MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[GusD]

And 6'5" Carthage guard Riley Brooks is now in the portal as well. An All-CCIW first-team pick this season, he averaged 17.5 ppg and 5.3 rpg and shot 44.8% FG, 36.5% 3FG. Brooks has one year of eligibility left.

Looking forward to the possibility of other All-CCIW first teamers with any remaining eligibility joining Mr. Brooks in the infamous Portal. 😉

[Gregory Sager]

Well, that leaves four other possibilities. Lane Thomann is a Millikin legacy, so I'd be shocked if he left MU. Wheaton student-athletes are notoriously loyal, so I doubt that Soren Richardson will turn his back on the Orange and Blue. Mason Funk is pre-med, so I can't imagine that he would jeopardize his permanent career trajectory by leaving Illinois Wesleyan with only two semesters to go as an undergrad. That only leaves Ryan Johnson, so be sure to tell me if you hear anything about Ryan Johnson following his Carthage teammate Riley Brooks into the portal.

There aren't any other possibilities beyond that.  

[GusD]

Yep, I figured the odds on Richardson were basically zero with Funk only a tick or two above that. I don't know much about Thomann, but with the lure of higher level competition and the accompanying accoutrements that could possibly be attached seemingly being so strong, you never know what might transpire. Of the four, the highest odds of stepping through the Portal certainly belong to Johnson, especially in light of his former teammate Brooks doing so. Additionally, he'll no longer be playing with his soon to graduate brother which I believe was one of the primary reasons he chose to play at Carthage. With the combination of these factors the odds for his leaving might be in the 40-50% range.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I do know IWU thought they had a very good chance to get Ryan Johnson out of HS.  If Cleveland does leave, I think there's a chance Johnson looks to fill that spot down low.  It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

[GusD]

I do know IWU thought they had a very good chance to get Ryan Johnson out of HS.  If Cleveland does leave, I think there's a chance Johnson looks to fill that spot down low.  It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

IWU thinks they have a very good chance of getting anyone they look at 😏.
Are you saying you think if Cleveland leaves, Johnson might transfer to IWU and take his place? If so, I think you're forgetting about the CCIW rule about not being able to play for a year if you transfer within the conference. If Johnson leaves Carthage it won't be for another D3.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I do know IWU thought they had a very good chance to get Ryan Johnson out of HS.  If Cleveland does leave, I think there's a chance Johnson looks to fill that spot down low.  It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

IWU thinks they have a very good chance of getting anyone they look at 😏.
Are you saying you think if Cleveland leaves, Johnson might transfer to IWU and take his place? If so, I think you're forgetting about the CCIW rule about not being able to play for a year if you transfer within the conference. If Johnson leaves Carthage it won't be for another D3.

I don't think I ever knew about the transfer rule.

[GusD]

I do know IWU thought they had a very good chance to get Ryan Johnson out of HS.  If Cleveland does leave, I think there's a chance Johnson looks to fill that spot down low.  It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

IWU thinks they have a very good chance of getting anyone they look at 😏.
Are you saying you think if Cleveland leaves, Johnson might transfer to IWU and take his place? If so, I think you're forgetting about the CCIW rule about not being able to play for a year if you transfer within the conference. If Johnson leaves Carthage it won't be for another D3.

I don't think I ever knew about the transfer rule.

That's surprising considering the rule has been in effect for a considerable length of time. Even if the rule didn't exist, the idea that Johnson would bolt Carthage for IWU seems quixotic. 

[Patrick Coleman]

I do know IWU thought they had a very good chance to get Ryan Johnson out of HS.  If Cleveland does leave, I think there's a chance Johnson looks to fill that spot down low.  It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

IWU thinks they have a very good chance of getting anyone they look at 😏.
Are you saying you think if Cleveland leaves, Johnson might transfer to IWU and take his place? If so, I think you're forgetting about the CCIW rule about not being able to play for a year if you transfer within the conference. If Johnson leaves Carthage it won't be for another D3.

I don't think I ever knew about the transfer rule.

That's surprising considering the rule has been in effect for a considerable length of time. Even if the rule didn't exist, the idea that Johnson would bolt Carthage for IWU seems quixotic. 

Hi, GusD -- there are 40-plus conferences in Division III and none of us is going to have all of their intra-conference transfer rules memorized.

[Gregory Sager]

I don't know much about Thomann, but with the lure of higher level competition and the accompanying accoutrements that could possibly be attached seemingly being so strong, you never know what might transpire.

His dad Matt Thomann was a four-year letterman for the Big Blue back in the mid-'90s, at the tail end of the Joe Ramsay era and the start of the Tim Littrell era. Those were not good Millikin teams at all, although the Big Blue did later experience their brief blip of competence during the Littrell era via Thomann's younger teammates Brad Skowronski, Adam Provance, and Antoine Ford (and future NCC head coach Anthony Figueroa, who transferred in after Thomann had graduated in '98). Matt Thomann then became first the head basketball coach of a small downstate high school and then a motivational speaker, and as part of that he has his own vlog -- and he's had the Millikin head football coach on his vlog at least once recently. So it seems obvious that his MU loyalty is unwavering, regardless of the struggles of the Big Blue back when he was suiting up for them.

It's common as dirt to see the offspring of a former college student-athlete choose to play for a different school than his or her parent's alma mater. Heck, I could name a whole bunch of CCIW basketball players whose sons and/or daughters chose to play for a different CCIW school than dear old dad's. But when's the last time that you saw the son of a four-year letterman abandon ship and leave the school where his dad played for four years and he himself has already played for two?

I'll bet all the corn in Manito that Lane Thomann's staying put in Decatur.

[GusD]

When someone is willing to bet all the corn in Manito it's pretty much of a given that they've assessed the situation correctly. 😉

[Gregory Sager]

Have to drop in a Manito reference this time of year. The man who coined the term "March Madness" was from Manito.

[sac]

When someone is willing to bet all the corn in Manito it's pretty much of a given that they've assessed the situation correctly. 😉

There it is!

[ChickenHoops]

https://x.com/i/status/2036503295729000557

Noah Cleveland in the portal. His bro just earned CPOTY in the CUSA. Unfortunately, Zach is a senior, so he can't go play with him.

Just read that. What a back-breaker.

This really shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
There go 21.9% of IWU's points, and 25.1% of their rebounds 🤗.

"Shouldn't come as much of a surprise"? That's the understatement of the month, Mark. Heck, the only surprise is that he waited an entire day after Pat posted the All-American list.

This was well-nigh near inevitable. It's blindingly obvious that Cleveland's size and ability are suited for D1, and that D3 really offers no personal challenge for him. Watching him play D3 basketball this season was like watching the Seinfeld episode in which Kramer takes a karate class with nine-year-olds. Cleveland has siblings who went D1, so there's that motivation to portal as well. (I think I read somewhere that even his mom was a D1 athlete.) And it's my understanding that he's not a legacy, so it isn't as though there's some deep family tie binding him to Illinois Wesleyan.

After two or three games back in November we could've started a pool on this board to bet on how many days would pass between IWU's final game and Cleveland going portal.

It's 2026. This is the world we live in now as college sports fans. NIL money and the portal have changed everything.

UW Stevens Point has a lot of NIL in pocket.  Could be a move north.

[ChickenHoops]

Maybe Matt Lewis can straighten out the IWU program.  Rose couldn't get them to the Final 4.     

[Green Beer]

Maybe Matt Lewis can straighten out the IWU program.  Rose couldn't get them to the Final 4.     

So, this could be the source of some interesting though probably meaningless speculation. I'm sure he wants to keep his coaching knives sharp but what the heck could he do?  There are a handful of college and junior college programs within commuting distance but I'm not sure if any are looking for a coach or assistant coach.  Coach Rose couldn't offer him anything more than a volunteer position, and a coach like Lewis deserves a lot more than volunteer work.