The Thunder continue to keep their roster (including incoming player announcements) under wraps, but there's some coaching news.  After three seasons alongside Mike Schauer and Jon Panner, Timothy Watts has moved on to be the Graduate Assistant Coach at Dallas Baptist University.  It looks like Nyameye Adom will be in the third seat for 2026-2027.

Quote from: Stertorous Thunder on February 23, 2026, 04:50:32 PMThe all-conference awards are posted:

https://cciw.org/news/2026/2/23/cciw-reveals-2025-26-mens-basketball-all-conference-selections.aspx

First of all, they're all great choices, admittedly made by people who know far more about basketball than I do, and 100x so for CCIW basketball.  But it's no fun if you can't have some respectful discussion/debate/disagreement.

Vuckovic ahead of Vanlandingham was an interesting choice.  I was about to disagree, but the award is about who did more in 2025-26, not who did more over their NPU career.  And if you put two North Park players on the team, you would have to bump one of these guys: Brooks, R. Johnson, Trelenberg, Cleveland, Funk, Thomann, Richardson.  Vanlandingham already has a first team trophy.  I'm okay with giving Vuckovic one of his own.

McNabb, L Smith, A Johnson, Adjahoungbeta, and Colak were all expected second teamers.

Augustana didn't get anyone on the teams, which made room for North Central's James Bullock to take one of the two "wildcard" spots.

But to me the biggest surprise was Carson Grier bumping teammate Kyan VanderWoude from the second team.  I can't argue with this decision either.  While VanderWoude was the guy who scored when Soren Richardson was hurt or double-teamed - and did that job very well - Grier was a unique force and more valuable to Wheaton than anyone but Richardson.

So in summary, hats off to the CCIW voters.  Once again, they've delivered a worthy slate of winners.

The all-conference awards are posted:

https://cciw.org/news/2026/2/23/cciw-reveals-2025-26-mens-basketball-all-conference-selections.aspx

Noah Cleveland wins both awards, the Fred Young CCIW Most Outstanding Student-Athlete and the CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year.  You can argue with the decision for the second piece of hardware, but it establishes precedent that the award goes to someone in their first year of collegiate basketball.  If you argue with Cleveland winning the Fred Young award, you can leave this chat now as you have no valid opinions to offer.  He was sensational in 2025-2026.

Interestingly, the award for the coach of the year is listed as the "CCIW Coaching Staff of the Year."  Not very interestingly, the award goes to Illinois Wesleyan.

All-CCIW First Team
Riley Brooks, Carthage, G, Jr., Ripon, Wis., Ripon
Ryan Johnson, Carthage, G/F, Jr., Oswego, Ill., Oswego East
*Dominic Trelenberg, Elmhurst, F, Sr., Westchester, Ill., Nazareth
*Noah Cleveland, Illinois Wesleyan, F, Fr., Normal, Ill., Normal Community
Mason Funk, Illinois Wesleyan, G, Jr., Normal, Ill., University
Lane Thomann, Millikin, G, Jr., Mackinaw, Ill., Dee-Mack
Mike Vuckovic, North Park, G, Jr., Hanover Park, Ill., Hoffman Estates
*Soren Richardson, Wheaton, G, Jr., Northfield, Minn., Northfield
* -- Unanimous selection
 
All-CCIW Second Team
Michael McNabb, Carroll, G, So., Grafton, Wis., Grafton
Lamar Smith, Carroll, F, Sr., Milwaukee, Wis., Wauwatosa East
AJ Johnson, Carthage, G, Sr., Oswego, Ill., Oswego East
Vinnie Adjahoungbeta, Elmhurst, F, So., Moline, Ill., Moline
Karlo Colak, Illinois Wesleyan, G, Sr., Glencoe, Ill., New Trier
James Bullock, Jr., North Central, F, So., Chicago Heights, Ill., Marian Catholic
Kolden Vanlandingham, North Park, G, Sr., Richmond, Ind., Northeastern
Carson Grier, Wheaton, G, Fr., Tempe, Ariz., Valley Christian
 
CCIW RESPECT Award Recipients
Dani Romero, Augustana, G, Sr., Malaga, Spain, EBG Malaga
Jacob Naber, Carroll, F, Sr., Janesville, Wis., Janesville Parker
Patrick Laurich, Carthage, F, Sr., Downers Grove, Ill., Downers Grove South
Sebastian Blachut, Elmhurst, G, Sr., Wood Dale, Ill., Lake Park
David Williams, Illinois Wesleyan, G, Sr., Peoria, Ill., Notre Dame
Jacob Bullock, Millikin, G/F, Sr., Bloomington, Ill., University
Sean Molloy, North Central, G, Sr., Chicago, Ill., Lane Tech
Marquis Vance, North Park, G, Fr., Chicago, Ill., Marist
Kyle Neibch, Wheaton, G, Sr., Fort Mill, S.C., Fort Mill

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 19, 2026, 10:14:01 PMFirst-Year Student-Athlete of the Year (man, I hate how the league renamed the awards) is an interesting question, because changing it to "First-Year" instead of "Freshman" or "Newcomer" makes it less specific. Does it literally mean "first year as a student-athlete" or is "student-athlete" just the CCIW's "Look how focused we are on academics, everybody!" euphemism for someone who plays the sport in question? If it's just a show-offy term for a player, then Noah Cleveland is going to win that award going away, because this is his first season as a basketball player even though he's an academic sophomore.

As I've mentioned before, IWU has a unique ability to bring starter-quality players up from the end of the bench, but being able to pull a league MVP from your freshman core classes is just not fair.

Quote from: GusD on February 20, 2026, 06:33:19 PMThunder,
No big deal for sure, but you need to make some minor adjustments to your picks. Millikin would love to have Mr. McNabb, but he plays for a school a little further north. Also, although multi-talented, I don't believe the same young man can be first team and honorable mention at the same time 😉.
Please submit another list of your first and second team picks with 8 players on each team. I'd be interested in seeing what you think. Thanks!

As I mentioned, I think sleep deprivation is taking its toll.

Let's go with this amended ballot:

1st:
Cleveland, IWU, MOP
Vanlandingham, NPU
Richardson, Whe
R. Johnson, CC
Trelenberg, Elm
McNabb, CU
Thomann, Mil
Funk, IWU

2nd
Brooks, CC
Vuckovich, NPU
AJ Johnson, CC
Smith, CU
Adjahoungbeta, Elm
Straughter, Mil
Klaver, Aug
Colak, IWU

Honorable mention:
VanderWoude, Whe
Bullock, NCC
Diaz, NCC

I've attempted to make the lists in an overall ranked order.  Brooks, Vuckovich, and AJ Johnson feel like locks to me, but the rest of the spots on the second team are up for grabs.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 19, 2026, 07:00:29 PMWhy did you only list seven?

I think they'll give Augie a second-team slot, just for form's sake, since Delp's boys will at worst go 5-11. I think it'll probably be Klaver.

I guess I'm running on fumes at the end of a crazy week at work.  I would pick Vuckovich as my final first teamer, but the voters will probably give it to Funk.  Since there's one more open spot that I hadn't counted, your prediction of a Quad Cities Viking on the second team makes sense.

Vuckovich's season was just fantastic. I wouldn't have thought a player could improve that much from one season to the next.  A worthy winner of the fictional most-improved CCIW player award.

But as for real awards, is Carson Grier from Wheaton the First Year Student-Athlete of the Year? Or did I miss someone else who was more worthy?

Quote from: GusD on February 19, 2026, 03:35:08 PM

Quote from: iwu70 on February 19, 2026, 11:26:47 AMGreg, I'm with you now on Mason Funk being a first-team All-CCIW selection.  I had him second team along with Colak.  Cleveland still first team and likely MOP for the regular season. 

First team:  Vanlandingham, Cleveland, Richardson, Ryan Johnson, Mason Funk . . . and ?

'70

And Trelenberg, Brooks, and Thomann.

I enjoy this time of year, debating the all-CCIW awards.

My first team:
Cleveland, IWU, MOP
Vanlandingham, NPU
Richardson, Whe
R. Johnson, CC
Trelenberg, Elm
McNabb, Mil
Brooks, CC

I predict unanimous selections for the first six on the list, especially the first four.  Brooks, Funk, Vuckovich, and AJ Johnson are all great players who deserve first team consideration, but they have teammates who get more attention and there aren't enough places for all of them so I think that three will fall to the second team.

I'm very confident of my top 11 players, but I haven't paid as much attention to CCIW basketball this year, so I could be way off on the final 5 spots.  I look forward to hearing other opinions.

My second team:
Funk, IWU
Vuckovich, NPU
AJ Johnson, CC
Thomann, Mil
Adjahoungbeta, Elm
Colak, IWU
VanderWoude, Whe
Smith, CU

Honorable mention:
Straughter, Mil
McNabb, CU
Bullock, NCC
Diaz, NCC

To me, Augie didn't have a single star who stood out above his teammates, so they could be lacking an all-conference representative.  Bullock and Diaz are great, but last place teams don't usually get honors unless they have an obvious first teamer.

The Thunder hold off the Firebirds 96-88 for the upset at home, a great win over a Top 25 team.  Carthage obviously missed AJ Johnson's presence tonight, but this game should still be a confidence booster for the young Wheaton team.

Freshman quarterback guard Luca Carbonaro had his best collegiate game with 9 points in 13 minutes and Soren Richardson poured in 31 points, but Devin Martin was the Wheaton player of the game tonight.  Martin typically plays in the shadow of Richardson, Kyan VanderWoude, and/or Carson Grier, so it was nice to see him show that he can carry the team if needed, and doesn't always have to play a supporting role.

Wheaton went 11 deep tonight: 2 seniors, 1 junior, 2 sophomores, and 6 freshmen.  Somehow it's possible that this is a team that can improve even when all-conference first teamer Richardson graduates.  But that's looking way too far ahead.  Right now I'm ready to see if this year's team can pull off another upset in the CCIW tournament.

#LetsRoll

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 11, 2026, 11:30:28 PMSoren Richardson had quite an interesting night -- 36 points on 11-18 shooting (including 6-10 from downtown), but he also turned the ball over five times and, interestingly got T'ed up for something. That happens to a Wheaton player about once in a blue moon.

The play-by-play announcer (who did a nice job, I thought) was similarly puzzled by the technical, but I'm fairly certain that Richardson was called for accidentally hitting his defender in the face with the ball while pump-faking before taking a shot. I don't know basketball rules well enough but interestingly, Richardson's trey still counted and wasn't negated even though it was enabled by him gaining separation by smacking the defender in the face. I assume that if the foul had been called in real time, the ball would have been turned over to Elmhurst. But since the foul was called based on video review, I guess that's different?

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 05, 2026, 11:47:00 AM

Quote from: Stertorous Thunder on February 05, 2026, 09:24:22 AMWheaton looked good last night and still trailed by double digits for much of the game.  IWU isn't unbeatable, but they're on a special level, which is extra amazing considering that Fridman is injured and Roper decided to finish his eligibility at UChicago.

Roper had no choice but to finish his career somewhere other than Bloomington. Illinois Wesleyan already gave him a diploma, and it's an undergraduate-only institution. The only choice he had in the matter was which grad school to pick where he could complete his basketball eligibility.

I wondered why he hadn't returned but of course that makes perfect sense.  And in particular, if the University of Chicago deems one worthy of the stratospheric academic standards of their institution, one likely feels particularly compelled to accept their offer.

Quote from: lmitzel on February 04, 2026, 10:50:13 PMDoes anybody have a hookup for holy water or a shaman or something?

Anyone who pays even scant attention to CCIW basketball knows that North Central's won-loss record doesn't paint a particularly accurate picture of their ability.  I know it's of little consolation, but this year's CCIW cellar-dweller would handily beat every other conference last place team in the country, and probably have their benchers playing before the midpoint of the second half against most of them.

From up here in Wheaton I'm supposed to enjoy watching the struggles of my Naperville neighbor rivals, but I don't.  I sincerely hope those young men stay positive and motivated to put in the offseason work, knowing that once in a while, a string of bad luck will happen and that next year will likely be someone else's turn at the bottom.

Quote from: iwu70 on February 05, 2026, 07:54:42 AMColak and Funk will be hard to replace, but I'm pretty sure the Titans and Ron Rose will find a way going forward, especially with Cleveland and Lawrence to build on -- Niego coming back, and Fridman returning from injury.  The future is bright.

Quote from: iwu70 on February 05, 2026, 07:58:23 AMMy mistake.  Funk is coming back another year.  David Williams graduates.  Brady Ruggles returning too.  Lots to work with. Kuehl back too.
Others on the bench waiting their chance.

Wheaton looked good last night and still trailed by double digits for much of the game.  IWU isn't unbeatable, but they're on a special level, which is extra amazing considering that Fridman is injured and Roper decided to finish his eligibility at UChicago.

Every other CCIW program goes through up-and-down recruiting cycles.  IWU just looks down their bench and plugs the next string in.  As good as Wheaton's underclassmen are, I have little doubt that the big green machine will put a rotation on the floor that meets or exceeds the Thunder talent in the upcoming seasons.  It's just what Ron Rose does.

Quote from: iwu70 on December 12, 2025, 03:00:40 PMThunder, actually no, the Titans have rarely been a good shot blocking team.  This year seems to be different, especially with Cleveland, Boldt, Funk and Kuehl all blocking more shots than usual.  The difference so far this year, too, is that this team does not seem to be a very good three point shooting team . . . so far.  That's different than in the past too. 

We'll see how they pull it back together tomorrow vs. Elmhurst.  Of course, you can win games all sorts of ways. 

IWU'70

I root for Wheaton, so I think anyone listed at 6'3" or taller is an elite shot blocker. 

Quote from: iwu70 on December 11, 2025, 08:49:10 PMThis is an IWU team that blocks a lot of shots.

So... just like every single IWU team in every single season? 

It's not surprising at all that Mr. Vanlandingham is in the Top 10 for scoring, assists, and steals.  But third in rebounding?  Wow.