MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[goodknight]

Deuce Weston II 5-10 PG Flint Carman- Ainsworth will attend Albion

Most likely a two-point specialist.

[KnightSlappy]

Brooks Miller is leaving Trine to take the top assistant job at Central Michigan.

https://x.com/IWUhoopscom/status/1912273048436412487?s=19

[Dutchman17]

Brooks Miller is leaving Trine to take the top assistant job at Central Michigan.

https://x.com/IWUhoopscom/status/1912273048436412487?s=19

Huge news, and seemingly a big setback for Trine.  Would definitely not be surprised to see Coach Miller in a head role again in the next few years.  Congratulations to him

[TUAngola]

I am not shocked by this announcement.  Very happy for Coach Miller, he'll do well in his new position at CMU, he's in his prime coaching age, lots of HC experience, so now was the best time to move on when the right opportunity presented itself.  He put Trine MBB on the national map, culminating  with winning it all in 2024.  Now there is some clarity in the Nate Tucker portal news.  It's possible there will be more portal announcements.  Trine is in the same boat as Indiana...will be a whole new roster for the most part...albeit without all that NIL money.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I am not shocked by this announcement.  Very happy for Coach Miller, he'll do well in his new position at CMU, he's in his prime coaching age, lots of HC experience, so now was the best time to move on when the right opportunity presented itself.  He put Trine MBB on the national map, culminating  with winning it all in 2024.  Now there is some clarity in the Nate Tucker portal news.  It's possible there will be more portal announcements.  Trine is in the same boat as Indiana...will be a whole new roster for the most part...albeit without all that NIL money.

With such a reduced amount of returning players, it would sure seem to leave a mostly "clean slate" for whoever becomes the new coach.  I wonder if that might be considered as a plus for some perspective coaches, and a negative for others. 

[TUAngola]

It will be interesting to see if Trine promotes one of it's assistant coaches to the HC position or whether they do a national search.  I'm predicting they'll bring in a new coach from outside the ranks.  Current assistants are John Wysong, Ed Bentley, Isaac Anderson and Garrett Duffin.  Wysong and Bentley probably won't be candidates as they are getting close to retirement and more than likely won't be interested.  Anderson and Duffin are both young, in their late 20's, but with not much experience, both have coached the Trine JV, Anderson last year and Duffin this year.  Will one of them be interested in the position, maybe..., but I think the Trine program is in a spot where they can easily attract a coaching candidate with a lot more experience.

Trine University has a lot of 'pros' to this position.  It's a growing campus with great academics and the facilites are top notch, there is always new or remodeled construction on campus or on their satellite campusus every year,  But the biggest con is recruiting, northeastern Indiana is a tough sell to recuits coming out of high school to come to Trine.  The NAIA is king here, Coach Miller was consistently losing battles to programs like Saint Francis, Huntington, Goshen, Grace, Taylor, Indiana Tech, Bethel, Indiana Wesleyan, etc, on kids who would be a good fit to his program.  That is why you saw an increase in transfers coming to the program over the last 8-10 years or so, to help fill out the varsity rosters.  Trine had better luck recruiting Ohio and Michigan kids, Miller's rosters were almost evenly divided between Indiana, Ohio and Michigan players.  Starting from scratch isn't going to be easy for the new staff.  Most of this year's high school seniors have already made their college choices, so getting someone hired fairly quickly is paramount.     

[KnightSlappy]

I think the Trine program is in a spot where they can easily attract a coaching candidate with a lot more experience.   

I definitely agree -- I would have to think this is an attractive job to a lot of candidates.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Really interesting timing on this one (which was shared on X around 5pm yesterday): 

Paxton Crane 6-7 F Ft Wayne Carroll (IN) will attend Trine

[TUAngola]

Really interesting timing on this one (which was shared on X around 5pm yesterday): 

Paxton Crane 6-7 F Ft Wayne Carroll (IN) will attend Trine

I was pretty certain that Paxton was committing to Trine since this past winter (I have a nephew that teaches at Carroll), but he never made it public until yesterday.  Honestly I'm kinda shocked he made his announcement before a new coach was in place, and figured with Brooks leaving he'd open up his recruitment, so some good news for the Thunder.  He was MVP in the competitive Summit Athletic Conference in Ft Wayne, which has a few D1 commits.  Averaged 17 pts, 10 reb, shot almost 70% from the floor, honorable-mention all state.  He should help right away. 

[sac]

Justin Fisher 6-3 G  Hudsonville will attend Hope

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Current recruit list - corrections and additions welcomed!!

Player	Height	Position	High School	College
Carson Lutz	6-0	G	Milford (MI)	Adrian
Ben Murphy	6-2	G/F	Dexter (MI)	Adrian
Deuce Weston II	5-10	PG	Flint Carman-Ainsworth (MI)	Albion
Cameron Essell	5-11	PG	East Lansing (MI)	Albion
Aaron Lauer	6-1	PG	Novi (MI)	Albion
Bowen Moore	6-4	G/F	Holly (MI)	Albion
Colin Whalen	6-4	F	Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (MI)	Albion
Austin Miller	6-5	G/F	Marshall (MI)	Albion
Vincent Salmon	6-8	C	Brighton (MI)	Albion
				Alma
Michael Dekuiper	6-1	PG	Rockford (MI)	Calvin
Ben Elzinga	6-8	C	GR Covenant Christian (MI)	Calvin
Brendan Cargill	5-11	G	Forect Hills Central (MI)	Hope
Justin Fisher	6-3	G/F	Hudsonville (MI)	Hope
Tucker Walther	6-4	G	Schoolcraft (MI)	Hope
Derek Sanders	6-5	G	Brooklyn Columbia Central (MI)	Hope
Sean Wesolek	6-6	PF	Bay City John Glenn (MI)	Hope
John Kaul	6-3	G	Clarkston (MI)	Kalamazoo
Zander Nash	6-6	G/F	Imlay City (MI)	Kalamazoo
Tarren Calvert	5-11	G	Wyoming (MI)	Olivet
Levi Stambaugh	6-0	G	Mason (MI)	Olivet
Warren Williams	6-1	G	Wyoming (MI)	Olivet
Adam Devalaar	6-2	G	Holland (MI)	Olivet
Hayden Cross	6-2	F	White Lake Lakeland (MI)	Olivet
Alex Genuise	6-2	F	Allendale (MI)	Olivet
Gavin Ort	6-4	F	Waterford Mott (MI)	Olivet
Ayden Dirschell	6-2	G	Coldwater (MI)	Trine
Montell Johnson	6-3	G	Indianapolis Park Tudor (IN)	Trine
Zack Parks	6-5	F	Lake Orion (MI)	Trine
Nolan Fedak	6-6	F	Westerville North (OH)	Trine
Paxton Crane	6-7	F	Ft Wayne Carroll (IN)	Trine

[Grutte Dirk]

Brooks Miller is leaving Trine to take the top assistant job at Central Michigan.

https://x.com/IWUhoopscom/status/1912273048436412487?s=19

Did CMU hire Coach Miller's spouse as well? She had a solid position @ Trine (I'm assuming she moves to Mt. Pleasant).
Any MIAA coaches pursuing Trine or Ferris head coach positions?

[TUAngola]

Trine commitment:

Landon Lybarger, 6-1 G, Heritage HS, Monroeville IN

[goodknight]

Another D2 transfer heading to Calvin for next season: 6-0 point guard Zion Ruckard from Aurora, CO, who comes from St. Thomas Aquinas, a strong D2 program. Ruckard has a connection to former Calvin standout Derek Griffin and provides additional depth at the point.