Lots of Valley Tidbits in the News

Wichita writer Paul Suellentrop wrote the Valley section for the upcoming Athlon Preseason College Basketball Preview.
He reveals in his Wichita Eagle blog a little about how he ranked the teams in his preseason Valley Preview...


He states that he has Northern Iowa ranked #1, followed by Creighton then ISU.
He also notes that he slotted SIU for finishing 5th, but then leaves us hanging by saying...
"Wichita State, Bradley and SIU seem to be fighting for the fourth spot (behind Northern Iowa, Creighton and Illinois State)"

so did he put BU 4th or Wichita, he doesn't really say and makes us wait 'til September to see the Athlon preview issue.
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Illinois State's Redbird beat writer, Jim Benson, blogs about ISU's schedule again...
and he comments again on the extreme weakness of the Redbirds' non-conference schedule.
Recall, there were those who promised after last year's ridiculously soft non-conference schedule, that 2009-2010 would be different and would surprise people with how tough the slate would be.
Well, people are indeed surprised.....they are surprised ISU has scheduled so poorly AGAIN that it has now set itself up for the same potential agonizing situation...that they might go undefeated in the preconference games, then have a fine year in the Valley, win 25 games but still get scoffed at by the NCAA selection committee.
Watch out....it's gonna happen again and it is astounding that the ISU people apparently don't see that and are repeating the same mistake.

Here's what Benson says...
"I have heard from Redbird fans already who are crying for ISU to play some marquee teams in the nonconference. Every other Valley team will play at least one opponent from a BCS football conference.
ISU and other Valley schools are never going to get home-and-home series with BCS teams. Those days are gone. ISU’s philosophy is not to play anyone for a “guarantee” game on the road without that team coming back to Redbird Arena.
The MVC/Mountain West Challenge gives the Redbirds a great opportunity to get a quality team to Redbird Arena every other year. That’s a plus. Also, Niagara has a bunch of athletes who started their careers in the Big East and will be no pushover, as ISU found out last season.
I would urge ISU coach Tim Jankovich to get in an exempt tournament every year that allows the Redbirds an opportunity to play big schools on a neutral court. Creighton is doing it this year in Orlando, while Bradley is going to Vegas in the same setup. Having three games at home for Thanksgiving break in an exempt tourney is hurting the Redbirds’ schedule.
The sad reality is that, unless a team wins the Valley regular-season title outright and doesn’t embarrass itself in the Valley tourney, it won’t have a chance for an NCAA at-large bid."
http://www.pantagraph.com/app/blogs/main/?p=4156

But it's the reader comments at the end of that Benson column that are priceless...
"Mr. Benson any chance you can interview Coach Jankovich and ask him about the schedule? 2 years in a row, this is just terrible."

"Here is the problem – there are only a select few people who have a “press pass” and thus the opportunity to interview Jank on his yet-again, atrocious job scheduling. I don’t see WJBC doing it, so could you PLEASE ask him how for the third straight year, he has put together a schedule that embarrasses us alum?"

"State’s schedule continues to be a sore spot"
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Here's an odd story....
University of Nebraska presently has 14 basketball players on scholarship. The NCAA allows only 13, but the Huskers even had to cut one player off scholarship and turn him into their "student assistant coach" just to get down to 14, as they were previously at 15!
Nebraska kept Chris Balham on scholarship under a "medical hardship waiver" somewhat like ISU did a couple years ago with Mike Vandello.

But they still need to make some kind of move to get down to 13 scholarship players of hope they can get yet another waiver from NCAA.

So how did this happen? Well, a kid they were recruiting from Germany finally and somewhat unexpectedly got cleared by the NCAA...
"Christian Standhardinger, a November recruit, finally got the OK from the NCAA Clearinghouse on Friday — 279 days after he signed his letter of intent.
Sadler, without giving details, said the scholarship overage likely will be resolved" ...and they are hoping NCAA will aloow them to keep all 14 players on scholarship!!

BUT -- Standhardinger won't be able to play right away...
"Like other recent German club players, the 6-foot-8 wing is subject to a one-year NCAA penalty for playing on a team that paid some members, even though he earned nothing more than allowed expenses.
Now, Sadler said, Standhardinger seems determined to come to Nebraska even if he has to sit a year." (the Lucca Staiger penalty)
http://www.omaha.com/article/20090824/SPORTS01/708249833



By the way...it has been mentioned that upcoming changes in the NCAA rules might eliminate this penalty against foreign lpayers who have played on teams with others who are pros,
but it may not help those who are enrolling this year.
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12737

"Nebraska hopes that NCAA legislation set for a vote in August 2010 that would lift the penalty from such players — labeled “vicarious professionals'' — might be applied to those enrolling for the coming season. No timetable has been set for a possible ruling."
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Hey, anyone want to be on the University of Illinois Board of Trustees?
Get your application in!!
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2009/08/27/more_than_200_have_applied_to_join_ui_board_of_trustees
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Brazilian basketball is definitely going to move up in the world rankings...they are beating just about everyone these days...
http://www.latinbasket.com/Puerto-Rico/basketball.asp?NewsID=170435
http://www.latinbasket.com/Brazil/basketball.asp?NewsID=169934
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One more Valley schedule note as teams finally release their 2009-2010 slates
...Evansville will host Georgia Southern 12/17
http://www.georgiasoutherneagles.com/SportSelect.dbml?&SPSID=90363&SPID=10903&DB_OEM_ID=18700&Q_SEASON=2009