I have a suggestion for the Missouri Valley..and more...

Did anyone read this -- it's Paul Suellentrop's blog...
http://blogs.kansas.com/shockwaves/2010/12/28/tuesday-at-koch-arena-3/

and he says this...
".. since 1993-94, only one team won or shared the MVC regular-season title after an 0-1 start. Fifteen of the past 16 champions or co-champions started 2-0."

OK -- then simply put, winning early on -- especially winning your Valley opener seems to be PRETTY danged important!!
So important that maybe the awarding of a conference opener as a HOME GAME should be a special reward to the Valley teams that finished the best from the year before or who have the toughest schedules.

BUT!!! Note that Bradley starts on the road this year and also NOT ONLY started on the road last year but had 4 of their first 6 conference games on the road.
Then the year before that, in 2008-2009, Bradley started the Valley season with a home game BUT then had their NEXT TWO and FIVE of the NEXT SEVEN conference games all on the road!
What a rip!! Seems Bradley has repeatedly gotten robbed and shafted in the early-season conference scheduling!

So I have a strong suggestion and I hope someone will listen and take this seriously.
The Valley has already discussed ways of rewarding the member teams who have the better scheduling.....
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15990

BUT -- how about also rewarding the teams in the upper half of the MVC...and giveing further rewards for the Strength of Scheduling!!

Bradley has finished in the upper half of the Valley several years running and has repeatedly had the best scheduling.
I SAY reward Bradley with a HOME GAME to start the Valley season for their previous year's finish AND add a second home game at the start of the conference season to reward for having one of the top SOS.
That would make teams pay attention and maybe it is JUST FAIR to give some benefit beyond just a seed in a tournament...

Please -- someone pass this thought along to Doug Elgin!!
I think it should be done!!



Now -- a flashback to the days when Decatur Christian School was a top prep school....that was 2006-2007 right along the same time period we saw Boys to Men Academy in Chicago...
As you recall, Decatur Christian had a lineup of gobs of prep-caliber kids, some rated as 4-Star and 5-Star, but also some who later paid penalties when they did get to college because they were already professional players, and several years older than the high school kids they were playing against.

Let's revisit the facts and see whatever became of all those kids.
This thread summarized and caught us up for a couple years and included the BTMA players as well.
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4410

But now we can see, since we're four year down the road, that this whole prep thing for those schools was a failed experiment.
The Decatur coach said every one of his kids would play D-I ball and several were NBA caliber -- and the BTMA guy said the same.
In the end we see that the vast majority of those kids were overrated, and most were short changed because they never did get into college.
their educations failed many of them and they had to go the juco route.
And many were docked eligibility due to professionalism, and the few who appeared to maybe make it...even those have now stalled out.

Beas Hamga has bounced around a ton of places and now at UAB, despite being a 5-STAR recruit, cannot find the floor and cannot hit the rim.
Several others, like Lucca Staiger just up and quit and went back to Europe.
And even the ONLY two or three who actually looked like they had a possibility of an NBA shot have faltered.
Craig Brackins might just have been the MOST talented of all the prep kids, but had to get out of Boys to Men and go elsewhere to bloom -- and yet even he is a D-League player.
Darington Hobson showed promise but was signed to a non-guaranteed contract, has since been cut by the Bucks, and is completely out of basketball now.
Mac Koshwal was the most overrated, and has gone nowhere.
then only a few others even made it to D-I - most to the very lowest levels and some still never saw the floor.

So those coaches' claims that all their kids were solid D-I players who would be pros, was just a little bit of a stretch, and maybe some kids are far better off staying in their own high schools.
Schools like Simeon, Central, Manual -- perennially have kids who end up with better shots at top D-I spots and a shot at the pros than those prep schools did.
they truly failed most of their players with overhype and unfulfilled promises.



Here's a nice story on Creighton's Kenny Lawson and how he fits in with the new players..
http://www.omaha.com/article/20101227/BLUEJAYS/712279853/-1#new-guy-changes-lawson-s-role