May 1, 2023: Monday morning musings
Thoughts as we head into another week of the #d3hoops offseason
(Started writing this Friday…finished it on Sunday)
Watching some New Zealand professional basketball (of all things) late on this Friday night is reminding me a lot of the D3 hoops season; smaller gyms, passionate crowds, lots of “team-oriented” basketball. Thought I’d write up something over the weekend as we’ve had a few new pieces of news come down the line…
First things first, congratulations to Megan Jones, who has officially taken the head job at Carthage, and seems ready to attack the CCIW head-on. The CCIW could be an interesting league in years to come. With Jason Pruitt now at Elmhurst (go check out Wednesday’s post for more info on that!), Jones at Carthage, alongside the mainstays of Olivia Lett and Mia Smith, this could be one of the midwest’s most exciting conferences considering the depth and parity (reminds me a lot of the way I often describe another conference in that region…yes, WIAC, I’m looking at you). With all due respect to the other geographic regions across the country, the midwest has produced some of D3’s most successful teams and leagues, and the level of basketball is so high.
Getting back to the Jones hire. She comes to Carthage from Monmouth College in the MWC, where she led the program for two seasons, with a record of 24-25. Her inaugural season in 2021-22 saw Monmouth finish second in the MWC, led by conference player of the year, Josie Morgan. Prior to that, she spent three years on the staff at Luther as an assistant, and played four years at Loras, helping the Duhawks reach the NCAA Tournament twice.
“Coach Jones stood out amongst a stellar group of candidates to be the next head coach of Carthage women's basketball and carry on the proud tradition that was left behind by Tim Bernero,'' Ryan Kane, Carthage Director of Athletics, said. "She brings with her a unique skill set formed from her background as a player and coach.”
Jones’ departure means that Monmouth is now open. The carousel continues…the Midwest Conference is now the 20th conference (according to my records) with at least one head coaching change within the league this offseason.
Towards the end of the week, Lakeland also announced that head coach Amber Peterson has stepped down “to pursue future opportunities” after 10 years with the Muskies, including the last three as head coach. She took over the program in what might’ve been the most inopportune time to do so, in March of 2020.
That considered (especially because of how it challenged recruiting), she did well leading Lakeland, and posted a 33-31 record in three seasons. Part of that was the fact that she was with the program for seven years prior, working her way up from GA to assistant, then to head coach. Not to mention, Peterson also played a big role in Lakeland’s athletic department overall, recently serving as the school’s senior woman administrator. She coached the women’s golf program from 2016-2021, and led Lakeland to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in ‘21 after winning the NAAC title.
Ultimately, I wish Peterson the best as she moves on. This is the first NACC head coaching job to open this offseason, according to my records.
News came out this morning that Kendra Foreman was hired as the associate head coach at Howard Payne. She most recently was the interim head coach at Mary Hardin-Baylor when Mark Morefield was dismissed mid-season, and she handled that well, going 6-4.
Turbulent times make it tough to succeed as a coach, especially when your program is making local and national news (for the wrong reasons), and add that to the fact that Foreman had never been a head coach at any point in her coaching career. But she did well in what was a bleak situation initially, and I’m glad to see her get an opportunity at HPU.
Presley Fisk is building that program up, and trying to restore it to its former glory. The Yellow Jackets will be an interesting team to follow in the ASC this year. They have a solid recruiting class coming in, with a number of strong post players, who could make an early impact.
The rich got richer over the weekend too, as Scranton secured a commitment from Elizabethtown’s Kaeli Romanowski. This is a pretty significant addition to what is already a strong incoming class for the Lady Royals, and adding to this is the fact that ETown and Scranton are rivals within the Landmark Conference. Romanowski played in 27 games (all off the bench) last season as a freshman guard, and averaged 5.4 PPG. Scranton has a lot of potential as preseason No. 1. ETown will also be in my preseason Top 20, so there’s a lot to look forward to in that league next season!
That’s all for today. Hope everyone has a great start to the week. I am still working on putting together a list of D3 WBB players also playing another varsity sport for their respective college/university, and have a good list going. If you know of a two (or three!) sport D3 WBB student-athlete, please let me know! I’ll check in later in the week once I have some more news to discuss.