Monday, November 9, 2015

News On The Horizon 11/9/2015

Coaching Carousel, Part 2--Define Mid-Major
Green Bay

Last Season Finished: 24-9 (12-4)

What happened to the last coach?

See above. Brian Wardle coached Green Bay for 5 seasons making the postseason in 3 of them. The last 2 seasons were both 20-win affairs for the Phoenix. He departed for Bradley during the offseason.

Who is the new coach?

Linc Darner
Head Coaching Experience: None
Record as a Head Coach: 0-0

Linc Darner is making the jump from D-II to take over as the head coach for the Phoenix. He has a very impressive record of 292-118 in D-II including a national championship last year. This is a whole new ballgame, though. He will be taking over a Green Bay team that has high expectations and will be expecting him to continue and improve upon the successes of Wardle. He can clearly coach. Can he also recruit and handle the pressures of D-I basketball? Time will tell.
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Illinois-Chicago

Last Season Finished: 10-24 (4-12)

What happened to the last coach?

This could not have been a surprise for anyone involved. Howard Moore was fired at the end of the season after going 49-111 in 5 seasons with the Flames. UIC only won more than 10 games once during his tenure. It was not a successful pairing.

Who is the new coach?

Steve McClain
Head Coaching Experience: Wyoming
Record as a Head Coach: 157-115

McClain was the head coach at Wyoming for 9 seasons from 1998-2007. He was most recently an assistant at Indiana University, but he will get another shot at a head coaching gig with the Flames. He had a fairly successful run at Wyoming and will take over now with more experience under his belt than before.

Shockers coast in exhibition with HPU--Shocker Hoops
Anton Grady showed the Shocker faithful that there should be little worrying about lost production with the graduation of Darius Carter. Grady, a 5th-year senior transfer from Cleveland State, led all Shockers in scoring with 13 while getting to the free throw line for 10 attempts. With the emphasis on rule changes allowing less physicality in college basketball this season, Grady’s ability to draw fouls down low will be valuable.
MSU 93, Ferris State 57: Spartans cruise in final tune-up--The Detroit Free Press
Senior guards Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes are in midseason form in early November. Forbes had 16 points, going 4-for-7 from three-point range, giving him 39 points with 11-for-17 long-range accuracy in the two exhibition games.

A Look at What’s Happening This Week with the Cleveland State Sports Teams--NEO Sports Insiders
MEN’S BASKETBALL
• CSU opens the regular season on Saturday (Nov. 14) when the Vikings play Akron at Kent State at 9:00 pm as part of the Northeast Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer.
• The Vikings are coming off a 19-15 season last year and advanced to the CollegeBasketballInsider.com tournament, CSU’s sixth postseason in the last eight years.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
• The Vikings will officially kickoff the 2015-16 season this week, hosting Bucknell on Friday, November 13 at 7:00 p.m. in their season and home opener.
• Prior to Friday’s season opener, Cleveland State will host Roberts Wesleyan on Monday, November 9 in their second exhibition contest. CSU defeated Lake Erie, 64-45, in its first exhibition game last week.

Bass Named To Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List--detroittitans.com

FELDER NAMED TO LUTE OLSON AWARD PRESEASON WATCH LIST--ougrizzlies.com

Learning to fly on the fly--Whoosh!Net

Players to watch in Horizon League--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Horizon League capsule previews--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
UW-Milwaukee roster at a glance--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Rob Jeter To Appear On WTMJ Sports Central Tonight--uwmpanthers.com

A game a day for the whole 2015-16 season: first up, November--Hoopville
Nov. 15: Valparaiso at Iona. Whoever put these two together for a game deserves a raise. (Answer: this is part of something called the Beaver Showcase hosted by Oregon State, yet this game is not at OSU, which makes zero sense.) This should be a blast. The Crusaders are a trendy sleeper pick-and with everybody back, it’s for good reason-while Iona under Tim Cluess is consistently really good and consistently one of the most entertaining teams to watch in the country. Very close honorable mention: New Mexico at New Mexico State.
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Nov. 22: 2K Classic final. We don’t encourage these bogus “tournaments” that automatically advance teams to the semifinals-regardless of earlier results-for the sole purpose of TV (the NCAA loophole encouraging these events needed to be closed years ago). A final with most likely Duke against either Georgetown or Wisconsin, though, is undeniably the best game of this day, and extra bonus points for being at Madison Square Garden. Honorable mention: Valparaiso at Oregon
Preseason Seed List: North Carolina opens at No. 1--Bracketville
Beyond Wichita State and Gonzaga, I do expect strong non-power conference seasons from Valparaiso and Stephen F. Austin. Given each team’s non-conference schedules – a 10/11 seed isn’t out of reach. Valpo’s non-Horizon slate includes: Rhode Island, Oregon, and Oregon State. Winning two of those games could put the Crusaders in position to claim an at-large bid, assuming they roll through the Horizon League as expected.
Local Roundup: Luke Simons joins Valparaiso's men's basketball staff--The Post-Tribune
Crusaders Announce Addition of Luke Simons as Director of Operations--valpoathletics.com
2015-16 Horizon League men’s basketball preview--The Northerner
iHeartRadio again set to host @NKUNorseMBB--nkunorse.com

2015-16 Horizon League women’s basketball preview--The Northerner

‘Injury Bug’ Hits Men’s Basketball--The Jambar

Penguins Open Season Against Canisius--The Jambar

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