West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

For a time it sounded like he was headed to Clarion. He must or he missed the window by holding out and scholarships filled up at the D2 schools he possibly wanted to attend.

He's delusional if he wants to play underneath in D1. He'd be eaten alive. He's in the strange range. Too small to play under the basket (even in D2) but not a true guard. I never bought his listed height, either.

He can play ... Just not sure what position would fit him best. I'd be shocked if he's not somewhere in the PSAC next (18-19) season.

I don't get too excited over JUCO stats. That's glorified playground ball with very little structure. He also played with a legit D1 teammate who liked to shoot about 300 times a game.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Re: Chucky Humphrey alert
He has landed at another JR college in PA - Harcum JC in Bryn Mawr, PA.
His coach at Polk retired. he average 9 pts a game at Polk.
Does he still have the dream of D1?

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

That's going to be his biggest challenge. Going from the 'one of the guys' assistant to being the head man is a big role change. Most assistants are the friendly buffer between player and head coach. Was Crutch the strict type or more players' coach?

You guys have pretty high character players. I don't see it being a big issue.

Seems like to a man Crutch's former players love him. You find a very occasional former player who seems to not have liked him because Crutch didn't recognize the players "greatness" but you can count those guys on less than one hand.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

My worry is will the players slack off with him since he is so young and how will he handle it. Recruiting wise and bench game calling I think he will be find. I've heard nothing but good things about Bolon and how he has handled being redshirted and he is a much improved player. Just hope all the commitments show up next month, at least the ones not there now!

I am a bolon fan. At Ohio all star game in May 2016 he switched off guarding guillozet and lined up at the start of 2nd half against Seth Townes who was 5 inches taller and dominant player on court. Really impressed me to want to take on the challenge.

I hope that the balance of west lib might reduce risk of slackers. Don't hustle then next man up. I can't see Monterosa and Arnold putting up with slackers.
They are intense imho.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

That's going to be his biggest challenge. Going from the 'one of the guys' assistant to being the head man is a big role change. Most assistants are the friendly buffer between player and head coach. Was Crutch the strict type or more players' coach?

You guys have pretty high character players. I don't see it being a big issue.

[Sportsnut]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

My worry is will the players slack off with him since he is so young and how will he handle it. Recruiting wise and bench game calling I think he will be find. I've heard nothing but good things about Bolon and how he has handled being redshirted and he is a much improved player. Just hope all the commitments show up next month, at least the ones not there now!

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I feel pretty good about WLU through their starting 5. Much will depend on their depth. If French can perform the way we started seeing from him the season before last and Primmer is able to step up and score close to 10 per game, we should be OK. I'm a bit confused by Primmer...from a shooting and all around game stand point, he seems to be a prototypical WLU "guy"...Shoots .400+ from 3...good FT shooter...can handle the ball...etc. But for some reason, he's just never gotten consistent minutes.

Biggest question in most peoples mind is probably weather Howlett is up to replacing Crutch as the head man. I'm not terribly concerned about that. Unless you believe there is only one coach in the nation that can run the WLU style, Howlett is probably the person that is in the best position to continue WLU's successful run. Probably the biggest question I have about Howlett is how his stamp on the game will differ from Crutch's. Yea...he's going to run the WLU style that he learned from Crutch, but he is a different guy who is probably going to manage a game a little differently.

Crutch had a great way of quickly righting the ship during a game with a great shot or layup after a time out, also subbing patterns and knowing when to call time out. Sign of experienced, great coach. Often made the difference in a w or l. Asking a lot for a 30 yr old to match that on day 1. Hope we are patient with ben until he gains experience. Know he has the smarts.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Wheeling Jesuit is going to be very good. Tham was a really big loss for them -- maybe not glaring on the stat sheet but he is a nice D2 player and gave them some nice muscle underneath.

Pat Moseh and Hayward Highsmith may be the best 1-2 punch in the country this year. Boswell and Goddard are solid. It appears they brought in some size.

I'd probably rank them No. 1 in the Atlantic Region in the preseason (slightly ahead of Shippensburg) followed closely by the other usual suspects.

I know Fairmont lost a ton of talent but that cupboard isn't bare. What's the outlook down there?

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Don't know about Bolon and Dyer but the roster has Bolon an inch taller and 20 lbs heavier and has Dyer 15 lbs heavier. If those #'s are accurate then it indicates they have at least spent time in the weight room! If Howlett continues to run the season the way Crutch did, both will get ample opportunity early in the season to show if they are up to the task. If they perform, they will stay in the main rotation but even if they are not quite ready, they may still get heavy minutes due to our depth problems. They came into WLU with plenty of scoring ability...It will be interesting to see of that translates over from HS to college.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I feel pretty good about WLU through their starting 5. Much will depend on their depth. If French can perform the way we started seeing from him the season before last and Primmer is able to step up and score close to 10 per game, we should be OK. I'm a bit confused by Primmer...from a shooting and all around game stand point, he seems to be a prototypical WLU "guy"...Shoots .400+ from 3...good FT shooter...can handle the ball...etc. But for some reason, he's just never gotten consistent minutes.

Biggest question in most peoples mind is probably weather Howlett is up to replacing Crutch as the head man. I'm not terribly concerned about that. Unless you believe there is only one coach in the nation that can run the WLU style, Howlett is probably the person that is in the best position to continue WLU's successful run. Probably the biggest question I have about Howlett is how his stamp on the game will differ from Crutch's. Yea...he's going to run the WLU style that he learned from Crutch, but he is a different guy who is probably going to manage a game a little differently.

At times, last year crutch utilized whole lineup substitutions, which said much about his confidence in his depth. Be interesting to see if howlett continues that trend or is more surgical in his subs with one or two guys. If Allen gets on board quickly along with the folks you mentioned they might have the depth to do mass subs. Anyone heard how dyer and bolon are doing?

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Wju would appear to be loaded much like fsu was this year
Glenville has some players a I thought their coach did a good job.
I like shepherds coach and players.
Mazzulla may make an impact on fsu.
West lib could finish from first to fourth. I could see a lot of teams splitting wins in the above group.

I feel pretty good about WLU through their starting 5. Much will depend on their depth. If French can perform the way we started seeing from him the season before last and Primmer is able to step up and score close to 10 per game, we should be OK. I'm a bit confused by Primmer...from a shooting and all around game stand point, he seems to be a prototypical WLU "guy"...Shoots .400+ from 3...good FT shooter...can handle the ball...etc. But for some reason, he's just never gotten consistent minutes.

Biggest question in most peoples mind is probably weather Howlett is up to replacing Crutch as the head man. I'm not terribly concerned about that. Unless you believe there is only one coach in the nation that can run the WLU style, Howlett is probably the person that is in the best position to continue WLU's successful run. Probably the biggest question I have about Howlett is how his stamp on the game will differ from Crutch's. Yea...he's going to run the WLU style that he learned from Crutch, but he is a different guy who is probably going to manage a game a little differently.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Crutch's first year at WL I think he used mostly freshmen. It was amazing how fast he turned things around. From 3/4 wins a season to I think he won 20 his first year but don't quote me on this.

I believe that 3 of the top 5 scorers on the 2004 Toppers were hold overs...McDuffie was the leading scorer at 19.5 per game and started all 31 games, Chris Blair was the third leading scorer and also started all 31 games and Southern was the 5th leading scorer and he started 12 (which was also the fifth most starts). That team did have Meynard and Bingelli who were freshmen and started all 31 games.

I note that Southern apparently transferred to Fairmont along with fellow holdover Loughry for the following year.

I also wouldn't compare the WLU program Crutch took over to the one he is taking over at Nova. Yes WLU was coming off a 3 win season but that was an anomaly. "West Liberty State" was a consistent .500 program for a while before only winning 3 the year before Crutch while Nova has been a consistently sub 500 team...only finished above 500 6 times in their 35 year history...Last time being five years ago when they went 15-12.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

So with all that is going on with the Hilltopper basketball team, how do you feel about how the MEC will turn out this upcoming season?

Wju would appear to be loaded much like fsu was this year
Glenville has some players a I thought their coach did a good job.
I like shepherds coach and players.
Mazzulla may make an impact on fsu.
West lib could finish from first to fourth. I could see a lot of teams splitting wins in the above group.

[Sportsnut]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Crutch's first year at WL I think he used mostly freshmen. It was amazing how fast he turned things around. From 3/4 wins a season to I think he won 20 his first year but don't quote me on this.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

All good points and very true. With regard to the 8 remaining players at Nova, number 1 and 5 are the salient points. They may mouth the words about being committed to the new system but it is not what they have grown up playing and not the style they were recruited to play. They MAY have the individual skills to play this new style, but do they truly believe in it? My guess is that it will be 50/50...4 will be able to make the switch and 4 won't. The question is will it be the 4 most skilled returnees or will it be the 4 returning bench warmers? If it's the former and Crutch hits on all of his recruits this year, Nova will have enough skilled players to be pretty good. Buuutttt...If one or two of the top 4 returnees don't truly buy in and one or two of Crutch's recruits are not ready to be front line starters their first season, it could be a rough first season.

But as I've said before, if anyone can do it, Crutch is that guy. While I don't think they will get to 20 W's, I'm not willing to bet against Crutch being able to do it!!!

Great analysis of challenges facing crutch. Anyone remember his first year at west lib? How did it compare with nova? Like you I would not bet against crutch. He may steal a couple of wins because the other team is not prepared for his unique style. I am surprised at the number of errant passes his style causes even though they are easy passes to open players.
One positive about situation. People are more open to radical change when situation is bleak. Novas season last year was bleak. On the other hand players could bail and go to another school rather than change. I think a couple of Russian / east europe players left in spring.