas or something, for the rest of the year.  He's had some tough recruiting venues in his career, but none tougher than a flooded New Orleans that one year.  That definitely makes Chicago State look easy.

[True Basketball Fan]

Sorry, Titan Q.  But I think you and many IWU fans are going to be disappointed in most of next year's team, except the Freeman's and Gant.  After that, there is not much.

I had to pull this one out of the archives, especially since I said it before the beginning of the 05-06 season, and that I was right on the money.

[twocentsworth]

Benjy Taylor was looking to get back to (or at least closer to) Chicago.  His family never moved from Chicago when he left North Central.  He commuted back and forth from Terre Haute, IN (Indiana State) and New Orleans (Tulane) the last couple of years.

Clearly there have been some MAJOR issues at Chicago State that keep them from being competitive.  Despite playing as an independant, having to earn approx. $200k+ in "guarantee game fees", and having the administrative resources of a pre-school program, the do have a new on-campus arena that will help draw recruits.  Having no shot at an NCAA tourney berth is a HUGE hurdle to overcome; however Benjy is a terrific recruiter and will have plenty of Chicago-area players to draw from.

[Titan Q]

IWU hasn't announced it yet, but I've received a couple notes tonight confirming that Ron Rose recently received a verbal commitment from one of his top recruits -- 6-8 forward Duncan Lawson from Glenbard West. Duncan has been one of IWU's top priorities on the recruiting trail this year, so I'm sure the coaching staff is thrilled with the news.

Duncan, at 6-8, is actually a perimeter player.  He handles the ball pretty well, is a terrific passer, and shoots the heck out of it from beyond the arc.  He will create a lot of mismatches in Division III with his size, just as he did in high school.  He will be a 3 or a 4 at IWU, but I think was actually listed as a "G"at Glenbard West...just a very versatile player.  I think Duncan has a great chance to compete for a starting job next year.

Duncan was pursued heavily by U. of Chicago, Lawrence, IWU, and Dartmouth (and several other schools).  His final decision came down to Chicago and IWU.

Ron Rose has landed a good one in Duncan Lawson.

[Titan Q]

IWU has also landed another member of the IBCA Class AA 3rd Team all-state -- 6-4 Matt Schick from Lincoln H.S. (Sean Johnson was also on that 3rd Team)...

http://iwuhoops.blogspot.com/

Schick is going to be a good, solid CCIW player.  The stat I like more than any other is that Schick is now the all-time leader in games played at one of the great Class AA programs in the state.  He played in 135 games from 2002-03 to 2006-07...more games played than greats like Brian Cook (U. of Illinois, currently L.A. Lakers), Joe Cook (Duke), Chuck Verderber (Kentucky), and Mike Thomas (Illinois Wesleyan, Eastview Church League).

Schick finished his career #2 on the all-time Railsplitter assist list (410), behind only Dan Duff (Notre Dame). His 232 3-pointers made is #2, behind only Greg Alexander (Illinois State).

Matt was a 4-year starter.  His Lincoln teams went 109-26 (.807) with two trips to Peoria:

Freshman: 21-10
Sophomore: 31-5 (Peoria)
Junior: 24-8
Senior: 33-3 (Peoria)

Kind of a "do it all" type - can play the 2 or the 3.

[Titan Q]

I've heard that 6-7 forward Christian Alsing (Brother Rice H.S.) is heading to North Park.  Alsing averaged 8.3 ppg and 4.1 rpg as a senior. 

6-7 Alsing, like 6-8 Duncan Lawson, is a perimeter player.  He has good touch from beyond the arc.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

today's daily herald

announces that John Camardella is the new varsity boys basketball coach at Prospect High School.

Prospect has had 5 straight losing seasons - and is really hurt by the lack of minority players in its basketball program.  Prospect draws its students from 'lily white' middle schools in Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights and Prospect Heights.

And while the village of Mount Prospect has become the midwest gateway for Hispanic immigrants, they all live on the south end of the village and their feeder schools feed Rolling Meadows or Elk Grove high schools.

MW 70:3

and sorried if i butchered the speeling of his name.

[Titan Q]

Here is that article...

http://www.dailyherald.com/search/searchstory.asp?id=303910


Congratulations and best of luck to John, who is just a great guy.  He'll do very well.

[Gotberg]

I've heard that 6-7 forward Christian Alsing (Brother Rice H.S.) is heading to North Park.  Alsing averaged 8.3 ppg and 4.1 rpg as a senior. 

6-7 Alsing, like 6-8 Duncan Lawson, is a perimeter player.  He has good touch from beyond the arc.

Q - thanks for the recruiting tidbit about NPU.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

IWU hasn't announced it yet, but I've received a couple notes tonight confirming that Ron Rose recently received a verbal commitment from one of his top recruits -- 6-8 forward Duncan Lawson from Glenbard West. Duncan has been one of IWU's top priorities on the recruiting trail this year, so I'm sure the coaching staff is thrilled with the news.

Duncan, at 6-8, is actually a perimeter player.  He handles the ball pretty well, is a terrific passer, and shoots the heck out of it from beyond the arc.  He will create a lot of mismatches in Division III with his size, just as he did in high school.  He will be a 3 or a 4 at IWU, but I think was actually listed as a "G"at Glenbard West...just a very versatile player.  I think Duncan has a great chance to compete for a starting job next year.

Duncan was pursued heavily by U. of Chicago, Lawrence, IWU, and Dartmouth (and several other schools).  His final decision came down to Chicago and IWU.

Ron Rose has landed a good one in Duncan Lawson.

I'm as big a D3 supporter as their is, but I'm sorry I have to ask where the downside is to this kid?  A 6'8" perimeter player with those numbers has to have a big flaw somewhere not to be on scholarship.  Even if he's big into academics, there are plenty of solid d1 schools who would take a flier.

[Titan Q]

IWU hasn't announced it yet, but I've received a couple notes tonight confirming that Ron Rose recently received a verbal commitment from one of his top recruits -- 6-8 forward Duncan Lawson from Glenbard West. Duncan has been one of IWU's top priorities on the recruiting trail this year, so I'm sure the coaching staff is thrilled with the news.

Duncan, at 6-8, is actually a perimeter player.  He handles the ball pretty well, is a terrific passer, and shoots the heck out of it from beyond the arc.  He will create a lot of mismatches in Division III with his size, just as he did in high school.  He will be a 3 or a 4 at IWU, but I think was actually listed as a "G"at Glenbard West...just a very versatile player.  I think Duncan has a great chance to compete for a starting job next year.

Duncan was pursued heavily by U. of Chicago, Lawrence, IWU, and Dartmouth (and several other schools).  His final decision came down to Chicago and IWU.

Ron Rose has landed a good one in Duncan Lawson.

I'm as big a D3 supporter as their is, but I'm sorry I have to ask where the downside is to this kid?  A 6'8" perimeter player with those numbers has to have a big flaw somewhere not to be on scholarship.  Even if he's big into academics, there are plenty of solid d1 schools who would take a flier.

Duncan's father was at the Calvin/Hope game that many of us attended in March.  He told me that Princeton contacted Duncan and at the time, it sounded like there was pretty significant interest there.  I know Northwestern also talked to him early about walking on.  Dartmouth was on him all season long. 

The bottom line though is that Duncan is just not quick enough to be a Division I perimeter player (2/3) and he is not a back-to-the-basket player, so he couldn't play the 4 at that level.  He's going to be a very good Division III player though.  Lawrence had all 4 members of their coaching staff at one of his final games and IWU and Chicago were regulars in the stands as well.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

That makes sense, Q, thanks for the extra info.

[AndOne]

IWU hasn't announced it yet, but I've received a couple notes tonight confirming that Ron Rose recently received a verbal commitment from one of his top recruits -- 6-8 forward Duncan Lawson from Glenbard West. Duncan has been one of IWU's top priorities on the recruiting trail this year, so I'm sure the coaching staff is thrilled with the news.

Duncan, at 6-8, is actually a perimeter player.  He handles the ball pretty well, is a terrific passer, and shoots the heck out of it from beyond the arc.  He will create a lot of mismatches in Division III with his size, just as he did in high school.  He will be a 3 or a 4 at IWU, but I think was actually listed as a "G"at Glenbard West...just a very versatile player.  I think Duncan has a great chance to compete for a starting job next year.

Duncan was pursued heavily by U. of Chicago, Lawrence, IWU, and Dartmouth (and several other schools).  His final decision came down to Chicago and IWU.

Ron Rose has landed a good one in Duncan Lawson.

I'm as big a D3 supporter as their is, but I'm sorry I have to ask where the downside is to this kid?  A 6'8" perimeter player with those numbers has to have a big flaw somewhere not to be on scholarship.  Even if he's big into academics, there are plenty of solid d1 schools who would take a flier.

Duncan's father was at the Calvin/Hope game that many of us attended in March.  He told me that Princeton contacted Duncan and at the time, it sounded like there was pretty significant interest there.  I know Northwestern also talked to him early about walking on.  Dartmouth was on him all season long. 

The bottom line though is that Duncan is just not quick enough to be a Division I perimeter player (2/3) and he is not a back-to-the-basket player, so he couldn't play the 4 at that level.  He's going to be a very good Division III player though.  Lawrence had all 4 members of their coaching staff at one of his final games and IWU and Chicago were regulars in the stands as well.

As Titan Q indicates, Duncan Lawson lacks the quickness necessary to be a player at the D I level. This athletic "deficiency" transitions most noticeably to the basketball court on the defensive side of the ball. Although his usual height advantage on offense allows him to frequently create a matchup problem, he often is taken advantage of on the defensive end by the shorter, but usually quicker man he is guarding. Additionally, he sometimes seems to display a rather lackadaisical attitude toward defense, prefering to concentrate on his offense.

Another "problem" Duncan needs to work on is his "toughness." Due to his not playing underneath much at all, he is not really used to mixing it up as far as battling for a rebound on either end of the court. His rebound totals for a 6'8" player were lower than what you would expect. Part of this can be traced to his high school coach who did not really want him to play underneath due to the fact his team had both a DI player plus a Northwestern football recruit on the interior, and the coach was afraid a third player (Duncan) down low would jam things up and prevent a smooth offensive flow when they had the ball.

Duncan's primary assets are his long range shooting ability, his leadership and court "awareness," and his ball handling ability. He was without doubt, the best ball handler for a big man that I saw this year.  In fact he was so good, he often brought the ball up against a press. He does need to work on making crisper entry passes and not forcing the ball in where a good passing "angle" doesn't exist.

Duncan comes from a very strong academic family background. His dad is a graduate of Dartmouth, and his mom graduated from Boston College. I believe Duncan scored a 29 on his ACT. As far as his recruitment, Duncan did not really "identify" with U of Chicago despite their interest. With his dad being a graduate, he naturally applied to Dartmouth, but I heard he was not accepted. I have no way to confirm if this is true or not, but it seems strange given his dad's attendance there coupled with his strong academic and athletic record. Princeton may have been an alternative Ivy League application. As mentioned, Lawrence was on him heavily, but once Tharp left, I think that was the end of that possibility.

Overall, Duncan's assets certainly outweigh his liabilities. With his intelligence and  team concept/work ethic, he will probably improve in the areas he needs to work on. As Q said, I look for him to have a very successful DIII career, and IWU has landed a good catch.