LeatherneckNation / Specific Sports Topic Forums / Leatherneck Men's Basketball

Jalen Packer transfers to Wabash Valley College of Mount Carmel

letsgonecks — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:34:26 GMT

I know this is something that happens every year at almost every school, but you never like to see a young kid with some potential leave the program.

I wasn't that impressed with Jalen in his limited time, but he was only a freshman and not everyone can do what Obi has done. Anytime you lose depth and some experience it hurts.

I didn't like his comment, “Maybe I can get to a higher Division I level if I can prove myself.” I guess he's free to feel how he feels and dream of one day being a national superstar, but it's almost like he thinks he'll be better than poor old WIU.

Good luck, I guess. Hopefully that extra scholarship goes to good use.

http://tristate-media.com/pdclarion/sports/article_eadc8c8c-9344-11e1-b110-001a4bcf887a.html

A couple new names out there...

loyalfan — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 20:49:01 GMT

I was looking at jucojunction.com to see if there was any "new" interest in WIU basketball AND I did come across a couple new names.

Adam Link is a 6'6 forward from Otero JC in LaJunta, CO

The site says he has been offered and his interest is HIGH...he averaged 12.5 pts and 8.5 reb per game..he is also being recruited by Northern Colorado and South Dakota...sounds like there is mutual interest and we might have a good chance at getting him...

Another name that is kinda intriguing is Marquel Curtis from Williston State C.C in North Dakota..
He is 6'3 and being recruited by UNLV, Misssouri State, James Madison, and Loyola...It does list him as a 2013 recruit tho

Anyway...Im thinkin that our recent success is starting to open up the eyes of some new recruits....

Ceola Clark

StLouisNecks — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:12:30 GMT

I think this topic deserves its own thread, as we wait to see what he decides to do.

I'm sure a lot of you saw the twitter comment:

Ceola Clark III‏@CeolaClark3
· Open
Gym flow!! Glad to be back on the court with my teammates once again #basketballneverstops

23h David DJ Jackson‏@iAmDj22
@CeolaClark3 yoo u going back to WIU or u finish? I got some agents for u

Ceola Clark III‏@CeolaClark3
@iAmDj22 let's talk in a week bro. Appreciate the help

So I'm not sure what to make of this. A few days before he tweeted:

Ceola Clark III‏@CeolaClark3
Thank u WIU for some of the best years of my life! This last game is hurting me more than anyone. I would love to be in purple & gold again

Maybe I'm just optimistic, but I'm assuming he will be awarded the eligibility.

Historical Account of WIU Band at Basketball Games

beauspencer — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 09:24:38 GMT

Thought I would share this account on the Western band...

Source: Macomb Daily Journal (12/20/34)
"A new stunt that is planned is to have the band play popular pieces before the game and between halves and have the spectators all join in singing the selections. Such a program has gone over big at the University of Wisconsin this year. In fact, many fans come earlier just to take part in the singing program."

6th year of eligibility question

WIU02 — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:43:52 GMT

So maybe I didn't conduct my due diligence, but here is the closest example I found; Casey Keenum, 6th year QB at University of Houston. Participated in five seperate seasons, with one ending during the third game of the season (participated in ~25% of his "injured" season's games). He redshirted his freshmen season.

Here are the differences as far as I can tell. It's FB vs. BB. Ceola did not redshirt his freshmen season, but was injured for the year during an exhibition game. Question, could he have been redshirted vs. medically redshirted at that point? When does that decision have to be made clear per NCAA rules? There is no difference from that regard, between Ceola and Casey, besides the intent of their freshmen seasons, obviously. Aside from one red shirting vs medically red shirting following an exhibition game during his freshmen season, these two have had very similar careers during identical time frames.

Can anyone provide clarification? I guess the question is, was Ceola's freshman year intent enough to forbid him a 6th season of eligibility?

Coach Molinari Honored as Summit League Coach of the Year

windy — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:25:54 GMT

the award is from College Insider (collegeinsider.com)

http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=20749

Time for NEW jerseys

vatusay — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:57:56 GMT

This is kind of just a random thought, but with the team picking up interest in the community and on campus I think its time the athletics department got some updated jerseys for the team.

The current ones are stuck in the late 80's. I would like to see just big bold WIU on the front instead of the stacked "western illinois". Even in our own conference our jerseys are the most out dated.

I know its a long shot but I'd like to see names on the back also.

Hopefully with more ticket sales towards the end of last season and hopefully all of next year I see this as a need for the program, imo. Like it or not recruits do take the "look" into decision. It may be a small amount but it still counts.

What do you all think?

CBI Tournament First Round - Western @ Oregon State

ST_Lawson — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 21:48:10 GMT

First Division I postseason tournament in Western men's basketball history
Game is March 14th at 9 PM Central, and will be aired on TV on HDNet

The only common opponent is UIC:
December 13 - Oregon State beat UIC, 95-53
December 19 - Western lost to UIC, 57-56

Oregon State finished 19-14 overall, 7-11 (8th) in the Pac 12

Comparison of some of the numbers between the two teams.
According to that, OSU's RPI is 136, Western's is 159 (ORU is listed at 55 RPI and we beat them when it mattered)

As expected, we're the underdog, but I think it's still a winnable game for us if we play as well as we did against ORU or SDSU in the conference tournament.
No matter how it goes, it'll be nice for the guys to get one more shot at playing this season.

Some Links:
Tournament Homepage
Tournament Bracket
Oregon State's Schedule

GO WIU from NDSU!!!

lakesbison — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:44:06 GMT

Cmon WIU, NDSU and the rest of the summit league are cheering hard for you.

Wolters is a whiny lil player that just puts his head down and gets every crap call in his homestate.

molinari will stop him and WIU will win, good luck and get the summit some cinderella baby!!!

Fired up Courier writer put a smile on this old alum's face!

Neckfansince71 — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 12:38:46 GMT

Take a look at this article that was in yesterday's Courier! I read it first quietly, and then I read it out loud to my wife! Plus once again Leathernecknation is mentioned!

http://www.westerncourier.com/sports/the-start-of-something-big/article_4eeeb5ac-6a1d-11e1-b9fe-0019bb30f31a.html

WKU

meganeck — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:05:34 GMT

Western Kentucky fired their coach today and have named Ray Harper as the interim coach. if I remember correctly I think he was the other finalist with Molinari for the WIU job.

David Gebru

ST_Lawson — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 20:24:49 GMT

Supposedly Gebru has quit the team.
You hate to see anyone quit, but he didn't get much playing time this year. He was only a Sophomore, so with a bit of improvement he might have done well. I'm not heartbroken about it, maybe we can pick up another good young player, especially if we get another game or two and do well in a post-season tournament....might raise interest even more.

Article about Illinois Basketball

ST_Lawson — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:11:12 GMT

There's an article in the Rockford Register Star about the state of Illinois basketball, and it quotes Coach Mo a few times (we're listed as one of the few success stories).
Men's Hoops: Illinois programs in sad state

Summit League Finals - Western vs South Dakota State

ST_Lawson — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:22:38 GMT

This one's for all the marbles. A Summit League Championship and a spot in the Big Dance are up for grabs.
8 PM Central time on ESPN2 and ESPN3.

Previous meetings:
December 3rd - Western lost at home, 67-66
February 23rd - Western lost at SDSU, 74-57

But you know what happened to the last team that swept us in the regular season.....down goes ORU.

SDSU this season has lost to: North Dakota, Oral Roberts, Oakland, South Dakota, and a few of the "big boys" early in the season.
Western beat UND twice, ORU once, Oakland once, and South Dakota twice.

There is no reason that we can't beat South Dakota State tomorrow night.

Let's go Leathernecks.

CBI or CIT?

western-101 — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 19:41:54 GMT

Well currently Western has an RPI of 152, has 18 wins, went to down to the wire in overtime in the SL Tournament Championship game.

This is certainly a good enough resume if you are a member of an "attractive" conference. I think the Summit is a solid lower end "Mid Major" conference.

Realtimerpi.com has as the 16th best conference out of 32. So clearly we are NOT a "Low Major" . I guess it depends on the pickins out there and how the two committees view the SL and WIU.

Next Season

rocky06 — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:20:39 GMT

The game on Tuesday game gives so much momentum for next season. All day Wednesday, the game was the talk on campus between students, faculty and staff. I think the immediate impact for next year will be in the increased attendance at home games. I think the success has a chance to pay off in other ways, too:

1. Recruiting: Getting national exposure will only help our recruiting next year and beyond. Tommie is a big loss but with everyone else back, we can sell the recruits the following way: they could be the missing link to winning the conference championship next year.

2. Schedule: I say this every year but with our success, I hope we can play better teams next year. I know we have Evansville and UIC at home for return games and host a Bracket Buster Game but getting this exposure could attract better competition (and hopefully not scare teams off). Could we not play the D3/Non-DI schools?

3. Promotions: We really got the attendance up at the end of the year. Sean does a great job and I want to see what he and (hopefully) the new promotions person will do for next year. Winning should make their job a little easier, I would think.

4. Attendance: Already touched on this but I would like to have an large, intimidating crowd every home game next year. Teams should be scared to come and play us.

NCAA March Madness Pool

PurplePride40 — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:29:21 GMT

Anyone interested in joining an NCAA March Madness Pool just reply with your email and I will send you an invite. The rules and my address will be in the invite! GO NECKS!

The '11-'12 season....then and now

ST_Lawson — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:59:03 GMT

When this season began, we were coming off a 7-win season that saw our team decimated by injuries. We had averaged 758 for attendees per home game through the previous season, having only two games with over 1k attendees (high of 1398 against ORU). We were picked to finish 9th in the conference (would have been around 5 wins) and most people didn't expect us to even make it to the conference tournament.

By the end of this season we had more than doubled the number of wins we had last year and had our first winning season since '98-'99. We not only made the conference tournament, but we were seeded 4th. We knocked off the 5 and 1 seeds on our way to a championship matchup with the 2 seed, where we were 3 points in overtime away from winning the conference tournament and making it to the NCAA Tournament. Our amazing defensive performance was shown on national TV on ESPN2 in the middle of ESPN's Conference Championship Week. We averaged 1182 per game in home attendance, had over 1k nine times, and over 2k twice (vs Oakland and vs UNO).

It looks like at this point, we're getting nearly all of our players back next season, as well as some great new additions coming in. The students are excited, the fans are excited, and I'd bet that once the sting of last night's loss wears off, the team will be excited about coming back and seeing just how far we can go next year. I can't wait.

I'll finish this with an article by Burlington Hawk Eye Sports Editor, John Bohnenkamp:
Tuesday night blog: Leathernecks fall, but a foundation is built

Welcome Home for WIU men's bball

KippJones — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:06:15 GMT

Just received word from sources that the WIU Athletic Dept. is planning a Welcome Home celebration for the Leatherneck men's basketball team.

Early details are "sketchy" but I was told they're trying to shoot for around 6:15 tonight, at Western Hall/Q-Lot.

Athletics should have a better idea around 2-3pm if you'd like to call (298-1190). I heard a police/fire dept escort is going to pick up the bus just outside of town and usher them into Macomb. Put on some purple, spread the word and make it if you can.

I'll try to get further details out on the radio if/when I get 'em.

NCAA Seeding

rocky06 — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 08:12:48 GMT

I know I am putting the cart before the horse but if we should happen to win tonight, where do you think WIU would be seeded? I would cheer for upsets, to push us ahead of some teams. I don't think we would be a play-in team;I would see us as a 15/16.

I love tournament time!

Neckfansince71 — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:15:05 GMT

My birthday is March 1st which of course is pretty much the beginning of March Madness!!! Dahhhhh! As a high school player and coach I feel in love with the state basketball tourament and as time went on the NCAA! Warmer weather, longer days, smell of Spring, and basketball that truly means something.

I am very happy that the men have finally turned the corner. The WIU team has completely bought into Mo's philosophy and now with talent, the results are great to watch. I also like the Momentum thats building in Western Hall. I think our students will be ready finally for a bracket buster game next year.

Less than two hours to game time, I am sure the waiting is the worst thing. At least at the high school level the players and coaches had the school day to keep their mind off the game, although in reality thats all I thought about. The games though, participating as a player or as a coach are truly magical. The farther along you go, the more hype surrounds you, and to tell you the truth, it is truly alot of fun.

So good luck Necks! Well done! I would love for you to go "dancin" in the very, very, very, near future. Gosh I love tournament time!

Summit League Semifinals - Western vs Oral Roberts

ST_Lawson — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:29:14 GMT

Game is at 6 PM Central time.

We've lost to them twice this season, but one game was the 1 point, double overtime loss on January 12th.
If our D can shut down Morrison, then we've got a very good shot at winning this one. We've proven we can keep up with pretty much anyone in the league this season.

All-Tournament ballot

garrickhodge — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 01:11:13 GMT

Hello all, Leatherneck fans and non-Leatherneck fans, my fellow Western Courier reporter Aaron Viner and I will be voting on the all-tournament team at the arena tomorrow. Any suggestions on who to vote for on each position??? Biased or unbiased is fine by me.

The North Dakota State Game

WIU712 — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 12:33:52 GMT

Tonight's quarter-final game with NDSU will be at 6:00PM.

The game can be seen at Fox College Sports and also on WIU-TV-3.

For those interested in the upcoming Summit League Tournament.....

garrickhodge — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:55:05 GMT

You will definitely want to check out tomorrow's edition of the Western Courier.

Is it possible to be defensive player of the year.....

Neckfansince71 — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:20:05 GMT

I sat in on and participated in 14 basketball conference meetings from 1984-1998! There was no formula assoicated with standings and wins, just the fact that the 12 players with the most votes were all-conference, and the next 3 were named special mention for a total of 15 players. Anyone with a least one vote was honorable mention. The first 7 spots or so were talent, and after that it seemed like it was all politics. You really had to sell your athlete statistic wise if he was an inbetweener. And thats also when team record came into play.

So, is it really possible for the best defensive player in the Summit to be 2nd team all conference? And I totally agree with TP and Obi on the Newcomer team, but how in the world does TP not end up all conference as well. Guess things have not changed! Still alot of politics!

Mr. Tyler's interview!

Neckfansince71 — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:31:00 GMT

I will be very surprised if Beau makes Mr. Tyler's comments available on line. He really did not have anything nice to say about Coach Mo. Criticized him for taking players out for missing shots and taking their confidence away. I don't think Mo minds if you take a shot as long as you take the one that the offense is designed for. Oh well, it comes with the territory! Great way to end the regular season. Good win! The corner has been turned.

WIU goes for Win #1200 in program history Tonight !

B-Ball Fan — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:19:43 GMT

I can't believe no more hype is being done for this historic milestone ! Will there be cake to celebrate ? Go Necks !!!!

Roster looking a bit depleted

sealhall74 — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:01:49 GMT

Niang and Okafor no longer listed. What's up with that? Might be the latest recruiting tool. Guaranteed playing time for the new kids on the block.

Senior Night

WIU712 — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:53:25 GMT

The article in the Macomb newspaper only mentions Tommie Tyler as the lone senior who will be honored tonight.

Ceola Clark has applied to the NCAA for a 6th year.

Everyone out to Western Hall tonight. Wear Purple!

Just one more thing!

Neckfansince71 — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:16:08 GMT

So lets think back to November. If I had said that the Necks would finish 9-9 and 15-13 with a game or so to play would any of you have believed me? On paper, the Necks were picked 10th but that was before Remy, Obi, and TP took the floor. I guess this years new-comers turned out in many ways to be difference makers. Now the jury is out for a couple of recruits but hopefully Jalen P, Jeremy, and DonnyMac will improve with another year of experience. And with Billy Mo back who knows!

I have no idea what the immediate future holds, but I do know that Necks should be very proud of this years accomplishments and its obvious more is to come! If WIU makes it to the semis opposite Oral Roberts, you can count on the South Dakota State fans to make some unbelievable noise in the Necks behalf!

What a difference a week makes!

Neckfansince71 — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:12:56 GMT

So let me see, last week at this time I was wondering where exactly the Necks were and where they were headed. I said a couple of days ago that it just seemed like the season had gone a couple of weeks too long and then, low and behold, a big victory against NDst! Isn't it just so easy to forget Evansville and South Dakota State after watching TP and CCC pick apart the Bison with 3 point shots and dunks! Talk about an upside, this Leatherneck fans is it! Wednesday can't come sooner as far as I am concerned. Lets take apart UNO and head to the Summit Tourney 16-13 and on fire. I am going to date myself with this story but it seems to be my MO through junior high so here goes. The year we turned the corner as a program at East High, we beat a good Wheaton Central team the last home game of the season. We had a record of 13-11 and knew that no-matter what, we had a guarenteed winning season for the first time in many years. We were so excited that we decided to cut the nets down even though it would cost me budget money in the future. We went on to win two more games, a regional title, and earned a date with Thomas Wyatt (Utah) and East Aurora in the sectional. The Tomcats got off to a 10-0 start and we lost by the same amount, but boy was it a fun ride. It was a total injection of enthusiasm that resulted in a conference championship, a state ranking, and a trip to the sectional finals two years later. Its tournament time, and the Necks once again are on a roll!

NDSU Game

sealhall74 — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 06:02:03 GMT

Last conference game of the year. A win along with a likely SUU loss against ORU gives us a #4 seed in tournament. More importantly IMO, it would just give the guys some much needed confidence going in. About the tournament, the teams that I see playing well right now are Oakland and surprisingly IUPUI. Those Jaguars have won 6 out of 7 with lone loss an overtime affair AT Oral Roberts. That said, ORU and SDSU still deserve their top seeds in Sioux Falls.

Western Preview

NDSU Preview

NDSU Fan Forum Game Thread

StatSheet Comparison

Vegas Insider

PS If all goes well for me today, I will be enjoying a Beaucast victory call tonight from my villa suite in Myrtle Beach.

SDSU Game

sealhall74 — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:47:22 GMT

The Jackrabbits are a very good team this year and could be NCAA tournament bound. They have Nate Wolters who has quite a bit in common with Jeremy Lin. I expect this game to be a little more up-tempo than Mo would like with them getting into the high 60s to low 70s like they did at Western Hall. We battled them pretty tough at home and came up only a point short. We CAN make a game of this one but we need to play 40 minutes of solid basketball both offensively and defensively. That has happened rarely (maybe never) so far this season.

Western Preview

SDSU Preview

SDSU Fan Forum Game Thread

StatSheet Comparison

Vegas Insider

Current Bracket Buster Match-up

catch212 — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:15:32 GMT

Here is a post I found that shows what the bracket buster match-ups are currently. It is all based on RPI so we're lined up with Morgan State. Of course, this was updated 1-2-12 and we have a couple wins since then. Who knows what our RPI will be when this game rolls around, but there doesn't appear to be a MVC team within our reach either way. Illinois State would be the closest, though I don't think we could increase our standing that much.

Dream Conference

western-101 — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 19:10:08 GMT

What would be the ultimate (realistic) dream situation for WIU to be in a conference with?

Before you look at my list understand this. MVC ain't disbanding or ejecting members and if anybody is to join the MVC think Butler or St. Louis.

Football is such a huge (only) component of the overall landscape, one can forget about NIU leaving its situation with the MAC.

OK so here goes:

WIU
EIU- natural rival in-state, close
SIUE- see above
MSU- As in Murray State, not so far away, great atheletics, and great facilities
IUPUI-Again, close, solid program, NCAA appearances, Indy market
NDSU- come on were family...MVFC football and everything else
SDSU- Same
USD - late arrival to the D-1 game (compared to XDSUs) but good location good school
UIC- (Sub Loyola...) decent program...nice location in Chi, for alumni and recruiting.
Valpo- good program, really close to Illinois, our old school rival from MidCon
OU- OU is in a great place in Michigan North suburbs where $ is, great program.all good
SEMO- Hey this is not a bad drive from Macomb, good school, good venue..

This in my opinion is the ULTIMATE (achievable) conference situation for WIU.

The UMKC Game

WIU712 — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:18:38 GMT

Current Summit League Standings:

Oral Roberts 15-1
South Dakota State 12-3
North Dakota State 9-6
Oakland 8-7
Southern Utah 8-8
WESTERN 7-8
IUPUI 5-10
IPFW 4-11
South Dakota 4-11
UMKC 4-11

We have our last home conference game on Wednesday vs UMKC. A win would be huge!

Our final two conference games of the season will be on the road at North Dakota State and South Dakota State.

We will need a big and vocal crowd present on Wednesday to lead us on to a win over UMKC. It's time to get your Purple out and show up on Wednesday night!

If the team was going to wear Purple at home, Wednesday's game would be the time to do it. I can remember the team wearing Purple at home a while back.

Purple at home

FINS#1 — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:47:11 GMT

i think our purple jerseys look much better than the white ones and i was watching the michigan illinois game today and noticed that michigan was wearing yellow at home. i didnt know if there was a rule against it but its not so we should change it up and wear purple at home.

also, i wouldnt mind wearing a camo jersey since we are the leathernecks. we could have it so we play on veterans day and wear them.

Terell Parks Highlight Mix "Big Poppa"

beauspencer — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:01:34 GMT

Highlight mix of Terell Parks.

[url=http://chirb.it/15EdFx][/url]

Oral Roberts Game

garrickhodge — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:31:41 GMT

Any wishing to view the Oral Roberts Western Illinois game can watch it online here

http://www.firstrowsports.eu/watch/107172/1/watch-western-illinois-vs-oral-roberts.html