More Good News @ Bradley!

We keep hearing more and more good news...so I will pass it on....

The arena is awesome -- people from all over the nation have seen it and declared it's as good as any on-campus arena they've seen, and better than many that exist on far bigger campuses. The few who seem to find a gripe are disappearing...

Lots of talented recruits are lining up to visit Bradley -- several every weekend for the past few weeks and for the coming several weeks. Here's a little bit of discussion on some, although lots of the recruiting stuff is kept really close to the vest, so some of the info about who BU is recruiting and what they are saying just can't be revealed.
https://twitter.com/xb7/status/23055349334

In addition to those few twitter quotes, one of the top high school coaches in the Indianapolis area was retweeting a few of Kevin Eastman's quotes from his twitter, and also notes the Indy kids having GREAT visits to Bradley and loving the campus and facilities.

Coach Les even said he heard back from one of the recruits who visited and said this...
"Just heard from a recruit - It's better than IU's new facility - I like the sound of that!!"
http://twitter.com/CoachJimLes/status/23006214887

Wow -- Indiana just spent well more than twice as much as BU and their facility is already 2nd rate!!

Anyone recall Rick Harris, a guard who played for Bradley early in the Jim Molinari era?? He has since gone on to complete medical school and residency training and is a well known Peoria area doctor. Here is an ad promoting him as one of the Emergency Room specialists at Proctor Hospital, but there have also been pictures in the newspaper and on TV ads..
BTW -- Rick is still a big basketball fan and was my guest at a Bradley basketball game!
http://www.proctor.org/proctorinfo.aspx?SubCategoryID=69



Rick is the 2nd one from the right in the picture!


Here's another picture, and he's the one the left in back...






Here's a nice picture of the new arena with AW working out at the far end...
http://twitpic.com/2blf5o

This was posted by ex-Bradley men's basketball team manager and current women's basketball assistant Michael Peplow, and note a couple features..
The shot clocks are transparent! They will be far less of an obstruction to people's views! I have never seen an arena with shot clocks this classy and transparent!!
There is currently only one 3-pt line, at the women's distance, but obviously one at the men's distance will be added later.
Even when the folding seats and lower bowl stands are deployed, there is still plenty of room along the courtside and along the end lines for chair seating, and that will increase the seating capacity by a few hundred possibly. Then behind the last row of seats - at the top, there's a large, wide walkway with plenty of area for additional seats to be added and lots of standing room. I suspect it would ultimately be possible to get an extra 500 to possibly a thousand people in there beyond the 4200 permanent seats, if is were necessary.



One event scheduled for the new arena is the convocation and graduation ceremony for mid-year students, set for December 18, 2010 inside the new arena.
The speaker will be Bradley alumnus and well known sports personality and play-by-play announcer Charlie Steiner.
"Charley Steiner (1971 Bradley graduate), one of the most popular and recognizable sports announcers in the United States... will be recognized with an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the commencement ceremony.

Steiner’s address will be the first time the University’s new $50 million arena (and multi-purpose athletic facility) is used for a mid-year commencement. The arena, home to Bradley’s Athletic Department and the women’s basketball and volleyball teams, was completed in August.
Steiner continues a Bradley tradition of bringing nationally distinctive speakers to commencement to inspire graduates and their families."
http://thecommunityword.com/online/cwnotes/2010/09/03/charley-steiner-to-give-commencement-address-at-bradley/



BU assistant coach Jim Platt just came to BU from Army -- but his old boss, the Athletic Director at Army, Kevin Anderson, also just made quite a step up in the career world also. He was just hired and named as the new Athletic Director at University of Maryland!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/09/04/maryland.ad.ap/index.html?xid=si_ncaab



ISU's Kellen Thornton has quit at Illinois State and will transfer to Tennessee State. Tennessee State's assistant coach Dana Ford is an ex-Illinois State Redbird, and TSU also has on their roster Robert Covington, a fine SF who is their best player.
Of course Kellen Thornton will have to sit out a year, but he plays essentially the same position as Covington - who was a mid-major All American last year as a freshman, so just how much playing time is he gonna get? Thornton's final two years will be spent playing behind a talented kid who is a lock to be a starter.

BTW -- it has also been confirmed that ISU's Jackie Carmichael does indeed have a pretty severe sprain and that he's wearing the walking boot-splint and will be out at least a month!
Also -- how many knew this?? Jackie Carmichael also played baseball at prep school!
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs043.snc1/4403_1100095701174_1190100371_30490993_7802822_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs043.snc1/4403_1100095661173_1190100371_30490992_388639_n.jpg

And he ran track!!
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v339/189/120/1190100371/n1190100371_30349240_9349.jpg

Jackie Carmichael also did this in Redbird Arena during one of the practices lastyear...
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs550.snc3/30108_1351598508587_1190100371_31063011_4878909_n.jpg



And this -- per a message board post about ex-ISU Redbird Jeremy Robinson...
Apparently he has been diagnosed with an unusual heart condition that is quite threatening and he has said he may never be able to play basketball again.
That is unfortunate, if true, and I wish him the best.
As you may know -- he was booted from the ISU team and had planned to play basketball this season at Iowa Western CC -- junior college.



Here's a column suggesting that Kansas State may be interested in playing a game IN Wichita!! But here's the catch -- they appear to NOT want to play Wichita State, but instead play a neutral site game against someone else at a location in Wichita...possibly to get exposure there and tap into the improving talent in the Wichita area high schools.

"Wildcats in Wichita? — (K-State athletic director) John Currie wants to bring the K-State basketball team to Intrust Bank Arena for a neutral-court game.
He said the Wildcats tried to move their game against UNLV from Kansas City's Sprint Center to Wichita this season, but the two programs couldn't agree on a date.
K-State owes Alabama a neutral-court game, but Currie said the Wildcats are already scheduled to play the Crimson Tide during the 2011-12 season in the Sprint Center.
"We are actively working on another significant, name opponent for Wichita," Currie said. "We're starting the process of figuring out dates. We very much want to play a Kansas State basketball game in Intrust Arena (in Wichita). It makes sense."
As early as 2011? "That's our goal," Currie said."
http://www.kansas.com/2010/09/02/1475440/eastern-kentucky-kent-state-miami.html#ixzz0yPQSlCzD



Shaun Pruitt, the #2 player in Illinois and one of the top players in the nation in the Class of 2004, now has a new job...
He no longer is playing for a Puerto Rican team, he has signed for a Croatian pro team.
http://www.eurobasket.com/Croatia/basketball.asp?NewsID=202365
http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=CRO&Team=2320

There's not a lot of American players in Croatia -- but one of them is Mississippi State's Jamont Gordon.