MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[usee]

http://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2009/6/30/MBB_OwenHandy.aspx?path=mbball

Owen Handy takes over for Nate Frank.

[petemcb]

Congratulations to Owen.  He seems to be a great guy, always approachable, and very deserving.  With Wheaton's two coaching switches, it seems like they remain in very good hands.

[Gregory Sager]

Congratulations to Owen.  He seems to be a great guy, always approachable, and very deserving.  With Wheaton's two coaching switches, it seems like they remain in very good hands.

I echo those sentiments, Pete. Congrats to Owen!

[wizbegs1304]

Where is Frank headed?

[CCIWchamps]

Has anyone heard anything about Frank?  I hope he settles somewhere worthwhile.  He deserves it.

[dansand]

Looks like North Park '08-09 freshman Joel Benson has moved on to (NAIA--not Division III  ) Judson:

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x631620044/Area-products-sign-with-Elgin
http://www.judsoneagles.com/article/762.php

He had pretty good numbers in limited playing time last year:

## Player              GP-GS  Min--Avg  FG-FGA   Pct 3FG-FGA   Pct  FT-FTA   Pct  Off Def  Tot  Avg  PF FO   A  TO Blk Stl  Pts  Avg
44 Benson, Joel....... 21-4   248 11.8  26-44   .591   1-4    .250  16-21   .762   14  28   42  2.0  33  1   6  20   5   4   69  3.3

[Gregory Sager]

I'm not 100% sure why Joel Benson's leaving NPU, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has something to do with the numbers game at the PF position. Two Vikings who sat out last year, junior-to-be Jorge Gonzales and sophomore-to-be Nick Hoekstra (academic junior, eligibility sophomore), look to be taking up a lot of playing time at the 4 spot behind Nick Williams in 2009-10. Benson's got very good potential, but it has to be tough to look at next season's likely depth chart and realize that you might play a lot less varsity ball as a sophomore than you did as a freshman.

[Mr. Ypsi]

si.com has a feature up currently of the top ten "Thrill" athletes in 15 different categories.  Some comments:

Boxing: any list with Muhammad Ali only #5, and Thomas Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard omitted entirely, is not to be taken seriously.

NBA: I approve of Dr. J over MJ for #1, but NO Magic Man??!

NFL: I would have swapped Barry Sanders over Gale Sayers for #1, but a mere quibble - how about #1A and #1B?  And ignore those fools bemoaning the absence of Michael Vick - in the NFL, he doesn't belong in the top 50.  But ...

College Football: HERE the absence of Vick is a no-no.  And Red Grange only #7 is a bit mystifying - I'd say #3 at the lowest.

Track & Field: Jesse Owens only #5??!!  Forget the Berlin Olympics; in Ann Arbor a year earlier he broke FOUR world records IN ONE HOUR!

NHL: any list with Super Mario only #10, and The Great One omitted entirely, is a joke.

But I did agree with Secretariat finishing #1 in horse racing - by the end of the Belmont I was convulsed in hysterical giggles: THIRTY-ONE lengths, and still extending the lead - you can't be serious!   [I gave my then-GF's mom 2-1 odds for the entire field vs. Secretariat, and I still didn't see THAT coming!]

[markerickson]

Chuck Foreman of the MN Vikings revolutionized the running back position.  He packed lots of thrills over a couple of seasons - spinning, jumping, and carrying the ball like a loaf of bread.

Re: Joel Benson, he should have played more last season - especially more than Kendall Greer.  I think Benson is from Elgin so he'll play in Elgin next year.

[dansand]

Interesting tidbit from the tennis world:

Madison Keys, the 14-year old daughter of former Augie All-American hoopster Ricky Keys ('84-86), beat Serena Williams 5-1 last night in World Team Tennis...Wow.

Keys defeats Serena

Madison Keys story

[Gregory Sager]

I remember Rick Keys well. He teamed with Ken Harris and Rick Economos on those good-but-not-great Augie teams of the mid-Eighties that were the highpoint of the Jim Leix era. I'm guessing that they were Borcherding recruits rather than Leix recruits.

[dansand]

I remember Rick Keys well. He teamed with Ken Harris and Rick Economos on those good-but-not-great Augie teams of the mid-Eighties that were the highpoint of the Jim Leix era. I'm guessing that they were Borcherding recruits rather than Leix recruits.

Borch recruited Harris and Economos. Keys, who played at Rock Island High School, transferred in from Nebraska-Omaha as a junior for Leix's first season. They were all seniors on the '85-86 team that was coasting along at 17-5 overall and 10-2 in the conference before losing their last four games. That was Leix's last over .500 team.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Some long-time CCIW watchers might remember that former Dallas Mavericks founding president and general manager Norm Sonju was coach at George Williams College in Downers Grove for two seasons in the mid-seventies.

DGP has known Sonju for 50 years and worked with him at the basketball clinic at Camp of the Woods in the Adirondack Mountains of New York for six summers in the early seventies.  Sonju ran a basketball clinic at the Christian resort from 1963 to 1996, at which over eighty NBA basketball players as guest instructors during those years.  Sonju has been a member of the board that runs Camp of the Woods since 1995 and is currently chair.

On June 28 the resort dedicated a new million+ sports complex in Norm's honor.  It includes three side-by-side basketball courts, classrooms, game room and state of the art climbing-wall.  The building enhances not only the summer program of the resort which caters to up to 1000 guests per week during the summer, but also the year-round guests who uses the facilities for conferences and recreation.

On hand for the dedication were, among others: DGP; Pat Williams, Orlando Magic; Jerry Colangelo, Phoenix Suns: Jeff Mullins, San Francisco Warriors; Randy Pfund (Wheaton College), Miami Heat and NFL Hall of Fame end Raymond Berry.

[petemcb]

Carroll University (WI) is conducting interviews today and tomorrow and is apparently down to the final two for its vacant men's basketball job. Dave Buchanan, Head Coach at UW-Superior, and John Baines, Assistant Coach at Elmhurst are meeting with school officials with an announcement expected to come shortly.

.....which again begs the question:  Where is Nate Frank?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Sign of the Apocalypse (British Open category):

Tiger Woods missed the cut.

The co-leaders are 59-year-old Tom Watson and a guy who only discovered on Sunday that he had made the field as the second alternate.

With these precedents, don't count out NPU for the Stagg!