MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[oldknight]

Made it to Adrian's "Morning Madness" today and the roster has undergone a complete overhaul (not surprising wih a new coach)  Only 4 players are back from last year's team despite the team only losing 2 seniors from last year.  The newcomers are very talented, Northwood transfer Jovon Mosley really stood out.  If all these newcomers can blend with the couple of returners Adrian could provide more of a challenge than the previous few years.  The talent level is certainly much higher, the question will be if they can play together, and if their lack of experience will hurt them also.  As a Bulldog Fan though, Coach White appears to have things heading in the right direction.

I'm interested in seeing what will happen at Adrian now that Mark White is running the Bulldog program. Over the years I've watched his Detroit Rennaissance teams play several times at the state finals, winning Class B twice. His 2004 squad was talent laden, finishing No. 3 in the nation in the USA Today poll, and he sent three players from that team to success at the DI level--Joe Crawford (Kentucky), Malik Hairston (Oregon) and Tajuan Porter (Oregon).  I thought White did a very nice job coaching his teams and while he certainly had talent to work with, he didn't mess it up either. I expect he is bringing in solid athletic talent to the conference but he needs to add some talented big men to truly be competitive in the MIAA. That's the most difficult part of recruiting at the D3 level. A lot of schools can get athletic hoopsters smaller than 6'3", but getting a couple of talented big men is what separates the good teams from the rest.

[realist]

Welcome BBB:  Always nice to have more posters.  I really see Adrian as the wild card team in the MIAA this year.  New coach, and so many new players it is almost impossible to predict how it will turn out.  
The one given is the other teams, and coaches are going to make Adrian learn some lessons the hard way. 

[KnightSlappy]

Welcome BBB:  Always nice to have more posters.  I really see Adrian as the wild card team in the MIAA this year.  New coach, and so many new players it is almost impossible to predict how it will turn out.  
The one given is the other teams, and coaches are going to make Adrian learn some lessons the hard way. 

It would be nice to see the league step up a notch in the coming years, and it sounds like the Bulldogs have some good talent coming in. The real question is will the talent stick around in the coming years?

A big problem for the league has been player turnover. We're seeing it with Kzoo this year, a really nice player in Kirkwood appears to be missing, Tony Benford left Trine before last year, Alma seems to have to re-tool every year, and Olivet only recently seems to be gaining consistency. After Calvin, Hope, and Albion, there really hasn't been a lot of year to year consistency (maybe that's why they seem to finish 1-3 in the league every year).

Perhaps that's just the nature of the D3 beast. It's tough to pay for an MIAA education, especially if you can collect some extra scholarship money for hooping it up elsewhere or attend a state sponsored school at a fraction of the cost.

[Gregory Sager]

After Calvin, Hope, and Albion, there really hasn't been a lot of year to year consistency (maybe that's why they seem to finish 1-3 in the league every year).

I think it's safe to remove the "maybe" from your parenthetical statement, KS.

[goodknight]

The 2009-2010 rosters for the men's varsity and junior varsity have been posted on the Calvin College website.
Four frosh on the varsity -- Powell. Snikkers, DeBoer and DeYoung.  Brent Schuster is back after taking last season off.  Three of last year's JV players made the jump -- Waters, Haverdink and Capel.  The returning core: Salo, Schnyders, Rodts, Campell, Veltema and Mantel.
Here's to a successful campaign for these young men.
And here's the link: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/basketball/roster.htm 

[GoKnights68]

The 2009-2010 rosters for the men's varsity and junior varsity have been posted on the Calvin College website.
Four frosh on the varsity -- Powell. Snikkers, DeBoer and DeYoung.  Brent Schuster is back after taking last season off.  Three of last year's JV players made the jump -- Waters, Haverdink and Capel.  The returning core: Salo, Schnyders, Rodts, Campell, Veltema and Mantel.
Here's to a successful campaign for these young men.
And here's the link: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/basketball/roster.htm 

One thing about freshmen on varsity, it means you got to play them some, as they'll never develop by sitting on the bench all game.  Therefore, it will be interested to see how De Young and De Boer do on varsity to start the season and where their roles will be. Looks like both are pretty tall players, with DeYoung weighing more than every player on the team, assuming the data is accurate  .  Powell and Snikkers I already am planning on having quite significant roles for freshmen imo.

Also looking forward to how Schuster will do.  I hope he's worked hard during this long span of time he's been away from Calvin basketball!

[KnightSlappy]

Looks like the Knights have some nice height on the JV squad.

It will be interesting to see who steps up for the Knights to fill the rotation. 4-5 guys who didn't contribute many minutes on Varsity last year should see significant playing time. KVS likes to use a 9 man rotation, even in the tightest of games, and only 4 major minute contributors return (Schnyders started games early on but didn't play much once the conference season started).

It's kinda scary but kinda exciting.

[almcguirejr]

The 2009-2010 rosters for the men's varsity and junior varsity have been posted on the Calvin College website.
Four frosh on the varsity -- Powell. Snikkers, DeBoer and DeYoung.  Brent Schuster is back after taking last season off.  Three of last year's JV players made the jump -- Waters, Haverdink and Capel.  The returning core: Salo, Schnyders, Rodts, Campell, Veltema and Mantel.
Here's to a successful campaign for these young men.
And here's the link: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/basketball/roster.htm 

I thought John Mantel's younger brother was coming to Calvin.  I don't see him on either roster.  Did he have a change of heart or was I mistaken?

[KnightSlappy]

The 2009-2010 rosters for the men's varsity and junior varsity have been posted on the Calvin College website.
Four frosh on the varsity -- Powell. Snikkers, DeBoer and DeYoung.  Brent Schuster is back after taking last season off.  Three of last year's JV players made the jump -- Waters, Haverdink and Capel.  The returning core: Salo, Schnyders, Rodts, Campell, Veltema and Mantel.
Here's to a successful campaign for these young men.
And here's the link: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/basketball/roster.htm 

I thought John Mantel's younger brother was coming to Calvin.  I don't see him on either roster.  Did he have a change of heart or was I mistaken?

Jake Mantel shows up on a Calvin People search, so he either didn't try out or he didn't quite make it.

[oldknight]

It's always tough comparing a freshmen class that hasn't played a game with prior classes whose fates are now known, but I sense that this year's newcomers to Calvin's campus may be the best ever recruited by KVS. The players I do know are talented and have a lot of potential to be very good D3 players. The class seems deep at every position and has nice size too. Last spring I got conflicting reports on Nate VanEck's size with claims ranging from 6'5" to 6'7". Calvin's tape measure puts him in at 6'8", one of four newcomers who are at least 6'6". There is a mistake on the JV roster** which shows Blair Decker as a freshmen from Unity Christian when he is actually a Covenant Christian grad and a high school teammate of Matt DeBoer.

I understand that two of the four freshmen listed on the varsity roster (Adam DeYoung and Matt DeBoer) are likely to share playing time with the JV team, at least early in the season. Although he is still a bit raw on the offensive side of the ball, DeYoung's presence is necessary, particularly in view of the fact that Ryan Scharps decided to not go out for the team. Adam needs refinement with his offense but he is every bit the 240 listed weight and should be a presence on defense and the boards. There's no baby fat on this kid and let me tell ya' he can move bodies. Hillsdale's D2 football program thought enough of Adam's ability to be a people mover that they offered him a full ride.


** UPDATE:   Calvin's IT Dept. is on the ball; the mistake has already been corrected. That didn't take long.

[realist]

Looking at the published roster seems to indicate that the fr. class has lived up to it's advance billing.  It pretty much matches what I had heard when on campus early on that a lot of guys were rethinking their b-ball futures.  6 guys 6' 6" or better will present many opponents some serious matchup problems.   Hopefully KVS will come up with game plans to utilize this advantage, and really force the action insde.  If memory serves correct Schynders was injured part of the year, and that impacted his p.t. 

[goodknight]

The 2009-2010 rosters for the men's varsity and junior varsity have been posted on the Calvin College website.
Four frosh on the varsity -- Powell. Snikkers, DeBoer and DeYoung.  Brent Schuster is back after taking last season off.  Three of last year's JV players made the jump -- Waters, Haverdink and Capel.  The returning core: Salo, Schnyders, Rodts, Campell, Veltema and Mantel.
Here's to a successful campaign for these young men.
And here's the link: http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/basketball/roster.htm 

I thought John Mantel's younger brother was coming to Calvin.  I don't see him on either roster.  Did he have a change of heart or was I mistaken?

Jake is indeed at Calvin, but a nagging injury (football related, no doubt) prompted the coaching staff and the medical practitioners to suggest that he take the year off.  Look for him next season.
As for Ryan Scharps, the word on the street is that he is changing career trajectory and is focusing on doing the things he needs to accomplish to be successful in life.  His presence will be missed in the low post. 

[Knight In The Stan]

It's always tough comparing a freshmen class that hasn't played a game with prior classes whose fates are now known, but I sense that this year's newcomers to Calvin's campus may be the best ever recruited by KVS. The players I do know are talented and have a lot of potential to be very good D3 players. The class seems deep at every position and has nice size too. Last spring I got conflicting reports on Nate VanEck's size with claims ranging from 6'5" to 6'7". Calvin's tape measure puts him in at 6'8", one of four newcomers who are at least 6'6". There is a mistake on the JV roster** which shows Blair Decker as a freshmen from Unity Christian when he is actually a Covenant Christian grad and a high school teammate of Matt DeBoer.

I understand that two of the four freshmen listed on the varsity roster (Adam DeYoung and Matt DeBoer) are likely to share playing time with the JV team, at least early in the season. Although he is still a bit raw on the offensive side of the ball, DeYoung's presence is necessary, particularly in view of the fact that Ryan Scharps decided to not go out for the team. Adam needs refinement with his offense but he is every bit the 240 listed weight and should be a presence on defense and the boards. There's no baby fat on this kid and let me tell ya' he can move bodies. Hillsdale's D2 football program thought enough of Adam's ability to be a people mover that they offered him a full ride.


** UPDATE:   Calvin's IT Dept. is on the ball; the mistake has already been corrected. That didn't take long.

There have been a lot of really solid recruiting years at Calvin under KVS. Espescially last years graduating class due to the fact that they all stayed in the program. But I would have to say that this freshman class below might be the best even though 1 of the 5 finished all four years at Calvin because of the immediate impact to the 99-00 National Championship team.

Jeremy Veenstra-Kzoo Christian
Bryan Foltice-Tri-Unity
David Bartels-Kzoo Christian
Jon Vander Pol-Kzoo Christian
Kyle Smith-GR Baptist

[Knight In The Stan]

Vander Plaus not Vander Pol...my bad people. Vander Plaus might not even be the correct spelling. Shame on me.

[realist]

KII.  You can be forgiven for getting that wrong.  There was a 6'8" kid named Vander Pol (I think from either South or Calvin Christian) at the time, and he, JV, and BF were know as the tres' amigos.  The third amigo went to CU, and may have played a part in the BF defection after 2 years.
Not sure any of the new guys are at the level that JV was.  He like Hondo, and Mark Veenstra are those once in a decade or two type impact guys.
I am optimistic on Calvin's outlook for this year based in part on how the roster has shaken out.  Some of the names that have disappeared are ones I thought would have seen playing time this year.  ie; Systma
Looking at KVS's recruiting I am sure he tries to get 2 or 3 players each year that will make solid contibutions, and see serious playing time their last 2 or 3 years.  3 players a year for 3 years gets you the 9 guys in the rotation.  Having a fr. play/start can be seen as having frosting on your cake, or it can be seen as plugging a hole from a previous year.  To me having 6 seniors last year meant weakness in this years sr. and jr. classes.  

The presence of only two (2) so's on the roster is not exactly a rousing endorsement for the strenght of that recruiting year.