Amazing portal story for Hope DE Liam Danitz:

- 6-5, 230lb edge rusher
- 21 TFLS and 15 sacks this past season
- On nearly every AA team (except for d3football)
- AA in track - 10.55 in the 100, 20.92 in the 200

Finishing his Sr year at Hope, and planning ot go to grad school.  Decided to try the portal (as he has a single year of D1 eligibility).  Entered the portal on Jan 7 (6 days ago)  Currently has offers from:

James Madison
LA Tech
Western Kentucky
UCLA
Utah
Cal
Toledo

Reported interest from others including Michigan

Quote from: TUAngola on January 09, 2026, 05:05:02 PMTrine MBB 2026 commit:

Brogan McNiece  6'5 F  Homestead HS  Ft Wayne IN

So Trine has 3 commits thus far, all 6-5 - interesting. 

Kalamazoo also has a 2026 commit:

Dylan Gross 5-9 PG Rockford (MI)

       ...and so it begins!!!  D3 Datacast (Knightslappy) predictions for tonight:

Trine 73 @ Hope 72
Albion 70 @ Olivet 73
Alma 53 @ Calvin 84
Kalamazoo 82 @ Adrian 90

Quote from: Dr. Acula on January 05, 2026, 08:44:25 PMMuskie bounced back to pick up a solid road win at Hope last weekend, but we can't gloss over that head scratching loss the day before to 3-8 Olivet.  I checked out the box score assuming the Fish turned it over 30 times or shot 9%.  Neither happened.  File it under the basketball season is long and unpredictable.

I think Olivet is much better than their W/L record would indicate.  According to NPI they have the 4th highest SOS in the country, and their 8 losses include a 4pt loss at JCU, a 1pt loss to Heidelberg, and a 4 pt loss at RHIT.  Coach Hargraves is notorious for always scheduling an extremely difficult non-con slate.   

So as a league, we finished the non-con portion of the schedule at 38-48 (vs D3).   

Record vs:

OAC: 8-8
HCAC: 7-6
NACC: 6-4
NCAC: 6-8
PAC: 4-3
WIAC: 3-3
CCIW: 1-6
SCAC: 1-1
CCS: 1-0
ODAC: 1-0
MWC: 0-1
ARC: 0-1
C2C: 0-1
NWC: 0-2
UAA: 0-4

Quote from: sac on December 17, 2025, 09:03:38 PMOnly 8 turnovers in a physical game like that was very impressive, NCC had 20.



Since the first game Hope would rank #404 of 405 D3 teams in 3 point shooting.   I'm not so sure that's an "off shooting" night.


Next 3:  Whitewater, WashU, Muskingum    Those are all 2nd weekend tournament type teams.

Yeah, that 3pt shooting is horrific, and I'm sure frustrating for a coach who holds his school's career record for 3pt % (0.464).  But last night (to pointlems point) they couldn't hit anything, as they went 14-44 from 2pt (0.318).  Coming into the game last night Hope was shooting 0.528 from 2pt.  FTs (21-28) is the only thing that kept this score relatively close.

So on to the next game, they're not getting easier that's for sure, but I have faith in them bouncing back from this one.

League now at 0.500 - 29-29 on the year vs D3 non-con.

Record vs:

OAC: 6-4
HCAC: 6-4
NACC: 5-2
NCAC: 5-7
WIAC: 3-1
PAC: 2-1
CCIW: 1-3
SCAC: 1-1
MWC: 0-1
ARC: 0-1
C2C: 0-1
UAA: 0-1
NWC: 0-2

Hope won at Kalamazoo on Sat as expected by a large margin.  Couple of items of interest

- Was great to see Grayson Guy get some minutes returning from an ankle injury - thought Katie Blazei has playing extremely well in her abscence.
- All 16 players for Hope scored
- Odd statistical numerology (I guess that's how I'd catogorize it).  Hope had 25 more FG attempts, 25 less turnovers, and 25 more FT attempts than the Hornets

Nice win for the Hornets, boosts the league over .500 in the non-con (vs D3 since they are the only ones that "count" for NPI).  Currently 26-25 on the year.

Record vs:

OAC: 6-4
HCAC: 6-4
NCAC: 5-7
NACC: 3-1
WIAC: 2-0
PAC: 2-1
CCIW: 1-3
SCAC: 1-1
MWC: 0-1
ARC: 0-1
C2C: 0-1
UAA: 0-1

Thanks Pat.  To be clear, I don't have an account to get behind that paywall eihter, I simply copied what was shared by someone else in this thread: https://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=3880.0

Found this shared on a different thread: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2025/11/calvin-university-to-reduce-125-of-faculty-positions-eliminate-multiple-programs.html

Since the full article is behind a paywall - here are some snippets that were shared:

QuoteCalvin University will reduce 12.5% of its faculty positions over the next two years, part of a restructuring that also includes the loss or consolidation of multiple academic programs.

Among the programs impacted are several language majors and minors, the journalism minor and the public health major and minor.

QuoteAmong the biggest changes is the 12.5% overall decrease in faculty positions, which was described as a combination of recommendations by multiple university task forces at work since the 2024-25 school year.

According to Calvin, most of the departures are voluntary and many were identified during budget planning that occurred last year.

Involuntary departures will amount to around 3% of the current full-time faculty workforce. Those impacted have been notified.

The other big change is a reduction of programs, including undergraduate majors and minors and graduate programs.

QuoteThe following undergraduate programs will be discontinued entirely:

    The French major and minor
    The German minor
    The journalism minor
    The public health major and minor
    The sociology major
    The therapeutic recreation major

In addition, Elzinga wrote that majors and concentrations in the university's Department of Geology, Geography and Environment will be consolidated from nine separate degrees into two majors with two concentrations apiece.

Other departments are revising offerings and workloads, or relocating, like the science education studies program moving into the School of Education.

Also included in Elzinga's communication were four graduate programs slated to be discontinued after a decision during the 2024-25 school year, including the data science, nursing, public administration and public health programs.

Zimmerman said the phase out will happen over time, with initial impacts beginning during the 2026-27 academic year.

Hope with a nice opening MIAA win (earliest ever MIAA win perhaps) over Alma 85-59.  Hope is quite a young team.  5 games into the season, there are 8 players averaging double digit minutes: 2 Sr, 2 Jr, 3 So, and 1 Fr.

The win was also Hopes 1000th all time win in women's basketball!!  Record stands at 1000-355 - 0.738 win percentage

Adam Dugener, a 6-0 PG from North Muskegon has commited to Alma

Fine - I'll stop replying  - hell hath no furry like a PMSing MU fan!

Relax, it's just a playful comment

Quote from: Captainred81 on November 18, 2025, 01:59:24 PMI'm not sure anyone is underestimating the MIAA, although, they are not to be feared as the WIAC schools or NCC.  Hope did score with 15 seconds left last year to make it make a 3 score game, but mostly they were manhandled by NCC just like every other team.  That is not to say that Mount was ever going to win the Stagg bowl, although, they had their opportunities.  I'm not sure Hope ever had the same opportunities. 

Moving on, I think Hope has a great shot a getting past a very inconsistent LAX team.  With or without their #1 QB.  However, they have size and speed that is probably a step up from Olivet.  Assuming that happens, I give them a very real shot against NCC.  I think watching this years Wheaton game is imperative. 

On the other side of that bracket, I think Platteville will be there. 

I'd say someone saying Hope is a 50 point dog to NCC is underestimating the MIAA.  Look, Hope was soundly beaten by NCC in that game, but Hope v NCC was 24-14 1/2 way through the 3rd - in comparison MU v NCC was 21-10 1/2 way through the 3rd. 

I do agree with your prognostications for this years playoffs.