Monthly Archives: May 2006

Nothing lax about it

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PHILADELPHIA — Gordon Mann and I are at Lincoln Financial Field at the Division III men’s lacrosse championships. Salisbury leads Cortland State 7-6 at the half.

It’s a nice, hot, sunny, hot day here at the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, where the lower bowl is about three-quarters full. It’s been a back-and-forth game, but the Sea Gulls, winners of 69 consecutive games, took the lead late in the second quarter. Mike Felice has two goals and two assists for Cortland, while Jimmy Creighton and Matt Dasinger each have two goals for the Sea Gulls.

The game is broadcast on CSTV for those watching at home. Back down to the field.

The endangered Banana Slugs

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We don’t hear much from UC Santa Cruz, which hasn’t had much to talk about in basketball. (Perhaps if we covered soccer or tennis we might hear from the home of the Banana Slugs.) But another reason we don’t hear from them is that the department is extremely poorly funded, and is at the mercy of the student body. The students narrowly voted down a proposal to increase their own fees to better fund the department.

The local paper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, has written a couple of stories on the endangered species, first a news story, then a column. They’re worth reading, even if the columnist’s math is a little fuzzy, claiming the men’s basketball team pushed close to a .500 record (they finished 9-18).

Birmingham-Southern, welcome to D-III

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Birmingham-Southern fans, coaches, student-athletes:

Welcome to Division III.

We don’t harbor any delusions that you want to be here. From the outside, Division III doesn’t compare very favorably to Division I. But let’s be honest: Birimgham-Southern wasn’t a Division I power, and the trip from Division I mid-major to Division III isn’t as far as you might think.

Your school is giving scholarship money to more than 200 people solely based on athletic ability. When that stops, your institution will be able to redirect that money to award need-based or academic-based aid. That will raise the level of the student body and, in fact, will increase the value of your degree.

You may not think much of your likely new fellow conference members, but let’s be honest — it’s not like the Big South is populated by well-known names. High Point? UNC Asheville? Radford? Winthrop? Rhodes, Trinity University, Austin College, Colorado College and others have stellar reputations, and they are not based on being on the 13, 14 or 15 line every March … or by being the brainchild of a televangelist.

Coaches and administrators: I expect you have no desire to be in Division III. If you are at all conflicted about the Division III mission, I would suggest leaving. You can’t be half-hearted about Division III. It’s a challenge. But if you’ve ever faced a halfway-decent Division III program you know one thing: This is not glorified high school ball.

A further discussion of the issues is posted in our Q&A with Birmingham-Southern president David Pollick.

Recruits coming in bunches

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Along with a handful of schools sending us their entire recruiting class, some CCIW recruits are trickling across our virtual desk:

John Pietkiewicz will attend Wheaton (Ill.). The son of Stan Pietkiewicz, who played at Auburn and spent some time in the NBA, was a point guard at Winter Park (Fla.) HS.

Seneca (Ill.) HS forward Robert Rexroade will play at Millikin. Tim Littrell told MyWebTimes.com:

“The one thing that I liked more than anything is that he’s just a well-rounded player at this point in his career and I think his best basketball is still ahead of him. I think one of the things that make him a unique player is his ability to play a couple of different positions because of his skill level.

“You think because of his size (6-8) that he’s going to play inside, but he can go out and make an open jump shot as well, and not only that, but he’s also a really good high-post passer.”

St. Joseph-Ogden (Ill.) HS guard Mitch Blair will be at Elmhurst next season. As a junior, he set the team mark for free-throw percentage, according to the Leaderland News.

North Central has announced two recruits: Reid Barringer of Sycamore (Ill.) HS and Adam Hamilton of Beardstown (Ill.) HS. Barringer, a 6-0 guard, averaged 25 points, 1.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Illinois Wesleyan announced its second recruit: guard Matthew Wittig of Astoria (Ill.) HS

Outside of CCIW-land, the Washington College recruiting class is a large one: Taylor Bosley (North Carroll HS, Md.), Andrew Chambers (St. Maria Goretti HS, Md.), Tyler Davila (River Hill HS, Md.), Justin Gallant (Rangeley Lakes Regional HS, Maine), Matthew Hamm (St. Marks HS, Wilmington, Del.), Scott Hampton (Colts Neck HS, N.J.), George Handza (Westfield HS, N.J.), Dominick Iaquinto (West Babylon HS, N.Y.), Alan Kines (Towson HS, Md.), Robert Klepacki (Upper Merion HS, Pa.), Marc Petrucci (Avon Grove HS, Pa.), Ryan Purdy (Trito Regional HS, N.J.), James Restrepo (Wyomissing HS, Pa.), David Segura (Archmere Academy, Del.), James Whall (Freehold HS, N.J.), Derek Wise (Parkside HS, Md.).

The Shoremen have just five returning players.

Carleton‘s incoming men’s players: Jeremy Sutherland (Saint Bernard’s HS, St. Paul, Minn.), Bryan Rosett (Park High School, Cottage Grove, Minn.).

Mt. St. Joseph is getting forward Kyle McCord from Scott HS in Taylor Mill, Ky.

Hood announced a pair of men’s recruits: Mike McCarrick, a 6-4 forward from Flint Hill School in Oakton, Va., and Nick Scott, a 5-8 point guard from Heritage High School in Leesburg, Va.

Desert Mountain (Ariz.) HS guard Zach Greenberg is heading to Washington U., the second Mountain Time Zone player headed to St. Louis. Surely that means something. The 6-3 guard averaged 15.2 points and 5.0 rebounds as a senior.

Women
We profiled a Carleton recruit earlier in the offseason. The other two are Amber Connor (Rosemount HS, Minn.) and Megan Milusenic (Orono HS, Minn.).

The UW-Whitewater recruiting class, excerpted from a school release:

Kailey Al Mohareb, a 6′ forward, lettered in basketball at Whitnall for three years, started both her junior and senior year and was captain her senior year. She was also named to the all-conference team those years and qualified for the state tournament her junior year. Besides playing three sports in high school, also including volleyball and track and field, Al Mohareb proved her outstanding academics with a cumulative GPA of 3.588.

Kelly Beese, a 6-0 forward, lettered three years at Wausau West High School where she was also a captain her senior year. Kelly was honored with the Women’s Sports Advocates of Wisconsin Award her senior year. Beese was also a member of the National Honor Society, finished in the top 10% of her class and had an overall GPA of 3.938.

Nicole Bundy, a 5-9 wing guard, lettered for four years as a varsity player and was a team co-captain her junior and senior years at Ozaukee High School. Bundy led her team in scoring her junior and senior years and led Sheboygan County in scoring her senior year averaging 16.4 points her game and led her team to an impressive 23-2 school record. She was also selected for the 2006 Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association all-star team. Bundy has also received academic honors all through high school and high honors her senior year.

Sarah Moran, a 5-6 guard, was a member of the 2005 state runner-up and 2003-2004, 2004-2005 undefeated Classic 8 Conference champion at Waukesha South High School. Moran has been on the honor roll at Waukesha South with a 3.11 cumulative GPA.

Heidi Sontagg, a 5-7 point guard, was an all-conference player her sophomore and junior years and helped lead her team to a 17-4 school record at Wisconsin Lutheran High School. Sontagg was also an all-conference player for both volleyball and softball as well as all-state, all-area and all district for softball.

Dana Thompson, a 6-2 center, is Belleville High School’s all-time leading rebounder and second to score 1,000 career points. Thompson was voted to the East Six Rivers all-conference team for three years as well as team MVP for two years. She also made first team all-area averaging 16.1 points per game and 12.5 rebounds per game and helped lead her team to a 14-7 school record. Thompson also competed in both volleyball and track and field at her high school where she was a 2-year Wisconsin Track and Field Association shot put champion and finished second in the shot put and fourth in the discus at the state tournament in 2004. Thompson also has the state championship title that she earned in the 2005 for the shot put. She is also a four year honor roll student.

Tiffany Morton, a 6-0 forward, comes in as a sophomore from UW-Milwaukee. She played in seven games for the Panthers, averaging 1.1 points per game. Morton contributed 13.3 points per game at Beloit High School.

Lana Marjanovic, a 6-2 forward, comes in as a sophomore from UW-Eau Claire where she majored in nursing. At UW-Eau Claire, she played on a 13-13 team. She played 11 games, averaging 0.5 points.

The UW-La Crosse women’s incoming class is as follows: Liz Buttke of Marshfield (Winona State); Jessica Bollinger of Gurnee, Ill. (Warren Township); Sarah Petersen of Stevens Point (H.S.); Carolyn Onopa of Glendale (Nicolet); and Rachel Hughes of Hales Corners (Greendale Martin Luther).

Buttke, a 5-9 guard, joins the Eagles after a stellar freshman season at Winona State. She led the Warriors in scoring at 12.9 points per game and in steals with 49. She finished second on the team in free throw percentage (84.8%) and third in assists with 56. Buttke was one of two Winona State players to start all 28 games. A 2005 graduate of Marshfield High School where she was an Honorable Mention All-State selection, Buttke was also a WBCA All-Star and Wisconsin Valley Conference Player of the Year as a senior. She was the second player to score 1,000 points in her career and holds the school record for three-pointers in a season (30) and career (68).

Bollinger, despite missing her team’s first 11 games due to injury during her senior year, was an all-conference selection as well as being named to three all area teams including special mention in the Chicago Tribune. The 5-7 point guard averaged 9.3 points and 1.7 steals in leading Warren Township High School to a 28-5 record and a berth in the Illinois High School Association Super Sectional. Bollinger was part of three straight North Suburban Conference Championship teams and as a junior played in the state tournament for a program that is 57-9 the past two seasons. She was also named to the IHSA All-Academic Team the past two years.

Petersen, a 5-10 wing player, led Stevens Point to a 21-2 record, a Wisconsin Valley Conference Championship, and a berth in the sectional finals last year as a senior. She was named first team all-conference last season after averaging 11.3 points and 4.1 rebounds. Petersen was also selected to the all-conference team as a junior and sophomore. Petersen made a school record 97 three-point field goals in her career and led the conference in three-point shooting a year ago, finishing 33-of-72 (45.8%).

Onopa was a second-team all-conference selection for the North Shore Conference Champions of Nicolet High School last season. She averaged 10.0 points and 5.2 rebounds as a senior and currently ranks seventh on Nicolet’s all-time scoring list. Onopa was an honorable mention all-area choice this season. She also ranks ninth in school history in rebounding.

The 6-3 Hughes looks to add depth in the post after completing her career at Martin Luther High School.

“Three-point shooting is definitely an area we have addressed with this group,” said Heeren. “Although we finished second in the conference in three-point percentage we felt we needed to add more threats from the outside. All four of these perimeter players are great shooters.”

The Washington College women have five incoming players: Jessica Jamrogowicz (Bishop Eustace Preparatory School, N.J.), Melissa Joseph (Newfield HS, N.Y.), Kayla Miller (Hightstown HS, N.J.), Jane O’Donnell (Wildwood Catholic HS, N.J.), Julie Sherwood (Fairfield HS, Conn.).

Westminster (Mo.) is getting Lauren Lloyd from Hickman HS in Missouri.

Montana high school track star Elisha Kampfe (she is unbeaten in the 100 meters, won the regional meet in the triple jump and set a regional meet record in the high jump) is heading to George Fox to play basketball, according to the Missoulian.

Monmouth-Roseville HS point guard Alexsha Alexander will play for Illinois College.

Rivier has three incoming transfers and five freshmen. The transfers are Michelle Stockwell (20 games, 16 starts, 7.7 points, 3.1 rebounds at Becker), Sadie Hardiman (25 games, 2.6 points, 3.0 rebounds at Plymouth State) and Justine Nims (21 games, 1.4 points, .6 steals as a freshman at WPI in 2004-05). The freshmen: Nicky Hill (Pittsfield, N.H., HS), Jessica Mellen (Rockland, Mass., HS), Blair Carpenter (Inter-Lakes HS, Meredith, N.H.), Naomi Paige (Merrimack, N.H.) and Annie Braier (Saugas, Mass., HS).

Rhodes announced its incoming class: Becky Atnip (Greenfield, Tenn., HS), Becca Clarin (Hinsdale, Ill., Central HS), Jennifer Davis (Obion County HS, Tenn.), Jackie Hancock (China Springs HS, Texas), Lauren Oxner (White Station HS, Tenn.), Jessica Sprenkel (Zionsville, Ind., Community HS) and Cameron Whitaker (transfer from Division I Richmond).

Janice Evans is our first Washington U. women’s recruit of the season. She played at Neuqua Valley HS in Illinois. “Janice is a multi-talented player who can do a lot of things on the basketball court,” said coach Nancy Fahey. “She can score from around the basket, hit the outside jumper, rebound and defend. We believe Janice will be an exciting player to watch the next four years. We are very excited to have her as part of the Bears basketball family.”

Are you a school looking to release your recruiting class and have them included here? Log in and post the release on the site, or e-mail news@d3hoops.com. (Hint, if you’re a fan, or a parent, you must provide published confirmation of the player’s commitment.)

About McMurry’s Indians

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We’ve invited Ralph Turner, a McMurry alumnus and supporter of our sites, to discuss the McMurry Indians mascot situation. His post appears below.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to explain the McMurry issue of the mascot appeal. Let me summarize many of the points that I have posted in previous discussions about McMurry. These thoughts are mine, and do not necessarily reflect those of the University.

As many of you know, our founding President, Dr. James Winford Hunt, the son of a physician, was born on the Kaw Reservation in what is now the state of Oklahoma. That was his home for 6 years. Out of respect for the people of his childhood, he gave McMurry its nickname, and Dr Hunt inculcated that respect into the culture of the school. The Indian mascot and the educational opportunities provided by that mascot have served as a catalyst for evaluating diversity and inclusion as part of the core values of the institution.

Tipi Village, 2003In my opinion, the most significant event in understanding that culture is Tipi Village. (Ed. note, photo at right.) McMurry began the Homecoming tradition of Tipi Village in 1951 and was featured in Life magazine that year. Tipi Village involves the students from campus organizations, members of the freshman class, and the men’s and women’s social clubs erecting authentic replica tipis of the tribes of the Plains Indians and, on occasion, the dwellings of other Native American tribes. Authoritative sources on the tipis are consulted for accuracy, and these tipis are then judged by Native American experts. The value of each tipi may exceed $8,000 to $10,000 for leather ones. Student docents conduct the tours for the 3,000-5,000 elementary school children who come from as far as 85 miles away to see this example of living history.

For Tipi Village, my social club’s adopted tribe is the Oglala Sioux. We use authoritative texts, such as The Indian Tipi by Reginald and Gladys Laupin and Oglala Religion by William K Powers as source material. About twenty years ago, Don Little Bear, an Oglala Chief from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, bequeathed to our social club his Ceremonial Regalia for our use at Tipi Village. The Regalia, including an unborn calf suede vest, wampum and Eagle feather headdress, is as spectacular as it is priceless. We only exhibit it once a year, at Homecoming.

The sole statue on the University commons, entitled Spirit Wind, is a native American as he looks over the campus, an eagle sitting on his shoulder. Courses on Native American history, especially the Plains Indians, are taught by the History Department by a professor with Native American heritage. The McMurry history faculty has contributed to the Native American section in the local museum, Frontier Texas!

A significant percentage of the “Anglos” in this part of the US have fractions of Native American blood from the intermarrying that occurred on the frontier with the Southern agricultural tribes and with those tribes that were forcibly relocated to Indian Territory (Oklahoma). (I am 1/32nd Choctaw from my maternal side when they lived in Mississippi.) McMurry also has approximately 10% of its student body declaring itself Hispanic. The intermarrying between descendants from Spain and Native American tribes was prevalent in the American southwest. Likewise, it was not uncommon for slaves of African descent to escape into the adjacent southern Native American tribes where they could start new lives. The university has chosen to confront this diversity as a learning experience. This exposure to other cultures has brought new friendships and greater understand of the Native American Cultures.

McMurry has complied with the NCAA’s requests for self-examination on the Indian mascot name and has worked to rid itself of hostile and abusive connotations. The recent response by the NCAA to our appeal no longer mentions “hostile and abusive.” It refers to “creat[ing] an environment over which an institution may not have full control.” The closest thing to a hostile environment at a McMurry sporting event is due to poor officiating. In my opinion, the NCAA’s standard of a “controlled environment” relating to endeavors in higher education, whether illegal gambling, hazing, sexual assault, underaged drinking, etc., is daunting in ways too numerous to consider in this blog.

I anticipate that the University will appeal to exhaust all avenues on behalf of the McMurry community. Should McMurry’s appeal fail before the NCAA Executive Committee next month, then the University will need to struggle with the question of a new mascot, a question that may rend the university community asunder.