MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

D3hoops.com All-Region guard and 1,000-point scorer Kolden Vanlandingham is returning to NPU to finish his degree and wrap up his collegiate career in 2025-26.

[Greek Tragedy]

I imagine Campbell probably talked to the coaching staff and knows what his role is and what he needs to do. I don't think he would just randomly pick NPU before doing his homework. If he didn't, that's not real smart.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park has landed 6'0" rising junior PG Adrian Anderson from Morton College. Last season the Berwyn native averaged 14.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.4 apg, and 1.5 spg for the Panthers with a 1.7 a:to ratio and .500/.476/.838 shooting splits. He had the third-highest trey shooting percentage in all of NJCAA D2, and at 68-143 it's not as though he snuck in atop the leaderboard as a low-volume type who was extremely selective about when to attempt a trey.

He led the Panthers in scoring and assists, and this was for a 21-win Morton team that won the tough Skyway Conference.

I like this pickup for NPU.

[lmitzel]

I haven't looked at other schedules around the league yet, but I've noticed an oddity this year with the double round robin. Usually you face everyone once before you start the rematches. Yet for NCC, they face North Park in back to back CCIW contests (in Chicago on 12/13 and Naperville on 1/3). They don't face Elmhurst until 1/24 and then again on 2/14.

[GusD]

I haven't looked at other schedules around the league yet, but I've noticed an oddity this year with the double round robin. Usually you face everyone once before you start the rematches. Yet for NCC, they face North Park in back to back CCIW contests (in Chicago on 12/13 and Naperville on 1/3). They don't face Elmhurst until 1/24 and then again on 2/14.

Well, nowhere in the CCIW rule book does it say any of the scheduling has to make sense. This is nowhere near being unusually unusual for the CCIW. While this is a perfect example of an "oddity" in 🏀 scheduling it's really nothing new. For instance there have been several instances of scheduling one 🏀 team to play their last 3 conference games on the road while a rival is afforded the advantage of playing their last 3 in front of a very supportive home crowd. Likewise, in football, when one team has to play away against the same team 2, maybe 3, years in a row. Baffling CCIW scheduling is something that seems to occur on a fairly consistent basis.

[GusD]

NCC NEWS

Members of the North Central basketball team are preparing to enjoy a nice benefit to their enrollment at NC and membership on the 🏀 team. On Tuesday, 8/5 they'll jet off to Europe for a little basketball, and a lot of sightseeing and entertainment. First stop on the tour will be Lisbon, Portugal where they'll face the University of Manitoba, Canada in a game in addition to taking in the sights and sounds of the city. Second stop will be Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona, and the rest of Spain, does not have a traditional college basketball system like in the United States. Rather, the city is home to several prominent basketball clubs, which compete in the top two cheers of Spanish League and the EuroLeague. They also have the North Atlantic Basketball Academy, which is the developmental arm of the Spanish system which provides training for international exposure for players aged 18 and over. Not sure what level team the Cardinals will be facing in Barcelona. Additionally, before their return home n 8/14, they'll be touring some of the cultural amenities of the city such as the Sagrada Familia, LaRambla, La Boqueria Market, and the FC Barcelona stadium, Camp Nou. Lastly, they will be enjoying some of the city's nightlife which never gets going until after dinner, which is usually not taken until at least 9 PM.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park's freshman class:

Noah Aguado, 6'6" F, Yorkville Christian
Marko Arnautovic, 6'4" F, Glenbrook South
Demario Eddins, Jr., 6'4" F, Argo / Victory Rock Prep (Bradenton, FL)
Luther George, 6'2" G, Oakland (CA) Tech
Tim Key, 6'4" G, Eustis (FL)
Alexander Konoff, 6'2" G, Westmont
Harrison Long, 6'0" G, Elkton (NE) / Victory Rock Prep (Bradenton, FL)
Daniel Loza, 5'10" G, Lake View
Kayden Peat, 6'8" F, Champaign Centennial
Marquis Vance, 6'4" F, Marist
Keshaun Vaval, 6'1" G, Evergreen Park

[markerickson]

What the hell is Victory Rock?  Originally thought it would be a charter school, but I did not see an academic component.  https://www.vrpbasketball.com/  Gap year landing sport to improve one's basketball skills?  If so, why not just go to college and play jv?  Maybe more than one of NP's incoming freshmen will stick around to earn a degree.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

What the hell is Victory Rock?  Originally thought it would be a charter school, but I did not see an academic component.  https://www.vrpbasketball.com/  Gap year landing sport to improve one's basketball skills?  If so, why not just go to college and play jv?  Maybe more than one of NP's incoming freshmen will stick around to earn a degree.

Took me like 2 minutes to find that answer on the website you linked:

https://www.vrpbasketball.com/facilities

"EDISON ACADEMICS
NON-PROFIT 6TH-12TH GRADE PRIVATE SCHOOL
 

Edison Academics School  is located in Bradenton, FL. Victory Rock student-athletes attend as part of the academic requirements. The school provides small classroom settings that allow for individualized learning plans."

https://www.edisonacademicsschool.com/

[Gregory Sager]

What the hell is Victory Rock?  Originally thought it would be a charter school, but I did not see an academic component.  https://www.vrpbasketball.com/  Gap year landing sport to improve one's basketball skills?

It's a sports-based prep school, or perhaps it's better described as the athletic club attached to a prep school. Institutions like Victory Rock Prep have been part of the prep sports landscape for well over a decade now. The most popular one in this neck of the woods is La Lumiere, across the Indiana border in LaPorte. La Lumiere's been around since '63, but has definitely morphed into a basketball factory. Unlike the new wave of sports-based outfits, though, La Lumiere still keeps the academics and athletics sides under the same umbrella, while, as FDF said in the post above, the Victory Rock type of institution essentially outsources the academic side, in VRP's case to Edison Academics School. Edison is in Bradenton; Victory Rock is nine miles away in Sarasota.

Florida is a hotbed for this type of school; for example, besides Victory Rock there's IMG, Florida Coast Prep, and Montverde.

Clearly, Eddins felt that he could use another season to refine his skills and get physically stronger before college after graduating from Argo HS down in southwest suburban Summit. Same with Long at Elkhorn High in the Cornhusker State. I don't see any reason to disparage their decisions.

If so, why not just go to college and play jv?

Because you lose a year of college eligibility playing JV, that's why. A gap year spent at prep school makes an incoming freshman a year older, a year stronger, and (presumably) a year more skilled and trained than his collegiate athletic peers, and thus a better candidate to see playing time right away. College soccer is rife with prep-school players (they're the lifeblood of the NESCAC, the best soccer league in D3 and the sort of old-money New England liberal arts colleges that are the natural place to find a preppie, presumably right down to the Izod polo, khaki pants, and boat shoes  ). Basketball is catching up to soccer.

Maybe more than one of NP's incoming freshmen will stick around to earn a degree.

A whole bunch of four-year students who were in the Vikings basketball program have received NPU degrees over the past few years, Mark. You just don't know about them because they've tended to be JV guys who never got into varsity games and (in most cases) they thus quietly switched over to intramurals as sophomores or juniors. (Lalhnehpuia Chhakchhuak was an exception, since he faithfully spent all four of his years at NPU on the JV team ... and thus spared me from realizing my continual nightmares of having to pronounce his name on the air if Sean or Ed ever let him dress varsity and put him on the floor.)

[GusD]

What the hell is Victory Rock?  Originally thought it would be a charter school, but I did not see an academic component.  https://www.vrpbasketball.com/  Gap year landing sport to improve one's basketball skills?  If so, why not just go to college and play jv?  Maybe more than one of NP's incoming freshmen will stick around to earn a degree.

Took me like 2 minutes to find that answer on the website you linked:

https://www.vrpbasketball.com/facilities

"EDISON ACADEMICS
NON-PROFIT 6TH-12TH GRADE PRIVATE SCHOOL
 

Edison Academics School  is located in Bradenton, FL. Victory Rock student-athletes attend as part of the academic requirements. The school provides small classroom settings that allow for individualized learning plans."

https://www.edisonacademicsschool.com/

Well, not quite so quick. Seems there might be a fly in the ointment. The information on the Edison Academics School page clearly states that their academic program is designed for 6th through 12th grade students. It says absolutely nothing about post high school academics. Their site also states they "provide different learning styles for each individual student." Sounds like a learn-at-your-own-pace set up. Certainly doesn't appear that the word "elite" could be attached to this type of academic environment.
But what do guys who have graduated high school do all day?? Play basketball, lift weights, lounge around the pool? If so, there is no way that situational environment can be described as anything other than a basketball factory. Are these guys taking college level courses at Edison School? Are they coming into NPU as sophomores academically?
How much of the focus for HS grads is on academics down there? It's fine if a kid wants to get bigger and stronger before college. But let's not call it a gap year or a prep year or anything else it really isn't because those type situations involve some degree of academic development for college, not just basketball development.

[Gregory Sager]

What the hell is Victory Rock?  Originally thought it would be a charter school, but I did not see an academic component.  https://www.vrpbasketball.com/  Gap year landing sport to improve one's basketball skills?  If so, why not just go to college and play jv?  Maybe more than one of NP's incoming freshmen will stick around to earn a degree.

Took me like 2 minutes to find that answer on the website you linked:

https://www.vrpbasketball.com/facilities

"EDISON ACADEMICS
NON-PROFIT 6TH-12TH GRADE PRIVATE SCHOOL
 

Edison Academics School  is located in Bradenton, FL. Victory Rock student-athletes attend as part of the academic requirements. The school provides small classroom settings that allow for individualized learning plans."

https://www.edisonacademicsschool.com/

Well, not quite so quick. Seems there might be a fly in the ointment. The information on the Edison Academics School page clearly states that their academic program is designed for 6th through 12th grade students. It says absolutely nothing about post high school academics.

"Fly in the ointment"? Chill, Mark. They're obviously taking AP courses. Surprised you don't seem to know about them, because they've been around for practically forever. For crying out loud, I took AP courses my senior year in high school, and I'm older than dirt. I had a whole bunch of college credits under my belt by the time I came to North Park. Heck, there are students who attend college who take so many advanced placement courses their final year of high school that, if they max out their course load each semester, they're able to graduate in three years. I've known several people that are alumni of various colleges and universities who did just that, thanks to AP classes and a bit of foresight (or an astute HS guidance counselor). It's especially true of international students whose schools in their home countries operate on a different calendar and with different standards than ours. (That's a perennial problem North Park has with its Swedish and Norwegian soccer players; we lose most of 'em after three years because they show up on campus as freshmen with so many college credits already under their belts that they're able to graduate a year early.)

Their site also states they "provide different learning styles for each individual student." Sounds like a learn-at-your-own-pace set up. Certainly doesn't appear that the word "elite" could be attached to this type of academic environment.

Who said anything about an "elite" academic environment?

As far as the "provide different learning styles for each individual student" bit is concerned, you don't seem to recognize a sales pitch when you read one. Admit it: You wouldn't be making a fuss about some harmless online sales pitch for a prep school if these were North Central recruits we were talking about. (You'd be demanding a federal investigation if they were Illinois Wesleyan recruits, though. )

This is a nice try at making a mountain out of a molehill. But schools like these have been a part of the American sports landscape for quite awhile now. Are they academically useful? That's certainly questionable, although I'm sure that it varies from person to person. Is it a good way to develop independence, learn structure, motivation, and time management, and experience life away from home, without the high academic and social pressure of freshman year in college? Yes, I can see how that could be the case for some kids, and there's an academic component to that as well, certainly in terms of the structure/motivation/time-management aspects. I suppose that this could be a legit way for some young people to ease into the uniquely American netherworld between adolescent dependence and adult independence that is college in the good old U.S.A.

Let's not kid ourselves. For most 18-year-olds who are serious athletes, the "prep" is probably a lot more about preparing themselves for the soccer pitch or the basketball court in college than it is about preparing themselves for the college classroom. But, short of actually touring one of these places myself or asking someone who's attended one about them, I'm not going to make any blanket statements about whether or not they serve any academic purpose for any student who attends them.