Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Just a few happenings around the Valley

Creighton just got a commitment from Canadian PG Jahenns Manigat. Manigat had already verballed to Canisius but apparently, according to Manigat's own testimony, Dana Altman kept recruiting and pursuing him and talked him out of his commitment!
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15511

Here is a picture of Jahenns Manigat...they claim he is 6-2 and 160 lbs, but he looks to be all of about 150 lbs...
http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/1209/938890.jpg

Here is some video on him....slender is an understatement...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57ythu60CR4

Here's a couple comments from Jahenns...

Regarding his first thoughts when he visited Creighton...
"What did you think of Omaha when you first saw it?"
"I'm not going to lie, when I first saw it, I thought to myself 'What am I getting myself into?"

"What was it about Omaha that worried you?"
"How small the airport was"

"You verballed to Canisius College earlier in this process but took the visit to Creighton anyway. Why did you decide to reopen your recruitment?"
"Basically, when I had my verbal with Canisius, I felt like that was the end of my recruiting ..but once I was approached with the opportunity to come to Creighton, I felt like I shouldn't completely shut down my recruitment before signing."

Creighton is losing several guards - P'Allen Stinnett is not expected back (although Dana has grovelled before and begged the guy back, so don't count that out again!), and Andrew Bock - the highest rated recruit coming into the Valley last year at 4-Stars, and touted as an immediate starter and impact player who obviously fell a little short of those predictions!!
They also love Cavel Witter and Justin Carter who played like a guard although he was listed as a 6-4 forward.

Creighton's Kenny Lawson entered his name in the NBA Draft, but even if the NBA Draft had 10 rounds, I'd be aghast if Kenny Lawson got picked....a 6-8 center??
Gimme a break.....there hasn't been an NBA center this small since Wes Unseld!

Creighton is also going after YET ANOTHER juco kid...will this never end??
http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1076266

They are battling neck and neck with SIU for the moniker "Juco U."...
but this offer to this kid must mean that P'Allen is done and gone....finally and forever!



More reports coming out of SIU that both Kevin Dillard and Anthony Booker are already gone...plus rumors of othwer kids like Teague, Crowder, Freeman...and still there are no reports yet that any of the three juco kids they just recruited have signed their LOI's.
SIU will have 5 juco players on the team at one time - and nobody can ever recall having more than 1 or 2, and you have to go all the way back to about 2000 to even find the last juco who got much playing time (Lamar Owen).
so much for what was billed as the Missouri Valley's best recruiting class in history...
..and what ever happened to all the talk about SIU landing James Siakam??



Evansville's best returning frontcourt player is leaving....lots of player losses there, although not as many as at SIU or Iowa State!!
Aces also are losing newcomer, junior Monie Hudson...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15515

Could he getting phone calls from Tom Crean??



Wichita's best freshman, highly touted Kenny Manigault is leaving - they just didn't play the kid enough to keep him happy!
http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=61179&SPID=2851&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=204932312
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15512



An ex-Missouri State player has become famous in China...famous like Ron Artest and Kermit Washington...famous for throwing punches and fighting!!
http://deadspin.com/5520286/

The article says he was from Southern Mississippi, but he is also a Missouri State guy from back when it was called Southwest Missouri State...since that's where he played his first two seasons...he's also from the same high school in Houston as Anthony Thompson and Toure Murry.
http://www.nba.com/dleague/players/charles_gaines.html

Missouri State's Ryan Jehle also has left the team and won't be back...

Ex-Evansville Kaylon Williams now going to Wisconsin-Milwaukee...
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/panthers/90716584.html



Barely any word on John Wilkins...almost as if he's being urged to lay low and not talk to anyone and make no further visits!! Ahem... in the meantime, things are happening....
Iowa State is moving in another direction and offering and pursuing plenty of other big man options...

Indiana is offering just about every unsigned kid over 6-5...and even pursuing a few who are signed, as in Cody Larson, who had sighed with Iowa and who is NOT going to be able to transfer to Indiana and recieve a scholarship because of a Big Ten rule that prohibit that...apparently Tom Crean is or was unaware of this Big Ten rule...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=179704#post179704

So with Larson ruled out, then Big man Will Yeguete verbals to Florida yesterday, and now Crean is down to only a couple options...
He is still hot after D-II juco big man Dwight McCombs, but so are many other programs, and with so many options to choose form, it is unlikely McCombs, with only two years to play coming from juco, will want to come to a rebuilding program, and most reports have him leaning towards Arizona State.
So I think John Wilkins may luck out and get the indiana offer he appears to want and is willing to wait and beg for...
Too bad, because he'll probably be relegated to minimal playing time there like Derek Elston and Tom Pritchard, IU's other two big men who were there before JW.

Here's a novel way for Tom Crean to recruit....hire an assistant like Steve McClain from Colorado...then get the guy to lure his best players into following to Indiana!!
Bingo...Indiana picks up a kid without spending a cent from the recruiting budget (except probably the phone calls!!)
http://www.denverpost.com/colleges/ci_14917518

But here's the big hurdle...if the kid (Freshman of the Year in Big 12) does come to Indiana, then Crean will have to crean yet another player from the roster in order to open up yet another ride!! But wait -- I thought Matt Roth LOVED being at Indaina...well...ahem....we'll see if he loves it enough to pay his own way....



No word on where Illinois' Stan Simpson will go...he'd make a good mid-major player, but he'll probably go somewhere else that he'll sit the bench...



New head coach at UTEP, Tim Floyd, landed his first recuit...ex-Chicago Washington star Michael Haynes, who spent the last year at a prep academy in Virginia.
As recently as a month ago, Haynes was hoping to play at Duke, but I guess Duke decided not to offer?
http://duke.scout.com/2/953104.html

Haynes was once a target of Bradley's recruiting..........but was declared ineligible when he transferred to the same school Walter Lemon was at in 2009, then he went to the prep academy...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=9203



Article on the turmoil at NIU...
http://www.northernstar.info/ArticlePage.php?pk=1991§ionfrom=4



I also heard a rumor that Illini's Joseph Bertrand, may be having 2nd thoughts about staying with the Illini...
He did not play at all last, partly because of injuries, but also because his conditioning was way behind everyone else...he made Bill Cole look obese!!
He still has four year of eligibility remaining, but with all the playing time going to guards that are undoubtedly going to stay ahead of him in the rotation (McCamey, Richardson, Paul, even Jeff Jordan...) he may play very little this next year as well...then the next year other talented guards (Abrams, Head..) will be grabbing playing time as well.....
I guess time will tell.............



Anyone else note that even tho Bradley's Anthony Parker gets few of the headlines in Cleveland....he still hits key shots and plays good defense, and was a real key to the Cavs beating the Bulls last night!



Did you see this??? With all the talk of Big Ten expansion...now Maryland fans are wanting to know how come they haven't been asked!!
Can you imagine how HUGE that would be -- if the Big Ten could steal Maryland from the ACC!!
I would love it!!! Looks like they are mainly talking football but I suspect some Terp fans are fed up up playing 2nd fiddle to the Heels and Blue Devils in basketball!!
http://www.examiner.com/x-30425-College-Football-Examiner~y2010m4d20-Why-not-Maryland-Terps-fans-speak-on-Big-Ten-expansion



New NC-Wilmington coach Buzz Peterson lays it out as to why he'd leave a good job at Appalachian State....the money, baby....so I wish other coaches would be so honest...
http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=12339670



Tony Barone's son has confirmed he is leaving Indiana (the 2nd assistant there to leave or be fired this past month...) and will take an assistant spot at UW-Green Bay.
Brian Barone was also an assistant under Porter Moser at ISU.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100420/GPG020101/4200484/1225/GPG02/Men-s-basketball--Wardle-adds-Barone-to-staff


Some recruiting blogs...
http://illinihq.com/blogs/recruiting_wrap/2010/04/16/sky_is_the_limit_for_pair_of_illinois
http://www.illinihq.com/news/mens_basketball/2010/04/19/5_oclock_shadow


This week's bad mistake....
DePaul's Mac Koshwal is getting all his education plus room and board paid for...and he has another year to play for DePaul...
yet he withdraws and has now declared for the NBA Draft...and he can't go back this time, since this is the 2nd time he's done it, and you are only allowed to return one time...
This is a bad choice, the draft is strong this year, especially in big men like DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Hasaan Whiteside, etc..
Mac is gonna go undrafted and have to look to play overseas...
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/colleges/post/_/id/343/depauls-koshwal-to-enter-nba-draft

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