Loyola MVC Tourney champs
- Thread starter ubercat
- Start date
He wanted to shave it and, apparently, there was a mutiny against that decision in the locker room
I watched Loyola squeak by a bad Southern Illinois team. Small sample size for sure. But man. That was bad basketball from start to finish. I came away thinking Loyola might go winless in the BIG. Couldn’t imagine how they would match up vs the bottom of the barrel Cats.
Is the once proud MVC dead?
GOUNUII
MVC was weak this year but Loyola was pretty impressive in the handful of games I saw. It will be interesting to see how they perform in the tournament. Matchup will be important. I think a team like Purdue with two very good and tall bigs would give them lots of problems.
SIU really is an outlier...their coach Mullins was an assistant at LU and recruited most of the players on the team, He knew LU inside and out and both teams play the same offense and defense...so it was like watching a scrimmage. But what you did see was a typical Valley game...hard nosed, physical defensive battles...but all you really need to know about the Valley is the P5 is scared to schedule them...LU lucked out and got Wisconsin only because of two COVID cancellations and except for two minutes and 4 possessions played them even. I am not going to compare the B10 with the Valley but except two bigs will give them a rough time....when UW played both of their bigs at the same time UW took control.....but there are only 3 other teams in the nation within the top 50 for defenseive and offensive efficiency, (Baylor, Gonzaga, Iowa and LU) and I think LU ended up #1 defensively....I can say this ,it is hard being a fan of a mid major....the BIg Schools wont play you and then it comes selection time and the committee says hey you didnt play anyone.
The short answer is No. Last time they played a true road OOC game was 2016, @UNLV. They won by 50. The time before that was UNC Greensboro, in 2010. They won by 46.
The do play good competition at Neutral sites, either tournaments or games in venues like MSG or United Center.
Loyola only seats 5,000 in their gym so the payout for a home and home could be an issue but I think Porter is willing to do one-offs on the road.
Pat Baldwin was always one of my NU favorites just for the way he played. If he eventually gets his guys and gets them to play as hard as he did, He will be successful in the Horizon....there were some inherit problems at UWM. One Marquette and UW have the main interest in Milwaukee. I remember going to one of their games on campus and there were only bleachers on one side, the other side was covered by a large curtain...it was really bad...They now play in the old Mecca...downtown which is a great improvement but now it is off campus away from students, nice campus though. As for the problem of mid- majors getting games with P5s it will take some sort of action from the NCAA and that will most likely never happen....as they think the set up is working fairly well.
Doesn't Duke HAVE to play a road game every other year as part of the Big Ten - ACC Challenge?
Yes. I didn't include those games in my thinking since they have no say in the schedule.
But that is against another P5 school correct? Doesnt NU play almost all of their non-con at home ? and I believe each school should schedule in any way which they think benefits their program......just easier to do so as a P5...It will be interesting to see where LU is seeded...Their NET is in the Top 10 , 18 in both polls......really good metrics but their Strength of schedule will be 125 or so....and that includes UW which was a COVID accident.
Recently, yes. In 2014 NU played at Brown.
In 2013, NU played at Stanford and at UIC.
2012. at Baylor. And won.
2011, at BaTech and Creighton. I think this predated the ACC Challenge.
2010, At St. Johns.
The 2011 Georgia Tech game was part of the ACC/B1G Challenge.
Non-con road games under Collins:
2013-14: at Stanford, at UIC, at NC State (ACC/B1G)
2014-15: at Brown, at Butler
2015-16: at Virginia Tech (ACC/B1G), at DePaul
2016-17: at Butler (Gavitt)
2017-18: at Georgia Tech (ACC/B1G), at DePaul, at Oklahoma
2018-19: none
2019-20: at Boston College (ACC/B1G), at DePaul
2020-21: none
With 20 BIG games, an ACC Challenge game, Gavitt games appearance and a holiday tournament, the non conference opportunities are somewhat limited.
Seriously, I've never heard a good reason why NU never plays Loyola, a school that is less than 5 miles away. They have not played this millennium. It makes no sense. In the past, did we not schedule them because they're too weak? Then what's our excuse now?
Anybody who reads this board knows I go off on this and and the lack of other local schools annually. I think I've already use my speechification ticket on this topic this year.
Let me simplify the whole argument by repeating this: If you can't beat recent-vintage DePaul, UIC, NIU and yes, in most years, Loyola, you're not going to do much in the B10 anyhow. So I wouldn't worry too much about the local mid-major "upstart"/recruiting factor.
None of these programs has much to lose at this point.
Earlier in the 2000s, I heard from the quality source that Billy C cut off Loyola at some point because the Ramblers moved in on an NU recruit who was visiting NU. Basically, the player took a second visit to Loyola on NU's dime.
OTOH, pre-pandemic, didn't NU and the Ramblers have one of the hush-hush, preseason scrimmages for three years in a row. So they have some form of a relationship.
I'd love to see that game annually. Start working on it, Loyolacat.
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LOL, well at least that's an explanation. That's the first explanation I've ever heard.
Did the player end up choosing Loyola?
They have played in the Mecca for quite a while now. I was a student manager at Cleveland State, many more years ago than I care to admit, and one of the road trips I took was the game at Milwauke, and I remember the game was at the Mecca. I also remember taking and making an NBA 3 before the practice the night before the game on that floor.
No. He didn't pick either school.
I wish I could remember the guy's name. I want to say he was a center, but he never amounted to much.
Dennis Gates is the brother of former NU assistant, Armon.
He's a Chicago guy. I believe a Whitney Young grad ... Q Richardson's year.
Probably not. But chances are someone is going to make him an offer. Some highlights about him I learned:
1) He was an assistant at Florida State and models a lot of the program he runs on Leonard Hamilton's teachings
2) He's from Chicago, as Sec.112 said
3) Day he was hired he called a team meeting for 9 PM. 4 players showed up. 3 of those are on the team today. In said meeting he laid out what the standards were going to be. Those included having a 3.0 GPA. Appears players were not even going to classes
4) Recruited several Juco players. Gave them a chance and it paid off. Suggests to me he is smart in evaluating on what can work for the reality of the program. What is the best way to become competitive. Which was not the FSU way. Adapted.
5) Anecdotal story: a player had issues. Gates called his mom to get authorization to take away his video games from him. Mom was ecstatic.
6) Though team has a player of above normal quality, Patton, it plays a very unselfish brand of basketball
7) Team plays with great intensity, scores a lot on fast break. But does not rush shots, settles into offense and plays very organized ball. Very poised and mature. Very very physical in the way they play.
8) The bench is wildly enthusiastic. I mean wildly, to the point the coaches in the Horizon League point it out when commenting about the team
9) Gates appears calm and collected on the sideline
10) In 2 years they went from a program on fire to a tournament bid
The Horizon League is weak. 18 out of 31 right now. Notable coaches:
-Brad Stevens
-Bruce Pearl
-John Brannen
-Bryce Drew
-Thad Matta
-Skip Prosser
There's also talk about Gates to Boston college. And maybe they are in a good place to get him considering this:
Jocelyn Gates
Jocelyn Gates
Gates was indeed with Richardson and Lance Williams, who also went to DePaul, at Whitney Young. That was a gooooood team.
Gates played at Cal. It seems his name was among the head coaching candidates for a while before he got the Cleveland State job.
I remember when college basketball was the game in town b4 Jordan and the Bulls took off...Loved going to Chicago Stadium or the Ampitheatre...for doubleheaders....would love to see a Chicago 4 tournament every year or how about Chicago takes on Philly or New York.........Lets set em up St. Joes vs LU NU vs Villanova UIC vs Temple Depaul vs LaSalle.... or if NY St. Johns vs NU LU vs Fordham UIC vs Jaspers of Manhattan Depaul vs Iona....
Like your scheduling ideas, although I think they have been suggested before, to no avail. Went to many doubleheaders at the stadium and was lucky enough to see Lou Alcindor, Bill Russell and his teammate K.C. Jones. Also saw a very good West Virginia team, minus Jerry West but with Hot Rod Huntley play the Cats! That was a high scoring game , in double or triple OT. Seem to remember that NU came out on the losing end, though not sure. Wish they would bring something like those games back.
That West Virginia team actually did have Jerry West on it and the Cats won 118-109 in triple overtime. I was there with my dad. One of my most memorable fan experiences. That Cats team might have won the Big Ten but for a crucial injury to Phil Warren shortly after that. I'd love to see an all-Chicago doubleheader with teams rotating who they play each year, but schedules are very tight now.
thanks , guess it's true that your memory slips as you get older. Still those were some great games. Think they were hosted by Loyola or DePaul or maybe both. Memory?