MBB: Centennial Conference

[USee]

Steve Donahue is not the reason Jule Brown is not at Penn. I am pretty comfortable with that statement.

You may need to retract that statement. I have it on good authority from a solid source that Steve Donahue decided they could not guarantee Brown's scholarship once he took over as coach. That is a fairly common thing during coaching changes.

I stand by my statement

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Correct - scholarships don't exist.. but my source who is pretty close says Brown's opportunity was not guaranteed anymore.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Here is the Hopkins news: http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2017/05/loeffler-returns-to-d3

[Red Onwuatuegwu]

Thank you Dave.

[Warren Thompson]

Here is the Hopkins news: http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2017/05/loeffler-returns-to-d3

Dave: is this Loeffler related to Ken Loeffler, BB coach at LaSalle (he coached the late Tom Gola) and Texas A&M back in the 50s? [Kindly excuse me for showing my age by posing that question.  ]

[centfan]

loeffler is a good fit at hopkins and will do well. i met him when he was at stevens in new jersey...smart, knows the game, good recruiter. went to swarthmore. a good choice for the conference. congrats to them and him!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Here is the Hopkins news: http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2017/05/loeffler-returns-to-d3

Dave: is this Loeffler related to Ken Loeffler, BB coach at LaSalle (he coached the late Tom Gola) and Texas A&M back in the 50s? [Kindly excuse me for showing my age by posing that question.  ]

I am not sure to be honest. Never looked that far into his roots. Certainly can ask him next time I chat with him.

[Warren Thompson]

Here is the Hopkins news: http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2017/05/loeffler-returns-to-d3

Dave: is this Loeffler related to Ken Loeffler, BB coach at LaSalle (he coached the late Tom Gola) and Texas A&M back in the 50s? [Kindly excuse me for showing my age by posing that question.  ]

I am not sure to be honest. Never looked that far into his roots. Certainly can ask him next time I chat with him.

Thanks.

[Hank Mardukas]

Small world we live in these days, turns out my niece's new boyfriend who I met for the first time over the weekend is a former "employee of athletics" at Muhlenberg. Although he no longer works there he is a huge fan of Muhlenberg sports and I attempted him to get him to join the blog but he claims "blogging is for Grandpas". We struck up a conversation about the future of Mules Basketball and how the City of Allentown is reacting to the hire of Coach Hopkins. He proceeded to tell me that starting point guard Kevin Miller won't be returning to the team this upcoming season. Reasons for this decision are undisclosed but my assumption is that he disagreed with the firing of former Mules Coach Scoot McClary and feels that sitting out this upcoming season will get his point across (similar to what Colin Kaepernick did during the National Anthem this season.) I think the question everybody is asking is are more Mules going to follow the powerful statement made by Miller and join him in this peaceful protest. Remember the chronological timeline of "taking the knee" this season in the NFL. Slowly but surely more players started to take a knee during the National Anthem which I predict will happen to the Mules Basketball team. I can easily see more Mules hanging up their jerseys in protest to the inevitable fate that Coach McClary couldn't escape. I consider miller to be a bit of a "Trail Blazer" leading the way and making sure his voice is heard.   

[Red Onwuatuegwu]

Product of a kid who wasn't very good and coach couldn't get the most out of him. No loss for the Mules here as here tended to be a cancer to the team from what it looks like. @Hank you really bring up a good point about if it was due to the resignation of McClary or if it had to involve some other factor. Mules team will definitely look different next year and look for improvement out of a kid like Owen McCloud. Very talented player who could use a bit of new coaching that can hopefully lead to some success for the Somerset standout.

Any news on the Haverford hiring? If the McClary claims about him being an applicant are true, maybe we can see a transfer out of Miller from the Mules to the Fords.

[HopkinsNest7]

Hank-

Surprised to hear of Miller's departure and his level of loyalty to Scott McClary. Do you know of any other players not returning to the team next year? I would imagine a player of Miller's influence would not fly solo here. Would be interesting to see an overhaul of former Mules to Havertown.

[Hank Mardukas]

In Response to Hopkins Nests Question:

I don't know any specific players leaving but I can tell you whose departure would hurt the Mules the most. If the German-born Wareheim decided to go back to the motherland the Mules will be in great trouble. I did hear that McClary visited Wareheim in Germany when he was recruiting him so I assume they had a strong relationship. I could also see Ryan Gaynor leaving the program. Most bloggers probably don't know his name but he was originally committed to DII St. Thomas Aquinas but was persuaded by McClary to change his mind and become a Mule. Unfortunately, he suffered from an ingrown toenail this season and never really got the opportunity to show what he can do. Really hope he stays, looking forward to watching him play this season.

[TeamMonix]

Miller won't be the only one leaving Muhlenberg... but I am glad the administration listened to the bloggers on this site to get rid of an alum who worked for the school for over 17 years.

[HopkinsNest7]

in regards to Mardukas' insight it pains me to agree with him for once. Gaynor played some garbage time while he was down here in the nest and I was impressed. a Legit 6'4 or 6'5 swingman with a good feel for the game and silky smooth jump shot. I could see why he would have been on the radar of division 2 schools, it seems that McClary had the misfortune of his injury as he suffered by ultimately getting axed. It's interesting to hear that McClary went out to Germany to acquire Werheim, he was on the radar of Hopkins for some time but Nelson could never seem to make any progress on the big guy. I wonder if he was weighing European options to the Mules, if so... impressive snatch for McClary.

Monix: while i see you are a passionate Mules fan i believe it would be naive to think that McClary got fired due to an anonymous public forum. The Mules were wildly inconsistent though talented as they have beaten the Jays in close games up at the barn in each of the last 2 seasons only to get beaten in Baltimore. Beaten is not even the word, both games were over mid way through the first half. This makes me think there was a divided locker room because when things were bad for the Mules they were horrible. Miller going to Haverford could cause a couple of other guys to consider making the jump to the main line.

Here how I think Miller's departure will effect the rest of the conference:

Mules clearly depleted without their go to floor general and may experience growing pains in the inaugural year of Kevin Hopkins.

Dickinson lost Corey Sherman as Coach Hopkins is already becoming a controversial figure in the Centennial by basically creating free agency. How else could a new coach land a player from Kobe Bryants high school (Lower Merion) to bolt up his back court while he figures out the future. Look for the Mules to do more of this in the future. Miller leaving Muhlenberg could create a precident not yet seen in division 3 hoops: players jumping ship for broader horizons.

Haverford could have an easier time finding a coach now that they are walking into a scenario with a veteran point guard at the helm for a year. This kind of reminds me of those dulled down jason Kidd years on the Knicks, while he was slowed by age and injury, he stood as a glue guy in the locker room and a workout addict. Miller showed this at Muhlenberg by instilling playing hard and hustling to make up for what may have been a talent gap between him and the likes of Cam Wiley.

Ultimately the Mules will remain a wild card as usual. If Werheim decides to stay in the states it at least gives the team potential but an uncertain future is dangerous for Kevin Hopkins. Maybe freshly signed Corey Sherman can use his championship game experience to set the tone early in the pre season for Muhlenberg. It will be interesting to see who will take assistant coaches Dawud Abdur Rahkman and Tom Mossers places. Hopkins is yet to name assistants but those guys went to war with McClary for years.

[GoDiplomats]

in regards to Mardukas' insight it pains me to agree with him for once. Gaynor played some garbage time while he was down here in the nest and I was impressed. a Legit 6'4 or 6'5 swingman with a good feel for the game and silky smooth jump shot. I could see why he would have been on the radar of division 2 schools, it seems that McClary had the misfortune of his injury as he suffered by ultimately getting axed. It's interesting to hear that McClary went out to Germany to acquire Werheim, he was on the radar of Hopkins for some time but Nelson could never seem to make any progress on the big guy. I wonder if he was weighing European options to the Mules, if so... impressive snatch for McClary.

Monix: while i see you are a passionate Mules fan i believe it would be naive to think that McClary got fired due to an anonymous public forum. The Mules were wildly inconsistent though talented as they have beaten the Jays in close games up at the barn in each of the last 2 seasons only to get beaten in Baltimore. Beaten is not even the word, both games were over mid way through the first half. This makes me think there was a divided locker room because when things were bad for the Mules they were horrible. Miller going to Haverford could cause a couple of other guys to consider making the jump to the main line.

Here how I think Miller's departure will effect the rest of the conference:

Mules clearly depleted without their go to floor general and may experience growing pains in the inaugural year of Kevin Hopkins.

Dickinson lost Corey Sherman as Coach Hopkins is already becoming a controversial figure in the Centennial by basically creating free agency. How else could a new coach land a player from Kobe Bryants high school (Lower Merion) to bolt up his back court while he figures out the future. Look for the Mules to do more of this in the future. Miller leaving Muhlenberg could create a precident not yet seen in division 3 hoops: players jumping ship for broader horizons.

Haverford could have an easier time finding a coach now that they are walking into a scenario with a veteran point guard at the helm for a year. This kind of reminds me of those dulled down jason Kidd years on the Knicks, while he was slowed by age and injury, he stood as a glue guy in the locker room and a workout addict. Miller showed this at Muhlenberg by instilling playing hard and hustling to make up for what may have been a talent gap between him and the likes of Cam Wiley.

Ultimately the Mules will remain a wild card as usual. If Werheim decides to stay in the states it at least gives the team potential but an uncertain future is dangerous for Kevin Hopkins. Maybe freshly signed Corey Sherman can use his championship game experience to set the tone early in the preseason for Muhlenberg. It will be interesting to see who will take assistant coaches Dawud Abdur Rahkman and Tom Mossers places. Hopkins is yet to name assistants but those guys went to war with McClary for years.

I'm beyond confused on the perceived impact of the loss of Kevin Miller and its effect on the Mules. He was a career 1.3 PPG, 1.7 AST, 1.3 STL per game player. Those numbers don't read as impressive stats at any level for a PG. I think with ball dominate LaRose gone with graduation, added talent in Sherman and whatever freshman are brought in, along with the absence of an ineffective player like Miller starting at PG the Mules should definitely see an improvement in their record. Mules have to get past their mental deficiencies, which I think  Hopkins would hopefully bring.