MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

That sounds ridiculous. Why say, "rising"? Was someone offended by the word, "incoming"? I mean, some say you can't say, "freshman" anymore, rather using "first year." Anyway, my apologies for not knowing what "rising" meant.

IMHO, incoming works for someone new to the school, since it carries a connotation of arrival or entry.  For someone who is already at said school, rising works well when the student is "between grades"

Agreed ... although, in Mark's defense, "rising" as applied to an 18-year-old about to enter college for the first time could be argued to be an accurate description of the traditional progression from high-school senior to college freshman. In other words, it's an academic continuity thing -- although I'd still be more inclined to refer to the class of 2027 as "incoming freshmen" for the reason you stated.

[Mr. Ypsi]

That sounds ridiculous. Why say, "rising"? Was someone offended by the word, "incoming"? I mean, some say you can't say, "freshman" anymore, rather using "first year." Anyway, my apologies for not knowing what "rising" meant.

IMHO, incoming works for someone new to the school, since it carries a connotation of arrival or entry.  For someone who is already at said school, rising works well when the student is "between grades"

Agreed ... although, in Mark's defense, "rising" as applied to an 18-year-old about to enter college for the first time could be argued to be an accurate description of the traditional progression from high-school senior to college freshman. In other words, it's an academic continuity thing -- although I'd still be more inclined to refer to the class of 2027 as "incoming freshmen" for the reason you stated.

Except that the 'progression' is actually from 'cock-of-the-walk' senior to 'scum-of-the-earth' freshman!

Mrs. Y for many years was the volunteer pianist for the neighborhood grade school's music teacher.  She often commented that those 'strutting' 8th graders didn't understand that they were about to become 'beneath contempt' freshmen!

[Gregory Sager]

That sounds ridiculous. Why say, "rising"? Was someone offended by the word, "incoming"? I mean, some say you can't say, "freshman" anymore, rather using "first year." Anyway, my apologies for not knowing what "rising" meant.

IMHO, incoming works for someone new to the school, since it carries a connotation of arrival or entry.  For someone who is already at said school, rising works well when the student is "between grades"

Agreed ... although, in Mark's defense, "rising" as applied to an 18-year-old about to enter college for the first time could be argued to be an accurate description of the traditional progression from high-school senior to college freshman. In other words, it's an academic continuity thing -- although I'd still be more inclined to refer to the class of 2027 as "incoming freshmen" for the reason you stated.

Except that the 'progression' is actually from 'cock-of-the-walk' senior to 'scum-of-the-earth' freshman!

I guess that you've earned the stripes to let loose on college kids after a lifetime spent educating them.

Me, I work with them (and have several nephews and nieces who are collegians), so I've gotta tread carefully.

[RogK]

If a guy who was a freshman in the '22-'23 school year walks down a stairway in July, is he a descending rising sophomore?

[Pat Coleman]

Hard to believe there are still questions about the use of the term rising. It's as old as this iteration of D3boards.com and almost certainly older.

Yes, it is rare; that's why I mentioned that Snyder did it at the same school just last year.  So clearly it is do-able, at least at Wooster.  It helps when you have time to plan ahead; Snyder was a rising junior when he realized he had 3 years of eligibility left, and Port was a rising sophomore.  Drake found out even earlier, maybe before he even enrolled at the college.
 
Anyway, maybe it's less rare at Wooster than other NCAC schools.  I had fraternity brothers on the five-year plan.  Scions of the wealthy, all.
 
And oh by the way, Wooster does offer postgraduate degrees, but they are in music.  I'm guessing that this is not an option for Port or Drake! <IMG SRC="http://discus.d3hoops.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0>

Wow, it sounds like Trinity and Amherst are both really loading up for next year. 

To answer the question re: Williams, in terms of returning talent, on paper, they are probably no better than fifth after Bowdoin, Bates, Amherst, Trinity, probably about even with Tufts in the middle of the pack.  The big problem is that the Ephs have very few upperclassmen who have been major contributors in the past: Andrew Newton is the only potential impact player from the junior and senior classes.  A few other guys are contributors, but all in specific roles (rebounder, defender, shooter, etc.).  The Ephs do have a talented rising Sophomore class and, it sounds like, a large frosh class coming in, but they just don't have a lot of experienced upperclassmen like they did in the championship years.  I believe they may well overachieve due to coaching, tradition, home court, being overlooked, being fired up after last year, etc., but, honestly, thinking they can compete with Amherst and Trinity this year may be a stretch.  Just lost too much from the class of 03 through 05.  Considering that 3 of their top 4 guys are gone from last year's middle-of-the-pack team, they are going to need some big improvements from some of the returnees (Kuntz? Gibbons? Rose? Shalvoy?) and at least two impact recruits to have any shot of cracking the top 3. 

As for Bowdoin, I think they are being slightly overhyped.  Petrie is awesome, but last year's team was really thin, particulalry up front, and they will likely be very vulnerable to injuries or foul trouble.  Bates may have the same problem after losing half of the guys in their rotation from last year.  The best 3-4 guys from both those teams are solid, but they don't have anyone to compete against who Trinity and Amherst have as their 5th/6th/7th/8th options.

[Greek Tragedy]

Sorry Pat. Remember, I went to Lakeland. Please give me a pass.

[Gregory Sager]

If a guy who was a freshman in the '22-'23 school year walks down a stairway in July, is he a descending rising sophomore?

No, only if he's riding in Mr. Ypsi's chairlift.

[Gregory Sager]

Sorry Pat. Remember, I went to Lakeland. Please give me a pass.

I thought that muskies were the border collies of the freshwater fish world?

[kiko]

Hard to believe there are still questions about the use of the term rising. It's as old as this iteration of D3boards.com and almost certainly older.

Yes, it is rare; that's why I mentioned that Snyder did it at the same school just last year.  So clearly it is do-able, at least at Wooster.  It helps when you have time to plan ahead; Snyder was a rising junior when he realized he had 3 years of eligibility left, and Port was a rising sophomore.  Drake found out even earlier, maybe before he even enrolled at the college.
 
Anyway, maybe it's less rare at Wooster than other NCAC schools.  I had fraternity brothers on the five-year plan.  Scions of the wealthy, all.
 
And oh by the way, Wooster does offer postgraduate degrees, but they are in music.  I'm guessing that this is not an option for Port or Drake! <IMG SRC="http://discus.d3hoops.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0>

Wow, it sounds like Trinity and Amherst are both really loading up for next year. 

To answer the question re: Williams, in terms of returning talent, on paper, they are probably no better than fifth after Bowdoin, Bates, Amherst, Trinity, probably about even with Tufts in the middle of the pack.  The big problem is that the Ephs have very few upperclassmen who have been major contributors in the past: Andrew Newton is the only potential impact player from the junior and senior classes.  A few other guys are contributors, but all in specific roles (rebounder, defender, shooter, etc.).  The Ephs do have a talented rising Sophomore class and, it sounds like, a large frosh class coming in, but they just don't have a lot of experienced upperclassmen like they did in the championship years.  I believe they may well overachieve due to coaching, tradition, home court, being overlooked, being fired up after last year, etc., but, honestly, thinking they can compete with Amherst and Trinity this year may be a stretch.  Just lost too much from the class of 03 through 05.  Considering that 3 of their top 4 guys are gone from last year's middle-of-the-pack team, they are going to need some big improvements from some of the returnees (Kuntz? Gibbons? Rose? Shalvoy?) and at least two impact recruits to have any shot of cracking the top 3. 

As for Bowdoin, I think they are being slightly overhyped.  Petrie is awesome, but last year's team was really thin, particulalry up front, and they will likely be very vulnerable to injuries or foul trouble.  Bates may have the same problem after losing half of the guys in their rotation from last year.  The best 3-4 guys from both those teams are solid, but they don't have anyone to compete against who Trinity and Amherst have as their 5th/6th/7th/8th options.

What's frightening to me is that there are players who are rising something somethings now who, um, weren't yet rising newborns when that was discussed.

[petemcb]

I might be tardy to the party with this one but has this already been posted about or am I not the only one to learn today that Elmhurst’s 23-24 roster is up and includes the following “rising” graduate students, (just to keep that one alive for fun):

Ocean Johnson
Myles Thomas
Jonathan Zapinski
Wesley Hooker

This makes/keeps Elmhurst much more relevant for this upcoming season.

[petemcb]

And did I perhaps just set a record for conjunctions used in a single sentence? I don’t know whether to apologize or boast.

[Wildcat]

 Rumor has it that Ocean Johnson and Jonathan Zapinski are returning for another season. Both Miles Thomas and Wes Hooker are looking elsewhere. Nothing is decided with the later two as of yet.

[Gregory Sager]

I know for a fact that Hooker is in the portal. That doesn't prevent him from changing his mind and returning to Elmhurst, of course, similar to Bulatovic and his situation vis-a-vis Carthage.

Thomas is in the portal as well, for what it's worth, but Hooker is the one who will have an impact wherever he lands if it's within the D3 ranks.

[kiko]

And did I perhaps just set a record for conjunctions used in a single sentence? I don’t know whether to apologize or boast.

This is D3.  Boasting is appropriate.

On d1boards.com, simple sentences and monosyllabic words are encouraged.

[Wildcat]

Miles Thomas is leaning toward Bluffton College and Wesley Hooker is headed to a school in Houston Texas. His sister lives there , so he will have family nearby. Good luck to both guys. They are great young men.