Bradley basketball gets more and more honors..
Top Academic Honors in the MVC
And still - well into Coach Wardle's 2nd season - everything's looking up, no black eyes, no arrests, no issues of any kind!
Especially in light of the almost incessant arrests, DUI's etc at ISU -
ISU's Deontae Hawkins arrested for DUI
A history at ISU of almost constant serious legal problems & arrests
In fact - notice last May when I was talking about all the arrests they were having last seaosn I said
"I predict more of this.....since the atmosphere hasn't changed."
That was a pretty easy prediction to get right!
Bradley is doing just what the fans have wanted and what Joanne Glasser had never been able to deliver. In fact, despite some of the off court issues under Glasser/Cross/Geno - still I do not recall Bradley EVER having a player with a DUI or an aggressive robbery, rape, or serious legal issue - certainly not in the past 2-3 dedades...while ISU is dealing not just with one constantly but multiple such arrests and suspensions on a regular basis.
Bradley is picked 8th this season - great chance to surprise everyone..
Go Braves!!
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Just pointing out an enormous difference
We are now one year & two months into the Brian Wardle era.
FOURTEEN months since Geno and most of his players left the building.
But in that fourteen months there has NOT been once single "off the court" incident whatsoever.
NO arrests.
NO DUI's.
NO suspensions.
NO discipline issues.
NO front page news stories about behavior, being benched, or lack of leadership.
NOTHING but good things, good behavior, and stories of hard work & good ethics.
Let's recap the issues from the past - and the change of course from the Geno era is incredible.
-back in the Molinari era there were a tiny smattering of behavior issues....an allegation of a issue with Kevin Clancy that was never prosecuted and isn't even on the record any more.
That was about it....the Molinari era was incredibly clean.
-then there were a couple issues - all minor during the Jim Les era - but the PJStar guys tried like hell to blow everything way out of proportion.
Again - a couple minor issues that went to deferral and were never prosecuted...
note that even the one the idiots point to as the big one...the Daniel Ruffin case...
that case is readily searchable in the Peoria County database and guess what...
Charges reduced...then...
FOURTEEN months since Geno and most of his players left the building.
But in that fourteen months there has NOT been once single "off the court" incident whatsoever.
NO arrests.
NO DUI's.
NO suspensions.
NO discipline issues.
NO front page news stories about behavior, being benched, or lack of leadership.
NOTHING but good things, good behavior, and stories of hard work & good ethics.
Let's recap the issues from the past - and the change of course from the Geno era is incredible.
-back in the Molinari era there were a tiny smattering of behavior issues....an allegation of a issue with Kevin Clancy that was never prosecuted and isn't even on the record any more.
That was about it....the Molinari era was incredibly clean.
-then there were a couple issues - all minor during the Jim Les era - but the PJStar guys tried like hell to blow everything way out of proportion.
Again - a couple minor issues that went to deferral and were never prosecuted...
note that even the one the idiots point to as the big one...the Daniel Ruffin case...
that case is readily searchable in the Peoria County database and guess what...
Charges reduced...then...
| 02/04/2009 |
|---|
| 02/04/2009 |
CASE DISMISSED - hmmmm...well, then I guess this is far less of a legal concern that the multiple DUI's that exist still on the record of some of the Jim Les critics - the ones who bitch all the time about the Les era and stick their noses and entire heads up the butts of Joanne Glasser & Mike Cross.
So the sum total of the Jim Les era amounts to a couple issues that were dismissed and a couple underage citations. If that's "renegade" then wait 'til you see what came in the following era!!!
The Geno Ford era...started right off the bat with suspensions...
Geno was known for his lax discipline and shoddy practice ethic. I have been to Geno Ford practices at Bradley and have also heard the exact same stuff from multiple people who have also seen his practices..and have even heard from people in the Athletic Department who saw it all for four years and knew his and his players' ethics were horrible.
Players showed up late routinely for practices, they were lazy, they griped, they talked back, the sometimes only responded to Geno getting in their faces and screaming at them. They hudded along sidelines and chatted & giggled with each other during practices about parties, girls, and adolescent stuff. Then even after they were dismissed they walked lazily to the showers without even picking up their trash.
But that was just the behavior Geno condoned & tolerated. There was plenty of crap off the court as well - signalled early on as I noted by suspensions at the very first exhibition in Geno's very first year. Then multiple other games had kids suspended....many games had multiple kids suspended...some kids were suspended multiple times for multiple offenses (Swopshire, Barnes, Jones).....
In total, there were at least 14 of Geno's players who were suspended or arrested, and several on multiple occasions...
Geno's players surpassed the SUM TOTAL of all the suspensions during the Molinari PLUS Les era combined (20 full years of Bradley basketball under those two coaches) - in just his first TWO seasons at Bradley - and yet the arrests and behavior crap continued....
Barnes got arrested for domestic battery and his case was NOT deferred nor charges dropped - he was CONVICTED!
Then there were the arrests and national embarrassment that went with the arrests of Warren Jones & Ka'Darryl Bell at Big Al's..
but it didn't end there....
Even after the season ended kids still got into trouble...
Brian Wardle was hired and a couple of the remaining players were sent packing for issues that were never made public.
But here's a little more...the Geno Ford guys still got in trouble even after Geno was gone!!!
Xavier Taylor begged to stay at Bradley but his work ethic was horrible. he was given chance after chance then even given a re-scheduled workout - but guess what, he didn't bother to show up and he was dismissed.
and we all know Warren Jones wanted to stay but he broke team rules over and over and was sent packing...
So...one by one the lack of discipline ended up haunting Geno and the entire program. Why wasn't Mike Cross overseeing this - or Joanne Glasser?? - after all they had their noses in the program constantly. Cross even bragged about how he even took notes during games so he could adequately assess the coach! (Although nobody ever saw him take notes when Geno was coaching - hmmm..)
Anyway - the responsibility for this terrible behavior really does rise to the top and it's part of why Cross & Glasser had to go first - then Geno.
But virtually every single Geno player had arrest and off-the-court issues - even several whose arrests were kept hush-hush and whose time spent in jail were never mentioned by Kirk Wessler & the PJS. (This is fact and can be demonstrated in the same Peoria arrest & jail database).
It's time to look forward - so that's the main reason for this summary - to point out that what was once COMMONPLACE under Geno - is now NON-EXISTENT under Coach Wardle.
No more arrests, no more issues......virtually all the Geno players have moved on & are gone along with Geno, staff, Cross, and Joanne....and PRESTO - problem solved...
Kirk Wessler simply doesn't have the guts to bring up the RENEGADE issue with regards to all the tremendous issues Geno had that dwarf the issues during the Les era when he used that term "renegade". Now what will Kirk write about? I guess he's become a Rivermen fan, but he writes a column about once every 3-4 weeks - pretty cushy job.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
What the Hey? What is it with ISU players?
We have seen a long pattern of arrests and serious criminal issues with Illinois State basketball players. There have been multiple DUI's & 2am bar fight arrests since the Porter Moser era including Levi Dyer, Brandon Sampay, Tyler Brown, Quintin Brewer and many, many more. Plus the many drug arrests - Geoffrey Allen, Bryant Allen, etc...
and even serious criminal issues like Bobby Hill's rape of an underage child. LINK
But now it seems to be escalating again -
a quick search of the arrest and court database shows well over the team's roster with pending court cases, headlined by Quintin Brewer's multiple DUI's that were elevated to FELONY-level because he recklessly went out driving drunk while he had his charges deferred from the prior DUI and had a suspended license! He & Javaka Thompson still have alcohol cases pending.
But now even the players who leave & transfer are in the headlines for serious criminal charges.
ISU's Reggie Lynch- now in Minnesota - arrested for criminal sexual assault.
Let's make sure to note that NOT ONE SINGLE ARREST - not even for a speeding ticket or jaywalking - has occurred among the Bradley players since Brian Wardle was hired.
There were a few issues under Geno Ford- most notably the Auston Barnes assault charges and the Egolf arrest for buying drugs from a street runner, but if you go back to the Jim Les era...
you actually find almost NOTHING as well. That flies in the face of really ignorant people who play up the arrests and fall for the bullcrap that Kirk Wessler spewed about "renegade".
The very worst that those idiots can come up with to criticize Les are a couple underage citations and one charge against Daniel Ruffin when his drunken ex-girlfriend admittedly slipped and bruised her lip while trying to force her way, uninvited, into his apartment.
There was also another he-said/she-said argument with Jabbar Battle (who has been a model citizen ever since - unlike most of the ISU guys who go on and commit repeat offenses), Eddren McCain was in he car with a girl who had marijuana, and then the one real stretch- a claim that Taylor Brown had a feud with an ICC student over a girlfriend.
Oh, and you will find that in each of those cases, all the charges were NOT pursued as the players completed their deferral perfectly and again were model citizens.
That's it - hardly a thing going way back into the 90's as Molinai's kids virtually ALL stayed clean.
But getting back to the ISU players - the additional feature is that it all gets hidden & ignored and nobody ever gets disciplined.
Levi Dyer & Sampay would have never even come to light except that their DUI's were discussed on the message boards, they never missed a single game or even an exhibition. And fast forward to now - Quintin Brewer's multiple DUI's and felony has never been mentioned even once outside of the message boards, the media hides, it, the coaching staff hides, it and the players are never suspended even for a minute.
Their star Devaughn Akoon-Purcell was actually recruited and signed while he had felony charges being pursued against him in Florida, and he played most of the past two years after aguilty plea and while on PROBATION for the felony charges, and none of that was ever mentioned nor ever seemed relevant to anyone at ISU. But of course that kind of atmosphere and lack of discipline within their system is the reason that despite having the best players in te league, they always falter, miss the NCAA and make buffoons of themselves with early exits from the NIT or other AEIOU Tournament.
I predict more of this.....since the atmosphere hasn't changed.
and even serious criminal issues like Bobby Hill's rape of an underage child. LINK
But now it seems to be escalating again -
a quick search of the arrest and court database shows well over the team's roster with pending court cases, headlined by Quintin Brewer's multiple DUI's that were elevated to FELONY-level because he recklessly went out driving drunk while he had his charges deferred from the prior DUI and had a suspended license! He & Javaka Thompson still have alcohol cases pending.
But now even the players who leave & transfer are in the headlines for serious criminal charges.
ISU's Reggie Lynch- now in Minnesota - arrested for criminal sexual assault.
Let's make sure to note that NOT ONE SINGLE ARREST - not even for a speeding ticket or jaywalking - has occurred among the Bradley players since Brian Wardle was hired.
There were a few issues under Geno Ford- most notably the Auston Barnes assault charges and the Egolf arrest for buying drugs from a street runner, but if you go back to the Jim Les era...
you actually find almost NOTHING as well. That flies in the face of really ignorant people who play up the arrests and fall for the bullcrap that Kirk Wessler spewed about "renegade".
The very worst that those idiots can come up with to criticize Les are a couple underage citations and one charge against Daniel Ruffin when his drunken ex-girlfriend admittedly slipped and bruised her lip while trying to force her way, uninvited, into his apartment.
There was also another he-said/she-said argument with Jabbar Battle (who has been a model citizen ever since - unlike most of the ISU guys who go on and commit repeat offenses), Eddren McCain was in he car with a girl who had marijuana, and then the one real stretch- a claim that Taylor Brown had a feud with an ICC student over a girlfriend.
Oh, and you will find that in each of those cases, all the charges were NOT pursued as the players completed their deferral perfectly and again were model citizens.
That's it - hardly a thing going way back into the 90's as Molinai's kids virtually ALL stayed clean.
But getting back to the ISU players - the additional feature is that it all gets hidden & ignored and nobody ever gets disciplined.
Levi Dyer & Sampay would have never even come to light except that their DUI's were discussed on the message boards, they never missed a single game or even an exhibition. And fast forward to now - Quintin Brewer's multiple DUI's and felony has never been mentioned even once outside of the message boards, the media hides, it, the coaching staff hides, it and the players are never suspended even for a minute.
Their star Devaughn Akoon-Purcell was actually recruited and signed while he had felony charges being pursued against him in Florida, and he played most of the past two years after aguilty plea and while on PROBATION for the felony charges, and none of that was ever mentioned nor ever seemed relevant to anyone at ISU. But of course that kind of atmosphere and lack of discipline within their system is the reason that despite having the best players in te league, they always falter, miss the NCAA and make buffoons of themselves with early exits from the NIT or other AEIOU Tournament.
I predict more of this.....since the atmosphere hasn't changed.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
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