RECRUITING: College coaches busy in off season
By Nate Bloomquist
Apache Associate Editor
While winter sports have long been completed, that doesn’t mean the coaches of those sports aren’t hard at work in the off season.
But the focus shifts from practices and games to recruiting, an aspect that is vital to the future of winter sports. Here’s a closer look at some recruiting around the college:
Basketball
Head basketball coach Mike Riley solidified his team for next season by adding five
in-district standouts to his team. The five should add balance to a strong core class of
freshmen from this season. IVCC added height in 6-foot-8 St. Bede product Tom Urbanski.
Roanoke-Benson’s Sam Beyer will also be a force to be reckoned with on the inside as
he measures 6-7.
Hall’s Jared Haskell and Fieldcrest’s Jeremy Fuchs should add some speed and outside shooting to the team. Seneca’s Jeremy Woodward will be able to contribute from the outside and inside.
The five will add local flavor to a team that was dominated by out of district players this season.
Volleyball
St. Bede standout Courtney Keenan recently signed her letter of intent to play for
the Lady Apaches next fall. Keenan was a three-year varsity player for the Lady Bruins.
She led both the offense and defense as a setter for St. Bede. Keenan was named to the
first team All-Tri-County Conference last season.
“She’s a really good talented setter,” said head volleyball coach Laurie Polte. “She’s a left handed setter which is always a plus and is something we need.”
Polte, who is also the coach of the Illinois Valley Volley Power club team, has coached Keenan before.
La Salle-Peru High School’s Leslie Seneca, Hall’s Lindsay Sharp, Mendota’s Jennifer Bosch, and St. Bede’s Katie Zeman have all verbally committed to attend IVCC next year and will play volleyball for Polte next season. Carolyn Bryant has also verbally agreed to play for the Lady Apaches next season.
Baseball
Head coach Bob Koopman five players committed to attending IVCC to play
baseball next year and he may have more in the works.
St. Bede’s Billy Terry, Mendota’s Billy Corrigan, L-P’s Matt Muilenburg, and Nathan Miller of Ottawa are the in-district players that have committed to playing for the Apaches.Nick Frantell, a left-handed first baseman, from Lake Mills High School in Wisconsin, is an out of district signee.
“What we’re trying to do is replace the sophomores that we’ll lose from this year,” said Koopman. “Last year we lost a lot so we had a big crop of freshmen coming in this year.”
Koopman said he’s also trying to acquire St. Bede’s Mike Heuser, left-handed pitcher from Ottawa Marquette, Josh Hoffman; Plano’s Eric Swanson, a left-handed pitcher, and another southpaw from the suburbs.
Golf
Six players signed with IVCC Wednesday, all of which are from the IVCC district.
All of the six also dominated last year’s high school golf scene and plan to advance
their golf careers beyond IVCC.
Jeremy DeBernardi, of Ottawa took third in the Class AA state golf tournament last fall. He also took several other accolades throughout the season including strong finishes in the North Central Illinois Conference Tournament and sectional and regional competition.
“He’s just a really strong talent,” said IVCC head golf coach Jim Moskalewicz. “It’s surprising that he didn’t get picked up by any of the big schools. He did get an offer from a Division II school in Chicago, but he didn’t want to go there.”
L-P’s Tim Puetz, St. Bede’s Tony Andreoni, and Bureau Valley’s Timothy Eckberg also signed letters of intent to play for IVCC next year.J
im Thompson, who attended Loyola, and graduated from Hall will return to the area and will play golf for IVCC next year.While other sports teams on campus search high and low for talent, Moskalewicz had to search no further than IVCC’s back yard.
“There’s always been a strong pool of talent around here,” said the IVCC golf coach. “I’ve always wanted to keep the waivers in the hands of in-district players. Because we live in such a golf-rich community, I shouldn’t have any problem doing that.”