MBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[Ryan Stoppable]

Benedictine falls to St. Thomas 82-76 in the National Championship game, ending their campaign with a record of 31-1 and setting a new standard for NACC teams to aspire to. Congratulations on an amazing season!

After the game, forward Luke Johnson was named the d3hoops.com National Player of the Year while Keith Bunkenburg is the National Coach of the Year!

[pg04]

Johnson is a beast! Well deserved award. Benedictine players and coaches should be proud. Also, a class act by the coach to appear on the D3hoops/hoopsville postgame show with Pat and Dave.

[Gregory Sager]

Congrats to Benedictine on a fantastic postseason run and a fantastic season.

[badgerwarhawk]

Congrats to Benedictine on a fantastic postseason run and a fantastic season.

What he said. 

[WLCALUM83]

I third Greg's post!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

What a season of Division III basketball and it isn't quite over with yet! The men might have crowned their championship, but the women have one more game to go.

On this episode of Hoopsville, Dave McHugh looks back at the two championship weekends with help from Ryan Scott, Gordon Mann, and Adam Turer. We look at the championship for St. Thomas and the near perfect miss by Benedictine. We also take a look at the two semifinal games in women's basketball and the upcoming championship between St. Thomas and Tufts to be played in Indianapolis.

Dave also talks to Page Moir, head coach for Roanoke, who suddenly announced on Tuesday he is stepping down from the position and looking for something new to challenge him.

You can watch the show in its entirety or listen to the podcast above.

Guests include (in order of appearance):
- Page Moir, Roanoke men's coach
- Keith Bunkenburg, No. 2 Benedictine men's coach
- Steve Fritz, St. Thomas athletics director and former men's coach
- John Tauer, No 1. St. Thomas men's coach
- Ryan Scott, D3hoops.com Mid-Atlantic reporter
- Gordon Mann and Adam Turer, women's semifinals report
- Jeff Hans, No. 1 Thomas More women's coach
- Carla Berube, No. 7 Tufts women's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

[Greek Tragedy]

I haven't gone through all any rosters yet, but it may be safe to say Benedictine might be conference favorites next year. They lose National POTY Johnson and Dobson (and 6th man Reamer), but return 3 starters and 3 others that averaged 10+ minutes a game. I'm sure their recruiting will get a nice boost as well.

[gordonmann]

I've been told by a couple coaches that recruiting usually gets a boost two years down the line, not right away, since students have already decided where to apply before the basketball season is complete. But if I was on the fence about Benedictine, that run would push me in their direction.

[Greek Tragedy]

True enough.  I suppose I unintentionally implied it would help them next year. Anway, speaking of being on the fence, I suppose it could push any player who hasn't decided on a destination towards Benedictine!

[Greek Tragedy]

Well, I took a quick look at the 5 chasing teams which included MSOE and Marian, both of whom finished 10 games back. It's unrealistic to think Benedictine will go 20-0 again, but even if they go 15-5, those two trailing teams also have to improve by 5 games.

Aurora 16-4
They lose 4 starters and they are also the top 4 scorers.

CUW 14-6
They lose 6 of the top 7 guys, but keep #1 scorer Kittel.

WLC 11-9
They keep the #1, 3 and 5 scorers and 3 starters.

MSOE 10-10
They lose 4 starters, but keep 3 of the top 5 scorers

Marian 10-10
They lose 3 starters but keep the top 2 scorers.

[AppletonRocks]

Congrats to Benedictine on a fantastic postseason run and a fantastic season.

Any truth to the rumor that Benedictine is petitioning the CCIW to enter the league    Probably the favorite over Carroll if admitted.  What is the CCIW process for acceptance?  Are they already on double secret probation and who gets to vote besides Sager? 

[Ryan Stoppable]

I haven't gone through all any rosters yet, but it may be safe to say Benedictine might be conference favorites next year.

Starting from as far ahead of the rest of the.NACC as they were last year (they only had 2 conference games even decided by single digits!), how could they not be heavy favorites for next year?

[Just Bill]

Congrats to Benedictine on a fantastic postseason run and a fantastic season.

Any truth to the rumor that Benedictine is petitioning the CCIW to enter the league    Probably the favorite over Carroll if admitted.  What is the CCIW process for acceptance?  Are they already on double secret probation and who gets to vote besides Sager? 

Not sure how serious you're being, but people connected to the NACC that I know haven't heard anything like that.

[Gregory Sager]

Well, I took a quick look at the 5 chasing teams which included MSOE and Marian, both of whom finished 10 games back. It's unrealistic to think Benedictine will go 20-0 again, but even if they go 15-5, those two trailing teams also have to improve by 5 games.

Aurora 16-4
They lose 4 starters and they are also the top 4 scorers.

The early scuttlebutt is that there's a strong possibility that T.J. Sims, who is leaving Millikin after two spectacular but stormy seasons with the Big Blue, will end up at Aurora for the 2016-17 school year. Sims is a serious talent at the D3 level. He shared the CCIW's Freshman of the Year award two years ago with NPU's Jordan Robinson, as Sims averaged 15.4 ppg and had shooting splits of .500/.471./821 -- which is not too shabby for a guy who's 5'7 in a league where guards are typically four to six inches taller than that. He was named an All-CCIW third-teamer. This past season he averaged 16.8 ppg with .438/.384/.879 shooting splits. He did, however, miss five games due to suspension, as he and MU head coach Matt Nadelhoffer had a difficult relationship (to say the least), which is the likely reason why he was bypassed for the 2015-16 All-CCIW team.

Sims has proven to be a headache from a discipline standpoint, but perhaps James Lancaster would be better suited to handle the tempestuous Sims than Nadelhoffer was. One thing's for sure -- Sims, who is lightning-quick with the ball in his hands and is a very good shooter, will be a standout player in the NACC if he does end up at Aurora. He would definitely boost the Spartans' chances of competing with BU if he's able to keep his act together.

Congrats to Benedictine on a fantastic postseason run and a fantastic season.

Any truth to the rumor that Benedictine is petitioning the CCIW to enter the league    Probably the favorite over Carroll if admitted.  What is the CCIW process for acceptance?  Are they already on double secret probation and who gets to vote besides Sager? 

Not sure how serious you're being, but people connected to the NACC that I know haven't heard anything like that.

Consider the source, Bill.

[gordonmann]

Also consider the date. 'Tis the season for internet pranks.