MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

So NPU hands Elmhurst its 8th loss of the season today. It would seem they have to win the conference tournament to go to the national tournament. Carthage has 7 losses. Unless someone other than IWU wins the conference tournament will the CCIW be a one bid conference or will Carthage also make it if they lose the conference tournament final?

That's all up to the NPI numbers.

[Gregory Sager]

Thank you, Jimmy Millikin!

I get to call another game in 2025-26!

[Gregory Sager]

CCIW Tournament

TUE
#6 Carroll (12-13, 7-9) @ #3 Elmhurst (17-8, 10-6)
#5 Wheaton (13-12, 7-9) @ #4 North Park (15-10, 8-8)

FRI @ BLOOMINGTON
6/3 winner vs. #2 Carthage (18-7, 12-4)
5/4 winner @ #1 Illinois Wesleyan (21-4, 13-3)

SAT @ BLOOMINGTON
championship game

[GoPerry]

Millikin 69
Wheaton 66

Carson Grier  14 pts, 7 rebs,  4 stls
Devin Martin, 13 pts 5 rebs

Lane Thomann, 21 pts
Chris Ketchum, 14 pts, 7 rebs
Ian Winkler, 14 pts

It is a bummer losing the game and a bummer not having a home game on Tuesday.  But the way they lost tonight was what was most disappointing.  After playing so well against Carthage, they didn't seem at all prepared to compete vs MU.  Thomann seemed inspired to play against Richardson, and he won that matchup handily.

[Gregory Sager]

It is a bummer losing the game and a bummer not having a home game on Tuesday.  But the way they lost tonight was what was most disappointing.  After playing so well against Carthage, they didn't seem at all prepared to compete vs MU.  Thomann seemed inspired to play against Richardson, and he won that matchup handily.

Millikin dictated the tempo and style of the game: slow, deliberate, and physical, just the way Kramer Soderberg likes it. When you let Thomann & Co. play half-court rock'em-sock'em-robots with you for 40 minutes, things like this can happen to anybody.

My concern is that Soren Richardson only seems to have three or four bad games per season. After today he's clearly used up his quota for 2025-26, and now he gets to spend Tuesday evening in what must be his favorite gym on the entire planet.

[Greek Tragedy]

Elmhurst really had a chance to secure a good position in the At-large pool. Starting the day at 18, they dropped their game to North Park. They'll definitely have to win one and probably two to get back in the mix.

If they win Tuesday, the semi-final vs Carthage will probably determine the At-large (though they'll probably still be in the bottom half of the pool), obviously assuming IWU takes care of business. IWU swept both Wheaton and North Park but that's why they play the game. You never know.

https://d3datacast.com/npi/

[Greek Tragedy]

CCIW Tournament

TUE
#6 Carroll (12-13, 7-9) @ #3 Elmhurst (17-8, 10-6)
#5 Wheaton (13-12, 7-9) @ #4 North Park (15-10, 8-8)

FRI @ BLOOMINGTON
6/3 winner vs. #2 Carthage (18-7, 12-4)
5/4 winner @ #1 Illinois Wesleyan (21-4, 13-3)

SAT @ BLOOMINGTON
championship game

I think it's highest remaining seed vs Carthage and lowest at IWU. I could be wrong though.

[Patrick Coleman]

The CCIW says the tournament is reseeded for the semifinals, yes.

[Gregory Sager]

Yep, that's me being overeager and calling chalk before it happens.

Oops.

[Gregory Sager]

I've said this before here, and I'll say it again: Elmhurst does Senior Day better than any other D3 hoops program I've seen. There's the usual march-out-with-your-parents, flowers-for-mom, line-up-for-pictures routine, but what sets Elmhurst apart is that John Baines takes a mic and walks out to center court and talks about each senior. He doesn't recite stats, he talks about them -- what kind of young men they are, how they work with their teammates and interact with other people off the court, interesting things about them. He tells an anecdote or two about each of them. And he unstintingly heaps praise upon them. The kicker, as far as I'm concerned, is that it's done on camera -- the Elmhurst broadcast production staff always make sure to start the broadcast before John does those introductions. Great stuff.

[Stertorous Thunder]

The all-conference awards are posted:

https://cciw.org/news/2026/2/23/cciw-reveals-2025-26-mens-basketball-all-conference-selections.aspx

Noah Cleveland wins both awards, the Fred Young CCIW Most Outstanding Student-Athlete and the CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year.  You can argue with the decision for the second piece of hardware, but it establishes precedent that the award goes to someone in their first year of collegiate basketball.  If you argue with Cleveland winning the Fred Young award, you can leave this chat now as you have no valid opinions to offer.  He was sensational in 2025-2026.

Interestingly, the award for the coach of the year is listed as the "CCIW Coaching Staff of the Year."  Not very interestingly, the award goes to Illinois Wesleyan.

All-CCIW First Team
Riley Brooks, Carthage, G, Jr., Ripon, Wis., Ripon
Ryan Johnson, Carthage, G/F, Jr., Oswego, Ill., Oswego East
*Dominic Trelenberg, Elmhurst, F, Sr., Westchester, Ill., Nazareth
*Noah Cleveland, Illinois Wesleyan, F, Fr., Normal, Ill., Normal Community
Mason Funk, Illinois Wesleyan, G, Jr., Normal, Ill., University
Lane Thomann, Millikin, G, Jr., Mackinaw, Ill., Dee-Mack
Mike Vuckovic, North Park, G, Jr., Hanover Park, Ill., Hoffman Estates
*Soren Richardson, Wheaton, G, Jr., Northfield, Minn., Northfield
* -- Unanimous selection
 
All-CCIW Second Team
Michael McNabb, Carroll, G, So., Grafton, Wis., Grafton
Lamar Smith, Carroll, F, Sr., Milwaukee, Wis., Wauwatosa East
AJ Johnson, Carthage, G, Sr., Oswego, Ill., Oswego East
Vinnie Adjahoungbeta, Elmhurst, F, So., Moline, Ill., Moline
Karlo Colak, Illinois Wesleyan, G, Sr., Glencoe, Ill., New Trier
James Bullock, Jr., North Central, F, So., Chicago Heights, Ill., Marian Catholic
Kolden Vanlandingham, North Park, G, Sr., Richmond, Ind., Northeastern
Carson Grier, Wheaton, G, Fr., Tempe, Ariz., Valley Christian
 
CCIW RESPECT Award Recipients
Dani Romero, Augustana, G, Sr., Malaga, Spain, EBG Malaga
Jacob Naber, Carroll, F, Sr., Janesville, Wis., Janesville Parker
Patrick Laurich, Carthage, F, Sr., Downers Grove, Ill., Downers Grove South
Sebastian Blachut, Elmhurst, G, Sr., Wood Dale, Ill., Lake Park
David Williams, Illinois Wesleyan, G, Sr., Peoria, Ill., Notre Dame
Jacob Bullock, Millikin, G/F, Sr., Bloomington, Ill., University
Sean Molloy, North Central, G, Sr., Chicago, Ill., Lane Tech
Marquis Vance, North Park, G, Fr., Chicago, Ill., Marist
Kyle Neibch, Wheaton, G, Sr., Fort Mill, S.C., Fort Mill

[Stertorous Thunder]

The all-conference awards are posted:

https://cciw.org/news/2026/2/23/cciw-reveals-2025-26-mens-basketball-all-conference-selections.aspx

First of all, they're all great choices, admittedly made by people who know far more about basketball than I do, and 100x so for CCIW basketball.  But it's no fun if you can't have some respectful discussion/debate/disagreement.

Vuckovic ahead of Vanlandingham was an interesting choice.  I was about to disagree, but the award is about who did more in 2025-26, not who did more over their NPU career.  And if you put two North Park players on the team, you would have to bump one of these guys: Brooks, R. Johnson, Trelenberg, Cleveland, Funk, Thomann, Richardson.  Vanlandingham already has a first team trophy.  I'm okay with giving Vuckovic one of his own.

McNabb, L Smith, A Johnson, Adjahoungbeta, and Colak were all expected second teamers.

Augustana didn't get anyone on the teams, which made room for North Central's James Bullock to take one of the two "wildcard" spots.

But to me the biggest surprise was Carson Grier bumping teammate Kyan VanderWoude from the second team.  I can't argue with this decision either.  While VanderWoude was the guy who scored when Soren Richardson was hurt or double-teamed - and did that job very well - Grier was a unique force and more valuable to Wheaton than anyone but Richardson.

So in summary, hats off to the CCIW voters.  Once again, they've delivered a worthy slate of winners.

[Gregory Sager]

The all-conference awards are posted:

https://cciw.org/news/2026/2/23/cciw-reveals-2025-26-mens-basketball-all-conference-selections.aspx

Noah Cleveland wins both awards, the Fred Young CCIW Most Outstanding Student-Athlete and the CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year.  You can argue with the decision for the second piece of hardware, but it establishes precedent that the award goes to someone in their first year of collegiate basketball.

Yeah, as I said the other day the CCIW's dumb renaming of the award opened it up to interpretation. Now it remains to be seen if giving the award to Cleveland establishes a ruling precedent in going by eligibility year rather than academic year, a decision that shows the lie of the "student-athlete" propaganda behind the renaming that implies that academics defines one's collegiate sports career.

I don't disagree with the player chosen, I just don't like the league's spin on what that award represents. If you're going to call Noah Cleveland a freshman, then of course he deserves both awards.

Interestingly, the award for the coach of the year is listed as the "CCIW Coaching Staff of the Year."

No real surprise there, other than that it took the MBB coaches this long to agree to the change from a head-coach award to a coaching-staff award. The other CCIW sports have been moving over to the latter policy for a long time now; heck, CCIW softball made it a coaching-staff award 21 years ago! Kudos to the current MBB braintrust for doing this, as it recognizes the importance of assistant coaches. This award now becomes more of a résumé builder for young assistants -- which is an important career boost for them -- and an acknowledgment of the fact that you can no longer expect to run a successful D3 men's basketball program all by your lonesome in this day and age.

As for the All-CCIW team, I only saw a couple of mild surprises. While I thought that Augustana might get shut out, but probably wouldn't, I was surprised to see North Central get a slot even though NCC finished in last place, a game behind 8th-place Augie. Good on the coaches for not being slaves to the standings as per usual, since they've typically put a premium on where teams finished when slotting the All-CCIW team. Bullock was a more deserving individual than anyone who wore navy blue and gold, so this was a welcome choice in my book.

Picking Grier over his teammate Kyan VanderWoude was a bit of a surprise, but on balance I wouldn't argue it. Their numbers are comparable. I didn't figure on Lamar Smith making the team, but in retrospect he may be the most unsung talent in the entire league. McNabb gets all the points, but the Pioneers really hinge upon what Smith brings to the floor on a night-by-night basis.

Of course, a lot of people are probably wondering how I feel about Mike Vuckovic making first team while Kolden Vanlandingham only made second team. The answer is that I'm fine with it, for two reasons: 1) Mike earned it, as nobody in recent CCIW seasons has better demonstrated how hard off-season work both on the court and in the weight room can dramatically improve one's game; and 2) this will light a fire under Kolden, I'm sure of it.

I also like what Ed McGhee did with North Park's RESPECT Award. I'm sure that the other eight recipients are deserving, but my big fear has always been that the award would become sort of a participation medal for guys who hung around for four years but weren't major contributors. By picking a freshman, Ed showed me that he took the assignment seriously as far as basing it upon the stated conditions* are concerned.

My big takeaway from this slate is that the CCIW head coaching guild has really changed over the past few seasons. They now mostly consist of younger coaches, and the old heads still stalking the sidelines in this league aren't quite as hidebound in their thinking as were their colleagues of yesteryear. These guys think and act differently than their predecessors in a lot of ways, and the manner in which they handle their CCIW awards choices demonstrates that.

* "RESPECT Award recipients have distinguished themselves as an integral member of the team, their institution and community by upholding the values of Responsibility, Enthusiasm, Service, Pride, Excellence, Collaboration and Trust. The RESPECT Award recognizes the intangible traits a student-athlete possesses that exemplify great character and encourages inclusiveness and a positive culture."

[kenoshamark]

Little surprised that Riley Brooks wasn't voted unanimous first team.  Been the leading scorer for Carthage all year and with Carthage ending up second in the league and one game behind IWU, felt like someone should have been unanimous from Carthage.  Now, some may say Ryan Johnson might have been the choice then.  I've stated my position about the play of Ryan Johnson this year.  I will say he has come on at the end of the year and had two game winning baskets lately.  Don't dispute him being a first teamer, but some coach(es) didn't feel he was unanimous either.  After winning the most outstanding student athlete last year and being named a second team pre-season all-American this year, the output didn't reach the level I would have expected. 

With Carthage likely needing to win the CCIW tourney to make the NCAA tournament, I sure hope the team can make a run this weekend.  To me, that starts with the person who should have been more dominant this year.  All in all, not making the tournament will be a MAJOR disappointment this year.  They had every starter coming back after winning the league last year.  Two first team and a second team all conference players returning and Antuan Nesbitt returning after named a first team all conference player the year before, after sitting out last year due to injury.   They started the year ranked 8th in the nation.  Let's see if they can finally realize the potential to make the tourney that I at least thought would have been a foregone conclusion starting the year.