Category Archives: General

Insider: Introducing Sean Wallis

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Dear readers:We’ve asked some Division III players to join our blog and give us an inside look into life in Division III basketball. Please welcome Wash U guard Sean Wallis.

Sean WallisFirst off, I want to thank Pat Coleman for all of his work on D3hoops.com and for giving me the opportunity to write this weekly (or bi-weekly as the season and traveling schedule gets more hectic) blog.

After we lost to Virginia Wesleyan by a basket in the NCAA semifinals last year the wait until the beginning of this season seemed like seven years, not seven months. Losing a heartbreaker to end the season is never fun, but it did provide my teammates and me with a taste of how special a national championship would be. Watching the happiness of the Amherst players and coaches as they celebrated was pretty neat and seeing it gave us something to work towards.

At Wash U. it’s tough because our team is from all over the country so we don’t get to play together in leagues during the summer. That being said, it’s difficult to keep each other accountable during the summer making sure the time is being put in to get better. So, it was pretty great to get back to school in the fall and clearly see that most of the team had spent their summers playing a lot of basketball, as our pick-up games were much more competitive than they had ever been.

Before I knew it fall pick-up was joined by 7 A.M. lifting and afternoon conditioning sessions. Practice started in the middle of October and then we had scrimmages with Rose-Hulman and Greenville College leading up to the season opener this past weekend in Grand Rapids, Mich.

During the weekend our team learned a lot and made me excited for the rest of the season. As the D3hoops.com pre-season #1 team in the country, we knew that we had a big target on our back. It was a nice honor and made us feel good that people respected what we accomplished last year, and that we could be just as good, if not better, this season. With that target we know (especially after Friday and Saturday) that we’re going to get our opponent’s best night-in and night-out. While this could get some teams nervous, I think we understand that it will ultimately make us better when conference play and (hopefully) post-season play comes around.

Coach [Mark] Edwards thought the tip-off tournament at Calvin was one of the most talented tournaments (not including the NCAA) he had been a part of in all of his time at Wash U. Our first game of the season was against Ohio Northern on Friday night—man, did they get after it on defense. We ended up winning by 16 points but the final score may have made it seem like an easier win than it actually was. ONU is a talented team that I can see making a real push to win their conference if they play with that intensity the entire year. Troy [Ruths] took over down the stretch and our experience played a big factor in being able to close out the game even with their tough on-the-ball defense.

After a physically demanding Friday night game we had a quick turn-around for a Saturday afternoon match-up against Calvin in their gym. As most know, we got beat by five in what was a good basketball game. Every time we made a run to cut into their lead they seemed to hit big shot after big shot. We fought and didn’t throw the towel in, even with Troy and Tyler [Nading] fouling out and it showed a lot of heart from our squad. Calvin is a great team that definitely has the makings of a group that could make a run in March. I think that it also shouldn’t go unmentioned that while being talented on the court they also seemed like good guys. Caleb Veldhouse and Derek Griffin (who forgot how to miss in our game) are both extremely talented and have good heads on their shoulders so I look forward to tracking their scores throughout the year.

Not much time to hang our head from the tough loss though as we take on local Maryville (Mo.) on Tuesday night, #5 Augustana on Saturday and always-tough UW-Platteville (2-0) on Sunday of this week. Coach Edwards sure wasn’t joking when he said we were going to be challenged in our non-conference schedule!

I’ll check back in a week… Take care,

Sean

P.S. Feel free to comment or ask any questions (basketball, sports, school, life or even my love life if you’re a single/female/d3hooper) and I’ll do my best to respond in the next post!

I went to Disneyland and all I got was this lousy box score…

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I’m borrowing that line from Hoopsville host Dave McHugh, who used it when I shared a nugget about the most interesting statistical nugget I saw from this weekend.

I know of colleagues in the media world who collect baseball box scores, and while the basketball ones aren’t as interesting, they tell some neat stories from the opening couple days of Division III hoops.

The inspiration for this piece was the showing of the Coast Guard women’s basketball team, which ventured cross-country to California for games with Whittier and Cal Lutheran. Coast Guard won both games despite shooting 2-for-29 from 3-point land in the second one (63 rebounds, 4-for-6 shooting from the field in OT, and a couple of good games from the post players helped). That and a visit to Disney made it a good trip. By the way, thanks to a little checking from CGA SID Jason Southard, I learned that it’s the first time both Bears squads (men and women) are 2-0 since 1988-89.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you had the adventures of the Grinnell men’s team the last two days, in matchups with UW Eau Claire and Wartburg. Those used to Grinnell’s system (previously referenced on-site many times) will be familiar with this kind of box score line from Eau Claire. The Blugolds shot 74.7 percent for the game (Dan Beyer was 15-for-15, tied for 4th-best in NCAA history) and had 41 assists, yet lost, 137-132. Eau Claire had the misfortune of having its turnovers (36) match its foul total. Grinnell was 20-for-50 from 3 in the win and got its most notable showing the next day from David Arseneault, who tied a school record with 17 assists in a 105-103 win over host Wartburg.

Some other box score notables

* When there’s a Will, there’s a way…A quick perusal of some New England games found three different ones whose teams had good weekends. Wil Lyons (6-9, 260 pound Rhode Island College center) and Will Lyons (6-4 WPI forward) each came off the bench in a pair of wins for their respective teams (WPI, by the way, took 58 3-pointers in an opening win over Nichols). Will Dawkins (6-foot guard at Emerson) started and hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer as his team surprised William Paterson. Emerson is a solid 2-0 after beating Vassar by a narrow margin as well.

* What fatigue? FDU-Florham’s women’s team won the title game of Johns Hopkins season-opening tournament despite using only six players in its 68-56 win over the hosts. Shealyn Taggart gave four of her five teammates breathers as the squad’s lone sub, netting nine points and nine rebounds in 32 minutes (Katie Daly played all 40 minutes). Emily Cerankowski led the victors, who were 15-16 on free throws in the second half, with 31 points.Not as fortunate were the Texas Lutheran women, who played all five starters for all 40 minutes in losses to Pacific Lutheran (64-16) and Concordia-Portland (70-45).

Shooting Most Foul: It was an odd weekend for the No. 1 ranked Washington University men’s basketball team, particularly in this respect. The Bears, who shot 74 percent from the foul line en route to a Final 4 spot last season, were 21-44 from the stripe in the first two games of the season, including 9-20 in their loss to Calvin.

Share your favorite box score nuggets, or tidbits from the season’s opening weekend here…

Hoopsville Rant: Every Game Counts

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After a season hiatus, the Hoopsville Rant returns and the first topic of the season: every game counts!

It seems every season, when late February arrives and it comes time to start seriously talking about the NCAA Tournament, the fans of teams on the proverbial bubble always complain:

“Our team is one of the hottest teams in the nation. That loss to so-and-so in November shouldn’t count against them!”

Or, “they didn’t have their top player when they played so-and-so in that game in December, that shouldn’t be the reason they miss the tournament!”

Guess what… it very well could be.

When the Selection Committee sits down and decides who is in and who is out of this season’s tournament, they aren’t going to look at how teams played only in February, or the last two months, or just the second half of the season, they are going to look at the WHOLE season.

So, any team hoping to make the NCAA tournament has to keep a few things in their minds right now, there are only two ways to get in: win your conference’s automatic bid or be good enough to get one of those coveted at-large, Pool B or C bids.

For those top teams in weak conferences like the NEAC, CUNYAC, HCAC or the Skyline, losing a bad game may not haunt them later. For those in the WIAC, CCIW, ODAC, and even the OAC, a bad loss out of conference could ruin any chance at the Walnut and Bronze, before the tournament even tips-off.

Remember… EVERY game counts, especially when in region.

So, Wash U can’t take a night off against Earlham; Augustana shouldn’t be losing to Coe; Mary Hardin-Baylor can’t take Worcester State lightly; Amherst can’t look past Emmanuel; Rochester can’t ignore
Nazareth; and Baldwin-Wallace needs to play all 40-minutes against Case Western Reserve.

We will find out on March 2nd – Selection Sunday – if the losses experienced by Wash U. to Calvin, Brockport State to Rowan, or Capital to Mount St. Joseph will end up keeping them out of the NCAA tournament or the chance to host.

Just ask Millsaps football. They lost a 21 point lead in the last half of the fourth quarter against Mississippi College in the first game of the season. The starters were on the bench during the rally; it was the first game of the season after all. Millsaps stumbled to Mississippi College in the first game of the season, ended up costing them a tournament bid.

A different look on Veterans Day

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I realize this is a bit late in posting on Veterans Day, but it is still appropriate. Over the weekend, I met a US Marine who is getting ready to marry his finance at the Naval Academy in January … just weeks before he plans to ship out for his second tour in Iraq. We chatted many times over the weekend and I got a rare inside look at what is and isn’t going on in Iraq. There were no opinions expressed, just stories told. I enjoyed every second of the time I spent with Jon and thought I may not get another chance to hear from someone who served in Iraq for a long awhile, until today.

I was double-checking schedules (as many of us at D3hoops.com do this time of year) in the Atlantic Region late Sunday night when I ended up on the CUNY Web site. And there was a story about Chris Jaeger, a 22-year-old freshmen for John Jay who has experienced more before he ever cracked open a book in college, than most men will experience in a lifetime. That’s because Jaeger has already served his time in Iraq and witnessed his best friend killed in battle.

I don’t want to ruin the rest of the story for you, but will say it will certainly give you another appreciation for not only the Division III athlete, or a dedicated teammate or determined person, but for our troops in Iraq. Whether you agree or disagree with the political side of the war, our troops are serving the best they can in a very tough and chaotic country. The story of Jaeger will certainly bring a different perspective on who some of those soldiers and marines are. Enjoy:

From the CUNY website:

Four flights over 10th Ave., the soldier-turned-freshman fires up a three-pointer from the left corner, and an instant later, is sprinting 94 feet, forcing a turnover at the other end.

Now here he comes back the other way, tattooed arms pumping, face grimacing from exertion, muscling into rebounding position at the end of a fast break.

There are faster players on the John Jay College basketball team than Bronx-born Chris Jaeger, and better athletes. However, nobody on the team – maybe nobody in the whole city – is better at the transition game.

This is a small excerpt from Wayne Coffey’s Nov. 11, New York Daily News article on John Jay men’s basketball player Chris Jaeger. You may read the complete story on the New York Daily News web site.

What I’ll miss this season

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As I mentioned back in April, I’m back in the Washington, D.C., area this season rather than Norwalk, Conn. While the nine months I spent in exile from Northern Virginia, working at another job and planning to move my family, were tough on everyone, it was great for basketball.

So I’ll miss the trips to Amherst and NYU this year. Don’t expect I’ll get up to Keene State again. Not likely going to see Worcester Tech play, though I hear they’ll be a little more exciting this year. Don’t foresee any Skyline games, no trips to Stevens that I call in sick at work to make. But it was a good time getting to see all those new places and meet new people. Hope to get out to as many new places in the upcoming years.

As I mentioned back in April, I’m back in the Washington, D.C., area this season rather than Norwalk, Conn. While the nine months I spent in exile from Northern Virginia, working at another job and planning to move my family, were tough on everyone, it was great for basketball. So I’ll miss the trips to Amherst and NYU this year. Don’t expect I’ll get up to Keene State again. Not likely going to see Worcester Tech play, though I hear they’ll be a little more exciting this year. Don’t foresee any Skyline games, no trips to Stevens that I call in sick at work to make. But it was a good time getting to see all those new places and meet new people. Hope to get out to as many new places in the upcoming years.As I mentioned back in April, I’m back in the Washington, D.C., area this season rather than Norwalk, Conn. While the nine months I spent in exile from Northern Virginia, working at another job and planning to move my family, were tough on everyone, it was great for basketball. So I’ll miss the trips to Amherst and NYU this year. Don’t expect I’ll get up to Keene State again. Not likely going to see Worcester Tech play, though I hear they’ll be a little more exciting this year. Don’t foresee any Skyline games, no trips to Stevens that I call in sick at work to make. But it was a good time getting to see all those new places and meet new people. Hope to get out to as many new places in the upcoming years.