2007-08 CCIW Men's basketball season preview

With a talented core of experienced veterans to go along with a host of newcomers, the 2007-08 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) men’s basketball season is shaping up to be one of the more exciting seasons in recent years.

Coming off back-to-back CCIW titles in 2006 and 2007, Augustana was recently favored to win a third straight championship according to a recent poll conducted by the head coaches in the CCIW. The Vikings enter the season ranked fifth in the D3Hoops.com and The Sporting News Magazine polls.
Augustana enters as favorites in 2007-08 for good reason. The Vikings (22-6, 11-3 in 2006-07) return two talented starters in guard Jordan Delp and center Dain Swetalla who both earned all-conference honors last season. Delp averaged 13.1 points in 28 games a year ago while Swetalla averaged 11.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in 26 games. Augustana also added junior transfer Brett Wessels, a guard from Bettendorf, Iowa, in the off-season. Wessels is the younger brother of graduated all-conference guard Drew Wessels.

Elmhurst placed second in the coaches poll after going 21-6, 10-4 last season. In addition, they come into the season ranked 18th by D3Hoops.com. Like Augustana, the Bluejays return two talented players who are expected to make a big contribution this season. Junior center Brent Ruch, a preseason all-American by D3Hoops.com, and junior guard Ryan Burks, a second-team all-conference pick last season, will look to lead Elmhurst to its first conference title since 2001. Burks averaged 17.4 points in 27 games last season, while Ruch averaged 13.4 points and 7.6 rebounds to go along with 32 steals and 31 blocks. Those numbers helped earn Ruch first-team all-conference honors in 2006-07.

The Wheaton Thunder (17-9, 9-5) placed third in the conference standings and advanced to the CCIW Tournament last season behind the play of guard Kent Raymond, named the Fred Young Most Outstanding Player in the conference for 2006-07. Raymond, now a junior, was recently selected as a preseason all-American by D3Hoops.com after leading his team in scoring with 22.4 points per game. Raymond finished the year 15th nationally in scoring. Junior center Andy Wiele also returns to the Thunder along with guard Ben Panner. Panner started every game for Wheaton as a freshman last season.

Last season, North Park (13-12, 5-9) posted its best record in seven years behind the leadership of head coach Paul Brenegan. Brenegan will again have the services of two talented guards in senior Jason Gordon and sophomore Joe Capalbo. Gordon averaged 9.3 points and 3.4 rebounds last season while Capalbo chipped in 8.6 points per game. Also returning is sophomore forward Nick Williams who led the team in scoring with 10.9 a game last season.

Carthage (16-9, 7-7) returns a talented core of players in 2007-08 along with a couple of newcomers. 2006-07 all-conference selection Trey Bowens is back after averaging 13.2 points per game while starting 20-of-25 games a year ago. The Red Men will also have a pair of freshman who came to Kenosha, Wis., with high accolades. Guard Logan Derrick, a Waukegan, Ill., native from Warren Township High School, was an Illinois Basketball Coaches Association honorable mention all-state selection. Guard Steve Djurickovic, a native of Kenosha, Wis., and Bradford High School, was a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Division 1 first-team all-state and Associated Press honorable mention all-state selection.

The 2007-08 season will have a different look for North Central (16-10, 8-6) after losing Dan Walton, Anthony Simmons and Adam Krumtinger to graduation. The Cardinals will look to a pair of juniors to fill the void in the frontcourt. Chris Drennan is back after averaging 6.1 points and 3.1 rebounds per game last season while starting nine games. Mitchell Raridon is also back after playing in 24 games last season and posting the team’s best assist-to-turnover ratio.

Second-year Illinois Wesleyan (11-14, 4-10) coach Ron Rose will be without the services of graduated all-American Zach Freeman, but will look to veterans Darius Gant and Andrew Gilmore to lead a young Titan team in 2007-08. Gilmore started all 25 games last season and was second on the team in scoring with 11.4 points per game. Gant started 24 games a year ago and averaged 9.8 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting .551 from the field.

Millikin (9-16, 2-12) will turn to new coach Marc Smith to resurrect a program that has not had a winning conference record since 1999. Smith will begin the rebuilding process with a group of returning players that include sophomore post-players Joscar Demby, Robert Rexroade and Zach Ott. Demby averaged 6.9 points per game and shot .504 from the field while Rexroade averaged 6.0 points and 2.0 rebounds a game last season. Ott was the leading scorer among the three with 7.9 points per game.