Horizon League Preview

The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518.   Blue Ribbon Forecast No. Team  '01-02 Conf. Rec. (Overall) 1. Wisconsin-Milwaukee  11-5 (16-13)  2. Illinois-Chicago  8-8 (20-13)  3. Butler  7-9 (17-11)  4. Detroit  11-5 (18-12)  5. Wright State  9-7 (17-11)  6. Loyola  9-7 (20-12)  7. Wisconsin-Green Bay  9-7 (17-13)  8. Youngstown State  2-14 (5-23)  9. Cleveland State  6-10 (12-16)  All-Conference Team Did You Know? G: David Bailey SR, Loyola G: Cedrick Banks JR, Illinois-Chicago F: Clay Tucker SR, Wisconsin-Milwaukee F: Seth Doliboa JR, Wright State C: Greg Babcock SR, Wisconsin-Green Bay Player of the Year David Bailey SR, Loyola Newcomer of the Year Marshall Williams JR, Wisconsin-Green Bay Top Backcourts 1. Illinois-Chicago 2. Loyola 3. Wisconsin-Milwaukee Top Frontcourts 1. Butler 2. Wright State 3. Wisconsin-Green Bay 2002-03 Conference Tournament First round March 4 at home-court sites Second and third rounds March 7-8 at UW-Milwaukee Championship game March 11 at home of higher seed 2001-02 Champions Butler (Reg. season) Illinois-Chicago (Conf. tournament) 2001-02 NCAA Tournament Postseason Record 1-3 (.250) NCAA Illinois-Chicago NIT Butler (Second round) Detroit Three Horizon League teams will take part in ESPN's "Bracket Busters" promotion on Feb. 22. Detroit, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Illinois-Chicago are among the 18 mid-major programs that will get a share of the national spotlight in an attempt to expose them to the NCAA tournament selection committee. The conference has changed its tournament format to give higher-seeded teams home games in the postseason. The changes won't take full effect for two more years because UWM and Butler had been granted hosting rights to the next two tournaments. They'll now play host to the last three rounds if they are among the teams still playing. Starting in 2004-05, the top two teams in the regular-season standings will receive byes into the semifinals of the tournament. There's one new head coach in the league this year -- UWGB's Tod Kowalczyk. He's a former assistant at Marquette working his first head-coaching job. He'll be hoping to repeat the magic of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Bruce Pearl, who was chosen Horizon League Coach of the Year in his first season with the Panthers. One of Kowalczyk's key players could be sophomore forward Julian Swartz, who made national news two years ago with his courageous battle against obsessive-compulsive disorder. The disease forced him to quit playing for the Wisconsin Badgers, but he's ready to resume his career. Wright State lost high-scoring forward Cain Doliboa to graduation, but his younger brother, Seth, is back for two more years with the Raiders. Last year's conference tournament MVP was UIC's Cedrick Banks, who averaged 18.0 points and 7.0 rebounds during the Flames' three wins. He also hit the game-winning shot in their one-point victory over Loyola. In that game, Flames guard Martell Bailey got the best of his older brother, Loyola guard David Bailey, who scored 35 points in a losing effort. David Bailey was the leading scorer in the conference last season and is looking for his third straight selection to the All-Horizon League first team. Butler, playing for its third coach in three years, won its league-record third straight regular-season conference title. Todd Lickliter picked up where Thad Matta left off in guiding the Bulldogs to the top of the standings.

 

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