Season's Over...

Our season's over -- as is the season of most conference bottom dwellers after getting bounced from their conference tournies...

And I am anxiously awaiting news on the coaching search...here's a few things I hear...
-lots of good candidates are interested - some are busy with teams still playing but if they look like good enough options for BU then they will NOT be cut from the list until they can be interviewed
-in the end all parties will work out their differences
-the people at the top at BU will do whatever they can (and in many ways already have) to keep the Bradley faithful loyal in the future
-BU is a legit option for MB
-I am a bit more optimistic after hearing some good news...more later


NOW ----....... here are a couple teams whose seasons ended yesterday or this past week or who will soon -- that I at least somewhat enjoyed watching or following anyway....not all for the same reasons...


--both ISU and SIU -- not that I am big fans of either team, but several kids on each squad (Carlton Fay, Blake Mishler, Bocot..) are kids that I have watched since junior high....and as long as Bradley was at the bottom this season, at least we didn't have to face the Redbird or Saluki fans rubbing it in...


--Drake -- I met and talked with numerous Drake fans in St. Louis -- and there really is NO team whose fans are more pleasant, polite, patient, and longsuffering than Drake fans. Their whole team is back next year except Ryan Wedel, and so I wish them well.......BTW -- Keno is available again...


--Southern Miss -- got bounced out last night in a loss to Memphis, and our old friend Larry Eustachy's season may still be on life support...
They finished tied for 5th in CUSA, 22-10 (but only 19-10 against D-I opponents) with RPI and SOS about 100 but their non-conference SOS was well over 200.
They will probably get a CBI or CIT opportunity, but packing teams like Cal State-Monterey Bay and Spring Hill onto their schedule, and building a resume with wins over teams that look like they belong on ISU's schedule isn't making the Southern Miss fans happy.
Their home attendance dropped to just 3300 and 3500 the past two seasons...so is Larry on the hot seat?
There have LONG been rumors that Larry Eustachy has dirty deals with AAU guys and can still land the big time kids -- so even if he can't coach them and he gets fired, you can bet someone will hire Larry right away.


--DePaul ended another miserable season -- losing their final two games horribly...
107-59 to Syracuse, then 97-71 in the Big East Tourney to UConn.
They lost 18 of their final 19 games - beating ONLY Keno's Providence squad for their only win since December 22!!
Sure BU had a bad year -- but how'd you like to be a DePaul fan?


--Northwestern -- I actually liked watching these guys a lot....
John Shurna is a fun kid to watch and a good shooter..but his stats fell off the 2nd half due to injury...paralleling their downturn...
Northwestern also has THREE kids Bradley had pursued...Nick Fruendt, Jershon Cobb, Drew Crawford....all of whom would have been good players at BU. Plus, as bad as BU is this year, I am sure they'd have still had a better chance of getting to the NCAA at Bradley than at Northwestern.
Losing Juice Thompson will hurt them a lot and they are going to come in 2nd place in the Sam Maniscalco sweepstakes...so they have no point guard for next year.


--Iowa State -- I hope Fred Hoiberg does well at Iowa State -- but I still can't figure out all the glowing optimism I have already seen about Iowa State and all the talk that Hoiberg has done so much in such a short time already!
Hey -- they finished dead last in the Big 12 with only 3 wins, and among the few nc-wins they had at all .. none were Top 100 opponents, and most were the Alabama States, Kennesaw States, and Chicago States, and SEMOs of D-I.
They still have a very long way to go and will still be a bottom dweller next year I am afraid...unless Royce White stays eligible and produces like some believe he can...


--Maryland - of the ACC, even though they were 7-9 in a weak ACC this year, will still likely get an NCAA bid just because they are an ACC team....
I am stumped as to how Gary Williams has ever gotten a date with the personality he has, and how he's avoided massive coronaries from the way he goes ballistic even when his team's winning!


--Tennessee is still alive but should be put out of their misery soon...at 9-9 they should be relegated to the CBI then fire Bruce Pearl before worse things happen.
If and when Bruce Pearl is fired, the stock value of Nike and most other athletic apparel manufacturers will take a steep hit from all those players not buying any more sweatbands....


--Saint Louis -- these guys also lost a couple of their starters -- but not to injury -- instead to moral problems, yet the kids are being welcomed back....it makes me sad nobody takes a stand on moral issues any more save for a few schools and BYU..
Their final record of 12-19 (one win was vs. Rockhurst) ought to bring some calls to jettison Majerus, yet oddly fans want a winner and even if the kids are rapists, the fans still support RickMa


--then finally - Indiana --
as an Illinois kid I grew up hating to hear the IU fans endlessly hoot and holler about how great they were, how many dusty old banners they have and how Bobby Knight was such a great coach and always graduated his players.
But Knight is a bankrupt personality and a bully, the line about graduating his players was a lie and he never did any better than anyone else (which I have since proven), and in the end Knight had plenty of issues even if he was never caught by the NCAA.
BUT -- Kelvin Sampson surely made up for it, leading Indiana to the top of the "MOST CHEATINGEST college basketball programs ever" list....
So -- for a while I was happy to see them devastated and losing -- cheaters deserve as much..........but now I'd kinda like to see Matt Roth get a little chance to play and win..but it just isn't going to happen.
Now - three years into the Tom Crean era...after he's now recruited and landed many top recruits and Top 100 stars and had top recruiting classes every year -- he still has by far the worst team in the Big Ten.
They are actually funny to watch as they are so inept at times....
His 3-year Big Ten win total is just 8 -- fewer than perennial worst Big Ten team, Penn State, had already gotten just this season alone.
When IU finished last season with four conference wins, everyone said they'd double that this year and at least get an NIT bid....
But -- it wasn't going to happen even though Christian Watford really is one of the better players in the NATION. Watford is a real NBA player along the lines of a Danny Granger...
But -- Crean's offensive style of everyone just putting their heads down and dribbling into the defense and launching shots is marginally entertaining......it's like watching a bunch of middle schoolers act out their dreams of what it would be like to be Kobe Bryant...just that none of them have a thread of Kobe Bryant-skills.


Speaking of Matt Roth....here's the latest..
in a premium interview he talks about transferring to other schools...
this is a premium/Insider blog -- so likely you can't see it.
http://is.gd/3qUU8a

Here's some clips.......

"Yesterday after the game we got a little more detail from Matt Roth about his future. He's doing something fairly unique, graduating in just three years and that opens up some possibilities for him. One of those might be an opportunity to move on to another school if that fits his academic path. But that's all to-be-determined. The NCAA does allow players to avoid the need to sit out a season after a transfer if the move is to a school that offers an academic program not available at his current university. That's how UNC forward Justin Knox was able to play this year for the Tar Heels after playing last year for Alabama.

Here's what the Illinois native had to say to us and you can also see his comments (click here):

Roth: Yeah, I earn my diploma this April/May, I don't know, been so busy with basketball. But I'll get my degree and I am in process of applying to grad schools and hopefully will continue on to work on my masters while playing a little basketball.

More on his academic specifics:

Roth: My degree is in sports communication and broadcasting and I think I want to go with a sports administration masters program to give a little bit of communication and handling with compliance and all that stuff. It's a great opportunity and I'm blessed to be in this position."

Now -- here's what's really the key part of this story -- Matt Roth's MAJOR, as he said, is in "sports communication and broadcasting". And Indiana DOES have a graduate program in that area...so why would he say...

"I am in process of applying to grad schools and hopefully will continue on to work on my masters while playing a little basketball."

Answer -- the only reason is because he's planning on not being at Indiana next year. Which means he would have to change curriculums as the only9 option to leave and be eligible without penalty is if his current school does NOT have that program.

So this is pretty strong evidence he is leaving Indiana at the end of this year, Matt will get his undergrad degree...and will go elsewhere under the graduate-student waiver and play elsewhere next year...my bet -- ISU, BU, or SLU...

One last thing on Matt -- sadly if he does get out of Indiana he will avoid a dubious distinction that would have been his alone for centuries to come had he stayed at Indiana...
IU has lost 66 games already in Matt's career there...and could quite possibly get close to 100 career losses if Matt stayed there a couple more years. That would have cemented Matt as having the most career losses as a Hoosier and it would have held up forever!

Also -- this same blog says Tom Crean was intensely pursuing Remy Abell and was in Kentucky watching him this week...
Some of their fans think the Hoosiers should also go hard after Bradley's Dyricus Simms-Edwards and pry him away from Bradley...
"Also, noticed that Dyricus Simms-Edwards is having a nice year for them and playing 30 minutes a game. I will admit that I haven't watched Bradley, but could we have chosen the wrong teammate between him and Roth?"

and

"We definitely got the wrong guy."
http://is.gd/qEmvU1



Here's a name to keep an eye on -- an ex-Iowa kid putting up some pretty good numbers....
http://is.gd/ISaTT7



As good as St. John's has done this year with one of the Iowa juco kids as their star -- things just got a bit tougher as one of their top 3 players is done for the season....
http://is.gd/zwzSJ0