A couple Illini followups and more...

I have always enjoyed doing Bradley player followups, but ran across a couple things on some of the ex-Illini players.......
Does anyone remember Bruce Douglas, All Stater from Quincy who played at Illinois and even played a few games in the NBA?
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/d/douglbr01.html


Bruce Douglas went to University of Illinois and had a great career....
he has since gone into Christian ministry...

"Pastor, Bruce L. Douglas, former NBA player, is a 1988 Graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign with a B.S. in Political Science. He is
President of “Shooting for Christ Ministry,” a
Basketball Camp and Community Outreach that
promotes unity in the community by ministering to
families and youth. Bruce served as an associate
minister at Broadview Missionary Baptist Church with
an active membership of 2,300 members. He was also
involved in the Teaching, Counseling, and Marriage
Ministries at Broadview. Bruce most recently held the
position of Youth Director at Broadview from
1999-2009, until the Lord called him to plant a
church in the Plainfield area. Bruce is currently
working on his Masters of Divinity at Moody Bible
Institute."

Here is a link to his web page...
http://walkingingrace.cc/staff/

More on Bruce Douglas...
http://www.qhsalumni.org/alumni_articles/default.asp?id=50

Rich McBride will be Cairo's boy's basketball head coach...
http://www.sj-r.com/sports/x1445283090/Former-Lanphier-star-McBride-named-Cairo-basketball-coach
http://www.ihsa.org/school/schools/0302.htm

Ex-Richwoods' Derek Holcomb -- he kinda dropped off the map but this guy with the name Derek Holcomb looks a little like him and the age is right...hmmm..is this the reason he dropped off the map?
http://newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/vows_derek_holcomb_and_kenneth_schlesinger/



5-Star freshman Josh Selby at Kansas is still not cleared to play yet for Bill Self -- because of his professional agent connections. However - a rumor is all over the Kansas boards that a deal has been struck that will allow Selby to play but simply dock him 4 or 5 games (early season cupcake exhibitions) like they are doing to John Wilkins. Personally, I find this a travesty...as players like Wilkins never actually played under a pro contract or got paid as a pro or by agents. These guys like John Wall (got docked just one game last year at Kentucky) and Selby have had complex dealings with agents since their high school sophomore years, and should be declared pros.

One a similar issue -- here's a good commentary on Eric Bledsoe and the rampant cheating that went on at his high schools to get him eligible...grades altered and changed, and entire coursework being fudged...yet his school board copped out and is simply dropping the whole thing...

Here are a few of the panel's findings...
"..17 of Bledsoe’s 24 scores for Algebra 3 (which he took, according to
transcripts, prior to taking Algebra 2) were “conspicuously changed.”"

"The reasons given for the (grade) changes are not credible.”

"The grade books for Bledsoe’s junior year are missing, despite a rule that they
must be maintained for three years. That school is closed and all the grade
books for the 2007-2008 school year are gone (missing)"
http://kentsterling.com/2010/09/25/corruption-wins-in-birmingham-eric-bledsoe-keeps-hs-grades-kentucky-basketballs-disappointing-season-stands/



Then the touchy topic of Joe Stowell....off the HOF Committee, and off the air at WMBD. WMBD doesn't employ any other 80 year old broadcasters, nor does any other station I am aware of -- so instead of praising the school and the station for all the years of going with Stowell and putting up with the complaints that came because of some of the jabber -- no -- instead of being positive and thankful for all the wonderful seasons and memories, we have to end Coach's career with bitterness, rumored controversy, and fictitious conspiracies!!!
We could be looking at a glass that's 98% full and be happy, but instead we have to see and hear rants complaining about the 2% that's perceived empty.
I love Coach Stowell...but even Coach Stowell wouldn't complain, he'd be happy for all the years the school has given him employment and the ability to pursue his dreams, and the column even notes that and says Coach won't gripe -- he'll move on.
So.... why do people have to step in and gripe for him?

And oddly -- it's largely the very same people who virtually applauded when the personnel changes took place that have led to this -- the new Prez and AD....
those very people cheered when other firings took place and said it's high time we cleaned out the old personnel -- what took so long??
But suddenly the hypocrisy reigns...and now we have to go back to the old school...when it was the old school we wanted to get rid of last spring??

One writer even brings up pure speculation about some rift between parties...
But -- even the writer has to admit that if such a rift exists, it's been there for years -- so why wasn't Stowell gone years ago??
There's no rift involved here -- just time for an 80-year old to end his broadcasting career ----
If people just want an old guy to give commentary, there are plenty of people around who have been around BU and been with BU for decades.
But you can't just hire someone because they have been around for a while, come on....
doesn't broadcasting ability come into it somewhere?? Doesn't BU (and WMBD for that matter) have a little more knowledge and expertise in these areas...and maybe a little better fit to choose their personnel?
So maybe just longevity isn't what they're looking for... why is that criteria about the only thing people can come up with for why BU should continue with Stowell?
Maybe there is a little more to this...but we'll probably never know, since the only thing that ever gets written up is the anti-BU and conspiracy end of it.
Sorry -- this is not some weird behind-the-scenes conspiracy -- just the very personnel they clamored for, now making the decisions they were hired to make.