PSAC WEST

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Who knows, I guess.

The West is going to be pretty deep this year. From my own research, I'd project something like this:

1. IUP - This may be Joe's deepest team in his tenure in Indiana.

2. UPJ - Great combination of smart, seasoned players. They play old school ... annoying to play against.

3. California - Vulcans must stay healthy. They aren't overly deep beyond 1-7. If they do they will win many games this season. Starting Five is very strong. Well-coached.

This is where it gets tricky.

4/5. Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst - Both lost a ton of players. But, both have a history of rebuilding quick. You want the Lakers early. By January the team starts mastering that Triangle and Two.

6/7. Gannon and Edinboro - Both have a lot of unknowns. Edinboro will score a lot of points this year. They just play zero defense.

8/9. Seton Hill and Clarion - The Griffins are in complete rebuild. The same is likely the case in Clarion.

Well, within 21 days this projection has already been butchered. Cal losing MacAdams late, as noted, is a big loss. There's also news of a soon-to-be-announced bombshell that will cause some havoc on the West race.

[PSACfan1]

Rock men's roster is posted.

That seems to leave Edinboro as the last to show its hand.

I'm surprised Grady was able to secure a few D-1 transfers

[CALUPA69]

Well, within 21 days this projection has already been butchered. Cal losing MacAdams late, as noted, is a big loss. There's also news of a soon-to-be-announced bombshell that will cause some havoc on the West race.

Although losing MACADAMS hurts A LOT, I wasn't entirely sure how he and PHILLIP ALEXANDER were going to work together. They seem to be the same player and being on court at the same time may have been awkward. OR I may be whistling past the graveyard.

[Fightingscot82]

Well, within 21 days this projection has already been butchered. Cal losing MacAdams late, as noted, is a big loss. There's also news of a soon-to-be-announced bombshell that will cause some havoc on the West race.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well, as Boat had alluded to over the summer and IUPAlum confirmed about a month ago, Slippery Rock star Micah Till cannot play in the first semester. He only has one semester of eligibility left.

That also means he cannot practice with the team. Notice he's been absent in all team photos on Twitter, etc., over the past month.

What's unknown is the exact definition of 'first semester' ... does that mean he's out up until the last day of classes of Semester 1 or does that mean he's out until the first day of classes of Semester 2? There's obviously a huge difference there in the amount of games.

Either way, it's a huge blow for SRU. They have to find a way to not ring up too many losses while he is out. The old rule that holds true just about every year is you can only take about 8 losses all year to go dancing.

The interesting dynamic for SRU is their whole offense runs through him. It will be different inserting him back in to the lineup with several new players.

[IUPalum]

Micah Till won't play till spring semester due to only having one semester left.

[Golden89]

What's unknown is the exact definition of 'first semester' ... does that mean he's out up until the last day of classes of Semester 1 or does that mean he's out until the first day of classes of Semester 2? There's obviously a huge difference there in the amount of games..

The way that I've seen it before is that players who are eligible in the second semester are eligible to play once the first semester ends.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Rock season preview released this afternoon says Till will return Dec. 15

[IUPalum]

Hopefully they are 0-8 by then... hahahahaha
Prediction is 5-3 before the Till return.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Hopefully they are 0-8 by then... hahahahaha
Prediction is 5-3 before the Till return.

They have a tough slate through Chrismas. I'd guess 5-3 or 4-4.

It will take some adjustment, too, when he returns. He's not practicing with the team so we'll see what kind of shape he returns in ...

I'm glad he'll be back for the IUP game. It wouldn't be nearly as fun without him. It's bad enough without KR to tee off the crowd.

I'll always say ... nobody could fire up the KCAC like KR.

In 2015 the KCAC crowd rode him so hard he finally snapped without about 5 minutes left and got a technical. It likely cost him the game. SRU's last win here is a approaching 30 years now.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Edinboro cast-off DeAnthony Owens has surfaced at Notre Dame (OH). He looked pretty good when he was healthy.

Conversely, former ND player Halil Parks is now at Virginia State.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

MERCYHURST 2019-20 Men's Basketball

Lot of new faces in Erie this year for the defending Atlantic Region champion Lakers. The lone returning starter is sophomore guard Miykah McIntosh. Several other players, however, return who saw lots of minutes a year ago -- including senior guard Trystan Pratapas. Pratapas was perhaps the PSAC's deadliest sharp-shooter from outside a year ago. He was used as a pure shooter off the bench while playing just 12 mpg. He hit 64 of 129 three-point attempts.

The Lakers added four freshmen and several transfers to this year's roster.

The most heralded post player recruit is junior forward Daniel Ogele (6'7", 220 lbs) from the Naval Academy. They also added senior forward Melkisedek Moreaux (6'6", 205 lbs) form St. Bonaventure and forward Joel Ufele (6'9", 225 lbs) from Northeast Community College (Nebraska). Also new is a forward Cameron Gross (6'5", 210 lbs) from Wabash Valley Community College.

Steve Cannady came in from Wheeling Jesuit as a sophomore guard. He started 28 games last season for the Cardinals, averaging 12 ppg (38% from deep). He also had 107 assists and 33 steals.


Schedule:

Non-conference is challenging: D'Youville College, at Daemen, Roberts Wesleyan, Le Moyne,

Crossover is brutal: Millersville, Shepherd, at West Chester, at Bloomsburg, at East Stroudsburg, Kutztown

West play: The Lakers dodge a bullet and get to play at IUP on Monday, Jan. 6 (no students / small crowd). They play at SRU in the regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 29, in what could be a huge game for both teams.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

A quick glance at Clarion:

The bad news is their best returning player actually plays for Millersville now. The good news is the new coach was able to keep Mason Mraz on campus.

Mraz, who sat out last season due to injury, had been heavily rumored to be leaving via transfer. Two years ago, as a true freshman, he started 20 games and averaged 11.5 ppg and 5.9 rpg. He was named PSAC West Freshman of the Week seven times.

It's also apparent looking at the roster that new coach Damian Pitts is taking Clarion in a different direction. For years under Marcess Williams the Golden Eagles had towering post players who were physically imposing but couldn't run the floor well. Pitts now has a roster of forwards in the 6'6" to 6'7" range who are all around 210 pounds.

Along with Mraz, the other top players figure to be (F) Sheriff Conteh and guards Elijah Cottrill, Kass Taylor and Kaison Branch. Cottrill put up 13.2 ppg a year ago.

Jack Galatio figures to also be in the mix as a graduate transfer from St. Bonaventure. However, he played very sparingly the past several years.

The Golden Eagles still have a bit of muscle left over from the previous regime in senior Stevan Rodriguez (6'5", 230 lbs). He's not a big scorer but can create some havoc under the basket. He's a very aggressive post player -- almost to a fault. He is used as a hybrid G/F.


Schedule:

Non-conference: Favetteville State (at Glenville), at Glenville State, at Davis and Elkins, Lake Erie, Malone, Salem

Crossover: Kutztown, West Chester, at East Stroudsburg, at Lock Haven, at Mansfield, Bloomsburg


Outlook: Clarion went 6-20 overall last season and 4-17 in the PSAC. Things should be better this year -- not drastically, but, better. The Golden Eagles became ultra-predictable under Williams, and, toward the end, played very uninspired. With some new energy and a new system, it's possible they could double their win total this season. Rotation-wise, they are fairly solid. Beyond 1-7, however, they are very light. They'll have to stay healthy. Clarion was picked to finish last by the West coaches. They likely will be in the bottom three, but it's possible they won't be at the bottom. Clarion has to go 6-6 in crossover/non-conference. Six more wins in the West will be a challenge but possible.

[CALUPA69]

From watching the DANNY SANCOMB show it sounds like he's quietly confident about the possible growth of VULCAN MBB this year. If I were to guess his starting five will be.... PEGRAM JR PG 5'11", COLLINS SO G 6'4", ALEXANDER RS SO F 6'7", HALL SO G/F 6'4", HOUSE FR G/F 6'4" . Likely 6-9 spots will be AJIKE FR F 6'7", SMITH FR F 6'7", ALSTON FR F 6'6", RAY SR TR G 6'0". Full roster will allow for a couple of significant changes in playing style. Speed of the game will pick up moving toward MEC style and defense will be mostly man to man which DS prefers. Good challenges this weekend versus BOWIE STATE, CIAA preseason #1 pick, on Friday and CHARLESTON, MEC preseason #2 pick on Saturday. Both games are at SHEPHERDSTOWN. Very excited to get started.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LJja6v...ature=youtu.be

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Standings


West

IUP (2-0) - Hawks off to a strong start
Edinboro (1-0) - Beat up Thiel and got beat up by Cleveland State (exhibition). Trips to Roberts Wesleyan and Notre Dame up next.
UPJ (1-1) - Didn't look as good as advertised on opening weekend. Ohio Dominican comes to town this weekend in what should be a tough test.
Slippery Rock (1-1) - Impressive win over Notre Dame and a real tight loss at Fairmont State. Eight more games until Till returns. Charleston visits this weekend.
Gannon (0-0) - First three games are brutal: at Bowie State, West Chester and Millersville.
Mercyhurst (0-0) - Lakers debut at Daemen this Thursday
Seton Hill (0-0) - WV road trip looms ... at Wheeling and at Alderson Broaddus.
California (0-2) - Vulcans have two losses by three combined points -- against formidable opponents.
Clarion (0-2) - Golden Eagles blown out twice on opening weekend.


EAST

West Chester (2-0) - Strong start for a team with many new faces
Lock Haven (1-0) - Bald Eagles stomped hapless Cheyney, 87-48.
Kutztown (1-1) - Golden Bears survived Lincoln and got beat up by Claflin. Not a great start.
Mansfield (1-1) - MU came back after getting pasted by WL and got a win over St. Augustine's
Millersville (1-1) - Dropped a 1-point heart-breaker at Fairmont ... blew out Notre Dame the next day.
Shepherd (1-1) - Lost the opener to Charleston but rallied with impressive win over Bowie State.
Shippensburg (1-1) - Nice win over Virginia Union to start the season, but dropped a tight one in a home loss to Virginia State.
Bloomsburg (0-2) - Gave up 103 to Glenville and then lost by (9) to Fayetteville State.
East Stroudsburg (0-2) - Scored just 49 points in each loss to open season. The offense is a wreck in Stroudsburg right now.