Jim Molinari's Debut

[tornado]

WIU beat Monmouth last night 72-61, the first win at WIU for Coach Mo.
WIU senior David Dubois had 19 pts, 12 rebs

http://www.wiuathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12000&ATCLID=1619984

http://www.macombjournal.com/sports/x1720644083/The-Molinari-era-begins-at-Western

Jim Molinari recruited Monmouth's head coach Mark Vershaw and also his brother Jim Vershaw who is assistant coach at Monmouth.
Jim Vershaw played at BU.

Ex-Woodruff player Arsenio Mims did not play.

box score

http://www.wiuathletics.com/ViewContent.dbml?SPSID=49946&SPID=4947&DB_OEM_ID=12000&CONTENT_ID=2876

[Da Coach]

Small world--
WIU's leading scorer, David Dubois, was once recruited by Jim Les when he came out of high school in Wisconsin. I never heard that he was offered a scholarship to Bradley, and ended up going to Idaho. From there, he transferred to Indian Hills juco in Iowa, then to WIU.

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=793&highlight=david+dubois

http://www.wiuathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=49949&SPID=4947&DB_OEM_ID=12000&ATCLID=1283685&Q_SEASON=2007

[bert notorius]

An interesting coaching situation. There is no doubt that JM knows his way around the coaching business. If he has even limited success he will become the Macomb Messiah. Is this a retirement position or can he still climb the ladder?

How old is the Mo?

[lefty]

An interesting coaching situation. There is no doubt that JM knows his way around the coaching business. If he has even limited success he will become the Macomb Messiah. Is this a retirement position or can he still climb the ladder?

How old is the Mo?

I think he's 53 or 54. I think could go either way regarding his future

[tornado]

Jim Molinari was born Dec. 27, 1954, so he will be 54 in a little over a month.


Here are some more facts about Mo's first coaching victory at WIU, the exhibition win over Monmouth Thursday night---

the attendance was 847...doesn't sound like a lot but... WIU's HOME AVERAGE last year was 629, so this very first exhibition
drew 35% more than the regular season average for last season!!!
Only four times all last year did they draw over 847, so Mo has nowhere to go but UP!

There were three East Peoria High School kids on the Monmouth bench. Head coach Mark Vershaw,
assistant coach Jim Vershaw, and Monmouth's leading scorer Zach Ott.

Only twice all last season did WIU have a game in which a player got more than 6 assists...and in Mo's first exhibition,
his PG David Nurse got 6 assists, so it looks like there's better teamwork already than last year.

Mo's team was 19-24 from the FT line....characteristic of most of Mo's teams!

In the Summit League Preseason Poll, WIU was picked 9th. They are not far behind #8 South Dakota State,
but they are picked considerably ahead of #10 Centenary.


Here's something strange....the Summit League does participate in the ESPN BracketBuster, but...
they select only TWO teams each season to participate. There is no info on how the conference selected the two representatives.

[tornado]

Western Illinois won last night vs. Eureka, 75-57.

http://www.wiuathletics.com/ViewContent.dbml?SPSID=49946&SPID=4947&DB_OEM_ID=12000&CONTENT_ID=4879

Newcomer Quenton Kirby had 14 points, 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes of play!! He is a junior college transfer from McLennan CC in Texas.



Here is a good pic of Mo on the bench while Delavan's Brady Wildenradt of Eureka guards the Leathernecks' PG David Nurse.

[SaintLouBrave22]

Western Illinois won last night vs. Eureka, 75-57.

http://www.wiuathletics.com/ViewContent.dbml?SPSID=49946&SPID=4947&DB_OEM_ID=12000&CONTENT_ID=4879

Newcomer Quenton Kirby had 14 points, 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes of play!! He is a junior college transfer from McLennan CC in Texas.



Here is a good pic of Mo on the bench while Delavan's Brady Wildenradt of Eureka guards the Leathernecks' PG David Nurse.

Sitting in a chair? Thats a new wrinkle

[mrcoachdude]

He just tied his shoe...give him a second

Congrats Mo on your 1st of many W's!

[braves12]

I think Mo will do a good job.

In the picture, do you think he is talking to his team or the officials?

[tornado]

are you kidding???

[tornado]

Mo takes his 1-2 team on the road...

http://media.www.westerncourier.com/media/storage/paper650/news/2008/11/21/Sports/Molinari.Wins.Home.Opener-3557825.shtml

http://media.www.westerncourier.com/media/storage/paper650/news/2008/11/21/Sports/Leathernecks.Hit.The.Road.Over.Break-3557828.shtml