Friday, October 28, 2011

NSIC Coaches Pick Augustana and Wayne to Win; I Don't

The NSIC got the jump on pre-season prognosticating this week with the publication of their coaches polls.

The Men

The men's coaches picked Augustana to win it all this year, and why not? Only Augustana returns 2 1st team all-NSIC players in Cody Schilling, a 6-5 senior who also led the NSIC in scoring last year with 21 ppg, and Cameron McCaffrey, a 6-1 junior who was #6 in scoring at 18.5 ppg. If successful, this would be Augie's 1st-ever NSIC champion. Augie only joined the NSIC in 2009 with the demise of the North Central Conference.

The coaches have Winona State, Minnesota State-Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul next, and all 3 get 1st place votes. Mankato is 2-time defending regular season champ, while Winona is the defending play-off champ. Concordia has a 1st (guard Peter Olafeso) and 2nd (6-10 Brent Barz) team all-conference players returning. Winona will be led by 6-7 junior Clayton Vette, whose post-season play was the reason for the Warriors' jump from 4th in the conference in the regular season to 1st in the playoffs. He is the only 1st team all-tournament player to return.

Personally, I like Augustana but I like Winona State better, and I have Vette among the candidates for my all-Minnesota team for 2011-2012. But of course Cody Schilling is not a Minnesota-based player and so not eligible for my little honorarium.

The Women

I strenuously object to the women's poll which has defending regular season champ Wayne State on top, followed by defending post-season champion Winona State, then Augustana, Moorhead State, Minnesota State-Mankato, Northern State and Concordia.

My choices are Winona State first, UMD second, and then Moorhead State, Wayne State, Concordia, Northern and Augustana.

The coaches further have the 2010-2011 player of the year Ashley Arlen of Wayne St., a 6-2 senior forward, as their pick to repeat as PoY. I don't agree with that, either. Nothing against Arlen, who is terrific, but she doesn't have much help coming back, and if Wayne indeed finishes below first place, there will be a tendency to look elsewhere when it comes time to vote on the PoY.

My pick is another 6-2 senior forward, Angie Jetvig of Moorhead State. Jetvig, from Hawley, MN, is the defending conference scoring leader at 19.5 points per game; Arlen scored 16.5. Jetvig shot 52 percent from the field, Arlen 43 percent.

And Moorhead State added Angela Christianson to an already formidable roster during the off-season and will challenge for the conference championship this year--even finishing ahead of Wayne if I am correct. Christianson, of course, was an all-stater at Alexandria High School, then played 1 year of Division 1 ball at Drake, where she scored 8 points per game as a freshman before transferring back closer to home.

But it is Winona and UMD who will fight it out for the title this year, IMHO. Winona is of course defending conference play-off champion with 6-foot senior forward Michelle McDonald, 1st team all-conference a year ago, and 5-6 junior guard Katie Wolff, who made the all-tournament team, coming back.

UMD, meanwhile, takes less of a star-studded approach, though 5-9 senior guard Lindsay Miller, 2nd team all-conference last year, returns. But it's their depth and their coach who moves me to put them at (or near) the top of the list. 5-11 forward Katrina Newman was Freshman of the Year last year, and will jump into the 1st team all-conference level of play this year. 6-foot senior Shelly Stemper, who made the 1st all-defensive team last year, is also back. The Bulldogs will miss Kelsey Hewitt in the paint, but 6-5 senior Emma Van Winkle and 6-2 junior Hannah Rutten are back. And perhaps 6-2 Julie Kruse will be ready to contribute now in her sophomore year. Alyssa Kerkhoff and Jessica Newman are probably not ready to contribute as freshmen, but make a pretty classy 2-person recruiting class.

And then there's coach Annette Wiles, who got a lot out of these Bulldogs the past couple of years while also building up the stock of talent in what was a pretty empty cupboard when she arrived at UMD. UMD finished 16-12 her 1st year (2008-2009) compared with 4-23 the year before. She was 300-141 when she arrived at Duluth, and the cumulative record says she can coach a little. My choice for coach of the year, which will of course be a no-brainer if the Bulldogs finish as high as 2nd.

To Summarize

The candidates for my post-season awards include:

Team of the Year--Winona State men, Winona State women, UMD women

Player of the Year--Angie Jetvig, Moorhead State; Clayton Vette, Winona State

Coach of the Year--Annette Wiles, UMD women; Mike Leaf, Winona State men

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