Atlantic Region Men's Basketball '25-'26

[Scrub]

Im going to assume it was illness.. Montano is back on bench

Yes, Montano & Whippen #2 were in the building . . . both with hard casts on their arms. To make matters worse for Frostburg, their leading scorer, the very dangerous Trey Simmons, appeared to suffer a concussion about halfway through the first half.

That's a shame for Frostburg, because they'd be a very tough out if they had all of their pieces healthy.

[Ship69]

Yes, Montano & Whippen #2 were in the building . . . both with hard casts on their arms. To make matters worse for Frostburg, their leading scorer, the very dangerous Trey Simmons, appeared to suffer a concussion about halfway through the first half.

That's a shame for Frostburg, because they'd be a very tough out if they had all of their pieces healthy.

That Montano kid would be a big loss for them. He had a boatload of points against Ship when they beat us in the opener. He's tall and very aggressive around the hoop, exactly the kind of player this year's Ship team has trouble with. Was weird seeing both Whippens on their team. We were the third stop on the one brother's circuit around America.

[boatcapt]

I was just looking at Frostburg's site in advance of tonight's matchup with WLU and was wondering some of the same. Frostburg was sorta clicking early on in the season with both Montano and Trey Simmons among league leaders in scoring. But in the last handful of games, they appear to be down two starters--Montano and Traveling Whippen #2 (who, for all we know, is deep into another game of "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?").

With a full complement of players, Frostburg has a decent season outlook. But I'm not sure they have the depth to absorb big personnel losses.

It'll be interesting to see what happens tonight (and, more to the point, who shows up tonight) when the two top-scoring offenses in the high-scoring MEC Conference confront each other.

(Classic trap game for WLU, too, with a trip to Joe Retton looming on Saturday.)

Yep. Two Frostburg teams this season. Dynamic up and coming team early that could cause good teams trouble. Then injuries effectively put them in the lower middle of the MEC pack. No depth which is a problem for quite a few DII programs...good programs that are one injury away from being bad programs.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Yep. Two Frostburg teams this season. Dynamic up and coming team early that could cause good teams trouble. Then injuries effectively put them in the lower middle of the MEC pack. No depth which is a problem for quite a few DII programs...good programs that are one injury away from being bad programs.

I'd say one of the surprise teams to this point is Concord.

IUP blew them out opening night but they seem to have flipped a switch. They have two nice, strong and athletic post players. I'm assuming their guard play has improved since early November.

[Sec10-A-14]

Word is Rocco Moribito left the Gannon team as no one has seen him on the bench lately. Heard he's not getting enough playing time.

[Columbuseer]

Yes, Montano & Whippen #2 were in the building . . . both with hard casts on their arms. To make matters worse for Frostburg, their leading scorer, the very dangerous Trey Simmons, appeared to suffer a concussion about halfway through the first half.

That's a shame for Frostburg, because they'd be a very tough out if they had all of their pieces healthy.

It is a shame about Montano (28 ppg) and Simmons (23 ppg). In a freak accident, Simmons appeared to have been poked in the eye by his teammate late (1:47) in the first half. He had a bandage over his left eye and did not play in the second half. Wishing them all a complete recovery

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Massey D2 Men's Ratings (Atlantic Region Top 10):

7. Gannon (13-2)
20. West Liberty (10-3)
45. Fairmont State (11-3)
49. California (11-4)
52. IUP (11-2)
67. Virginia Union (13-2)
77. Slippery Rock (13-3)
79. East Stroudsburg (10-4)
93. Millersville (9-5)
95. Seton Hill (12-4)


The marquee wins of the past weekend: Fairmont State defeated West Liberty. California defeated Gannon.

The big games in the week ahead (head-to-head among the above 10 listed teams):

IUP at Slippery Rock
IUP at Gannon
Slippery Rock at Seton Hill


Hottest team around: California. The Vulcans have won 10 straight after a woeful (injury-plagued) 1-4 start to the season. Cal still isn't deep (Danny is borrowing Joe's system of playing about 6.5 to 7 players. But, he's obviously making it work.

[bballfan03]

Word is Rocco Moribito left the Gannon team as no one has seen him on the bench lately. Heard he's not getting enough playing time.

I had heard he was dismissed from the team after a major blowup in a practice between him, a few players and Bazzolli - underlying theme was he believed he should be part of the 2nd line (he's the only one that thought that lol) and he became reckless in a practice defending a player.

Ive heard he's since left Gannon. He was removed from roster shortly after the new year.

Morabito couldn't get a grasp on the team aspect of "the system" - even the games he played in, he constantly was shooting or driving in and taking everything himself. I saw a few practices and it was exactly the same. In his head I feel he believed he could be an Omajfo or Shelton.

[bballfan03]

Massey D2 Men's Ratings (Atlantic Region Top 10):

7. Gannon (13-2)
20. West Liberty (10-3)
45. Fairmont State (11-3)
49. California (11-4)
52. IUP (11-2)
67. Virginia Union (13-2)
77. Slippery Rock (13-3)
79. East Stroudsburg (10-4)
93. Millersville (9-5)
95. Seton Hill (12-4)


The marquee wins of the past weekend: Fairmont State defeated West Liberty. California defeated Gannon.

The big games in the week ahead (head-to-head among the above 10 listed teams):

IUP at Slippery Rock
IUP at Gannon
Slippery Rock at Seton Hill


Hottest team around: California. The Vulcans have won 10 straight after a woeful (injury-plagued) 1-4 start to the season. Cal still isn't deep (Danny is borrowing Joe's system of playing about 6.5 to 7 players. But, he's obviously making it work.

Cal has been stricken by illnesses. One of their games he only played 1 sub and another he was rotating in bench warmers just to give breathers.

I watched one of his coaches shows and he said over the holiday break, they had 7 kids go down with illness and 3 of them are still plagued by it.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

MASSEY D2 MEN'S BASKETBALL RATINGS
Top 10 / Atlantic Region


3. Gannon
14. West Liberty
36. Fairmont State
43. IUP
61. California
72. Virginia Union
75. West Chester
77. Charleston
80. East Stroudsburg
85. Seton Hill

[Scrub]

For the sake of comparison, here's the current top-10 according to Inkblot's performance indicators:

1. Gannon
2. West Liberty
3. IUP
4. Virginia Union
5. Fairmont State
6. West Chester
7. Cal
8. Slippery Rock
9. Fayetteville
10. Seton Hill

(Inkblot has ESU at 11 and Charleston at 14)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Updated Massey Top 10 / Atlantic Region Men's Ratings (thru games played Feb. 1, 2026):


3. Gannon
10. West Liberty
28. Fairmont State
44. California
46. IUP
66. West Chester
70. Virginia Union
77. Charleston
82. East Stroudsburg
94. Millersville

[Scrub]

And once again, the PI scale is higher on Fayetteville (and a bit lower on Cal & ESU) than Massey:

1. Gannon
2. West Liberty
3. Fairmont
4. IUP
5. Virginia Union
6. Cal
7. West Chester
8. Fayetteville
9. Millersville
10. ESU

(And, in truth, I would think that if Fayetteville gets in, they could cause some problems with Devin Hoehn now running "the system" there. Devin got unlucky last year when his Bluefield squad sneaked into the field only to draw WLU. Any other draw, and that Bluefield team might have won a game or two.)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

And once again, the PI scale is higher on Fayetteville (and a bit lower on Cal & ESU) than Massey:

1. Gannon
2. West Liberty
3. Fairmont
4. IUP
5. Virginia Union
6. Cal
7. West Chester
8. Fayetteville
9. Millersville
10. ESU

(And, in truth, I would think that if Fayetteville gets in, they could cause some problems with Devin Hoehn now running "the system" there. Devin got unlucky last year when his Bluefield squad sneaked into the field only to draw WLU. Any other draw, and that Bluefield team might have won a game or two.)

Well, I guess we can compare polls all day. That's why they exist. I still prefer the eye test. And, of course, having no life I tend to watch a lot of basketball.

It's my opinion this is a 4-team race (as of today). Granted, a lot usually happens in February which can drastically alter things (injuries, slumps, locker room blow-ups, etc.)

I see this today as being Gannon, WL, Fairmont State and California.

Cal is as healthy now as its going to get but the Vulcans best stay healthy. Danny has some roster limitations this season, depth-wise.

I find Fairmont State and Cal intriguing -- not just because they have head-to-head (home) wins against WL and Gannon -- but because they have coaches who know how to effectively play against the system. Both coaches have seen it and coached against it for a very, very long time.

While anything can happen on a given day, I don't as of yet see any other team as a legit Regional contender.

IUP has no chance against an up-tempo, trapping team. They lose before the game even starts. Joe can't coach against it any longer. That said, they'd have a really good shot against any team in the field not named Gannon or WL.

West Chester is too sporadic and I think would get tired out. They play more like most CIAA teams (rough and physical). Millersville and ESU are solid teams but having some consistency issues. Virginia Union does have the win against WL but it was early (and in VA). I wouldn't like them in a rematch on the road or on a neutral court.

[Scrub]

Not sure where Massey is this week, but a few interesting shake-ups in Inkblot's Performance Indicator rankings:

1. Gannon
2. Fairmont
3. West Liberty
4. VUU
5. IUP
6. Cal
7. Fayetteville
8. WCU
9. Millersville
10. Charleston