The Northern Athletic Conference speaks!

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The Northern Athletic Conference is, indeed, alive! A story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks to actual people involved in the process, which has been pretty silent over the past year.

For those who haven’t heard of the league, and I’m sure there are many, the NathCon (sorry, NAC is already taken in D-III) consists of Alverno, Aurora, Benedictine, Concordia (Ill.), Concordia (Wis.), Dominican, Edgewood, Lakeland, Maranatha Baptist, Marian, Rockford and Wisconsin Lutheran.

Oh yeah, that’s why you haven’t heard of it. If a conference forms, and no schools issue press releases, does it make a sound?

The sound being made in today’s paper is from Milwaukee School of Engineering, which found itself on the outside looking in on its attempt to enter the Midwest Conference. Clarke is also trying to get into the NathCon.

It’s the end of the Lake Michigan Conference and the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference. It might result in an extra Pool B bid for the next two seasons, while the NathCon goes through its waiting period.

Another new conference we have no news on is the Interstate 8. Stevens dropped out of the newly formed conference earlier this year to join the Empire 8. Rumors immediately flew that Elizabethtown was to replace them and bring the league back up to eight, but there has been no official word.

Alumni report: USBL, coaching D-II

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Dave Jannuzzi, a D3hoops.com second-team All-America selection in 2001, and Jen Nance, also a second-teamer in 2001, made news recently.

Jannuzzi, averaging 7.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in the early going of the USBL season, was the subject of a profile in the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Times-Leader not for his basketball prowess, but his bodybuilding career.

Seriously. This in addition to his full-time job with a financial services firm and his family. More in the paper.

By the way, Willie Chandler is averaging 18.5 points per game for the same team (Northeast Pennsylvania) in the same league. Chandler, a Misericordia alumnus, is the No. 2 scorer in Division III men’s basketball history.

Nance was named head coach at Division II Mars Hill. She had been the top assistant at Division II Ashland and was previously an assistant at Franklin. Nance played four seasons for Baldwin-Wallace. Her squad won three consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference championships as well as a pair of trips to the Elite Eight of the Division III NCAA Tournament. Nance earned a bachelors degree in 2001 as a double major in business and psychology.

Want a time out? Stay on your feet!

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According to the Associated Press, the NCAA’s Basketball Rules Committees is sending a proposal to the playing rules oversight panel regarding the good-ol’ flying-out-of-bounds timeout rule.

“With players holding the ball with two hands, diving out of bounds, there’s some risk of injury,” Larry Keating, the rules committee chair, told the AP. “The NBA had that problem four years ago and dealt with it. I just think it was something that everybody wanted to see and we were willing to do it.”

Another proposal could force Division III schools (oh, and Division II, too) to add clocks that display tenths of a second and shot clocks mounted above backboards by 2010. Will this happen? It might. Other proposals aimed at the NCAA as a whole have been struck down on the basis that they have been inconsiderate of anyone outside of Division I, but this seems like a reasonable request and timeframe.

Graduating to D-III

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As the recruiting info continues to cross our screen, we’ll make sure it crosses yours. For the previous recruiting recap, click here for an earlier Daily Dose post.

As always, if you want to contribute a name, you must provide the published confirmation. (Unless you are an SID or coach, of course, in which case your word is sufficient.) You can either post the info here on the blog or e-mail to info@d3hoops.com.

Brandon LausterShawe HS guard Brandon Lauster will play at Mt. St. Joseph next season, according to The Madison (Ind.) Courier. (This is their photo, as well.) There’s a lengthy story on the newspaper’s Web site.

Delaware Valley is getting Bryan Connors from Epping HS in New Hampshire. The Exeter News-Letter story doesn’t mention what position he plays in basketball, but that’s OK. It’s a story about Epping’s baseball team but it doesn’t mention Connors’ baseball position either. All we know is he can hit.

Cincinnati Elder HS product Brian Hamrick is heading to Thomas More. He averaged 9.8 points and 5.1 rebounds, according to The Cincinnati Post.

Transylvania has a lot of holes to fill, with a rather large senior class graduating. One of the spots will be filled by LaBradford Rollins of Webster County (Ind.) HS, according to The Gleaner of Henderson, Ky.

Covington (Ky.) Catholic HS forward Danny Noll will attend Centre, according to The Cincinnati Post.

The Northbrook Star in suburban Chicago reports Glenbrook North’s Tyler Cullitan will head to Lawrence next season. He’s 6-4 and averaged 7.3 points and 2.7 rebounds. Washington U. reports that Cullitan’s teammate, Zach Kelly, will attend the UAA school. A team captain, he averaged 11 points and nine rebounds per game while shooting a team-high 54% from the field.

Maryville (Tenn.) is getting the following players, according to the Maryville Daily Times: Michael Santiago (Miami, Fla., area), Michael Meckler from Ohio, McMinn Central HS forward Blake Derrick and Anderson County point guard Jared Laverdiere.

And Newsday continues to track Long Island seniors’ post-graduation athletics plans:
Tommy Brown, Bayport-Blue Point, Ithaca
Kyle Charters, Greenport, Ithaca

Women
K.C. Blahnik signed one of those fictional letters of intent to play at Lakeland, according to the Daily Press of Escanaba, Mich. She’ll also play softball. No basketball details were given.

Leonard (Texas) HS senior Macy Boggs has committed to play at East Texas Baptist. No mention of her position either, but the Herald Democrat of Sherman, Texas, mentions she averaged 15.2 points, 3.1 assists, and 2.6 steals per game, so put her in the backcourt somewhere.

Brittany Fuller will play basketball at Stevens, according to Newsday. She had 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks for East Rockaway (N.Y.) in the state Class C final.

The Maryville Times says Maryville (Tenn.) has commitments from Seymour (Tenn.) HS senior Brittany Mikels and former Seymour post player Gina Owenby, a transfer from Walters State. The school also got Rachel Draper and Haley Williams from Farragut HS, both guards.

And the Newsday list:
Kasey Agostinacchio, Kellenberg, Cabrini
Kelly Dunne, Northport, Nazareth
Katie Tolan, Island Trees, Muhlenberg

(Glad we didn’t name any of our kids Katie. Lots of Katies on the Newsday list for all sports.)

Seniors’ least favorite question

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So what are you doing after graduation?

I used to flinch when people asked me that back in 2000 as I got ready for life after college. The true answer was too long to relate to the well-meaning person – I don’t know, I’m looking but I’m not sure and frankly I’m a little anxious and would rather not talk about it. So I used a more moderate response, like “I’ve got some things I’m working on.”

Now the situation is reversed and I’m the one asking the dreaded question.

Some seem pretty focused. When I asked D3hoops All-American Forward Eli Cook about her plans in February, she knew she was headed to University of Delaware to study physical therapy.

Others may stay active in the sports they love. D3football.com All-American Quarterback Adam Knoblauch had a try out with the CFL with another to follow. All-American Center Damien Cieswicz is playing in the Great Lakes Indoor Football League as is their Del Val teammate Steve Cook. Cook is breaking into another sport, too, working out for the U.S. Olympic Bobsled team.

And there are countless other stories out there as the great men and women who play Division III take the next exciting step wherever they are headed.

If any would like to share their thoughts or plans below, we’d be very interested to hear them. The career plans highlight the hard work Division III athletes put into their studies and the bright futures that lie ahead of them.

And if you’re a senior whose wrestling with your post-college plans, my two-cents (plink, plink) would be try not to worry about it too much. Even if you don’t know what’s coming after graduation day, you’ve got a lot of time to figure that out.

Congratulations on hitting this milestone in your life and thanks again for making Division III sports so special.