West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Monteroso sprained his ankle in practice, in a boot might be out till the conference tourney

Yeah, I heard that on the stream last night...If you're a glass half full, you say it gives a chance for Clay, Smith and others to step up and get valuable minutes...You also can say that it will keep Monteroso well-rested for stretch run (like brady for the Super Bowl missing first 4 games)...Ok, maybe that's a stretch. But you can also say that this is not a one man band, and they can overcome an injury...

On the Glass half empty side, you could say that Monteroso is their MVP...you could say that Monteroso willed them to victories in Fairmont, WJ, Charleston, and others I'm forgetting... It could cost them a chance, small chance, at hosting...but I guess if he's back by conf tourney that's good...but this team is capable of putting a dud up there vs GLenville tomorrow...

On another note, WJ loses another....They are approacing bubble status...

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Let's turn our heads to recruiting for a second...

Someone help me here...I swear WL had three verbal commits for their incoming class in 2017-18...And a couple of them may even have been early signing period...Marlon Moore from Cleveland, Will Yoakum, and Keegan Saben. The class looks good...Addresses some needs...But in the past week, I've seen on verbal commits (great website!), that they offered two more guards....Nick Smith from North Hills (Pittsburgh)...Probably 2nd or 3rd best player in the area and they just offered a taller guard from North Carolina....

Am I reading into things here? Is someone else going to leave / transfer??...They have 3 seniors graduating...Hoehn, Grossenbacher, and Kirkbride... They have 3 Redshirts sitting out this year, and they have 3 commits for this class.. and now they offered two more...I sense that someone else is leaving..Maybe one of the redshirts? It's not uncommon bc they have bally-hooed HS players at every position, so some want 30 mins / game early on...

Any Hilltopper insiders know anything or want to speculate?

If it's any consolation, I wouldn't mind getting Nick Smith...Pretty good player...not as tall a guard as WL likes them, but good athlete and scorer...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

What about future WL HOF player Chuckie Humphries? Has that ship finally sailed (officially)?

[Chevydude89]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Chuckie Humphries has another year of juco im hearing after this season....the kid from North Carolina looked good and as far as red shirts/commits im not sure but to me the future of west lib power success looks good i think...

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

What about future WL HOF player Chuckie Humphries? Has that ship finally sailed (officially)?

Ship sailed on him the day he decomitted. At Polk College in FL he is averaging 9.8 PPG while shooting 43% (25% from 3). Those ain't very good numbers. Yea, he's a freshman and one would think they would improve but you need to counter that with his JUCO level of competition. It's one thing scoring 22 vs Victory Prep and 16 against Red Devil Prep...Quite different doing that against Fairmont, WJU, IUP, etc.

Pretty clear that Chuckie would not have lived up to his hype had he lived up to his initial commitment.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Let's turn our heads to recruiting for a second...

Someone help me here...I swear WL had three verbal commits for their incoming class in 2017-18...And a couple of them may even have been early signing period...Marlon Moore from Cleveland, Will Yoakum, and Keegan Saben. The class looks good...Addresses some needs...But in the past week, I've seen on verbal commits (great website!), that they offered two more guards....Nick Smith from North Hills (Pittsburgh)...Probably 2nd or 3rd best player in the area and they just offered a taller guard from North Carolina....

Am I reading into things here? Is someone else going to leave / transfer??...They have 3 seniors graduating...Hoehn, Grossenbacher, and Kirkbride... They have 3 Redshirts sitting out this year, and they have 3 commits for this class.. and now they offered two more...I sense that someone else is leaving..Maybe one of the redshirts? It's not uncommon bc they have bally-hooed HS players at every position, so some want 30 mins / game early on...

Any Hilltopper insiders know anything or want to speculate?

If it's any consolation, I wouldn't mind getting Nick Smith...Pretty good player...not as tall a guard as WL likes them, but good athlete and scorer...

While it's not typical for WLU, there are DII programs with 16 players listed their rosters. WLU has three graduating seniors on their 14 man roster...Three confirmed incoming freshmen (Yoakum, Moore and Saben) plus the two reported on Verbal Commits would give is 16 players next year baring any transfers.

I also note that Griffin is listed as a SO this year but he has had a "tangled" basketball career that includes club ball in Australia, AAU in the US and a stop at a now defunct "prep" school before lading at Marist for two years (on the team for two years but only played in one). NCAA has been a little inconsistent on reaching a final eligibility determination on things like this. Maybe Crutch is hedging his bet by bring in two additional players incase Griffin is ruled a senior next year and there is an unantisipated transfer OR last minute defection (like Humphries this year)???

[Layton]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Still can't understand why we haven't picked up at least one big man, Gross and Kirkbride will be gone and our tallest guy will be 6'5, I don't think we can win like we usually do with a team that small we'll get killed inside and rebounds, surely he has something up his sleeve and won't go without a big man next year

[DownLow55]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

While it's not typical for WLU, there are DII programs with 16 players listed their rosters. WLU has three graduating seniors on their 14 man roster...Three confirmed incoming freshmen (Yoakum, Moore and Saben) plus the two reported on Verbal Commits would give is 16 players next year baring any transfers.

I also note that Griffin is listed as a SO this year but he has had a "tangled" basketball career that includes club ball in Australia, AAU in the US and a stop at a now defunct "prep" school before lading at Marist for two years (on the team for two years but only played in one). NCAA has been a little inconsistent on reaching a final eligibility determination on things like this. Maybe Crutch is hedging his bet by bring in two additional players incase Griffin is ruled a senior next year and there is an unantisipated transfer OR last minute defection (like Humphries this year)???

D2 basketball is not a head count sport like D1 basketball (same goes for foootball). Although you are limited to 10 athletic scholarships, D2 is an equivalency system not head count. In other words you could give 15 players 2/3 of a scholarship and still be at the 10 scholarship limit.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Still can't understand why we haven't picked up at least one big man, Gross and Kirkbride will be gone and our tallest guy will be 6'5, I don't think we can win like we usually do with a team that small we'll get killed inside and rebounds, surely he has something up his sleeve and won't go without a big man next year

I said after pulling Griffin out of his a@@ (THAT's a horrible visual!!) that I wasn't going to question Crutch's recruting decisions again, but yes, I wish they would bring in a big...even if it is a WLU version of a big (6-8...shoots threes). I would note that while we will lack that one big player, as a team this coming recruiting class will bump the overall size of the team up a bit with three recruits listed at 6-5, one at 6-3 and one at 6-1.

Concerning the two newly reported recruits, I note that these appear to be offers only. Smith is showing five other offers beside the one from WLU and Keller is showing with three other offers. Fact that we are apparently still looking means something but I wouldn't be surprised if neither of these guys ever show up on the Hilltop.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Smith is going to get suckered in to one of these Bush League, low-ball D1 schools. That's my guess.

[Chevydude89]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Prediction of score tomorrow? ?

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I said after pulling Griffin out of his a@@ (THAT's a horrible visual!!) that I wasn't going to question Crutch's recruting decisions again, but yes, I wish they would bring in a big...even if it is a WLU version of a big (6-8...shoots threes). I would note that while we will lack that one big player, as a team this coming recruiting class will bump the overall size of the team up a bit with three recruits listed at 6-5, one at 6-3 and one at 6-1.

Concerning the two newly reported recruits, I note that these appear to be offers only. Smith is showing five other offers beside the one from WLU and Keller is showing with three other offers. Fact that we are apparently still looking means something but I wouldn't be surprised if neither of these guys ever show up on the Hilltop.

Saw Keegan Saben at the Urbana game. He does not look like a HS senior. Very solid 195 lbs. Very polite young man. Watching his film, he looks like a monterosa inside/outside type aggressive player at a big high school. Centerville has about 3000 students and plays a tough schedule.

Urbana is getting better. They have some athletes, but big drop off on the bench. It was an entertaining game. I took my son, who hates sports. He really enjoyed it. Said it was totally different from watching Ohio State.

Both teams were running in open court basketball in the first half. By the end of the half, Urbana was physically spent. WLU was attacking the basket. They had 29 free throws in the first half! Urbana slowed it down in the second half, resting on offense. But the damage had been done. Dennis was getting by his man and going for layups. When others tried to help, he dished to griffin, Smith, and Hoehn for wide open threes. Smith is a great 3 pt shooter. Urbana cut a 20 pt lead to 10 with 10 minutes to go. Then wlu took off again running past an exhausted Urbana team, with the margin growing from 20 to 30 in the last 7 minutes. Brady Arnold did his usual attack from behind, tapping the ball away from an unsuspecting ball handler on several occasions. Once, Brady got by his man and challenged 3 much taller players at the rim, where he softly laid the ball high off the glass for a layup. The place went crazy. WLU forced 3 five second calls during the game. Clay G. had 60 fans attend from Greenville in W. Ohio. He is getting better and better. Good rebounder, good finisher, good shooter. Had 19 pts and 10 rebounds. WLU had more turnovers than usual, but it was not due to Urbana pressure. They were making some long over the top passes to open guys; some passes did not have enough arc or the receiver waited and did not come back for the ball. Aggressive offensive plays like that took its toll on Urbana.

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Although WJ has been struggling a bit as of late, this rivalry game is the proverbial "throw the records out the window" game...And if WL doesn't have full use of Monteroso...Even if he plays, he'll be rusty, and a bit tentative or settling for jumpers..And WJ got one of their better players back, I swear I read somewhere....I'm saying WL by 2 today...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Pick 'Em chose WJ in 5 of the 7 entries this week.

Whichever teams wins .... huge game for seeding.

Wheeling seems due to finally have that 'it all comes together' game. They've been so close against FSU twice and the thriller with WL in Round 1.

As long as Fairmont wins today these two (WJ and WL) will likely be playing again next week in the MEC Final Four -- and possibly again at the Regional.

Make sure you guys tuning in to the feed enjoy those two homer announcers from WJ ....

Betting my own money today ... I'd have to pick WL. They find ways to win big games. WJ finds ways to lose close games.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Although WJ has been struggling a bit as of late, this rivalry game is the proverbial "throw the records out the window" game...And if WL doesn't have full use of Monteroso...Even if he plays, he'll be rusty, and a bit tentative or settling for jumpers..And WJ got one of their better players back, I swear I read somewhere....I'm saying WL by 2 today...

I don't think Monte will be rusty. He started the season after a 2+ year basketball hiatus and was anything but rusty. Don't think a 14 day layoff is going to have a lot of effect. That's assuming he is 100% following the ankle injury. His game also is not predicated on somthing that is prone to rust. While he can shoot J's, his game is more slashing and played closer to the rim. As many questions as WLU has, it is important to remember that they are 9-1 over their last 10 games and are on a 4 game winning streak. For comparison WJ is 6-4 over the same stretch and is on a two game streak.

I know it is over used but WLU v. WJ is a rivalry and you can "throw the record book out the window." Doesn't matter how either school is playing leading up to their games because they always seem to ramp it up a few notches for this game! WLU has shown the ability to go into Wheeling and beat the Cardinals on their home floor. Also, this years Toppers seem to be the type of team that "plays to the level of their competition." WJ is good so I expect a good game from WLU...Final score is WLU by 5.

This game COULD effect MEC tourney seeding. For that to happen, WJ would need to lose and Shepherd would need to defeat Farimont today. If that happened, Shepherd would grab the #3 seed with WJ dropping to #4. While that does have major tourney implications for WLU (AND Fairmont), I don't really see Shepherd going into Fairmont and winning today.