Atlantic Region 2023 (Men's)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

We've heard this before. Lol

They have dudes this year. That part is unquestioned. Kid from Duquesne will be a monster in D2. Many others back plus Ike Herster.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

As the season is approaching, I'm becoming more interested in numerous storylines. Most notably, with a big roster overhaul, I want to see coach a new team, with new faces, in a clearly new chapter of IUP basketball. I think he's losing his fastball a little bit. So I'm intrigued to see the job he does with this team.

I have Joe as a bubble team. Sight unseen I'm pegging him around 20-8 in the regular season (+/- a game either way).

If all his imports work out perhaps a little better.

[boatcapt]

So they basically took last year’s Final Top 25 poll and made it this year’s preseason poll?

That's how most DII preseason polls are created. Add in a smidge of historical bias and drop out a team or two from the bottom and add in a couple of long shots to try and generate some interest and hit send. Almost zero thought or roster review or analysis.

I created a faux preseason poll as a joke one year (I called in the Burger Chef National NCAA Division Two Pre-Season Coaches and Media Rankings). Took last seasons final NABC poll, flipped the top two, made 10 number 8, 8 to 9 and 9 to 10, dropped dropped the last two teams out in favor of the first two in others receiving votes. As expected the thread got a lot of positive posts about the polls "accuracy" from fans of top ranked teams and cries of the pollster is an idiot from fans of the lower/unranked teams.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Massey's has the Top 7 in the Atlantic as:

West Liberty
IUP
Mercyhurst
East Stroudsburg
Fairmont State
California
Virginia Union


Not sure I agree with the order but those teams are probably a safe assumption. The CIAA is always a wildcard.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

St. Francis is hosting Pitt-Greensburg on Nov. 20.

IUP (25 minutes away) has tried to schedule them for years and years with no luck.

[Ship69]

Massey's has the Top 7 in the Atlantic as:

West Liberty
IUP
Mercyhurst
East Stroudsburg
Fairmont State
California
Virginia Union


Not sure I agree with the order but those teams are probably a safe assumption. The CIAA is always a wildcard.

I've noticed a lot of new faces on the East Stroud roster this year. Pepin, Duda, Millsip, and some other familiar faces have departed. Looks as if Lakeem McAliley and Justin Paz will be the most familiar to PSAC fans. Wilson almost always has a good team up there, but they might have a teething period. Pepin is a big loss. There has been a lot of turnover in the East, which might or might not make for an interesting season. Right now, I don't see them competing with the top 2-3 teams in the West.

[IUP24]

I've noticed a lot of new faces on the East Stroud roster this year. Pepin, Duda, Millsip, and some other familiar faces have departed. Looks as if Lakeem McAliley and Justin Paz will be the most familiar to PSAC fans. Wilson almost always has a good team up there, but they might have a teething period. Pepin is a big loss. There has been a lot of turnover in the East, which might or might not make for an interesting season. Right now, I don't see them competing with the top 2-3 teams in the West.

I think under Fite Ship has done a pretty good job overall at hanging with IUP and Mercyhurst in the West. Regardless of what talent is on the roster, they seem to always be a thorn in the side for some of the top 3 in the West. I think the players that he gets in there and they style that he deploys with them.

[IUP24]

Side note... This is the real message board. Glad this is back up and running for another go. Always enjoy the good, civilized basketball talk here from all involved.

[Ship69]

I think under Fite Ship has done a pretty good job overall at hanging with IUP and Mercyhurst in the West. Regardless of what talent is on the roster, they seem to always be a thorn in the side for some of the top 3 in the West. I think the players that he gets in there and they style that he deploys with them.

This is probably going to be the biggest rebuilding year for Fite in at least 6-7 years. The departing four upperclassmen accounted for 77 percent of Ship's scoring and about 80 percent of their rebounding last season. Their original roster was very small in height, which is why they added 6-8 Gavin Donley back to the roster to get a big body. Probably their biggest problem is that their best offensive guards don't have much size, and their taller guards are not their best shooters. Late roster addition Kamau Mitchell from Garrett Community College is an intriguing pickup with a 6-5 frame that they badly need. He was putting up good offensive numbers at Garrett (20 ppg) before getting injured there. Original indications were that he was going from Garrett to Virginia State, but he ended up at Ship. I suspect we might see Ship playing a little faster this season than they have in the past as their roster doesn't seem conducive to halfcourt grinders, but that is all conjecture on my part. Without a lot of inside bangers, they'll probably have to shoot well to win this season. They have the potential to do it, but that's all it is right now — potential.

Defending big studs such as Ethan Porterfield is going to be a problem for them, and the schedule is brutal as usual with early games against West Liberty and IUP followed by a nasty western swing to Cal and Slippery Rock. That's a tough way to begin for a team that will feature an almost all-new starting lineup this year. I plan to see them scrimmage Saturday, so should have a better idea of who's going to play where after that.

[WarriorVoice]

Rock is an interesting story. Gonna be real good ... or a total f-ing trainwreck.

HOT TAKE!!!

[WarriorVoice]

I've noticed a lot of new faces on the East Stroud roster this year. Pepin, Duda, Millsip, and some other familiar faces have departed. Looks as if Lakeem McAliley and Justin Paz will be the most familiar to PSAC fans. Wilson almost always has a good team up there, but they might have a teething period. Pepin is a big loss. There has been a lot of turnover in the East, which might or might not make for an interesting season. Right now, I don't see them competing with the top 2-3 teams in the West.

7 new players on the roster. That's a huge amount of new blood. Jaheim Bethea is a 6-1 Guard who transferred from IUP. He played just over 9 minutes a game in 19 games last year for the Crimson Hawks. Jalen Pichardo is 6-7 freshman Forward from St. Thomas Aquinas HS. He was an All-Division and All-Conference honoree. Junior swingman Cam Young comes from Bowling Green with a year at St. Peter's. Young received 15 Division I offers at powerhouse Neumann Goretti, including Penn State. Freshman Guard Shemar Wilbanks Acqui is a 2-time All-Catholic League player from West Catholic. He won a PIAA title and 2 Philly city titles. Freshman Guard Terrell Pitts played with Pichardo at St. Peter's. He was an All-Diviision and All-Conference player, averaging 15 points per game. Another Freshman Guard, Nayeem Johnson played at Math & Sciences with Jaheim Bethea. Won a Public League championship and 2 city titles. He averaged over 11 points a game. Finally, we get to Carson Howard, a 6-9 freshman Forward who was a 2-time All-Catholic League selection at Archbishop Wood. He was a 1,000 point scorer, and may have the biggest impact on the Warrior lineup this season.

[Ship69]

7 new players on the roster. That's a huge amount of new blood. Jaheim Bethea is a 6-1 Guard who transferred from IUP. He played just over 9 minutes a game in 19 games last year for the Crimson Hawks. Jalen Pichardo is 6-7 freshman Forward from St. Thomas Aquinas HS. He was an All-Division and All-Conference honoree. Junior swingman Cam Young comes from Bowling Green with a year at St. Peter's. Young received 15 Division I offers at powerhouse Neumann Goretti, including Penn State. Freshman Guard Shemar Wilbanks Acqui is a 2-time All-Catholic League player from West Catholic. He won a PIAA title and 2 Philly city titles. Freshman Guard Terrell Pitts played with Pichardo at St. Peter's. He was an All-Diviision and All-Conference player, averaging 15 points per game. Another Freshman Guard, Nayeem Johnson played at Math & Sciences with Jaheim Bethea. Won a Public League championship and 2 city titles. He averaged over 11 points a game. Finally, we get to Carson Howard, a 6-9 freshman Forward who was a 2-time All-Catholic League selection at Archbishop Wood. He was a 1,000 point scorer, and may have the biggest impact on the Warrior lineup this season.

Wilson almost always has an interesting team, and Ship did not match up well with him last year, The rivalry is always fun.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Wilson almost always has an interesting team, and Ship did not match up well with him last year, The rivalry is always fun.

You have a Whippen Brother.

World Tour '23-'24

Four schools in a college career is quite the feat.


I see he somehow grew to 6'9" on the Ship roster.


Joking aside, he is a good player. He must like learning new systems or is still searching for the right campus dining experience.

[boatcapt]

If you're looking for an interesting story line, might I offer the Univ of Charleston. Picked #2 in the MEC preseason rankings with three first place votes while Fairmont was #3 with no first place votes. They are getting NO play outside of the conf poll. Do the MEC coaches know something or is this poll a is this more a case of sandbagging???

[Columbuseer]

If you're looking for an interesting story line, might I offer the Univ of Charleston. Picked #2 in the MEC preseason rankings with three first place votes while Fairmont was #3 with no first place votes. They are getting NO play outside of the conf poll. Do the MEC coaches know something or is this poll a is this more a case of sandbagging???

Imho charleston made big transfer portal moves to try to get 10 deep with quality players, which is essential to taking down wlu. Fairmont has lost manges for the season, which is a big hit.
here are the new players.
https://ucgoldeneagles.com/news/2023...o-team103.aspx