Blackhawks poised for another run

The Southeastern Iowa Blackhawks have won back to back national titles. They're 9-and-2 this season. In the last week, they've beaten Moberly and Vincennes. But as they prepare for Southeastern Illinois on Decmeber 11th, the Blackhawks are still unranked.

“That's just junior college basketball,” said first-year head coach Tim Walsh. “They don't have as much exposure to each team. The NCAA, it's a much more researched process every week.”

Ranked or not, Walsh, an assistant coach on three national title teams at Southeastern, likes the way his team is playing.

“I'm very pleased with the way we're playing,” Walsh said. “We've been getting better every week, and that's a big key, something that's been a focus of ours since the beginning of the season. We started slow, but we just need to keep getting better.”

The Blackhawks are being led by a pair of sophomores who have already signed Division One letters of intent. Facundo Giorgio and Johwen Villegas will remain teammates next season at Florida International.

Villegas had 28 points in a 94-74 win over Moberly and followed it up with 25 more in the win over Vincennes.

“He didn't get to play a whole lost last year, but he improved a lot throughout the year. He had a great summer, can really shoot the three. He's had some great games lately,” Walsh said of Villegas. “He is sneaky athletic. He's a lefty and those guys are always shooters. The thing he's really improved on is his defense. He was not a good defensive player and that was part of the reason he was out of the lineup, but he's really improved on that. He's also a very good offensive rebounder from the guard spot.”

If Villegas is the outside star, Giorgi is the inside muscle. At 6-foot-8, Walsh says the Argentinian has really imrpvedhis post game.

“He's a typical kid from those countries. He's a very skilled player. He can do a lot of things, handle the ball at 6-8, pass the basketball, shoot the basketball,” Walsh said. “He's become better and improves as an inside player. Last year he faced the basket at three spot, but this year, he's played a lot of four for us. He's develped a low post game and really improved his rebounding. He was our leading rebounder going into the weekend.”

In addition, keep an eye on 6-foot-11 sophomore Colin Lien from Waterloo, Iowa.

“He is getting recruited and getting a lot of questions from a lot of Division One schools and a variety just because of his size,” Walsh said. “Every week at least one or two new people come into the picture.”

However, Lien has put recruiting on the back burner to try and bring a third consecutive national title to Southeastern Iowa.