Fontbonne athletics photos by Claire Becker

When considering the 23-year tenure of Lee McKinney and the 15-year run by Keith Quigley, there has been a lot of consistency within the basketball programs at Fontbonne.

So it may take the Griffins’ fans a little time to get used to, not one, but two new coaches on the sidelines at Mabee Gymnasium this winter. However, both people should seem familiar to Fontbonne crowd.

Anthony Hall, the new men’s coach, has worked as an associate athletic director at Fontbonne while Maureen (Roberts) Sias is a former player and assistant coach with the women’s program.

Both coaches are looking to lead Fontbonne back to the top of the SLIAC and return to the postseason.

While serving as Fontbonne’s associate athletic director for the last two years, Hall was coaching high school basketball at Lutheran North in St. Louis, leading the team to the Missouri state tournament in the process.

“I have been a coach for a while – probably about 20 years,” Hall said, who has collegiate coaching experience at the Division II and III levels of the NCAA and the NAIA .

“Basketball has been a part of me all my life.”

Hall said his role within the university’s athletic department meant the players had some familiarity with him. But he added there is still an adjustment that comes with playing for a new coach.

“There was some learning and feeling each other out on both ends,” Hall said. “We’re still doing that at this time – trying to feel out what they’re good at and what we can do. They’re adjusting to me and I’m adjusting to them.”

Meanwhile, Sias is making a similar transition.

Because she played for the Griffins from 1999 to 2003 – in fact, Sias still holds school records for career free throw percentage (85 percent) and most 3-pointers in a game (8) – and worked as an assistant with Quigley for five seasons, she is familiar with the school. And she has gotten to know the players better since taking the job during the offseason.

“The athletic director, Maria Eftink, I went to college with her. She was a freshman when I was a senior. So that helps a lot knowing her and knowing some of the other coaches that have been there for a while.

“The transition has been great for me,” the coach added. “The girls on the team, also, were very, very welcoming.”

Both coaches are dealing with the challenges that come with being a new head coach.

“The hardest part is just establishing new routines,” said Sias, who inherits a team that went 8-17 overall in 2013-14 and 6-12 in the SLIAC. “They have to get used to new things, which can be hard for people – especially the ones who have been there for a few years and just got used to how the old coach ran things. Anytime there’s a change like that, I think that’s the hardest thing.”

However both Sias and Hall like their chances with the players in their respective programs.

Hall said he has a strong group of juniors – like Darius Rucker, Richard Dorhauer and Jared Greenlee – who shot the ball well last year. He hopes to see that group continue to grow, especially on the defensive end of the court.

“We’re hoping to be better at keeping team’s field goal percentage down in the low 40s as well as keeping their scoring down in the 60s and that range,” said Hall, who is looking to improve on last season’s 9-16 overall record that included a 9-9 mark in conference play.

Sias has a team with excellent speed, which she hopes to take advantage of with an aggressive style of play.

“We have a lot of smaller, fast girls so I really like that transition game and running. That’s not how it was last year for them,” Sias said. “The strength is their quickness and their enthusiasm – especially with the defense we’re running this year. … It’s a really good team for what I want to do in terms of the game.”

So far through two games, Chelsea Gibson is averaging 25.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game and Erika Kuhn is scoring an average of 14 points. As a result, the Fontbonne women’s team is 1-1, losing its season opener by just three points.

The men’s team is 0-3 but looking to improve as the year continues.

Both programs share the goal of finishing in the top four in the SLIAC standings and qualifying the conference tournament.

“We want to make that conference tournament and see what happens from there,” Hall said.

“Last year the record wasn’t very good, so they have us projected to finish seventh out of 10 in the conference. So our goal is to finish in the top-four, so we can make the conference tournament,” Sias said. “The ultimate goal would be to win the conference tournament and move on nationally, which is the Fontbonne basketball I’m used to.

“I want to bring that back.”

That desire to reinstall a winning reputation is something that both basketball coaches share.

“We’re just trying to build a winning tradition and try to get Fontbonne back where it used to be,” Hall said. “It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight. But it’s something we’re going to work on and strive toward as long as I’m here.”

“I’m really excited to be back at Fontbonne. I want to bring that winning tradition back,” Sias said. “I really believe the group of girls I have this year – they’re young, I have mostly freshmen and sophomores – I believe that over time we can do that.”

Milestone for Meek

Michael Meek recently earned his 100th victory as the head coach of the George Fox women’s basketball team.

Meek entered the season with a 98-19 record. The host Bruins won both games in its season-opening classic, making their coach the fastest to 100 wins in school history. George Fox defeated La Verne, 74-47, to give Meek win No. 100 in 119 games.

Since assuming his current position during the 2010-11 season, Meek has won at least 19 games every season – including a 32-1 mark in 2011-12 that resulted in a national runner-up finish. The man he replaced, Scott Rueck, was the 2009 D3hoops.com Coach of the Year at George Fox and was the Pac-12 coach of the year last season at Oregon State.

Since recording win No. 100, Meek and George Fox have added wins over UW-Whitewater and Wisconsin Lutheran to improve to 4-0 this season.

Where they rank

Five men’s teams in the Region are ranked in the Week 1 Top 25 poll, including newly installed No. 1 Augustana.

The Vikings received 16 first place votes on their way to the top spot in the poll. Preseason No. 1 UW-Whitewater received four first place votes and slid to the No. 3 spot, previously held by Augustana.

St. Thomas is up seven spots to No. 8 and Illinois Wesleyan remained in the top-10 but fell four spots to No. 8.

UW-Stevens Point also dropped four spots and checks in at No. 11.

Whitworth and Wheaton (Ill.) both fell out of the rankings. St. Olaf (59), St. Norbert (45), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (28), Chapman (22), Wheaton (Ill.) (9), Whitworth (7), Dubuque (6), Whitman (2) and Defiance (1) received votes this week.

In the women’s poll, UW-Oshkosh remained ranked No. 5 after receiving a pair of first place votes.

St. Thomas rose one spot to No. 11 and Wheaton (Ill.) is up four spots at No. 15.

George Fox enters the Top 25 at No. 16, followed by No. 17 St. Mary’s (Minn.) and No. 18 Whitworth.

No. 19 Transylvania, No. 22 Illinois Wesleyan and No. 24 St. Norbert also made their debuts in the Top 25.

Whitman and UW-Whitewater both fell out of the poll, but received votes. Whitman (18), Luther (13), UW-Whitewater (6), Puget Sound (4) and Carthage (2) were the teams in the Region that received votes this week.

Marquee games

The fifth-ranked UW-Oshkosh women’s basketball team will take on No. 24 St. Norbert on the road Saturday.

Also in women’s play, No. 22 Illinois Wesleyan will meet No. 9 DePauw Saturday at the Midwest Challenge hosted by Illinois College; No. 11 St. Thomas will host UW-Stevens Point in a non-conference game Sunday; and No. 19 Transylvania opens HCAC play at home versus Mount St. Joseph Wednesday, Dec. 3.

In men’s competition, North Central will travel to No. 11 UW-Stevens Point for an intriguing non-conference game this Saturday.

Check in

Do you have a story idea for the Around the Region column? Contact me about approaching milestones, broken records, break-out players or any other storylines in the area’s conferences. Or just drop me a note and let me know what you like or don’t like about the column. All ideas and feedback are welcome. Email me at josh.smith@d3sports.com or follow me on Twitter @DU_Josh_Smith.