2027 Elle Lorente 6-0 F Eaton Rapids will attend Trine.  Had a few MIAA and other good D3 program interest.

Go Greyhounds.

Former Grandville boys basketball head coach Ryan Wade will be joining the staff at Hope College.

Ken George sort of announced on the twitterz he has stepped away from Hope basketball.

https://x.com/kengeorgebball/status/2063754169022869912

Friday bored

In this quarters "News from Hope College" magazine, Spring 2026 or Volumne 57 No 3.  Way in the back on page 45 at the top is a picture of a bunch of young students running in front of the Capital in Washington.  The caption mentions Hope graduate Lee Bechtel '77, the photo is celebrating Hope's 50th year of the Washington Honors Semester  (something I was very very far from).

I mention this only because I got a call this afternoon from my uncle who some present and past posters have met. He worked in admissions at Hope for not much more than a year or two in the very early 70's.  It might have even been Ray Smith's first year as the head football coach.  He was with the group I'd call the 'old guard' of Hope College many of their names grace various facilities.  Bultman, Smith, Van Wieren, Bob DeYoung etc.  He left Hope and took a job in admissions at Michigan State which is where he stayed for the rest of career and where he met Bob DeYoung, who later returned to Hope. He remained in close contact with those folks for decades.  He mentioned more than once over the years had Hope had today's facilities then he would have stayed and that lack of campus facilities was the primary reason he left.  It worked out ok, he did some cool things at MSU.

So the phone call.....

He calls me today and points out this picture, but not for Lee Bechtel.  No, he points out the senator smile looking man right in front.  That man is former Indianapolis Mayor and Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana.   

Why was this important to my uncle.  Well my uncle was a classmate of Mr Lugar at Denison University in the 50's, and as he goes on in his story, Lugar was one of two students (both Freshman btw) selected by the University to debate a couple traveling students from Oxford University in England.  What about, he can't remember but he's sure the two Denison students won the debate.  Mr. Lugar went on to study at Oxford Universtiy and later entered politics serving almost 40 yeas in the US Senate.

This whole interaction is an improvement for my Uncle as it wasn't to long ago I would have received a letter in the mail containing a cutout of the photo and a hand written note describing everything above. 

He lives 8 miles away.


Cool Story bro!


As a bonus I forgot I did receive a newspaper cutout article not even 3 weeks ago from my uncle about the new MSU football coach.  It was an article printed in the Chicago paper about the scandal at NW and his redemption.

 and bonus........ it was sent to my uncle by his former colleague in Evanston.

Bonus, Bonus.  They actually sent the exact same article to each other at the same time.

Adrian has hired Tecumseh High coach and former Adrian Bulldog Jamison Webster.

Webster graduated in '16

Want to feel old.  Look up how long ago it was Rockford's Ryan Majerle played at UWGB.


If you're ever up in Sheboygan, WI, check out Majerle's Black River Grill.

Good luck to Jaylen.

Quote from: GusD on March 31, 2026, 06:25:15 PMWhen someone is willing to bet all the corn in Manito it's pretty much of a given that they've assessed the situation correctly. 😉

There it is!

Jake Bagley  Trine to Hope
Pete Smith Hope to Trine
Older Morrison Hope to Calvin
Jason Beckman Alma to Hope

Just a few more that popped in my head

There have been a handful in recent years that started at one and finished at the other.  Hope's current AD is probably the most notable to transfer to the other though he's an old guy now.





Didn't a couple of Calvin's early 90's teams basically have Grand Rapids Christian's starting 5?

Quote from: KnightSlappy on March 26, 2026, 05:52:03 PMI think we're at the point when most all-region caliber players are going to check out their opportunities?

I don't see him as a D1 guy, so hopefully he'll return to Hope. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm not a scout.

I think at the very least testing the waters is going to be the norm. 

I do think he could find the right home in D1, and would play for every D2 in this state except maybe 1 or 2.

There have been several players from Unity that have played at Hope/Calvin and other MIAA programs as well.

Calvin coach Bill Sall and a bigtime poster are graduates of Unity.

LaCrosse 75 Hope 61 F

Tough night all around just putting the ball in the hoop, 2-19 from 3 made the first and last, inbetween 0-17 (woof), missed numerous close in shots, even struggled from the Ft line.  After an 8-0 lead, found themselves down 19 just before half, managed to battle all the way back to 6 with 3 cracks at it to go under but that was as close as they could get it.

Orion Yant was a huge bright spot with a game high 22, Hope consistently wormed their way in close but man the finishing was just so off.


A few Hope guys really dragged themselves across the line today, long physcially tough season took its toll.  But they played so dang hard, gave it all, got a little reward at the end.

JCU isn't exactly a slow paced non-pressure team guys.     Both JCU/Grinnell want to turn you over a bunch, Grinnell will take more 3's and try to get to the foul line.  30 FT attempts pg for Grinnell.  JCU pressures you and runs a quick shot offense for lack of better wording.

Expect a lot of FT's.

Grinnell 90 possession per game
JCU  79 ppg
IWU 70 ppg
Heidelberg 70

Now the NESCAC can finish their double round-robin.

Hope's tournament options. 

Seeding pods 1,2,3,4

Hope NPI is #49 that should make them a #4

as a #4 you're looking at playing a host school
Host schools in our half of the country should be Chicago, Illinois Wesleyan, UW-LaCrosse, WashU, Gustavus Adolphus.  I've penciled in Mt. Union as a host, because there should be an Ohio host to help with East/West geography and Mt. Union is #18

Hope to Gustavus Adolphus is over 500, so that's out.
Chicago should get Bethany Lutheran, so Hope "shouldn't" draw Chicago

IWU/WashU/LaCrosse are all plausible matchup

If Hope were sent to Mt Union and they're the #3 and don't play Mt Union the possibilities of opponents is too long to mention.  Anywhere from NY, NJ, PA all the way to Virginia.



The geography issue we always get means Hope is straddling that 3seed/4seed line
As a #3 Hope would be a weaker one and will probably draw Mt. Union if they don't host, Whitewater or Stevens Point

Other options that wouldn't follow strict seeding closely but seem plausible would be Platteville, John Carroll, Otterbein

Less likely 3 vs 2 matchups would be Grinnell or Loras

Hope won't play Bethany Lutheran, Heidelberg, PSU Behrend or Transylvania and shouldn't play Aurora, Wash & Jeff.  If they do they did something wonky or geography made it happen.


There's always the possibility, though highly unlikely, they fly Hope somewhere like Cali or Texas. 


As a side, with 4 WIAC's and 1 hosting. None of them can get to Mt. Union, so Whitewater, Stevens Point and Platteville will go one each to IWU, Chicago, WashU or Gustavus

You want the one without the WIAC school.