West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Columbuseer]

Alek West is a very versatile player. High IQ player. Always under control.
- At 6-4 he ran the offense at odu
- Great vision to find open man, very unselfish
- Great mechanics on his shot. Only takes good shots
- Had 2 triple doubles and 3 more double doubles
- Aggressive rebounder

Watched replay of ODU versus Salem at ODU.
I think he will blossom in the up tempo wlu style. Great fit.
BTW, He played against wlu two years ago when wlu won by 40+ points.

[Columbuseer]

IMHO, the wlu roster is hard to categorize in terms of traditional position names, as they play positionless basketball. Looking at their skills, the whole roster could be considered guards, just in varying sizes.

[Scrub]

Yep...because, apparently, you can NEVER have too many guards!!!! As it stands now, we have 8 guards and 2 forwards.

Technically, Boat, there are NO guards and NO forwards on the roster. That's why they call it positionless basketball. [shrug]

[boatcapt]

Looks like you got a new guard.

Yep...because, apparently, you can NEVER have too many guards!!!! As it stands now, we have 8 guards and 2 forwards.

[Layton]

Nice pickup https://twitter.com/jakelieberman2/s...7R9m6k9NLqPSZg

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Looks like you got a new guard.

[Columbuseer]

Imho great decision by will yoakum to attend nova se. He was at wlu for 5 years. He gets a change in scenery while being able to step right into the style. With Sylla in the portal, there is an opening in the starting lineup.

[boatcapt]

No idea. I actually prefer we get rid of teams ... not add them. But, the powers at be seem to want a mega conference.

If they would have to bump an East team to the West, it would likely either be Lock Haven or Shippensburg. Recall, both used to be in the West not all that long ago.

Still no update from the NCAA about weather the two "new" PASSHE universities will be permitted to field FIVE DII football teams or two! So you still may get your wish. Lose Hurst to the BIG 10 (snicker, snicker), lose LHU, Boro, and Clarion from an athletic standpoint and figure out how to shed Gannon and the PSAC would be a more managable 13 teams (all sports) with 12 for football.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Wasn't the annual Shepherd v. Ship "rivalry" game the major motivator for Shep joining the PSAC? Now 3 years later, that annual game may be gone??

Never discussed when people talk about who the PSAC is going to poach next is Lincoln (PA). Why is that??

No idea. I actually prefer we get rid of teams ... not add them. But, the powers at be seem to want a mega conference.

If they would have to bump an East team to the West, it would likely either be Lock Haven or Shippensburg. Recall, both used to be in the West not all that long ago.

[boatcapt]

I'm curious who the PSAC will target when Mercyhurst allegedly joins the Big 10.

My guess is they'd make a big push with Frostburg State. They'd go in the East and perhaps Ship comes back to the West.

Because, you known, we need 97 teams in the league.

Wasn't the annual Shepherd v. Ship "rivalry" game the major motivator for Shep joining the PSAC? Now 3 years later, that annual game may be gone??

Never discussed when people talk about who the PSAC is going to poach next is Lincoln (PA). Why is that??

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Building on the "Bluefield HBCU brand," they have asked to join the CIAA. Don't know if the CIAA has taken any action to bring them on board. I think they probably do join the CIAA but have said in the past, the MEC needs to take immediate steps to bring Bluefield in as an Associate member in several sports with a promise to bring them in as full members if they meet several institutional metrics (continued increase in enrollment, financial stability, continued improvements in athletics, etc).

But it seems pretty clear that the MEC has zero interest in going beyond 12 members and right now, that is were they are at.

I'm curious who the PSAC will target when Mercyhurst allegedly joins the Big 10.

My guess is they'd make a big push with Frostburg State. They'd go in the East and perhaps Ship comes back to the West.

Because, you known, we need 97 teams in the league.

[boatcapt]

Which conference do you think will go after them ... the CIAA or MEC?

Building on the "Bluefield HBCU brand," they have asked to join the CIAA. Don't know if the CIAA has taken any action to bring them on board. I think they probably do join the CIAA but have said in the past, the MEC needs to take immediate steps to bring Bluefield in as an Associate member in several sports with a promise to bring them in as full members if they meet several institutional metrics (continued increase in enrollment, financial stability, continued improvements in athletics, etc).

But it seems pretty clear that the MEC has zero interest in going beyond 12 members and right now, that is were they are at.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

It appears that Bluefield is banking their recovery on being a HBCU as opposed to being a state school in the mountains of West Virginia. Being an HBCU is a pretty "hot ticket" right now. EARLY returns seem to show that this might be a successful strategy (enrollment appears to be up considerably). I wouldn't put it past Robin Capehart to be able to make Bluefield his second WV success story.

Which conference do you think will go after them ... the CIAA or MEC?

[boatcapt]

Devin picked a tough place for a first head coaching gig. Back when Northfork Blue Demons were winning 7 straight AA titles and pressing like wlu, many wound up at bsc. But that was when when coal was king and there were 100K population in McDowell County, not 18.6k (2019). Fairly decent 1st season all things considered. Wish him well and hope he can squeeze 20 wins in a couple of years

It appears that Bluefield is banking their recovery on being a HBCU as opposed to being a state school in the mountains of West Virginia. Being an HBCU is a pretty "hot ticket" right now. EARLY returns seem to show that this might be a successful strategy (enrollment appears to be up considerably). I wouldn't put it past Robin Capehart to be able to make Bluefield his second WV success story.

[boatcapt]

That No. 3 offense scored 90.8 ppg but gave up 92.8 ppg against a very weak schedule. Edinboro somehow hung 113 on them. The two best teams they played (Charleston and Virginia Union) both ran them out of the building and held them in the low 60s. No doubt they could score against the competition they played but their defense was horrendous.

I suspect his 10-14 record will improve to the 14-10 range this season. At that point, he'll be a candidate to get out of there. I would think he'll be sought after for any lower-level MEC/PSAC jobs that open after next season.

All true. Young 1st year HC who came into an unsettled situation at a school that was struggling. Dealt with some issues (covid?) that caused a few games to be canceled. And yes, the schedule wasn't tough by any stretch of the imagination. But they did start to come around the second part of the year. They are also super young.

If they sched mostly lower tier DII's next year, I believe they will be around 500...if they sched similar quality as this past year, i could see them well above 500.