West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Looking ahead to next year...
No seniors on team.
Two long range assassins coming to the hilltop.
2nd leading scorer in Ohio history and only 2bd person to exceed 3,000 career points despite double and triple teams. Routinely scores from 40 ft as well as inside. Master of every shot. Basketball iq thru the roof and 4.0 gpa

17th leading scorer at over 2300 points. Great elevation and range on jump shot and dribble drive. Great student.

BTW this site leaves 35 tracking cookies on your pc after u visit in addition to Trojan that Kaspersky flags. Just another site where the product is info about YOU.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Anybody else leaving (beside Boswell)?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Lord Crutch has a transfer. Matt Weir (New Concord, OH) is leaving the program. He started 20 games for Nova this year.

He's listed as a 6' PG.

Just a hunch but he'll end up in the Atlantic somewhere.

[Columbuseer]

Re: preston Boswell
if i interpret the d2 rules correctly, u only get one d2 transfer. Else you must sit a year in residence and not play. Since he has one year left before 10 semester rule is reached, that would rule out a d2 destination.
??????but i am a dummy about these rules.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: preston Boswell
if i interpret the d2 rules correctly, u only get one d2 transfer. Else you must sit a year in residence and not play. Since he has one year left before 10 semester rule is reached, that would rule out a d2 destination.
??????but i am a dummy about these rules.

I'd assume he'd be a grad transfer at this stage? Seems the rules go out the window with that process.

[WVIAC-F-EVER]

He could be a graduate transfer or get his AA after the fall term and join a team the day after finals completed for the fall 2020... graduate transfer can transfer as many times as they want as long as they have semesters and seasons of competition remaining...

[CALUPA69]

Boswell Bombshell:

Apparently, Howlett announced during the post-game presser that the reason Boswell didn't play today is because he has hung up his basketball shoes for good. He's allegedly done--starting today.


Edit to add: early odds on Boswell turning up in the Angelo Dome next year?

Per a VULCAN Dad, it is almost certain that PB will be in the Mon Valley come this fall. His arrival won't come close to covering the lost production of two top 8 players leaving CAL U. SANCOMB will be re-starting AGAIN.

[boatcapt]

West Liberty post season awards:

Player of the Year: Will Yoakum
6th Man of the Year: Marlon Moore
Freshman of the Year: Bryce Butler
Newcomer of the Year: Pat Robinson

[Scrub]

West Liberty post season awards:

Player of the Year: Will Yoakum
6th Man of the Year: Marlon Moore
Freshman of the Year: Bryce Butler
Newcomer of the Year: Pat Robinson

What, no accolades for the (ahem) Atlantic Region POY, Dalton Bolon?

[boatcapt]

What, no accolades for the (ahem) Atlantic Region POY, Dalton Bolon?

Well, it was very close between the two. Yoakum should have received consideration for the Atlantic POY along with Bolon. Fact that he didn't even make the the Atlantic First OR Second team is the real crime. Not many on that list that Yoakum doesn't match and quite a few that he is clearly better than. But by and large these lists have become an every team get's a trophy sort of thing. 10 spots on the First and Second team and nine different teams represented with every Atlantic Region conference having at least one player on the first AND second team.

[boatcapt]

Re: preston Boswell
if i interpret the d2 rules correctly, u only get one d2 transfer. Else you must sit a year in residence and not play. Since he has one year left before 10 semester rule is reached, that would rule out a d2 destination.
??????but i am a dummy about these rules.

Figuring out NCAA eligibility requirements is...difficult under the best of situations. I note that Boswell sat out a year after his transfer from Wheeling so it COULD be construed by the NCAA that he HAS sat out a year. Also he is a "graduate transfer." I don't think they are required to sit out. Concerning his 10 semesters (and 4 seasons of play), if I'm doing the math correctly, he is sitting at 8 right now 16-17 and 17-18 at Wheeling (4 semesters and 2 playing seasons), 18-19 at WLU (2 semesters, practice only) and 19-20 at WLU (2 semesters and 1 playing season). That's 8 semesters and 3 playing seasons so he should be good for 2 semesters and 1 playing season were ever he goes.

[Columbuseer]

This may give some insight on why Dalton Bolon won Atlantic Region Player of the Year, as some folks may have had questions.

Disclaimer: I have not studied the stats of other deserving players outside of West Liberty for the All Region team or POY. I can only relay statistics on Dalton Bolon.


Like other great players, he stretches defenses to prevent the three, which essentially makes the game a 4 on 4 game. This was especially true in the MEC tourney games. This opens the court up for Patrick, Malik and Will to do their thing both inside and outside. He is much more than just a scorer and deadly shooter. He is an incredible rebounder for a 6-3 or 6-4 shooting guard who plays on the perimeter. He typically played well under 25 minutes a game. It only increased to an average of 27 minutes after Preston left the team in Feb and Will and Dalton inherited much of the additional minutes, as Preston had the 3^rd most minutes on the team when he left.

I suspect that the folks who make these decisions on POY look at many factors besides just scoring and dribble drive or post moves and know something about the game of basketball.
I would be interested in the stats of other players, their national ranking and their stats normalized for a 40-minute game.


Player: Dalton Bolon - height is 6-3 or 6-4
avg minutes per game 27 amazing stats -given that avg minutes were less until Preston left the team in Feb.

ELITE STATS
double doubles 12 elite 27th in nation - All the players ahead of him are taller than Dalton
Tot Rebounds 269 elite 27th in nation despite he is only 6-3 or 6-4
Offensive Rebounding Efficiency per 40 minutes 8.31% elite
FT pct. 87.1% elite 31st in nation

Avg Pts per game 18.5 elite amazing stats -given that avg minutes were less until Preston left the team in Feb.
Avg Reb 8.7 elite for a shooting guard - unreal!

Pct. 3pt shooting 38.9% elite 77th in nation
Projected Fouls if playing for 40 min. 2.8 elite
Projected Off. Rebounds per 40 min. 3.1 elite
Projected Offense Efficiency per 40 Min. 27.3 elite
Projected Points Per 40 min. 27.5 elite
Pts Scored Per Minute Played 0.69 elite

EXCELLENT STATS
Effective FG % 55.6% excellent
Offensive rebounds 65 excellent 203rdProjected Steals per 40 min 1.6 excellent

UNSELFISH STATS
% of Pts Scored 18.1% unselfish
% of Shots Taken 18.4% unselfish

[Columbuseer]

There were 8 finalists for Mr. Basketball in Ohio. Two are going to wlu.

One had a very strong case to win it.

Zach averaged 38 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.7 steals per game this season. He was often double and triple teamed. Steph curry like range. Understands the game. Hit 485 three pointers in career, best in Ohio history by 150.

Imho if he were 6-7 instead of 6-0, he would be at Duke next season.

[Columbuseer]

Luke Powell is an intriguing prospect, who is coming to West Liberty next year - One of 8 finalists for Mr. Basketball on Ohio - Captain of Times-Leader All Area Team, chosen with help of area coaches in Eastern Ohio - Eastern District Co-Player of the Year - District 12 Player of the Year for the second straight season - First Team All-Ohio - Averaged a double-double, at 33 points and 11 rebounds per game. - Leading scorer in Barnesville history, surpassing his father! - 2,374 Career Points, which is 17th all-time in the State of Ohio He is a very athletic player. Standing flat-footed, the 6-3 guard can elevate and dunk easily. He can make contested deep threes by elevating over opponents while still maintaining his form and balance. He has dribble drive skills to weave through defenders to the rim. He hits the boards hard to get rebounds. Because of his skills relative to his teammates, the Barnesville offense went through Luke. Often, he got the defensive rebound, dribbled up-court and was open for an easy Three (for him). On his team, it was essential for him to stay on the floor as much as possible, so he tended to play conservatively on defense. The transition to WLU will entail learning to move without the ball, demonstrating passing skills, and learning to play face-guarding defense against talented players in a full-court trapping defense. The style is much different than the style that he played in high school. None of these areas of improvement should prove to be insurmountable for Luke, given his intelligence and his raw athletic ability. IMHO, once he develops these facets of the game to a level comparable to his scoring and rebounding skills, he could be a very special player at WLU. To call him a diamond in the rough would be a misnomer. He is more of a high-quality gem that just needs some polishing of a few facets.

[boatcapt]

So who you got as the "break out" player this coming year? Some parameters...Must be an underclassmen (Sophomore, Redshirt or true Freshman), must have no college starts and average's 5 PPG or fewer. Soooo...basically the list is Hazelbaker, Hiles, Conley, Rasile, or Powell.

Side question, does Big Ben bring in a transfer to replace Shifflett or does he bring in a Freshman?? Here's a flyer...Sean Ulrich formerly of IUP. He is a big unlike the typical WLU guy so that is a strike against him. But based on his JUCO numbers and highlights, it looks like he is more than a imobile 10 feet and in big. Looks like he is active, can handle the ball and has a little bit of range on his jumper. If I had to describe him I'd say a little bigger but a little less mobile version Eric Meininger...cant shoot quite as well from outside but is a little better inside. He might not be in the starting 5, but I think he could hold his own on the second starting 5. If Ben wanted to go all in for next year for Bolon, Dyer(?) and Moore's Senior campaign, this is the type of one year "bandaid" guy you might want to bring in.