West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

That's a big loss for them. Tham is a pretty nice player and should continue to develop. I saw they signed a couple big boys to apparently replace him.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Arnold looks stronger. Bolon looks about 6 ft 5. Looks like Meininger has slimmed down and muscled up.

could be good signs.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Youngstown State announced its non-conference schedule today.

I was kind of expecting to see either an MEC or PSAC team on there. Instead ... D3 Westminster (Pa.). Wow.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Clay guillozet announced he is going to Valdosta state.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Clay guillozet announced he is going to Valdosta state.

Jeez...Talk about a team that "builds" though transfers!!! They have ONE player on their roster who came to them from HS and he's a walk-on RS Soph who played in 6 games last season and scored 6 points!!! Didn't bring in ANY HS players last year and apparently have brought in no HS players this season!! In fact, Verbal Commits indicates Guizolet is the only player that Valdosta has brought in thus far off a team that lost 8 seniors.

I hear Chucky Humphrees is available and I think Marco Columbo has a couple of years of eligibility left...Bring them in and along with Guilozet and Justice and Valdosta would truly be WLU South!!!

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I am surprised about Guillozet. From my research (USNewsCollege rankings), Valdosta is a step below both West Liberty and Nova Southeastern and Lincoln Memorial . Maybe they have a good reputation in a his major.
But if he made the decision primarlily on basketball prospects, he must still be living the dream... Personally, I would have redshirted at Nova and gotten a year of Grad School for free.
In today's market, an M.S. is now the B.S. of the 1980s, as a minimum standard for a job in today's market.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I am surprised about Guillozet. From my research (USNewsCollege rankings), Valdosta is a step below both West Liberty and Nova Southeastern and Lincoln Memorial . Maybe they have a good reputation in a his major.
But if he made the decision primarlily on basketball prospects, he must still be living the dream... Personally, I would have redshirted at Nova and gotten a year of Grad School for free.
In today's market, an M.S. is now the B.S. of the 1980s, as a minimum standard for a job in today's market.

Probably for the first time in his basketball career, Guillozet was not a starter last year at WLU even though he garnered starter minutes. I'm sure that left a sour taste in his mouth. Add in a team mate who did start as a TF, is considering transfering and is your best friend whispering in your ear how you "deserve" to start and about how it was an "insult" to you that you weren't a starter, and it's not surprising at all.

Some players have a self image of themselves that REQUIRES they be the STARTER...and no amount of "starter minutes" or "starter level production" will ever be enough. Now fellow Valdosta teammate and WLU transfer Beau Justice was the same way...played a key role, garnered 15+ minutes per game and was a good scorer as a TF...but for the first time in his career, not a starter and that drove him to transfer to a school were his greatness would be better appreciated.

[Sportsnut]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

So maybe they can go to Valdosta and split their minutes between the two. 7 1/2 a game for each!

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Probably for the first time in his basketball career, Guillozet was not a starter last year at WLU even though he garnered starter minutes. I'm sure that left a sour taste in his mouth. Add in a team mate who did start as a TF, is considering transfering and is your best friend whispering in your ear how you "deserve" to start and about how it was an "insult" to you that you weren't a starter, and it's not surprising at all.

Some players have a self image of themselves that REQUIRES they be the STARTER...and no amount of "starter minutes" or "starter level production" will ever be enough. Now fellow Valdosta teammate and WLU transfer Beau Justice was the same way...played a key role, garnered 15+ minutes per game and was a good scorer as a TF...but for the first time in his career, not a starter and that drove him to transfer to a school were his greatness would be better appreciated.

Good points. Pride goes before a fall... Rumor in Columbus was people were whispering the siren song of D1 in Dennis' ear, as I heard rumors about transfer in Nov 2016. If so, he got a dose of reality. Beau Justice made all conference and is with his brother who is a grad assistant there at Valdosta. Now a big fish in a little pond, although Beau said in an interview that Valdosta's conference is much tougher than MEC. Not sure I agree. Although I could be wrong, Clay seemed to play more than Bonifant as a freshman. Some are patient and stay the course. I thought Clay had potential to be the next All American as a Junior (after Monterosa leaves), although he is somewhat of a tweener at his position. I wish him well and hope his academic decision works out.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Good points. Pride goes before a fall... Rumor in Columbus was people were whispering the siren song of D1 in Dennis' ear, as I heard rumors about transfer in Nov 2016. If so, he got a dose of reality. Beau Justice made all conference and is with his brother who is a grad assistant there at Valdosta. Now a big fish in a little pond, although Beau said in an interview that Valdosta's conference is much tougher than MEC. Not sure I agree. Although I could be wrong, Clay seemed to play more than Bonifant as a freshmantttttt. Some are patient and stay the course. I thought Clay had potential to be the next All American as a Junior (after Monterosa leaves), although he is somewhat of a tweener at his position. I wish him well and hope his academic decision works out.

I've never understood "advisors" or "friends" that fill players heads with D1 nonsense. Guess they don't have the chops to play D1 for themselves so the next best thing is to be able to say their "best friend" plays D1. Sure, there are a number of examples of players that were overlooked by D1's for a scholly, walked on at a D1 and became stars but there are FAR more that walked away from a D2 to persue their D1 dream because their friend/advisor/family convinced them they were better than they were and ended up out of college athletics within 12 months of leaving or turning down DII. Absent athletics to keep them in school, many end up dropping out of college all together and struggling to find a job. Media is GREAT at hyping the few stories of the unrecruted player that stuck to his dream and ended up staring at a big name D1 inspite of what the "experts" said but never report on the players who persued their D1 dream and ended up out of college and broke in two years.

As far as Justice saying the GAC is "tougher" than the MEC...Are you surprised? I seriously doubt a player who transferred to a school in a different conference is going to say - "The MEC is a much tougher conference than the GAC." Also doubtful he would say "West Liberty is a much better program than Valdosta." In his mind he needs to validate his transfer and the easy way to do that is to proclaim that he "stepped-up" to a "tougher" conference.

[MrAugustana]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Good points. Pride goes before a fall... Rumor in Columbus was people were whispering the siren song of D1 in Dennis' ear, as I heard rumors about transfer in Nov 2016. If so, he got a dose of reality. Beau Justice made all conference and is with his brother who is a grad assistant there at Valdosta. Now a big fish in a little pond, although Beau said in an interview that Valdosta's conference is much tougher than MEC. Not sure I agree. Although I could be wrong, Clay seemed to play more than Bonifant as a freshman. Some are patient and stay the course. I thought Clay had potential to be the next All American as a Junior (after Monterosa leaves), although he is somewhat of a tweener at his position. I wish him well and hope his academic decision works out.

This is becoming an increasing issue across the D2 landscape. So far, thankfully, Augie hasn't had to deal with this, but several schools in our conference (St. Cloud State, Concordia-St. Paul, etc.) have had kids leave to "make the jump" to D1. So far, the consistent pattern has been that they make the jump and then average 5-10 ppg and 8-15 mpg when they would've averaged 20+ ppg and 35+ mpg if they'd stayed D2. But kids--or, in some cases, their parents/AAU coaches--make the choices they think are best for them at the time.

The challenge is that if the program plays a kid right away as a true freshman, it opens up the door for him to transfer to a D1 and use his unused-redshirt season as his "sit-out" year, but if he redshirts him, it gives him a better chance to graduate transfer to another school, which can screw up rosters/scholarship counts/etc.

In your case, it's good (for WLU) and bad (for everyone else) that Dennis decided not to make the jump. Would prefer to see that remain the consistent pattern rather than seeing more and more kids jump from D2 to D1.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Don't know if Dennis staying at a DII was a case of his "deciding not to make the jump." People speculated about which D1 he might go to but I never heard of a D1 actually making him an offer. Possibly more a case of D1s taking a look and saying, "thanks but no thanks" and then Dennis and his advisors saying "Fu$k...What do we do NOW???!!" Tucking his tail and crawling back to WLU was more than his ego could bare but Crutch threw him a life line from NOVA which gave him a way out and a method of keeping some semblance of his dignity.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

This is D2 .... nobody gives a crap about it other than like 20 of us. These guys don't have freaking advisors. These are just kids playing low level college basketball.

Dennis could have landed at a D1 on some level. Half of them are awful programs and wouldn't even win in D2.

Coaching changes always have player turnover. It happens to every program at every level.

Guy went to Fort freaking Lauderdale to spend his last two years of college. More power to him. Sure wish I could have had that chance.

Fort Lauderdale is a slightly different world than West Liberty, WV, or Indiana or any of these Podunk towns up here.

Crutch snagging him away seems to me the bigger issue. Didn't he say he advised them all to stay then just so happened to take his best player with him for the next two years? Yet WL faithful are all blaming Dennis and not Crutch?

Dennis was going to Nova from Day 1. The in-between was all a smoke show. If Clay somehow didn't lose his appeal he was going there, too.

I just don't get how Crutch has been so exonerated in this Dennis fiasco? That's a major poaching.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

This is D2 ....

I just don't get how Crutch has been so exonerated in this Dennis fiasco? That's a major poaching.

By advisors people could mean mentors or persons of influence in their lives telling they are d1 level. Not agents. Agree with low level d1 worse than d2 other than the bragging rights. You can not play in Europe getting low minutes, which is highest level feasible for most players. I side with players on transfers.
Kids should go wherever they want without penalty. Anyone stop a music Major on scholarship from following a professor? If we really considered them students we would have consistency. Had PhD biochem friend who followed professor from Duke to vandy. Got phds from both schools!
So I don't blame crutch if people reached out to him.
People who say kids are recruited by the school and not the coach are just rationalizing the transfer rule.
Story goes that guillozet reached out to crutch in hs as Fairmont was camped out during football season to sign him. Question is what is story with Valdosta state not recruiting hs players? Strange.

Dennis was leaving regardless. I agree with the poster that it might have been a lifeline. Wonder why he was allowed and clay was not?

Crutch to my knowledge never stopped anyone from transferring anywhere e.g., Columbo or dyer.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Dyer was a grad transfer so he had no say in it regardless.

I hate transfers as a whole. It's so out of control.

Lifeline ... ???? Come on. He could have went to any D2 in country on full ride the second he announced he was leaving. ANY. IUP, Lincoln Memorial, NWMS, .... ANY of them would have sent the limo.

Dennis is one of the best D2 players in the country. Crutch didn't sign him as a Sisters of the Poor handout move.