ABU's Chavez Harper Gets 'Battle Tested' in the Cleveland Pro-Am

Philippi, West Virginia is home of Alderson Broaddus University. But from a historical prospective, Philippi is known as the first land battle of the Civil War which occurred in June of 1861. Although many historians consider the Battle of Philippi to be nothing more than a skirmish, it was hailed by the northern press as a major victory in the war. The troops of the Union and Confederacy that took part in this battle were considered 'inexperienced'. But the battle did have consequences. It would propel Major General George B. McClellan into a status symbol of the Union military. It is from this brief account that ABU gets the nickname the Battlers. ABU's mascot is known as Skirmish.

Forward the account of Philippi to this past basketball season for Alderson Broaddus. A young 6-5,
205 pound freshman forward from Cleveland, OH named Chavez Harper arrived on campus to join a team that returned all but one player from the previous basketball season. Harper was coming off a senior season at Euclid High School where he averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds per game. But as many freshman will attest, the transition from the high school ranks to college isn't always a smooth one. In fact, some say that it takes a season to get 'battle tested'. Harper would be the first to say that he too experienced the transition highs and lows. "My first year at AB was a roller coaster ride. I struggled mainly because of myself. I was not confident at all. I was always worried about making a mistake. And I worried so much about not making a mistake that I made more mistakes than I should have." stated Harper.

Battler Beat won't make it out that Harper didn't have his moments as a freshman. In the always competitive Gary Miller Classic at Gannon University, Harper showed glimpses of the potential that he was bringing to the Battler basketball program. The first game of the classic was against Slippery Rock. Harper put in nine points on 3 of 3 shooting from the field including one 3-pointer. He did this in 14 minutes of play. That performance caught the eye of head coach Greg Zimmerman who would insert Harper into the starting lineup the next evening against eventual PSAC regular season and tournament champion Gannon. Harper would not disappoint. He contributed 13 points in the winning effort on the road. The Hammermill Center isn't always the easiest venue to get a victory either. And it is certainly not an easy place for a freshman to get his first start and contribute a double-digit point effort.

But what happens to many freshman would happen to Harper during the 2014-15 season. He would play his share of minutes during certain games. But other games would see Chavez watch and learn from the bench. He was a forward competing for minutes against two experienced all-conference forwards in juniors Richard Lemon and Thylas Perkins. Both of those two had been through the 'battles' of D2 basketball. They had both been starters on the 2013-14 G-MAC regular season and tournament champion season. Harper was still trying to find his niche on the team.

Despite the ups-and-downs in playing time, Chavez Harper was never forgotten during his freshman season. His most telling time,that may have changed his whole outlook, occurred during the 2015 G-MAC tournament championship game against Kentucky Wesleyan. Thylas Perkins was limited in minutes due to an ongoing back problem that plagued him earlier in the season. The player that Coach Zimmerman turned to was Chavez Harper. It was during this championship contest that Harper started to gain some confidence again. His stat line may not seem that imposing. He had zero points and four defensive rebounds in ten minutes of play. At the same time though, he didn't hurt the team during a tight defensive contest. He had zero turnovers and played well on the defensive end. "The championship game was a great experience for me. The longer I stayed on the floor, the more relaxed I got. Prior to the championship, my goal was to prove to every body that I was good enough. I doubted what I could do every day, and it affected my game negatively. When the championship game came, I had one goal and that was to win that title. Whatever the team needed, I wanted to do. The championship game is where I started to believe in myself more. I was just so happy to a part of something so special. Ever since that day, I haven't doubted myself one bit." stated Harper.

Chavez Harper is now proving to be prophetic in his exclamation of self-confidence. One only has to look at his production in the highly competitive Cleveland Pro-Am League that occurs every summer in the Cleveland/Akron area. It is a league home to many professional and division one players. It is also stocked with players who have honors in the D2, D3 and NAIA ranks of college basketball. This summer Chavez Harper has not only been getting 'battle tested' but he is winning many of the key 'battles' on the court. This is the second straight summer that Harper has been a part of the Cleveland Pro-Am. He played in last year's league upon graduating from high school. But Harper is the first to say that this summer has been totally different than last year's experience. In part because Harper has already experienced what the league was like. You could say that he was battle-tested coming into this summer. "Stepping on the court in the Cleveland Pro Am and performing consistently is not easy to do. I tried to play after I graduated high school and I really could not hang. I was not ready for the style of play and how physical it was. Before I played like I just wanted to play good. Now, whenever I step on the court, I want to dominate." said Harper.

We asked Chavez how this experience this summer has been different. He replied: "My experience this summer has been great! I have been blessed enough to grow my game, and showcase my talents by competing against some of the best players from all over the state of Ohio. I think being able to complete against many athletes who play at a higher level than I do currently, and players who have been through the same path I am on now, has helped me to elevate my game. The mindset going into the summer was to prepare myself to be an asset to the team for my sophomore season at AB. Without a doubt, competing against professional athletes and players who play at other colleges around the country, has helped me a lot. Every time I step on the court I think of what I can do to be better for my teammates and coaches at AB. I look forward to guarding players who play professionally, and matching up with the players who many people know are really good. Competing against players who have proven they are great has made me relentless in my approach to dominate. It put a chip on my shoulder feeling like I wasn't good enough to compete. Now whenever I step on the court I am confident that I can compete no matter who is in front of me."

One only has to look at the numbers that Chavez Harper has been putting up night-in and night-out at the Cleveland Pro-Am to see that he certainly has played with a chip on his shoulder. He was named one of the Day 7 Top Performers after his 15 point/12 rebound performance in a league game. It didn't stop there however. On Day 9, he was once again named one of the top performers on the Cleveland Pro-Am website due to his 24 point/8 rebound effort in leading his team to victory. He would notch another top performer award for a 25 point/15 rebound outburst. For his efforts, Chavez was honored with the accolade of being named to the 1st-team Cleveland/Akron Pro-Am team. The slate for the 1st-team was pretty good too. Joining Harper on the 1st team were: Todd Brown Jr (former double-digit performer for Wright State who now plays professionally), Jimond Ivey (a member of Akron's basketball team), and Justin Jamison (who played for Texas Tech). To put things in perspective, Jesse Hardin, who was Walsh's leading scorer last season, was named to the 3rd-team in this league. There were many other notable players in this league. Harper competed against Kwan Cheatham, Pat Forsythe and Demetrius Treadwell who played for the University of Akron last season. The latter two players were double-digit scorers for the Zips. He also went against Garrick Sims who plays professionally in Europe and Nick Harney, who once played for Akron, but was a 1st-team all-MEC pick last season for Fairmont State last season. But maybe his biggest battle came against Jared Sullinger. Sullinger played basketball for Ohio State University and was a 1st-round pick of the Boston Celtics. Needless to say, Chavez put up his numbers against many a high-level player when he took the court in the league each night.

But all good players now that there is more to honing their skills than playing league ball. We asked Chavez what Coach Zimmerman asked him to work on in the off-season. Harper replied: "Coach Zimmerman really wanted me to spend a lot time on my jump shot. Making the mid-range jumper consistently and shooting within the flow of the game have been big for me this summer. He also wanted me to get stronger. He wants me to be able to guard multiple positions such as small forwards and power forward. Lastly, he wanted me playing with more mental toughness. Being able to handle adversity and block out things that don't go my way are all things he really wanted me to be able to do by the time I returned for my sophomore season." He didn't stop their in going over his weekly routines for the summer. Chavez has kept himself occupied beyond playing in the league and working individually on his game. Chavez told us that he has been "running on the track, running up bleachers and lifting weights" all summer long.

While the whole summer experience has been great for Chavez, he doesn't forget the many roller coaster rides that he experienced his freshman season at ABU. He feels there are many factors that will lead him to having a better sophomore year and career at AB. The Cleveland Pro-Am was certainly one factor. But the overall school experience was another. "I learned a lot from my freshman year. I now know what it takes to be a part of something special and what it takes to be a college athlete. Adjusting to college was tough but with the support of my teammates, coaches and the great community, it was easier to adjust as the school year progressed." But Harper also noted that those freshman roller coasters would now lead to much smoother rides upon his arrival in Philippi in August. He notes that he now knows what to expect not only as an athlete but as a student as well. "School was great," noted Harper. "I changed my major from education to business, and I am very happy with that decision. Business fits me more, and I enjoy the professors who teach it. AB is a great place to focus on school and basketball without having too many distractions. I look forward to my future at AB."

It appears on the surface that the Cleveland/Akron Pro-Am League has helped Chavez's game, confidence and overall approach to winning. He stated that the league provided an awesome experience to better his future on the court. But Chavez was the first to note that he doesn't plan on stopping his progress in Cleveland. He had strong words for the AB Battler fans, alumni and community: "I will do whatever it takes to be successful. I will continue to work hard to be the best I can be on and off the court. Our team will continue to work as hard as we possibly can to make sure our fans are happy. Thank you to all the fans for your unparalleled support and love and I look forward to helping the team defend our conference championship, and also earn a national championship in the near future."

Those are good, strong words for a sophomore-to-be. But Chavez has backed those words up with strong performances in a tough league that features quality players every night. Just like Major General McClellan became an experienced leader in the Civil War after the Battle of Philippi, we think it is safe to say that Chavez Harper is now more "Battle Tested" as the 2015-16 basketball season approaches.

Battler Beat Interview and Outlook on AB Recruit Ja' Darien Wade

It was announced last week that Alderson Broaddus men's basketball program had received a letter of intent from Parkersburg High School standout Ja' Darien Wade (pictured in red #5). The Big Reds are coming off an impressive season in which they advanced to the West Virginia AAA state basketball tournament where they were beat in the quarterfinals on a buzzer beater by Hurricane. Wade had a big impact on that team. He led the team in scoring with a 21.4 point per game average. He did that while shooting 53% from the field. He also contributed 7.4 rebounds per game. For his contributions, Wade was named to the 1st-team West Virginia AAA boy's basketball team. He was also named to the 1st-team all Mountain State Athletic Conference team. The MSAC is a highly competitive AAA conference in the state of West Virginia. We caught up with both Ja' Darien and his high school coach Jeff Mennillo to get their thoughts on: Wade's game, his senior year of high school and his prospects as a Battler.

We asked Wade when did ABU first starting recruiting him. "It really all started at the state tournament", said Wade. He said his accomplishments, as this past season progressed, led to more interest. But Ja' Darien was the first to say "the team awards were far greater than my individual awards". Parkersburg competed night in and night out against some of the best AAA schools in WV that included the likes of Capital, Huntington, South Charleston, Hurricane and rival Parkersburg South. His head basketball coach agreed with our assessment of Wade being a major impact on the Big Reds season. "JD was a huge part of our success. He showed up every game. In the locker room, he was a great leader. And off the court, he was a great son." stated Parkersburg head coach Jeff Mennillo.

Wade's production and attitude toward winning looks typical of what Alderson Broaddus Men's Basketball Coach Greg Zimmerman recruits. Zimmerman wants more than a player that produces statistics. He wants a player that produces against the best competition and leads his team to victory while maintaining that production. Ja' Darien Wade certainly did that this past season against some of the best teams and players that the state of West Virginia has to offer. When Wade squared off on the road against South Charleston and WVU commit Brandon Knapper, Ja' Darien finished the game with 20 points and 10 rebounds. When the Big Reds went against an athletic and highly rated Capital team, Wade produced a 17 point / 8 rebound effort. In the state tournament, he scored 24 points against a well-seasoned Hurricane team. This type of production was against three teams that finished the season rated in the top 6 of the West Virginia Class AAA poll. This is the type of thing that Greg Zimmerman wants from a player. Wade will need to continue to produce like that as the G-MAC becomes more and competitive with the likes of 8-time Division II national champion winner Kentucky Wesleyan and a Findlay program that won the Division II national championship and finished 36-0 in 2009. Coach Zimmerman wants winning players in order to continue to defend their back-to-back regular season and tournament championships that they earned in the G-MAC.

We asked Ja' Darien what position on the floor he thought he would play when he arrived in Philippi. "I think primarily I will be a shooting guard. But really, I can play a little bit of every thing", stated Wade. His coach didn't disagree and added more to that assessment. "I see JD playing a big guard such as a two or three. He has good ball-handling skills, a great 3-point shot and a good explosive first step", stated Coach Mennillo.

Coach Mennillo didn't stop there with his praise of Wade. Coach Mennillo is a veteran high school basketball coach in the state of West Virginia. He has led several teams to the state tournament as head coach. His words of praise should be ringing to all AB fans. "JD spent more time in the gym than any other player I coached in the past 28 years. He is a good teammate and completely committed to winning. Players and coaches will enjoy being around Ja' Darien. He is likeable.", stated Mennillo.

That type of words coming from a coach is impressive. But every coach realizes that no player is perfect. We asked Coach Mennillo if there was one thing in Ja' Darien's game that he needed to work on when playing for a successful and demanding coach like Greg Zimmerman. Coach Mennillo was honest in his assessment. "Ja' Darien will really need to work on the defensive end. If there is an area of improvement, it is his defensive skill set." state Mennillo. But the coach was quick to add: "I am sure that he will work on it". Coach Mennillo also noted that going from high school ball to college ball has differences. "He may need a year to get comfortable with the speed and physicality of the game." said Mennillo. That may not be a problem though. It would appear on the surface that there may not be as much stress for Wade in his first year in Philippi since AB is returning five seniors and three all-conference performers. That experience factor should allow Wade to gradually pick up Coach Zimmerman's system.

We asked Ja' Darien what eventually led him to signing with Alderson Broaddus. "I like the school location. A lot of students there play sports so they are going to be like me. It also felt like home up there. The basketball team was polite on my visit. It just felt like I wanted to be there for 4 years." said Wade. As of now, Wade is undecided in a major. He stated he wanted to give that aspect some more time and thought.

We ended our interview by asking Ja' Darien if he had any thing that he wanted to tell AB fans about himself or any message he had for AB fans. Ja' Darien didn't hold back in his response to Battler fans. "AB fans need to know they are getting a hard worker. I am committed to your team. I am excited to be a Battler." said Wade. Battler Beat congratulates Ja' Darien on his signing with Alderson Broaddus University.

Former Battler Nate Barnes Lands Pro Contract

Battler Beat has learned that former Alderson Broaddus guard Nate Barnes has landed a professional
basketball contract in a league in Nicaragua. Nate has recently signed to play with Los Trinis of the ACB League of Nicaragua in Trinidad. Barnes is a native of Cleveland, Ohio.

Nate Barnes played for Alderson Broaddus during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. During the 2010-11 season, he averaged 19 points per game which garnered him 1st-team All-WVIAC honors as a junior. Nate played the two-guard that season. The 2011-12 season saw Nate move to the point guard position when fellow Cleveland native Kurklin Bohanon (pictured below with Nate) arrived at AB. Barnes averaged 16.5 points per game and 5 assists per game that season. Prior to coming to Alderson Broaddus, Barnes was twice named 1st-team All-Ohio Community College Athletic Conference for his performances at Lakeland Community College during his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Nate debuted for Los Trinis a few nights ago. In his debut game, he scored 20 points. We congratulate Nate Barnes on his contract and will keep AB basketball fans updated on Nate's progress here at Battler Beat.

Battler Beat Catches Up with Recruit Malik Bocook

We reported last month that Alderson Broaddus Head Coach Greg Zimmerman worked hard to land Zanesville, Ohio product Malik Bocook. Zimmerman has two seniors to replace from last season's team as wing player Ali Bilal and post player Tobias Dowdell have graduated from ABU. Zimmerman started recruiting Bocook back in December of  this past basketball season in hopes of landing his talents. We recently caught up with Malik to get his thoughts on his senior year of basketball at Zanesville High School, the recruiting process by AB and his expectations when he arrives in Philippi.

Malik talked a little bit about how the recruiting process worked. "AB first started recruiting me around December. Ever since then, the coaching staff at AB was my first choice", stated Bocook. It was in December that Malik was just starting what he described to us as "a great senior year". Zanesville High School finished the season with a 19-6 record. Bocook helped his team by averaging  19.5 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game. For his hard work and contributions, Bocook was named to the 1st-team AP Ohio HS Eastern All-District Basketball Team. He was also named to the second team AP All-Ohio All-State basketball team. He stated the coaching staff at AB projects him as a small or power forward. Video of Malik shows that he is a very versatile player. He is athletic and can take a defender off the dribble. He has the ability to run off a screen, catch, square and hit the outside jumper. His athleticism allows him to guard and defend several different positions on the floor. Video also shows tremendous jumping ability and athleticism around the basket.

Bocook gave a lot of credit to his high school coach. "I had one of the best coaches in the state in Scott Aronhalt". Coach Aronhalt stated earlier that Bocook had other offers on the table. Malik said other notable schools showing interest were West Liberty, Wheeling Jesuit and Ohio Dominican. But in the end, what helped lead Malik to Alderson Broaddus? Bocook stated: "the number one thing that really got me was how much Coach Zimm and the coaching staff care about the players".  Bocook says he wants to major in criminal justice while at ABU. "I want to be a federal special agent", stated Bocook.

We also asked Malik about what it was like to play for current Zanesville assistant coach and former West Liberty All-American Cedric Harris. Many Battler fans may remember the play of Harris, a former 1st-team All-American who also was from Zanesville. Malik said the following about getting some coaching from Harris: "I can't even put into words how much fun it was to be coached by him. He always had tips and drills for me. Coach Harris was always on my back during school and throughout practice. It was just a blast to be coached by him".

In the end of the interview, we gave Malik the opportunity to tell us any thing he would want Battler fans to know about himself, his plans, his career, his game, etc. He gave us a one-sentence statement that we think says it all about what the Battler basketball program is getting. "All I want to say to the AB fans is that I will do whatever it takes to win", stated Bocook emphatically. We thought that was all that needed to be said.

Battlers Return to Erie for Thanksgiving Tournament

Battler Beat has learned that the Alderson Broaddus men's basketball team will return to Erie, Pennsylvania to take part in the 32nd Annual Gary Miller Classic to be held over Thanksgiving Break. All games will take place at the Hammermill Center located on the campus of Gannon University. The Gary Miller Classic is a championship/consolation tournament set up.

The Battlers will play in the first game on Friday, November 27th against Ashland University. Game time has been set for 5:30 PM. If they win, then they will play on Saturday, November 28th at 7:30 PM in the championship game. If they lose against Ashland, then they will play on Saturday, November 28th at 5:30 PM in the consolation game. The other bracket contains Gannon University versus Le Moyne College. Gannon was the PSAC West regular season champion and also the PSAC tournament champion. The Battlers defeated Gannon last season in this same classic. Le Moyne is coached by former West Virginia University standout and former WV Wesleyan head coach Patrick Beilein.






                 

How Will the G-MAC Look by 2017 as Expansion Continues?

Battler Beat knows one thing for sure. The Great Midwest Athletic Conference, which Alderson Broaddus is a part of, has added some quality institutions to conference membership. It was announced on Monday, June 29 that University of Findlay, Hillsdale College, Walsh University, Ohio Dominican University and Lake Erie College accepted membership as G-MAC members for the 2017-18 school year. This followed the May announcement that Malone University would join the G-MAC for the 2016-17 school year. This would put conference membership at 13 schools by 2017. That is an odd amount of schools. It would give the conference 8 football-playing members. But with the fact that it is only 13 schools and 8 of them playing football, it leads us to believe that the conference is not done with expansion. We also add the remark that the Lake Erie College president made this week in that he feels the conference could have up to 17 members by 2017. It leads us to believe that the expansion track isn't complete. Today we decide to give our prediction on what the conference will look like by the 2017-18 school year. In future posts, we will detail how the conference expansion will greatly aide the athletic department at Alderson Broaddus University.

Will any of the Current G-MAC schools defect?

We certainly hope not. But the geographic layout of the conference could possibly lead to one defection. Trevecca Nazarene's athletic director came out this week and said that the Trojans are committed to the G-MAC with a caveat that southern expansion needs to occur next. We actually believe him and also believe that G-MAC Commissioner Tom Daeger will now successfully make that move. Daeger brokered a great expansion deal this past spring. He deserves a ton of credit for the leadership that he has shown through the whole G-MAC ordeals. When Cumberland and Georgetown were turned down for D2 membership, he came up with a different and even better plan for expansion. He looked to obtain new members from what many believe is the top D2 conference in America. The GLIAC is regarded as the top D2 conference as far as athletics are concerned. Many would have thought it to be impossible to get members to leave the GLIAC and join the G-MAC. But the fact is that many of the private schools in the GLIAC were swamped by the large-state schools in Michigan. Some of those D2 state-schools in Michigan have bigger enrollments than Marshall University and some are almost as big as West Virginia University. So what Daeger did is to contact the much smaller private schools primarily located in Ohio and ask if they would be interested in joining a fledgling league in the G-MAC. His outline of what he visioned for the league sold these institutions into joining the league. For now, Daeger has G-MAC membership at 13 schools.

Word has surfaced from multiple avenues that Cumberland was rejected last year on some faulty logic in their NCAA membership plan. Cumberland is very strong in many sports at the NAIA level. Their baseball facility has to be one of the better small-college baseball facilities in the country. The logic given for Cumberland's denial was that 'their student-athletes didn't have quite enough community service hours' and that the school's 'community-service plan wasn't quite what the NCAA wanted'. Many believe at the time that the GLIAC and GLVC members on the NCAA expansion committee drove the attempt to not have the G-MAC expand. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen. What is true is that the NCAA did set up some different ways that the expansion committee was to operate. With the G-MAC now expanding to 6 more NCAA D2 members, it is believed that it will not only be easier to convince to southern NAIA schools to apply to Division 2 status but that these schools will likely be accepted.

We believe and predict that two NAIA schools will apply for D2 membership for the 2017-18 year. We believe those two schools will be Cumberland Univeristy located in Lebanon, Tennessee. We also believe that Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky will apply. These two schools would lie in close proximity to current G-MAC members Trevecca Nazarene and Kentucky Wesleyan. We feel Cumberland and LWC have the athletic makeup and like-minded institution traits that the league is looking for. Cumberland has a powerhouse baseball program at the NAIA level. It would be a great baseball partner with Trevecca's outstanding baseball program. LWC's athletic department is very good overall. Both schools also have football. We will detail later in this post as to why we feel a southern NAIA expansion will be a component. But certainly this league would like to keep two current schools in the markets of Nashville, TN and Owensboro, KY. Adding another school in Nasheville would be even better. The G-MAC also doesn't want to take any chance of losing Kentucky Wesleyan's basketball tradition. KWC has football and may not be so quick to jump from the G-MAC. But the conference certainly wants to keep a school in the league that has 8 NCAA Division II men's basketball championships to their credit. History and tradition mean a lot.

Where does the G-MAC go after the southern NAIA expansion?

Our next prediction is how we believe the G-MAC may look and why we believe the next expansion moves point to if the NAIA piece is successful this time. We believe that the G-MAC will rely on the Pod scheduling system as compared to a two-division G-MAC. We believe the G-MAC will go to a Pod scheduling system simply because the G-MAC is a conference will have a large geographic layout by 2017-18. We also believe the it makes to much sense to go in that direction. It would be a four-pod league based on geography. It would cut down on travel for the non-football sports.

We believe the next school that will either be invited or will express a dire interest to join will be Notre Dame College in South Euclid, OH. It just makes too much sense. They are geographically going to be too close to many of the G-MAC schools. We believe one pod would feature: Kentucky Wesleyan, Trevecca Nazarene, Cumberland  and Lindsey Wilson. Another geographic pod would feature: Walsh, Lake Erie, Malone and Notre Dame. Another geographic pod (although a bit more spread out) would be: Cedarville, Urbana, Findlay and Hillsdale. But in this day and age of D2 conferences, travel is going to occur. This pod isn't all that bad really.

But then that leaves us with Alderson Broaddus and Davis & Elkins and their pod. That becomes interesting. In order to get our prediction, we have to revisit history a little bit. When the WVIAC broke up and the MEC formed, their was a blip in between. Ed Welch, president of UC, led a movment to keep the WVIAC in place. UC, WV State, UPJ, Bluefield State, Wheeling Jesuit, WV Wesleyan, AB, D&E and Ohio Valley agreed to keep the league in place. The problem was that there were not enough football institutions for UC, WV State and WV Wesleyan to remain. It would have been a problem for them. Robin Capehart gave UC, State, Wesleyan and Wheeling 48 hours to make a decision on whether to join the MEC or not. They went to the MEC but with feet dragging. This has all been documented in newspaper articles from a few years ago.

But now with G-MAC expansion of six D2 institutions, the cards sit pretty for Tom Daeger. Private schools in the state of West Virginia rely heavily on out-of-state student enrollments. The financial condition of the state of WV dictates that there are not enough students in the state of WV to keep these private institutions alive. These private WV schools also have to recruit heavily out-of-state. There are not enough in-state athletes to fill out all the rosters. It would lead us to believe that some of the current MEC private institutions and their coaches may like the idea of being in a conference that is branched out into four states. It makes it easier for a basketball coach at UC to tell an Ohio basketball player that you will be coming back home to Ohio to play several basketball games a year. Plus there is a strong feeling among MEC private schools that the MEC was a league-formed and terms dictated to by West Liberty and Shepherd. It is perceived as a state-school run league. For instance, the MEC expansion committee has been made of only two people for some time: commissioner Reid Amos and Shepherd AD B.J. Pomeroy. Amos was a long-standing state employee for both Fairmont State and West Liberty. Was that the reason for the blip caused by UC President Ed Welch back in the formation of the MEC? Remember that individual league members of the MEC do not get a vote in league expansion. That is left up to this two-person committee.

With all of that being said, we believe that if other expansion plans occur that either University of Charleston, WV Wesleyan or Wheeling Jesuit will be invited to join the G-MAC. We only feel Wheeling would be invited if they started a football program up. WV Wesleyan makes a lot of sense since they are close to AB and D&E. UC might be a reach but it was Ed Welch who was never in favor of disbanding the WVIAC. Charleston is also an institution that recruits heavily both student and student-athlete wise into the state of Ohio. But this would be a pod that might include Ohio Valley instead of Charleston....let's keep that in mind. We actually think Wheeling Jesuit might be the most ideal school to come in, but we do believe the fact that they don't have football might hurt their chances of getting an invite. Right now they are in a good situation in the MEC being that they are the only school in that league without football. That allows them to dump more scholarship money into sports like basketball and volleyball since they do not have to fund football

What would the pod system look like in the G-MAC?

Southwest Pod               Midwest Pod              Northeast OH Pod              WV Pod

Kentucky Wesleyan        Cedarville                    Notre Dame                      OVU
Trevecca Nazarene          Hillsdale                     Walsh                               AB
Cumberland                     Findlay                        Malone                             DE
Lindsey Wilson               Ohio Dominican          Lake Erie                         WV Wesleyan or WJ

How would scheduling work for league members?

We believe that there is always going to be travel in the G-MAC. But we believe the following scenario would cut-down on travel quite a bit. We are going to use men's basketball as our example. But this would really apply to most sports that aren't football. It is just easier to show how this would work under one sport. We chose the sport we are most familiar with: men's basketball.

We believe that in men's basketball that all members in one pod would play each member twice. For instance, Cedarville, Hillsdale, Findlay and OD would all play each other home-and-home duirng the course of a season. That would give each member 6-league games to start with.

We believe that due to geographic layout that the Southwest Pod members and the Midwest Pod members would also play each other home-and-home during a basketball season. For instance, Cumberland would face Cedarville, Hillsdale, Findlay and OD twice during a basketball season. That would add 8 more men's basketball games. That is a total of 14-league games so far. The Northeast OH pod and WV pod members would also play each other twice during the season.

We then believe that during the course of a basketball season that the Southwest/Midwest pod members would play the Northeast/WV pod members once. For example, Ohio Dominican would already have 14 league games. They then would play Notre Dame, Walsh, Malone, Lake Erie, AB, DE, Ohio Valley and say a Wheeling once during the course of the basketball season. This would give each league member a total of 22 league basketball games. It also gives each member institution a chance to play 6 out-of-conference games. The key thing here is that these schools only have to make the farthest road trips once every two years.  For example that Trevecca would only have to travel to Philippi once every two years and that Davis & Elkins would only have to travel to Owensboro, KY once every two years. The bottom line is that it cuts down on the extreme trips to once every two years rather than every year.

The travel might be a little more taxing on the Southwest/Midwest pod. But I believe that Findlay and Kentucky Wesleyan fans would have no trouble playing each other twice considering both programs hold 9 D-II men's basketball national championship between them. Schools trying to hype G-MAC games gets a little bit easier. And as we have stated, there is always going to be a little bit more travel in today's landscape.

How would the regular-season championship be determined?

We believe that a computerized-power rating would be used to determine the regular-season champion in several sports. Because not every league-member plays each other twice, it would make sense to do it this way. It would be based on the strength of the league teams you play. For example, it does appear on surface that the Southwest/Midwest pods are a little stronger in men's basketball. So by using a power-rating system.

What about Ursuline?

It throws a little wrench into women's athletics and the pod-system. But obviously it could still work. It would make sense to place Ursuline into the Northeast OH pod. Some things would have to be worked out in terms of scheduling, but it wouldn't be that difficult.

Final Thoughts

We again congratulate the current league-members on the fact that expansion looked attractive to form a private-school league. We also congratulate Tom Daeger for such an outstanding job during this expansion process. This post is only a prediction. But we believe that is a prediction that holds some water in the future of the G-MAC. It may take different directions. But we strongly believe that the G-MAC is not done expanding! We will feature other articles later on about how the G-MAC now influences Alderson Broaddus University. But we believe for the first time that the G-MAC actually holds a nice set of cards in their hand when it comes to the future of the league.