By the way, there was a Bradley function last night at the Braves' game at O'Brien Field (BU beat St. Xavier). All the players & coaches and athletic staff were there for a Scholarship Society function. Drawing from that and other sources, I will try to put to rest a little ignorance and false rumors...
Myth #1 - "Jim Les has been fired or bought out"
--Judging from everything Coach Les says and the energy with which he's recruiting and flying around the globe to land players, I'd say that Jim Les is still in charge and is head coach. Add to that, he's actively and energetically looking forward to the summer and next season.
I sure wish the people who pushed this false myth would come clean with their agenda, and would stop changing their screen names and posting as someone else to hide the blown credibility...
Myth #2 - "Several players are thinking of leaving or they are going to be booted"
--We all knew there were playing time issues with Eddren so nobody doubted he was likely to leave - but at least five other names have surfaced here and there and idiots have claimed they're leaving as well - BUT presto - all are still around, all are still attending team functions, and all are incredibly optimistic and pumped about next year, including the guys who'll be new!
There's not the tiniest hint among the entire team of anyone else leaving - so those rumors were also pretty wild....(you reading pseudo-BU fans and kinky guys from the dairy state who pretend to still be following BU??)
Myth #3 - "Coach Les hasn't done any recruiting"
--He's been all over the world and landed two fine players already. (one from the CPL - so where are those guys who said he had no pull there??) People are going to be surprised at the talent these two guys have. They will NOT be projects and nobody's going to be talking redshirt about them.
One guy on the Bradley board even staked his claim that Bradley wouldn't get a commitment from a big man this spring....so much for credibility there...
(then we also had the rumors about Todd Peterson getting hired or going to Chicago State...weird..)
Myth #4 - "Coach Brooks was forced out"
Couldn't be further from the truth....he's been looking for a couple years for a D-I position or even a juco head coaching spot in Texas, and this one finally opened up and he jumped at it. He is a family oriented guy and anyone who ever met him or reads his tweets, knows that and all his family is in Texas. This one is particularly malicious, since it is not only so wrong, but so stupid, too and insulting to the Brooks family.
Myth #5 - John Wilkins - I will combine numerous misstatements and myths in this one discussion...
First - Bradley and Bradley's fans did want him and have wanted him for two years. So anyone who makes the stupid statement that only after he verbals to ISU, now BU people don't want the guy are just downright stupid.
BUT - it is pretty common knowledge that BU stopped recruiting Wilkins several weeks ago as did Indiana, Iowa State, and all the other main players in the JW sweepstakes.
Then numerous sources started reporting the same thing...that there might be some special requests coming from the JW camp for his services.
Now, keep in mind....this is a kid that some say has NBA talent!
Well - that comment can't be right, could it?? - because he is eligible for the NBA draft this year (and last year) since he's 2 years out of high school - so if he has NBA talent then is there any talk of him getting drafted??
NOPE -- so that kills the NBA talent argument. He does NOT have NBA talent - he may have NBA potential, but how would anyone know, the kid hasn't played in 2-3 years!
And the only people who have seen him play have seen him working out in a gym, often by himself and without anyone guarding him.
Does anyone really know how deceptive this is?? I can name a zillion players from Breland McKnight to James Bailey, to Tyrone Cole-Scott, to Ehimen Orukpe who all looked like NBA material when in a gym by themselves but who hardly impressed against live competition.
So - I'd prefer to take a wait and see approach to how talented JW is...
We kinda even heard the same talk coming from ISU fans about Bobby Hill and Osiris Eldridge and yet neither has ever played in an NCAA Tourney..and I wouldn't hold my breath about seeing either in an NBA game.
John Wilkins has STILL not finished his associates degree, and STILL not been cleared for initial eligibility, there remains just a bit of concern about him at ISU. I don't have any knowledge of his status, but then apparently neither does anyone else...
he's only been in juco for 16 months, and I have seen nothing saying he IS going to graduate or that he is cleared by NCAA. He sure wasn't cleared the last time the Clearinghouse checked him over, so I am sure they'll check him close again...
I have heard some things from several sources (at least three who say the exact same thing about the circumstances), and oddly one is an insider at Indiana who stated quite plainly that there was some issues going on with a girlfriend in school.
Here is the statement from a premium insider blog at Indiana Rivals from their guy Mike Pegram who is generally 100% accurate with his reports...
This was from 4/30/10..
"John Wilkins - news has been quiet on this front as the only report was an
IndyStar blog mention that he took one more visit, this time to Houston of
Conference USA. We had someone with (connections) confirm
to us a complicating factor is his girlfriend ...... the Braves
have now dropped out of this recruitment. Iowa State was a player here but
made a wholesale coaching change here in the past week, so one has to
think the Cyclones are a long shot. Providence and Illinois State (dad's alma
mater) are the other schools that have had him in for visits and are still
involved as far as we can tell."
http://indiana.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=731&mid=142634560&sid=942&tid=142634560&style=4
ISU has had a couple decent years although still quite a few Redbird fans are bit uneasy that if they couldn't do better than 3rd place and one-and-done in the NIT when they had arguably one of their BEST, senior ladened teams with a potential NBA star on it, then how are they gonna do when their best three players depart...so they may be not only desperate this year, but maybe a bit overly optimistic...
Bobby Hill may never come back or he may even be booted in order to open a scholarship.....plus he's a player who was fully immersed in a cheating and eligibility scandal that cost Vashon numerous state titles in Missouri.
ISU also has a guy on the roster who was neck deep in a grade changing and cheating scandal in Chicago (Simeon) that has already cost someone a forfeited Final Four.... Things are already looking a little sleazy....
And I don't know all the factors ..
...I am quoting someone else there...but it matches what I also heard independently from other sources...
Two long threads on the Indiana board now involve this topic...but you can check those threads out yourself....
http://indiana.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=731&tid=142716575&mid=142716575&sid=942&style=2
http://indiana.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?highlight=wilkins&sid=942&fid=731&tid=142634560&mid=142639629
.......as do threads on the Iowa State board, Iowa boards, and even Houston board...
Some don't think he's worth the risk...but ISU was desperate...they have to take the risk....
So was Crean desperate for a while, but when even he backs off it tells you something....maybe the fact IU is still on probation tugs at his thoughts...
http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/forum/1699222-post15.html
But this sure has the ISU fans giddy - so let them have their fun...they were equally tickled pink when they landed the likes of Terry Johnson & Bobby Hill...and when they beat out Bradley for Jeremy Robinson!!
But in the end - ISU wins the JW sweepstakes - so that ends it....
We wish you well..........have a fine college career.
Check out this ISU fan who lines up next year's players...
http://redbirdfan.com/msgforum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13763&start=25
Hmmm...sure Blake Mishler is maybe close to 6-8 but he plays about 6-4..
and if Lewis and Thornton are 6-7, I'll wash all the Redbird fans' cars...
but the real funny ones are the new guys...
Jon Ekey is 6-9??? Is this guy serious??...the kid's maybe 6-6 but redshirted last year, and both Justin Clark (claimed to be 6-5) and Zeke Upshaw (6-6) are likely a bit smaller, but also hit buckets at about 20% clip.......
Every post by every guy on the Iowa, Iowa State, Indiana, and even the Houston and Providence boards all unanimously say about the same thing...
That this whole JW thing burned itself out and that there appears to be a reason that NOT ONE single BCS team who finished outside the basement of their respective leagues or who are massively desperate to sign someone - was left pursuing John Wilkins.
Why is that???????????????
...as noted that all those same schools are knocking down every door and turning over ever stone to find even the most obscure kid, even juco kids whose averages are in the single digits...yet they all dropped off or passed on John Wilkins...
Something really smells here.......time will tell.........
As I said plainly - showing of course those who say otherwise that "they claim they never wanted him" - that all the Bradley fans wanted John Wilkins because we think he could have been a solid piece of a good program...but it was Wilkins and his handlers who obviously changed and retreated into weird territory...and it was the MOST desperate of all programs who stayed in there and bowed down to the Wilkins' demands, apparently......
Might just come back to bite the Birds...
BUT it's guards they need...they lost OE, Phillips and have untested guards.....
Time will tell...but just as happened in Carbondale -- so far everything Jank has done, he's done with mainly players from his predecessor...
Lowery was totally bankrupt once his predecessor's players graduated and the guys he got were not only bad, but were team-wreckers...
Let's just see how all those jucos, transfers, and players you have to bribe over there at ISU work out playing together....it sounds a lot like the recipe that blew up for Chris Lowery in Carbondale.
Still following the scandals but now add some more...at Notre Dame and Saint Louis...
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