St. Norbert edged out Ripon by 10 votes as the Red Hawks were only voted as low as third in the preseason poll. Lake Forest finished in the third spot of the poll earning the other lone first place vote followed by Beloit in fourth. A trio of teams – Carroll, Illinois C and Grinnell – are only separated by six votes in the fifth through seventh spots, respectively. Lawrence holds down the eighth spot while Monmouth and Knox round out the poll, finishing in a tie for ninth place.

 

St. Norbert looks for a repeat performance from a year ago when they won both the MWC Championship and the MWC Tournament, the first ever tournament championship for the Green Knights. Ripon, who has won 14 MWC Championships, will be playing for a chance to claim their seventh MWC Tournament spot since the MWC moved to tournament format in the 1990-91 season. Lawrence and Grinnell will try to get back on top after both shared a conference championship in the 2008-09 season as Lake Forest (1999-00), Beloit (1994-95), Monmouth (1989-90) and Knox (1974-75) look to end long droughts since each team’s last MWC Championship. Carroll and Illinois C will still be striving for their first ever MWC Championship despite each winning a MWC Tournament Championship.

 

Despite graduating the MWC Player of the Year, Carroll’s John Hoch, the four other All-MWC First Team selections return. Ripon’s Aris Wurtz and Scott Gillespie both come back after finishing in the top 11 in the nation in scoring while St. Norbert forward David Wipperfurth and Lake Forest sophomore Travis Clark round out the returning selections. Overall 13 of the 16 All-MWC selections return from last season.

 

Rnk      Team (1st place votes)

1.         St. Norbert (9)

2.         Ripon

3.         Lake Forest (1)

4.         Beloit

5.         Carroll

6.         Illinois C.

7.         Grinnell

8.         Lawrence

t9.        Monmouth

t9.        Knox

 

2009-10 Record: 23-4, 14-2

Returning All-MWC: David Wipperfurth (1st), John Taylor (2nd), Chris Peterson (2nd)

 

Gary Grzesk supports a senior laden team that looks for a repeat performance from 2009 when they accumulated a 23-4 record and won the MWC Championship by two games. The Green Knights return their top five scorers, led by Dave Wipperfurth and his 15.3 points per game. Chris Peterson (13.7 ppg) and John Taylor (10.6 ppg) join Wipperfurth at returnees averaging double figure points while Peterson led the team with 5.4 rebounds per game and Taylor finished third in the conference with 115 assists. Steve Papke finished second on the team in rebounding (4.6) and also chipped in 7.0 points per game. Last season the Green Knights ranked in the top 25 in the nation in five different statistical categories which include winning percentage (11th), scoring defense (19th), scoring margin (22nd), field goal percentage defense (22nd) and three-point defense (25th). As the season opens up the Green Knights were picked 10th by d3hoops.com in their preseason men’s basketball poll, the only MWC to be selected in the top-25.

 

2009-10 Record: 15-9, 10-6

Returning All-MWC: Scott Gillespie (1st), Aris Wurtz (1st)

 

Ripon boasts two of the top scorers in the nation and aim to capture their first MWC Championship since the 1998-99 season. Bob Gillespie enters his 31st season and brings back Aris Wurtz and Scott Gillespie who ranked eighth and 11th, respectively, in the nation in scoring. Wurtz averaged 21.3 points and scored 20 or more points 18 times last season. Not to be outdone, Gillespie averaged an almost identical 22.1 points and recorded 17 20+ point performances. Taylor Koth joins Ripon’s top guns after he averaged 9.3 points in only 23 minutes of action per night. Koth also was the team’s second leading rebounder with 5.3 rebounds per game. Alex Tomsheck will be relied on in the middle after leading the team in blocks (15) last season while also chipping in 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

 

2009-10 Record: 14-10, 12-4

Returning All-MWC: Travis Clark (1st)

 

Lake Forest welcomes back an experienced roster with eight juniors and two sophomores from a team that finished runner up in the 2009-10 regular season. Head coach Chris Conger returns All-MWC First Team selection Travis Clark to the team a year after he posted 17.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, good for fifth and second in the conference, respectively. Clark also posted a conference best 12 double-doubles last season while shooing 67% from the field, which ranked him second in all of Division-III. Despite the return of Clark, the Foresters will miss three starters from last year’s 14-10 team. Jeff Beck is the other returning starter for Conger and averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game last season. Drew Grennell (4.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and Dayton Young (4.2 ppg, 51% fg) will have expanded roles and be looked upon to fill the void on the offensive end.

 

2009-10 Record: 8-15, 6-10

Returning All-MWC: David Bremner (HM), Travis Towns (HM)

 

Head coach Brian Vraney and Beloit enters the 2010-11 season returning two MWC All-Conference Honorable Mention players, junior forwards David Bremner and Travis Towns. Towns led the Bucs last season averaging 15.4 points per game, good for ninth in the conference. Bremner averaged 14.3 points per contest and pulled down a team-high 126 rebounds a season ago. Beloit also brings back three other starters from last year’s team. Derek Carrier (10.4 ppg, 53% fg%), Patrick Kenny (8.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and Michael Horton (7.7 ppg, 3.2 apg) headline the rest of the returnees for the Bucs who only lost three players due to graduation. Beloit will look to improve on the seventh place finish from last season.

 

2009-10 Record: 16-9, 10-6

Returning All-MWC: Paul Grosshuesch (2nd)

 

Despite losing the leagues top scorer from a year ago head coach Dave Buchanan will look to reload and claim the Pioneers first MWC Championship in school history. The Pioneers lost the 2009-10 MWC Player of the Year, John Hoch, due to graduation and will need to find a way to replace his 24.8 points per game and 138 assists from a year ago. Carroll does return All-MWC Second Team selection Paul Grosshuesch for his senior year as he returns as the team’s top scorer. Grosshuesch scored 13.6 points per game and pulled down a league high 10 rebounds per game while shooting 52% from the field. Kyle Jones (9.5 ppg, 40 3 fg) and Taylor Patrick (5.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg) will be looked upon to pick up the slack after the Pioneers lost thee of their top six scorers from a year ago.

 

2009-10 Record: 12-11, 8-8

Returning All-MWC: Jacob Tucker (2nd)

 

A year after just finishing outside the playoff picture the Blue Boys look to crack the top four and play for a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Mike Worrell welcomes back All-MWC Second Team selection Jacob Tucker after he finished the 2009 season as the conference’s sixth leading scorer. Tucker averaged 17.2 points per game while also finishing eighth in the league with 6.4 rebounds per game. The Blue Boys will be missing All-MWC performer David Stewart who finished third on the team with 15.1 points per game and a team high 7.3 rebounds per game. Junior Craig Bals returns after finishing eighth in the league averaging 15.6 points per contest and shooting 41% from behind the arc. Nathan Kohler had a successful freshman campaign last season where he averaged 12.3 points and shot 87% from the charity stripe, good for second in the conference.

 

2009-10 Record: 8-15, 6-10

Returning All-MWC: --

 

A year after not qualifying for the MWC Tournament head coach David Arseneault aims to get back on track after being crowned co-champions in the 2008. In Arseneault’s run and gun system the Pioneers used 20 different players throughout the 2009 season and returns the top two scorers: Griffin Lentsch and Matt Skelly. Lentsch led the Pioneers scoring 18.1 points per game and Skelly returns 15.8 points and 68 three-point field goals. Grinnell far and away led the league in three-point field goals made per game, making almost 18 per contest, but will have to cope with the loss of Dylan Seelman and his 107 three-pointers made. The Pioneers also welcome back Scott Kaitz who dished out 88 assists for a team that finished second in the MWC with 16.8 assists per game. The Pioneers will look to continue its high flying offense as it finished last season ranked first in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 95.9 points per game.

 

 

2009-10 Record: 11-12, 8-8

Returning All-MWC: --

 

Joel DePagter welcomes a young team to the court this season as the Vikings push for a MWC Tournament berth after a sixth-place finish a year ago. The youthful roster contains eight freshman and three sophomores and will go into the season without last year’s top player, John Dekker, who averaged 21.5 points per game. The Vikings return the team’s top rebounder, Erik Borresen, who averaged 7.3 rebounds per game, good for fourth in the conference. Borresen is joined by Tyler Crisman, who scored 8.7 points per game last season and was second on the team with 31 three-point field goals made. DePagter also brings back Jon Mays, who shot 51% from the field and scored 6.6 points per contest.

 

2009-10 Record: 5-18, 4-12

Returning All-MWC: Eric Cogdill (HM)

 

Monmouth will try to turn the corner in head coach Mark Vershaw’s fourth season at the helm after finishing last season with a 5-18 overall record, with only two of the wins coming in conference play. Corey Gruber returns for his final year after finishing third on the team in scoring with 9.6 points per game last season. The guard also canned a team-high 28 three-pointers and will lead a new-look team. The Scots have added 6-foot-10 transfer Wes Dukeman to the predominantly guard-oriented lineup. Junior Cory Bishop at 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds returns to the hard-court to add more muscle inside after a standout fall on the gridiron.

 

2009-10 Record: 2-21, 2-14

Returning All-MWC: Joe Kozak (HM)

 

Rob Purlee looks to improve Knox’s 2-21 record from a year ago and move up in the standings after a tenth place finish last season. Purlee returns his top four scorers that accounts for 73% of his offense from a year ago, headlined by Ben Wetherbee. Wetherbee averaged 11.9 points and nailed a team-high 45 three’s while shooting 80% from the free throw line. Joe Kozak (11.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg), Matt Goedeke (11.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Tanner Carlson (11.1 ppg, 57 assists) round out the top returnees for the Prairie Fire. Purlee has also brought in transfer David Jones from Air Force Academy Prep School. Jones averaged 12.7 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game his senior season at Colorado Academy High School where he also was a 2009 McDonald's All-American nominee.