BU's recruiting summary...and some more news....

Before we start - everyone has to see this -- old codger Bobby Knight - already way past his prime and always saying ridiculous things on TV -
actually falls asleep on LIVE TV!!
He had to be nudged to wake up by Digger...
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/did-bobby-knight-fall-asleep-live-television-203435854.html

He was probably thinking of all those times when he screamed that a kid ought to miss his free throw on purpose when his team was up by 3, and he was shooting one more....
(ignoring the far better scenario that if the kid actually makes the FT - a 4-point lead cannot be beat even by a buzzer-beater!)


OK -- now to the main topic........

It doesn't take a genius to see Bradley's biggest needs to fill in regard to recruiting.
Geno Ford has now been here a year and is wrapping up the 2nd recruiting cycle - having landed five in the Class of 2011 (Stewart, Hodges, Wells, Crawford, Shayok) and two thus far in the Class of 2012 (Bell, Pickett).

And with those seven kids landed - it would seem the main gaps we need to fill are all still there...
Point guard (Ka'Darryl Bell might help but most observers say he's more of a combo guard), scorer (we're losing our top scorer Taylor Brown), outside shooter & 3-point shooter (nobody in sight), and help in the low post.

Anyone who keeps repeating the mantra that Peoria is an easy place to recruit to simply doesn't see the obvious - that it is NOT easy -- Geno's job is very hard getting kids to want to come to Peoria.
Some back up their claims that top kids want to come to Peoria by citing examples like Hersey Hawkins and even JJ Anderson - reaching back more than 3 decades to try to find some examples - yet all those examples are bizarre and actually serve to help prove the opposite point - that those were not kids who were known nationally and were actually passed-on by most top programs because of obvious factors like Anderson playing at a small school and Hersey playing center at 6-3 in high school.
So Versace saw the potential and landed them and coached them up.
That's what we need to do now...

Actually same was true with Granger...he was not a 4-Star or 5-Star talent in high school - Molinari had to do some digging to get the kid but he even had to spend TWO scholarships, as you recall, to land him to Peoria - a package deal!! - -- it wasn't easy - we had to give a scholarship to his cousin Mike Suggs as well in order to get Granger!


BUT -- The announcement of Devon Hodges leaving is now 4 weeks old - so at least one open scholarship has been there for a month and isn't filled yet...
the announcement of Donivine leaving is already two weeks old...so we've now had two available rides to fill for a couple weeks....and no takers yet despite a couple offers.

Several people including the local media folks have said they really thought both of the open scholarships would be filled quickly - as if Matej Buovac and Mislav Brzoja were just waiting in line for the open scholarships to appear.
Some statements even said they expected those spots to be filled QUICKLY! But - people need to be more patient - because recruiting is very hard -- and recruiting to Peoria is very, very hard. If it were easy we'd have those needs filled already...but we might not actually get them filled until 2013 or later - time will tell.
People just simply DO NOT want to admit that the rush to usher Jim Les outta here dropped some heavy fallout onto the program and we're not out of the woods yet.
In fact - I hear some rumors of some more big news that might be hitting in the next few months -- so hold on....


So - obviously it is not the case that filling our needs was going to be easy as many had thought - and those players we are after (Buovac, Brzoja, etc...) are obviously listening to and checking out everyone else who is interested - and will likely take the highest perceived offer - with an offer from a 2nd division mid-major in Peoria probably not carrying a lot of weight - contrary to those who think Peoria is a big draw.
One message board poster even started a thread with well wishes for "future Brave Mislav Brzoja"....

Also there's been a lot of conflicting reports with some saying Brzoja is 6-4, some saying 6-5 and some up to 6-7....and some reports saying he's a guard and some a forward...
No wonder there's confusion and fans don't know what to think.
The major prep tourney that was on ESPN last week had the La Lumiere game with Matej Buovac...and he did not play well - shot poorly.
And recall when Matej Brzoja was on campus in Peoria the local newspaper writer saw him and said he did not particularly distinguish himself, didn't shoot much, and seemed tentative and hinted he was intimidated.
So...time will tell........

One last thing - here's a recruiting expert's assessment of last Thursday's La Lumiere game in the National Prep tourney...

"#3 Montverde Academy: 62, #6 La Lumiere: 54

Thoughts: Montverde’s back court of class of 2013
point guard Kasey Hill (Florida) and
class of 2012 shooting guard Michael Frazier (Florida)
combined for 35 points and was simply too much
for La Lumiere to handle. Kevin Boyle‘s squad
did a great job of pressing which threw
La Lumiere out of sync. Even when La Lumiere did
break the press, they didn’t make Montverde pay
on the back-end and in the half court they
didn’t execute their sets at all. Montverde
did a great job of being physical and their
ability to knock down free throws proved to be
important as they shot 17-for-24.

Key Player: Hill was the standout in this game
and although he didn’t shoot well from the floor
he scored a game-high 19 points and added six assists
and three steals. He was able to consistently get
in the lane where he would either finish or
dish it off to a big man.

Key Stat: Good defense was key for Montverde
and that they forced 19 La Lumiere turnovers
and recorded seven blocks is an indication
of how much Montverde threw La Lumiere off.
Montverde was able to get multiple lay-ups
off easy steals when they pressed La Lumiere
and threw them off-balance."

...there were also other reports that La Lumiere's guards were ineffective - didn't hit a 3-pointer until the final 3 minutes when the game was out of reach, and had excessive turnovers while not getting the ball to the post.


Two more names made public recently are...

..Davon Hayes of Mont Clare Academy in Philadelphia ...
and ....small forward Tymell Murphy of South Plains junior college......
There's some info on BradleyFans about them but here's more....

There really isn't much recent info at all on either of these two guys on the web but some recruiting sites have a few tidbits.....
Both of these guys are, to say the least, way under the radar...

Davon Hayes graduated HS in Mississippi in 2010, and his only offer was Arkansas State - but he signed and changed his mind at the last minute and went prep.
Grades were also an issue as well as moving around and attending at least 5 different high schools including Mont Clare (prep).
He is getting "interest" from some Big East schools, but still has only the Arkansas State offer.
Some talk on the Georgetown board says there are a lot of red flags but at 6-6 and can get to the rim and score - there's always going to be interest.
BUT - seriously - if he's able to qualify - with at least 3 different Big East schools watching him -- it'll be tough.


Tymell "Ty" Murphy is even deeper under the radar...but again - just being 6-5 and on the National Champion juco team is getting the kid some interest.
He's a streaky scorer but not a good outside shooter. His game would be more like Jake Eastman's where he'd have to get to the bucket to score,
something that's a bit harder at D-I than HS or juco - (as DeAaron Williams found out).
One recruiting site says he has yet to actually receive any offers, but Dayton, Iona, Stephen F. Austin, and Towson are following him...but can we beat them out??


BUT -- again I say that if we are listing as our top known targets, these kids who are so obscure and so under the radar...then how in the world can that be meshed with the oft-seen philosophy people are posting that it's easy to lure the TOP recruits here to Peoria!

The mere fact we are pursuing such under-the-radar (and I mean really way under) kids says volumes that we are jettisoning kids to open scholarships for real unknowns...

So - we just have to wait -- it might be a while - it might be tomorrow that we hear something.......


It is likely that Bruce Weber will still heavily recruit the midwest and Illinois - and might make it harder for Bradley to land their targets...and no word yet if Weber is going to add Wayne McClain to his K-State staff..as some had claimed Bill Self had wanted to do back at Kansas went he left Illinois...but it appears quite doubtful.


More note...
yet another player is leaving Oregon...Jonathan Loyd is leaving...
Oregon had a lot of talent left over from the firing of Ernie Kent but a massive number of Dana's players including even many of the ones he has landed have bolted and gone elsewhere.
Here's a kid with a miniscule 4 ppg average who would rather take his chances in the NBA draft - and then almost certainly be left to go to Europe to play than to stay at Oregon.
http://www.addictedtoquack.com/2012/4/1/2915648/breaking-johnathan-loyd-to-forego-final-two-years-at-oregon-enter-nba


WIU's Ceola Clark gets great news and has been granted a 6th year of eligibility by the NCAA -- so he can return and play again next year for Coach Mo..
http://www.healthtechzone.com/news/2012/04/01/6228166.htm