It looks like Page Moir has had a good recruiting season to restock the roster.  Top recruits include:

Ethan Humphries-- 5'10  - James River - Class A Player of the Year leading James River to State title. Averaged 11 points and 6 assists. His team was 100-12 with him as the starting point guard for 4 years.  He was first team All-Timesland and named "Player of the Game" in State Championship game

Clay Lacy-6'3" – Cave Spring - First team all state AA, leading team to 2 straight state championships. Averaged 17 points per game and 8 rebounds per game.  He also was a first team All-Timesland and named "Player of the Game" in State Championship game

Jack Hamilton- 6'4" – St. Stephen's Two time First team All IAC for 2 seasons, scoring over 1000 point in a  4 year varsity career. He averaged 14 points and 9 rebounds per game.

Andrew Daniels-6'2" – Oakton - MVP of the Concord District Tournament AAA, leading Oakton to first district tournament championship since 1972. He averaged 16 points per game.

Colby Shorter-6'4" – Rockbridge – Led Timesland area in 3 point %, averaging 14 points per game and shooting 51% from 3.

Page has several more coming, but I don't have information available.  I will post bios when when available.  I'll keep my fingers crossed about a big man.

Another loss in the ODAC family.  One of the ODAC founders from Lynchburg College, Bill Shellenberger, has died.

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/college/wb/218395

About 500 people gathered on the Bob Johnson Court at Emory & Henry yesterday for a memorial service honoring coach Johnson.  As you would expect, many of his former players, assistant coaches, and members of the E&H staff were there, and as were most of the ODAC coaches and staff.  There were quite a few coaches from outside the ODAC community as well.  All of the speakers had their favorite Johnson stories.  He left a great legacy, but he'll be missed in the ODAC and the larger basketball world.

Thanks for sharing one of your Bob Johnson memories, Stan.  Everyone who knew Bob has a story to tell.  The Roanoke Times story this morning adds several more.

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/college/wb/216431

Bob Johnson was one of the great ones.  He will be missed at E&H, in the ODAC, and throughout college basketball.

http://www.ehc.edu/cgi-bin/MySQLdb?VIEW=/news/viewone.txt&newsid=4387

JWW,
I'm as likely as anyone to complain rather than offer a solution.  I know you and most everyone that addressed the scheduling issue personally and I have great respect for the contributions all of you make here on the ODAC thread.  The HSC/RMC game doesn't lend itself to calm, dispationate analysis by the fans of either team.  Since I don't have a dog in that hunt, I thought I'd at least try.  Sorry about the tome.  I had my wife, the English major, review my post before I sent it.  She said it's too long.  I said it's a complicated issue.  Not twitter material.

I had some time available last night so I went back and read the comments by tigerfanalso, Brian Hamilton, 3sdown, and JWW about scheduling, especially the January 6 RMC @ HSC game.  After a little study and reflection, I have some observations and a proposal for your consideration.

I studied the schedule for ODAC conference games for 20090-10 and compared it with various team schedules going back to 2002-03 that are archived on D3hoops.  Maybe Brian Hamilton doesn't see major changes in conference scheduling, but I see some striking changes:
•   instead of 24 regular season games there are now 25;
•   instead of 10 conference members there are now 11 members;
•   instead of 18 conference games there are now 16;
•   Instead of home-and-home games with each conference opponent there is now an unbalanced schedule with home-and-home games with two unchanging rivals, home-and-home games against four opponents, single season games against four opponents (with rotation of single and double game opponents every two years, and adjustments for the odd number of teams);
•   instead of playing three or four conference games per week, there is now consistent Wednesday-Saturday scheduling (with two byes in the 18 game slots);
•   elimination of the Saturday/Sunday games (dreaded by nearly everyone except JWW and a few other parents)
•   non-conference games are distributed more evenly during the beginning part of the season;
•   the ODAC men's tournament has been moved back a week to run concurrently with the women's tournament;
•   instead of only eight teams, now all teams get into conference tournament;
•   instead of an annual conference schedule, it is basically a biennial schedule.

Most of the changes have been met with favorable silence from the commentators on this thread.  However, when you distribute the games more evenly during the season--which nearly everyone thinks is a good idea--you wind up playing more non-conference and conference games when the schools are not in session.  Of the 18 conference game slots, four occur when most of the schools are not in session--the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the first three Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday slots in January.  Nearly everyone complains about playing games when students aren't on campus, but I haven't heard anyone advocate going back to three or four games per week when students are on campus, or starting up classes earlier in January, or holding games during exams, or reducing the number of conference members, or playing only one conference game per year.  Most of us prefer complaining to advocating solutions.

The ODAC has incorporated rivalry games into the unbalanced schedule, with each of the eleven teams playing two officially designated rivals twice.  If you check the schedule for last year and this year, the ODAC has already set aside the last two games of the conference schedule for rivalry games, including February 17 HSC @ RMC, just as Brian Hamilton and tigerfanalso want.  

What about the first round of rivalry games?  It appears to me when looking at the schedule that the ODAC office decided to start play generally with the first round of four home-and-home opponents, followed by the first of  two rivalry games, then playing the four single games, then moving on to the second round of home-and-home games, concluding with the second round of two rivalry games.  (It gets a little more complicated than I outlined because of the byes and odd number of teams.)  Seems like common sense to me, and I think that follows tigerfanalso's suggestion of holding the rivalry game at the end of the first and second cycle of home-and-home games. However, all schools aren't back is session until the seventh slot for games!  It is inevitable that some rivalry games will take place when schools are not in session if the conference season starts with the first round of home-and-home games.  Assuming that we don't want to fix the problem by playing only one round of conference games, or reducing the number of teams in the ODAC, or starting up the second semester earlier, or playing three or four games per week, the solution that comes to mind is to play four "single games" at the beginning of the season instead of in the middle of the season.  That would push the first round of rivalry games into the middle of January, when everyone is in session.  Of course there is a down side to this arrangement as well, but maybe you all can debate the pros and cons.

BTW, when checking the D3hoops archives I was surprised that the Hope/Calvin, Williams/Amherst, and Wooster/Wittenberg games are not generally at the end of their respective conference schedules.  My memory was also refreshed that nine members in the NESCAC only play one round of conference games and the 10 members of the NCAC play 16 games in an unbalanced schedule instead of 18 games in a balanced home-and-home schedule.  

If anyone wants a copy of the 2009-10 conference schedule, just email me and I'll send you what I have.  JELoesel@aol.com

Below is a link to information about Kwasi Amponsah, one of Roanoke's top recruits this year.  He's a graduate of Gar-Field.  From his credentials, I'd expect him to get playing time early in the year.

http://static.mgnetwork.com/isn/core/media_path/more_content/pdf/all-area-boys-basketball.pdf

I'm sure Page Moir will miss assistant coach Robby Pridgen, who is moving on the assist at D-I Robert Morris this year.  Robby did a great job recruiting and working on the sidelines.  Thanks from this fan,  Robby, and good luck.

Good luck also to Jon Coffman, who played for W&L in the mid-90s and assisted Bob Johnson at E&H.  Jon has moved from Stetson to Colgate.  He will fill the assistant slot vacated by Nathan Davis when he moved to Randolph Macon.

Quote from: Brian Hamilton on July 06, 2009, 07:57:26 PM
Maybe Steelyglen or JELoesel have more information that they could provide on this topic.

As I outlined in my mega post about the asymmetrical scheduling that the ODAC adopted last year, the major revamping of the schedule will take place every two years.  The conference schedule for 2009-10 is a mirror image of last year's schedule.  The dates for games are on the same day of the week during the same week in the same month; the difference is a flip on who is the home team and who is the visitor.  

I suggest sending any suggestions about scheduling to the conference headquarters right before they consider revamping for the next two-year cycle.  (I don't know when that is but I'll try to find out.)  Comments now will be forgotten/lost by reevaluation time.

Quote from: David Collinge on March 31, 2009, 02:07:46 PM

Quote from: jeloesel on March 31, 2009, 12:23:20 PM
Congratulations to the Bears.  You made this alum proud.

I thought you were an Oberlin alum, Jim.  Maybe the Yeomen can reach Salem next season and stimulate even more pride. 

I imagine there are times even a Wooster grad finds it advantageous to claim he is a Tulane law school grad.     Yes, an Oberlin vs. Wash U championship game would present some serious conflicts for me, but I sleep well at night not worrying about that possibility.

I haven't received an email from you requesting the pictures.  Should I infer that Woosterites are too proud to accept handouts from Oberlinians, no matter how valuable the gift?   

Quote from: hasanova on March 23, 2009, 07:42:02 PM

Quote from: Dave "d-mac" McHugh on March 23, 2009, 02:29:18 PM
Speaking of the Bomb Squad... gut feeling says the baby powder fun may be out as an option - at least in a return trip to Salem!

I was there ... it's one thing when the "king" does it solo at a pro game ... it's another when 200 undergrads do it in unison at a college game. 

Congratulations to the Bears.  You made this alum proud.

I took what may be the definitive photos of the Bomb Squad baby powder explosion.  Send me an email at the address below and I'll send them on to you.  

JELoesel@aol.com

At the Final Four in Salem, I had a lengthy discussion with the Hood coach about aspects of the "unbalanced" conference schedule used by the ODAC this season.  That discussion stimulated further reflection about the advantages and disadvantages of the "unbalanced" vs. a "balanced" scheduling for our conference.

Much of the discussion about the "unbalanced" schedule that took place on the ODAC Conversation during the season focused mainly on the "fairness" of the seeding, or stated another way, on the true reflection of team strength in ranking the teams for tournament purposes.  While that is a consideration, I think there are more important aspects that need to be discussed and evaluated.

After R-MWC became coed and began competition in men's basketball and other men's sports, it was a question of what kind of scheduling change would be adopted, not whether to continue with an 18 conference game schedule based on "home and away" scheduling with the other nine teams.  If the decision was made to continue scheduling each of the other conference teams twice for conference competition, the resulting 20 conference games would limit the number of non-conference games to five.  Adopting the "asymmetrical" schedule with 16 conference games allowed scheduling of nine non-conference opponents.  

There are several benefits from playing nine non-conference games rather than five.  
•   First, it allows for more opportunity to play against nearby teams.  Most notable, there was an opportunity for ODAC teams to play more often against USA South teams, which fosters more interaction and builds friendly rivalry between the sister conferences.  Nearby independents can also be scheduled more often, and E&H took the opportunity to schedule nearby VA Wise and VA Intermont.  Southern Virginia in Buena Vista can be incorporated into schedules of nearby ODAC teams more often.  
•   Second, it allows for continued or increased scheduling of home tournaments.  If non-conference games were reduced by four, some of these popular and traditional tournaments probably would be eliminated.  
•   Third, there is increased opportunity to travel to tournaments during the Christmas/New Year break if nine rather than five non-conference slots are available.  These trips are real treats for the athletes and good for exposure of the ODAC in the wider DIII basketball world.  
•   Fourth, it gives coaches greater choices in the strength of the teams they compete against.  It gives weaker ODAC teams the chance to earn wins that they are unlikely to accumulate during the ODAC season; coaches of strong ODAC teams may want to compete against D1 teams or national D3 powers.  
•   Fifth, it increases the visibility of the ODAC in the region and on the national stage to play more games out of conference.  Playing teams from other conference exposes ODAC teams to a greater variety of playing styles, officiating, and levels of competition.

The nine game non-conference schedule also allows for better distribution of games during the season.  
•   First, it is much easier to schedule non-conference games during the long Christmas-New Year break.  
•   Second, the non-conference games are played during November/December/early January, and only one or two conference games are played before the vacation break.  If a 20 game conference schedule would be adopted, the schedule would almost be split between a pre-break season and a post-break season.  Under the "unbalanced" schedule, the bulk of the conference games take place after the non-conference games are completed by time students return from the long holiday.
•   Third, the "unbalanced" 16 game schedule has eliminated the need for the long and tiresome Saturday/Sunday trips.  Especially for the schools at the edges of ODAC territory, these were "trips from hell."  Not needed now.
•   Fourth, the 16 game ODAC schedule distributes the most of the games to a Wednesday/Saturday regularity.  Because of the odd number eleven members, on occasion there need to be three games per week or a single game per week, but those are not the norm.  Remember the annual lament by Steelyglen about the killer schedule that Bridgewater would face in January/February to get all the conference games squeezed into the relatively short time available before the tournament?  I don't recall any posts on the ODAC thread this year complaining about unbearable concentrations of games, especially on the road.  A result of the "unbalanced" schedule, I think.

Of course, the league schedule balances over time.  Roanoke had to play its sole game at Randolph Macon this year, but the Yellow Jackets will travel to Salem next year.  Moreover, the reshuffling of which teams you play once and which you play twice every two years makes certain that what may be a slight disadvantage over a two year period may become a slight advantage over the next two year span.  

It may only be a fluke of the competitiveness of the ODAC this year, but I don't think that playing 20 games this year instead of 16 games would have resulted in a better tournament.  There were some great matchups in the tournament, and it wouldn't be fair to ask for more from regular season play.  It was all about Virginia Wesleyan and W&L getting hot at tournament time, not where they were seeded.  When a seven seed plays an eight seed for the championship, it appears to me that seeding was largely irrelevant.  

I was skeptical about the merits of an "unbalanced" 16 game schedule going into the season, but I think it worked out much better than I could have hoped.  It's not perfect, but I think it has substantial advantages over a 20 game ODAC schedule.   I'd expect there will be  tinkering of the system as more experience is gained over the next few years.  It's worth keeping, IMHO.

Finally, congratulations to Guilford for an outstanding season and thanks for representing the ODAC so well in the NCAA tournament.

Quote from: oldfish on March 05, 2009, 09:57:56 AM

I'm really interested to know how many of you who characterize VWC as the "Thugs from the Beach" (TFTB) have ever had a negative face to face encounter with a VWC player. You know, David Doino and his fashion choices seem to get a lot of attention when this is brought up.  The fact that he wore an NFL jersey in warm ups is at worst comical!  Hardly Thuggish!  If you take off David's Jersey and put him on HSC you all would have typed your fingers off about how hard he plays the game and his win at all costs attitude. It is amazing that another school would hire a "thug" like David and put him in charge of their basketball recruiting...NC Wesleyan is hard core like that yo!

The mention of David Doino brought a smile to my face this morning.  What a basketball player!  He had limited natural athletic gifts, but he used what talent he had to the fullest.  He was the epitome of a team player: banging underneath for rebounds, distributing the assist from the top of the key, hustling back on defense, and making the clutch shot when needed.  He knew the game and he seemed to show up at the right place at the right time.  He was a team leader for the Marlins, and from what I could tell, he was respected by the other coaches and opposing players.  I can think of few players I enjoyed watching more over the years than David Doino.

I think it was remarkable that he was such a total team player because he was a flamboyant character outside the game.  The David Doino I got to know was always upbeat, with a smile on his face.  I always enjoyed talking to him before or after a game.  

I can certainly understand why David chose coaching after his playing days ended.  I think he has all the makings of a successful coach.  Moreover, his enthusiasm for the game is something that should be passed on to future generations of players.  I think he continues to be a credit to VWC, the ODAC, and basketball.  The Marlins could do worse than name an annual award for team play in David Doino's honor.  

JWW,

If you are planning to attend tomorrow's game between the Marlins and the Maroons, let me know.  I wouldn't want you sneaking in the back door and trying to hide in the stands like Denbow's Roomie when you could be coming in through the special portal for honored guests.  Much to Warren Thompson's disapproval, the "Couch of Honor" has disappeared (probably carted off by foraging West Virginia celebrants) and the pep band is still working on fanfares for visiting dignitaries, but I'm sure we can arrange something appropriate.   JIM

Quote from: Ron Boerger on January 22, 2009, 11:17:05 AM
- Roanoke can't be 12-1 overall if they are 9-2 in region

After last night's win, Roanoke is 15-2 overall and 11-2 in region (if I have correctly divined the region).