Rob Sansone, a 6'1 SG from Montini, who averaged 19 PPG and had initially committed to Carthage, has now withdrawn that commitment and will instead attend Loras.

Rob Sansone, a 6'1 SG from Montini who averaged 19 PPG and initially committed to Carthage withdrew that commitment, and will now attend Loras. They must have a special NIL fund just for basketball guards. 😏

Quote from: tomt4525 on April 24, 2026, 11:00:23 AMBristol Lewis has indeed left Platteville for greener pastures.  Those greener pastures are committing to D2 Northern Michigan.

The pastures surrounding D2 Northern Michigan aren't always that green. Over the years there have been a good number of players that have found NM to be not to their liking, preferring an experience at a D3 (and likely some NAIAs). At least a few have migrated to the CCIW and done well there. I suspect the same is true with the WIAC.
Cold (as in frigid) might be a more apt description than green. 💨

Quote from: ChickenHoops on April 23, 2026, 10:48:52 AM

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on April 22, 2026, 06:49:56 PM

Quote from: PauldingLightUP on April 22, 2026, 01:01:39 PM

Quote from: tomt4525 on April 22, 2026, 11:11:16 AMUWSP assistant coach, Paul Combs, has announced his retirement.  It will be interesting to see what happens, if anything, with the assistants at UWSP.  I suppose they could just promote Dan Witter.

Very strange with his son still having two years left.

Maybe he finally just wanted to be a parent and watch his kid play and enjoy it, instead of coaching him.

With their burgeoning revenues, they probably get more assistants. Of course most of that goes to the players, not the staff. Amazing what they've done. 

Combs is now the President/GM of Ignite D3 Events. They are the company that put together the D3 Windy City Shootout to be held at Now Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL on Nov 22. UWSP is one of the participants.

Quote from: GusD on April 24, 2026, 08:03:08 PMIt hasn't been posted yet, and probably won't be for sometime, but a little birdie whispered in my ear that NCC (or possibly Naperville University by then  ) will play the following non-conf schedule next season;

11/11 @ Aurora
11/17 vs Hope
11/20 @ Webster
11/21 @ Westminster
11/24 vs Benedictine
12/16 @ Wis. Lutheran
12/20 vs Pacific Lutheran
1/1 - 1/2 UMHB + 1 other @ UMHB

So trips to Missouri and Texas.

In addition to host UMHB and the Cardinals, the other two teams participating will apparently be McMurry and fellow CCIW member Augustana. Augie and NCC will play the Texas squads the first day and then, of course, trade opponents the following day.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on April 30, 2026, 10:15:30 PMCongratulations to former North Park PG Michael Thomas ('81), who will be inducted into the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame this year. North Park's all-time leading scorer, a three-time national champion, and a three-time All-American who was also named the 1981 CCIW Most Outstanding Player, Michael T. will join his former teammate Michael Harper and his former head coach Dan McCarrell in the SCBHOF.

His school's all-time leading scorer.
A 3 time All-American.
A 3 time National Champion.

Wow. Anybody wanna' argue with that? 😉
Pretty damn impressive! 😎

Quote from: Gregory Sager on April 28, 2026, 03:20:17 PM

Quote from: GusD on April 28, 2026, 12:10:23 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on April 26, 2026, 11:12:33 PMI have a ringside seat for all the key recruiting insider info.

Ah, that explains it. 

Can't wait for the bell to ring at Merner or Faganel when Dempsey and Tunney go head-to-head!

Just hope that the refs don't do a long count if Dempsey is dribbling for more than five seconds.

But you know so well how many freshmen PGs, not having been restrained by a shot clock in HS, have a strong tendency to dribble..dribble.., and dribble some more.

Some CCIW commits;

IWU - Evan Blankenship, 6'6 Batavia SF
Elm - Sean Day, 6'4 Downers Grove South SG
Carroll - Miles Okyne, 6'4 Naperville North Combo G
Carthage - AJ Berndt, 6'1 Cary-Grove PG, and Rob Sansone, 6'0 Montini SG

* Rule 6.3.4 - Any CCIW recruit either named AJ, or who identifies by those initials, must initially matriculate at Carthage.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on April 26, 2026, 11:12:33 PMI have a ringside seat for all the key recruiting insider info.

Ah, that explains it.   

Quote from: Gregory Sager on April 26, 2026, 11:12:14 AM

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on April 26, 2026, 11:02:06 AMNot sure if it was mentioned, but Elmhurst got a commit from Jack Dempsey (6'3") out of Oak Lawn Community High School. He was named South Suburban Red Conference POTY.

Eagerly looking forward to North Central announcing that it has a commit from a kid named Gene Tunney.

Yes, Gene is a 6'7 PF from Michigan. How did you hear about him?

It hasn't been posted yet, and probably won't be for sometime, but a little birdie whispered in my ear that NCC (or possibly Naperville University by then  ) will play the following non-conf schedule next season;

11/11 @ Aurora
11/17 vs Hope
11/20 @ Webster
11/21 @ Westminster
11/24 vs Benedictine
12/16 @ Wis. Lutheran
12/20 vs Pacific Lutheran
1/1 - 1/2 UMHB + 1 other @ UMHB

So trips to Missouri and Texas.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on April 22, 2026, 11:27:35 PMBradley Stratton, 6'2", out of St. Laurence with a prep year at Don Bosco Prep, has committed to North Park.

And, possibly reported previously, so has 6'5 PF Mustaf Rexhepi out of Niles North.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on April 17, 2026, 04:48:23 PMLoras just landed 6'5", 190 Jake Willems, who averaged 12.7 and 5.2 for Augustana last season. He'll be a junior for the Duhawks in 2026-27.

Chances should be high that Willems will see significant PT. Primarily at the expense of returners who didn't play much last season, and any incoming freshman guards.

Quote from: north central on April 14, 2026, 11:08:41 PM

Quote from: blue_jays on April 14, 2026, 06:35:14 PM

Quote from: north central on April 14, 2026, 10:35:11 AMI think this is where a coach or former coach needs to call out the administration publicly because that's the only way stuff will change .

For a current coach, this would be an objectively crazy thing to do, literal career suicide. Unless you are sufficiently monied for the rest of your life, no one would ever do this.

You're right which is why AD's think they can do whatever they want to without being questioned.

"is why AD's think they can do whatever they want," is a blanket statement that implies ALL ADs operate in this manner, which is shortsighted at best. In fact, I am aware of a fairly recent situation where the AD's plan/opinion was rendered inconsequential by collaborating incompetent administrators.

In speaking with a very well placed source within the NCC FB family, he advised that while it's certainly possible, the current state of affairs at NC is such that it would be very surprising if any more Cardinal players entered the Portal.