IWU 94 Albion 80

While Albion is not a very strong team this year, I was very impressed with the Titans yesterday. A few thoughts...

• 36-50 (.720) is a ridiculous shooting percentage. (The school record is .783 in a win over Elmhurst on February 2, 1990 - 36-46.) And it's not like the Titans were making layups -- they were knocking down 15-18 footers and 3-pointers at an amazing clip.
• It was nice to see the scoring balance...really nice. As I have said before, for this team to have any chance to contend in the CCIW, Zach Freeman needs consistent offensive help. The Titans need Andrew Freeman, Mike Harrigan, Andrew Gilmore, and Darius Gant to play with the offensive confidence and aggressiveness they played with yesterday.
• Brett Chamernik looked good. That was strongest I have seen him take the ball to the basket in a varsity situation. When Brett comes in for Z. Freeman, he needs to play that hard and look to score down low.
• Andrew Gilmore is a tough kid. His knees are absolutely killing him and he's out there playing as hard as he can.

After seeing 11 non-conference games, I believe this team can get right in the middle of the CCIW contention picture. There is a ton of parity in the league this year, with Augustana, Wheaton, Carthage, Elmhurst, and North Central all looking very strong, but I don't think there is one dominant team. If IWU's supporting cast gives Zach Freeman enough help, these guys can surprise people.

My goal for the Titans -- make the CCIW conference tounament. From there, anything can happen.

Happy New Year, Titans fans!

IWU vs Albion

Well, the final tune-up game. Today's game vs Albion is out-of-region, so quite frankly, it doesn't count for much at all...but I think it is important the Titans play very well. The Titans need to head into the CCIW schedule with some momentum -- the Hanover game was a start.

Albion has been one of the top programs in Division III over the course of the last four years:

(overall/MIAA records)

2005-06: 20-6/10-4
2004-05: 26-4/12-2
2003-04: 20-7/10-4
2002-03: 22-5/10-4

The MIAA is a good league, featuring D3 powers Hope and Calvin. The Britons are really down this year though. They come in 2-7 with two losses to CCIW teams. Elmhurst crushed them 76-46 and North Central, without All-American Anthony Simmons, beat Albion 69-58 two days ago. Hanover defeated the Britons 83-69.

The big story to follow is Andrew Gilmore and his knees. There is a chance he won't be able to play today. I just don't think IWU is a very good team without Andrew...at least until Sean Dwyer can return to play some point.

We will be on WJBC, AM-1230 at 12:45pm.

http://www.iwuhoops.com/notes07.htm

Recruiting, Part 1

This is a big recruiting year for Ron Rose and the Titans. With the graduation of the Freemans, Mike Harrigan, and Tyler Smith, there will be some glaring holes to fill on the 2007-08 squad.

While preparing the current Titans to face Albion Saturday and with the CCIW schedule looming, Coach Rose and staff have been all over the holiday tournament scene -- The Classic here in B-N, Pontiac, several in the Chicago area, and elsewhere in the state. Ron and staff started working on this class in May, immediately after he was hired.

I find it very interesting to follow the recruiting process at this stage. Most the "potential D3 All-American" types (your Bryan Crabtree/Keelan Amelianovich's/Zach Freeman-caliber players) are getting a lot of attention from D1's and D2's right now, and that kind of has to play itself out first. It is hard for even the best Division III schools to land a player with an official scholarship offer from a decent D1 (ie Eastern Illinois) -- the appeal of being a "D1" player is hard to pass up. But good D3's can certainly compete with D2's. Adam Dauksas, for example, selected IWU over a scholarship offer from D2 St. Joseph, the team that won the Lewis/Quincy league last year.

Another factor in recruiting is finding the underrecruited players -- the kids who, for whatever reason, are not getting interest from the level they probably should be. To this day, it blows my mind that Keelan Amelianovich did not have a Division I scholarship offer. I am very familiar with the caliber of player that Eastern Illinois gives full rides to and even Illinois State -- Keelan would have started last year for both programs. Bryan Crabtree -- another great example.

In Division 3 recruiting, keep in mind how much academics and money come into play. Illinois Wesleyan is a very selective school and recruits must have real solid academic credentials to get in. Room and board is now well over $30,000 per year, and remember, every year IWU competes for kids who have scholarship offers from D2's like Quincy and Lewis and NAIA's such as Olivet Nazarene.

IWU has such a nice package to offer when you consider the academic reputation of the school, the facilities, the Shirk Center home-game atmosphere, and the amazing tradition of Titan basketball. Ron Rose and his assistants are out there in a big way right now finding young men who value these things and who are the right fit. Stay tuned for more on recruiting as the season progresses.

Good reading

Below are links to a series of articles from The Daily Times newspaper in Tennessee regarding the unique nature of Division III athletics. The paper, which covers D3 Maryville (TN), did a nice job with these...

http://www.thedailytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061226/SPORTS/612260319&SearchID=73267240633587


http://www.thedailytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061227/SPORTS/612270301


http://www.thedailytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061227/SPORTS/612270306


http://www.thedailytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061228/SPORTS/612270317


http://www.thedailytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061228/SPORTS/612270318

Zach Freeman vs former IWU bigs

Just to expand a bit on where Zach Freeman stacks up versus Titan big men of the past, here is a list of the best seasons from low post players over the last 30 years. Still a long way to go in Zach's senior season, but at this point he certainly compares favorably to all non-Sikma bigs.


Jack Sikma (1976-77, senior): 27.0 ppg, 15.4 rpg, 324-602 FG (.538)

Greg Yess (1980-81), junior): 20.5 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 214-430 (.498)

Bill Braksick (1987-88, senior): 14.8 ppg, 12.0 rpg, (.543)

Jeff Kuehl (1988-89, junior): 25.0 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 200-380 (.526)

David Caldwell (1990-91, senior): 20.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 226-357 (.633)

Chris Simich (1994-95, junior): 20.0 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 228-394 (.579)

Brent Niebrugge (1997-98, senior): 20.0 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 208-326 (.638)

Luke Kasten (2001-02, junior): 18.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 163-307 (.531)

Zach Freeman (2006-07, senior, 10 games): 21.0 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 80-121 (.661)


By the way, every player listed above was an All-American (NAIA or NCAA Division III) -- quite a collection of post players for one small college.

Non-conference

Well, with 10 of 11 non-conference games in the books, what do we make of this Titan squad?

1) Zach Freeman is as good as any big man in Division III. Averaging 21.0 ppg and 10.8 rpg, while shooting .661 from the field, Zach is having one of the best seasons ever for an IWU low post man. He is fun to watch and has really taken his game to a new level.

2) The supporting cast has been inconsistent. This was to be expected I think, considering that Z. Freeman is the only member of the 2006-07 rotation to play meaningful varsity minutes last year. While we have seen glimpses from Andrew Gilmore, Darius Gant, Mike Harrigan, and Andrew Freeman, in the four losses only one (at best) played well. For this team to contend in the CCIW this season, Zach Freeman will need consistent offensive help from at least two other starters each time out. (If Andrew Freeman plays anywhere near as well as he did at Hanover during the CCIW schedule, this team has a shot.)

3.) The bench is thin. Again, we expected this...and the injuries to Sean Dwyer, Jason Bloom, and Brian Nussbuam made things worse. With Bloom now back and looking very good off the bench vs Chicago and Hanover, I think the Titans have found a key piece to the puzzle. He is a smart player who hustles every minute on the floor and always seems to be in the middle of the action. The Titans desperately need Dwyer back from that broken foot, as he is really the only true point-guard on the roster. His presence - just as a solid ball-handler and floor general - will help everyone on the floor. (Latest word is that Sean could be back as early as the second league game.)


Again, no real surprises in what we've seen so far. I think this team is close to turning a corner and getting very good...and at the same time, they could be close to turning the corner in the wrong direction. Lots of drama - that's what makes it fun!

The Titans host Albion Saturday at 1:00pm, then it's CCIW time.

Welcome!

Welcome to Titan Tidbits, a new blog I've created for IWU basketball fans. Stop by regularly and enjoy!