MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[diehardfan]

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/05/21/sports/doc4650f8a516fb6821510392.txt

"Class of 2011...A look at the high school players who have committed to play...."

Are you kidding me? Class of 2011? Ouch. Feeling very old. Alright, well, I guess it's time to go back my walker for my trip to Texas.

[hopefan]

FYI   -  had a nice chat with Wash U Coach Mark Edwards and wrote up what I learned of his recruiting class in the UAA room in Multiregion area

[Dennis_Prikkel]

My son Tim recently returned from a year-long study at Covenant Bible College in Quito, Ecuador.  This was the seventh and last year for CBC in Ecuador.  Originally founded in Canada 66 years ago, CBC was forced to close both its Ecuador and Strathmore, Alberta, campuses, because of dwindling enrollment and mounting debt.

Tim had 40 students in his class at CBC last August, and 34 finished the one-year course of study.  As part of their studies the students participated in weekly ministry opportunities around Quito and attended church in native congregations.  They also had extensive opportunities to travel within the country.

Tim will be attending North Park in the Fall to pursue a degree in music education.

MW 70:3

[north central]

Titan Q just wondering when will we hear about some of these returners from IWU transferring. I know the class you guys brought in is very good (i have seen many of them play) .I suspect between 2-4 of those guys will see varsity minutes this year so some of the returners will not be playing as much as last year.

[AndOne]

Titan Q just wondering when will we hear about some of these returners from IWU transferring. I know the class you guys brought in is very good (i have seen many of them play) .I suspect between 2-4 of those guys will see varsity minutes this year so some of the returners will not be playing as much as last year.

Millikin----

I'm not sure you will see any returning IWU players transferring. At least not within the CCIW due to the rule that you have to sit out a year if you transfer withing the conference. Additionally, in addition to basketball, the student athletes get a very good education at IWU---as they do at the other CCIW schools.

I would be interested though in hearing the opinions of the IWU fans here----not only Titan Q, but any other IWU fans as well---as to whether or not they feel many of the returning players will see much more than negligible playing time this coming season. This question comes to mind especially considering that Ron Rose did not recruit several of the returning players. Specifically, one wonders whether Justin Anthony, Matt Wittig, Brett Chamernik, Anthony Gunnell, Jason Bloom, Kevin Bryant, Elias Washington, and to a lesser extent, Jordan Morris have already seen the majority of the floor time they will ever get at IWU. The incoming IWU recruits comprise an outstanding group---I too have seen several of them play. Furthermore, they are Rose's recruits so it would be natural he would be more committed to them. Millikin said he thinks between 2-4 of the recruits will see varsity minutes this year. I suspect 4 is the more likely number.

Not being a Wesleyan insider, I'm just looking for some insight from those who are closer to, and familiar with the program.

[titanfan]

AndOne,

I'm not an IWU insider by any stretch of the imagination, but I feel like what this incoming class does is insert a whole lot of competition for minutes on the 2007-2008 Titan team.  Is it possible those players you mentioned have "peaked" in terms of minutes?  Sure.  It is also possible that with the experience they gained, they will prove to be deserving of those minutes next season.  Last year, there wasn't much competition for that time.  Next year, there will be a ton of competition.  At this point, it seems like the slate is pretty clean, and the players that get the minutes will be determined over the next six months.  That could be the freshman or the returnees.

[iwumichigander]

...  Last year, there wasn't much competition for that time.  Next year, there will be a ton of competition.  At this point, it seems like the slate is pretty clean, and the players that get the minutes will be determined over the next six months.  That could be the freshman or the returnees.

... Ron Rose and staff brought in talent and depth at each position, which was much needed.  More than anything, I like the fact that there will be fierce competition for playing time when practice starts next fall.  There is no returning player who is guaranteed playing time -- even returning starters Andrew Gilmore and Darius Gant will have to work very hard to win their jobs back.

AndOne,
I have to agree with TitanFan and TitanQ.  The upcoming season will truly be a year at IWU where not only are all the starters spots "open" with nothing "guaranteed" but 6-10 spots are "open" too.   Anyone who wants playing time should not wait until summer to start working on conditioning, strength work , or skill improvement.  They need to start now.   And, please work on improving your individual free throw completion pecentages!

I do not expect a starting lineup to be solidified until a few games into the CCIW conference season.  I have no high expectations of a conference regular season or conference tournament title.  I do expect the Titans will be a team that is exciting to watch next year; can go deep into their bench; and, constantly improves its consistency of execution as the season progresses.

[markerickson]

I don't understand the current thread about IWU returnees transferring to another CCIW school.  IWU's AA kept the team from finishing in last place.  The returnees would not get more PT by transferring because they would not improve the new team.  Transferring to last-place MIllikin does not guarantee more minutes because MU - as some have touted - had a good freshman class.  The soon-to-be sophomores will eat up minutes, not a transfer from IWU.

[north central]

Mark ericson. I was not saying that any kids from IWU should transfer or would be better off tranfering, I was just stating that I know some of these freshman that Rose brought in will take minutes from some returners. And actually it would not be smart to transfer in conference especially if your on track to graduate in four years.
I was just kinda joking with the original remark regarding tranfering but i just know some returners will be upset because the class is pretty good.
And who ever said this class could rival some low d 1's is ludacris.

[Mr. Ypsi]

33,

You seem unaware of just how low some d1s can be - this class is distinctly better than the very bottom d1s.

[AndOne]

I agree that there are at least a few low D I schools that no doubt don't bring in the same number of quality recruits that some of our D III schools do. I think this would be especially true of smaller D III schools located within a reasonable distance of more metropolitan areas as the available crop of potential players is just that much larger.
Additional factors are some players would rather stick closer to home, and some STUDENT-athletes may be more in tune with the type of academic atmosphere offered by a smaller, rather than larger institutionl.

Additionally, I believe that many of the top D III recruiting classes would put a fairly good percentage of D II schools to shame.

[north central]

with all due respect andone and mr. ypsi this class is very good but no where near as talented as division 1 schools.
For example i think we can all agree  that chicago state and western illinois are two of the bottom 30 division 1 's in the nation with chicago state being bottom 5. Those schools' classes are much better than IWU's in turns of talent and athletic ability but andone you make some good points especially the STUDENT athlete one.

[AndOne]

with all due respect andone and mr. ypsi this class is very good but no where near as talented as division 1 schools.
For example i think we can all agree  that chicago state and western illinois are two of the bottom 30 division 1 's in the nation with chicago state being bottom 5. Those schools' classes are much better than IWU's in turns of talent and athletic ability but andone you make some good points especially the STUDENT athlete one.

Thank you Millikin. And you may make a valid point also.

I would add two things to aid in the clarification/substantiation of my above post:

1. My comments weren't necessarily confined to IWU. There are other schools with outstanding recruiting classes too.

2. In the comparison of programs between different NCAA Divisions, we need to keep in mind that some low DI and DII schools, by their very nature, may well have recruits that are more athletically gifted. However, that does not automatically mean these athletes are better players than their counterparts at the upper DIII schools. There are a lot of factors besides pure athleticism that go into making a complete player.

[TitanBacker]

with all due respect andone and mr. ypsi this class is very good but no where near as talented as division 1 schools.
For example i think we can all agree  that chicago state and western illinois are two of the bottom 30 division 1 's in the nation with chicago state being bottom 5. Those schools' classes are much better than IWU's in turns of talent and athletic ability but andone you make some good points especially the STUDENT athlete one.

Thank you Millikin. And you may make a valid point also.

I would add two things to aid in the clarification/substantiation of my above post:

1. My comments weren't necessarily confined to IWU. There are other schools with outstanding recruiting classes too.

2. In the comparison of programs between different NCAA Divisions, we need to keep in mind that some low DI and DII schools, by their very nature, may well have recruits that are more athletically gifted. However, that does not automatically mean these athletes are better players than their counterparts at the upper DIII schools. There are a lot of factors besides pure athleticism that go into making a complete player.

For exmaple, see the Wheaton vs. Northwestern score.  Wheaton (a high D3) played great against a mid level D1.

[diehardfan]

For exmaple, see the Wheaton vs. Northwestern score.  Wheaton (a high D3) played great against a mid level D1.

Why yes, yes we did...  8)