MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Mr. Ypsi]

Regarding IWU's lineup, by the way...

Just my opinion, but I would be shocked if IWU's perimeter starters are the same next year.  In '07-08, the Titans went with...

PG Travis Rosenkranz (6-0 Fr)
PG Sean Dwyer (5-11 So)
SG Sean Johnson (6-1 Fr)

With that lineup, IWU was just too small (with 6-1 Sean Johnson basically playing the 3).  I believe you'll see Rosenkranz and Dwyer (and whatever point-guards are on the roster) battle for the starting PG job and split 40 minutes, Sean Johnson compete for the starting 2 job and play all of his minutes there (none at the 1 or 3), and see a new starter at the 3 - someone with more traditional small forward size.

Again, just my opinion, but I think that is how it will shake up.

Bob, I'm intrigued by this post.  Do you see anyone currently on the roster filling the 3 (and, if so, why didn't they this past year?), or was this a subtle way of predicting Zimmer will be the starting 3?  (Or will a finally healthy Andrew Gilmore be the 3?)

A lineup of:

5. McCullough/Sexauer
4. Chamernick/Sexauer
3. Gilmore/Zimmer
2. Johnson/Dwyer
1. Rosenkranz/Dwyer

looks like a contender to me!

[Any of these lineup spots seem off to anyone?]

[Titan Q]

Regarding IWU's lineup, by the way...

Just my opinion, but I would be shocked if IWU's perimeter starters are the same next year.  In '07-08, the Titans went with...

PG Travis Rosenkranz (6-0 Fr)
PG Sean Dwyer (5-11 So)
SG Sean Johnson (6-1 Fr)

With that lineup, IWU was just too small (with 6-1 Sean Johnson basically playing the 3).  I believe you'll see Rosenkranz and Dwyer (and whatever point-guards are on the roster) battle for the starting PG job and split 40 minutes, Sean Johnson compete for the starting 2 job and play all of his minutes there (none at the 1 or 3), and see a new starter at the 3 - someone with more traditional small forward size.

Again, just my opinion, but I think that is how it will shake up.

Bob, I'm intrigued by this post.  Do you see anyone currently on the roster filling the 3 (and, if so, why didn't they this past year?), or was this a subtle way of predicting Zimmer will be the starting 3?  (Or will a finally healthy Andrew Gilmore be the 3?)

A lineup of:

5. McCullough/Sexauer
4. Chamernick/Sexauer
3. Gilmore/Zimmer
2. Johnson/Dwyer
1. Rosenkranz/Dwyer

looks like a contender to me!

[Any of these lineup spots seem off to anyone?]

I really wasn't trying to predict anything...just simply making the point that IWU was too small at the 3 last year.  When the Titans have been really good, they've had size at the small forward spot.  Their 3's on Final Four teams...

'96 & '97 – Bryan Crabtree (6-7)
'01 – John Camardella (6-4)
'06 – Keelan Amelianovich (6-6)

The 3's on the 2008 D3 Final Four teams:

Wash U – Tyler Nading (6-7)
Amherst – Brandon Jones (6-7)
Hope – Jesse Reimink (6-4)
Ursinus – John Noonan (6-5)

IWU did very well last year starting 3 guards...my best guess, however, is that we won't see that again next year.  It seems to me that size at the 3 is one of the things that separates the great D3 teams from the good ones.  I think one of the 6-4 or taller small forwards on the team will emerge as the starter in 2008-09.

On your proposed rotation...

•   Brett Chamernik does not play the 4...he's a pure 5.
•   I don't think Doug Sexauer will play the 5...just the 4.
•   Jordan Zimmer can play the 2 just as well as the 3...I think he'll get minutes at both spots.
•   I don't have any update on Andrew Gilmore's knees.


Too early to speculate though...recruiting is really not even completed yet.

[AndOne]

If IWU wants size at the 3 spot might they not look to roommates Duncan Lawson and Dan Schouten?

Lawson, who stands 6'8" played sparingly late this past season. He was a deadly outside shooter from the wing in HS and certainly creates matchup problems with his height. The 6'6" Schouten, who sat ouit this year after coming off shoulder surgery, is more of a mid-range and inside scorer who would present a stronger defensive presence than Lawson.   

[AndOne]

Some additional recruiting news---

Carthage----Has picked up Naperville North's Jake Hasse. He is a combo guard who I believe began the season at point and then switched primarily to the 2 following the mid season return of Danny Hess (Augie football), from a football injury, to the NN lineup at the point.

Hasse was NN's 2nd leading scorer at 11.1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other recruiting news, point guard Kevin VandenBerg, out of Waubonsie Valley HS in Aurora, has chosen Aurora U which often plays some CCIW teams.

[Fox 40]

Augie is getting a guard from Putnam County...don't know the name.   I saw Putnam County play (vs Delavan in Jordan Zimmer's final game) and their two best players were both juniors - Carlton Fay's younger brother and, I think, Ahlers (sp?).  I don't think Augie's Putnam County recruit is a big impact guy...I'm sure the name will surface here soon.

As mentioned previously here by Titan Q, Eric Safranski from Putnam County will be attending Augie.  The lefty 6'0" guard averaged 12.9 points this past season.

[wheels81]

And now for something completely different....

Name of member of Wheaton Men's Golf Team........

Drumroll please................


Chip Wedgeworth.   

[Titan Q]

And now for something completely different....

Name of member of Wheaton Men's Golf Team........

Drumroll please................


Chip Wedgeworth.   

That's good stuff!

[Gregory Sager]

If IWU wants size at the 3 spot might they not look to roommates Duncan Lawson and Dan Schouten?

Lawson, who stands 6'8" played sparingly late this past season. He was a deadly outside shooter from the wing in HS and certainly creates matchup problems with his height. The 6'6" Schouten, who sat ouit this year after coming off shoulder surgery, is more of a mid-range and inside scorer who would present a stronger defensive presence than Lawson.   

Lawson can't guard CCIW small forwards. He has enough trouble guarding interior players. Put him in at the three in a CCIW varsity game and he'll get whiplash from watching his man blow by him every time the Titans are on defense.

IWU did very well last year starting 3 guards...my best guess, however, is that we won't see that again next year.  It seems to me that size at the 3 is one of the things that separates the great D3 teams from the good ones.

I've seen plenty of great D3 teams that featured three-guard lineups. In fact, I've seen three-guard lineups win D3 national championships. It all depends upon where the team's roster strength lies. If three of your best five players are guards, and you don't have another forward who brings nearly as much to the table as do your three guards, you play a three-guard lineup. Yeah, size at small forward can give a team with a conventional lineup certain advantages over a three-guard opponent in terms of rebounding, postups, and the ability to shoot over the defense. But matchup problems can go in the other direction as well; three-guard teams tend to be quicker than conventional teams, and quickness is an asset that can be exploited in a lot of ways.

[Gregory Sager]

I hope North Park announces some more recruits soon - seems like all the other CCIW schools are really loading up with some quality talent!

Aside from Joel Benson and Dawon Mitchell (an athletic but extremely raw player who falls squarely into the "project" category -- either his mom or his aunt works at North Park, I can't remember which), NPU's received two or three more oral commitments, but they won't be announced until their tuition deposits are in. The Vikings coaching staff is also very close on a couple more prospects besides those orals I mentioned, and there's two or three besides those who are still in the decision process but whom the NPU staff feels will swing their way. It sounds like it's shaping up to be a very good class, albeit a late-developing one.

(This used to be the customary situation at North Park, as the Park and some of the other schools who characteristically took in late admits would not really be able to announce all of the incoming freshmen until sometime in the summer. That's not true anymore, but NPU is still going to fill out its class of '12 later than will a lot of other CCIW schools. That's just the way it's worked out this year, for various reasons -- doesn't have anything to do with quality.)

Interestingly, North Park really isn't butting heads with other CCIW schools over a lot of the same recruits, as had been the case the past few seasons. As far as I'm aware, there's only one guy on Paul Brenegan's clipboard who is also on the clipboards of his CCIW coaching peers. Most of North Park's competition on the recruiting trail this season has come from scholarship schools -- which, of course, brings a completely different type of recruiting headache with it for NPU. The Park has already lost out on a few of the guys it was pursuing that have received D1 mid-major or D2 bites.

Having said all that, I still think that the big splashes that NPU will make in the newbie department will come via the transfer route -- and those might not all get firmed up until we're well into the summer. But there are some very exciting developments in the hopper for Vikings fans as far as transfers are concerned. Sorry for the tease, but you'll just have to trust me on this one.

[Gregory Sager]

NPU's 2008-09 non-conference schedule will feature:

@ Valparaiso
@ Colorado College tipoff tourney (w/ Wash U and LaVerne)
@ Knox
@ Trine tournament (w/ Case Western Reserve and one of those NAIA Purdue or Indiana branch campuses)
Loras
Illinois College
Carroll (don't know where)
Concordia WI (don't know where)
Alma (don't know where -- I'm pretty sure that NPU's playing Alma, but I'm not 100% certain of it)

I haven't seen that tipoff tourney's matchups posted yet, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Colorado College coach is going to have his Tigers play LaVerne on opening night. This actually works to North Park's advantage in a way; Paul Brenegan and his assistants have been able to tell prospects, "Next year we're playing a D1 school, plus we'll be the first team in the country to get a crack at the defending national champions." Loras is a proven commodity, and my guess is that the Vikings and Duhawks will continue their annual contract into the foreseeable future. Alma's historically terrible, but the MIAA room seems to think that their new coach is bringing in higher-caliber players than the Scots have previously had. The Valpo game is one that NPU picks up by virtue of the fact that Valpo AD Mark LaBarbera is a Parker; he was a year ahead of me at NPC. That should be an exciting game, as North Park has not played a D1 team since the annual series with UIC was discontinued almost twenty years ago.

This is the upgrade in the NPU non-conference schedule for which I've advocated for a long time. I think that the only way the program will continue to improve is to whet Viking steel on a tougher grindstone in November and December. The likes of Wash U, Loras, Carroll, and Valpo ought to go a long way towards preparing the Vikings for CCIW play.

[Gotberg]

I hope North Park announces some more recruits soon - seems like all the other CCIW schools are really loading up with some quality talent!

Aside from Joel Benson and Dawon Mitchell (an athletic but extremely raw player who falls squarely into the "project" category -- either his mom or his aunt works at North Park, I can't remember which), NPU's received two or three more oral commitments, but they won't be announced until their tuition deposits are in. The Vikings coaching staff is also very close on a couple more prospects besides those orals I mentioned, and there's two or three besides those who are still in the decision process but whom the NPU staff feels will swing their way. It sounds like it's shaping up to be a very good class, albeit a late-developing one.

(This used to be the customary situation at North Park, as the Park and some of the other schools who characteristically took in late admits would not really be able to announce all of the incoming freshmen until sometime in the summer. That's not true anymore, but NPU is still going to fill out its class of '12 later than will a lot of other CCIW schools. That's just the way it's worked out this year, for various reasons -- doesn't have anything to do with quality.)

Interestingly, North Park really isn't butting heads with other CCIW schools over a lot of the same recruits, as had been the case the past few seasons. As far as I'm aware, there's only one guy on Paul Brenegan's clipboard who is also on the clipboards of his CCIW coaching peers. Most of North Park's competition on the recruiting trail this season has come from scholarship schools -- which, of course, brings a completely different type of recruiting headache with it for NPU. The Park has already lost out on a few of the guys it was pursuing that have received D1 mid-major or D2 bites.

Having said all that, I still think that the big splashes that NPU will make in the newbie department will come via the transfer route -- and those might not all get firmed up until we're well into the summer. But there are some very exciting developments in the hopper for Vikings fans as far as transfers are concerned. Sorry for the tease, but you'll just have to trust me on this one.

Greg,

Are these guaranteed transfers?  Or just hopeful?

[Titan Q]

If IWU wants size at the 3 spot might they not look to roommates Duncan Lawson and Dan Schouten?

Lawson, who stands 6'8" played sparingly late this past season. He was a deadly outside shooter from the wing in HS and certainly creates matchup problems with his height. The 6'6" Schouten, who sat ouit this year after coming off shoulder surgery, is more of a mid-range and inside scorer who would present a stronger defensive presence than Lawson.   

I've never seen Dan Schouten play (he was hurt all of last year), so I can't really comment on his prospects.

I'm pretty sure 6-8/225 Duncan Lawson will see most of his time as a Titan at the 4.  Duncan played all of his JV games in '07-08 in the low post and had some big performances at 5:15.  When he was inserted into the varsity rotation late in the year for a quick 4-5 minutes per game, it was at the 4...and he did a nice job while in there.   He played a high of 15 minutes in one of IWU's biggest wins - the CCIW tournament game vs Wheaton.  The most important thing Duncan did in that game was play very good defense on Wheaton's low post players.   After games late in the year when he was starting to get time, a lot of IWU fans would say things to the tune of, "We need to get Lawson in there more."

Duncan brings two important things to the floor for the Titans -- 1) Size, and 2) Shooting ability - he is a terrific shooter from the mid-range to beyond the arc.  I envision Duncan getting his time at the 4, and floating around to get open for jumpshots at the free throw line or from 3.  He can be a tough matchup. 

As the scouting report said when he committed to IWU, Duncan needs to keep developing a back-to-the-basket game.  He made strides in this area last year and as he gets better in this area will become a bigger factor for the Titans. 

Duncan Lawson has a ton of talent and I think he's going to be a big part of IWU's future.  If he can transform his body - kind of the way Chris Simich ('96) did between his freshman and junior year - he has a chance to be very good.  There are not a ton of kids on D3 rosters that have Duncan's size and skill set (shooting, ball-handling, passing ability) - he is a very intriguing Titan.

[Gregory Sager]

Greg,

Are these guaranteed transfers?  Or just hopeful?

I've learned over the years that there's no such thing as a guarantee until October 15 rolls around. But of the various impact transfers that the NPU coaches have been courting, one has already made an oral commitment to the Park but has to wait until all of his previous school's bills are paid off (which will probably be the middle of the summer) and his tuition deposit is in before he's formally on board. The other one has told his coach and school that he is considering transferring to North Park, and he obtained the required release in order to make an official visit to the corner of Foster & Kedzie. He made that visit either this past weekend or the previous weekend. it's expected that he will make his decision sometime before the middle of May.

Transfer #2 is thus less of a sure thing than Transfer #1, but the North Park coaching staff believes that they have a better than 50-50 chance of landing Transfer #2, not only because the visit he and his family made to North Park was so positive but because prior experience indicates that when a student-athlete goes to the extent of informing his coach and school that he is contemplating a transfer to a particular school, and he makes a visit to that school, the transfer usually comes to pass. Telling your coach and other people at your school that you're contemplating a move to another school is always a big psychological threshold for a student-athlete to cross.

Both of these players are not only easily CCIW-starter quality, they could potentially be All-CCIW quality as well. I make no guarantees as far as their impact is concerned, because that would be unfounded and premature. But the NPU coaches are ecstatic at the thought at getting Transfer #1 into a Viking uni, since he had been one of their most highly-sought prospects back when he was in high school. Transfer #2 is one of those serendipitous developments that came out of nowhere (a la Rob Berki ).

There's also still a good chance that Stephano Jones will return to the Park for the 2008-09 school year, which would be a terrific addition as well for the Vikings.

Incidentally, I should amend what I said yesterday about North Park not pursuing more than one prospect whom other CCIW schools are also pursuing. There are two of them, not one. I forgot about the big man (whose name I will not disclose) whom both NPU and Millikin are after. I think that NPU's gonna get him, but we'll just have to wait and see.

[Gotberg]

Greg,

Are these guaranteed transfers?  Or just hopeful?

I've learned over the years that there's no such thing as a guarantee until October 15 rolls around. But of the various impact transfers that the NPU coaches have been courting, one has already made an oral commitment to the Park but has to wait until all of his previous school's bills are paid off (which will probably be the middle of the summer) and his tuition deposit is in before he's formally on board. The other one has told his coach and school that he is considering transferring to North Park, and he obtained the required release in order to make an official visit to the corner of Foster & Kedzie. He made that visit either this past weekend or the previous weekend. it's expected that he will make his decision sometime before the middle of May.

Transfer #2 is thus less of a sure thing than Transfer #1, but the North Park coaching staff believes that they have a better than 50-50 chance of landing Transfer #2, not only because the visit he and his family made to North Park was so positive but because prior experience indicates that when a student-athlete goes to the extent of informing his coach and school that he is contemplating a transfer to a particular school, and he makes a visit to that school, the transfer usually comes to pass. Telling your coach and other people at your school that you're contemplating a move to another school is always a big psychological threshold for a student-athlete to cross.

Both of these players are not only easily CCIW-starter quality, they could potentially be All-CCIW quality as well. I make no guarantees as far as their impact is concerned, because that would be unfounded and premature. But the NPU coaches are ecstatic at the thought at getting Transfer #1 into a Viking uni, since he had been one of their most highly-sought prospects back when he was in high school. Transfer #2 is one of those serendipitous developments that came out of nowhere (a la Rob Berki ).

There's also still a good chance that Stephano Jones will return to the Park for the 2008-09 school year, which would be a terrific addition as well for the Vikings.

Incidentally, I should amend what I said yesterday about North Park not pursuing more than one prospect whom other CCIW schools are also pursuing. There are two of them, not one. I forgot about the big man (whose name I will not disclose) whom both NPU and Millikin are after. I think that NPU's gonna get him, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks Greg

[Mr. Ypsi]

This post has no obvious place, but CCIW Chat seems to be the 'heart' of CCIW postings, so here it is.

As far as I can tell from the CCIW website, the conference has no 'all-sports trophy'; this is an attempt to remedy that omission!   The conference sponsors 21 sports, 15 of which are played by all members.  I've scored all (regular-season) finishes based on how many teams participated (e.g., 1st in basketball = 8; 1st in wrestling = 5); for men's and women's swimming, affiliate member RHIT was ignored, and the finish of CCIW teams were scored from 6 down to 1 (for the 6 sports where some teams did not participate, they scored 0).  All sports have now concluded, except that in baseball the 1-6 positions are established, but last place Millikin and Elmhurst are tied and each still has a game to go - since it won't change anything (and I'm an impatient cuss), I arbitrarily gave them each 1.5 points.

The top programs were pretty darn close.  The 2007-08 standings:

Wheaton   117.5
IWU          111.5
Carthage   110
Augie        103
NCC           92.5
Elmhurst     60.5
Millikin        53.5
NPU           25.5

Of course, as a proud 'green wienie', I can't help mentioning the simpler version that some posters seem to prefer (i.e., 'if you ain't first, who cares')!  Titles:

IWU         7
Wheaton   5
NCC         4
Augie       3
Carthage  3*
Elmhurst   0*
Millikin      0
NPU         0

*On the pitch, Elmhurst beat Carthage for the men's soccer title, but had to forfeit when a player was determined to have had too many yellow cards; since that player would almost certainly not have changed the outcome, feel free to score the titles as Carthage 2, Elmhurst 1 if you so desire.