Dubuque Basketball Preview with Gary Dolphin, Coaches

[EastIowaHawk]

Tonight was the 30th annual Bank and Builders basketball Preview dinner at the Dubuque Shooting Park. Four MVC coaches and East Dubuque's coaches gave their team and conference previews. East Dubuque in Illinois was 29-4 last year and has three 1000 point scorers back so they hope to make the state finals in Peoria.

Western Dubuque joins the MVC this year and they hope to be competitive with an outstanding junior class. Dubuque Hempstead is rebuilding and has some talent in Max and Michael Duax. Look for Hempstead to be over .500 in the very strong MVC. Wahlert Coach Tom English also has a very strong junior and sophomore class and hopes to improve on last year's record behind a trio of solid junior guards. Dubuque Senior has four starters back from a strong team that was MVC divisional champ for the second straight year. UNI recruit Noah Carter will anchor the Rams. Senior's soph team last year also won the conference, so they have terrific depth.

As far as the MVC (Mississippi Valley Conference), all four MVC coaches said that the top three will be Iowa City West, Cedar Falls and Dubuque Senior, with North Scott being another powerful eastern Iowa team, and CR Prairie being very strong also in the MVC.

Another Dubuque County team, Cascade, is the defending 2A state champion. Gary Dolphin was the MC and also previewed Fran McCaffery's Iowa Hawkeyes, who he feels will be much stronger this year, although they open the Big Ten with Wisconsin and Michigan State.

 

[Cheese2]

Tonight was the 30th annual Bank and Builders basketball Preview dinner at the Dubuque Shooting Park. Four MVC coaches and East Dubuque's coaches gave their team and conference previews. East Dubuque in Illinois was 29-4 last year and has three 1000 point scorers back so they hope to make the state finals in Peoria.

Western Dubuque joins the MVC this year and they hope to be competitive with an outstanding junior class. Dubuque Hempstead is rebuilding and has some talent in Max and Michael Duax. Look for Hempstead to be over .500 in the very strong MVC. Wahlert Coach Tom English also has a very strong junior and sophomore class and hopes to improve on last year's record behind a trio of solid junior guards. Dubuque Senior has four starters back from a strong team that was MVC divisional champ for the second straight year. UNI recruit Noah Carter will anchor the Rams. Senior's soph team last year also won the conference, so they have terrific depth.

As far as the MVC (Mississippi Valley Conference), all four MVC coaches said that the top three will be Iowa City West, Cedar Falls and Dubuque Senior, with North Scott being another powerful eastern Iowa team, and CR Prairie being very strong also in the MVC.

Another Dubuque County team, Cascade, is the defending 2A state champion. Gary Dolphin was the MC and also previewed Fran McCaffery's Iowa Hawkeyes, who he feels will be much stronger this year, although they open the Big Ten with Wisconsin and Michigan State.

The quality of basketball has been very high in Dubuque for the last 7-10 years. It has always been extremely respectable, but the town has become a basketball hotbed in recent years. Senior is borderline elite and is a consistent MVC power, Hempstead made state for first time in school history a few years ago, and Wahlert almost had a 3 three peat in 3A a few years back. Western Dubuque has always been strong as well...nice run with the Lake boys and Haldeman. EIH, why do you feel basketball is so strong at all of the schools? It has been a really impressive run by the Dubuque area schools!

 

[makelovenotwar]

Cheese2: Hempstead: Duax boys. Senior: Good mix of big kids and a more urban players. Wahlert: Long tradition of being solid.

Of the 3, I am most impressed by Senior as there is talent being developed up and down that program. They will be solid for at least another 4 years. Their current sophomore class has some really talented big men.

EasternIowa: I am hearing that a couple of local players got picked up by the police on drug charges. Are you hearing this too? One Senior, one Wahlert with the Senior being being pretty substantial (as in, he's still in jail). Any confirmation on this?

 

[Cheese2]

Cheese2: Hempstead: Duax boys. Senior: Good mix of big kids and a more urban players. Wahlert: Long tradition of being solid.

Of the 3, I am most impressed by Senior as there is talent being developed up and down that program. They will be solid for at least another 4 years. Their current sophomore class has some really talented big men.

EasternIowa: I am hearing that a couple of local players got picked up by the police on drug charges. Are you hearing this too? One Senior, one Wahlert with the Senior being being pretty substantial (as in, he's still in jail). Any confirmation on this?

That all makes sense. There have been an abundance of Duax boys at Hempstead...man that is a big family Those kids can all play! Senior has a great chance to contend for a state title this year...they have had a great run with some very talented athletes. Outside of Noah Carter, who do you think are the top 3 players in Dubuque coming up that have D1-D2 potential?

If those drug charges are true involving the Senior and Wahlert players, would they be suspended for the season?

 

[EastIowaHawk]

Haven't heard about any serious offense, or anybody in jail, but I've been sick for a week. Out of the loop. Heard that a non-athlete, while the police were doing a routine drug search, put (hid) some pot in a non-varsity (innocent) player's bookbag (pretty mean trick), and I heard it finally got sorted out. If this is the story people are talking about it, it is a much-to-do about nothing story that doesn't involve any varsity athletes from any school. Misdemeanor stuff. If there is a bigger story, which there could be, then I don't know about it. The Senior and Wahlert coaches are very strict, and if there is any substantial violation, the kids would be suspended for a certain period of time or kicked off the team. Senior is so deep that a kid would have to be pretty crazy to lose his playing time, and Wahlert doesn't even have their lineup set yet, because they are so inexperienced in the front court Coach Eimers has booted two sure starters off the Senior team in the last several years and Wahlert had a starter last year who missed substantial playing time for a minor violation. I'll keep my ears open

As far as D1 potential-- aside from Carter-- probably no one. Several D2 kids. Schockemoehl and Schmitt from Wahlert are good talents, as juniors, but not big enough for D1. Michael Duax at Hempstead is a 6-4 soph who may be the best of the Duax's, but D2, I would think. Lots of skilled young kids in all the programs, especially Senior. The Dubuque programs' potential is more based on talented depth than great D1 stars. I wish Carter was a little taller. He is about four inches shorter than Pfyfe and McDonnell at UNI.