And for taking down narco no less!

We got 9 teams into the NT and one into the PI this year.  9 ties the record set by So. Cal. Conference in Knight for the most teams into the NT at D3.  Unlike their success in the NT, we didn't come out quite as well.  With 9 in, we had 6 move on to the 2nd round.  Of those 6, only 2 advanced to sweet sixteen and only Bethany moved onto the Elite Eight before being eliminated.  Still, we will be rolling in the postseason cash.

Next season can't come soon enough.

In this class i was looking to add some scoring to go with the good athletes who could not score to save their lives that i got last season.  While none of these players will lead me to a ODAC tittle i believe they could get me to the postseason.  

My favorite player in this class is Cleveland Lyons PF.  He should be solid with ending ath/speed around 50/40 to go with decent reb of 60+ and ball handling at 40+.  his low post should be a 99 and hopefully a scoring threat for the next few years.

The next signing was Douglas Lenard SG.  I am hoping his scoring will make up for his sorry def.  He should end up around 55/80 ath/speed with at least 60 per but hoping for more with his high/high potential. If he cant score he will end up being useless.

The last of my 3 man class was Joshua Hartl C.  this man will get close to 50/40 ath/speed with 50 def and 60 shot blocking.  i am excited about his scoring potential as he should end up with 50 ball handling and low post scoring and with high/high potential in passing and perimeter 40 and 45 apiece and hopefully much higher.  So he may not be great at anything should be solid at a lot of areas.

THE GENERAL - Season 60 Preview

The W&L Generals went into this recruiting session looking for a SG to bolster outside shooting, a big man to augment the two lunch bucket guys recruited last season, and a PG who will probably be International as we roll the dice hoping for some luck.

Scouted the local states plus MInnesota, and sent letters, coach calls, personal calls to only 13 recruits. Tried to focus on a narrow few and try to bring home one really good recruit, one solid reserve player, and take a walk on if necessary.

Target #1 ended up being (PF) Gordon Repass ... after a couple of cycles of no activity on him, we rolled the dice and attempted to pull down. The numerous scouting visits showed all 7 high categories to be all high-high! He should be a beast down low scoring with what should be 75/57/91 ATH/SP/LP, and bolstered by 62/84/64 on DEF/REB/BLK. We focus solely on him as our one and only target if need be. Fended off two DIII schools that jumped on him, and then hung in long enough for the DII school that was on him to find a slightly better player. Needless to say Repass will spot start and get 14-18 minutes per game right out of the chute. He joins two very solid lunch pail recruits (Barrett & Lillis) down low from last season and it is the hope of the staff, that these three will anchor the Generals frontcourt for the next 3-4 seasons. Repass will allow of Barrett to be redshirted this season, since we forgot to redshirt him last! 

Target #2 was James Helms (SG) and we went to Minnesota to grab him. Other than knowing his raw potentials, nothing else is known. But if his ATH/BH can be high-high's, then he has the potential to spell both guard spots. Even though he will never be a starter, he'll be a welcome addition on our bench as we are in need of long range shooting to keep the defenses from sagging in. Hopefully our zone will be able to compensate for his lack of defense when he is in.

Target #3 was the Canadian born Jay Ford (PG). Since PG's are grabbed like they're gold, our prestige doesn't allow us to compete for most ODAC caliber PG's. Again we're rolling the dice in hopes that his SP/BH/P are at least high's. The one scouting visit did reveal his high-high potential in defense, but low in rebounding and perimeter. UPDATED Potential: High-High in Defense, High in BH, Low Reb/Per, Avergae in everything else. Could end up around 80/65/65/60/60 in Ath/Sp/Def/BH/P .... not stellar, but very serviceable off the bench as an athletic defender.

Like Ryan Alcocer, Gordon Repass is certainly worthy of consideration as an ODAC top-5 incoming recruit. 

If Helms and Ford do not pan out, W&L is still happy with the class. Landing Repass made our class, and we head into season 60 full of optimism for a PIT berth at a minimum. We also have enough SF/PF/C coming back over the next two season's to finally be able to focus solely on guard play, and with a hoped for increase in prestige ... finally have a chance to bring in the level of guards the rest of the conference has been used to having on their squads.
 

Recruit	POS	ATH	SPD	REB	DEF	BLK	LP	PER	BH	P	WE	ST	DU	TOT
Gordon Repass	PF	46	27	47	54	34	61	1	6	14	50	62	42	444
James Helms	SG	10	61	10	14	10	1	40	43	51	74	85	52	451
Jay Ford	PG	63	49	7	34	1	2	30	38	47	45	71	59	446

 
The team will run the Motion Offense and Zone Defense, and the preliminary depth chart with starters and subs:

PG: Jerry Nichols (jr), William Grey, Colin Powers
SG: Ryan Alcocer (jr), James Helms, Colin Powers
SF: John Love (sr/5), Ryan Alcocer, James Helms
PF: Douglas Carroll (sr), Rolando Williams, Harold Lillis, John Barrett
C: Gordon Repass (fr), Harold Lillis, Rolando Williams, John Barrett

The outlook for the team is promising, and the campus is filled with the excitement of the upcoming season. The expectations are for a 8-2 non-conference, followed up by 6-10 conference and a solid RPI/SOS. A PIT berth is probable with an NT berth possible. The Generals have arrived :)

With Roberts finally deciding to play at Roanoke instead of D2 Lincoln, it completed on of our best classes in a while.  Roberts was a late target after we decided to cut sophomore John Sotomayor (who is currently not going anywhere).  Roberts has high-high potential in PER and PAS, which means he should develop into a very skilled guard.  Our second recruit is Todd Millican, the only recruit I didn't have to battle for, but that's the advantage of recruiting from New Mexico.  He's high potential in all the right places and if some of these are high-highs, he could be a special player.  I fought off conference mate Emory and Henry for our next recruit, John Prince.  Prince may be listed as a PG, but his elite combo of ath/spd/def with good LP and not so great BH/P make him a great SF in my 3-2 zone/press system.  Our final recruit actually came from the D3 list.  Charles McCollum had to be won away from USA South school CNU, but that didn't take long.  While he won't be fast, McCollam should develop into a very solid rebounder and shot blocker, something very nice to have in a 3-2 zone.  If his LP turns out to be high-high, this class could go from very good to amazing.

Randolph Macon struggled last season, limping towards a first round PIT exit. The upside is that the six true freshman are now ready to contribute more than just turnovers and personal fouls. We're stacked with big guys, anchored by junior Alvin Grant. Grant still has plenty of low post development to do, and I'm expecting a lot from him this season and next. Lynch will start next to him, but plenty of bigs will see action, and I'm looking for big steps forward from Carl Pinkerton. Shay and Glenn will step in and contribute to our rebounding dominance. Jose Gonzales, the 7-foot Puerto Rican disaster, was cut because he was horrible and never even got to take off his warmups last season, his third on campus.

The only senior we lost was starting PG and main perimeter threat Joseph Kepler. Junior Adam Walker will move from SG to the point, and Michael Rainer will start at the 2. Both are fast and athletic, and while I'd like their passing to be a little better, they should form a solid duo and have good all-around numbers. Project sophomore Ronald Kruckeberg may emerge as a dangerous outside scoring threat off the bench.

Perhaps the biggest barometer of R-M's success this year will be the performance of lone senior Kenneth Whitcher. The small forward starts the season with a 735 overall rating. Impressive, but his individual category numbers fall into the "very good, not great" range so common to SFs. He'll get plenty of shots this season, and if his ATH/SPD/LP/PER creep up just a bit more, he'll lead the team back to the NT with around 18-20 ppg.

As for the recruits, well, they suck. I really felt the hit after my prestige fell to B. In fact, the only pulldown target that took my call was Andrew Powers, and I wasn't about to battle fussyd and Bethany for him. Both my recruits are middle of the road D3 material. Wesley Douglas has high-highs in speed, perimeter, and passing, so hopefully he'll develop into an ODAC level player. Clarence "Deeznuts" Dziedzic will lead the conference in Scrabble scoring, but will be a four year backup at point guard, likely after a redshirt season. BTW, I was blown away with how much I had to spend to pull Douglas away from C- SIM Plattsburgh St.

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Season Preview: W&L disappointed on the court last season in terms of wins and overall record, but the team was pretty competitive for the most part. The schedule was structured for 7-9 wins heading into conference season, if the team can jell and come out of the blocks determined. W&L will be flirting with the top-25 all during non-conference play and hopefully will gain confidence before the grueling gauntlet of ODAC play starts. W&L definitely is planning to play post season ball in one of the two tournaments, and has a very live shot at the NT this season. Can coach ix reach the promised land in his 10^th season at the General’s helm?

Lead by stellar SF Ryan Alcocer, dynamic PF Gordon Repass, and dependable C Harold Lillis .. the Generals are looking to make some noise. The speedy and ball handling skill of PG Jerry Nichols will help cut down on our back court turnovers. With decent depth at all the positions, the potential exists for the Generals to create some excitement this season. Alcocer is a dark horse for 1st team all-conference honors.

WLU Outlook (Season 66)

coming soon :)