Perhaps the relentless Millikin defense had something to do with the many "beat the shot-clock" 3-pt attempts and the resulting poor shooting percentage.

Perhaps the relentless Millikin defense had something to do with the many "beat the shot-clock" 3-pt attempts and the resulting poor shooting percentage.

I just talked this morning with a big Bradley fan who was at the game and he said that Millikin just flat outplayed Bradley in the second half and it was starters vs starters.  He also told me that Bradley received 46 out of 49 first place votes for MVC title.

Did anyone happen to see the Millikin game against Bradley who is the preseason favorite to win the MVC. Bradley won 80-63 but I heard that with something like 6 minutes to go Millikin was only down 10 points. Millikin did outscore Bradley in the 2nd half 38-37. I checked the playing time stats and Millikin starters averaged 26 mins and Bradley averaged 25 min so no big difference there.  I was not there so I would like to know the whole story because the Big Blue is ranked next to last in the CCIW, thus you would think Bradley would win by a lopsided score.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on September 14, 2024, 01:51:28 PM

Quote from: markerickson on September 13, 2024, 10:52:35 PMNorth Park does not have an enrollment problem. Within athletics, the ever-increasing influx of Scandinavians pay in full, I presume, courtesy of his/her home country.

North Park does have an enrollment problem, Mark. Every school except for the very small upper-crust has an enrollment problem, as Pat and WUPHF pointed out. NPU forestalled the problem by a year by having a large freshman class, but make no mistake -- the school will be under the gun to repeat that every year for the foreseeable future in a dangerously tight market for wooing 17-year-olds. (Also, the good news regarding the large freshman class was somewhat lessened by a worse-than-usual retention rate for sophomores and by unsatisfactory numbers with regard to graduate enrollment.)

International students are part of the answer, but not nearly all of it. It costs money to recruit students abroad, so there are budgetary concerns with regard to the cost-benefit ratio of recruiting internationals. NPU's athletics department does a lot of the heavy lifting for admissions in that regard, since NPU has a lot of student-athletes who hail from Norway or Sweden, but by themselves they won't be enough to make up for the demographic shortfall.

And, no, not all Scandinavian countries foot the bills for a student's higher education. Swedes mostly pay full freight, although Norwegians pay little, if anything, because Norway is flush with oil money.

Quote from: markerickson on September 13, 2024, 10:52:35 PMEliminate football and reinvest in other athletic programs to make them stronger.  Yeah, the CCIW mandates blahblahblah...

Dismiss it as "blahblahblah" all you'd like, but you seriously underestimate the effect that CCIW membership has upon NPU's ability to recruit student-athletes. Drop out of the CCIW, and you may very well see what happened to North Park's sister school, Trinity International University, happen to North Park.

And by eliminating football you eliminate 100+ students from enrolling at North Park. Worse, it's 100+ male students, in an era in which higher education is a female-dominated endeavor and colleges and universities are thus actively seeking ways to encourage male enrollment.

Quote from: markerickson on September 13, 2024, 10:52:35 PMThe CCIW added Wash U and Carroll returned, and we read about contemplation to add another school.

Wash U and Carroll are not the same thing. Wash U is (soon "was") an associate member in football only. Carroll is a full member that plays all of its sports under the aegis of the CCIW, and Carroll thus has a seat on the council of CCIW presidents. Wash U, and fellow associate members Loras, Dubuque, MSOE, Chicago, etc., do not.

And the CCIW isn't adding another full member anytime soon. The CCIW presidents aren't even contemplating it. I've been told that more than once by NPU athletic director John Born over the past few years, including as recently as last week when it was announced that Wash U was involuntarily losing its associate status for football.

Quote from: markerickson on September 13, 2024, 10:52:35 PMSo, why is it so special that NP field a football team?

1. Tuition income
2. CCIW membership
3. Gender balance
4. The umbrella effect (in accordance with #1 and #3), as studies have shown that students at large are more likely to choose a college or university that has a football team than one that does not. (I'm pretty sure that the umbrella effect figured into Calvin's thinking when the school's leadership decided to add football after 160 years of not offering the sport.)
5. Alumni relations (despite North Park's perennial sad-sack performance on the gridiron, at least until recently, dumping the sport and leaving the CCIW for uncharted waters would almost certainly not sit well with most alumni)

Quote from: markerickson on September 13, 2024, 10:52:35 PMRegarding the magic number for scheduling football-so what.  That is a diversionary tactic.

Diversionary tactic by whom, and for what purpose? Unless some amenable school comes forward cap in hand to apply for associate status in football, the CCIW is going to go to an unbalanced schedule when Wash U leaves, no doubt about it. It will be the responsibility of the nine CCIW football head coaches to deal with the problems of scheduling inherent in an odd-numbered D3 football league.

Quote from: markerickson on September 13, 2024, 10:52:35 PMThe financial health of the institution is obviously most important. Also, North Park's gender equity numbers to Prong One are top five worst in the Midwest, regardless of division status. Prong Two is a non-starter. In Prong Three, the absence of lacrosse represents a concern. In addition, athletic facilities are beyond taxed for this landlocked institution.

This is your area of expertise, so there's no doubt that you're right about NPU's Title IX status. But I have heard nothing about anything punitive being sent NPU's way because of it. I do know that John Born is looking at alternatives in terms of adding another women's sport or two -- but the financial situation is so delicate in this demographic environment that adding more sports has to be done carefully and with a lot of deliberation.

It's highly unlikely that women's lacrosse is under consideration, because, as you said, Holmgren Athletic Complex is already overextended every fall and spring as it is. NPU would probably have to rent facilities elsewhere (such as the athletic field at nearby Northeastern Illinois University) for both practice and competition, and that rental fee is itself a huge disincentive to add the sport, budgetwise.

Quote from: markerickson on September 13, 2024, 10:52:35 PMNorth Park has somewhat of a housing crunch and aged dorms that need to be replaced.

I doubt that the dorms will be replaced, since dormitories are the dinosaurs of American higher education. NPU would like to acquire more apartment property, but that brings us right back to the issue of the budget crunch.

Thank you, Greg, for educating us on the facts about D111 private schools. It was very helpful for me.

Quote from: BIG BLUE BEN on August 26, 2024, 11:28:20 AMThere are two incoming freshman who played both ways in HS and QB (both played QB). From their hudl tapes they are great athletes but would need to improve as passers to be CCIW caliber QB's. I could see them going with a young athletic freshman QB if the O-line does not seem stable and they need someone to run around all year, but the SR Lombardo has 19 career starts and I would imagine it will be his job to lose. Lombardo has struggled mightily behind bad offensive lines for his first two years as the starting QB. He is listed at 6ft but is more like 5'10 and has been very inaccurate under pressure. He has a great arm and when everything is perfect around him, he can sling it, but those moments have been far and few between. I have been hoping we would have found another young QB during the last 3 years but every year it seems they have been unable to bring in a freshman QB capable of taking over. I do not know the numbers exactly, but Lombardo has taken a beating and gets hit ALOT. Maybe he will look differently with more help around him but at this point in his career I think he is what he is. With that said, I know this team is not the worst team in CCIW. I think they will be motivated by the Pre-season CCIW rankings (might be first time ever Millikin was predicted last). They will not finish last, and I think they can finish as high as 5th.

Thanks for the info. Do the 2 frosh possibilities have some size?

Quote from: BIG BLUE BEN on August 21, 2024, 04:44:39 PMDear Men,

News from Decatur. Football season is upon us and the winds of change are blowing in central Illinois! For the first time in over 5 years there is hope in Decatur! As everyone knows, Millikin suffered only there 2nd ever winless season since 1907. I believe in Coach Hall and although he has gotten off to a 4-16 start to his Millikin tenure, this will be by far the most talented team he has had so far. He finally has enough of his own players in the building and has now had 3 years to establish his culture. They were very young last year but did lose their 1st team ALL-AMERICAN Perkins on the D-line. Millikin now has 52 freshmen on the roster and after over a week of watching film, I am pleased to say that this is the most talented class in a long time. Out of 52 freshmen, 40 had hudl highlight tapes and 25 were players that definitely have the potential to be starters in a year or two. With that said 6-7 of these players may start day 1 and are physically ready to play in the CCIW. Millikin has some special skill position players that can be difference makers day 1 on campus. Hall went heavy in Texas and Louisiana and signed Mutiple players who played at large high schools in Texas where it was hard for me to tell the difference between high school teams and D3 teams. I think this Millikin team will get better as the season goes on and will find a way to win 4-5 games. On paper, this team should be much improved, and I hope to see good things from the young Freshman class.

Cheers,
Go BIG BLUE

Thanks for the info. Their roster seems quite thin at the QB position, which we all know how important that is. Any news about this?

Hi Board
As a Big Blue fan, I hope you are correct BIG BLUE BEN.  I am a little more subdued.  I think the freshmen class brings in a good foundation but with unproven talent.  Then when you add in a new first time head coach, it leaves many questions.  Also, as you know, the academic axe has hit the football team heavy recently.  My main concerns with returning players centers on the offensive line and running backs.  I will hold my enthusiasm until the first game with Greenville.  I agree that on paper the incoming athletes look excellent.

Quote from: iwu70 on March 22, 2022, 02:09:24 PM
Yes, a good season for the CCIW -- Elmhurst's run, WC in the Sweet 16 and IWU to the Elite 8 . . . and three finishing in the top ten, final poll. 

Congrats to Elmhurst, Wheaton and IWU.

IWU'70

I might add that the CCIW had good balance this year.  As an example, Millikin beat both Elmhurst and Wheaton once this season. When you look at Div3 schools around he area, you realize just how good the CCIW coaching is in comparison. I am looking forward to reading how this board analyzes the recruiting team by team.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 17, 2022, 01:05:39 PM

Quote from: WUPHF on February 17, 2022, 10:00:54 AM
A Millikin prediction from November.

Quote from: _________ on November 11, 2021, 02:06:22 PM
I'll be really surprised if Millikin wins more than a game or two in the CCIW. 

As I mentioned at the time, I might have said that about Brandeis a few seasons ago and probably said that about Chicago this season and so I removed the name of the poster.

Thanks, Greg, for your accurate summary of the Millikin basketball situation.  I can remember in recent history that several posters were commenting that maybe Millikin should drop out of the CCIW and join a league with teams like MacMurray -- etc.  I am sure those basketball posters were unaware of the success of other Big Blue teams who were CCIW champs or contenders such as wrestling, baseball, cross-country, track and field, softball, woman's basketball, woman's volleyball, etc.

But keeping with basketball, it should be noted that during many of Millikin's losing teams, the coaches were real gentlemen and truly nice guys.  We all know of the saying that "nice guys finish last". I never did believe that and Coach Sode is a true example. Kramer is a class act and a great CCIW representative.  He is worthy of being coach of the year.

The real question is: "can Millikin sustain a strong program?".  Lets hope that Coach Sode can recruit as well as he can coach.  He has great assistant coaches.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 17, 2022, 01:05:39 PM
Nevertheless, this is a good opportunity to say something about what is easily the most remarkable and interesting story in the CCIW this season, which is Millikin. To say that the Big Blue men's basketball program has been woeful in this millennium would be a severe understatement. Millikin has only had three overall winning seasons since Y2K -- including Y2K -- despite annually playing a non-conference schedule larded with SLIAC teams, and the Big Blue has not finished on the plus side of the ledger in CCIW play since they went 8-6 in 1998-99. For those of you keeping track, that 1998-99 season for Millikin was four head coaches ago. That was also the last time that Millikin finished in the CCIW's first division; since then, aside from the 6-8 campaign in '04 in which they finished fifth, they've been in the CCIW's bottom three every season. And nobody is likely to forget when they bottomed out in 2010-11 and 2011-12 by going 1-23 and 1-24, respectively, losing all 28 CCIW games during that stretch -- one of them a league-record 70-point loss at the hands of Augie -- fielding the two worst CCIW teams I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot of bad CCIW teams, an uncomfortable number of which have worn my alma mater's livery).

The ultimate futility actually stretches back even further. Millikin's last CCIW title was 33 years ago, making the Big Blue's stretch without a championship the second-longest in league history behind the 48 years that Elmhurst spent in the wilderness before Knuppel & Co. brought the Bluejays to the promised land in 2000-01. That title season in 1988-89, in which Millikin was led by premier sharpshooter Brian Horst as well as Jeff Slapak and big man Jeff Bottorff (whose son, to add insult to injury, decided to play college ball for Augustana rather than his dad's alma mater), was also the last time that MU played in the D3 tourney, which means that Millikin is currently enduring the longest tourney drought in CCIW history.

More recently, the Big Blue hit rock bottom again at the end of Mark Scherer's tenure as head coach by losing 28 of the 30 CCIW games that they played over the past two seasons. Given that, plus the fact that the team hired a new head coach in April who had served as Scherer's second chair during that bottoming-out, our protected poster's 2021-22 prediction for the Big Blue seemed reasonable.

Instead, a funny thing happened. The new head coach, Kramer Soderberg, slotted three freshmen into his rotation -- guards J.T. Welch and Noah Livingston and forward Drake Stevenson -- who, although they're hardly world-beaters, fit perfectly into his system and have managed to hold their own in CCIW play. Meanwhile, everybody he inherited from those awful teams that he'd tried to help coach alongside Scherer got better -- even Calvin Fisher, who was already an All-CCIW second-teamer. They really began to personify the kind of hard-nosed and vigorous team ball that can overcome talent gaps, which they displayed with aplomb in last night's upset of #15 Elmhurst. (When was the last time that the Big Blue upset a d3hoops.com Top 25 team, anyway? Have they ever done it at all? Your guess is as good as mine.)

The upshot of the matter is that Millikin is 14-10, 9-6 going into Saturday's regular-season finale at Wheaton. As Lucas pointed out, the Big Blue have clinched fifth place, and, thus, the #5 seed and will make their first-ever CCIW tourney appearance in the standard six-team format next week. In honor of that, I'm breaking standard neutrality policy and becoming an unabashed Millikin rooter from here on out this season.

This will be the umpteenth time that I've complained on this board about the ridiculous policy that CCIW coaches employ of automatically bestowing the CCIW Coach of the Year award upon the coach or coaches of the championship team or teams. It's as plain as the nose on your face that the true CCIW Coach of the Year in 2021-22 is, indisputably and by a large margin, Kramer Soderberg.

(modified by GS for formatting)

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 06, 2022, 09:07:59 PM
Two friends of mine, former North Park soccer player Chris Sitowski and former North Park basketball player and assistant coach Mark Pytel, run a podcast called The Sit and Py Show that also airs as a video livestream on Facebook. They interview various Illinois sports legends -- high school, collegiate, and professional -- and they've just released their latest edition, which is an interview with one of the CCIW's all-time greatest players, 1983 CCIW Most Outstanding Player Wayne Dunning of Millikin. Better known as Stunning Wayne Dunning, he was one of the most dominant figures I've ever seen at the D3 level. He was so good that during my student days, back when the North Park student section was a pack of hundreds of rabid wolves, Dunning actually caused us to start spontaneously chanting, "Transfer here! Transfer here!", because he simply tore up an outstanding Vikings team practically all by himself.

The interview is by turns funny, informative, and inspirational, and I think that any and every CCIW fan can appreciate it. (It's worth watching just to get a laugh out of hearing how Illinois Wesleyan used to cheat back in the days when the Titans played in Fred Young Fieldhouse. ) You'll get a real appreciation not just for Stunning Wayne Dunning, the Big Blue superstar of the early '80s, but for Bishop Wayne Dunning, pastor of the Faith Fellowship Christian Church and a leader in the Decatur community in meeting material needs and providing services to the less fortunate. And I'm sure that you'll also get some of the flavor of what Sit and Py bring to the table in their sports podcasts.

https://www.facebook.com/chris.sitowski.5/videos/1085783405321228

Thank you for the reminder about Wayne Dunning and the life he lives.  He lived a life modeled after the John Wooden saying you list at the bottom of your postings.  When ever I have an opportunity to speak to young athletes, I always use that Wooden quote because it puts competition in the proper perspective. We competitors need humbling sometimes -- I know I do.  Greg, please keep reminders like that in front of us.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 05, 2022, 10:16:03 PM
Augustana 91
North Park 60

Jalen Boyd: 16 pts
Izaiah Sanders: 12 pts, 3 stls
Gabe Johnson: 6 rebs, 3 stls

Luke Johnson: 28 pts (10-13 FG, 4-5 trey), 7 rebs, 4 stls
Daniel Carr: 16 pts, 18 rebs
Anthony Cooper: 11 pts (3-3 trey)
Mikey Hamilton: 6 rebs

Nothing to say about this one, other than to state the blindingly obvious fact that the wheels have completely come off for NPU.

Augie has a very good freshman class, pretty comparable to Carthage's.

Good point about the freshmen at both Augie and Carthage.  There are many good young players in the CCIW this year.  I believe Carroll has young talent and Millikin started 3 freshmen, 1 sophomore and 1 senior against Carroll.  The balance within the conference may last a while.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 04, 2022, 05:19:58 PM
25,000?

No doubt everyone is thinking, "Good grief, when will that guy shut up?"

You should never shut up because you are the VOICE of this board.

Quote from: Titan Q on January 20, 2022, 04:57:55 PM

Quote from: HAMBO on January 20, 2022, 04:48:51 PM
I used to live in Decatur and we loved it.  Decatur is a city of parks built around a beautiful lake.  Of course the Millikin campus is gorgeous.  What is missing from Decatur is an exotic night life, skyscrapers, and heavy traffic.  Some people enjoy a rural lifestyle.  I would prefer that CCIW fans state positive comments about all of the communities of this great conference.  Each institution adds its own amenities to the total value of the conference.

I have a lot of friends in Decatur and have had a lot of great times there.  It's a nice place -- even if I tease my Decatur friends from more of a Bloomington vs Decatur kinda thing in good fun.

Even though I grew up in Chicago, I've loved living in Bloomington-Normal, IL, Columbia, MO, and Lincoln, NE over the last 30 years.  All great places.

I agree with your desire for things to be more positive here.  I think, overall, the reason this board has been dying is that it tends to get really snarky and contentious.

Thanks Titan Q for your positive response.  I have lived in both Decatur and Bloomington.  In fact we lived on Kelsey Street right where the Shirk Center is now.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on January 20, 2022, 03:26:53 PM
When I was a North Park student, my buddies on the NPC cross-country team would joke that the best thing about the annual meet at Millikin would be seeing the "Welcome to Decatur" sign in the van's rear-view mirror on the ride home.

I used to live in Decatur and we loved it.  Decatur is a city of parks built around a beautiful lake.  Of course the Millikin campus is gorgeous.  What is missing from Decatur is an exotic night life, skyscrapers, and heavy traffic.  Some people enjoy a rural lifestyle.  I would prefer that CCIW fans state positive comments about all of the communities of this great conference.  Each institution adds its own amenities to the total value of the conference.