West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

According to upj account of game, 1139 fans attended the Wed game with wlu, which they stated was one of the largest crowds in years. Hopefully, these interconference games will increase interest in D2 basketball.

[Columbuseer]

wlu 59 alderson broaddus 33 at half
65% from three 7-11
13 assists
forced 10 AB turnovers

[Columbuseer]

FYI
great video podcast interview with Patrick Robinson III
1st 16:05 of podcast
Some key points
- never heard of west liberty prior to visit
- impressed by all the championship and ncaa tourney banners on visit
- coach Howlett told him he was going to push him, and as a result,, he has elevated his game to a higher level.

Special young man.

https://youtu.be/4e-L6zukxwk

[Scrub]

The Toppers had better be ready for NDC tomorrow night. They come in unbeaten, and they basically have an entirely revamped full of transfers. They're a bit of an unknown right now, but an unbeaten unknown. And anything can happen in that bandbox gym of theirs. Hope the Toppers have their full attention on this one (and not peeking ahead at Andrew Sischo coming to town).

[boatcapt]

FYI
great video podcast interview with Patrick Robinson III
1st 16:05 of podcast
Some key points
- never heard of west liberty prior to visit
- impressed by all the championship and ncaa tourney banners on visit
- coach Howlett told him he was going to push him, and as a result,, he has elevated his game to a higher level.

Special young man.

https://youtu.be/4e-L6zukxwk

I am often amused by fans of DII programs that talk about their schools "recruting power" and how winning X games or X championship will bring in recruits in droves. Truth is, most HS players have never even heard of most DII's unless a school is physically located in their town. Robinson is a case in point. As far as DII basketball programs go, WLU has a pretty high profile and based on performance and style, should be well known to players across the NE, particularly those who are of DII caliber. Yet, an All-State player from the neighboring state who was not opposed to signing with a DII had never even heard of the program!

Sorry to say that for most of the players on DII basketball and football rosters in the MEC, PSAC, GMAC, CIAA, etc., the DII they are playing at is at best a fall back that they are attending because they didn't get a D1 offer. Not many HS recruits that say, "I'm from Baltimore and I've got an offer from Towson, but I've GOT to go to West Liberty!!"

[CALUPA69]

I am often amused by fans of DII programs that talk about their schools "recruting power" and how winning X games or X championship will bring in recruits in droves. Truth is, most HS players have never even heard of most DII's unless a school is physically located in their town. Robinson is a case in point. As far as DII basketball programs go, WLU has a pretty high profile and based on performance and style, should be well known to players across the NE, particularly those who are of DII caliber. Yet, an All-State player from the neighboring state who was not opposed to signing with a DII had never even heard of the program!

Sorry to say that for most of the players on DII basketball and football rosters in the MEC, PSAC, GMAC, CIAA, etc., the DII they are playing at is at best a fall back that they are attending because they didn't get a D1 offer. Not many HS recruits that say, "I'm from Baltimore and I've got an offer from Towson, but I've GOT to go to West Liberty!!"

Doesn't some of this knowledge of D1 alternatives come from a HS coach who not only cares for his student-athletes but his own reputation and job security. I remember listening to my high school's FB HC walking an undersized but effective OL through the application process for 1 of the numerous not PITT/PSU/ND choices available in Western PA. Though I didn't play, as a student I was certainly aware of the other schools and a major part of any college assistant is making your program well known to area high schools and their coaches. Plus former teammates do bring a lot of info home with them at T'Giving and Christmas for players who know quite well that they don't have D1 level talent.

[Columbuseer]

Re: D1 and D2 recruiting

D1 has huge advantages:
1) Mindshare - Billions of $ and impressions via ESPN and networks
2) NIL
3) Extreme Coddling - travel in style
4) Development league for NBA level players - although G league may cramp the style of the one and dones
5) Don't have to worry about that nuisance called academics - plenty of eligibility majors

D1 disadvantages
1) Utterly corrupt
2) You have to be on the very far end of the Bell Curve in physical measurables to get a shot - Height, strength, fast twitch muscle ratio, quickness speed, etc. These factors often much more important than outstanding fundamentals and basketball IQ
3) Coaches are under such pressure that they will cast aside players who are not developing quickly enough
4) AAU and agents


With few exceptions, great D2 programs compete for recruits only with the lower/mid D1 schools, who are students first and basketball players second.
I think the brand awareness is spreading for some of the top flight D2 programs like IUP, NWMSU, WLU, Nova SE, Lincoln Memorial, etc.
But they will never compete for high level D1 recruits who have a legitimate chance for NBA.
But if recruits realize that the Europe is far more feasible and the NBA is a pipe dream, they may consider a team that plays a style that will develop their skill set for Europe, which is a different game from the NBA.

The transfer portal may help D2, as more d1 schools are giving priority to the transfer portal over high school - less risk.
Also, some players who are good, but buried on the depth chart of a bad team might consider transferring to a championship caliber D2 team.

In summary, D1 and D2 are two different populations of players, with very little overlap.

[Layton]

[Layton]

[Layton]

Too many ball handlers for the press and went cold the second half

[Layton]

Missed wide open 3 to win. 82-81 ND, it happens they had to play out of their minds to win by a point

[Scrub]

Well, there it is: the "hero ball game" where WLU decides not to play WLU basketball and reverts to AAU ball. They're always good for one of those early in the season. Ball was sticking all night long, and guys were regularly trying to take a defender one-on-one. Just not West Liberty basketball. Here's hoping they use this game to get back to playing the right way--like they have in seasons past.

Additional fun fact: guess who hit the dagger 3 for NDC? None other than Daylin Lee. He was the leading scorer for WVWC the night they went out of their minds and beat WLU on the hilltop a few years back. Lee has transferred to NDC, and he's apparently retained his status as Topper-killer.

[boatcapt]

Well, there it is: the "hero ball game" where WLU decides not to play WLU basketball and reverts to AAU ball. They're always good for one of those early in the season. Ball was sticking all night long, and guys were regularly trying to take a defender one-on-one. Just not West Liberty basketball. Here's hoping they use this game to get back to playing the right way--like they have in seasons past.

Additional fun fact: guess who hit the dagger 3 for NDC? None other than Daylin Lee. He was the leading scorer for WVWC the night they went out of their minds and beat WLU on the hilltop a few years back. Lee has transferred to NDC, and he's apparently retained his status as Topper-killer.

I would never say WLU shouldn't get "better athletes," but when you have a collection of players that have "hero ball" in their tool bag, you run the risk of them pulling that tool out. If you have a bunch of players that know they can't beat anyone off the dribble, they ain't going to try it!

Now the question is can Ben stop this trend at one game? As I recall, it took him 3 games last year to get the "hero ball" outbreak under control which cost us dearly in the NCAA seeding and ultimately caused us to play NW in the Elite 8.

While we are fond of saying that it doesn't matter who starts at WLU, but I would imagine that it does mean somthing to the players that start. I'm not Ben, but if it were me, we'd trot out an opening tip lineup of Luke Powell, Elija Watson, Garrett Denbow, Marlon Moore and Zach Rasile against Damien Monday...And as long as they played well, I'd keep them in (and the normal "starters" on the bench). Nothing like some "pine time" to refocus a player on how he needs to be playing! Can't afford a three game skid while our starters "figure it out."

[Scrub]

I would never say WLU shouldn't get "better athletes," but when you have a collection of players that have "hero ball" in their tool bag, you run the risk of them pulling that tool out. If you have a bunch of players that know they can't beat anyone off the dribble, they ain't going to try it!

Now the question is can Ben stop this trend at one game? As I recall, it took him 3 games last year to get the "hero ball" outbreak under control which cost us dearly in the NCAA seeding and ultimately caused us to play NW in the Elite 8.

While we are fond of saying that it doesn't matter who starts at WLU, but I would imagine that it does mean somthing to the players that start. I'm not Ben, but if it were me, we'd trot out an opening tip lineup of Luke Powell, Elija Watson, Garrett Denbow, Marlon Moore and Zach Rasile against Damien Monday...And as long as they played well, I'd keep them in (and the normal "starters" on the bench). Nothing like some "pine time" to refocus a player on how he needs to be playing! Can't afford a three game skid while our starters "figure it out."

I know what you're saying about the recruiting of athletes. No offense to great players from WLU's history like Eric Meininger, Chris Morrow, Keene Cockburn, CJ Hester, Evan French, etc., but you are right that those players seemed to know they had to work within the system to be elite. They didn't have the one-on-one "hero ball" tool in their toolkit. Alex Falk, Corey Pelle, Cedric Harris, Seger Bonifant, Dan Monteroso, etc. certainly DID have that tool, but also knew they were surrounded by system guys and were smart enough to stay within the system. I buy your point that having elite athletes like Robinson, McKinney, Butler, Moore, Montague (who got to be "the guy" last year at Walsh), etc. on the roster makes outbreaks of "hero ball" more of an issue. Good point.

But I also trust that Howlett has recruited smart young men who will get it figured out. And you're absolutely right that it took too long to figure it out last year. Hopefully this outbreak is a mere one-game epidemic. We'll see. The road doesn't get any easier with Andrew Sischo coming to town.

[boatcapt]

I know what you're saying about the recruiting of athletes. No offense to great players from WLU's history like Eric Meininger, Chris Morrow, Keene Cockburn, CJ Hester, Evan French, etc., but you are right that those players seemed to know they had to work within the system to be elite. They didn't have the one-on-one "hero ball" tool in their toolkit. Alex Falk, Corey Pelle, Cedric Harris, Seger Bonifant, Dan Monteroso, etc. certainly DID have that tool, but also knew they were surrounded by system guys and were smart enough to stay within the system. I buy your point that having elite athletes like Robinson, McKinney, Butler, Moore, Montague (who got to be "the guy" last year at Walsh), etc. on the roster makes outbreaks of "hero ball" more of an issue. Good point.

But I also trust that Howlett has recruited smart young men who will get it figured out. And you're absolutely right that it took too long to figure it out last year. Hopefully this outbreak is a mere one-game epidemic. We'll see. The road doesn't get any easier with Andrew Sischo coming to town.

Just like last year, I think they will figure it out. I just hope it doesn't take them 3 losses to do it. Those 3 losses really hurt us come playoff seeding time which ultimately was the difference between a possible NC game appearance and an E8 looser.