(05-13-2016 04:18 PM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  SIUE was the commuter school that about 1/3 of my high school attended - campus is about 15 minutes from where I grew up.

One of my high school basketball teammates was their head baseball coach until being fired a few weeks ago (he had pitched in the Braves organization for a few years).

Where did you grow up? My sister-in-law's family lives in Edwardsville and their oldest is a freshman there. I didn't even realize they compete in D1 athletics, to be honest.

(05-13-2016 06:03 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(05-13-2016 04:18 PM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  SIUE was the commuter school that about 1/3 of my high school attended - campus is about 15 minutes from where I grew up.

One of my high school basketball teammates was their head baseball coach until being fired a few weeks ago (he had pitched in the Braves organization for a few years).

Where did you grow up? My sister-in-law's family lives in Edwardsville and their oldest is a freshman there. I didn't even realize they compete in D1 athletics, to be honest.

Grew up just north of there in the Alton-Wood River area - almost all of my family is still there. My mom worked at the Madison County Courthouse (in Edwardsville) for over 30 years.

SIUE just made the jump to D1 within the past few years. Edwardsville itself has really transitioned from "small community that happens to be near St. Louis" to "suburb" in the past 20 years or so. Their high school athletic program has become one of the tops in the state, which is a rarity for anything not within an hour of Chicago.

(05-13-2016 06:03 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(05-13-2016 04:18 PM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  SIUE was the commuter school that about 1/3 of my high school attended - campus is about 15 minutes from where I grew up.

I didn't even realize they compete in D1 athletics, to be honest.

Ohio Valley Conference, since 2008 (no football).

(05-13-2016 06:14 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(05-13-2016 06:03 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(05-13-2016 04:18 PM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  SIUE was the commuter school that about 1/3 of my high school attended - campus is about 15 minutes from where I grew up.

I didn't even realize they compete in D1 athletics, to be honest.

Ohio Valley Conference, since 2008 (no football).

Another school that surprised me at the selection was North Florida, which qualified for the both the men's and women's tournaments. I had never heard of it. It is a public university in Jacksonville with over 16,000 students and has been in Division I since 2005. Their teams are the Ospreys.

It is not related to Jacksonville University (the Dolphins), a private school whose Division I sports include rowing and lacrosse; or to Jacksonville State (the Gamecocks), an FCS school in Jacksonville, Alabama.

Both JU and UNF are in the Atlantic Sun conference, which does not sponsor football. JU competes in FCS for football, while UNF evidently does not have football.

(05-13-2016 06:30 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(05-13-2016 06:14 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(05-13-2016 06:03 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(05-13-2016 04:18 PM)Orange County Owl Wrote:  SIUE was the commuter school that about 1/3 of my high school attended - campus is about 15 minutes from where I grew up.

I didn't even realize they compete in D1 athletics, to be honest.

Ohio Valley Conference, since 2008 (no football).

Another school that surprised me at the selection was North Florida, which qualified for the both the men's and women's tournaments. I had never heard of it. It is a public university in Jacksonville with over 16,000 students and has been in Division I since 2005. Their teams are the Ospreys.

It is not related to Jacksonville University (the Dolphins), a private school whose Division I sports include rowing and lacrosse; or to Jacksonville State (the Gamecocks), an FCS school in Jacksonville, Alabama.

Both JU and UNF are in the Atlantic Sun conference, which does not sponsor football. JU competes in FCS for football, while UNF evidently does not have football.

Jacksonville State also competes in FCS football and was this year's victim to NDSU in the title game in Frisco.

(05-13-2016 06:30 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  ... It is not related to Jacksonville University (the Dolphins), a private school whose Division I sports include rowing and lacrosse; ...

I first heard of Jacksonville U. back in 1970, when future Naismith Hall of Famer basketball player Artis Gilmore led the Dolphins to the NCAA Division I championship game, where they lost to UCLA. According to his Wikipedia page, Gilmore holds the D1 record for most in rebounds per game (22.7).

Great job lady Owls. Do the impossible and beat Vandy.

(05-13-2016 06:57 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(05-13-2016 06:30 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  ... It is not related to Jacksonville University (the Dolphins), a private school whose Division I sports include rowing and lacrosse; ...

..
I first heard of Jacksonville U. back in 1970, when future Naismith Hall of Famer basketball player Artis Gilmore led the Dolphins to the NCAA Division I championship game, where they lost to UCLA. According to his Wikipedia page, Gilmore holds the D1 record for most in rebounds per game (22.7).

(05-13-2016 06:57 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(05-13-2016 06:30 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  ... It is not related to Jacksonville University (the Dolphins), a private school whose Division I sports include rowing and lacrosse; ...

I first heard of Jacksonville U. back in 1970, when future Naismith Hall of Famer basketball player Artis Gilmore led the Dolphins to the NCAA Division I championship game, where they lost to UCLA. According to his Wikipedia page, Gilmore holds the D1 record for most in rebounds per game (22.7).

They had a great run beating Western Kentucky (who would be in the Final Four the next year in the Astrodome with Jim McDaniel), Iowa, Kentucky, and St Bonaventure before falling to UCLA by 11 in the title game.

For the season they average 100.4 pts per game. It was a fun team to watch with Gilmore, Burrows, Morgan, Wadeking, and Walters.

SIU-Edwardsville has the distinction of being the only NCAA Division I school that is both directional and hyphenated. So congrats to them on that.

(05-13-2016 11:07 PM)FeistyNightBird Wrote:  SIU-Edwardsville has the distinction of being the only NCAA Division I school that is both directional and hyphenated. So congrats to them on that.

It's interesting that is has two levels of specificity -- first to a region of the state, and then to a city within that region. That in itself is probably fairly rare.