6-9 Eric McCullough will be a Titan

The Pantagraph is reporting that 6-9/220 Normal U High center Eric McCullough has selected IWU over numerous Division I basketball scholarships. McCullough had offers from Holy Cross, IUPUI, Niagra, North Florida, Tennessee-Martin, and Youngstown State among others.

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McCullough has exploded onto the prospect scene in the last six months or so. As a freshman at U High he was 6-2. He grew from 6-4 to 6-7 between his sophomore and junior years, and reached 6-9 this season.

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As a senior, McCullough averaged 13.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game. He shot 54% from the field. He earned 1st Team All-Corn Belt honors and was named to the 1st Team of the Pantagraph All-Area squad.

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On the baseball field, McCullough is an accomplished pitcher with a fastball that's been clocked between 86 and 88 MPH. His ability to play both sports probably impacted his decision to attend IWU quite a bit.

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From a basketball perspective (as this is a basketball blog) Eric McCullough's commitment to Illinois Wesleyan is really huge news for the program. He should be able to step in and provide immediate help in the low post, where the Titans were undersized this season. He is a terrific shot blocker and someone who can score in the low post. The exciting thing is that McCullough is still developing as a basketball player. If he continues to improve at IWU as much as he has the last 2-3 years at U High, he's going to be one heck of a CCIW player.

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Welcome to Eric and his family! Exciting news, Titan fans!
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Eric McCullough-related links:

Player Profile, MidStateHoops.com

"U High's McCullough grows into go-to guy" (Pantagraph, 2/7/08)

"McCullough Blowing Up (MidStateHoops.com)

YouTube video

Video (MidStateHoops.com)

Corn Belt all-conference team (Pantagraph)

Pantagraph All-Area Team

Wash U wins title

I was in Salem, Virginia this past weekend as the Bears of Washington U. cut down the nets. They played just incredibly in impressive wins over Hope and Amherst and earned the school's first-ever men's basketball title.

Wash U website coverage

D3hoops.com coverage

The Titans will face Wash U in 2008-09 (as they do every year) in St. Louis at the Lopata Classic. It will be interesting to see what the Titans look like in November!

The Little Dance

Here is a great article by Bryan Burwell from today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch that captures the essence of Division III. It reminded me of this 2001 article by IWU alum Dave Kindred in the Sporting News after the Titans played in the Final Four that year.

This week I make my annual trip to Salem, Virginia for the Division III Final Four. After covering the Sectional at Wash U this weekend for NCAAsports.com, and seeing the caliber of play, I feel very good about Illinois Wesleyan making a strong push for the Final Four sooner than later. Until then, I recommend any D3 fans try to get to Salem for the experience - the organizers do a wonderful job.

Wheaton one win away from Final Four

Kent Raymond poured in 47 points last night vs Whitworth as Wheaton advanced to the Elite Eight. The Thunder face Hope tonight, on the Flying Dutchmen's floor (beautiful DeVos Fieldhouse, pictured), for a chance to go to Salem.

Good luck to Wheaton as they carry the CCIW flag!

Full tournament coverage on D3hoops.com.

Wheaton heading to Sweet 16, Augie heading home

Full coverage at D3hoops.com.

The Titans defeated Sweet 16 entrant Wheaton 3 times this year. That just shows you how close this group is to being really, really special.

Best of luck to Wheaton. First-class program with first-class kids - I hope they get to Salem.

Strength of Schedule

I was checking out the Massey Index today and noticed that IWU finished with the 7th strongest schedule in all of NCAA Division III...

http://www.mratings.com/rate.php?lg=cb&sub=III&mid=1

(Sort by the "Sched" column.)

What a great way for the youngsters on the team to get their feet wet at the college level. The strength of the 2007-08 IWU schedule will help these guys prepare for next year.

What happened?

Here is my best guess as to what happened...

The Midwest regional committee knew that Illinois Wesleyan had no chance to be competitive in the Pool C discussion with an in-region winning % of .625 (15-9), even with IWU's great strength of schedule (OWP). So they gave the CCIW its best chance at getting a Pool C bid by:

1) Ranking Wheaton as the region's #2 Pool C candidate, behind Wash U...getting Wheaton to the table for discussion as soon as Wash U got selected (early).
2) Keeping Elmhurst in the regional ranking, which gave Wheaton another 2-0 vs regionally ranked teams.
3) Excluding IWU from the final regional ranking, which saved Wheaton from 0-3 vs regionally ranked teams.Wheaton probably got in due to their 5-1 record vs regionally ranked teams (1-1 vs Augustana, 1-0 vs Loras, 1-0 vs Chicago, 2-0 vs Elmhurst), and this record was due in large part to how I suspect the Midwest region structured their final poll. Again, if IWU is regionally ranked instead of Elmhurst, Wheaton is 3-4 vs regionally ranked teams, instead of that 5-1.

Again, I honestly don't think IWU had any chance - the Titans simply lost too many in-region games (9) - so I think the Midwest region committee gave the CCIW a fighting chance by getting Wheaton to the table with as good of a resume as possible.

It was a wonderful season for the Titans. Congratulations to Ron Rose and his hard-working players!

Stay tuned to IWUhoops.com for complete recruiting information when things start heating up.

Wheaton in, IWU out

http://www.d3hoops.com/