MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

Adrian roster is posted:

https://adrianbulldogs.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

25 total players, 13 of them new to the program - 7 freshman (inlcuding the 2 we had on our recruit list) and 6 transfers.

Freshman:
Carson Lutz 6-0 G Milford (MI)
Gavin Saunders 6-3 W Indianaplois (IN)
Maisen Bordchart 6-6 W Jackson Hole (WY)
Que Long 6-3 W Eniud (OK)
Austin Burns 6-5 W Marshall (MI)
Matt Evans 6-4 W Imlay City (MI)
Ben Murphy 6-1 G Dexter (MI)

Transfers:
Noah Vanlaningham JR 6-0 G (Kalamazoo (MI) / Albion
Kechan Johnson JR 6-0 G Toledo (OH) / Schoolcraft CC
Lewis Covile JR 6-7 F Atlanta (GA) / Central GA Tech & Delta CC
Jeremiah Dallas JR 6-1 G Detroit (MI) / Indy CC
Jaden Smiley JR 6-7 F Detroit (MI) / Kellogg CC
Brendon Schlink JR 6-7 F Bay City (MI) / Delta CC

Lot of size and experience - going to be tough to "guess" where they finish in the league.  Could they be as surprising as their FB team this year?

Darius Welch could be classified as a transfer, he spent last year at Lansing Community College, his Fr. year at Adrian.

[goodknight]

Exhibition Final from the Wink Arena in Big Rapids:

Calvin 82
Ferris State 75

Jalen Overway led the Knights with 24 points and 10 rebounds
Parker Swartz added 22 on 5 of 8 from beyond the arc
And Jordan Scott dropped in 18

[Dark Knight]

Massey thinks Calvin should have lost that game by 13 points.

Ferris State has an interim head coach after their previous head coach resigned due to "personal health issues."

[KnightSlappy]

Exhibition Final from the Wink Arena in Big Rapids:

Calvin 82
Ferris State 75

Jalen Overway led the Knights with 24 points and 10 rebounds
Parker Swartz added 22 on 5 of 8 from beyond the arc
And Jordan Scott dropped in 18

Starting lineup was Overway, Swartz, Winkle, Scott, Ressler

Calvin had two instances in the first half where they got themselves down ~10 but they were able to pull back to (relatively) even both times. Jordan Scott and Parker Swartz were instrumental in the first half as Jalen Overway started a bit slowly.

Jalen got more aggressive in the 2nd half, putting in 18 points and looking in near-vintage form.

It looks like Ferris St. took down the box score, but the starting backcourt of Scott and Luka Ressler combined for 7 or 8 assists and only two turnovers. The quickness and athleticism of the D2 guards got the Calvin guards into some foul trouble. Ressler and Ruckard had 4 each and Scott fouled out (I did not agree with every call  ).

Brady Ewing, Zion Ruckard, JT McIllwain, and Ben Heagle played off the bench. McIllwain and Heagle each probably only totaled single-digit minutes.

Newcomer Ruckard is a capable ball handler and should be able to defend at a good level. I think his points will only come opportunistically, but he's not going to be asked to be a primary scorer.

A random highlight for me: at one point Calvin had Overway, Ewing, Swartz, Winkle, and Scott on the floor. That's 6-10, 6-7, 6-7, 6-5, 6-5 which would be a lot for many D3 teams to contend with.

Andy Bronkema and Brooks Miller were in attendance.

[sac]

Massey thinks Calvin should have lost that game by 13 points.

Ferris State has an interim head coach after their previous head coach resigned due to "personal health issues."

https://www.bigrapidsnews.com/news/article/ferris-state-not-commentjng-explosive-story-21092066.php

[KnightSlappy]

Massey thinks Calvin should have lost that game by 13 points.

Ferris State has an interim head coach after their previous head coach resigned due to "personal health issues."

https://www.bigrapidsnews.com/news/article/ferris-state-not-commentjng-explosive-story-21092066.php

Yikes.

I don't think this Ferris St. team will enjoy the same level of success as the Bronkema (or Sall) teams did (I think a few of their top guys followed Bronk to CMU), but there's a lot of room for them to regress and still make this a quality-looking win for Calvin. I firmly believe the Knights have a top 6-7 guys in the rotation that can compete with anyone in the country, but the depth after that is still TBD.

[pointlem]

SVSU 80, Hope 76 in a back-and-forth well-played game.

Three game notes:

• Marcus Wourman turned on the afterburners in the 2nd half and ended wth 25. After he missed the first 7 games last year, having him start the season healthy helps Hope.
• SVSU, with its 4 D1 transfers, played 11 players, while Hope gave quality minutes to 16 players.
• Hope has three frosh in its top 10 playing rotation--each of whom look like players with a great future.

[sac]

11 team GLIAC preseason poll

6. Ferris State
8. Saginaw Valley St.

probably both in the .500 to slightly above or below .500 range in D2