Augie in China: First day in Hong Kong

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After another 4-hour flight from Tokyo, Japan to Hong Kong International airport, a flight that no one wanted to get on after 12 hours in the air, we finally touched down in Hong Kong. We went through customs and boarded a bus to take us to the YWCA Guest House in the middle of Kowloon in Hong Kong. Along the way, Dr. Moline gave us a brief tour as we headed to the hotel for the night. A bed looked like the greatest thing after being up for around 36 hours.
 
It was an early morning for everyone, 7:30, so that we could head to Hong Kong Baptist University to have our first practice on foreign soil. We took a nice coach bus over to the university which was about fifteen minutes from where we were staying. Once on the court we had a spirited two-hour practice before a friendly scrimmage game with the Hong Kong Baptist team. HKBU played us pretty tough, but in the end we pulled away for a sizable lead. There was some confusion at what we thought was the end of the game, but really was just halftime. In China, the college and pro teams play quarters opposed to the halves we are used to in the States.

Augustana with Hong Kong Baptist University players.
 
After the scrimmage, Coach G led a brief defensive clinic with the HKBU players to show them how we do it on the defensive end. There was only one player on their team who spoke English, but we were all pretty astounded at how quickly their players picked up what he was saying even though it was in a foreign language. The language of basketball must be pretty universal.
 
We returned to the hotel by grabbing a city bus and it was a quick shower and out on the streets for our traveling group. Dr. Moline took us to a local favorite of his for our first authentic Chinese meal. It was served communally and we all sat at round tables and shared all of the dishes that were brought out. Learning to use chop sticks was not easy and pretty much everyone gave up after a while and used their forks.
 
After the meal, we were allowed to go experience what Hong Kong offered. We cashed traveler’s checks and headed to one of the local markets to go shopping. We were able to interact with street vendors by bartering for what they were selling. Popular things that people bought were soccer jerseys, watches and some electronics. Shopping took up most of the day and we all headed down in groups to the river front to watch a light show that was on the buildings across the river on Hong Kong Island. Unfortunately, it started to rain so the light show was canceled. We had to grab cabs and city buses to find our way back to the hotel.
 
One of the most noticeable things is the language barrier. Most people we interact with only know a few English phrases, so it takes a while and we are learning requires a lot of patience to get the information that we need. However, this is just part of the Hong Kong experience and it was a successful day one.
 
Another day in Hong Kong awaits today.
 
— Kyle Nelson

Augie in China: Layover in Japan

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After two hours in O’Hare Airport and 12 and a half hours on a plane, Augustana has set foot in Japan! It was a long awaited arrival as the flight lasted half a day. Most of the guys were buried in their personal entertainment systems on the plane, and were either playing games or watching movies. To pass the time we would by play Battleship or Tetris on the plane’s system against one another.

All of the big guys were fortunate enough to get exit row seats so that we could stretch out in the extra room (thank you to Dr. Norm Moline and whomever else set that up).
 
Once landing in Japan, we made our way through security and settled down in a Japanese noodle restaurant to get our first taste of Japanese food. Our stay here isn’t very long (a 3-hour layover) and we are confined to staying within the terminal. But, everyone is excited to come back to Japan at the end of our trip when we get to spend a day in downtown Tokyo.
 
Our flight to Hong Kong leaves in an hour. See everyone then!
 
-Kyle Nelson

Heading to Europe: Trip of a lifetime

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Chris McDevitt is part of a group of Division III players (and three Division II players) traveling to Europe as an All-Star team this month. The others are Anthony LoRusso of Ramapo; Sean Hughes of Rowan; Fran Brzyski of Susquehanna; Alex Raymond of Juniata; Otis Smith of Southern Maine and SUNY-Cobleskill’s Damon Franklin. The D-II players: Eric Brennan of Kutztown, Ricky Hudson of American International and Erv Ezell of Seminole State.

McDevitt’s first blog entry follows:

The past three years at Widener University have been the best three years of my life. Participating in Division III basketball has opened the door to many great opportunities, and this week will be one of them.

One of my teammates last year got the opportunity of a lifetime to travel abroad to Europe with other NCAA basketball players. Hearing about his, I realized I wanted to make this experience my own. Nine other Division II and Division III players and myself will be traveling through Europe for the next ten days which begins on Wednesday with our flight to Belgium.

At Widener I have been part of a great basketball tradition, including winning two conference championships in the last three years. Yet, nothing can compare to a trip of sightseeing, basketball, and experiencing life in countries outside of the United States.

The anticipation is building on the days leading up to the trip. I am excited to be able to meet fellow college basketball players from other areas of the United States, and build relationships with them on and off of the basketball court while in Europe. We have all been communicating through Facebook and a few texts to get ready for the next two weeks. Although we will not be able to have any practice sessions as a team before we leave, we are planning on a few upon our arrival. I cannot wait to see all of the talent that will come together as a unit and hopefully we can showcase our skills and personalities throughout the ten days.

We will be departing from Newark Airport on Wednesday, Aug. 4. When we arrive in Belgium we will be meeting with a tour guide for a tour of the city of Mechelen and practicing that night. We will be taking part in a ton of tours while in several different cities, which I will update daily while in Europe. Our games will all be played in the evening against a variety of teams from different European leagues.

The special part of this trip which the team values greatly is that each of us will be representing our college/university as well as our country. This is an amazing opportunity and we are all extremely excited to get this experience started!

Next time you hear from me we will have completed our trip over the pond and be in Belgium.

– Chris McDevitt
Widener University

Augie in China: Preparation underway

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Augustana senior Kyle Nelson and his teammates are getting ready to travel to China in early August. He will be blogging regularly on D3hoops.com about the team’s journey.

Nelson’s first installment follows:

For three years I have heard stories from teammates about their tour to China in 2007. Every single story they told, whether it was about a game they played against a Chinese Basketball Association team or if it was about going out at night and experiencing Chinese nightlife, left a great impression on me. When the team went in 2007, I was an incoming freshman and NCAA rules did not allow us to participate in any practices or the trip itself. I am very excited to finally be able to go, in my senior year, and experience all of the excitement that the last trip generated first hand. I know that this trip, shared with coaches, their families and teammates, is going to be a life changing and memorable experience for all of us. Aug. 3, our departure date from O’Hare, cannot get here soon enough.

The past two weekends and also this coming weekend, our team has gathered at the Carver Center to participate in the ten practice days that the NCAA grants to teams going on a foreign tour. The attitude in the gym has been positive and full of excitement. The practices have been very intense and it has been interesting to play with a few different rules that the international game has compared to the NCAA. For example, the ball that we are playing with is slightly smaller than what we are used to here, the lane is much wider, the ball can be hit off the rim when it is still bouncing and finally, maybe the difference that is taking the most adjustment, is that the shot clock is now 24 seconds instead of the usual 35. This has really forced us to work on playing faster and quicker decisions during the game. Playing under these new rules is something unique and these practices are helping us prepare as if it were the beginning of the season.

The most difficult thing thus far during these summer practices has been coping with how hot the Carver Center gets during practice. When were playing, it feels like it is 100 degrees in there and that took a while to get used to. We have had to switch baskets frequently because guys are sweating so much people are slipping everywhere. A few guys have even had to sit out a few drills to shake out some lightheadedness and exhaustion. Even though the heat is extreme, Coach G has insisted that this is great for us because it is just like how it will be in China. Hopefully the heat training pays off and helps against our competition in China and further on down the road.

Once overseas, we will be playing some talented opponents. After a scrimmage against Hong Kong Baptist University, the Vikings will be lining up against the defending CBA champions, the Guangdong Southern Tigers. After these games, we will play three more university teams and one more CBA team. The competition is some of the best that China has to offer and we are all excited to represent Augustana and the United States on the other side of the world.

Next time you hear from me we’ll be getting ready to enjoy a 13 hour flight to China!

— Kyle Nelson

Moving from 3 to 1

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When George Fox head coach Scott Rueck accepted the top post at his alma mater Oregon State, he became the second coach this offseason to make the jump directly from Division III to Division I head coach. Vermont selected Lori Gear McBride of Colby to be its next women’s basketball coach in May.

The contemporary standard bearer for making that jump successfully is UW-Madison coach Bo Ryan. Ryan won four national titles with UW-Platteville and then moved to UW-Milwaukee before taking over the Badgers. At a lower profile Tony Shaver has done a nice job developing the William & Mary program since leaving Hampden-Sydney. Glenn Miller went from Conn College to Brown after leading the Camels to the Division III national semifinals. Miller did well at Brown, winning more games in his first six years there any previous Bears coach. Then he moved to Penn where he got fired after a 0-7 start to last season.

Here’s how some others have fared recently:

* Division I Bucknell likes them some D3 coaches. That’s understandable since Pat Flannery, who took over the Bison program in 1994, won 234 games there. Flannery arrived in Lewisburg after winning the national championship with Lebanon Valley that same year. So when Flannery retired in April 2008, Bucknell picked another Division III coach as his successor, Williams Dave Paulsen. Paulsen hasn’t taken the Bison to the same heights yet. They went 7-23 in Paulsen’s second season and 14-17 in the second.

* Speaking of the Patriot League, Stefanie Pemper left Bowdoin after a long, successful run in Maine for slightly warmer climes in 2008 when she became the head coach at Navy. The Mids have turned things around nicely under her, from 7-23 pre-Pemper in 2007-2008 to 16-15 post-Pemper in 2008-2009. Navy sustained that momentum last season by going 17-14.

* Around the same time as Paulsen’s and Pemper’s moves, Don Friday made the jump from Lycoming to St. Francis (Pa.). He took over a Red Flash program that had won just 18 games in three seasons. St. Francis kept slogging at that pace with a six win campaign in 2008-2009 but nearly doubled the win total last season by going 11-19.

This is far too small a sample to make any generalizations but it does highlight a couple things.

First, has any Division III coach made as big a jump as Rueck? Not to denigrate the Ivy League, Patriot League, American East or NEC, but they aren’t on the same level athletically as the Pac 12, um 10, er whatever. To give you a sense of scale how big the jump is, George Fox spent $81,909 during its undefeated championship run in 2008-2009 according to Federal government data. Oregon State spent five times as much – $419,465 – in a season where the Beavers went 20-12.

How will Rueck’s style translate at that level? Apparently he had the same question before taking the job. According to The Oregonian, Rueck called Oregon State football coach Mike Riley who also coached in the NWC at Linfield. Riley’s words encouraged Rueck to make the jump. An OSU assistant baseball coach who is also a former George Fox coach says, “”If you can coach at D-III you can coach anywhere.”

What happens to the teams these coaches leave behind? It’s a mixed bag. The Williams men reached last year’s national championship game post-Paulsen. The Bowdoin women aren’t as dominant as they used to be, but that may have more to do with GP Gromacki’s arrival at Amherst than Pemper’s departure. UW-Platteville and Hampden-Sydney aren’t as successful as they were under Ryan and Shaver, but they are competitive in really tough leagues. And Conn College has not fared well in the NESCAC since Miller left.

As for George Fox, having a roster with young talent, including freshman phenom Hannah Munger, certainly won’t hurt. Nor will it hurt that Puget Sound, the Bruins closest rival, will be going through a similar process after head coach Suzy Barcomb left for Division II. That’s the recipe for sustaining the success that Rueck established at George Fox over the short term. Choosing the right head coach to replace Rueck will go a long way toward sustaining it over the long term.