Quote from: ChickenHoops on Yesterday at 06:40:16 PMMatt Lewis as an assistant at IWU? 

Wow, he used to throttle the UWSP Pointers when I was living there. 

How'd they get him? 

 His wife got a nice job at Illinois Wesleyan and he came along.  Not a big demand for head coaches in Central Illinois but I'm sure coach Rose was excited to have an opportunity to have him on staff.  Sure, it's a step down from head coach, but at least he gets to keep his hand in the game and contribute to a winning program.  As for the future, coach Rose and I were in school together but he was 2 or 3 years my junior so I'm guessing he's maybe 61 or 62.  The question of retirement has to come up.  Coach eth ridge the heir apparent but could Lewis upset the apple cart?

Notable departure for the Titans, Maddy Sears 6' 2" sophomore no longer on the roster.  Out with an injury much of her freshman year. I don't know any details

Quote from: iwu70 on July 31, 2026, 05:04:03 PMWhy so few home games on the IWU schedule -- just nine out of 25? 

Looks like a rebuilding year to me.  Lots of freshmen and sophomores, very few returning upper class women. 

IWU'70

 I didn't realize that. I had to go back and count for myself. Yeah, 9 games.  Maybe the invites to the tournaments were too good to pass up. Just guessing.  Maybe someday they could add a women's component to the Sikma invitational, and get some top women's teams to come to Bloomington. In my deeams I guess.

 Yeah, I'd call it a rebuilding year, but Mia has all the components for another fab freshman team.  For me, the women's team will be much more interesting to watch this year than the men's team.

Per the latest Q Cast, Leyden is out for the year due to knee surgery. I think that moves both Palmer and Corson up as probable starters. Freshman still poised to make major impact.

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.