To my knowledge, nearly all the players currently on Horizon League rosters weren’t even born yet when the singer Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash on August 25, 2001. In fact, I’m pretty sure that half the coaches in the conference weren’t even in high school yet.
That notwithstanding, I made the inexplicable call to use the titles of some of her most popular songs to introduce the stories that make up the latest edition of the Starting Five. Yes, I’m once again showing my age, and no, I don’t care. So here we go…
Try Again
As many of you may recall, Doug Gottlieb, once he had his Green Bay roster in place, attempted a last-minute drive to enter his team in The Basketball Tournament, the summertime event that delivered a $1 million prize to the winners. That didn’t happen, of course, but Gottlieb’s giving it another try this year.
With the Phoenix roster all but set (give or take some possible last-minute additions) and summer workouts gearing up, Gottlieb is setting his team’s sights on TBT once again, making the argument to the NCAA that participating in this tourney would be similar to the competition NCAA teams face when they travel overseas. The only difference, of course, is the prize money, which, thanks to the new reality of NIL, is no longer a red flag situation.
As of publication, the NCAA has yet to rule on whether or not Green Bay can participate, and since this is Gottlieb, of course, the usual cavalcade of critics have taken to piling on. The argument for participating in TBT has merit, regardless of who’s making it, and if the Phoenix get the green light, this could actually open the door for teams out of larger conferences to consider this as well.
Back & Forth
As a finalist for the Cleveland State coaching job that eventually went to Rob Summers, there was always a chance that Jay Shunnar, who was one of Daniyal Robinson’s assistants during his entire run from 2022 to 2025, would remain in the Horizon League in some shape or form.
But last week, it turned out that like most of his colleagues, he’d be joining Robinson as an assistant at North Texas.
Shunnar is the latest ex-Viking assistant to make an appointment with the movers to arrange to relocate to Denton. He will join Kwanza Johnson, Steve Payne, Mo Ba and ex-CSU player Deshon Parker on the staff, as well as Viking transfers Reece Robinson, Je’Shawn Stevenson, Dylan Arnett and Cole Franklin.
Fans of AAC opponent schools have been taking to calling Robinson’s assembled team Cleveland State South, and on the surface, especially with the Shunnar hire, there’s a little bit of truth to that. But, as Horizon League fan can tell you, that’s not a bad thing, so watch out.
We Need a Resolution
It’s been about three weeks since IU Indy dismissed Paul Corsaro from his job as head coach, and at least on the IU Indy end, things have moved forward with the hiring of West Liberty coach Ben Howlett. As far as Jaguar fans are concerned, the most pressing issue for them will be to put the roster together as quickly as possible so as not to lose any more competitive ground to the rest of the Horizon League.
While IU Indy has clearly moved on, that still leaves the matter of Corsaro’s mission to clear his name of any wrongdoing. However, as of now, the last we’ve heard about this from his end was a post he put on both Twitter and Instagram, which I discussed during the podcast episode prior to Memorial Day, stating that the IU system had failed to produce the records he requested that resulted in his ouster.
So, what happens next? It’s hard to say. Legal action would be the next logical step for Corsaro, and that, as I stated in the podcast, would likely deliver the documents he’s requested in discovery. But so far, there hasn’t been much to indicate that this will be the plan as yet. But whatever happens, we’ll be sure to let you know what we know.
On thing that is certain is that Ben Howlett, IU Indy’s new head coach, is moving forward. And as he alluded to on the State of Basketball podcast, he’s bringing some of his former players at West Liberty with him. The first two, leading scorer Kyler D’Augustino and forward Finley Woodard, are already committed.
How many other Hilltoppers will join them remains to be seen, as of publication. But with summer workouts starting all over the Horizon League, it appears that Howlett won’t be wasting time getting more recruits in.
At Your Best
The list of former Horizon League players on overseas rosters has long been far and wide, and if you journey through Instagram, you’ll undoubtedly see many of them playing an active role in various post-season competitions all across the world. Most prominent among them are the Kendricks, Nunn and Perry, the former of which’s run at Panathinaikos has been legendary, while the latter’s at Unicaja has been equally impressive.
Naturally, they’re not alone. In fact, another ex-HL hooper has recently helped his team to a league crown, and it’s another former Penguin in Ziggy Reid.
Signing with Oberwart, the defending champions of Austria’s Basketball Superliga, Reid has been a focal point of the Gunners’ drive to defend their crown, culminating in a series-clinching 75-67 win over BBC Nord Dragonz. Reid finished with 17 points and a team-high nine points in the decider.
It’s ironic that Reid would be on a team that defeated a squad of dragons in the BSL Finals, as his full name is Siegfried, which is the name of the prominent figure of European lore whose claim to fame in the stories (which would spawn numerous plays and operas) was that of slaying dragons.
Are You That Somebody?
This year, as far as the Horizon League’s all-sports McCafferty Trophy competition is concerned, that somebody (in the plural sense, of course) is Youngstown State, which won by a mere half-point over second-place Cleveland State. Oakland finished in third place, followed by Milwaukee and, in its best showing since joining the league, Robert Morris.
YSU snagged its third McCafferty Trophy and second one outright on the strength of indoor and outdoor track & field teams on both the men’s and women’s side, which has long been a source of Penguin pride since joining the conference in 2001. Youngstown State also garnered league titles in women’s cross country and women’s tennis, besting the regular season champion Vikings along the way.
It was the Penguins’ men’s basketball tournament run, in which they made it to the finals for the first time as an HL member, that put YSU over the top. In addition to the overall sports trophy, Youngstown State took the crown in the men’s sports, while there was a three-way tie between CSU, RMU and Milwaukee for the top spot on the women’s side.
The McCafferty Trophy competition has long been one of those low-key events that we, along with many other outlets, don’t give a lot of attention to until all the sports finish their respective seasons. And that makes sense. Most of the time, trying to figure out who’s leading the race is like catching smoke with your bare hands. But perhaps next year we’ll figure something out to give fans a little clearer picture. Mind you, we’re not promising anything by any stretch of the imagination. Lord knows expanding coverage to baseball was a thing we’re still working through. But you never know.
As a Detroiter of a certain age who was around during the Aliayh era, I appreciate the references. Also thanks for keeping us updated on HLMBB in the off-season.