The IWU X site posted an intro for each recruit. In the "would-a, should-a, could-a" category, Avery Tibbs gave the Titans a solid look, but she ended up going to DII McKendree. The Bearcats have had recent successes in both their men's and women's programs lately, and Tibbs is a monster addition. Last year, Mia got 9 recruits (desperately needed), all serviceable DIII players. Leyden good enough to start and Koby getting significant minutes. This year, 7 recruits, but a big step up in quality. Harms, Braden and Lamerti...big stats coming out of high school, but Harms and Braden, injury prone. Averie Wolfe, sister of Grant Wolfe (talk about injury-prone), is a steal specialist. If she gets quality minutes as a 1st year, she'll challenge Sawyer White's stats by the end of her career. Corson is a junior transfer from.... McKendree. Local girl, 2nd team all-state in HS. She had only token minutes at McKendree. I guess she was either reading the tea leaves or was tired of playing for thin crowds. I dunno. The Titan women have a talent vacuum with graduation. It's a new team, and freshmen are poised to be a big part of it. Potential for Harms, Braden and Lamerti to earn starts. I think Leyden is a lock, but Leah Palmer, last year's late addition is not necessarily a lock due to Corson. Let the fun begin.

Quote from: iwu70 on May 30, 2026, 01:09:16 PMAny further news on the recruiting front for next season?   

iwu'70

 Plenty to say about the Titans, but I'm away from my notes until Monday.

Quote from: devildog29 on April 28, 2026, 02:28:38 PM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on April 28, 2026, 12:28:32 PMOther CCIW commits:

IWU -- Beckett Coon, 5'10" Fuquay-Varina (NC)

Heard his old man could hoop a little back in the day.

You bet. Cory is still holds a record (maybe two) at IWU.

Yes. But Decatur is a heck of a commute. They could live in Clinton, and both have a tolerable commute.  See? This is why groundless speculation is so much fun.

Quote from: ChickenHoops on April 01, 2026, 01:25:10 PMMaybe Matt Lewis can straighten out the IWU program.  Rose couldn't get them to the Final 4.     

So, this could be the source of some interesting though probably meaningless speculation. I'm sure he wants to keep his coaching knives sharp but what the heck could he do?  There are a handful of college and junior college programs within commuting distance but I'm not sure if any are looking for a coach or assistant coach.  Coach Rose couldn't offer him anything more than a volunteer position, and a coach like Lewis deserves a lot more than volunteer work.

Cleveland is a local kid who was quite familiar with IWU both playing at Shirk and b.b. camps. I'm sure Coach Rose worked his magic. But ISU, the local DI school, actively courted him too. I'm sure they're very interested he's in the portal.

Maybe he'll be like Yoder: try DI for a year and then come back, but that's wishful thinking.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on March 24, 2026, 04:09:06 PMhttps://x.com/i/status/2036503295729000557

Noah Cleveland in the portal. His bro just earned CPOTY in the CUSA. Unfortunately, Zach is a senior, so he can't go play with him.

Just read that. What a back-breaker.

Proximity might be to the Titan's advantage in terms of fan support. Only a 4 hour drive, and there might be a fan bus. Wish I could make it, but it's not gonna work out.

Ice cold shooting in the first half by Endicott. Once the Titans got some space they never let go. A strange altercation between Endicott coach and a fan during handshakes at the end. Security rushed over and made separations.

Quote from: iwu70 on March 11, 2026, 09:46:50 AMAnyone here with thoughts about Endicott -- what kind of team, style of play, issues confronting the Titans?  Seems they are a high-flying, high-scoring team with over 85 ppg.  But, not that much size? 

Looking forward to the Sweet Sixteen game @Shirk on Friday.

'70

Just looking at Endicott's web page, their size is comparable to the Titans, but Noah, Mason and Carlo will have a 1 to 2 inch advantage. Their non-conference schedule shows they don't stray far from home  and was generally weak this year with the exception of Tufts. They beat Tufts by 3, which is far and away Endicott's biggest win. Their only loss was to Colby which ended with a 16-9 season. Tufts is still in the tournament, so Endicott's win over Tufts can't be dismissed as luck.

I wrote "Hell, the frickin' bank has to move to a different location." But that should be "band" not "bank." And yes, if the NCAA doesn't dictate concessions, then the greasy fingers are indeed green. Tinfoil hat now off.

Ok. Tinfoil hat on. I'm not a fan of punishing people for what they say. A bit to un-American for me. Yes, I know it's an organization they've agreed to join and follow the rules. But at some point, the NCAA turned into a government, not an organization. Like this round of games at IWU. Now, they dictate where the seating sections are. Hell, the frickin' bank has to move to a different location. The concession prices change I assume because they have their greasy fingers in the pie. I know these are old complains about the NCAA, but I'm an old man who yells at kids to stay off the lawn.

Unfortunately,  Illinois Wesleyan has spring break  starting that weekend.

Quote from: iwu70 on March 08, 2026, 05:37:55 AMIWU gets a nice win over John Carroll to make the Sweet Sixteen and will host Endicott at Shirk on Friday -- 6:30 p.m.  Sure is nice to have Noah Cleveland back -- he almost single-handedly pull the Titans ahead in the beginning of the second half, as the Titans pulled away and never looked back.  The game was very competitive in the first half, and quite chippy in the second with some some hard flagrant fouls, taunting and several Ts on offer. 

The Titans move on 73-60.

Nice to have a home game for the Sweet Sixteen level.

IWU'70

Insane.  Noah definitely found his comfort level with that cast.  It makes me cringe because I think he's going to emake it worse.  I've never seen him more demonstrably happy.  I've never seen a Titan game so emotionally charged. Shutting down Chicone in the 2nd half seems to have been pivotal.