Got more on Will Franklin..Boogie, etc...

More pics of Will Franklin......

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/252388_165116986884467_117843581611808_424458_5368761_n.jpg


http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/76778_117846158278217_117843581611808_129200_8073008_n.jpg


http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/166687_10150101834749833_198344194832_6300683_1961954_n.jpg


http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/63253_124729314256568_117843581611808_166750_3624411_n.jpg


and one of Lawrence Boogie Wright..

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/169002_619368219275_31402425_35199358_3841932_n.jpg


Also ex-Brave Jason Faulknor is playing this season in Taiwan -- with Bank of Taiwan team -- averaging 10.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg....



Lastly -- on the resignation of Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel after the scandal...

Jim Tressel who knew about his players selling their jerseys and stuff to keep the thousands of $$ for themselves and use it to get tattoos...

E mails prove he knew all about it and yet when NCAA asked questions, Tressel lied....and lying to the NCAA during an investigation (as Bruce Pearl found out) may be the one thing that actually gets the NCAA interested in penalizing a BCS school.

But here is an interesting connection -- Bob Knight - who champions integrity in college sports and who claims he has always surrounded himself with honest and reputable people -- says Tressel is a great guy and honest and defends Tressel's integrity! He even defends Tressel knowing the facts say otherwise...

"There is no coach in college sports that’s a better example, in my mind,
of what coaching is all about and what it should be and how things should be
done than Jimmy Tressel. He has done a great job at Ohio State, not
because he’s won a lot of games, but because he has won a lot of games doing things the absolute right way. And I think that he would be at the
top of the heap when it came to picking guys that did things the way they
were supposed to be done. There isn’t anybody who is better in that regard
than Jim Tressel is.”
http://www.insidethehall.com/2011/03/09/bob-knight-defends-jim-tressel-on-mike-mike/

Then Bobby goes on the claim all Tressel did was inadvertently miss some minor rule -- hmmmm -- this kinda discredits Knight as some kind of self-appointed expert on ethics and morality....

Some great followup news on Will Franklin & Zach Andrews, and more...

Will Franklin has been playing basketball in Tunisia this season after playing in Germany the past couple years. His Tunisian team, ES Sahel, was beating just about everyone and ran up a first place record of 21-1 when the strife hit in Tunisia and there were protest marches and violence as there was also in much of the Islamic world...

The basketball season was suspended and nearly cancelled, but they finally decided when the unrest died down to finish off the season with a Playoff. In mid-May they began the playoffs with the six teams who had the best records....and once the pool play ended it was Will's ES Sahel team vs. Stade Nebulien for what was termed the SUPER PLAYOFFS -- or the Finals.

Up to that point, Will's team went through the playoffs undefeated and in the 3-game final series, ES Sahel also swept the first two games (82-73 and 81-74) to become the Tunisian Champ with an overall record of 27-1 for the season!
Much of this was due to Will Franklin's excellent play at point guard.

Here is a brief story about the series sweep - LINK

And here is a translation via Google Translate from just before the final game-
"Basketball - Super Play-off - Final (Back) - SN / ESS today at 16:00 Saturday, 28 May 2011 12:39
The protected Predrag compete today from 16.00 at room Nabeul the return leg of the final Super Play-off. In case of victory, the Stars will win the championship 2010/2011 and in case of defeat, the two teams will play a beauty who will be played on Wednesday in Sousse.

Good luck to the basketball star who deserve to win the sacred light of the performance provided since the beginning of the season. It is noteworthy that the meeting will be broadcast live on satellite channel Hannibal TV holds the rights to broadcast the championship basketball."

And here is a brief story after the win -
"Basketball - Super Play-off - Final (Back) - SN / ESS (74-81) - The Sacred Star in Nabeul same Saturday, May 28, 2011 6:04 p.m.
The protected Serbian Predrag have lined up a second victory in the final of Super Play-off championship basketball flying this afternoon at the hall of Nabeul the Capbonnais Nabeulien Stadium with a score of (74-81). A victory documentation for obtaining the title of champion Tunisia 2010/2011 that allows stars to take their revenge at the expense of Nabeulien who have denied the sacred to the final seconds when the season ended.

Congratulations to Ben Romdhane Makram teammates who whipped hard and were the most consistent since the beginning of the season. They will also be able to play seriously for the coronation Cup in Tunisia with a double historical perspective that will be etched in the annals of basketball stars."

As is their custom they rarely mention the players and especially seem to never credit the foreign players...and of course basketball is not anywhere near as popular as football (soccer) and gets little press.

Here's some brief coverage via Eurobasket - LINK



Zach Andrews' Niigata Albirex squad ended up taking 4th place in the Japanese pro league despite a season that was right at .500, 20-20, only the 9th best regular season record -- but Niigata did very well -- advancing all the way to the Semi-Finals before dropping a decisive game and playing for 3rd/4th place....
In 42 games, Zach averaged a double double with 11.1 ppg and 10.8 rpg.
He also hit 65.3% of his FG attempts. Congrats to Zach Andrews!




http://www.albirex.com/roster/zach.html

HERE ARE SOME MORE GREAT PICS OF ZACH ANDREWS...

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/101030_11.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/110508_08.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/101023c.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/101128_03.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/101127_05.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/110423_04.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/100926f.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/101031_03.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/101030_06.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/110522_09.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/110507_08.jpg

http://albirexbb.blog-niigata.net/photo/images/2011/05/30/012.jpg

http://albirexbb.blog-niigata.net/photo/images/2011/05/30/2011052509230000.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/110205_02.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/100116_05.jpg

http://albirexbb.blog-niigata.net/photo/images/2011/05/30/001.jpg

http://albirexbb.blog-niigata.net/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2011/05/16/img5161256340001.jpg

http://albirexbb.blog-niigata.net/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2011/05/03/zach.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/100115_04.jpg

http://www.albirex.com/photo/2010/img/101024h.jpg

There are literally hundreds more great photos but I don't have time to link to all of them --- check it out for yourself!



Eddie Cage's ADT Tarragona squad finished strong ending 15-13 in the regular season (6th place out of 15 teams) -- but cmoing on strong in the post-season - losing out in the Playoff semi's to Mallorca, 3 games to 2....with ex-Brave Eddie Cage playing an important role -- as starter and 2nd leading scorer at 12 ppg, to go with 3.8 rpg, and 55% FG shooting.



Finally -- Osiris Eldridge's season in Turkey came to an abrupt end a couple weeks ago --
His team Karsiyaka finished 21-9 in their Turkish League -- good enough for 5th place in the league standings, but they then lost their first quarter final series 3 games-to-none to Efes Pilsen.
Only one of the games was even close -- as Osiris played poorly in the playoffs having games of only 4 pts/1 reb/1 asst, zero pts/zero reb/1 asst, and 4 pts/2 reb/2 asst.
Thus his playoff averages were -- 2.7 ppg, 1 reb, 1.3 apg.
His final overall season averages were 9 ppg, 3 rpg, 1 apg..and in his final TEN games of the year from March 5th on -- he scored more than 10 pts only once...averaging just 6 ppg....and he even lost his starting spot as a result....so maybe he was injured??


Dinma Odiakosa averaged 11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg for his UB LaPalma squad in the Spanish LEB Gold League. Their final record was 16-18,

Shayok Shayok among invitees for Canada's 2011 All Canada Classic

To be held June 20, 2011 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.


Here is the Canadian amateur association's release....the final selections for the team will be made soon.......

2011 ALL CANADA CLASSIC NOMINEES NAMED
The nominees for the 2011 Phase 1 All Canada Classic were named Tuesday, with the list of 100 Canadian high school basketball players displaying the high level of player development and growth of the game throughout Canada.

The impressive list is highlighted by 19 players from Canada's 2010 Cadet and Junior National teams including Myck Kabongo (Toronto), Khem Birch (Montreal), Kyle Wiltjer (West Linn, Ore.), and Kevin Pangos (Holland Landing, Ont.).

Last year's event was highlighted by an MVP performance by Kabongo, who led Team White to a narrow 103-101 victory. Team Red was led by Daniel Mullings (Toronto) whose electrifying dunks got the attention of current Raptors DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems, who were front and centre for the action.

This year's all Canadians will be selected by an appointed committee and the event promises to have the same amount of excitement as last year's game. It is set to take place on June 20 and will again be hosted by the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.


2011 ALL CANADA CLASSIC NOMINEES:

POINT GUARDS
Olivier-Paul Betu, Worcester (MA) 2012
Brandon Bos, Kiski Prep (PA) 2011
*Kenny Fred Chery, Archbishop Carroll (DC) 2011
Marquis Clayton, Next Level Prep (ON) 2011
Matthew Daley, Bathurst (NB) 2011
Ammanuel Diressa, Eastern (ON) 2012
Mandrez Downey, Cole Harbour (NS) 2011
Aaron Emmanuel, La Lumiere (IN) 2012
Dylan Ennis, Lake Forest Academy (IL) 2011
Tyler Ennis, St.Benedict's Prep (NJ) 2013
*Olivier Hanlan, New Hampton School (NH) 2012
Chris Joseph, Dawson (QC) 2011
*Myck Kabongo, Findlay Prep (NV) 2011
Kaza Keane, CFCA (NC) 2013
Mike Lafricain, Loyola (Oakville) (ON) 2011
Kameron LaTouche, Mack (NJ) 2011
Naz Long, Findlay Prep (NV) 2012
Jermaine Myers, Culver Military Academy (IN) 2012
Grant Mullins, REDA (ON) 2012
*Kevin Pangos, Dr.Denison (ON) 2011
Jimmy Ralph, Raymond (AB) 2011
Tyrelle Samuels, J.Clarke (ON) 2011
Jarryn Skeete, Wasatch Academy (UT) 2012
Sean Stoqua, Sacred Heart (ON) 2011
Henry Tan, Vaughan (ON) 2013
Kevin Zabo, St.Mark's (MA) 2014


SHOOTING GUARDS
Richard Audu, Father Henry Carr (ON) 2012
Lenny Austin, Vanier (QC) 2011
Kevin Blake, Oakwood (ON) 2012
*Joe De Ciman, LeBoldus (SK) 2012
Greishe Clerjuste, Vanier (QC) 2012
Stefan Cvrkalj, Bluevale (ON) 2011
Matej Delinac, Brehm Prep (IL) 2011
Justin Edwards, Anderson CVI (ON) 2011
Martin Dixon-Green, Vermont Academy (VT) 2012
Tevin Findlay, Quality Education Academy (NC) 2012
Nick Lewis, Our Savior NewAmerican (NY) 2012
Nakai Luyken, Yale (BC) 2011
Kadar Marshall, YAAACE Prep (ON) 2011
Micqueel Martin, Downsview (ON) 2013
Xavier Rathan-Mayes, CFCA (NC) 2014
*Duane Notice, St.Michael's College (ON) 2013
*Kemy Osse, Archbishop Carroll (DC) 2011
Tyler Scott, Next Level Prep (ON) 2011
Nikolas Stauskas, St.Mark's (MA) 2012
Aaron Redpath, J.Clarke (ON) 2011
Joe Rocca, St.Christopher's (ON) 2011
Dinjyl Walker, Academy of the New Church (PA) 2012
*Negus Webster-Chan, Huntington Prep (WV) 2012
Malcolm Williams, Pitt Meadows (BC) 2011
Connor Wood, REDA (ON) 2012


SMALL FORWARDS
Leon Alexander, J.Clarke (ON) 2011
David Andoh, Santa Teresa (CA) 2012
Aaron Best, Eastern (ON) 2011
Rohan Boney, Loyola (Oakville) (ON) 2012
Jean Pierre-Charles, Ashbury (ON) 2011
Frederic Dure, Sports Etudes de CEM (QC) 2013
Mitchell Jacobsen, Penticton (BC) 2011
Stefan Jankovic, Huntington Prep (WV) 2012
*Junior Lomomba, Memorial (WI) 2012
Mikyle McIntosh, CFCA (NC) 2013
Chris McComber, John McCrae (ON) 2013
Joey Nitychoruk, St.Paul's (MB) 2011
Agunwa Okolie, Denis O'Connor (ON) 2013
Guillaume Payen-Boucard, Ahuntsic (QC) 2011
*Dyshawn Pierre, Anderson CVI (ON) 2012
Brian Rouse, REDA (ON) 2011
Shayok Shayok, IMG Academies (FL) 2011
*Kevin Thomas, CFCA (NC) 2011
Jonathan Tshibuy, The Bullis School (MD) 2012
*Andrew Wiggins, Vaughan (ON) 2014


POWER FORWARDS
Emmanuel Ajayi, Next Level Prep (ON) 2011
Braeden Anderson, Wilbraham and Monson (MA) 2011
*Anthony Bennett, Findlay Prep (NV) 2012
Juwan Brescacin, Culver Military Academy (IN) 2011
Michael Thorne-FInch, Kelvin (MB) 2011
Matthew Forbes, Lumsden (SK) 2011
Junior Fortunat, Roman Catholic (PA) 2011
Grandy Glaze, Notre Dame Prep (MA) 2011
Tyrell Bellot-Green, Oakwood (ON) 2014
Nick Madray, Stephen Lewis (ON) 2013
Theon Reefer, YAAACE Prep (ON) 2011
Cameron Smythe, Sir Charles Tupper (BC) 2011
Justin Shaver, John McCrae (ON) 2011
Kevin Farrell-Thomas, St.Mary's Ryken (MD) 2011
Isaiah Watkins, Oakwood (ON) 2012
*Matthew Willms, Consortium Prep (MI) 2012
*Kyle Wiltjer, Jesuit (OR) 2011


CENTERS
Matthew Atewe, New Birth Christian Academy (GA) 2013
*Sim Bhullar, Huntington Prep (WV) 2012
Tanveer Bhullar, Montverde Academy (FL) 2013
*Khem Birch, Notre Dame Prep (MA) 2011
Braxston Bunce, Kelowna (BC) 2012
Keegan Dunlop, St.Francis (ON) 2012
Ryan Evans, Earl of March (ON) 2011
Boris Hadzimuratovic, Sainte-Foy (QC) 2011
Collin Holder, YAAACE Prep (ON) 2011
*Richard Peters, Westwind Prep (AZ) 2012
Keanau Post, Westwind Prep (AZ) 2011
Aaron O'Brien, Pasadena (NL) 2011
*David Wagner, South Kamloops (BC) 2011

* denotes 2010 National Team member

Shayok, Will, MVC news, and lots, lots more...

Here's a little more on new BU recruit Shayok Shayok........

How many knew Shayok's sister is a pretty good college player --

http://www.detroittitans.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1022

Sahyok Shayok's father was a pretty good player for Dayton from 1990-1992.
Here's a good column about him from the early 90's
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-03-01/sports/9201200016_1_young-parents-english-practice

His father's name is - Makor Marial Shayok Yul Bol Manyang Thyen Bakjok Chueu Alilek
http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-12/sports/sp-5028_1_maverick-owner

And I researched their info in the Dayton Media Guide --
Makor Shayok, Shayok's dad, played 1990-1992 and in 90-91 won rebounding trophy as best rebounder..
His best year was 1990-1991 when he had two team leading statistics...
Shooting pct. -- 113-224 = 50.4%
Rebounding -- 29 games, 182 rebs, 6.3 rpg

Speaking of Dayton -- one time BU recruit Vee Sanford has left Georgetown where he wasn't getting to play much and has transferred to Dayton.



Will Franklin's team wins the 1st game of a best of 3 series in the Tunisian Championship with an 83-72 win over Stade Nabeulien.



Drake has revamped their assistant basketball coaching staff...
Recently graduated senior Ryan Wedel is hired as graduate assistant, Brett Nelson comes from Arkansas and is hired by Drake's mark Phelps as assistant coach, and ex-Arizona State guard Jamelle McMillan (son of Blazers' head coach Nate McMillan) was named coordinator of basketball operations (Phelps is also from Arizona State).
http://www.kcci.com/sports/28http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif042719/detail.html#ixzz1NYd43TAK



Penn State hires ex-Wichita State coach Eddie Fogler to help in the hiring process
http://www.usbasket.com/NCAA1/basketball.asp?NewsID=227045



D-II Northern Kentucky is about to pick up a couple decent D-I transfers....
Both Bobby Capobianco who was just ushered out at Indiana, and Chad Jackson from James Madison appear to be headed to D-II Northern Kentucky.
Jackson was once a Kentucky recruit under Bily Gillispie when Gillispie offered BOTH Jackson and his junior high school teammate Dakota Euton scholarships when they were still 8th graders...

Gillispie's talent perception was a bit off on those two guys as both failed to develop -- both ended up going to very low level schools (Euton was @ Akron after his UK scholarship was Janked) and both are now going D-II.

Saint Louis is making a big pitch to try to land Capobianco
-- but it seems he wants to go D-II so he doesn't have to worry about fighting for playing time.

Evansville fans think they have a shot at getting Bobby Copobianco-
http://www.thepurplecode.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=456



Just a couple days ago Missouri got a verbal from a 2012 kid a top juco prospect but now that kid is in the news in a bad way...
Quantel Denson -- arrested for theft/burglary.......

http://hutchnews.com/Latestlocalnews/HCC-basketball-player-arrested-in-connection-with-burglary
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/Hutch_Basketball_Player_Arrested_In_Connection_With_Robbery_122689569.html


Here's a good story of an NBA guy, Renardo Balkman, doing good stuff!
http://offthebench.nbcsports.com/2011/05/25/sweet-knicks-renaldo-balkman-mans-lemonade-stand-to-help-youngster-raise-money-for-cancer-research/



Danny Granger is getting some mention because of a twitter comment...FWIW
http://qtwt.us/nvbt

Some talk that the Bulls need to go after and land Danny in the off season!


ISU fans not happy all the way around...
http://redbirdfan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1724



Ex-BU recruit Brandon Spearman has left Dayton and transferred to Indian Hills CC (junior college) in Iowa with the rumble that he's soon headed to what is now true Transfer U., Iowa State who seem to be taking every transhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giffer that comes along.

BTW -- the player who got the illegal freebies and plane trips that led to the recent revelations of NCAA violations at Iowa State was Leron Dendy...



Here's a guy I hope makes it to the NBA -- sounds like a fun guy...
Charles "Snacks" Joseph, a big guy conservatively listed at 300 lbs..
http://jucojunction.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1225820

http://rivals.yahoo.com/jucojunction/basketball/recruiting/player-Charles-Joseph-117493

Here's a picture...
http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/1090/974688.jpg



Here's a report that longtime college basketball referee Ed Hightower might be retiring soon??
http://www.illinihq.com/news/mens_basketball/2011/05/20/5_oclock_shadow/


The new rules will kick in this fall -- the NCAA has approved the semi-circle under the basket to clarify charging calls, a longer women's 3-pt line and more including experimentation with a back court 10 second rule in the women's game -- which they have never had (did you know that?)....
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/campusrivalry/phttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifost/2011/05/rules-committee-approves-use-of-charge-circle-for-division-i-hoops/1



Read about the latest AAU/recruiting scandal...
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18666

You know if there's a scandal anywhere -- Bruce Pearl HAS to be involved and he is...
http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-basketball/129022-tennessee-involved-recruiting-scandal-involving-indiana.html




This one is funny and marginally sports-related -- Illegal mouse racing
http://www.wqad.com/news/mouse-mice-racing-gambling-betting-police-bucktail-lodge-beach-http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif05252011,0,1221774.story?track=rss



New Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff is now finally free from his cheating sanctions....
http://http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifaol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2011-05-26/free-of-ncaa-sanctions-kents-rob-senderoff-has-phenomenal-feeling



Lastly --
..here's a pretty extensive recruiting report
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=75&f=1043&t=7544902

"Midwest
One of the top players in the state of Texas – Justise Winslow – continues to pick up interest. Florida, Memphis, Northwestern, Indiana, USC and Tennessee have all shown interest in the 2014 prospect. As a freshman Winslow, a 6-foot-5 wing prospect, averaged 15.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game for Houston (Tex.) Saint John’s.

The visit-fest continues this coming weekend for D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera. After visiting Texas, Xavier and Louisville recently, Smith-Rivera will take an unofficial visit to UCLA this weekend following the EYBL Los Angeles event. Georgetown is also in the mix for the five-star prospect. Smith-Rivera, who is transferring to Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill for his senior season, is ranked No. 23 overall in the 2012 class.

With Ed DeChellis departure for Navy, Juwan Staten becomes a major target for a few schools. Throw in the fact that the 2012 class of point guards is significantly down and Staten is one of the best available guards that can play with the 2012 group. Staten has a top four that consists of Louisville, Texas, Miami and South Carolina. Word is style of play will play a major role in his decision.

Gary Harris is one of the biggest names in the Midwest in the 2012 class. He has a strong following of schools that includes Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana, Louisville, Notre Dame, Michigan and Illinois. Don’t expect a decision out of Harris, Scout.com’s No. 14 prospect, anytime soon.

It hasn’t taken Maryland long to make a splash. After Mark Turgeon was hired, he brought in Dalonte Hill from Kansas State, kept Bino Ranson aboard and brought Scott Spinelli with him from Texas A&M. At A&M the staff was all over 2013 prospect Andrew and Aaron Harrison. Bino Ranson is also tied in deep with the twins. To top it off the Harrison twins father has ties to the area and Maryland will be one of the leaders for talented duo.

..No. 2 prospect in the 2013 class – Julius Randle – has a new suitor that should be a major factor in his recruitment. With Jeff Capel now on staff at Duke, expect the Blue Devils to be a major factor in the 6-foot-8 power forwards recruitment. Capel was tied in with Randle at Oklahoma and some believe was the leader at the time he and Oklahoma parted ways.

Over the past two months I’ve received question about Kentucky’s 2012 class and who they are going to get a hundred times. Truth is, I’m not sure. They are certainly in with some of the right prospects like DaJuan Coleman, Shabazz Muhammad, Archie Goodwin and Perry Ellis. But at this point, those don’t appear close to making their college decisions. For the past three years John Calipari has held down the No. 1 spot in the recruiting class rankings. Can he do it again?

This weekend the Chicago Best Buy Tournament will get under way. Mike Fox has put together a strong tournament that consists of Indiana Elite, Florida Rams, Nashville Celtics, Texas Pro, Houston Hoopstars, Kansas Pray and Play, TP Elite, SYF Players, Wisconsin Swing, Michigan Mustangs and Ohio Basketball Club.

Among the top prospects expected at the Chicago Best Buy are Isaiah Austin, Joell James, Malik Price-Martin, Yogi Ferrell, Jeremy Hollowell, Emanuel Mudiay, Cameron Ridley, Perry Ellis, Deonte Burton, Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson Jr. and Luke Fischer."


...and much, much more...

Check today's news on Twitter

Follow the twitter for all the latest Bradley news instantly !!
http://twitter.com/#!/xb7

For the really good stuff and inside news check ...
http://twitter.com/#!/BUBravesNews



Congratulations to Peoria Christian's Jonathan Hutchison - the TOP qualifier statewide for the 1A State Finals in the 100m dash!
http://www.ihsa.org/activity/trb/2010-11/1qual.htm#Event11

Hutch also anchored his team to a very close 2nd place in the 4x100 at the honor Roll meet last night, and also won the 200m dash...missing the 200m record by 0.02 sec!
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1908280361/Boys-efforts-undeterred-by-impending-state-date

Jon's top speed is amazing -- watch the video in the PJS link and go to 4:28 and watch the Boys 200M - Jon just comes on strong and blows away the competition.
Jon did not run the 100m last night as State finals are coming up ..

Also Jon's time qualifying for state in the 100m would have also easily qualified him at the Class 2A and even 3A level and would have given him one of the top times in both of the larger Classes.



Today's story on Taylor Brown in the PJS sums up saying...
"Taylor Brown’s basketball-playing future has not yet been determined...
“We’re still waiting...
“His heart monitor didn’t show anything alarming and his blood work didn’t show anything alarming.
“We’re still awaiting the results of other testing. I don’t know that anything will be decided for sure about him during this meeting.”
http://www.pjstar.com/bradleyhoops/x31874438/Junior-s-future-undetermined

Bradley hires a new sports marketing firm...something in the works??

Bradley just hired a new Creative Design and Sports Marketing consultant firm ..so maybe something's in the works...
this particular firm does all kinds of sports marketing a design -- from posters, to websites, to even helping to create a mascot, a logo, or a design to promote the school...

Here's more about the company -- but I don't know yet if the new deal with this firm signifies anything special such as Bradley possibly getting a new mascot or a makeover on their logo........

Tweet from yesterday...from a firm called Old Hat Creative
http://twitter.com/#!/OldHatCreative/status/72681917077655552

Their main website..
http://oldhatcreative.com/

a little more about them..
http://oldhatcreative.com/about
http://oldhatcreative.com/services

Here's the list of other schools and clients they serve...
including Notre Dame University, Auburn, Florida State, LSU, Northwestern, Syracuse, UNC, and even the Oklahoma City Thunder...
http://oldhatcreative.com/about/clients

News, player transfers, recruiting, NCAA violations, and other news...

Kind of a slow time -- the Bulls lost, so not much to talk about there, the AAU circuit is sort of on partial hiatus, the signing period is over .. and now that the school years are ending at colleges, we should see a few more kids being Creaned and Janked and moving on to transfer -- and that should be interesting....stay tuned....



Here's an aerial view of Joplin, Missouri this morning -- very sad and areas totally devastated...
Link



One of the only two returning players at St. John's is now leaving -- Dwayne Polee -- who obviously senses that St. John's head coach Steve Lavin has recruited over him...
Polee if you recall was recruited to and verballed to USC in 2006, way back when he was just an 8th grader and the USC head coach Tim Floyd (pre-OJ Mayo scandal-days) was aggressively pursuing 12-13 year olds...
Then Tim Floyd hired Polee's father on his coaching staff -- which I am sure is completely coincidental to the recruitment of the top qwest coast kid...
(of course as soon as Tim Floyd was ushered out at USC, then Polee, Jr. decommitted, guess what happened to Polee, Sr. - yup - he was "ushered out at USC as well).

There was a time Polee was ranked as Top 10 in his class but he never developed as predicted...
His recruitment at about the same time as Ryan Boatright's produced calls for curbing of recruiting pre-high schoolers, but obviously nobody's listening.
Link

BTW -- just for laughs -- here are the words from Oct. 18, 2006 when Polee verballed before ever playing a high school game...
"..While some will assume that Polee’s commitment may not last for the next three-plus years until he is allowed to sign a letter-of-intent to play for Tim Floyd and the Trojans, the 14-year-old and his parents are nearly certain.

``We’re excited,” said Polee’s father, Duane, who played for UNLV and Pepperdine when he was in college. “He really wanted to stay at home and USC is a good fit for him. He feels very comfortable with Tim Floyd.”
.."He’s only 14, but Dwayne knows what he wants,” said Yolanda Polee, Dwayne’s mother. “He likes the education USC has to offer and we’ve always talked to him about education and being focused.”
``Being at home and being at a school like USC, he’ll stay focused,” she added. “If he needs us, we’re right here.”
..but of course he wasn't so certain....
Link

Rumor has him landing at San Diego State...



Malcolm Hill of Belleville is a 6-5 wing who is blowing up -- lots of big schools now pursuing him including the Illini...
"He's hoping to make visits to Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio State this summer.."
Link



Top Chicago freshman Jahlil Okafor visited Arkansas over the weekend and picked up an offer -- kinda leaving a lot of Big Ten schools in the dust!
Link



You probably saw the discussion on the Iowa State assistant who committed NCAA violations...
See here -- scroll down a bit...

This all happened and the violations occurred and were known two years ago but kept secret!
It took n "open records request" and 2 full years time, but the Associated Press was able to discover something that Iowa State tried very hard to keep secret- that an assistant coach for Iowa State under Greg McDermott in 2009 was suspended for 2 games after he was found to have committed an NCAA violation.
http://amestrib.com/articles/2011/05/20/ames_tribune/sports/doc4dd6902309e11578293536.txt

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110520/SPORTS020604/110520006/1091/SPORTS02/Iowa-State-suspended-assistant-basketball-coach-2-games

Even now it seems the Iowa State people are absolutely refusing to answer questions, so none of the articles ever mentions who the player was that received improper benefits, and who the assistant coach was who violated the rules. All 3 assistant coaches who were on Greg McDermott's staff in 2009 are still on the staff of Fred Hoiberg now, so it shouldn't be too hard to ask around and find out, but the truth is being guarded like a classified government secret!

Iowa State still has not made a public statement on this issue.
"It's not our standard procedure to announce all disciplines (of staff and/or students) publicly"
“Personnel and student records have disclosure limitations"

Wow -- sounds like a Watergate scenario..nobody's talking to the press, and yet we're talking a cheating issue here at the MAJOR STATE university!!
If this had happened at Bradley (especially if it had happened under Jim Les!), the self-righteous pseudo-fans & press would be ripping Bradley apart and calling for the death penalty like they did with the hysteria that followed the DRuff and underage consumption issues.
Iowa State is far more renegade... ;)



Here's a story about money issues in the California State system -- especially as it impacts UC-Davis...
Link

Can someone please get me a hankie to cry into -- OMG -- this story says that the wasteful and irresponsible spending at state schools is going to have to be curbed!! They won't simply have the taxpayers' pockets to reach into and get endless cash to help float their sports programs...there will be budget cuts!!
They are actually going to have to be accountable and fiscally responsible and maybe even tighten their belts and raise money with their own efforts instead of grabbing it from hard working state taxpayers!

OMG -- in other words they are going to have to do what PRIVATE colleges have been doing for decades!!



Purdue releases their non-conference schedule...lots of pretty weak teams...
Northern State and Southern Indiana (exhibitions), Northern Illinois, High Point, Coppin State, Western Carolina, Eastern Michigan, and IPFW to go with Butler, Xavier, Miami, and a couple teams in Puerto Rico (including Wichita State)..
Link



The ReachUSA team that's touring China has now completed four games...
and with one game ending ni a tie and no OT played, the record thus far is 2-1-1...
Here are the scoring totals for the only MC player on the tour...

Justin Bocot - beginning to given them solid contributions...
Game 1 - 1-11, 3 pts;
Game 2 - 5-10, 10 pts;
Game 3 - 6-11, 14 pts;
Game 4 - 4-10, 9 pts;




Some people are already doing 2011-2012 preseason previews...
here's one for the Missouri Tigers and their new head coach Frank Haith...
http://www.sbrforum.com/ncaa-basketball/free-picks/missouri-tigers-2011-2012-ncaa-basketball-season-preview-a-19989/

And Pitt - Link

And Kentucky - Link

Nebraska - Link

these previews are all courtesy of a sports betting website...

Bruce Pearl resurfaces

Haven't heard much about Bruce Pearl since he was fired and replaced at Tennessee by Cuonzo Martin??

Well -- I have some news to help end your Pearl-drought....

The NBA D-League Maine Red Claws are looking for a new head coach and they are currently in talks with Bruce Pearl!
Bruce is holding out for a TV analyst job or an NBA assistant job knowing he might get banned from coaching in college when the NCAA finally rules (it takes forever if you are a BCS school!)

BTW -- one of Bruce's players if he takes the job would be ex-Illini and ex-Richwoods' Jamar Smith who is currently under contract to the Maine Red Claws.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_bruce_pearl_d_league_maine_coach_052011

Demetri McCamey climbing higher on the mock projections, and lots of other basketball news

Hey -- just as I had predicted -- Illini Demetri McCamey is climbing up the draft projections...
He's gonna be a 1st rounder -- book it and he might land with the Bulls or even higher!
he is impressing people with his workouts...http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
http://www.thebigswish.com/2011-nba-draft-combine-demetri-mccamey-creeping-up-draft-boards-bleacher-report/21411



Here are some measurements from the draft combines -- and some surprises...
http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/?page=&year=2011&source=All&sort2=DESC&draft=0&pos=0&sort=

The surprises...

7-footer Ralph Sampson III is not 7-ft -- he's 6-9.5
Kentucky's 6-11 Josh Harrelson is 6-8.5
Enes Kanter may slip a spot or two being measures at only 6-9.75 -- NOT 7-ft!
John Shurna is likewise taller than some expected -- 6-8.5
Ashton Gibbs has one of the worst vertical leaps -- 23.5
Dallas Lauderdale and Alex Stepheson both performed poorly on agility
and Gibbs, Sampson II, and Guy Marc-Michel all had terribly slow sprint times..
Rebounding machine Kenneth Faried was only 6-6



Someone said NO D-I school should ever LOSE to a D-II or a D-III -- nor ever lose an exhibition game!!!

-- but...our baseball team lost a regular season game to a team that was just transitioning from D-II .... nobody seemed to enraged about that one...
http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=19411&SPID=1506&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=3706782


-- and I check on one other school - that is clearly relevant for obvious reasons because it should be under the same standards we're under...and they lose to D-II teams as well with no heads rolling there......http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
http://www.ekusports.com/documents/2008/12/22/EKU122208.pdf?id=717



Creighton's scheduling is still being worked on but they have a game set with Iowa...
http://whiteandbluereview.com/?p=11942



Cuonzo Martin at Tennessee is still in the mid-major recruiting mode....
They just signed a kid from Midland Juco who is originally from the Bahamas, who only averaged 8 pts. 5 rebs a game this past season.
http://jucojunction.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1223582



Wow -- things continue to dismantle and fall apart at Iowa State -http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif- not just really bad basketball the past several years under the McDermott regime, but players getting booted endlessly, multiple transfers in and multiple transfers out, then lots of players suspended, disciplined time and time again for DUI's, bar fights, gun issues and drug issues....even assistant coaches getting DUI's....now this...

They get caught cheating and have to fess up...and this one is the Greg McDermott coaching staff cheating to pay for a player's travel expenses...
In fact if you look at the costs involved -- this one is as big or bigger "impermissible benefits" than anyone ever showed at BU under Versace or recently!
I just checked on Expedia and the cost of such a flight would be almost $800!!!
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6569718&campaign=rss&source=NCBHeadlines

BUT -- of course the NCAA gives them no further penalty -- the coach who cheated simply was suspended (but continued to get paid) for two games...the player got no penalty..



The Reach USA team touring in China has already played their first two games...

Reach USA loses to the Lithuanian team also touring in China in GAME 1 -
the opponent in game 1 - Atletas of Lithuania, the game played in Hechuan, China....final score 77-75.
Central Florida's Keith Clanton was the best US player nabbing 17 pts & 8 rebs....Kentucky's Eloy Vargas had a nice game with 12 pts/10 rebs/5 blocks, Indiana's Jordan Hulls had 8 pts, Victor Oladipo had 6 pts.
SIU's Justin Bocot had a really bad game -- going 1-11 and only 3 pts, 3 rebs.
Other players: Austin Hollins had 4 pts, 3 asst....

SECOND GAME just now completed....USA wins against the same team 87-82...Eloy Vargas gets 12 pts/5reb, Hulls & Oladipo both get 7.
This game Bocot did better - had 10 pts but took 12 shots, Keith Clanton had 16 pts/15 rebs!!

The squad will play seven times against a club team from Lithuania, and face an all-star squad from Brazil, twice.

Here's the Reach USA Roster

Jordan Hulls 6'0" G University of Indiana
Justin Bocot 6'3" G Illinois University
Austin Hollins 6'4" G Univ. of Minnesota
Malik Story 6'5" G Univ. of Nevada
Vic Oladipo 6'5" F Univ. of Indiana
Garlon Green 6'7" F TCU
Marcus Thornton 6'7" F Univ. of Georgiahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Keith Clanton 6'8" F UCF
Devonte Elliott 6'10" C Univ. of Nevada
Eloy Vargas 7'0" C Univ. of Kentucky



Much to the dismay of those who predicted Jimmer Fredette would flop and be a lousy pro player -- he is turning heads and impressing everyone!
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705373022/Jimmer-Fredette-impresses-at-NBA-combine.html



Yet another D-I head basketball coach gets canned -- and Alabama A&M still hasn't filled their opening...maybe WM can still land one of these spots??
http://www2.wsls.com/sports/2011/may/20/tdsport06-greenberg-out-as-radford-basketball-coac-ar-1051735/

Here's some NBA Draft combine measurements...
http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=230810&postcount=1



Pro wrestler Randy Macho Man Savage dies in car accident...



Nice to see Dick Versace tweeting again!!


BU Baseball loses again.... 22-29 and 4-16 in MVC..remember they were 14-6 at one time...
have gone 8-23 the past month....



Here's a funny political topic -- a discussion on who is it that's talking too much when everyone says people are talking too much???

Here's DEFENSE SECRETARY Robert Gates' very words...http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
"My concern is that there were too many people in
too many places talking too much about -- about
this operation. And we -- we had reached agreement
that we would not talk about the operational
details… I'm very concerned about this, because we
-- we want to retain the capability to carry out
these kinds of operations in the future.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/19/bin-laden-tape-constrains-obama-speech/
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also thinks they talk too much...
"..White House staffers may be undermining
intelligence efforts in the wake of the killing of Osama
bin Laden by talking too much about what the
American forces found in the terrorist leader’s
Pakistan compound."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/8/rumsfeld-white-house-staff-talks-too-much/http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Even the liberal bloggers agree and so do the military top brass -- people are talking too much about this whole bin Laden raid and hurting our intelligence efforts..

"It is time to stop talking," agreed Adm. Mike Mullen,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In a pointed
directive to officials, politicians and the retired
military officers often featured on cable news
programs, he added, "Get off the net."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/18/robert-gates-mike-mullen-bin-laden-raid-leakers_n_863712.html

SO HERE'S MY QUESTION !!!!

Why are they all telling us this -- isn't it THEM who are doing the talking???
They should be lecturing and scolding THEMSELVES not us!!!

It is Obama, it is Obama's spokespeople like Gates, and it is specific military people just like this guy who keep appearing on TV shows and talking endlessly and bragging -- even lying a bit and exaggerating about the operation on bin Laden's compound that actually was a bit inept -- losing a helicopter -- getting some US personnel injured, and slaughtering unarmed people and women then lying and claiming there was an intense 45 minute "firefight"?

I guess I am blown away that they do all this talking and boasting for their own personal gain and ego enhancement then spend days on TV scolding you and me for talking too much when...
THEY are the ones doing the talking!!!

BU playing Michigan, some recruiting news, the IVC Parr bros, and classic waste of taxpayer money being given to millionaires!

Here's a column saying it is hard for Michigan to fill their schedule with who they want -- specifically a BCS school who will come to their place with no other prerequisites or demands!! he repeatedly calls their scheduling "difficult" so maybe that's why they are "settling" for BU?? ;)

"U-M coach John Beilein said trying to schedule a non-league opponent from one of the BCS conferences is challenging enough that the coaches are looking to play some conference basketball games in early December. One of the stumbling blocks is exam schedules, which vary throughout the conference.
Because U-M is playing the ACC/Big Ten challenge game at Virginia, it's become difficult to find that BCS opponent since most want to host the first year and return the game the second year. With the Maui Invitational and the Challenge road game on the schedule, U-M needs to host the first year now. "It's been very difficult," Beilein said. "We're getting closer. Sometimes you want two or three of those opportunities but you can't do it. We have enough RPI (points) in the Maui."

http://www.freep.com/article/20110519/SPORTS06/105190665/Michigan-Board-Regents-vote-today-second-phase-Crisler-Arena-renovation?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs



Demetri McCamey "..most underrated point guards" in this year's draft...
http://twitter.com/nbamockdraft/status/71240622610194432

also -- the Bulls giving McCamey "high interest"...
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/news/story?id=6563663



Here's a report this morning about a kid who just verballed to North Carolina State...
http://acc.blogs.starnewsonline.com/22847/wolfpack-adds-to-its-roster-and-schedule/?tc=ar

And here are a couple pictures of the kid....






There are a few things about this kid, Thomas de Thaey, that I find somewhat interesting...

First -- he is yet another kid from the Canarias Basketball Academy on the Canary Islands -- the same facility from which Michael Ochereobia came from.
There are about two dozen grads of the Canarias Basketball Academy now playing ball in the US and Ochereobia is one of them....with de Thaey now being yet another.
BTW de Thaey, like MO, is a lot older than most kids entering college -- he is already well past his 20th birthday.


Second -- and perhaps most interesting, is that the kid's name sounded a little bit familiar to me so I checked out his background -- and sure enough de Thaey has records easily found on line that show he played at the top professional level in Belgium for the previous TWO years before going to the Canarias Basketball Academy!!

In fact, record of his participation in professional games as a full team member playing at the highest professional level in Europe are easy to find - although he's also played on the nation's U20 squad the past year or so in international play. He didn't play a LOT for the professional teams, nor did he rack up any kind of impressive numbers...but clearly the kid has played professional basketball for two seasons in the top pro league in Belgium.

Here are just a few box scores where he played for the Antwerp Giants in the Belgium D-I League - their top pro level.

http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Belgium/2010/0417_2638_329.asp

http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Belgium/2010/0227_330_329.asp

http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/EuroChallenge/2010/0325_329_161.asp

http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/EuroChallenge/2010/0323_161_329.asp

de Thaey even admits in an interview here that he figures he could be good enough to make the NBA and he says after two seasons of playing for the Antwerp Giants (the top pro team in Belgium) that he
"got no respect"
and wasn't getting enough playing time!!!
http://packinsider.com/2011/05/interview-with-thomas-de-thaey-eliteathletes-be/

He is also listed on the listing of Antwerp Giants former players
http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=BELGIUM&Team=329&Page=4

So .... even tho this doesn't impact us so much in the midwest -- what I find interesting is that this player ought to possibly be declared a pro and not play via the exact same rules as used on Enes Kanter -- or at least the kid should be docked some games like John Wilkins, Lucca Staiger, etc...were -- but .........
since he is going to the ACC and not the MVC - I wonder if he'll get treated the same as a kid who is going to Bradley?
I would hope so but I guess only time will tell.


The final thing I find interesting and even a bit ironic about this ...
that he plays for the Antwerp GIANTS...and his appearance hints that he might just have the same medical condition as some of the other very tall basketball players who gained their extreme height because of a medical condition called acromegaly -- which is also referred to as "GIGANTISM".
So the irony is that he already IS a "Giant"...that's the name on the jersey in some of the pictures of him...
His facial appearance with the large, broad jaw is what hints at the medical condition...
it doesn't prove anything but it is clearly suspicious....

The actual "Awareness Campaign" for this medical condition, acromegaly, actually stresses that people should notice the appearance of the JAW, and if it is large or broad -- the athlete should get checked for this treatable condition that Georges Muresan and Andrew the Giant had...
Another known "Giant" was Sun Ming Ming the 7-9 Chinese player who tried to make the NBA..

Here is the poster for the awareness campaign with a photo of a guy who has a similar jaw to the picture of Thomas de Thaey...

Link to poster

More...



Corey Hawkins - who just left Arizona State was looking close at Boston College possibly going to transfer there -- but word this morning is that he will NOT go to Boston College.
I think that's a good move so that he doesn't end up aiming too high multiple times like Cully Payne, Devan Bawinkel, and others....



Here are some brand new rankings for Illinois high school kids...
(they ignore Nate Taphorn!)

Class of 2012

Class of 2013



Here's a story about a fairly obscure kid -- unrated -- not highly recruited - but who had a FULL scholarship offer to play for Rick Majerus at Saint Louis University....
The kid, Jordan Smith from Minnesota, was holding out as long as he could hoping for at least ONE other offer but it never came.
So when faced with his only offer being Saint Louis & Rick Ma -- he spurned the Billikens and will just go to University of Wisconsin and try to walk on for the Badgers...
OUCH -- that's kinda got to be a blow to Majerus' ego.... ;)

"Inviting Smith down to campus, Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus offered the 6-foot-1 shooting guard a scholarship offer (After not getting any major Division 1 interest following his senior season). After mulling the decision over.."he chose Wisconsin as a walk-on......"Smith knew in his heart where he wanted to go."

http://wisconsin.scout.com/2/1073168.html



For those of you who are baseball fans -- really nice story this morning about the three Parr Brothers from IVC who will play baseball at Illinois ...

Josh, Justin, Jordan Parr



One last funny item -- I found it on that same link from above about the Michigan scheduling...
a guy wins the lottery and gets $2 million and the state of Michigan still keeps the guy on their welfare rolls and gives him food stamps!!!
AND -- worse -- the guy doesn't even feel the least bit guilty or embarrassed about being exposed using the state's food stamps after winning $ TWO MIL!!

The guy even had the gall to snap back at a TV reporter doing this story...
"If you're going to ... try to make me feel bad, you aren't going to do it."

http://www.freep.com/article/20110517/NEWS06/110517023/Michigan-man-still-food-stamps-despite-winning-2M?odyssey=mod|mostview

Will Franklin, MSU picks up an experienced PG, and more college basketball news...

After all the political turmoil in Tunisia -- the Tunisian pro basketball season was suspended but now -- the playoffs are resumed and underway....

Will Franklin's team ES Sahel is the favorite -- and title will be determined via pool play of the top six teams.

Here are the standings after pool play...

Play-Off Group A
1. ES Sahel 4-0
2. Ezzahra 1-3
3. JS Kairouan 1-3
Play-Off Group B
1. Stade Nabeulien 3-1
2. ES Rades 3-1
3. C Africain 0-4

The top team in each pool then the next best two qualify for the Semi's and Finals which have already started...

In round one of the Semi's ES Sahel beat ES Rades 97-62, while Stade Nabeulien beat Ezzahra 81-59.



Departed DePaul senior Mike Bizoukas will play his final season at Missouri State.



So the Big Ten/ACC pairings for next year are out...
let's see who got the best and worst....

Ohio State is arguably the best Big Ten team -- and Duke maybe the best ACC -- they get each other in one premier matchup.

Then UNC gets Wisconsin -- but the Badgers will lose some talent...

The worst ACC team going into 2011 -- is NC State...
and they get Indiana -- who might well be the worst Big Ten team...
Remember last year when Tom Crean got news he was getting Maryland -- he complained for weeks about how it was too stiff of an opponent for his team that was so "young".
Ha -- his team wasn't so young -- it was just bad.........

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18631



A tiny Division III school in Kentucky named Transylvania University has released their 2011-2012 basketball schedule and they hit the jackpot and get a guarantee game at Rupp Arena against Kentucky!!
TU will have already played THREE Canadian teams by that Nov. 2 date - which will likely be Kentucky's first exhibition game.
http://www.transysports.com/news/2011/5/16/MBB_0516110415.aspx?path=mbball



4-Star USC commit backs out...and reopens his recruitment -- it's a guy named "Katin"...
http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=2&cid=1072873&nid=4697822&fhn=1



Ex-Bradley recruit Jamari Traylor -- one of the few unsigned guys left -- is milking this process for all it's worth -- he's announcing that he will be announcing some time maybe today!!



Anyone see this??? Maybe one of the worst efforts of trying to invent a pun for a head line...
The Chicago White Sox' Brent Morel hits a key homer and helps the Sox win -- and the Journal Star comes up with this nauseating stuff...
"All of a sudden, it mushrooms"

Does everyone get it?? The star of the game was named Morel and the headline is saying "it mushrooms"....
OMG it is getting pretty clear that the PJS is cutting salaries way too much and getting inferior hires...



BTW -- for those who have flooded a certain person's office with complaints about BF.com and some of the pro-BU guys -- ahem....you've been found out...and your whines have been discounted...
If "they" want to know the truth -- they won't call you -- they'll call us...and we have told them who the true Bradley loyalists are and who are the anti-crowd who lurk and attack Bradley at every opportunity.
Everyone who was around recalls how vicious it was when the only message board was in the hands of the haters....nobody wants to ever go back there...
And if you doubt it -- swing by tomorrow and join us at lunch and find out first hand...

Props to Sammy, Drew, & Dodie, and some other basketball news items...

Just want to take a little more time to say good bye and thank you to three great Bradley players who are leaving and will be very severely missed many times over....

Sammy Maniscalco -- was and is my favorite Bradley basketball player -- wish you well and Illini fans will appreciate what we will be missing.
And God bless to Carl & Coyla.....I have enjoyed our many conversations and I am in your corner 100% and will be cheering for you guys as long as Sammy plays basketball anywhere in the world...
If Jimmer can do it Sammy can too!!

Andrew Warren -- what great memories and what a pleasant kid and fun teammate to be around. Go get 'em at the next level -- and I hope you get a few NBA looks!!

Dodie Dunson -- Again -- can't say enough about what a fine personality and great attitude...I have enjoyed watching you play for your 2+ seasons at BU.
I am sure you don't recall this -- but way, way back when you were in like 5th grade -- my kids' summer basketball teams once in a while met up with your guys' teams over in Bloomington.
I really don't recall much more than the fact that I can still find your name and Justion's in some of our old scorebooks...and that your teams always beat ours.
God bless and have a great career...and I am sure I will see you occasionally since I sometimes work there, too!


The current Letter of Intent signing period ends tomorrow at midnight...
look for Bradley to NOT sign anyone else..but there may yet be a surprise....there's still a lot of great options and players out there.......


Today is the lottery determination of the draft order for the 2011 NBA Draft.
All non-playoff teams (the bottom 14 teams this past season who did not make the playoffs) have ping pong balls in the the lottery but the lower teams of course have way more--- with the odds of the worst NBA team (The Timberwolves) getting the 1st pick somewhere around 25%, and the Cavaliers around 20%.
Toronto (15.6%), Washington (11.9%) and Sacramento (7.6%) have the 3rd, 4th, and 5th best chances...


Kyle Vogt is now named as newly hired assistant to Jim Les at UC-Davis...Congrats Kyle...


BTW -- I find it totally ironic that just two months ago -- all the talk from coast to coast about who was the best and HOTTEST coaching commodity -- bound to be getting interviews everywhere, big time offers, etc...
was Rob Jeter.....he was clearly gonna be the NEXT midmajor guy to get hired ......yeah...right...

In the end, Jeter is still mired at UW-M..scouring the jucos for recruits, and wondering where their home arena is gonna be....
Something happened -- somehow after he got interviewed at each place he went -- then he dropped off the radar screen....

All the while Jim Les was pursued vigorously and hired by practically the very first school that found themselves with a head coaching opening after JL was fired...
I know UC-D isn't the same as UW-M -- but outside of Wisconsin, let me tell you, not a whole lot of people would know there's any difference...

As proof - note these three recent articles that describes Rob Jeter as...
".....Wisconsin-Green Bay's Rob Jeter" !!!!

They don't even know where the guy coaches!! It's as laughable as ESPN placing Peoria on a map of Indiana!!

http://www.news10.net/news/article/136641/362/Gary-Williams-stunning-retirement-leaves-Maryland-ACC-in-fluxhttp://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cbask/news/news.aspx?id=4400779http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:uRGS1phmookJ:www.latimes.com/sports/sns-tsn-aen-trexler-column-20110506,0,6711243.story+%22Gary+Williams'+stunning+retirement+leaves+Maryland,+ACC+in+flux%22+and+%22la+times%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com


Florida Gulf Coast lands an Iowa State transfer -- 6-9 Eric Mcknight..
http://www.fgcuathletics.com/news/default/143/4291/


Chicago State University lands a big recruiting class -- seven new players -- including ex- Illinois State player Jeremy Robinson -- who was oft-troubled and under-productive at ISU.
http://www.gocsucougars.com/news/2011/5/17/MBB_0517110606.aspx
South Florida boots one of their top players, Ohio State transfer PG Anthony Crater...former 4-Star prep player from Michigan.
http://www2.tbo.com/sports/usf-bulls/2011/may/16/3/south-florida-basketball-team-dismisses-crater-ar-207886/


Finally the humor for the day -- at the expense of our President...
Barack Obama claims to be a basketball fan and expert...this is proof he's a little less expert than a lot of common fans...
In a speech yesterday he made reference to the legendary, great Kentucky coach as.....
ADOLPH RUFF.........instead of Adolph RUPP....
http://www.nationofblue.com/barack-obama-mentions-adolph-ruff-speech-uconn-7291/


BTW -- for those who have found the private Facebook -- I am no longer using that as it gets too cluttered with everyone else's posts on the wall....so I wanted just a simple way to post private info -- thus the new private twitter.....PM me to get on....

News on Bradley basketball...Geno, Taphorn, Hodges, Cerina, Sammy, Eddren...

This has been a very interesting off season...there has been more news on a daily basis than I ever recall in the off season. There has been some breaking story almost every day about recruits visiting, getting offers, verbals and LOI's, and now this...

Bradley and Geno Ford are being sued by Kent State...sort of the equivalent of a school not releasing their players' scholarships when they transfer -- trying to get something back or get even...

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/c013b405970b4b669e3ea78bd48ecb26/BKC--Kent-St-Coach-Lawsuit/

http://www.pjstar.com/bradleyhoops/x447606969/Kent-State-suing-Bradley-coach

Fans on the KSU boards are split -- some thinking this is a distraction and others saying they want revenge against not Geno but Bradley for doing this.

Either way -- in the midst of recruiting, is this the negative news we need? Could this not have been handled better? If the news were known about the other contracts BU is dealing with would we see a similar pattern?

Here's the most detail yet....
http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/5033304


By the way -- stay tuned -- this is not the end of the breaking news stories....there will be two or three more shortly and mostly GOOD news...



New article out of Pekin on Nathan Taphorn..

http://www.pekintimes.com/sports/x600909559/Pekin-sophomore-s-stock-suddenly-soaring

As much as I'd like to think we have a shot at Nathan Taphorn -- recall he plays for the Illinois Wolves and still has visits to arrange to places like Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, etc....so I would be shocked if he ends up at Bradley even though had you asked me just 3 months ago -- I'd have said we had an outstanding relationship with the Wolves and would have a great chance.



BU seems to have passed on TCU transfer Nikola Cerina...



New article on recent BU commit Devon Hodges...pictures and an interesting reader comment.

http://bolingbrook.patch.com/articles/bolingbrooks-hodges-commits-to-bradley



Here's an interview with Sam Maniscalco by Paul Klee with the Illini...

http://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forums/showthread.php?t=15532



Scumbag Dave Bliss in trouble for cheating again...

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/30763/dave-bliss-already-in-high-school-hot-water

Speaking of scumbags -- this is just partial satire, but it is funny and pushes Bruce Pearl for the Texas A&M job...

http://spenceparksoapbox.fantake.com/2011/05/11/bruce-pearl-is-the-right-hire-for-am/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter



Canadians launch their own professional basketball league..

http://pr.marqedia.com/press/nbl-launch



Tiger Woods quits mid-round...

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2011/05/tiger-woods-rough-start-the-players-championship/1?kjnd=Cre92N6UsSl0xLbMhYUBwam04%2B7yTDxbw5BUZAPrRvCJ7rbiUYa/8dFQJMNOplKu-010f2968-ecf7-4071-bee0-36bab1ec9188_PU4TeyJ/%2BnxVqFfORQnBKa85TA8LpaY/JbUN7DRKAGrncc7H3911xUaSeVBuo2kS&dlvrit=206567



Did everyone know this -- wasn't talked about much...
Eddren McCain ended up transferring to Paul Quinn College (Texas), an NAIA school...
Here are his stats for this past year.......he still has one year left at PQC...
10 ppg, 5 rebs, 7.2 assists per game (leads all of NAIA!)and 2.1 steals (ranks 17th in all of NAIA)..and had a season high 17 assists against Arlington Baptist..

http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Team/IndividualStats.aspx?association=10&sg=MBB&sea=NAIMBB_2010&team=426&plr=74813

Ranking of all 2500 returning D-I players - Kinda laughable but interesting...

Here's a blogger that generally covers Marquette stuff who ranks every single returning D-I player from 1-2500...
but his bias is horribly obvious -- although I still find it interesting...although really laughable!

-first -- no wonder he puts the Marquette kid way, way up high on his list...

--second, it's also no wonder since he's a Big East guy he has little respect for any player at any mid-major...and least of all does he give any Bradley player any respect...but he sure does seem to love the other Catholic schools as he has all five returning Creighton players (McDermott, Young, Echenique, Manighat, Jones) ranked higher than any Bradley player!
Heck -- he's even got multiple DePaul players ranked as better than any Bradley player!

NOTE -- he also forgets about Taylor Brown so he's obviously going off just 2010-2011 stats.

Here are the rankings of the Bradley players on his list...

747 Dyricus Simms-Edwards
939 Jake Eastman
1030 Jordan Prosser
1435 Will Egolf
2167 Walt Lemon
2202 Milos Knezevic
2288 Anthony Thompson


...also -- he has John Wilkins ranked way higher than any other returning ISU player!!Way, way higher than Carmichael!!

read it if you want a snicker but I think the guy's bias is so blinding to him that it astounds me...
one other example -- Indiana was not only the worst team in the Big Ten but they'd have likely even been one of the worst 2 or 3 teams in the MVC - and yet just because they are a Big Ten team this guy ranks their returning players way, way higher than almost all MVC players!
He has a FULL EIGHT of Indiana's players including Matt Roth and non-productive sub Derek Elston ranked as high or higher than all the Bradley players!

Here it is -- have a laugh!

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2011/05/top-returning-college-players-1st-to.html

BU player interviews, Nathan Taphorn, and lots more...

Here's a blog about Bradley basketball, Geno Ford, and more... by a sophomore BU student Brett Addis.
Great job and I hope to see more!
He interviews Jordan Prosser, Charonn Woods, and Walt Lemon, Jr. and asks how they're doing and about Geno...
BTW -- Walt looks like he's been working on his jumper and has a nice release and a little less arc...

http://com360bu.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/com-360-multimedia-web-package-video-brett-addis/



Here's another article on Geno -- but one source notes that Christian himnself may be on the hot seat this year at Texas Christian...

http://www.recordpub.com/news/sports_article/5023717?page=0

http://twitter.com/#!/coachnewsonline/status/66315921492418560



Nathan Taphorn -- a subject of discussion yesterday in this blog -- finished his "unofficial" visit at Bradley yesterday and picked up his very first OFFER...
Taphorn now has an offer from Bradley.
Manual's AJ Riley was also on Bradley's campus on an unofficial visit.

BTW -- we do seem to have some discrepancy ---
Mike Mullins, Nathan Taphorn's AAU coach said Nathan's visit to Bradley was an "unofficial visit"...
http://twitter.com/#!/wolves10/status/68027304672104448

While it is being reported elsewhere that it is an "official" visit.


There were two other players at Bradley yesterday on officials...Nikola Cerina and Malcolm Herron...

Here's more on ...Cerina and Herron



Texas A&M going hard after Wichita State's Gregg Marshall -- hey, why not, getting a Wichita State coach didn't hurt them last time when they lured Mark Turgeon.

http://www.midmajormadness.com/2011/5/10/2164777/wichita-states-gregg-marshall-popping-up-on-short-list-for-texas-a-m



Here's an interesting story -- Creighton just landed a kid from Crete-Monee HS in Crete, IL...Michael Orris...

Yesterday the head basketball coach at Crete-Monee was put on leave pending an investigation by state agencies..but there's little more being released....
This is all very mysterious but sounds quite serious as there's a hint they are digging into his past...

http://yourseason.suntimes.com/home/5299230-390/crete-monee-basketball-coach-put-on-paid-leave-pending-state-probe.html



Ex-BU recruit Jamari Traylor is visiting Texas Tech this week -- he has terrible academics and most schools, including Bradley dropped off for that reason.



Here's a great story -- a HIGH SCHOOL sophomore from Maryland gets a CASH OFFER to go and play in Italy!! They are offering nearly a MILLION DOLLARS!!
This is a very disturbing potential trend if the Euros are going to start robbing the cradle and taking high school sophomores...

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Tiny-sophomore-point-guard-lands-750-000-Italia?urn=highschool-wp1862&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter



Update on Bruce Pearl...

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2011/apr/30/show-cause-real-threat-to-pearl/

Markus Crider news, and more on BU, scheduling, plus a new name - Nathan Taphorn...etc..

Prime BU recruiting target Markus Crider is now said to be considering prep school according to local recruiting experts in Ohio..

http://twitter.com/#!/Ohiohshoops/status/68060390835236864

http://www.ohiohshoops.com/2011/04/crider-back-on-market.html



Here's a schedule update for 2011-2012...
The Creighton guys are doing a better job keeping track of where Bradley's playing than most people are..

http://whiteandbluereview.com/?page_id=293#schedule



I frequently check the other Valley teams' message boards but this past several weeks -- it had been tremendously slow on all of them -- really not much going on and barely a single new thread a day even on the busier ones ---
but here's the clincher -- the only topics that are being discussed on anyone else's boards are Bradley topics...
topics about BU's coaches, who BU signs, about JL hiring at UCD, and even this....
the SIU fans have nothing better to talk about - and about the only active thread on their board is about who is visiting BRADLEY!!!

http://www.salukitalk.net/st/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35760



Someone at the Valley offices is working on putting together a Hersey Hawkins video tribute...and their announcement says keep checking...."stay tuned"

http://www.icerocket.com/search?tab=twitter&lng=&q=mvcsports+stay+tuned+for+more&x=0&y=0



Coach Jim Molinari just landed another good guard...at WIU...

http://www.tristate-media.com/pdclarion/sports/local_sports/article_512b3980-79f0-11e0-8cce-001cc4c002e0.html


BTW - Jim Molinari's top assistant at WIU is ex-Braves point guard Billy Wright. The PJS just did a "Where are they now" segment on Billy but they put it in the print version only and it is not online.



One highlight of the info from yesterday's chat was the confirmation that a home and home game with Michigan is in the works...
That doesn't mean it is 100% to get done but it's good news nonetheless -- and it means that Peoria native Max Bielfeldt might get to play in front of family and friends in Peoria in the next coming few years.



Nathan Taphorn is from Pekin HS -- I have watched the kid play both baseball and basketball since he was in 5-6th grade and playing against my kids -- but recently he shot up and is 6-6 and has concentrated on basketball -- and is doing quite well.....

I am informed he is visiting Bradley today after an impressive weekend at a top level tournament..

here's more...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=230115&postcount=17


And here's just a few clips more from the Rivals story...

"Impressive weekend for Shooter"
"Add 6-foot-6 forward Nate Taphorn of Pekin (Ill.) High School
to the mix in a deep and talented 2013 class in the state of Illinois.
Taphorn, who runs with the Illinois Wolves on the AAU travel circuit,
is coming off of a break-out performance at the Bill Hensley Memorial
Spiece Run 'N Slam Classic in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

"Nate hit for 26 points versus the Eric Gordon All Stars," said Wolves
director Mike Mullins. "He made 7 shots in row and 5 three pointers.
Nate scored off the bounce, catch and shoot, cuts, fades. It was a
top level performance."

Taphorn's big game against the highly regarded Eric Gordon squad
created a buzz at the event and put him instantly on the recruiting radar.

..Hitting long range shots is Taphorn's best attribute at this point

Physically, Taphorn is still developing. He expects to grow another inch or two

...and he has yet to pick up an official offer, but Taphorn is starting to get
high major interest from the Big Ten and around the country."



Another of Steve Alford's Lobos has been arrested on a DUI/reckless driving -- the 2nd one in the last week...

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2103059.shtml?cat=504



BTW -- check the private site -- and see the things I thought about Geno Ford's answers and how he kinda shut down a few questioners who tried to lure Geno into an answer would dis on his predecessor!!
http://twitter.com/#!/BUBravesNews/

BTW -- if you want to read the private twitter -- you have to request entry then notify me via PM and let me know who you are so we can keep the news & the tweets from being cut and pasted and stolen or used by those who are anti-BU!

Currently more than a dozen follower requests are pending because I do not know who you are and cannot identify you from your twitter name.
Even if you identify yourself to me I might require that I know for a fact you are really a PRO-BU person before getting in...just the way it is...

Online live chat and news on Taylor Brown

Go to Bradleyhoops.com and log on for alive chat with Coach Geno Ford..
and thanks Dave Reynolds and Bobby Parker for the chat!


Geno also out and meeting the alumni and there was a great Braves Schoalrship Society event a few nights ago -- more on that later...
http://friedmanfocus.blogspot.com/2011/05/bradley-news-notes-55.html


Then as an answer for those who want to know if Taylor Brown is going to work this summer on getting back in shape and play next year -- well here's your answer...a tweet this morning by TB...
"Sorry #Atlanta ... I'm not comin home this summer... Gotta lot to catch up on... #nodaysoff"
http://twitter.com/#!/taylor3brown/status/67644469708718080

Congrats to Coach Les and more news on the Valley and elsewhere...

Again -- a big congratulations to Jim Les for being named new head coach at UC-Davis where he'll be able to coach Tyler.
I hear from several sources that after all the interviews, Jim was the one they wanted by far and pursued him strongly.
It will be very interesting to see who he brings in out there!

Jim is getting loads of press out on the west coast and it's all favorable -- with many people reflecting back to Jim's days with the Sacramento Kings and lots of comments like "he was my favorite player back then" and comments about how, when his players were healthy, he repeatedly won 20 games with Bradley and went to the post-season and had his Sweet Sixteen run in 2006 -- even after all the doubters had him dead and buried in February of that year and were wanting a new coach then.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/05/SP3T1JCLLQ.DTL

Here's the official announcement from UC-Davis plus a link to the upcoming podcast of the press conference:

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/050511aae.html


Hoping to hear good news on Devon Hodges -- did Geno close the deal -- will we hear a release about a signed LOI???
Stay tuned......



Wichita State is trying to pull a nice package deal -- hire away a hot young assistant, Greg Heiar, the guy from Chipola who was on Larry Eustachy's staff at Southern Miss -- and then lure a kid who was committed to USM to come over to Wichita -- a kid who is ranked as the #5 junior college player in the NATION!
If you recall -- DeWitt was part of Missouri's highly talented and highly ranked recruiting class in 2009, but he failed to qualify -- and went to Chipola junior college.
It was said back in 2009 that he would make an immediate impact and would play at Missouri but his two years at Chipola were ho-hum enough that all the big time recruiters dropped off and DeWitt had basically just an offer from Larry Eustachy at Southern Mississippi to grab.
Then as a 23 year old juco sophomore ("clock" ticking > 2 years) this past season, he averaged 9 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 60% on FT and struggled to stay healthy enough to play only 9 games all season.
he has a long track record of troubles, school changes, poor academics, and other issues and disruptions.
He was the subject of an article back in 2008 about being homeless, repeatedly kicked out of school, wandering the streets, and yet someone got him into & paid tuition at Charis Prep (>$10K per year) - and he flunked out of there as well. In the interval he was recruited by almost everyone and was committed several times only to either decommit, fail to become eligible, or get the offer rescinded.

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=229740#post229740

http://ncstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=834045

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=19&f=2887&t=3858150



Top 20 juco prospect Robert Goff is now headed to Marshall -- word is that his academics are very bad...

http://www.jucorecruiting.com/?p=491



As many have predicted for a long, long time...DePaul backup guard Mike Bizoukas has finally figured it out that he'd never get much playing time there and has asked to transfer.
Like Sammy Maniscalco -- Bizoukas could graduate this summer so he is requesting a transfer with immediate eligibility!
Mike Bizoukas -- as you will recall -- originally verballed to UNI then reneged and went to DePaul when he kinda "blew up" a little the year before he graduated from high school. But just about everyone knew he was not going to flourish in the Big East...so he redshirted with injury his first year at DePaul and played little the last three years -- now owning a grand total of 185 career points and 164 career assists in his four years of college -- giving him averages of 2ppg, 1.9 apg.
Bizoukas actually would be a good mid-major player -- he'd be an immediately eligible, 5th year senior PG - so I have to believe schools would be interested -- possibly Horizon, CUSA, or MVC schools....maybe even Geno has given the kid a call.

http://depaul.scout.com/2/1066258.html



There's a rumor of a big new happening at Memphis -- speculation centers on possibly the adding of Bobby Knight to the assistant coaching staff, or joining the Big East, to brand new jerseys with FedEx logos on them.....we shall see soon......



One of Bill Self's top assistants at Kansas, Joe Dooley lobbied and tried like crazy to get the head coaching job at his alma mater George Washington -- only to get beat out by Vermont coach Mike Lonergan...
So Dooley's stuck there under Self...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6489672


Talk about lack of class -- there's someone claiming to be a "lifelong Bradley fan" (LOL - yeah, right) who just signed up on the UC-Davis message board just to post ONE single post so that he can take swipes at and and trash Jim Les in front of a new audience of Aggie fans.
I guess it doesn't surprise me -- that's the way the tiny faction of anti-JL and anti-BU people are. They are driven by their own inferiority and misery to trash anyone else -- hey -- it's not like they don't take swipes at other fans as well -- even guys in the BSS who give money to Bradley and the people who give BU endless free positive media & web exposure on their blogs and message boards!
I guess there's no surprise to how low little minds will stoop to continue their quest to sling mud -- especially since years of doing it hasn't gotten them anything anyway and so now this is simply who they are. Even in threads talking about JL getting his new gig at UCD -- some want to crash in and fire off slams against JL and others on his staff.
I won't give a link since it isn't worth leading anyone else to their garbage.

Jim Les is NEW head coach at UC-Davis, News on Devon Hodges, and more...

UC-Davis has hired Jim Les as their new head coach. What a great opportunity and Jim gets to coach his own son Tyler who is already at UC-Davis.

Word of UCD going hard after Jim Les was coming out late yesterday and was noted in this blog, then the first mention of it anywhere on any message board or publicly was this post at 8:35AM today...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=229641#post229641

There were a few tweets overnite such as this one around midnight last night -- but he may have got it from this blog...!
http://twitter.com/#!/drink21/status/66016006857949184

Then it hit the wires....
http://twitter.com/#!/goodmanonfox/status/66130983245721600

Then a couple quick phone calls to good sources and it was confirmed and then this thread, already with nearly 1000 views, was started up on BradleyFans...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18565

Then later it was showing up elsewhere -- again mostly being copied and pasted from sources that already existed... ;)

Now it'll be interesting to see who he hies as his assistants....I have to think calls will go out to Yuba College coach Doug Cornelius, that'll help instantly with local recruiting. Then look for Kyle Vogt and other familiar names to get calls, including some midwestern or Illinois AAU people. I know Jim would like to have Eric Buescher, but EB is now doing WELL and has a really great job and probably lifetime career position with State Farm -- one of the world's largest corporations -- so he will probably stay put.


The local press now has a story about Devon Hodges visiting Bradley -- but this has been the subject of conversation for several days here and on the private site as well as the twitter...
Remember -- it was predicted three days ago he will land at BU.... ;)
Link



Here's some interesting news from SIU....as noted elsewhere they are still going hard after juco kids even though they have had a half dozen on their roster the past year or so...

With the latest signing of Monroe juco T.J. Lindsay and the transfer of Wyoming guard Desmar Jackson, SIU is, on paper, over the scholarship limit. It is obvious that at least one and probably TWO players are goners.....
Their fans think the 2 that are leaving are 2 of last year's jucos Mychael Cleveland and Troy Long. Those are the guys who were in trouble along with Gene Teague for harassing other students and shooting them with pellet guns.
There is no official announcement from SIU or Lowery yet.
http://www.salukitalk.net/st/viewforum.php?f=1
http://www.salukitalk.net/st/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35729&sid=6ab8808e21505b77e26a2a987de40daa

From what's known about T.J. Lindsay, he seems like a lesser version of Jeff Early....who just visited Bradley and who Bradley will probably pass on....
Both Early and SIU's Lindsey play for Monroe in the Bronx...
But Lindsay only averages 7 ppg to Early's 14. They both shoot 28% from three, and BOTH shoot only 50-60% from the T line...
I just don't see how this kid helps Lowery, as he seems less developed or accomplished as the players he's replacing....seriously a 7 ppg scorer??

And here's a funny thing........
This is the official release and announcement from SIU about the signing of Lindsay from Monroe....
Note in the last paragraph, they seem to be a bit confused or don't know his name as they mistakenly refer to him as "Monroe". Apparently, after a few days, nobody has noticed the mistake -- so they must not have proofreaders!
http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/050411aaa.html

Lowery is just replacing juco backups with other juco backups in a cycle that seems never-ending -- almost as if he can't get any decent or known high school or prep recruits interested in SIU or Carbondale...


The player turnover at SIU has been tremendous -- likely NO OTHER D-I has had as many players bolting and being janked...
Link
Link

And that's almost 20 players bolting or being sent packing over the past couple years under Chris Lowery at SIU.



ISU head coach Tim Jankovich took time the past few days...to go to Charlotte, NC to work with Liberty University's head coach Dale Layer at the "2011 Charlotte Development Forum Coaches Clinic by Coach Layer".
Layer is well known in the Charlotte area as he got his start as a head coach at Queens University of Charlotte.


Some other news...

Cuonzo Martin says he doesn't expect Tennessee star Tobias Harris to remain at Tennessee.

Both MSU's Paul Lusk and SIU's Chris Lowery took time off and were at the Cardinals game last night...Link

Indiana State's Greg Lansing headlines a clinic this weekend..
Link


Illini podcast talks about Sammy and his leadership...