If rebuilding, what kind of recruit to go after..

I know no coach worth his salt wants to hear what the fans think about his recruiting but....

after watching last night I am going to post the criteria I would want for any future recruits...

#1- anyone we go after- whether high schooler or juco- has got to be able to play defense...he has to be known as a solid defender!
Right now our guys aren't all bad but we perennially give up wide open 3's and easy drives & passes into the lane for layups and slam dunks.
Just look at the numbers - we shoot 30% (way below average) from the arc but we give up 36%- well above average

#2- they have to be able to score - seems like a NO BRAINER, right - but look at the guys we have on our roster!! Half our players did NOT even average double digits at high school, juco, or where they were playing before arriving at BU.
If a kid doesn't regularly put up 12-14 points OR MORE then he sure won't help much on offense at this level.
Amazing how many players who Geno has landed that did not even average that where they were playing the year before coming to Bradley..
(Chris Blake, Swopshire, Barnes, Morgan, Taylor, Zecevic, Fields, Wells, Hodges, Shayok, Shaw, even Grier - who was hyped like heck as a shooter and an incredible scorer only averaged 6 ppg in his year at FAU)
You got to get some scorers!

What's wrong with kids like Andrew Warren, Jeremy Crouch, Alec Peters, DJ Balentine, Austin Ruder, Matt Bohannon, Marc Sonnen, Ben Simons, Colt Ryan, Tyler Les, Corey Hawkins, etc...

#3- and this one we have learned the hard way
PLEASE do not recruit disgruntled transfers (Grier, Fields), the well-travelled kids who have been at multiple prior schools (Hodges, Shayok, Zecevic), the kids who were kicked off their last team (Swopshire), kids with eligibility issues (Macari Brooks, Michael Tucker, Amerson, Blake), kids who were unable to earn a bit of playing time somewhere else so they come here (Barnes, Blake, Fields, Grier, Morgan), and kids with attitude issues who either just give up and hang their head when it ain't going well or throw elbows at opponents (Jones, Barnes, Taylor, Crawford).
Literally 75% of the players Geno has landed in four years fit these lists that I would stay away from.

#4 if at all preferable, get the kids that have at least 3 or 4 years of eligibility. We definitely have "too many jucos".

#5 get the kid with intangibles - team leader, vocal, well liked, good ethics, good morals, good grades, fan pleaser...
"High flying", "dunking machine", "versatile" (which appears to mean "can do a lot of things but isn't really good at any of them") and "freak athlete" are all nice, but we currently have a bench full of them.

Used to be fun to talk with fans about Bradley basketball - it has become a bit painful

Was traveling in Florida a couple weeks ago wearing my Bradley gear, and bumped into a distantly familiar face - a Peorian who had transplanted to Florida, who was wearing a Bradley t-shirt.  Yes, even in winter, northerners wear t-shirts in Florida while the native Floridians think 70 degrees is extremely cold so they wear sweatshirts.
Anyway we start talking about Bradley basketball and the initial question is, "what's wrong with Bradley basketball, they sure got bad in a hurry?"

I really didn't know where to start and didn't want to beat a dead horse, but since they weren't getting newspaper reports and weren't watching games down there, all the saw was the scores, and the W-L record.
So I mentioned a few reasons, but he immediately interrupted and continued, "but they were good just 5-6 years ago, filling that arena, playing and beating teams from many of the major conferences, and  And they had a good, young lineup coming back with some new players?" competing with even the best teams in the conference.

So I had to break it to him..... that all went up in a puff of smoke when they made major changes, the fallout has been devastating.
But far worse is the mystifying ignorance by those in charge that we are going so fast and so far in the wrong direction, and they still didn't see the damage their acts were causing.
Now BU is the worst team in the league, battling each of the last five years to stay out of last place, going nowhere, but even worse, they play poorly, can't score, and the fans aren't stupid.  They don't come any more.  Why would they?  The list of opponents is DIII caliber.

But perhaps the most troubling part is that all the new people in charge say that the problem was much worse when they got there and now they are actually making it better, fixing things up "the right way".  They are asking fans to be patient and give them several more years to do whatever this thing is that is destroying all the fan interest.  They keep getting raises and contract extensions and they keep driving more fans away with bad recruiting, bad coaching, no TV coverage for the fans who do want to watch, then just when it got really bad they raised the prices and the ticket maintenence, in some cases doubling and even tripling what people would have to pay just to keep the very same seats that have been told for decades they deserve because of their loyalty and their donations & maintenence.

It is darned near a laughingstock and the people in charge have no clue how to fix it.
BUT - for the first time in 5 years, some are beginning to get a clue that it needs major fixing and they are beginning to clean house again and get rid of all those who brought this horrible fallout upon the fans, but they've even begun to ineptly bumble the process, leaking damaging info to the press about possible candidates so the media types can try to defend their heroes that are being fired by smearing anyone else who might be a replacement candidate.

In the end, the very words people spoke so often in 2011 have now come home to roost.
They kept telling us we had bottomed out in 2011 and ...

that we HAD TO make the changes because things could NOT possibly get any worse.

Well, they did get worse - way, way worse, even including multiple player arrests & jailings, poor morale, no team leadership even by the coach's admission, lax discipline, poor effort, suspensions, revolving doors for players & assistant coaches alike, stocking the assistant coaching staff with people who had previously never recruited at a DI level and who indeed had never actually ever coached at a DI level, almost guaranteeing we're gonna be hard pressed to land future recruits.

Is it any wonder that for the first time that I know of in 30 years we are approaching spring and we don't have a single player that is committed, signed, or even remotely interested in any of the scholarships we have for this upcoming fall!  And most of all the players on the roster have eligibility remaining - so that even though this team is the worst team in the MVC - we look like we're going to have all the same players back again next year with the fear of having yet another season of horrible shooting, bad passing, low scoring, and more discipline issues.
Where are the cries from the media bout "too many new players" and "too many jucos & short term fixes"?

Anyway - the retired Bradley folks in Florida then quickly conclude they aren't missing anything and there's little reason to ever come back for a game or follow the Braves, and that is sad....because more and more are headed to Florida every year.  Look for the remaining season ticket holder base to shrink massively again next year.
As everyone is now pleading "Act quickly" - even immediately to get someone in that can turn this disaster around.  And please do not let the outgoing people who created this disaster help choose the next group.

Here's for a few laughs

Clueless fans who give credit erroneously to the wrong person and now have to eat their words when they realize how stupendously ignorant these comments are
http://www.pjstarforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=94278&sid=ae7c88338cb99515f9c8d619d7459b0c


too bad we can't also buy out the clueless who had their noses up you know where...

Great Bradley boosters & fans!

Here's a thought......

The hotel & healthcare guy Mark Petersen - is a big time Bradley fan, and donor

http://www.bradleybravesclub.com/members

....and it has been speculated that he is part of a core group of fans that want to see Bradley do lots better...and his interest helps drive some of the moves we have seen lately ;)

Peterson has been one of the core group also that is developing the dome for sports use out off War Memorial & Rt. 91
Maybe BU can pat=rtner with them of if football is developed they can have an indoor FB field place to play on??

http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/Peoria-may-be-getting-its-own-sports-dome-235163401.html

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20141125/News/141129377

http://live.pjstar.com/2015/2015-peoria-state-of-the-city-address/

BTW - Mark Petersen was a HUGE Jim Les supporter and partnered with Jim Les to FOUND the Braves Scholarship Society - and with many others who contributed - brought in $2-4 million per year just from the BSS until member ship in the BSS tanked and dropped to a fraction of what it once was as a result of running Les out of town and putting people like Dr. Glasser & Cross in charge.

http://is.gd/fhUBGH

https://campaign.bradley.edu/updates/petersens.shtml

Just a look back at a few things that were said the day Jim Les was fired...

A couple fans knew what was coming...

Quote:

... if the board lets this Pres. pick a coach then things will not get better.

and

Quote:

If you hate losing then you better find another hobby for the next 3-4 years.

But there were many from clueless folks who blindly said we'd be better right away...

Quote:
"We've got a professional search committee, my friend.  Relax.  Glasser's a smart lady and she knows BU Basketball is the straw that stirs the Bradley drink.  Let her lead and give her your support. .....

... BU Basketball has always survived a change and will again.  Let's face it, we've got nowhere to go but up after the past 20 years or so."



LOL, LOL...
The only people in that thread who can now be recognized as smart are those who knew that day was the beginning of the worst losing stretch and the worst fallout in the history of Bradley basketball.
Many of the JL supporters knew what was coming and knew how bad things would get - eventually taking out Dr. Glasser & Dr. Cross in the process.
The truly sad thing is that a lot of those very same people are looking to make the next big choices - and it's not looking too good in the early running.

Funny to look back on some of the PJ Star columns

Here's one from 2013-14, kinda laughable now with Kirk Wessler praising how great Bradley was and was gonna be.

Then read the tail end about the fallout - whoda thunk the fallout would go on to such epic & historic proportions that it would even take out the AD & the President of the University!

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20131108/SPORTS/131109341/10964/SPORTS

here are a few of the laughable lines...

Not superhuman, but looking good

...... the Bradley Braves have to make do with reasonable facsimiles...Geno Ford sure is happy to have Auston Barnes, a junior college transfer who is 6-8 with a 7-foot-plus wingspan of his own.

Barnes...overall defensive presence — on the wing as the Braves' starting 3-man, and in the paint as a backup to 4-man Tyshon Pickett and on help situations — was most impressive.

Barnes and another juco transfer, 6-7 forward Chris Blake, give the Braves a type of athletic size this program hasn't had since the Sweet 16 team in 2006. Add 6-9 freshman post Xzavier Taylor and 6-6 freshman tough guy Stefan Zecevic, and there's potential depth this program hasn't seen in a while, either.

But I remain convinced Bradley is getting better.

All seven new players saw meaningful action in the opener....each did something well and contributed to the victory in a game that was in doubt until the final minute.
Some fans might be disturbed by that against Jacksonville State....The Gamecocks, however, are a decent team.
(EDIT: Jacksonville State finished last season 10-21 with an RPI of 320!!- how could such an expert as Kirk Wessler have been so wrong?)

Yes, it's reasonable for Bradley fans to expect their program to be consistently superior to a Jacksonville State...we are reminded of a much greater parity in Division I than what existed even 20 years ago. And we are likewise reminded that Bradley, with the exception of that 2006 blip, has not been the program it used to be, either.
(EDIT: yes Kirk has to throw in the misconception that 2006 was noting more than an aberration- despite the fact the Bradley actually had a better RPI in 2007!- 39 vs. 38 )

more...

That brings us to the giant banner hanging from Section 9 of the upper bowl in Carver: "Geno's Fallout Shelter."
Just what the heck was that all about?
For the benefit of the majority of Bradley fans — that is, those who don't spend their lives discussing their passions on Internet forums, known as message boards — here's the explanation. There has been an unfortunate cyberwar between defenders of former BU coach Jim Les and others who either advocated, or have at least come to accept, his March 2011 firing. Some of the defenders continue to predict long-term "fallout" for the Bradley program as a result of the decision to fire Les and hire Ford. The banner was a show of support for Ford and where the Braves are headed.
Frankly, that looks to be upward.
After back-to-back last-place MVC finishes, the first under Les and the second under Ford, the Braves tied for seventh last season. A return to the solid middle this season is likely, and a top-four finish is possible. Considering that BU has not finished above fourth since 2001, that would be considered significant progress.

....wish they would have seen this disaster for what most fans did - then we wouldn't have had to go so far down the drain before finally some action!

Here's the people to write to if you do not like what's happening

If you do not like seeing Bradley plummeting again towards dead last place in the MVC, locking in on a Thursday spot for the 5th straight year - all under the watchful scrutiny and guidance of Dr. Glasser & Dr. Cross.
Here are the very people who take full responsibility and who don't even try to dodge the blame for what we're seeing....
These are the people responsible but they are also the ones that if they come to their senses and have a major awakening to their responsibilities, then we might still get ourselves out of this horrible mess.
Write to them and demand changes.....it will happen but it wouldn't have happened for another 2-3 years had we not been writing, calling, talking, etc...

From the Top down....

-The Bradley Board of Trustees, specifically Doug Stewart, Chairman, and Gerald Shaheen, past Chairman and main supporter of Dr. Glasser.
-Dr. Joanne Glasser
-Dr. Michael Cross, Athletic Director
-Geno Ford, Head Basketball Coach
-Much of the rest of the Athletic Dept.
-and cannot forget the enabling and cheerleading local media, the PJ Star who pushed Bradley to make all these horrific changes, as well as the small but whiney group of fans who like a squeaky wheel got way more attention and a sympathetic ear from the drivers of this mess than they ever should have.  The incompetent folks who made the bad decisions, bad hires, then stuck with the bad moves even while the ship was halfway sunk to the bottom should have known they were catering to the fans who were really clueless and actually had the agenda of wanting the lower bowl to empty out so they might get better cheaper tickets.  These are not fans who have ever supported the University or the programs in any meaningful way.

Still a Bradley topic but a little different

Gonna slip a little to the west and mention a bit about UC-Davis AGGIES basketball.

I know it seems to rile some people if we talk about this subject - but like it or not there's actually a LOT of local, Central IL interest in Aggie basketball lately.
People ask me all the time about how Jim Les is doing at UC-Davis or they've already heard he is doing well and want to know more!!

But for anyone who has not seen UC-Davis play, let me summarize a couple things...

-No, they are not Duke or Gonzaga - but they are a very good team and there's a distinct reason they keep winning, even against decent teams on the road.

-They pass well, they typically log a lot of assists, 

-They run an active motion offense that is fun to watch - they don't stand around or spend gobs of time dribbling, faking, then rush a shot at the end of the shot clock.
They know what they are doing, they have their opponents well scouted, they are prepared, they get open looks very quickly in each shot-clock and they take decent shots.

this is obviously reflected by the fact that EVERYONE on the team shoots well, and they are the best shooting team in the nation from 3-pt and among the best (Top 10) despite NOT really having a lot of depth down low.
Most teams that have high shooting percentages are those like Duke that feed to an Okafor and get layups all day long.

-they never have dry spells - they never go long without scoring and their guards shot 20-29 (69%) last night!!

-dis all you want but they are setting all kinds of records for wins (17-4), wins on the road, they are in first place and they even won last night, on the road, against the hottest team in their league (had won 6 in a row, 9 of 12, and had only lost twice all year at home - AND UC-Davis won without Corey Hawkins - their very best player & team leader.
PS - they have a couple good guards coming n next year that would be decent recruits even for the MVC and they have a 7-footer transfer from BUTLER, who was on some rankings a TOP 100 recruit nationally (although we have seen how Top 100 can be occasionally misleading.)

-Tyler Les had a career night going 4-5, 3-3 from the arc, 7-7 from the line, 18 pts (on just 5 shots total!), plus 5 rebs.

-their fan base is energized and ecstatic. They have NOT lost at home this year and they are filling their arena and breaking attendance records.
Their average attendance so far this season is more than double what it was in the years before JL got there.

-Bottom line - this is a fun team to watch and where some schools' attendance is dismally dropping to half of what it's always been - there's a reason theirs is doubling!
And they have lots of Central Illinois connections (JL, Tyler, Corey, Vogt, and even assts Mark Darnall and Chris Davis)

They average almost 72 points per game - way more than even the TOP team in MVC conference play averages - they are a very fun offense to watch.

Just a little history - from memory...

I love Bradley basketball but there's really never been a reason to get very involved in the workings of the Board of Trustees - until now...as it now has a definite bearing on Bradley basketball - and Bradley basketball is my passion! The Bradley Board of Trustees used to have 36 members This listing of members was 2005 when Rex Linder was Board Chairman. http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=us Gerald Shaheen was elected Chairman in fall of 2006. Shaheen stepped down as Chairman in spring 2011 and Michel McCord took over as Chairman McCord's father Robert McCord had served as Board Chairman from 1986-92 http://www.bradley.edu/about/publica...book/page3.dot http://lydia.bradley.edu/hilltopics/.../notebk2.shtml Then Michel McCord died Oct. 2012 - and Robert Turner took over as Chairman shortly thereafter. He resigned in April of 2014 (in the midst of a dispute with the President) then Doug Stewart took over. http://www.bradley.edu/about/news/ar...f-1649d3faa897 But the big move was in 2012-14 when Dr. Glasser with the help of her allies on the Board cut the size of the Board down to only 20 http://www.bradley.edu/offices/president/trustees/ That is where the number of board members sits currently and thus it is much easier to control the board - all a standing President has to do is sway 9 other members - since she/he sits as one of the members herself/himself!!! - And currently, of course, the guy who picked the sitting President, Gerald Shaheen sits there on the Board also - so hardly any need to sway him. But we face the troubling prospect of a Board of Trustees, that no matter how anyone might look at them, they are the very ones who brought all the current administrative people in and they have obviously some investment in them.  Thus it stands to reason they may have strong biases, since they'd be effectively ruling against themselves by cleaning house. But it's who they decide and how they decide to bring in as new administrative people. Sorry - but the simple fact is that the board is comprised largely of the very people who got Bradley into this terrible mess - either by their actions or their inactions and lack of oversight. Now they are supposed to lead us out of this mess when they've never fully seen it coming for the last five yeasr anyway - and even the average Joe & man on the street easily saw the problems and disasters all coming miles away! We are in trouble.

Send New Private Message

How's this for IRONIC

Dr. Glasser came to Bradley from Eastern Kentucky University. (That's hardly news to anyone)

Dr. Glasser was hailed as Eastern Kentucky's FIRST woman President. (That's hardly news either - it's what her bio says on the EKU site.)
http://discovereku.omeka.net/exhibits/show/ekuhistory/eku/glasser

But did you know that suddenly that fact has been blown away!

Yup - by PROCLAMATION this week, Mary C. Roark is now named as Eastern Kentucky's FIRST woman President.
The Eastern Kentucky Board of Regents voted to remove the term "acting President" from Mary C. Roark's title when she served in 1990-1910 - and now she is hailed as President Mary C. Roark - becoming the University's second President and FIRST woman President.
Dr. Glasser is now officially EKU's 2nd female President, losing her distinction as FIRST woman President at EKU.
http://www.prm.eku.edu/Update/?issue=228&department=0&article=3603

Career scoring - or current lack thereof

Bradley basketball has always had a lot of very good scorers. Bradley generally has multiple players among the leaders in the MVC and every year or so, sometimes even two in the same year - we'd have players who would celebrate entry into Bradley's 1000-point club!!
This happened regularly right up until Walt Lemon & Dyricus Simms-Edwards both reached the 1000-point milestone in 2012-13.
Then last year we saw Walt proceed to reach well over 1,700 career points and finish 6th on Bradley's all-time scoring list.

Again - it has always been a great part of being a Bradley basketball fan - watching all those great players put up points!
Until now...now nobody can score.  They sure get touted in the media and by clueless fans as scorers...but facts are facts - Bradley just does NOT have any consistent or reliable scorers any more. And none of the horizon or the radar screen either!

Even when players like Omari Grier or Auston Barnes have a good scoring night - the next game they disappear (or become completely ineligible for a stretch!).

I just checked the career scoring for everyone we have...

Nobody on the current roster is even over 300 pts except Omari Grier has a little over 600 and Barnes is nearing 500 but his career will be over in 8-9 more games.

Most are in the 100-200 range and not one shows even the tiniest proclivity to be able to score - so the likelihood of anyone becoming a 1000-point scorer is virtually ZERO.

Thus it's probably gonna be at least 2019 before Bradley would see another 1000-point scorer at the earliest!!!

There were people a couple years ago saying Ka'Darryl Bell would become a scorer and get to 1000 career points - but now if he were to do that he'd have to average almost 20 ppg for the rest of his Bradley career!

They said same about Grier, Swopshire, Zecevic, and even recently someone hinted in one thread that maybe Josh Cunningham or Donte Thomas could do it.

Obviously you cannot rule out Thomas or Cunningham - for no other reason that they both still have OVER 3 years to still possibly get it done - and with teams playing as much as 35 games per season and more - all someone like Cunningham would have to do is stay healthy and play 110 more games and average 7.5 ppg and then he'd have 825 points to add to the 181 points he already has and he'd get to 1000 but still not til end of 2017-18 season!

So - my prediction is that we do not celebrate our next 1000-point scorer until at least 2020 - more than 5 years into the future!
There won't hardly be anyone currently attending Bradley games - left alive or caring by then to know if I was right or wrong