Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

He looked great. It has me wondering a bit why he was there playing. Could it be that Joe’s trying to pull a Radford 2.0 if Keyes does have another year?

The low post is certainly going to get the most attention as the season approaches. The late signing of Bautista Rodriguez certainly elevated the group.

As of now (that we know of):

Luke Triggs - Played in 27 games (17.9 mpg) for Mercyhurst a year ago (0 starts). Averaged 8 ppg and 4 rpg. He spent some time in Gary's doghouse mid-season, which brought his minutes average way down. Scored 20+ twice (UPJ and Gannon). Big, physical forward at (a legit) 6'7" and 225 lbs. Very strong around the basket and has a decent mid-range jumper. Very effective taking the ball to the basket. Tough defender. Glaring weakness is his ability to stay on the floor (foul trouble). Mercyhurst was at its best with Triggs and Reichert on the floor together. This position will go from leading the team in trey attempts (Porterfield) to maybe taking 1-2 all season. Polar opposite player than EP. He does bring a big increase in speed and defense.

Damir Brooks - He stayed at IUP, which in itself was a big upset. He was in Joe's doghouse from Game 1 a year ago and never really got out. Great athlete. We've seen flashes. Always in foul trouble. If he could give IUP 25-27 mpg, he could no doubt average near a double-double. Should have started all of last season. His on-court awareness needs to improve. He will likely be the first post player off the bench.

Tyler Grove - Incoming true freshman ... can score inside/outside. Joe is very high on him. He may be the rare Lombardi freshman not to redshirt. But, odds are probably good he does.

Bautista Rodriguez - Big-time outside shooter. Because, of course, he's been a SG his whole career. He'll be the opening night starter at the SF position. Unlike most of Joe's converted guards, he's big (6'7" and 200 lbs). He blocks a ton of shots around the rim and runs the floor very well. From film, he's a more athletic/stronger Marcel. His role at IUP should be a mirror image of Marcel's 'stretch four'. Very passionate player. Lot of emotion. Position goes from a glaring weakness to a strength.

Ian Herring - He's going to play at both the G and F positions. He's a legit 6'6" and is one of the top athletes in the program. Lightning fast. His role should drastically increase as the season progresses.

Callum MacNamara - Projects to be the 'dirty work' big off the (deep) bench -- think Shawn Ulrich from several years ago. He's come a long way since his early walk-on days. Very strong, physical player at 6'7", 235 lbs. He's not going to score much but can get some big boards and give some hard fouls.



The way I read the tea leaves here is Bautista will play 30-31 mpg at SF (or more). Herring will play 10 mpg as his backup at SF (and also play some at G). I look for Triggs and Brooks to rotate with each other. By doing this, it should keep both of them out of foul trouble (somewhat). Grove could be in the mix but given Joe's history with true freshman I'd say the odds are against him playing this season.

This group has potential. It has a good mix of finesse, speed, size and muscle. We'll see.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

He looked great. It has me wondering a bit why he was there playing. Could it be that Joe’s trying to pull a Radford 2.0 if Keyes does have another year?

Time heals all wounds. Maybe they've made up. It appears so.

Obviously this is wishful thinking. But, after what we had to watch last season at one forward position ....

[EyeoftheHawk]

Dom Keyes 'finally' played a basketball game in an IUP jersey yesterday. He played for the Alumni team.

After starting his career at UPJ (PSAC West Freshman of the Year) he transferred to Harford Community College (and was teammates with SRU great Micah Till). He then signed with IUP. Amazingly, he redshirted. The following season he left the program (off court issue). He then vanished for a bit before resurfacing at Edinboro.

Through all of that, I think he somehow still has one more year of eligibility. He left the Edinboro program when Pat Cleary was fired.

No idea what his life situation is -- and he has to be at least 25 or 26 -- but, he could clearly still play another season (at a pretty high level).

Given Joe's current (shaky) post situation ... I'd sure entertain it if he was interested. Yes, I know that is an extreme long shot. He was, my opinion, one that certainly got away. I've always thought he'd have had a great career at IUP.

He looked great. It has me wondering a bit why he was there playing. Could it be that Joe’s trying to pull a Radford 2.0 if Keyes does have another year?

[Ship69]

You wouldn't want to see the starting lineup of kids from within 20 miles of Indiana that Joe didn't recruit.

It would make some IUP fans sick.

But, of course, recruiting is always hindsight.

Well, we've had a few from our area that have ended up elsewhere as well, mostly in football.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Hey, throw us a few crumbs, man. :-)

You wouldn't want to see the starting lineup of kids from within 20 miles of Indiana that Joe didn't recruit.

It would make some IUP fans sick.

But, of course, recruiting is always hindsight.

[Ship69]

It's my opinion Carlos was Joe's biggest miss of his era in the recruiting game.

There are others, but, that one hurt.

Hey, throw us a few crumbs, man. :-)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Former Ship star Dustin Sleva is playing for The Zoo Crew (Pitt) in the TBT. He's the only non-Panther on their roster.

The Zoo Crew is considered one of the favorites in the tournament.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Dom Keyes 'finally' played a basketball game in an IUP jersey yesterday. He played for the Alumni team.

After starting his career at UPJ (PSAC West Freshman of the Year) he transferred to Harford Community College (and was teammates with SRU great Micah Till). He then signed with IUP. Amazingly, he redshirted. The following season he left the program (off court issue). He then vanished for a bit before resurfacing at Edinboro.

Through all of that, I think he somehow still has one more year of eligibility. He left the Edinboro program when Pat Cleary was fired.

No idea what his life situation is -- and he has to be at least 25 or 26 -- but, he could clearly still play another season (at a pretty high level).

Given Joe's current (shaky) post situation ... I'd sure entertain it if he was interested. Yes, I know that is an extreme long shot. He was, my opinion, one that certainly got away. I've always thought he'd have had a great career at IUP.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The quasi alumni game was awesome last night in the Field House, despite the hot gym that has no air conditioning. The level of play was better than I expected and to see so many recent IUP greats on the same floor was so cool. Darryl Webb going head to head with Ethan Porterfield was fantastic. Webb is still a menace and getting to see some of his signature moves around the basket was a reminder of how great he was. He’s still as strong as an ox and he had his way underneath.

Dave Morris hasn’t lost a step, Diaz was the leading scorer, Dante made some plays, and Ethan was his typical self hitting a few threes. Chucky played pretty well as did Armoni, although he didn’t score much. It was fun to see local product and Shippensburg alum Carlos Carter playing here with the IUP players. Overall it was a reminder of the quality of players that were in this program in recent years. Really fun to watch and well worth the $10 ticket.

Dante may want to make some roster moves ahead of the The Tournament. The team going to Lexington actually lost to the IUP Alumni team last night.

That said, obviously these guys have jobs now and probably can't just take a week off to go play in a basketball tournament. I'd sure try to talk David in to joining.

For those not following, Cobo,Ethan, Armoni and Ship's Carlos Carter are on the team going to The Tournament. They played against the IUP Alumni team last night (which also had a couple ringers).

But, yeah, Webb in his prime would have ate these current guys alive. He's in his mid-30s now and they still had fits with him.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The quasi alumni game was awesome last night in the Field House, despite the hot gym that has no air conditioning. The level of play was better than I expected and to see so many recent IUP greats on the same floor was so cool. Darryl Webb going head to head with Ethan Porterfield was fantastic. Webb is still a menace and getting to see some of his signature moves around the basket was a reminder of how great he was. He’s still as strong as an ox and he had his way underneath.

Dave Morris hasn’t lost a step, Diaz was the leading scorer, Dante made some plays, and Ethan was his typical self hitting a few threes. Chucky played pretty well as did Armoni, although he didn’t score much. It was fun to see local product and Shippensburg alum Carlos Carter playing here with the IUP players. Overall it was a reminder of the quality of players that were in this program in recent years. Really fun to watch and well worth the $10 ticket.

It's my opinion Carlos was Joe's biggest miss of his era in the recruiting game.

There are others, but, that one hurt.

[EyeoftheHawk]

The quasi alumni game was awesome last night in the Field House, despite the hot gym that has no air conditioning. The level of play was better than I expected and to see so many recent IUP greats on the same floor was so cool. Darryl Webb going head to head with Ethan Porterfield was fantastic. Webb is still a menace and getting to see some of his signature moves around the basket was a reminder of how great he was. He’s still as strong as an ox and he had his way underneath.

Dave Morris hasn’t lost a step, Diaz was the leading scorer, Dante made some plays, and Ethan was his typical self hitting a few threes. Chucky played pretty well as did Armoni, although he didn’t score much. It was fun to see local product and Shippensburg alum Carlos Carter playing here with the IUP players. Overall it was a reminder of the quality of players that were in this program in recent years. Really fun to watch and well worth the $10 ticket.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

No knowledge of their schedule, but I’d say next to no chance of them playing Gannon. I think what you two are suggesting about differentiating themselves from Gannon makes a ton of sense- going Division I does that.

If they can survive the next couple of years, I think they might actually be ok- with the new rules, these teams are going to be year to year now. And their league is on life support, so I can imagine it’s any different than the upper tier in the PSAC. The reality now is that “program building” is largely a thing of the past. And they’ll be better positioned to grab Division I transfers as a “Division I” school moreso than IUP is, as crazy as that is. The high D2’s in our region (IUP, Gannon, West Liberty, ESU, Cal, etc) are going to need to be more creative finding their difference makers from the transfer portal- it’s much more complicated than it was 5-6 years ago.

We're already seeing some it transpire. The poor have become development programs for the rich ... i.e. the weak D2 programs develop some players and then the strong ones swipe them up. It's ugly.

I know one thing ... we all better have programs come opening night.


Famous quote from Major League: "Who the F are these guys"

[IUPHawks24]

The week they were to play IUP in football ... they replaced IUP with D3 Buffalo State. Their first ever D1 football game -- is on the road at freaking Wheeling. LOL.

I was curious if they'd play Gannon in basketball. The schedule isn't out yet. I certainly understand your theory as to why they (probably) will not. That said, it would be a cool yearly 'city game' for the two schools.

The timing for Gary is so bad, too. That was his first sub .500 team in forever a year ago. Some of his best teams could have made the transition much easier. He pretty much cleaned house and is starting from scratch. It's going to be a very, very long year in the MAC.

Football-wise, they always stunk in D2 so logic would say they'll stink in low-D1, too.

To chime in on IUP24's post, I think at the very core of this is Mercyhurst wanted to separate itself from its neighbor on Peach Street.

They are leaving a very easy travel lifestyle behind -- with so many 'road' games 3 miles (GU) and 15 miles (Edinboro) away (all sports). That said, playing the role of 1980s WWF jobber will bring in some coin.

No knowledge of their schedule, but I’d say next to no chance of them playing Gannon. I think what you two are suggesting about differentiating themselves from Gannon makes a ton of sense- going Division I does that.

If they can survive the next couple of years, I think they might actually be ok- with the new rules, these teams are going to be year to year now. And their league is on life support, so I can’t imagine it’s any different than the upper tier in the PSAC. The reality now is that “program building” is largely a thing of the past. And they’ll be better positioned to grab Division I transfers as a “Division I” school moreso than IUP is, as crazy as that is. The high D2’s in our region (IUP, Gannon, West Liberty, ESU, Cal, etc) will need to be more creative finding their difference makers from the transfer portal- it’s much more complicated than it was 5-6 years ago.

[Ship69]

It's a good non-conference schedule. You figure the two D3's were late replacements for Mercyhurst.

Glenville State is an odd program. They are good one night and bad the next. They typically have a new roster yearly so getting them early is helpful. Joe's teams historically look lost on opening night for the first 30 minutes so who knows. These two haven't played in about 10 years.

Charleston played in the Regional Final last year but now has a new coach and several of its stars graduated or transferred. We'll see. Their new HC played for Huggins at WVU so we could see a similar style.

Tiffin on a neutral court (in an empty gym) ... pretty decent program. They had a good team last year but lost a lot of grad students and seniors.

Ashland is coming off a strong season and returns a lot. Tough game.

Lincoln beat Cal two years ago and nearly beat Gannon last year. This isn't an easy one. They play physical and are very big and athletic. Lincoln is the reigning CIAA champion.

South Carolina Beaufort ... obviously a lot of plot twists -- Kyle Polce and Ron Fudala return, etc. They started fast last year but faded. I suspect they will be much better in Year 2.

Thiel will have some decent players but not nearly enough. Recall several years ago Westminster came to the KCAC and went toe-to-toe with IUP in the first half before Joe blew a gasket at halftime. IUP then hammered them in the second half. I could see a similar story here.

PSU-Dubois ... they better start pumping free tickets now.

Looks like a good schedule. I suppose they're playing the PSU branch campus because of Mercyhurst as you said. Lincoln was an odd team last year — up and down. Ship was very competitive with them in a scrimmage, which gave some of us higher expectations than it turned out were warranted. Like most CIAA teams, they usually have some talented players and size.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

No chance they play any D2's. If they beat any D2's, they're supposed to. If they lose, it looks bad. Same reason why Robert Morris and St Francis would never play IUP. Mercyhurst will probably play some low level D3's to balance out however many guarantee games they have to play.

I'll be curious what their team looks like. They've lost way too many players to the portal the last couple of years. Surprised they let Triggs walk, thought he could've been an all conference guy for them in the PSAC next year.

Any reports from the summer? Is the team on campus?

The week they were to play IUP in football ... they replaced IUP with D3 Buffalo State. Their first ever D1 football game -- is on the road at freaking Wheeling. LOL.

I was curious if they'd play Gannon in basketball. The schedule isn't out yet. I certainly understand your theory as to why they (probably) will not. That said, it would be a cool yearly 'city game' for the two schools.

The timing for Gary is so bad, too. That was his first sub .500 team in forever a year ago. Some of his best teams could have made the transition much easier. He pretty much cleaned house and is starting from scratch. It's going to be a very, very long year in the MAC.

Football-wise, they always stunk in D2 so logic would say they'll stink in low-D1, too.

To chime in on IUP24's post, I think at the very core of this is Mercyhurst wanted to separate itself from its neighbor on Peach Street.

They are leaving a very easy travel lifestyle behind -- with so many 'road' games 3 miles (GU) and 15 miles (Edinboro) away (all sports). That said, playing the role of 1980s WWF jobber will bring in some coin.