MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Gregory Sager]

990 is a Federal filing required of tax exempt organizations.
Google "Calvin College 990" or "Hope College 990" etc. to get the information.  It helps to have some experience reading/reviewing financial filings.   Key to look at is the balance sheet.  Does the organization have adequate cash flow to cover operating expenses?
Obviously if enrollment takes a deep drop it is going to cut revenue, and that is just the start of potential problems.

HC is right that you need to survive the first wave.  However, some colleges may survive the first wave, but will lack the liquidity necessary to ramp back up for a full or long term recovery.

Yep. Read the 990s carefully and you'll see some schools are drawing down their endowment, which will increase their tuition dependency. They will also discount their tuitions at higher rates (some of the schools are already doing this at unsustainably high rates in order to attract students, but it doesn't help their cash flow).

See, for example: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/30/us/small-colleges-losing-market-share-struggle-to-keep-doors-open.html?_r=0

Any word on how the 990 for Grundy College looks?

That may be the most arcane reference in the history of this board.

Ostfriesian immigrants and their progeny would beg to differ.

I had no idea until I did a search for Grundy College that the CRC at one time contained a German element. (Yeah, they were Ostfriesian, but this Banner story claims that they spoke Plattdeutsch rather than Frisian as their cradle language and used Hochdeutsch as their worship language, kinda similar to the language pattern that the Amish in Michiana still employ today.) Does this German element represent a skeleton in your folk's Dutch-American closet?

I once taught at a school that had an adult degree completion program, and I think the best analogy to it is that it was crack cocaine. A sudden influx of money, but it caused immediate problems and was unsustainable in the long term. By that time, the damage is done.

That's not a universal scenario. North Park's School of Professional Studies (formerly the Department of Adult Learning) is thirty years old and has always been a thriving and self-sustaining branch of NPU.

[HOPEful]

Hope 85 John Carroll 72

Great game by the Dutchmen! Especially Blackledge who finished with 32 points.

[goodknight]

At the half in Kenosha:
Carthage 46
Calvin 45
Wait for the next 20 minutes -- or more.

[Gregory Sager]

Calvin knocked off a young but improving Carthage team up in Kenosha tonight, 88-83.

What's more, Calvin fans will be heartened to hear that Bosko Djurickovic is a big fan of this year's edition of the Knights. From the Carthage game story:

Following the game, head coach Bosko Djurickovic stated, "Calvin is a good team. They will finish with 17, 18, 19 wins. They play in a league that is not as good as ours, and yet, the two good teams we played so far we lost to.  We lost to River Falls last week and Calvin tonight. Both games we had every chance to win. There is really no reason for us to be discouraged, this will be a very good basketball team and we should get better as the year goes along.  But we have to find some keys that get us there. We have been doing some stuff pretty well, and yet, evidently, not well enough. So it's back to the drawing board tonight and we will see what we can get done for Saturday."

"We have been talking about rebounding for three years and emphasizing it, and after the first four games we were plus-seven, plus-seven and a half. Tonight we were minus-17," said the head coach. "This is what Calvin does well. They are always huge. They were able to force their will on us one-on-one around the basket and it wasn't necessarily their big guys. We competed very well. We limited their big guys to under 50-percent, yet we let their guards hurt us. They pounded us on the boards. We never found the right answer defensively, and as a result we lost a close game."

[oldknight]

990 is a Federal filing required of tax exempt organizations.
Google "Calvin College 990" or "Hope College 990" etc. to get the information.  It helps to have some experience reading/reviewing financial filings.   Key to look at is the balance sheet.  Does the organization have adequate cash flow to cover operating expenses?
Obviously if enrollment takes a deep drop it is going to cut revenue, and that is just the start of potential problems.

HC is right that you need to survive the first wave.  However, some colleges may survive the first wave, but will lack the liquidity necessary to ramp back up for a full or long term recovery.

Yep. Read the 990s carefully and you'll see some schools are drawing down their endowment, which will increase their tuition dependency. They will also discount their tuitions at higher rates (some of the schools are already doing this at unsustainably high rates in order to attract students, but it doesn't help their cash flow).

See, for example: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/30/us/small-colleges-losing-market-share-struggle-to-keep-doors-open.html?_r=0

Any word on how the 990 for Grundy College looks?

That may be the most arcane reference in the history of this board.

Ostfriesian immigrants and their progeny would beg to differ.

I had no idea until I did a search for Grundy College that the CRC at one time contained a German element. (Yeah, they were Ostfriesian, but this Banner story claims that they spoke Plattdeutsch rather than Frisian as their cradle language and used Hochdeutsch as their worship language, kinda similar to the language pattern that the Amish in Michiana still employ today.) Does this German element represent a skeleton in your folk's Dutch-American closet?

We prefer to call the Ostfriesian element a rump group.

For me, there is a Calvin BB connection, as my parents were friends with an aunt of Chris DenOuden, who played hoops at Calvin during the 60's, and was a pretty decent guard. Den Ouden's aunt was a graduate of Grundy College and I heard the story of that school from her when I was a little kid. My oldest brother knew Chris well and played a lot of pickup ball with him at the Fieldhouse. Grundy College was started in 1916 by the German speaking branch of the CRC who desired preachers and teachers who could serve the needs of that subgroup. The school never really got the support of the denomination as a whole and the Depression was the final nail in the school's coffin. As the article you read correctly notes, two decades later, BJ Haan found willing hearts (and wallets) from that still unhappy block of the CRC when he started the movement for an Iowa undergraduate institution we know as Dordt College.

[oldknight]

It's amazing how much better a team looks when it hits a few perimeter shots (9-19 from the arc) and crashes the boards (outrebounding Carthage 43-26). Even from my computer screen Kronemeyer, who finished with a double-double (19 and 10), looked tremendous, and the Knights got meaningful backcourt play off the bench from Van Boxel and De Witte who combined for 20 points.

[HOPEful]

Calvin would have a much scarier team if they can find a way to get consistant guard play, particularly in scoring.

The starting guards for Calvin...

Finlandia - 3 pts.
Augie - 7 pts.
Cornerstone - 5 pts.
Aquinas - 13 pts.
Carthage - 27 pts.

Trending in the right direction... According to Massey, OshKosh has currently the #9 defense in D3, so it should be a good indicator of whether the improvement is real or more a product of the competition...

[maroonandgold]

It's amazing how much better a team looks when it hits a few perimeter shots (9-19 from the arc) and crashes the boards (outrebounding Carthage 43-26). Even from my computer screen Kronemeyer, who finished with a double-double (19 and 10), looked tremendous, and the Knights got meaningful backcourt play off the bench from Van Boxel and De Witte who combined for 20 points.

With the guards outscoring the forwards and center, Calvin really looked strong.  It is interesting that Kronemeyer was high scorer with most of his points coming from posting up or layups.  He really plays strong, leading the team in rebounds, and had no turnovers.  With the reserve guards hitting about 50% of their 3 point shots, they really had balance.  The forwards and center did their job, as had consistently been the case, but their shooting and scoring was a little below their averages.  As Oldknight says, if they can continue to have balance like that, they will really be competitive.

I notice that Trewhella has not been in the last two games.  Is that just a case of just needing more seasoning at the college level?  Will he play with the J V team?

[oldknight]

Calvin would have a much scarier team if they can find a way to get consistant guard play, particularly in scoring.

The starting guards for Calvin...

Finlandia - 3 pts.
Augie - 7 pts.
Cornerstone - 5 pts.
Aquinas - 13 pts.
Carthage - 27 pts.

Trending in the right direction... According to Massey, OshKosh has currently the #9 defense in D3, so it should be a good indicator of whether the improvement is real or more a product of the competition...

Yup. You got that right. Without consistent backcourt scoring, it's a long season. Van Boxel and DeWitte have the nicest strokes of anyone on the Knights roster and hopefully last night's game was a foretaste of the consistency Calvin needs to be competitive in the league. DeWitte in particular has an opportunity to be make a meaningful contribution on offense I think. The former Squire pretty much single handedly put his high school team on his back and carried them to the state final game at the Breslin last March. Tony's shooting form lends itself to consistency and I always have thought he intelligently combines an offensive mindset with good shot selection.

[sac]

Good win for Hope on the road at JCU, really controlled the game throughout, even threatening to run away late the first half up by 19.  JCU, one of the pre-season OAC favorites now slips to 1-3 with a couple tough OAC games next week.

Harrison Blackledge had another great game, 32 points on 10-11 from the floor and that miss came in the final couple minutes.


JCU and Ohio Wesleyan have had two of the most inexplicable starts among last years top Great Lakes teams.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Good win for Hope on the road at JCU, really controlled the game throughout, even threatening to run away late the first half up by 19.  JCU, one of the pre-season OAC favorites now slips to 1-3 with a couple tough OAC games next week.

Harrison Blackledge had another great game, 32 points on 10-11 from the floor and that miss came in the final couple minutes.


JCU and Ohio Wesleyan have had two of the most inexplicable starts among last years top Great Lakes teams.

Good win indeed and an intense and hard-fought game.  Harrison has been a man on a mission to start his senior year - averaging 26.4 ppg (70% FG, 60% 3PT, 73% FT), 8 RB, 2.8 AST per game.  Obviously he is playing extremely well and has stepped into the leadership role very well.  But I also think a lot of the credit for his scoring stats goes to his teammates.  When Hope moves well and cuts hard they are extremely effective at getting open shots close in, and more often than not Harrison is the beneficiary of that.

Last night also saw some excellent play from the entire team - Dante with 10, Teddy and Cody each with 9.  Some impressive numbers off the bench as well - Brushwyler with 5pts, 6reb, 4ast, 1stl and O'Brien with 5pts, 6reb, 2ast, 3stl. 

[GreatScot!?]

http://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/2016/11/29/north-park-vs-alma-college-mens-basketballl-11-30-16.aspx

Link to the Scots game against North Park tonight, should be a barn burner!

[Gregory Sager]

I'm looking forward to calling it. I'm just wondering which Scots I'll be seeing in uniform and which ones I won't.

Update: Gernaat is dressed, and I'm guessing that he will play. Gamble is still out.

[Gregory Sager]

NPU knocked off Alma, 88-81. Preston Laketa led five different Scots in double figures with 21.

I am very impressed by this freshman class that Sam Hargraves brought in. Once they get Kevin Gamble back and these freshmen start to settle in, the Scots are going to be pretty tough. Don't write them off yet just because they're only 1-5.

[sac]

NPU knocked off Alma, 88-81. Preston Laketa led five different Scots in double figures with 21.

I am very impressed by this freshman class that Sam Hargraves brought in. Once they get Kevin Gamble back and these freshmen start to settle in, the Scots are going to be pretty tough. Don't write them off yet just because they're only 1-5.

Good start for next years class too.