West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Wlu scrimmaged Ashland tonight.
Ashland has a very tall team, which is typical of GMAC teams.
They lost by 1 to ferris state in 1st round of ncaa last yr.
They are picked 2nd preseason in gmac, by 1 pt to 1st place hillsdale.

The first 10 minutes was on pace for a 60 point game.
But the pressure took its toll and the score wound up in the mid 80s.

Some observations:
- about 200 fans were in attendance for an unpublicized scrimmage.
- scrimmage was valuable , because they were facing unfamiliar styles and players
- wlu experimented with many different combos of players
- wlu has found additional 3 pt shooters among the new players
- wlu has waves of quick players to increase pressure on inbounds plays.
- the transition to the wlu style for the newbies is a work in progress, which is to be expected.

[Columbuseer]

Often highly touted players, when they arrive at a school, rapidly adjust and become very productive.

However, I have been mulling over why the adjustment can sometimes be much slower at wlu. We can all think of players who were truly gifted scorers, but either could not adapt or were impatient and frustrated at their lack of immediate success and have transferred.

Some thoughts on the challenges:

1. In organized ball, many players have just played in a half-court, set-play offense and half-court defense. On the playground, 1-on-1 dribble drive or contested jump shots are the norm, where assist to turnover ratio and points per possession are not valued. When they arrive at wlu, their prior habits are neither as successful nor as conducive to the style. They must learn a new way to play offense that is more free flowing without set plays and which requires effective movement without the ball. Several players have told me that this is a huge adjustment.

2. Great scorers have to give up a good shot that they would normally take to give a teammate a great shot from three.

3. Players have to see the court to know the location of the open man when they normally would have eyes on their opponent and the rim.

4. Wlu offense requires players to rapidly rotate the ball. Great scorers are used to holding the ball, surveying the situation, and dribbling to attack the opponent.

5. The continuous defensive pressure on makes and misses is new, as well as sprinting to tap the ball from behind the opponent who is dribbling in transition. There is no time for pacing oneself in terms of exertion.

6. Players have to crash the offensive glass, without allowing opponents to leak out for layups. If one player is out of position, it can lead to an easy transition score for the opponent.
Players have to remain fully engaged, processing the situation in real time, on both on defense and offense.

Imho many aspects of this style are well suited to playing in Euro pro leagues. However, It takes time. Great players, like Bolon, Yoakum, and Dyer, all had to redshirt in order to make the transition.

[Columbuseer]

FYI
MEC basketball media day
Oct 25 1230 pm
1230pm
Mountaineast.tv

[Columbuseer]

Imho, there have to be great battles in progress between the first and second platoons. Often the second platoon increased the lead during their shift last season,

I am looking forward to seeing 6-1 Darren Fergus play in the wlu style, as it will give him more space for easier, higher % shots. He is an unselfish player.

last year highlights

https://youtu.be/NiXHL3orvl8?feature=shared


Some info as a refresher.

Fergus, a sophomore and now a two-time All-Conference First Team honoree, was the selection as the league’s top player after stuffing the stats sheet for the Lions with:

20.5 points per game, 26th nationally and 1st in conference
7.8 rebounds per game, top 5 in conference
4.4 assists per game, top 5 in conference
2.0 steals per game, top 5 in conference
Fergus also led the league in made field goals (194), made free throws (151), points (575), and steals (57) all while playing an ECC-best 36:23 minutes per game.
ECC Player of the Year and All-ECC First Team...
Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Division II Male Player of the Year/First Team...
D2CCA All-East Region First Team...
NABC All-District Second Team...
Ranked in the top-50 nationally in 12 statistical categories: free throw attempts (5th), free throws (12th), minutes per game (17th), field goal attempts (25th), points per game (26th), steals (30th), points (31st), steals per game (33rd), defensive rebounds per game (44th), assists per game (45th), assists (50th), and field goals (50th)...
Appeared and started in all 29 contests...
Led the team with 128 assists and 57 steals to go with 221 rebounds and 10 blocks...
Reached double-digit scoring in every contest, including a career-high 38 points against Mercy (Jan. 18)...
Has topped 20 points on 15 occasions...
Recorded a double-double against Assumption (Nov. 28) with 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds...
Has totaled six double-doubles on the season...
Dished out a career-high nine assists against Staten Island (Jan. 14) and Queens (Feb. 4)...
Netted his 1,000th career point against Daemen (Jan. 27), meeting the milestone in just 61 contests...
Named ECC Player of the Week three times (Dec. 5, Jan. 23, Jan. 30)...
Selected to the ECC Weekly Honor Roll five times (Nov. 21, Nov. 28, Dec. 12, Jan. 3, Jan 17)..
Named to the Metropolitan Basketball Writers' Weekly Honor Roll three times (Dec. 6, Dec. 13, Jan. 10).

[boatcapt]

Fyi
wlu AD has retired
https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...etirement.aspx

Well last time it came down to Ulum or Wailaie. Obviously different President now but I would imagine that Wailaie would once again throw his hat in the ring. Other MEC schools have promoted their less than stellar head football coach to AD to get rid of him so why not WLU??!!

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
wlu AD has retired
https://hilltoppersports.com/news/20...etirement.aspx

[boatcapt]

On a slow day, I have been mulling over the question of the mvp of the crutchfield-howlett era.

An incomplete list of nominees:
Alex Falk - national player of year
Cedric Harris - three-time All American
Seger Bonifant - 2 time national player of year, still ncaa career leader in 3 pt % at 52+%
Dan Monteroso - Academic All American and All American
Dalton Bolon - From walk on to all american and academic AA while playing with one eye, 1st team all conference at d1 college of charleston. Epitomy of drive to excel
Bryce Butler - most invisible player to quietly dominate a game - scoring inside, midrange and from three, incredible footwork on back to basket moves, assists, rebounding, steals - totally unselfish

Acknowledging the effect of recency bias, I still tend to give an edge to Butler, for his game was so complete,

Other nominees?
What are your thoughts?

CJ Hester - Leading rebounder his four years on the Hilltop (Ended as the leading rebounder in WLU history)....Lead the team in FG percentage in each of his seasons (,600+ each year)...Consistent double digit score every night (96 times over his career),,,Four time Academic All-American...The epitome of the "WLU Style" player in the early days...Without him, WLU's early years under Crutch would have been different.

[Scrub]

On a slow day, I have been mulling over the question of the mvp of the crutchfield-howlett era.

An incomplete list of nominees:
Alex Falk - national player of year
Seger Bonifant - 2 time national player of year, still ncaa career leader in 3 pt % at 52+%
Dalton Bolon - From walk on to all american and academic AA while playing with one eye, 1st team all conference at d1 college of charleston. Epitomy of drive to excel
Bryce Butler - most invisible player to quietly dominate a game - scoring inside, midrange and from three, incredible footwork on back to basket moves, assists, rebounding, steals - totally unselfish

Acknowledging the effect of recency bias, I still tend to give an edge to Butler, for his game was so complete,

Other nominees?
What are your thoughts?

It's hard to bet against either Butler or Bonifant. But my personal favorite player of the era was Alex Falk. He was the guy who passed the eye test to me in ways the others didn't. There's no question about the completeness of Bonifant's & Butler's games. But Falk had a motor and a heart like nobody else. His "want-to" was off the charts. Intangibles like that can be hard to measure, but having watched ALL these guys play with my own two eyes (and your list forgot to mention Cedric Harris & Dan Monteroso who were also National Players of the Year), Falk was the guy who just made me say "wow" far more frequently than all the others. That's a pretty unscientific answer, I know. But to me, Falk is still the best player to ever wear the WLU jersey.

[Columbuseer]

On a slow day, I have been mulling over the question of the mvp of the crutchfield-howlett era.

An incomplete list of nominees:
Alex Falk - national player of year
Cedric Harris - three-time All American
Seger Bonifant - 2 time national player of year, still ncaa career leader in 3 pt % at 52+%
Dan Monteroso - Academic All American and All American
Dalton Bolon - From walk on to all american and academic AA while playing with one eye, 1st team all conference at d1 college of charleston. Epitomy of drive to excel
Bryce Butler - most invisible player to quietly dominate a game - scoring inside, midrange and from three, incredible footwork on back to basket moves, assists, rebounding, steals - totally unselfish

Acknowledging the effect of recency bias, I still tend to give an edge to Butler, for his game was so complete,

Other nominees?
What are your thoughts?

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
d2 basketball practice may start no earlier than 35 calendar days before first game. For wlu, that would be Oct 6. Teams get a max of 25 practices during those 35 days.
I think it used to be oct 15.

Excited to watch the team grow and develop this year.

[boatcapt]

Last year's team excelled in their unselfishness, even though they were also very talented. They really did not care who got the glory. Last year, 5 different players led the team in scoring for at least one game.

Imho, without naming names, some stars in past years called their own number a little too much.

Can this year's team match last year's unselfishness, when many new players are accustomed to being the main man? It is a big change for a player.

Fergus - All region player
Korte - all MEC
Shuler - leading scorer on team
Reasbeck - 3 point sniper
D Augustino - all state ohio, mvp of ohio all star game
Pankey - all state, ohio all star game

Will returning players carry on the unselfish play?

I think these factors will play a role in the trajectory of the team.

Anytime you turnover a large part of your roster on a seemingly yearly basis, you run a certain risk that the players you bring in will not "buy into" or be capable of running the WLU System. While every transfer players reason for leaving their old school is different, the bottom line is that they quit that program. Now we bring in a signifigant number of them, put them in a high pressure system and expect signifigant production from each. Yes, it has worked so far but we are one "bad" transfer class from a significant problem. It's kind of like playing Russian Roulet...When you "win" you can trick yourself into believing that you have figured out how to spin the cylinder in just such a way to insure you will never chamber a round, but all it takes is that one time when fate shows you that no, you have NOT discovered the secret system, you were just lucky!

[Columbuseer]

Last year's team excelled in their unselfishness, even though they were also very talented. They really did not care who got the glory. Last year, 5 different players led the team in scoring for at least one game.

Imho, without naming names, some stars in past years called their own number a little too much.

Can this year's team match last year's unselfishness, when many new players are accustomed to being the main man? It is a big change for a player.

Fergus - All region player
Korte - all MEC
Shuler - leading scorer on team
Reasbeck - 3 point sniper
D Augustino - all state ohio, mvp of ohio all star game
Pankey - all state, ohio all star game

Will returning players carry on the unselfish play?

I think these factors will play a role in the trajectory of the team.

[boatcapt]

Less than 60 days to 1st game!
Fan scuttlebutt is telling me there is great competition, great athletic ability, and balance across the entire roster. The dropoff from 1 to 14 is not large, according to a non-coach's eye. Younger players are holding their own.

Of course this is only from a fan's viewpoint based on limited observation.

There are some very big shoes to fill, which will likely have to be done by committee.
There may be some rough patches early, but as these new players meld into a cohesive unit, Feb could be interesting.

I seem to remember a similar "pre-season" report last year...and the year before that...and the year before that...!!!

With the addition-by-subtraction going on at the Hilltop, we should be loaded for bear this year so anything less than a National Championship is unacceptable!!!!

[Columbuseer]

Less than 60 days to 1st game!
Fan scuttlebutt is telling me there is great competition, great athletic ability, and balance across the entire roster. The dropoff from 1 to 14 is not large, according to a non-coach's eye. Younger players are holding their own.

Of course this is only from a fan's viewpoint based on limited observation.

There are some very big shoes to fill, which will likely have to be done by committee.
There may be some rough patches early, but as these new players meld into a cohesive unit, Feb could be interesting.

[Columbuseer]

Fyi on a slow news day
2023 Roster up, but no bios yet available. Player number preceded by last year's 3 pt % and assist to turnover ratio except for incoming freshmen.
35% is very good and 40% is elite from three pt range.
I expect assist to turnover ratio to improve for transfers because they won't need to carry the wlu team. For younger players, it should improve due to experience and improved decision making.

3:1 assist to turnover ratio is considered elite according to coach in link below:
https://www.denverpost.com/2015/01/0...g%20the%20team.


Sort By: JerseyNamePositionClassHometownHeightWeight Go

44.8% 2.8 1

Christian Montague

G

6-1

180

Sr.

Dayton, Ohio / Chaminade-Julienne

Walsh

29.0% 0.94 2

Darren Fergus

G

6-1

150

Jr.

Garden City, N.Y. / Freeport

Molloy

0.0% 1.19 3

Finley Woodward

F

6-7

215

So.

Bristol, England / Spire Academy

34.3% 0.82 4

Lanyc Shuler

G

6-1

170

Jr.

Charleston, S.C. / Anson

Erskine

28.9% 2.29 5

John Korte

F

6-6

Gr.

Watertown, Mass. / Watertown

Wheeling

34.6% 3.33 10

Dante Spadafora

G

6-0

160

R-So.

Pittsburgh, Pa. / Our Lady of Sacred Heart

36.8% 2.0 11

Grant Barnhart

G

6-3

180

So.

St. Mary's, W.Va. / St. Mary's

35.7% 1.0 12

Ryan Reasbeck

G

6-3

So.

Washington, Pa. / Wheeling Central Catholic

Wheeling

13

Kyler Daugustino

G

6-1

Fr.

Albany, Ohio / Alexander

14

Garrison Kisner

F

6-7

Fr.

Morgantown, W.Va. / Morgantown

20

Terrance Pankey Jr.

G

6-2

Fr.

Youngstown, Ohio / Youngstown Ursuline

34.9% 1.15 22

Chaz Hinds

F

6-8

220

Sr.

Indianapolis, Ind. / Southport

Olney Central CC (Ill.)

23.8% 3.0 23

Alek West

G

6-4

200

Sr.

Sylvania, Ohio / Northview

Ohio Dominican

39.6% 1.65 24

Ben Sarson

F

6-6

205

Jr.

Pittsburgh, Pa. / Central Catholic

45.0% 1.91 25

Zach Rasile

G

6-1

175

Jr.

McDonald, Ohio / McDonald