MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

The NABC is also doing a Team Academic Excellence Award for the first time.
http://www.nabc.org/NABC_Releases/2012-13_NABC_Team_Academic_Excellence_Awards.pdf

Alma, Hope and Kalamazoo all received this award

[HopeConvert]

Tom Snikkers will be playing for Aris Leeuwarden in the Dutch league this upcoming season. Last season, Michigan's Zack Novak played in that league for Zwolle. The link below contains the (awkwardly) translated announcement. Among the things I learned is that Snik is 1.94 meters tall.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://arisleeuwarden.nl/nieuws/tom-snikkers-naar-aris-leeuwarden.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dtom%2Bsnikkers%2Baris%2Bleeuwarden%26biw%3D1164%26bih%3D845

The translated posts aludes to Tom getting a Dutch passport based on his heritage. I assume the league has some manner of foreign player cap (as many/most European leagues have) and wonder if this would allow him to count as a domestic player for the league.

It might. Tom's Dad was born in the Netherlands and never became an American citizen. I suspect that since Tom's father is a Dutch citizen, the Dutch professional league considers his son to automatically count as a domestic (i.e., Dutch) player. That would explain the Dutch passport Tom is traveling to Chicago to obtain.

Here is a slightly less tortured translation of the press release:

Tom Snikkers will play next season in the Kalverdijkje (Sports Center in Leeuwarden).  The 22-year old Snikkers played 4 years of NCAA Division III for Calvin College, where he averaged 13.4 points per game last year.  In his college career he scored 1464 points.  Snikkers will receive a Dutch passport this month.  Snikkers roots are grounded in Dutch soil.   
The small forward is known for his strength and explosiveness.  Last season Snikkers' team won the MIAA conference championship as well as the MIAA tournament, after which Calvin College reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Div III tournament.
Calvin College is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where many Dutch immigrants settled, as well as in  the surrounding area.  Ergo, the new Aris acquisition played with teammates named Rietema, Brink, Huizenga, de Vries, de Bour and Dijkstra. 
Snikkers is the fourth (Dutch) player slated (to play for Aris) following Dexter Hope, Tjoe de Paula, and Jan van der Kooij.

Less tortured, but not nearly as entertaining.

[sac]

Olivet and Kalamazoo have posted their schedules.

Kalamazoo  http://hornets.kzoo.edu/sports/mbkb/2013-14/schedule
Olivet  http://www.olivetcomets.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/schedule

Highlights for the Comets is a season tipoff at UW-Platteville, a real game with Grand Valley State, and a home date with probable OAC favorite Baldwin-Wallace (OCSID will no doubt be conflicted)

Highlights for Kalamazoo, a couple fewer D3 opponents and a game with D1 IPFW.  Will participate in the "Tampa Bay Shootout" which is actually hosted by DePauw in Florida

[sac]

Schedules

Adrian:  http://www.adrianbulldogs.com/sports/m-baskbl/2013-14/schedule
Albion:  http://gobrits.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/schedule
Alma:  http://www.goalmascots.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/schedule
Calvin:  http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/basketball/schedule.htm
Hope:  http://www.hope.edu/athletics/mbb/
Kalamazoo:   http://hornets.kzoo.edu/sports/mbkb/2013-14/schedule
Olivet:  http://www.olivetcomets.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/schedule
Trine:  http://www.trine.edu/athletics/mens_sports/basketball/schedule/

[Flying Dutch Fan]

From the MIAA website:

MIAA Leads Division III In Men's Hoops Attendance for 22nd Straight Year; Hope, Calvin 1-2

The MIAA continues to be the dominant Division III conference in America when it comes to men's basketball attendance.

The MIAA led all Division III conferences in the country in attendance for the 22nd consecutive year, averaging 923 fans a game for 88 home dates during the 2012-13 season. The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) finished a distant second with an average attendance of 772 fans per contest.

MIAA members Hope and Calvin finished one-two in attendance for the season. Hope won the Division III team attendance title for the 11th year in a row with an average attendance of 2,748 fans per game at DeVos Fieldhouse. Calvin averaged 1,949 fans per game at Van Noord Arena, a 39 percent increase from a year ago, in moving up from fourth to second among Division III schools.


And then they tweeted this:

Today's Fast Fact: D3 men's attendance champ Hope had a higher average attendance that 180 D1 schools last year. #miaa #whyd3 #d3hoops

and this:

Among the D1s that drew fewer fans than Hope: U-D, Oakland, EMU, CMU, Miami (OH), Harvard, Yale, Navy, Army, & Fla. Gulf Coast #miaa # whyd3

Here is the link to attendance data for last season:

http://static.psbin.com/t/l/2qrqt0qrbynwz9/2013_Division_III_MBB_attendance.pdf

[sac]

Grand Rapids Northpointe Christian guard Drew Zuidema has committed to Spring Arbor joining teammate Zach Baker.  While the following article doesn't mention any D3's as options I can't imagine he would be totally ignored by a couple of the MIAA schools.

http://npcmustangs.com/2013/08/13/northpointes-drew-zuidema-ends-recruiting-war-says-yes-to-spring-arbor/


Bonus:
The article mentions briefly that Joey Gaffin of Northpointe "plans on  playing at Calvin"

[Civic Minded]

Hope's Will Bowser has been "drafted" by James Harden for the Harden vs. Durant, Nike event "Summer is Serious."  There were at least 100 applicants (I'm guessing way more, then narrowed to 100), and each "coach" drafted 8.  Game is this Friday.  Still trying to find out if there's a way to watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIfM9XGsnak

[gordonmann]

That's very cool.  How'd he get involved?

[Civic Minded]

That's very cool.  How'd he get involved?

Not sure.  It was a nationwide campaign by Nike, but don't know how he came to find out about it.

[Gregory Sager]

He just did it.

[sac]

He just did it.

[hope1]

nice picture  sac

[maroonandgold]

The article (about Drew Zuidema's choice of Spring Arbor)  mentions briefly that Joey Gaffin of Northpointe "plans on  playing at Calvin"

Does anyone know anything about  Joey Gaffin?  What position does he play?  What does he do best?  What were his point and rebound averages?

[goodknight]

The buzz on the boulevard around Knollcrest Way is that Brad Visser, one of KVS's top recruits this past year, has opted to turn down his earlier acceptance of a preferred walk-on spot at Central Michigan University.  It now appears highly likely that he'll wear the maroon and gold for the Calvin College Knights instead of the Chips.  We'll know for sure on the first day of school, early next month.

[oldknight]

The buzz on the boulevard around Knollcrest Way is that Brad Visser, one of KVS's top recruits this past year, has opted to turn down his earlier acceptance of a preferred walk-on spot at Central Michigan University.  It now appears highly likely that he'll wear the maroon and gold for the Calvin College Knights instead of the Chips.  We'll know for sure on the first day of school, early next month.

If it comes to pass, the biggest KVS recruiting scoop of the year was getting Visser's girlfriend to attend Calvin. It seems Brad has removed the CMU logo from his twitter page and he recently tweeted Jeremiah 29:11. That passage reads:

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Fortunately for Knight fans, it seems the Weeping prophet wasn't using the word "hope" as a proper noun.