Several smaller Northeast Ohio universities have nationally ranked basketball teams this season. In men’s Division III, John Carroll University is ranked No. 3 and Case Western Reserve University is ranked No. 12, according to D3Hoops.com.
In women’s Division II, Ashland University is the top-ranked team in the nation.
Ideastream Public Media’s sports commentator Terry Pluto said the defending Division II national champions are building a dynasty under head coach Kari Pickens.
“She's in her sixth season. She's lost 16 games and she's won 165,” Pluto said.
The Eagles are 23-1, have a 15-game winning streak, and have won 60 of their last 61 games. They have four regular season games remaining, with the national tournament beginning March 5.
The John Carroll men’s team, meanwhile, is building on its comeback. After finishing last in their All-Ohio Athletic Conference in 2021-22, the Blue Streaks made it to the second round of last season’s Division III national tournament.
This season, they reached a No. 1 ranking last week, but have since slipped to No. 3 with a 23-2 record.
"John Carroll was always good with the legendary coach Mike Moran. They got as high as number three, but never could get to the top,” Pluto said.
Now, Moran’s son, Pete, is the coach.
“Now, I remember last year they had eight transfers. I go, ‘What are you doing with eight transfers in Division III non-scholarship basketball?” Pluto said.
Pluto said it turned out, most of the transfers were from Northeast Ohio, who left their Division I schools for the opportunity to come back home. Seven are still on the team this season.
“So, Mike Moran, kind of the godfather of their program, calls them the homegrown tomatoes because he said, you know, 'We wanted them to begin with. We want them to come home and stay home.' And so this year they took no transfers. So basically they just rebuilt their program there. They were losing a few years ago, and now they've become one of the top Division III programs in the country,” Pluto said.
Case Western Reserve University’s men’s team made the Division III tournament last year for the first time in program history. This season, they’re 20-4.
Pluto said they’ve been building a program around graduate students.
“They had a couple of key players who had been at other D3 schools for four years, but then transferred in to go to Case for their graduate year at either the business school or pre-med,” Pluto said.
Pluto said it’s an approach you don’t see in the Division I powerhouse programs.
“Everybody's getting the name, image and likeness money. And I mean, I know of a Division I-AA quarterback who went to a Big Ten school for $600,000. That was the going price, you know, his NIL deal. Well, you're not getting this. These guys are trying to get that Case Western Reserve graduate degree next to their name and network for jobs,” Pluto said.
John Carroll University is the top seed in the Ohio-Athletic Conference Tournament and will host the quarterfinal on Thursday.
Case Western Reserve University, meanwhile, can clinch at least a share of their second-straight University Athletic Association Championship with a win in their regular-season finale at home against Carnegie Mellon Saturday.
