West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

I think his final season will be his best. I could see him at 12+ points per game and the team leader in both steals and assists.

Good points. He has significantly improved in all aspects of his game.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Good points. He has significantly improved in all aspects of his game.

I'm surprised he didn't hop on the Indy bus with the rest. Did Ben offer him?

[Columbuseer]

I'm surprised he didn't hop on the Indy bus with the rest. Did Ben offer him?

Yes, if Dante were interested, Indy would have welcomed him. Coach Lamberti may have recruited him out of hs.

[boatcapt]

I'm surprised he didn't hop on the Indy bus with the rest. Did Ben offer him?

Hummm...Wouldn't offering a player who has not entered the portal be tampering?????

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
For those going to wlu home football games, I heard that wlu men's basketball is scrimmaging around 10 am on game day. So if you are tailgating it would be an opportunity to see the team in action. Might be the sports highlight of the day. :-)

[Columbuseer]

This season’s Hilltoppers may be much taller. I can envision as many as 2 or 3 in a platoon that are 6-7 to 6-9.
they are not back to the basket plodders either. All of them play like tall shooting guards. Very fundamentally sound. All can shoot the three.
strong rebounders. Strong defenders.

Muldowney 6-7 230 Irish National u23 3x3 team
Lattos 6-8 230 very complete high motor player very physical.
Abdullah 6-9 200 started as a freshman at coker
Coan 6-8 190 played extensively at Coker
Burton 6-9 190 redshirted at d1 citadel

[Columbuseer]

FYI
WLU has received a commitment for 2026 from Maddox Bennett from Dubois PA.
Had offers from Cal, IUP, Clarion, Holy Family, Edinboro, etc.


Maddox Bennett (2026) Team Wildcat HGSL
"Is a big-time play making guard for his team. He is a sniper from long range, but he is also very smooth handling the basketball. Maddox is a true 2 way guard contributing on both ends of the floor."

https://x.com/i/status/1965887629049876753

"Highlights from Pro 16 finals in Bryan, Texas! 15 points per game 7.5 rebounds per game (18-30) from three (60%) 3-1 Record"

https://x.com/i/status/1948043891585737174

BTW, Maddox just happens to be 6-8.

[boatcapt]

I recall being told not so long ago that there where just no bigs in DII that could play WLUs style and the few that did exist where going to be sucked up by a certain DII program in south Florida. Zero chance they were going to make the trip to WLU. Same breath I was also told that size didn't matter at all in WLUs style...a team filled with 5'10" guys was equally as capable as any collection of 6'7" players. In this era of "position less" basketball and "advanced stats", height was an irrelevant factoid that signified nothing and about as important as W/L record on determining if a team was actually "good "

New coach rolls into town and suddenly, seemingly every big in the DII country seems to be beating a path to WLU and NOT Ft Lauderdale. Also hearing urgings to use them as guards and their ability to be a two way guard. Leads me to a couple of questions:

1. Did the DII landscape just get suddenly rich with bigs who could play WLU's style?

2. If we are truly "position less" why the push to play the bigs as guards and hype their guard characteristics? Last I checked, guard was a position just like forward and, heaven forbid, even CENTER!

3. The most important stat is STILL the scoreboard and W/L!

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
Bryce Butler is now an assistant coach at Hempfield high school in PA, where brother Austin is the head coach.
Congrats Bryce!

[Scrub]

I recall being told not so long ago that there where just no bigs in DII that could play WLUs style and the few that did exist where going to be sucked up by a certain DII program in south Florida. Zero chance they were going to make the trip to WLU. Same breath I was also told that size didn't matter at all in WLUs style...a team filled with 5'10" guys was equally as capable as any collection of 6'7" players. In this era of "position less" basketball and "advanced stats", height was an irrelevant factoid that signified nothing and about as important as W/L record on determining if a team was actually "good "

New coach rolls into town and suddenly, seemingly every big in the DII country seems to be beating a path to WLU and NOT Ft Lauderdale. Also hearing urgings to use them as guards and their ability to be a two way guard. Leads me to a couple of questions:

1. Did the DII landscape just get suddenly rich with bigs who could play WLU's style?

2. If we are truly "position less" why the push to play the bigs as guards and hype their guard characteristics? Last I checked, guard was a position just like forward and, heaven forbid, even CENTER!

3. The most important stat is STILL the scoreboard and W/L!

All sarcasm aside, I suspect the actual answer is a pretty simple one. It seems as though Howlett (in true Crutch fashion) had no concern for height. That was very low on his checklist of attributes in a recruit. Lamberti, on the other hand, clearly places a higher priority on size in recruiting than Howlett or Crutch ever did.

What remains to be seen is how that plays out in this context. If placing a higher priority on size in a recruit, it might be possible that these recruits will be less well-rounded in other aspects of their game. Will the size offset those other deficiencies and the winning ways stay the same? Or do the other attributes that Howlett & Crutch prized more highly make a significant difference and WLU's tall-but-otherwise-flawed team will get exposed in other ways and win less often? Remains to be seen. Should make for an interesting season.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

All sarcasm aside, I suspect the actual answer is a pretty simple one. It seems as though Howlett (in true Crutch fashion) had no concern for height. That was very low on his checklist of attributes in a recruit. Lamberti, on the other hand, clearly places a higher priority on size in recruiting than Howlett or Crutch ever did.

What remains to be seen is how that plays out in this context. If placing a higher priority on size in a recruit, it might be possible that these recruits will be less well-rounded in other aspects of their game. Will the size offset those other deficiencies and the winning ways stay the same? Or do the other attributes that Howlett & Crutch prized more highly make a significant difference and WLU's tall-but-otherwise-flawed team will get exposed in other ways and win less often? Remains to be seen. Should make for an interesting season.

Learned long ago that 6'9" dudes aren't in D2 because they are polished. If they had no flaws, they wouldn't be in the bus leagues.

Now, of course, the flaw is they get polished here ... and then take the first bus out of town in April.

[Columbuseer]

All sarcasm aside, I suspect the actual answer is a pretty simple one. It seems as though Howlett (in true Crutch fashion) had no concern for height. That was very low on his checklist of attributes in a recruit. Lamberti, on the other hand, clearly places a higher priority on size in recruiting than Howlett or Crutch ever did.

What remains to be seen is how that plays out in this context. If placing a higher priority on size in a recruit, it might be possible that these recruits will be less well-rounded in other aspects of their game. Will the size offset those other deficiencies and the winning ways stay the same? Or do the other attributes that Howlett & Crutch prized more highly make a significant difference and WLU's tall-but-otherwise-flawed team will get exposed in other ways and win less often? Remains to be seen. Should make for an interesting season.

Good, well-reasoned points. Just to add, Crutchfield has increased emphasis on height at nova.
His last couple of rosters have had at least 4 long and lanky players 6-7 or above. Iraldi is 6-6 and he was national player of year. Sunahara also.
But these tall guys are fundamentally sound.
I suspect that the increased emphasis on height is in response to opponents, who are using bigs as well as athletic tall guards to attack the rim vs wlu to counterbalance the wlu style.

i think Howlett was moving in the same direction.
He had recent commit Maddox Bennett at an elite camp in 2024.

[boatcapt]

Learned long ago that 6'9" dudes aren't in D2 because they are polished. If they had no flaws, they wouldn't be in the bus leagues.

Now, of course, the flaw is they get polished here ... and then take the first bus out of town in April.

I think Fin Woodard is a perfect example. For a WLU player, he had a glaring flaw...three point shooting. Not only did he not take them, on the few occasions when he did, he more often than not missed. Buuuttt the rest of his game made him a success.

We continuously try and find that perfect position less player (40% from three, runs like the wind, can dribble like a Globetrotter, slashes down the lane with reckless abandon finishing high above the rim, snatches ever rebound and plays full court pressure D from tipoff to final whistle). While it's great when you do get them, the reality is almost every player has things they do well (and some things they don't do so well). It is up to the coach to take stock of each players particular skills and weaknesses and adapt the offense and defense to maximize what each player brings to the table.

It's the old lemmon saying...when you have a big (or two ..or five), maybe you should make some lemonade? Not that they can't run the floor, dribble and shoot the three when needed, but the BEST way they can help the team win might not be 30 feet from the basket shooting threes and making them 30% of the time...maybe it's better to use them to grab rebounds on the 60% of the three point shooters miss and put them back in for measully little two point layups. Do that enough and you win...I promise you!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I think Fin Woodard is a perfect example. For a WLU player, he had a glaring flaw...three point shooting. Not only did he not take them, on the few occasions when he did, he more often than not missed. Buuuttt the rest of his game made him a success.

We continuously try and find that perfect position less player (40% from three, runs like the wind, can dribble like a Globetrotter, slashes down the lane with reckless abandon finishing high above the rim, snatches ever rebound and plays full court pressure D from tipoff to final whistle). While it's great when you do get them, the reality is almost every player has things they do well (and some things they don't do so well). It is up to the coach to take stock of each players particular skills and weaknesses and adapt the offense and defense to maximize what each player brings to the table.

It's the old lemmon saying...when you have a big (or two ..or five), maybe you should make some lemonade? Not that they can't run the floor, dribble and shoot the three when needed, but the BEST way they can help the team win might not be 30 feet from the basket shooting threes and making them 30% of the time...maybe it's better to use them to grab rebounds on the 60% of the three point shooters miss and put them back in for measully little two point layups. Do that enough and you win...I promise you!

Those players exist. You just need to go sign them out of the ACC or SEC.

[boatcapt]

Those players exist. You just need to go sign them out of the ACC or SEC.

Hahaha...Yuuuppp! By and large, DII's only get players that D1's take a pass on. But that effects both sides of the ball. So the DII offensive player who is a tick or two below D1 caliber is going up against a DII defensive player who is ALSO a tick or two below a D1 defender.