Now that BU is back from Brazil - catching up on recruiting

Bradley lost a little ground in recruiting because of all the extra practices and the trip to Brazil. Not that anyone would give all that up, as it was really a tremendous experience, but it cannot be denied, that it put BU nearly a month behind in regards to recuiting, contacting prospective future Braves, and hosting campus visits.

But BU is back on track, and I have heard some really great things. BU has some great kids interested, and has already hosted a couple of them on campus. Of course names won't be mentioned, but one of them is rated Top 100 nationally by one of the recruiting services!!

The ongoing construction and the incredibly beautiful facilities that are already built are beginning to have a payoff effect. The kids that come onto campus and tour the site, especially the Markin Center, are blown away. And when they realize that ALL the facilities will be done by the time they might come to BU, then the days of losing recruits because of lack of facilities are now gone.
Kudos to the staff.........as they really deserved time off and a nice long rest after the long Brazil trip that covered 24 hours on planes, a dozen more hours waiting in airports, 8-10 hours in cars and buses, and a few hours hiking in mountains and riding trams....not to mention the practice sessions and five very tough games!
But...as some already know, the coaching staff was barely back in Peoria before they headed out of town, and started working again.
Just look at the BU rosters and realize that our staff had to beat the bushes in Texas, Louisiana, Alaska, California, Georgia, Virginia, Nevada, etc., as well as Illinois!

Great work, and keep it up, the dividends are paying off. Can't wait for the 2009-2010 season to begin!

check this out-
http://twitter.com/taylor3brown/status/3615046553
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Here's an oddity...Matt Roth has given up his uniform number to an incoming freshman.
Here's a pic from last year...one that shows his jersey number...





Interesting...

Matt Roth wore #2 last year for Indiana


This year he is going to be #30, as he gave up his #2 to highly rated incoming freshman Christian Watford.
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/ind-m-baskbl-mtt.html#Numerical

The only other player to give up his uniform number was walk on Daniel Moore, who gave up his n umber (#3) for incoming freshman Maurice Creek, even though Creek isn't even yet cleared by the NCAA and might not be.
http://indiana.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?highlight=roth&sid=942&fid=726&tid=131308939&mid=131312432
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I have developed a little interest in the FIBA America Tournament and the play of the Brazilian team. As we saw while BU was down in Brazil, they play a fairly high level of play and their top pro teams would easily be equal competition for the majority of D-I American teams.
However, their TOP professional players have now grown into a formidable team.
Although Brazil had previously been ranked #18 among the men's team in thwe world:
http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/even/rank/p/rankMen.html

..it is now quite obvious that they are greatly better than 18th...as they just got done knocking off the Argentinians, who are ranked #1, even ahead of the US squad....
Brazil at 3-0 is now assured of moving to the next round, while perennial powerhouse Argentina is about to be eliminated.
http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/57938/180

For anyone who'd like to follow this tournament that in presently being played in Puerto Rice, and includes Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Uraguay, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, and Panama....here are some links.
http://www.fiba.com/

the tournament site in English
http://puertorico2009.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/09/facm/p/index.html

scores
http://puertorico2009.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/09/facm/p/schedule.html

standings
http://puertorico2009.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/09/facm/p/group-standing.html

and access to live TV
http://www.fibatv.com/page/Home/0,,12805,00.html?WT.mc_id=fibaflsban

sortable stats
http://puertorico2009.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/09/facm/statistics/p/top-players.html
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Here's a bummer....Christopher Niemann, a 6-11 kid from Germany, who had already served the 1-full-year penalty for playing ball in Europe on teams that had pros - even though he was an amateur - has now torn his ACL, will require surgery, and will be out for this entire season as well.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/12126273




How much money does each D-I school spend on basketball?
Well, here's a list although I have no idea how accurate as this data cannot be easy to get, especially from the private schools, so I would think some is guesswork.
http://www.bbstate.com/info/schools-hoopsbudget

Bradley is ranked 83rd ($2.9 mil), ahead of schools like Saint Louis, DePaul, and Gonzaga....so I really have my doubts.
Creighton (64) and Wichita (76) are the only two MVC schools listed above BU.
ISU is listed at #171 - 9th highest in the Valley and barely above Indiana State for last in the Valley, so again, I really have my doubts.
FGCU at #331, shows where KK's starting grounds are...


Kansas writer piling on the coaches from Kentucky - Calipari, Pitino, Gillispie
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/aug/29/kentucky-coaches-behaving-badly/