MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

After North Park, the Junior Class was very difficult to rank...


1. North Park
- Nick Williams, 6-5/185 F (Niles North H.S.)
- Stephano Jones, 6/4/241 C (Lincoln College)
- Antonio Stevens, 6-3/185 G (Chicago Mt. Carmel H.S.)
- Chris Brown, 5-8/170 G (Rich East H.S.)

2. Wheaton
- Ben Panner, 6-3/175 G (Austin, TX)
- Jacob Carwell, 6-7/205 F/C (Timothy Christian)
- David Eseke, 6-4/210 F (Santa Barbara, CA)
- Jesse Viars, 6-1/175 G (Lebanon, OH)

3. Elmhurst
- Matt Ryder, 6-0/190 G (Bettendorf, IA)
- Chris Childs, 6-2/185 G (Barrington H.S.)
- Dustin Bainter, 6-2/180 G (Macomb H.S.)
- Mitch Blair, 6-1/180 G (St. Joseph-Ogden H.S.)
- Aaron Hintzsche, 6-5/215 F (Hiawatha H.S.)

4. Carthage
- Sean Fendley, 6-1/175 G (York H.S.)
- Adam Tolo, 6-6/190 F (South Suburban College, Queensland, Australia)
- Cody Hilton, 5-11/168 G (Glenbard East H.S.)
- Richard Williams, 6-6/202 C (North Boone H.S.)
- Steve Ideran, 6-3/170 G (Batavia H.S.)
- Eric Moore, 6-4/190 F (Neuqua Valley H.S.)
- Justin Walker, 6-4/180 F (Waubonsie Valley H.S.)
- Nick Sobieszczyk, 6-3/180 (St. Viator H.S.)
- Jon Lee, 6-1/180 G (Downers Grove South)

5. Augustana
- Matt Pelton, 6-2/203 G (Bloomington Central Catholic)
- Brian Larson, 6-1/192 G (Bettendorf, IA)
- Terrence Green, 6-10/190 C (Chicago King H.S.)

6. North Central
- Reid Barringer, 6-0/175 G (Sycamore H.S.)
- David Twyman, 6-3/195 G/F (Bolingbrook H.S.)
- Jon Knapczyk, 6-1/188 G (Plainfield H.S.)

7. Millikin
- Joscar Demby, 6-7 C (Romeoville H.S.)
- Charles Warren, 6-2 G (Decatur Eisenhower)
- Robert Burton, 6-4 G/F (Homewood-Flossmoor)
- Devin Demby, 6-2 G (Romeoville H.S.)
- Corey Mitchell, 6-0 G (Milwaukee, WI)

8. Illinois Wesleyan
- Sean Dwyer, 5-10/175 G (Hersey H.S.)

[Titan Q]

And finally, the Sophomore class, which was extremely difficult to rank since so many of these guys have not gotten their chance yet...


1. Illinois Wesleyan
- Sean Johnson, 6-1/185 G (Washington H.S.)
- Travis Rosenkranz, 6-0/175 G (Macon-Meridian H.S.)
- Doug Sexauer, 6-7/225 F (Lockport H.S.)
- Matt Schick, 6-4/200 F (Lincoln H.S.)
- Duncan Lawson, 6-7/230 F (Glenbard West H.S.)
- Edmond O'Callaghan, 6-6/200 F/C (St. Patrick H.S.)
- Josh Sutton, 6-5/215 F (Lincoln H.S.)
- Michael Kempf, 5-11/175 G (Hersey H.S.)

2. Carthage
- Steve Djurickovic, 6-3/179 G (Kenosha, WI)
- Jon Cieski, 6-1/180 G (Lemont H.S.)
- Drew Worsley, 6-2/160 G (Ottawa Marquette H.S.)
- Matt Weel, 6-1/170 G (Niles Notre Dame H.S.)

3. North Park
- Clayton Cahill, 6-0/180 G (University City, MO)
- Kendall Greer, 6-5/190 F (Marian Catholic H.S.)
- Phil Schneidermeier, 6-7/230 F (Loyola H.S.)
- Luke Christensen, 6-1/179 G (Baudette, MN)
- Lewis Wilson, 6-4/190 G (Kennedy King College)
- Nick Hoekstra, 6-5/210 G (Illiana Christian H.S.)
- Sean McNamee, 6-3/180 G (Rochelle, IL)

4. Augustana
- Mike Avallone, 6-4/189 G (Neuqua Valley H.S.)
- Kyle Nelson, 6-7 F (Deerfield H.S.)
- Drew Croegaert, 6-0/167 G (Geneseo H.S.)
- Bryant Voiles, 6-8/196 F (Byron H.S.)
- Tyson McCreight, 6-2/173 G (Sherrard H.S.)

5. Wheaton
- Andrew Jahns, 6-2/180 G (Wheaton North)
- Josh Kvam, 6-0/175 G (Canton, GA)
- Brad Smith, 6-5/215 F (Holdrege, NE)
- John Shackelford, 6-3/180 G (Orlando, FL)
- Jason Cellier, 6-3/190 G (Port Clinton, OH)

6. North Central
- Jamis Nelson, 6-4/198 G (Oak Park-River Forest H.S.)
- Brian Evans, 6-3/185 G (Glenbard North H.S.)
- Brett Hulett, 6-2/180 G (Glenbard North H.S.)
- Mike Winans, 6-2/180 G (Prospect H.S.)

7. Elmhurst
- Jimmy Saris, 5-9/160 G (Crystal Lake South)
- Matt Bernier, 6-2/175 G (Morton H.S.)
- Aaron Schroeder, 6-3/190 F (Normal U High)
- Joe Acosta, 6-2/180 G (York H.S.)

8. Millikin
- Kyle Taylor, 6-6 C (Bement H.S.)
- Tyler Rasmusson, 6-0 G (Roanoke-Benson H.S.)
- Justin Thompson, 6-2 G (Homewood-Flossmoor H.S.)

[Gregory Sager]

And finally, the Sophomore class, which was extremely difficult to rank since so many of these guys have not gotten their chance yet...

What you're doing is an interesting exercise, Bob, although I'll say the same thing about the freshmen that I did last year when you performed a similar exercise -- it's misleading and pointless to grade players who have yet to set foot on the court in a CCIW game. Sports is the earn-it business, and the freshmen haven't earned anything yet. At least the sophomores have a year under their belts on either the varsity or JV levels with which to gauge them.

(Caveat: I have a very strong suspicion that when the smoke clears in February of 2012 we will see that North Park is better than sixth in terms of the final quality of this particular class ... perhaps, in fact, a lot better than sixth. But even if you had ranked NPU first, I'd say the same thing I said in the paragraph above strictly on principle.)

(Caveat Number Two: After Russell and Benson, I'm not sure that there's a discernible #3 and #4 among the NPU frosh.)

I'm also not sure it's feasible to rank incoming transfers, since a lot of them fall into the "who is this guy?" and "who knows how well his past experience relates to the CCIW level?" categories.

Anyway, based upon what I've seen, I'll say this:

In terms of the sophomores, NPU's should probably be ranked Cahill, Greer, Schniedermeier, Wilson, Hoekstra, McNamee, Christensen. Wheaton's Brad Smith should be ranked second, behind Andrew Jahns; Smith missed his freshman year with a knee injury, and the Wheaton coaches are extremely high on what he could bring to the program. And Brett Hulett should be ranked at least second on NCC's list, if not first ahead of Jamis Nelson. Hulett was the most impressive freshman I saw last year for the Cardinals JV, although Nelson is quite the athlete (of course, I defer to AO when it comes to rating NCC's sophs). As for Elmhurst, while Jimmy Saris got more hype (and more varsity tick as a plebe), I wouldn't be at all surprised if Matt Bernier turns out to be a better player in the long run.

I would put Aaron Hintzsche higher among the Elmhurst juniors; I think he'll be Scherer's first big man off the bench, just like his brother. Richard Williams should be higher for Carthage, simply because the team's height-deprived circumstances will thrust him into a larger role than that of Cody Hilton. Eric Moore could be higher as well; he was the best Carthage JV player I saw in last season's CC @ NPU prelim, although the word from Kenosha is that Moore has been somewhat erratic.

The most interesting revelation I've gotten thus far from reading all of the freshly-posted rosters on the various CCIW team websites is that neither Pat Bacon nor Marco Macias will play for the Bluejays this season.

[thundermike11]

And finally, the Sophomore class, which was extremely difficult to rank since so many of these guys have not gotten their chance yet...


5. Wheaton
- Andrew Jahns, 6-2/180 G (Wheaton North)
- Josh Kvam, 6-0/175 G (Canton, GA)
- Brad Smith, 6-5/215 F (Holdrege, NE)
- John Shackelford, 6-3/180 G (Orlando, FL)
- Jason Cellier, 6-3/190 G (Port Clinton, OH)

We should be hearing a lot more about Andrew Jahns this season. Last year he made a very fast recovery from an ACL injury and didn't start playing until late December/early January. He has the ability to be the other scoring threat the Thunder needs in the starting 5.  I think the biggest thing for him is having the confidence to take his shot, which he should have.

I also think Brad Smith could end up being a contributer for Wheaton off the bench. He is a big, strong guy who can fill minutes for Wiele and/or Carwell. He missed last season with injuries, but all reports suggest he is back at full strength.

The other guys will most likely be on the JV squad, but all have good talent. Jason Cellier played varsity minutes early last year while Jahns was injured and did pretty well.

John Shackelford is one of the hardest workers on the team (in addition to being a great roommate  )

[Gregory Sager]

I took some ribbing from Greg, Q, and iwumichigan for my preseason optimism yesterday.  Now that the d3hoops preseason poll has them #18, apparently I'm not the only one who can at least 'envision' the Titans in Salem!

Uh, Chuck, 18th in the country in the preseason poll isn't the same thing as "envisioning" a team making it to Salem.

Obviously it is not predicting Salem (nor did I), but since the 2001 Titan Final Four team started at #25, unless you have a radically different definition of 'envisioning' than I do, I'll stand by my statement.

This isn't about your envisioning, Chuck, it's about other people's envisioning -- specifically, the pollsters who put IWU 18th. If they envisioned your Titans as a potential Final Four team, don't you think that they'd slot them higher than 18th? After all, it stands to reason that the teams one envisions as Final Four contenders are the teams that one puts towards the top of his poll. And, while the poll has had its scattershot moments, it's been a pretty decent forecaster of Final Fours recently; only four teams in the last five seasons made the Final Four while starting out lower than 14th in the preseason poll.

More to the point, do you think that they envisioned such a thing when they ranked eight other Midwest and West Region teams in their top eight slots? Quite honestly, it doesn't seem to me that they foresee anybody below that top eight coming out of the sectional that will include those two westernmost regions. If IWU was in one of the other six regions, you might be able to make a case for the pollsters thinking that the Titans could squeeze into the Final Four from the 18th preseason spot. But not in a year in which they put the Titans 18th and the Murderer's Row of Wash U, Augie, Wheaton, UWW, St. Thomas, UWSP, UWP, and Buena Vista in slots one thru eight.

And as far as '01 is concerned, it's not relevant at all to this season.

[Titan Q]

The most interesting revelation I've gotten thus far from reading all of the freshly-posted rosters on the various CCIW team websites is that neither Pat Bacon nor Marco Macias will play for the Bluejays this season.

Also, there is a kid who verballed to Elmhurst last Spring who does not appear on the '08-09 roster...

A.J. Sutherlin (6-5 SF, North Montgomery H.S., Crawfordsville, IN) - 18.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, .547 FG, .392 3-pt, .758 FT

http://www.thepaper24-7.com/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=23&ArticleID=15109

http://www.thepaper24-7.com/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=23&ArticleID=16486


I'm pretty sure the staff was high on Sutherlin...I want to say he was pursued aggressively by some good D2's.  Not sure if this is just an error on the roster or what the deal is.

http://athletics.elmhurst.edu/mbasketball/roster

[dansand]

Profiles of Augie's incoming freshmen (sorry it's so long):

CHRIS ANDERSON, Forward, 6-4, 190, Freshman, Mt. Carroll, Ill. (West Carroll)
Tremendous athlete...Outstanding leaper...Can play inside or outside...HIGH SCHOOL: Four-time varsity letter winner in basketball...Two-time IBCA second team all-state selection...Two-time Freeport Journal Standard "Player of the Year"...2008 Clinton Herald "Player of the Year"...Unanimous first team Northwest Upstate Illini all-conference pick...Named all-area by both the Sauk Valley Gazette and Quad City Times...As a junior averaged 14.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting .520 (52-100) from three point range...Averaged 17.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.2 blocked shots as a senior...Shot .469 from the field, .377 from three-point range and .727 from the free throw line...Three-time varsity letter winner in football...Passed for 953 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for 1052 yards and 16 touchdowns to earn class 3A first team all-state honors from the IHSFCA...High School Coach: Josh Knuth.

MAX ARTIS, 6-3, 224, Freshman, Kirkwood, Mo. (Kirkwood)
Son of Viking great Maxwell Artis...Physical frontcourt player...Knows how to score in the post...HIGH SCHOOL: Team captain...First team All-Suburban West Conference...All-district selection...Made MoSports.com's list of the top 77 seniors in the state...Averaged 15.0 points and 6.4 rebounds as a senior...Shot .534 from the field and .674 from the free throw line...MVP of the Dave Sinclair Invitational tournament...St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Athlete of the Week"...All-tournament at Webster Groves Classic and Meremec Holiday Festival...Participated in the Ramey Sports Missouri-Illinois All-Star game...High School Coach: Bill Gunn.

BRIAN DeSIMONE, Guard, 6-1, 188, Freshman, Wheeling, Ill. (Buffalo Grove)
Outstanding point guard prospect...Good scorer...Excellent in transition...HIGH SCHOOL: Four-time varsity letter winner in basketball...Team captain...Three time all-conference and two-time "Player of the Year" in the Mid-Suburban East conference...Two-time Daily Herald all-area...Pioneer Press all-area...Earned all-state honors from the IBCA, AP and Champaign News-Gazette... Averaged 16 points, four rebounds and four assists as a senior...Made 57 three-pointers and 80% of his free throws...Third on Buffalo Grove's career scoring list with 1,161 points...Ranked in the top 50  in Illinois' class of 2008 players by both ChicagoHoops.com and WindyCityBasketball.com...All-conference and all-area soccer player as well...High School Coach: Ryan O'Connor.

GRIFFIN DWYER, Guard, 6-1, 187, Freshman, Arlington Heights, Ill. (Hersey)
Excellent all-around athlete...outstanding defender...Solid shooter...HIGH SCHOOL: Won a total of seven varsity letters in basketball, soccer and volleyball and served as a team captain in each...Averaged 14.4 points and 3.1 rebounds as a senior to earn team's MVP award...Made 62-of-140 three pointers for a .443 percentage...Also made 50% of his two-pointers and .685 of his free throws...Mid-Suburban League all-conference pick...Named all-area by both the Daily Herald and Pioneer Press...High School Coach: Steve Messer.

JOSH EVANS, Forward, 6-4, 173, Freshman, Skokie, Ill. (Niles North)
Puts his length and athletic ability to use on the defensive end...Excels in transition...HIGH SCHOOL: Named team's top defender...Winner of the slam dunk contest at the Chicago High School Classic all-star game...Won two varsity letters in basketball, three in track & field and one in football...High School Coach: Bill Pistorius.

TROY RORER, Guard, 6-2, 190, Freshman, Bettendorf, Iowa (Bettendorf)
Outstanding athletic ability...Brother of former Viking player Oliver Rorer...HIGH SCHOOL: Helped lead Bettendorf to a second place finish in the state tournament as a junior and a 19-4 record as a senior...Team MVP as a senior...Averaged 9.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.9 steals...First team All-Mississippi Valley Conference...Quad City Times second team all-metro...IBCA all-substate selection...Played wide receiver for the Bulldog football team and competed in track & field as well...High School Coach: Kevin Skillett.

ERIC SAFRANSKI, Guard, 6-0, 166, Freshman, Mark, Ill. (Putnam County)
Excellent potential at point guard...Outstanding shooter...Good speed with the ball...HIGH SCHOOL: Led Putnam County to a 23-7 record and a sectional finals appearance as a senior...Averaged 12.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game...Shot .453 from the field, .382 from three point range and .778 from the free throw line...First team All-Tri-County Conference...LaSalle News Tribune all-area selection...IBCA special mention all-state...Earned four varsity letters in basketball and three in baseball...National Honor Society member...High School Coach: John Slingsby.

PETE WESSELS, Guard, 6-2, 182, Freshman, Bettendorf, Iowa (Bettendorf)
Athletic, physical wing player...Younger brother of Viking standouts Brett and Drew Wessels...HIGH SCHOOL: Team captain...Averaged 10.3 points a game to lead a 19-4 Bettendorf team in scoring...Also averaged 3.2 rebounds a game...Helped the Bulldogs to a second place state finish as a junior...Bettendorf went 37-12 during his junior and senior seasons...Second team All-Mississippi Valley Conference and honorable mention Quad City Times all-area as a senior...Also academic all-conference...National Honor Society member...High School Coach: Kevin Skillett.

[AndOne]

As the dust is finally settling on last year's recruiting, here is my best effort in ranking the CCIW's freshman classes.

(Those in the know, please chime in if you feel I have missed a freshman who should be in your school's top 4, or if you propose a different order to your top 4.)

5. North Central
- Lee Piccinelli, 5-11 G (Henry H.S.)
- Mark Adams, 6-3 G (Aurora Central Catholic H.S.)
- Tyler Ruschmeyer, 6-5 F (Pekin H.S.)
- Cameron Sweatman, 6-7 F (Bradley U. walk-on, Springfield Calvary Academy)

While its exceptionally difficult to rank entire classes by skill level, and even pretty tough to rank players within their individual school's class, I will make a few comments regarding the North Central players based on what I know and have also observed. NCC has a fine group of freshman this season. I don't think I'm letting any secrets out of the bag or stepping on any toes when I say that Mark Adams is unquestionably NCC's top recruit. This is a kid who was receiving looks from some lower DI schools who finally turned away most likely due to concerns that Mark may have been a tick slow to play the 2 at the DI level, and a little vertically challenged. at 6'3", to play the 3. I saw Mark score 34 against an exceptionally athletic and talented Marshall team on a night where he was the best player on the floor. His points were a combination of long range bombs, mid-range jumpers, and drives through traffic. I'm sure many of the players TQ ranked #1 at the various schools have been and will be great players. We've certainly heard a lot about them. However, sight unseen, I'll bet Mark can hold his own against any of them.

Additionally, another NCC frosh that must be mentioned, and again I am not going to rank him 2, 3, or whatever, is Kevin Gillespie. Kevin sees the whole floor well, makes good decisions and takes care of the ball, and hits a nice percentage of his shots. He has shown very well since practice began, and Kevin's primary asset that has come to light is that it can be said he just "gets it" as far as a thorough understanding of the game and of the various positions within the game. In Kevin and Lee Piccinelli, who can play either the point or 2 guard, the Cards have a pair of keepers on the perimeter. With NCC's tandem of superior forwards in Chris Drennan and Matt Rogers, Tyler Ruschmeyer's primary contributions will likely come at the JV level this season, but I certainly look for him to be a major player a little further on down the line.     

[AndOne]

And finally, the Sophomore class, which was extremely difficult to rank since so many of these guys have not gotten their chance yet...

6. North Central
- Jamis Nelson, 6-4/198 G (Oak Park-River Forest H.S.)
- Brian Evans, 6-3/185 G (Glenbard North H.S.)
- Brett Hulett, 6-2/180 G (Glenbard North H.S.)
- Mike Winans, 6-2/180 G (Prospect H.S.)

As far as sophs are concerned, I'd have to put Brian Evans at the top of the NCC soph class at this point. Brian will never be out hustled and have anything less that a great attitude. His game is based on power and speed. He excels on taking the ball to the hole, and if he doesn't finish, he hits a good percentage of his free throws. He has a nose for the ball, and I absolutely dare you to find a better rebounding guard under about 6'5". Additionally, brian is a very good, hard-nosed defender. Brian's mistakes are ones of commission rather than omission. He'll improve even more when he learns to slow down a little and let the game come to him. As mentioned by GS, Brett Hulett, who did some nice work on the JV team last year, is a shooter who is capable of igniting quickly and putting up several points in a relativelt short time span. Jamis Nelson has superior athleticism, quickness, and springs, and who just needs to channel his aggressiveness and improve his decision making.

[AndOne]

After North Park, the Junior Class was very difficult to rank...


1. North Park
- Nick Williams, 6-5/185 F (Niles North H.S.)
- Stephano Jones, 6/4/241 C (Lincoln College)
- Antonio Stevens, 6-3/185 G (Chicago Mt. Carmel H.S.)
- Chris Brown, 5-8/170 G (Rich East H.S.)

2. Wheaton
- Ben Panner, 6-3/175 G (Austin, TX)
- Jacob Carwell, 6-7/205 F/C (Timothy Christian)
- David Eseke, 6-4/210 F (Santa Barbara, CA)
- Jesse Viars, 6-1/175 G (Lebanon, OH)

3. Elmhurst
- Matt Ryder, 6-0/190 G (Bettendorf, IA)
- Chris Childs, 6-2/185 G (Barrington H.S.)
- Dustin Bainter, 6-2/180 G (Macomb H.S.)
- Mitch Blair, 6-1/180 G (St. Joseph-Ogden H.S.)
- Aaron Hintzsche, 6-5/215 F (Hiawatha H.S.)

4. Carthage
- Sean Fendley, 6-1/175 G (York H.S.)
- Adam Tolo, 6-6/190 F (South Suburban College, Queensland, Australia)
- Cody Hilton, 5-11/168 G (Glenbard East H.S.)
- Richard Williams, 6-6/202 C (North Boone H.S.)
- Steve Ideran, 6-3/170 G (Batavia H.S.)
- Eric Moore, 6-4/190 F (Neuqua Valley H.S.)
- Justin Walker, 6-4/180 F (Waubonsie Valley H.S.)
- Nick Sobieszczyk, 6-3/180 (St. Viator H.S.)
- Jon Lee, 6-1/180 G (Downers Grove South)

5. Augustana
- Matt Pelton, 6-2/203 G (Bloomington Central Catholic)
- Brian Larson, 6-1/192 G (Bettendorf, IA)
- Terrence Green, 6-10/190 C (Chicago King H.S.)

6. North Central
- Reid Barringer, 6-0/175 G (Sycamore H.S.)
- David Twyman, 6-3/195 G/F (Bolingbrook H.S.)
- Jon Knapczyk, 6-1/188 G (Plainfield H.S.)

7. Millikin
- Joscar Demby, 6-7 C (Romeoville H.S.)
- Charles Warren, 6-2 G (Decatur Eisenhower)
- Robert Burton, 6-4 G/F (Homewood-Flossmoor)
- Devin Demby, 6-2 G (Romeoville H.S.)
- Corey Mitchell, 6-0 G (Milwaukee, WI)

8. Illinois Wesleyan
- Sean Dwyer, 5-10/175 G (Hersey H.S.)

Many of this year's juniors have yet to make much of a contribution due to having to wait their turn so to speak. I don't think there is any question about the superiority of North Park's junior class. As far as Wheaton goes, I'd say only Panner has made any really meaningful contributions yet. Ryder is a good shooter for EC. Is this the year one of the other juniors will emerge at point for the Jays? The only Carthage junior to contribute much at all has been Fendley. Many of the other Red Men juniors were pretty highly recruited coming out of HS, but haven't really done anything since arriving at CC. Now, with Steve D there, most probably never will. I though Eric Moore might break out a little last year, but I've seen several reports here indicating he has not been very consistent. One player i think has some potential is Justin Walker. At Augie, Pelton had a nice season. However, I was a little surprised to see him named all-conference. With Delp's return, along with Washington and Wessels, will he even play much this season?? Demby is a nice player for Millikin. Sean Dwyer suffers from lack of a supporting junior class, but I think he could start on many teams, including Wesleyan.

Concerning NCC's juniors, Reid Barringer led the league in 3 pointers made in conference and was 2nd overall only to Kent Raymond who played 5 more games. Reid also shot almost 44% on this 3 pointers. During the year, Reid also significantly improved his ball handling skills. A very dangerous and valuable player indeed. David Twyman, who played about 45% of the time, ranked very highly in both steals and rebounds. Without doing the math, I'd bet his numbers in these areas were among the league's highest in proportion to minutes played.   

[Mr. Ypsi]

I took some ribbing from Greg, Q, and iwumichigan for my preseason optimism yesterday.  Now that the d3hoops preseason poll has them #18, apparently I'm not the only one who can at least 'envision' the Titans in Salem!

Uh, Chuck, 18th in the country in the preseason poll isn't the same thing as "envisioning" a team making it to Salem.

Obviously it is not predicting Salem (nor did I), but since the 2001 Titan Final Four team started at #25, unless you have a radically different definition of 'envisioning' than I do, I'll stand by my statement.

This isn't about your envisioning, Chuck, it's about other people's envisioning -- specifically, the pollsters who put IWU 18th. If they envisioned your Titans as a potential Final Four team, don't you think that they'd slot them higher than 18th? After all, it stands to reason that the teams one envisions as Final Four contenders are the teams that one puts towards the top of his poll. And, while the poll has had its scattershot moments, it's been a pretty decent forecaster of Final Fours recently; only four teams in the last five seasons made the Final Four while starting out lower than 14th in the preseason poll.

More to the point, do you think that they envisioned such a thing when they ranked eight other Midwest and West Region teams in their top eight slots? Quite honestly, it doesn't seem to me that they foresee anybody below that top eight coming out of the sectional that will include those two westernmost regions. If IWU was in one of the other six regions, you might be able to make a case for the pollsters thinking that the Titans could squeeze into the Final Four from the 18th preseason spot. But not in a year in which they put the Titans 18th and the Murderer's Row of Wash U, Augie, Wheaton, UWW, St. Thomas, UWSP, UWP, and Buena Vista in slots one thru eight.

And as far as '01 is concerned, it's not relevant at all to this season.

I'll bow out because it is clear that we have very different definitions of 'envisioning'.

If four teams in the last five years have gone to Salem despite pre-season rankings below 14, to me any team I would spend a top 25 vote on I could 'envision' in the Final Four.  Not predict (those would all be near the top (since brackets are unpredictable, not necessarily my top 4, 5, or any other particular number), but envision (which would probably include my top 30-40).

[petemcb]

Carthage's 2009 roster is up as of today...

http://carthage.edu/athleticspages/mens/basketball/roster.html

Adam Tolo is the transfer that K-Mark has been hinting at (I assume). 

Tolo comes with a ready-made nickname, for those interested. Call him "Cane Toad", as that's what Aussies call one of their compatriots who hails from the state of Queensland. Tolo's hometown in Queensland, Mackay, has an annual average temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Man, he's just going to love Kenosha in January!

The CCIW atlas spreads wider, as I believe that Tolo is the first Aussie and Ross Mathison is the first Scotsman to play CCIW basketball, unless Dennis can conjure up a native of Australia or Scotland from prior to 1979-80.

With the returning RedMen strength at guard, and that entering class, will we finally see the running Titan joke of the 5-guard offense played out in Kenosha?

At the end of last season NPU was starting four guards and a player best suited to play small forward, and I don't think that even Carthage will get that close to a five-guard setup.

And, Pete, you said your son really enjoyed his trip to Bloomington - what gives?

Looks like that postdated third-party check you signed over to young Pete didn't clear, Chuck.

Carwell did transfer to Wheaton from Benedictine prior to last season. He started 26 of Wheaton's 30 games, and averaged being on the floor for almost exactly 1/2 of the games he played in.

They weren't steady minutes, either. Carwell had a game in which he played 36 minutes, and games in which he played three, six, and eight minutes. In Wheaton's four tourney games, he played 15 minutes against Lawrence; nine minutes against Loras; seven minutes against Whitworth; and 34 minutes against Hope. Some of that variation may have been the result of matchups, but I have to think that it had a lot to do with being in and out of Bill Harris's doghouse as well. If you don't play defense for Harris, he'll do everything he can to keep you planted on his bench. I think that the major reason why he kept going back to Carwell over the course of the season was because he just didn't have other bigs to whom he could turn.

Jeffery does not appear on the Carthage roster which is current as of today.
Still holding out hope that he will be a part of this year's team?

According to what the Carthage people said earlier, Jeffery's only eligible to play in the second semester. I'm guessing that Bosko didn't include Jeffery on the current roster because only an eligible student can be listed.

He might also be waiting until Jeffery enrolls.  Has anyone confirmed that he is even attending Carthage at this point?

[petemcb]

Michael,

Been monitoring the website daily and you still beat me to it...

Well, the roster is finally up and unfortunately, not much size added to this class.  Tolo is indeed the player that I referenced and he sounds like he will help out right away.  I still think Stuart and Williams will be effective inside with a defined role.  Stuart started to see some action late last year and is a good jumper (former volleyball player).   Williams is an energy guy as noted in the profiles...so, will they dominate inside - no, but can they fit a role, sure they can.  To early to speculate if Jeffery will be part of the mix but his size will help too.   

I think Mark is correct here.  While a dominant big guy is always nice, Carthage is looking at a more effective group of big men, collectively, than they played last year.  I watched quite a few games up in Deerfield this summer.  Didn't see Tolo, but did see Rich Williams, Adam Stuart, and Eric Moore, among others.  Rich is active and athletic around the boards and should see more time this year, as, I'm guessing, will Adam Stuart.  This summer, Adam was strong under the boards and around the basket.  When he spent his time in the paint this summer, he was very effective and played strong enough to be a legitimate force.  He hit the glass hard and picked up a lot of his points on putbacks.

With a couple of guards like Steve D and a healthy Sean Fendley, plus Freshman Max Cary who it seems Carthage is very excited about, the glass work that Stuart and Williams offer, plus the addition of Tolo who it sounds like plays a nice team game puts Carthage in better shape than they were at this point last year  -  on paper.  If these bigs prove to be any more effective than last year, plus with the addition of a healthy, stronger Sean Fendley for the entire season, it will be interesting to see if Carthage can replicate and extend the start they got off to last year.

[petemcb]

As the dust is finally settling on last year's recruiting, here is my best effort in ranking the CCIW's freshman classes.

My attorneys have asked that I note the following:

* I've attempted to rank each school's top 4 freshman in order of projected longerm impact.
* Overall rank is based on projected longterm impact of the listed recruits collectively.
* This is a terribly unscientific excercise.
* Very sure this exercise will get me in trouble and cause controvery, which I enjoy.

(Those in the know, please chime in if you feel I have missed a freshman who should be in your school's top 4, or if you propose a different order to your top 4.)




7. Carthage
- Pace Bennett, 6-2/170 G (Rock Island – Alleman H.S.)
- Max Cary, 6-3/160 G (Geneva H.S.)
- Jake Hasse, 6-3/170 G (Naperville North H.S.)
- Ross Mathison, 6-5/245 C (Glasgow, Scotland)

I think Max Cary might be at the top of this list. 

[petemcb]

I took some ribbing from Greg, Q, and iwumichigan for my preseason optimism yesterday.  Now that the d3hoops preseason poll has them #18, apparently I'm not the only one who can at least 'envision' the Titans in Salem!

Uh, Chuck, 18th in the country in the preseason poll isn't the same thing as "envisioning" a team making it to Salem.

Obviously it is not predicting Salem (nor did I), but since the 2001 Titan Final Four team started at #25, unless you have a radically different definition of 'envisioning' than I do, I'll stand by my statement.

I can envision being in Salem...........but then I was just there.

Nice play that I don't believe has been acknowledged.