WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

It's also possible that the referee knew that IWU didn't have any timeouts and so the request was ignored. That's the correct thing for the official to do if the referee is aware of it. A technical foul for an excessive timeout is only called if the referee stops the game.

... and a good referee should be aware of it. As NPU's scorekeeper, I've come to expect the lead official to come over to the scorer's table in the waning minutes of a close game and ask me how many timeouts each team has, and what type of timeouts they are. Only a lazy ref would check the scoreboard for timeouts remaining rather than consult with the scorekeeper.

[NCF]

It's also possible that the referee knew that IWU didn't have any timeouts and so the request was ignored. That's the correct thing for the official to do if the referee is aware of it. A technical foul for an excessive timeout is only called if the referee stops the game.

... and a good referee should be aware of it. As NPU's scorekeeper, I've come to expect the lead official to come over to the scorer's table in the waning minutes of a close game and ask me how many timeouts each team has, and what type of timeouts they are. Only a lazy ref would check the scoreboard for timeouts remaining rather than consult with the scorekeeper.

Absolutely correct. I also do the scorebook for both boys and girls games and the refs always ask how many/what type of fouls are remaing.

[80sshorts]

Just in from the WBCA Awards show in Denver- Mia Smith was named WBCA Coach of the year for division III: https://twitter.com/#!/wbca1981/status/186979689171124225

[NCF]

Just in from the WBCA Awards show in Denver- Mia Smith was named WBCA Coach of the year for division III: https://twitter.com/#!/wbca1981/status/186979689171124225

Congrats to her on a well deserved award!

[RogK]

My congratulations to Mia, too!
Here is the list of previous recipients:
http://www.wbca.org/awards/wbca-awards/coaches-of-year/past-coy/
I thought Lori Kerans might've won it in 2005, but not so.
North Central's Wayne Morgan got the award in 1983:
http://www.northcentralcardinals.com/sports/2009/4/28/WBB_0428093413.aspx?id=318
Speaking of coaches, no mention of a selection for Augie on their web site.

[iwu70]

Warm congrats to Coach Smith on this award, the most sought-after one, voted, selected by your coaching peers. 

Much deserved by Coach Smith!

IWU70

[RogK]

Olivet Naz did promote Lauren Stamatis to head coach:
http://www2.olivet.edu/athletics/news.php?c_id=3&n_id=8113
I think they will play IWU again next Nov/Dec, but I don't know if a contract exists beyond that. The above article mentions that ONU will have fewer nonconference games in upcoming seasons due to their league (CCAC) going fully NAIA D2 instead of one D1 group and one D2. Robert Morris (Chicago) will be independent for a year, whatever that entails.
ONU will continue playing their intensely fast brand of basketball, making full use of their own athleticism, but also bringing the best athleticism out of their opponents (what sports should do).

[Gregory Sager]

Olivet Naz did promote Lauren Stamatis to head coach:
http://www2.olivet.edu/athletics/news.php?c_id=3&n_id=8113
I think they will play IWU again next Nov/Dec, but I don't know if a contract exists beyond that. The above article mentions that ONU will have fewer nonconference games in upcoming seasons due to their league (CCAC) going fully NAIA D2 instead of one D1 group and one D2. Robert Morris (Chicago) will be independent for a year, whatever that entails.

RMC will be independent for a year, and then return to the CCAC as NAIA-2 in both men's and women's basketball, same as the rest of the league.

ONU will continue playing their intensely fast brand of basketball, making full use of their own athleticism, but also bringing the best athleticism out of their opponents (what sports should do).

Yeah, but it'll be an adjustment for OliNaz to try doing it with only half as many scholies to hand out as it had when the Tigers were NAIA-1.

As I said in the CCIW men's basketball room, it will be interesting to see how this plays out with regard to local recruiting.

I also find it interesting that OliNaz was the one NAIA-1 school in the CCAC that explored NCAA membership as a result of the league's divisional shift, as stated in this Indiana-South Bend press release. Perhaps what's most interesting about this is that OliNaz didn't do the conventional thing, which was to enter what the NCAA calls an exploratory year in which the school does a full-bore study, with NCAA assistance, as to what NCAA membership would entail for the school. Instead, it hired an outside consultant to do the study independently. The IUSB press release doesn't say whether OliNaz was investigating the possibility of joining the NCAA's D2 or us here in D3.

[RogK]

Thanks for that link to the IUSB release, Greg. You did some digging to find that one.
I heard that ONU was looking into NCAA D2, which would've put them in Lewis's conference, I guess.
You are right that ONU (and St Xavier, etc) could have more difficulty building a deep bench, due to fewer athletic scholarships. But, ONU will still have some advantages : (1) if you make their team, you're not only going to play in every game, you'll play within the first 3 minutes of every game; (2) they're a winning program of late, which is relatively easier to sustain; (3) their fast style attracts good athletes.
We'll see how it goes.
I'm also curious to see what happens at Knox (D3), where the WBB team adapted a version of the "Grinnell system" this past season. They went 4-19 (Midwest Conf schools play 23 regular season games, not the normal 25). Some things went well, some didn't. They made only .227 of their 3FGs (208/915) and didn't do much better at 2FGs (.397, 404/1017). They did take a very high amount of FTs, 31.8/game, which had to be among the national leaders (not a ranked stat). They committed 24.2 TOs per game and induced 32.3 by opponents. They were significantly outrebounded (not necessarily a problem, but it doesn't help).
They had 13 players play over 230 minutes in 23 games. They averaged 83.5 pts and yielded 95.4, a minus 11.9 differential.
They'll need to shoot a little better (a 5 pct increase in each FG category would've given them about 10 more pts/game - two more 2FGs, two more 3FGs), cut back some on their own TOs and find a lot of rebounding (their best rebounder was a senior). Easier written than done!

[mark_reichert]

Congratulations to Coach Smith on the awards, they're well deserved.  To the person who wondered why she's still in Division III, you could have asked the same question about Coach Fahey, and perhaps the answer would be those given by somebody else about the atmosphere  or the implied desire to coach student athletes rather than semi-pros.

And for the reason I came to this section today, I discovered this in the Open Dates section from last September:

"Illinois Wesleyan University located in Bloomington, IL is looking for 1 team to compete in the IWU Tournament Nov 23 and 24, 2012.  Format is tournament play.  Teams committed are DePauw University and Washington University."

Anybody know if a school committed and which?  Would be sort of intimidating to be the only other team in a tournament with half of the last six national champions, including the most recent as host.  On the other hand, as Fahey has said, and Smith would probably say, last year doesn't count, every year is a new team (or words to that effect).

Does anybody know if any of the other champion schools are involved in an annual tournament with even one other champion school, much less two, or is this the only one?

[iwu70]

Mark, would love to have Chicago, Calvin, Stevens Point, WI.-EC, or Whitewater take up the final spot.  Might be an early-season tournament tougher than the Final Four!

Mia's tough tough schedule this past year made our team battle-tested and better, making possible the championship run once everyone got healthy and on the same page, having figured out their roles, etc. 

We gotta find another Olivia Lett!     "Run and Jump" defense and Gardner's treybombs can't do it all next year.  I still like our chances, our returning team very much!

IWU70

[D-3 watcher]

IWU isn't going to find another Olivia Lett. Those players that good are very rare. Coach Smith was very lucky she chose to transfer to IWU. Which makes it very odd that Coach Smith chose not to nominate Lett, for the coaches All-American team. Lett almost automatically would have been chosen for that team. She could have been selected as their Player of the year as well. We will never know, it's just to bad Miss Lett never got the chance. Being on the Coaches All-American team is something she worked hard for and more than likely deserved. It's just puzzling.

[iwu70]

D-3 Watcher, yes, pretty odd.  I don't know the story on that one, why Olivia Lett was not put on the WBCA All-America Team.  She certainly deserved it.  She did win the Final Four MVP and the D3hoops.com Player of the Year, CCIW All Conference First Team and CCIW MOP etc.  Plenty of awards going her way. 

Yes, hard to find another like her, though the IWU women's program has a pretty good record of finding outstanding players, from Traci Butler, to Mallory Heydorn, to Christina Solari, to Hope Schulte, and to Lett.  Fierce team defense and good trey shooting also played a key part in this year's championship run.  We'll wait and see what the new recruiting year brings.  A national  championship trophy and banner in The Shirk certainly can't hurt on that front.

Stay tuned.

We all know Hannah Munger will be back next year.

IWU70

[Mr. Ypsi]

D-3 Watcher, yes, pretty odd.  I don't know the story on that one, why Olivia Lett was not put on the WBCA All-America Team.  She certainly deserved it.  She did win the Final Four MVP and the D3hoops.com Player of the Year, CCIW All Conference First Team and CCIW MOP etc.  Plenty of awards going her way. 

Yes, hard to find another like her, though the IWU women's program has a pretty good record of finding outstanding players, from Traci Butler, to Mallory Heydorn, to Christina Solari, to Hope Schulte, and to Lett.  Fierce team defense and good trey shooting also played a key part in this year's championship run.  We'll wait and see what the new recruiting year brings.  A national  championship trophy and banner in The Shirk certainly can't hurt on that front.

Stay tuned.

We all know Hannah Munger will be back next year.

IWU70

Brittney Griner still has a year to go - ya suppose she'd like to finish at IWU?!

Farewell for awhile - my 93-year-old father passed away Easter morning.  He was in the hospital for 5 days, but it still came as quite a shock - no clue that it was terminal, but at 93, nothing is 'routine'.  I'll be in the 'land the internet forgot' for a few days, comforting and helping direct my my 94-year-old mother (who is 100% mentally alert, and I have no clue whether she would be better off staying in the home they shared for 60+ years or going to assisted living - she can no longer drive, but could afford help coming in - I honestly have no clue whether staying in the home without one's spouse is more comforting or more depressing.)

[Hoosier Titan]

So sorry to hear that, Mr. Y.  It's always a shock to get news like that, regardless of a loved one's age or condition.  I've been through it twice.  My advice--consider all options, and make sure your mom feels like she is being listened to as everyone offers suggestions about what is best for her.  You'll be in my thoughts.

I will post some other thoughts about hoops later.

HT