West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

A bit nervous about tonight. This is a really good Concord team and weird stuff always seems to happen on Cox Court down in Athens. Here's hoping Mont can come out of his funk, Fergus gets healthy, and the Hilltoppers dial in and take care of business. But any time they have to visit Athens, it makes me nervous (even when Concord has a bad team--nerves even worse when they're actually good!).

Me too. Historically, it is a tough gym for us.
Coach May will have his team hit the boards hard and he has players who can finish at the rim in transition.
if we have a cold shooting night and they shoot like they did against D&E, it could be a nail biter.

[Columbuseer]

It will be interesting to see if he actually shows up on the Hilltop. We've had a couple of guys in the not too distant past back out after big senior seasons. Seems like player tampering doesn't apply when it's a D1 poaching DII signees.

IMHO the only way to stop the poaching is to stop letting players back out on their NLI. I know Ben's philosophy is if a player wants to go elsewhere, he lets them. Make them live up to their commitment and play for even one year and the D1 sharks will probably be less inclined to see our HS recruits as fair game.

Do you see any downside to your proposed approach?
Some questions:
1. What is the impact on the team if a player does not want to be there? Could the player be a cancer in the locker room?
2. Let us say the player is from the Cleveland area. Could there be a significant long term negative impact on recruiting there if you held a player who wanted to go d1? Bad optics when there are no transfer limitations after 1 year anyhow.

if someone backs out now, there will be plenty of proven players in the portal to take his place. But it does hurt a player from an integrity perspective. I would never hire him and I am probably not alone.

[Columbuseer]

Regret I did not speak more clearly about Dragas.
"In the conversation about candidates for best sg in ohio." That does not imply that he has, or will be, named the best guard in ohio.
He is being mentioned on list of basketball players in ohio. Cinci enquirer had him as #21 best basketball player before the season.
Big honor to be on the list. But there are bigger, more athletic guards in Ohio.
He is like 6-2 and 150 lbs. Typical d2 player who does not have body type for hi major d1 and goes to elite d2 school rather than bottom feeder d1 program.

"https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/high-school/ohio-high-school/2023/11/30/ohio-high-school-boys-basketballs-top-24-players-for-2023-2024/71745078007/

https://bvmsports.com/2023/12/28/vot...l-for-2023-24/

[boatcapt]

Why would he go D2 then? Just curious. I assume it's a height issue? Seems very odd the best SG in Ohio would play in the bus leagues?

It will be interesting to see if he actually shows up on the Hilltop. We've had a couple of guys in the not too distant past back out after big senior seasons. Seems like player tampering doesn't apply when it's a D1 poaching DII signees.

IMHO the only way to stop the poaching is to stop letting players back out on their NLI. I know Ben's philosophy is if a player wants to go elsewhere, he lets them. Make them live up to their commitment and play for even one year and the D1 sharks will probably be less inclined to see our HS recruits as fair game.

[Scrub]

A bit nervous about tonight. This is a really good Concord team and weird stuff always seems to happen on Cox Court down in Athens. Here's hoping Mont can come out of his funk, Fergus gets healthy, and the Hilltoppers dial in and take care of business. But any time they have to visit Athens, it makes me nervous (even when Concord has a bad team--nerves even worse when they're actually good!).

[IUPbigINDIANS]

2024 signee jp dragas is going to make some noise at wlu.
scored 50 in 69-67 win over edgewood on jan 13, despite being face guarded and double teamed. 4.3 GPA too. In the conversation about candidates for best sg in ohio. Might have a spadafora motor!

https://www.starbeacon.com/sports/dr...63d1eee2b.html

Why would he go D2 then? Just curious. I assume it's a height issue? Seems very odd the best SG in Ohio would play in the bus leagues?

[Columbuseer]

2024 signee jp dragas is going to make some noise at wlu.
scored 50 in 69-67 win over edgewood on jan 13, despite being face guarded and double teamed. 4.3 GPA too. In the conversation about candidates for best sg in ohio. Might have a spadafora motor!

https://www.starbeacon.com/sports/dr...63d1eee2b.html

[Columbuseer]

fyi
Bryce butler, who does not start for charleston, was named conference player of the week last week.
Congrats Bryce!

[Columbuseer]

A nice win over FSU. I did not see Fergus in the box score... did he participate in warm-ups? Wondering if he is hurt?

In video I saw him taking some outside shots, but that does not mean that he is 100% though. He seemed to be moving somewhat slowly in warmups based on limited views.

I am a big fan of Darren and marvel at his potential.

Imho the next stage in his development is half court defense. Some Frostburg players drove by him to the rim. With his quickness and leaping ability, he could be a shutdown defender. But he plays too high in his defensive stance, making his center of gravity higher than opponent, among other areas. He just needs to tweak a few defensive fundamentals.

[Columbuseer]

Unfortunately I was unavailable to watch the game. Not sure. But I'd also be interested to hear from those who were able to watch: wondering what the issue with Mont is. He didn't start against Frostburg (and played limited minutes--as far as limited minutes are possible as a rotation player in this system). And then he was barely in the box score (figuratively speaking) against Fairmont. Yes, he played 30 minutes, but he uncharacteristically only scored a single point, only took 4 shots all game, and had more turnovers than assists (all very uncharacteristic). Wonder if some guys are experiencing some aches and pains (tis the season--this the part of the year that starts to grind).

Don't have any info, but cmont was a 80+% FT in past, but he is much lower recently.

[Scrub]

A nice win over FSU. I did not see Fergus in the box score... did he participate in warm-ups? Wondering if he is hurt?

Unfortunately I was unavailable to watch the game. Not sure. But I'd also be interested to hear from those who were able to watch: wondering what the issue with Mont is. He didn't start against Frostburg (and played limited minutes--as far as limited minutes are possible as a rotation player in this system). And then he was barely in the box score (figuratively speaking) against Fairmont. Yes, he played 30 minutes, but he uncharacteristically only scored a single point, only took 4 shots all game, and had more turnovers than assists (all very uncharacteristic). Wonder if some guys are experiencing some aches and pains (tis the season--this the part of the year that starts to grind).

[Topper_Hopper]

A nice win over FSU. I did not see Fergus in the box score... did he participate in warm-ups? Wondering if he is hurt?

[boatcapt]

Hardly a test for WLU tonight against Frostburg. Up by 10 after two minutes and ended up scoring 72 points in the FIRST HALF...coasted to a 47 point win...126-79.

[Columbuseer]

FYI
Coach Lamberti just got a big win in his first year at Coker - a 118 -109 victory over Lincoln Memorial. First victory over LMU in Coker history.
Congrats Mike!

[Columbuseer]

Fyi
Been watching college of charleston games recently. Very deep team with great shooters who share the ball like west lib.

Butler started season playing about 13 mins. However, recently I noticed that coach kelsey started putting him in critical situations, when game was on the line late, imho because he does not make stupid decisions.
Coach says passing is the most underrated part of his game.

In the last few games, his minutes have been increasing. Although he does not start, he played 27 mins against rival Hofstra and scored 18 pts, with only 1 turnover. When he is in game, charleston erased deficits and got a lead in last 6 mins, winning by 12. Coach is starting to learn his value to team success. Hofstra announcers were impressed by him and mentioned west liberty numerous times.

Congrats to Bryce!