MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

Iowa Wesleyan is in the news again.  The President said that a 2.1 million dollar cash infusion is necessary in order to open in the Spring.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/11/05/iowa-wesleyan-could-become-latest-small-college-close?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=ea600ddbfc-DNU20181105+A%2FB+Test&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-ea600ddbfc-198614177

Very sad... wonderful small town, great support for the basketball team the 3 times I saw games there....Except for the far away location from St. Louis, a perfect fit for the SLIAC...

Also note, if they are to close for the Spring Semester, that means January... will shorten the SLIAC schedule by 2 games, assuming games played in December would then become non-conference games..

[WUPHF]

Westminster College recruits

Trenton Barbour, Jamestown

Makygh Galbreath, Fulton

Sam Groner, Fatima

Tyler Sparo, Mexico

Jak Kitchens, New Bloomfield

New Bloomfield is a small school for sure, but Kitchens finished his career above 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Westminster has finally updated their roster (they have a game on Wednesday against Columbia College) and though Romo Tabb is officially listed (yeah!), Jak Kitchens is no where to be found.

http://westminster.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/roster

[WUPHF]

Very sad... wonderful small town, great support for the basketball team the 3 times I saw games there....Except for the far away location from St. Louis, a perfect fit for the SLIAC...

Very sad indeed.  I guess we will know the fate of Iowa Wesleyan soon after the trustees convene on November 15. 

[hopefan]

Westminster College recruits

Trenton Barbour, Jamestown

Makygh Galbreath, Fulton

Sam Groner, Fatima

Tyler Sparo, Mexico

Jak Kitchens, New Bloomfield

New Bloomfield is a small school for sure, but Kitchens finished his career above 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Westminster has finally updated their roster (they have a game on Wednesday against Columbia College) and though Romo Tabb is officially listed (yeah!), Jak Kitchens is no where to be found.

http://westminster.prestosports.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/roster

WOOPIFF   shame on you... he's there, you missed him...and we can be happy about it...

[WUPHF]

You know, I am 99% sure they were updating the roster as I was posting because there was no Jaxon Davis, RJ Mays or Will Harper when I looked.

There are no less than 12 first-year students on the roster.

[hopefan]

4 Games open the season on Thursday...

Greenville at Loras... Loras received some votes on D3hoops preseason top 25... and then went out and beat D2 Augustana (S.D.) in an exhibition game... they've experienced the fast pace of league member Nebraska Wesleyan in the past... Assuming Greenville will retain the system, it still may be a challenge for Loras.. Greenville comes in with solid experience, but still has to make up for the unexpected (to me) loss of scorers /rebounders Grady and Bonney... they have 6 or 7 good guards returning, but who will rebound and score off misses?  New faces will have to learn quickly..

Webster at Illinois College...  Illinois College beat MacMurray by double digits in an exhibition, but Webster comes in significantly stronger...Johnson, Ettienne, Wilcox, Tankins are all solid... Missing Crispo's outside shooting, but Ferrell and Macias both showed pretty well last year when they got a chance... IC has 3 big time transfers, all 3 start... tough game for Webster, but a great opportunity..

St. Louis Pharma at Blackburn... Pharma was  0-26 last year with a forfeit win added... I don't think they had much of a recruiting year.....surprisingly though, they lost only 105-107 to Central Christian last week.. I have to think both are weak.. BC should be able to give the bench valuable experience in this one... I expect talent level is different between BC and Pharma...

Principia at Knox... I've been a hidden Prin fan the last several years, quietly rooting for a team that had only 5 or 6 real players on the roster... The graduation of 2 seniors from last year will again mean that incoming freshmen will play key roles.. anxious to see how they perform... Knox is Knox, probably weak, but they did have 7 wins last year, losing to Westminster, Eureka and Greenville... still, let's hope Prin's double guns, Goodman and Paulson, can pull out a win...Question, will Prin be able to stay on the boards vs teams with size... it's up to the freshmen....

[Greek Tragedy]

Good work, hopefan. Btw, what are IC's 3 "big time transfers"?

[hopefan]

Good work, hopefan. Btw, what are IC's 3 "big time transfers"?

I won't throw my source under the bus... that was his quote... the 3 all came from Junior Colleges...all 3 were regulars with decent numbers, and all 3 started against MacMurray in the exhibition game last week...

Riley Mehrens... 6' guard from Sauk Valley
Trevor Otten.... 6'4" guard from Sauk Valley
Kane Wildermuth... 6'5" forward from Carl Sandburg

I didn't have names, no stats from the exhibition game.. dug around on IC roster to find 3 who didn't play at IC last year, but showed as JC players in 2016-17 or 2017-18,  I'm assuming these are the guys....

"Big time" may have been in the eye of the beholder, or relative, or whatever... we'll see...

[Greek Tragedy]

Wildermuth - 5.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg
Otten - 6.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg
Mehrens - 12.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.5 apg  280 fga, 252 of those were 3-pters.

[WUPHF]

I've been a hidden Prin fan the last several years, quietly rooting for a team that had only 5 or 6 real players on the roster...

The best or worst kept secret in SLIAC basketball forums.  You decide.

Seriously, though, Principia is one of the best underdog stories in Division III. 

I certainly appreciate your Principia coverage.

[hopefan]

I've been a hidden Prin fan the last several years, quietly rooting for a team that had only 5 or 6 real players on the roster...

The best or worst kept secret in SLIAC basketball forums.  You decide.

Seriously, though, Principia is one of the best underdog stories in Division III. 

I certainly appreciate your Principia coverage.

+1 Woopiff

[y_jack_lok]

Long article with some great stuff from Coach Bunch about how he sees prospects for this season: https://websterathletics.com/news/2018/11/6/mens-basketball-set-to-open-2018-19-season-thursday-at-illinois-college.aspx

[WUPHF]

Westminster College is scheduled to play Columbia College tonight at 7:00 pm CST on the road.  Columbia is a NAIA powerhouse and a heavy favorite, but if you would like to watch: https://columbiacougars.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=175

[hopefan]

Long article with some great stuff from Coach Bunch about how he sees prospects for this season: https://websterathletics.com/news/2018/11/6/mens-basketball-set-to-open-2018-19-season-thursday-at-illinois-college.aspx

Could be most in depth article I've ever seen about a SLIAC team.... fantastic job by Mr. Greenberg... other SLIAC SIDs PLEASE take note....This is the way it could/should be done....

[hopefan]

Westminster College is scheduled to play Columbia College tonight at 7:00 pm CST on the road.  Columbia is a NAIA powerhouse and a heavy favorite, but if you would like to watch: https://columbiacougars.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=175

NOTE  :  This is an exhibition game for Westminster.. may give fans a chance to see new faces....