Excitement growing......

While up on campus picking up my tickets I had a chance to talk with a couple people who have viewed some practices and there's a consensus on several things...
Yes, I know everyone is picking Bradley last but I am sure we don't have last place talent...
seems everyone who watches this team is impressed with talent, hustle, energy, athleticism, and effort.....
Most believe we are going to surprise people.......
Both TB and DSE bring back double digit scoring and other talents that could place them on the All Conference Team.
Then we have an improved Jordan Prosser and we saw that by late season last year he was more than serviceable - he was actually one of the better returning post players.
Add an improved Walt Lemon, Jake Eastman, and then some decent new talent with Shayok & DS - and I think we'll at least be able to compete with most Valley teams.
Those who have viewed the team playing all say we are loaded with speed, energy, and athleticism even if lacking good outside shooters.
If Geno can get them playing, having fun, and producing & developing - then I am hopeful we can win more than lose.
Anyway - we shall soon see..........
The main wild cards are depth - should we have more injuries, and that also means ability for the subs (Jake, AT, Milos..) can help out when others pick up fouls.
And then I expect the fans to be back -- many were there right at 9AM picking up tickets and all were enthusiastic for the games to start.

We all know that message boards are often the haven for the malcontents - and if you need any proof - go look at the SIU board.....
but a couple bad years at BU have brought out a few here as well.....but their rants about massive losses at the ticket office have thus far been wrong.
Note Bradley even after a couple down years ranks as the 6th best attendance among non-BCS schools...only Creighton, Wichita State, Dayton, Xavier, and Utah State did better...and Utah State is well within reach if we have a good year!

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/bdf2030046a3609298bddcc110a6426c/2011_NCAA_mens_basketball_attendance.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=bdf2030046a3609298bddcc110a6426c



Lastly - for those who thought the SEMO game would represent an obstacle to Braves fans and season ticket holders seeing this regular season game - WRONGGG..
No obstacles at all -- but if any season ticket holder does not come to the SEMO game it will be willingly and because they choose not to come.
Plenty of tickets are available and not only plenty but LOTS of very good seats within a couple rows from the floor.
I confirmed that just a couple hours ago as I stood at the ticket window and the clerk quoted me what seats are currently available in various sections - some good seats within the first TWO rows, and good seats at courtside!

One guy picking up a lot of season tickets right ahead of me got a batch of 15 season ticket books.....he was picking up for a certain Peoria business....but he was asked if he also wanted tickets to the SEMO game and the guy picking up the tickets said - nope - that's a game he was going to pass on !
So this proves that LOTS of the season ticket holders are not going to grab seats at the SEMO game - thus freeing up0 plenty for everyone who wants one.
Hey -- this should make everyone happy - as it proves the sky is not falling...
but I already see people whining because the season ticket holders AREN'T getting SEMO tickets!
So -- this proves another of my favorite points -- people will gripe even if they don't have a reason -- they wanted to gripe because they thought season ticket holders would get shut out of the SEMO game - and now that it isn't going to happen - they find something else to gripe about!

BU Fundraising - some of the history seems to be lost (or erased)

Bradley's fundraising efforts over the past few years have been quite successful -- and credit needs to be given to those responsible.
This recent campaign has benefitted Bradley greatly - giving us STATE OF THE ART facilities that benefit everyone involved from the students, to the fans, to the recruiting efforts!!

Here's the new PJ Star article...but recall it is a premium site and you may not get it so I have given the relevant quotes...

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1769240061/BU-exceeds-capital-campaign-goal-brings-in-161-million

"Bradley tops fundraising goal by $11 million
Campaign for a Bradley Renaissance raised more than $161 million since 2008"

Later in the article it also says...

"..the most successful fundraising effort in Bradley University's history."
..Publicly launched in April 2008 ..."

But -- ..does anyone else have a disagreement with the dates cited here?
-- is there some reason these following facts, stories and dates are left out...?

-First - the first public event revealing the name "Renaissance" associated with this giving campaign that was already underway...was in 2007, not in 2008 as stated in the article...
"Bradley University’s faculty, staff and emeriti gather for the Campaign for a Bradley Renaissance kickoff event in November 2007"

...when the campaign that was already well underway was re-named "Renaissance"
http://campaign.bradley.edu/updates/givingfaculty.shtml

-BUT -- The campaign was already up and running - just not yet given the name "Renaissance" ............
and they received an "$8 million naming gift for the Markin Family Student Recreation Center"

....in 2006 !!...
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=11456&postcount=18

In fact - not only was the giving campaign already going by 2006, the groundbreaking and the building of the NEW structures - even the new arena...
..was also started and well underway as far back as 2007 (and possibly way earlier given the lead time needed to retain and contract architects, planners, and construction firms & contractors).

"ground was broken for the Markin Family Student Recreation Center in the spring of 2007"
..but the fundraising effort was already well underway and successful in getting the $8 million donation from the Markins in mid-2006

http://campaign.bradley.edu/donors/Individuals.shtml

-but the actual NEW efforts at fundraising, with the origination of the Braves Scholarship Society, and other efforts - even without the name "Ranaissance" attached - started back in 2005 and were very successful --

http://www.bubraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=515906
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=7891&postcount=4

-The BU's fundraising campaign and the full plans for the new construction including the arena (that was later to be named "Renaissance Arena")
.. were the topic of discussion on our board as far back as 2005-2006...so obviously it was already underway then...

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1250
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=7635&postcount=8
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1085


So - credit needs to go where due as those DONORS and those fundraisers going all the way back to 2005 and earlier were not only instrumental in what Bradley now has - but they were the visionaries and architects of the plans - no matter what name we gave to them.

Northern Iowa Observations

I think Northern Iowa is the toughest team in the Valley to gauge...
Almost all the preseason reviews are picking UNI from 3-5th in the Valley,
but I think it could be anywhere from 1-8th depending on a couple factors...

First, they have a lot of experience coming back -
Three of their best four players return --
Johnny Moran (10ppg, 65 three-pointers), Jake Koch (10 pts, 5 rebs, plus 35% on 3-pointers), and Anthony James, who always seems to play well against Bradley (12.4 ppg, 3.4 rebs, 41.3% on three-pointers).

If they can find some good point guard play and avoid any injuries to their fairly inexperienced front court (outside of Koch)..then they can challenge for the Valley title.
BUT -- Kwadzo was a ton and consistently put up good numbers...they might miss him a lot! Same with O'Rear even though Lucas didn't always put up good numbers.
Plus those two guys were their best defenders, too.
How they might do without these guys can be seen by how the team performed when O'Rear went out last February...
The Panthers suddenly turned an 8-game winning streak into losing 8 of their final 10 games!

Of their three best returning players, two had off season surgery - Jake Koch on his foot (bone spurs) and Johnny Moran on his torn labrum in the right shoulder.
This is his shooting side - so it is possible that the surgery may significantly affect his shooting. Time will tell.
But these two guys' recovery and the avoidance of injuries is key to their success this season.
They have only one senior so in that respect they are a fairly inexperienced team.


We will get to see UNI earlier than the other Valley schools - as they have the 1AM slot on ESPN's Tipoff Marathon (1AM Central Time but 11 PM in California where they're playing St. Mary's)...and their first game is being televised live on ESPN, Tuesday November 15.

I am going out on a limb and I will pick them lower than the other guys... I think more like 7th in the Valley -- I think they will not easily replace the intangibles that Ahelegbe, O'Rear, and Dunham gave them.

More from Bradley's Homecoming weekend

First - a picture from the Friday night bonfire...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradleyalumni/6247646458/in/set-72157627762415787

Then a few more tidbits from the talks by President Glasser & Geno Ford...

-President Joanne Glasser announced that Bradley will place a statue honoring AJ Robertson in the new quad behind the Alumni Center.

-Coach Geno Ford called the new facilities on campus better than those at almost all MAJOR university - even better than most BIG TEN facilities! He says the new facilities are great for recruiting.

-Geno Ford said Will Egolf is doing great and even looks great. Hopeful for next year.

-Geno guarantees the fans will never say after a game...
"They didn't play that hard tonight."

-Coach Ford said we were very close to having a series (home & home) against Saint Louis but it fell through.

-Geno said Jordan Prosser's injury from last year seems resolved....and he joked that he told Pross he isn't allowed to get hurt again.



News from other Valley schools...

-At a press conference after their Maroon Madness, SIU's Chris Lowery said sophomore Davante Drinkard will redshirt this year. He was rumored to be going to sit out anyway due to academics.
Lowery also said PG Kendall Brown-Surles will be out 'til mid December due to grades. Rumors of this have been plentiful but Lowery has been reluctant to speak on it.

-Creighton announced a closed preseason scrimmage on Oct. 30 against Colorado.

-ESPN broadcaster Stephen Bardo said during their March Madness coverage on ESPNU that Creighton's non-conference schedule was WEAK. (NC A&T, Chicago State, Campbell, Houston Baptist - but also Northwestern, Tulsa, Nebraska, Iowa, San Diego State, and UAB!)



-At Drake - another big man goes down....Reece Uhlenhopp out for a month or two with a fracture in a bone in his foot....a typically difficult injury to hurry back from as Andrew Wareen knows. (so do Larry Bird & Michael Jordan!)

-The Terre Haute beat writer picks Indiana State 2nd and Bradley 8th..
http://l.wbx.me/l/?instId=b7149de4-042e-46ef-8a24-1c1b04c94336&token=46dc37de5eb4005d5bc8866515c7a9454cd8cd7600000132f519142c&u=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.tribstar.com%2Fdowninthevalley%2F%3Fp%3D502

Some BU news from Homecoming and ESPN has a nice writeup about Sam Maniscalco! -

Bradley put on a really nice weekend with all the Alumni events...
I was able to get to the Meet Geno gathering Saturday afternoon - and there was a surprisingly small crowd.
He talked a little about himself, his background, and also a bit about the team.

One story Geno told I had not heard before (we heard the usuals about him outscoring Lebron in HS and how he's really closer to 5-6 than his advertised 5-8), and ...his first experience with Bradley and BU's fan following was in Hawaii about a decade ago...
while he was an assistant at Ohio in 2000-2001, and his team was in the Rainbow Classic.
He notes their first game was against Gonzaga and a total of only 50-100 people were in the stands since this was thousands of miles from either school.
Then their next game was vs. a TOP 25 team, Wake Forest...and again only 50-100 people in the stands.
Finally, they played Bradley, and he looked up and saw about 1500 people virtually all dressed in RED!
He knew then and has always known since that Bradley is a team with a truly GREAT and loyal fan base...and he plans to work hard to earn the respect of Bradley fans.

Then the "Tailgate" event was fun as well.......but Geno's only revealing comment on his first practice was that he really appreciates the hard work the kids are putting in to learn a new system and develop into players that he can use in his system.

BTW -- Bradley won the Homecoming Game -
http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=19365



Here's a nice story on the Homecoming and unveiling of the new Alumni Center
http://www.centralillinoisnewscenter.com/news/local/Bradley-Celebrates-Homecoming-with-new-Alumni-Center-131923583.html


Too bad Coach Les isn't around to enjoy this - as he is largely responsible for it...
Speaking of Coach Les -
Here's a west coast ESPN guy saying they already love Jim Les at UCD
http://twitter.com/#!/billherenda/status/124999787555725312


And it sounds like Jim is excited to get going with his new team...
http://ht.ly/1f98U2



Some other news around the Valley...and elsewhere...

Early talk at Missouri State is that Mike Bizoukas, transfer from DePaul, will get the nod at point guard..


UNI's Johnny Moran will be returning from torn labrum surgery - and two big men - Austin Pehl & Chris Olivier are both out with foot problems - Pehl with a fracture.


Illini's first open scrimmage went this way according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.....

"Point guard Sam Maniscalco was the standout, making a slew of 3-point shots.

The Bradley transfer also had a friend in the front row as Evan Turner, a former Ohio State star, watched.
“I’m glad he’s here and getting the experience of what the Big Ten has to offer,” Turner said. “He can lead the team. He’ll be able to make some shots and play great defense.”

Sammy didn't miss a single 3-pointer in the scrimmage!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-illini-basketball-scrimmage-warms-up-football-crowd-20111015,0,3683136.story


Sammy also got a nice ESPN writeup!!
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/colleges/post/_/id/4184/illini-counting-on-maniscalcos-health



Here's a Porter Moser story at Loyola
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/colleges/post/_/id/4156/moser-believes-loyolas-future-is-bright



Then in the area of ridiculous news reports we have plenty to talk about...


First one -- duhh...a mind-altering drug is actually found when looked at scientifically to impairs driving performance....well, I never!!
You mean all those years the potheads have been pretending it doesn't affect them, they were LYING??
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700188349/Pot-use-may-nearly-triple-crash-risk.html

And yet another big duhhhh...
and some are acting like this comes as a surprise...

The occupy Wall Street movement turns VIOLENT...
throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails...
This scene looks more like the Palestinians rioting against the police ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/occupy-protests-in-rome-turn-violent/2011/10/15/gIQAhwydmL_video.html

BUT -- don't just say this is isolated and won't happen here...
because it already is..."protesters" are attacking the peacekeeping officers.
One guy threw his legs under a police motorcycle - and the officer immediately stopped and got off his cycle so he wouldn't get falsely accused of running over the jerk...
the guy even tried again and again to jam his legs under the cycle -- likely trying to act injured and land a big lawsuit...maybe he wants to get rich quick and become one of the 1% instead of the 99%!
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/zuccotti_park_cleanup_postponed_7FyMGft7IABwkMxaEW1sYP
http://nation.foxnews.com/wall-street-protests/2011/10/14/wall-st-protest-park-clean-postponed-agitators-celebrate

Hmm...and I still hear claims from some that a Tea Party participant once hurled insults...pretty tame by comparison...

Oh and one other thing....I recall the media downplaying the numbers at other rallies...even trying to deny the 800,000 that appeared on the Washington mall...
and yet we keep hearing about the huge crowds down on Wall Street...but have you ever heard anyone yet say how many there are??

Bet ya haven't -- they seem oddly to be shying away from that...but Reuters isn't afraid to tell the truth...

I have actually tried and tried to find someone in the media who actually gives a count or says how big the crowds are...

The complete lack of even an occasional estimate is pretty telling...
I admit the number of different cities involved is surprising but even then - some of the crowds in even BIG cities like Chicago were CLEARLY less than 1000 - one estimate saying 800!

BUT... here's a REUTERS article that states clearly that there are about 1000 protesters...IN NEW YORK at the biggest of the protests!!!
ONLY 1000!!!!

Remember when the Tea Party had crowds of 100,000+ and even 800,000 on the mall in DC the media downplayed that and said there were only 60,000

Here's the quote...
"Roughly 1,000 protesters were on hand early on Friday at the New York park"
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/14/us-usa-wallstreet-protests-idUSTRE79A41E20111014

BUT here's the quote from a smaller city like Carbondale, IL...
"College students around the country are showing
their support for the Occupy Wall Street movement;
that includes at Southern Illinois University.

Thursday afternoon's gathering in front of Morris
Library certainly didn't bring out the large crowds as
seen in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago; only a
dozen or so students took part. "
http://www.kfvs12.com/story/15690529/occupy-siu-draws-small-crowd-with-big-hopes

ARE YOU SERIOUS???? Only a dozen protesters and they have an entire FULL article about it???
Gimme a break -- when I go out with my entire family -- we constitute a crowd of nearly a dozen!!!.....and we don't get writeups in the paper!!!
I guess we should try throwing rocks and molotov cocktails....

Some BU notes from homecoming and some good reports on Sammy Maniscalco..

Bradley put on a really nice weekend with all the Alumni events...
I was able to get to the Meet Geno gathering Saturday afternoon - and there was a surprisingly small crowd.
He talked a little about himself, his background, and also a bit about the team.

One story Geno told I had not heard before (we heard the usuals about him outscoring Lebron in HS and how he's really closer to 5-6 than his advertised 5-8), and ...his first experience with Bradley and BU's fan following was in Hawaii about a decade ago...
while he was an assistant at Ohio in 2000-2001, and his team was in the Rainbow Classic.
He notes their first game was against Gonzaga and a total of only 50-100 people were in the stands since this was thousands of miles from either school.
Then their next game was vs. a TOP 25 team, Wake Forest...and again only 50-100 people in the stands.
Finally, they played Bradley, and he looked up and saw about 1500 people virtually all dressed in RED!
He knew then and has always known since that Bradley is a team with a truly GREAT and loyal fan base...and he plans to work hard to earn the respect of Bradley fans.

Then the "Tailgate" event was fun as well.......but Geno's only revealing 0D
Sammy also got a nice ESPN writeup!!
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/colleges/post/_/id/4184/illini-counting-on-maniscalcos-health

Evansville Preview

Just a few quick thoughts about Evansville...

The Aces are being picked to finish in the top 4 or 5 this year in the Valley - but I have to believe that trend is not based so much on the Aces' STRENGTH as it is on the perceived weakness of the other teams that get rated below Evansville.
A top half finish might be a bit optimistic.

Here's what Evansville has this year...

This is Marty Simmons' 5th year at Evansville and his overall record there is 51-72 and Marty has never finished about .500 in the Valley.
They are coming off a 14-15 year but as in most other years - when the chips were down - over the final six games, the Aces lost five of them -

Of course their best scorer Colt Ryan returns, but I have always said that Ryan gets his points at the cost of being a gunner and a bit of a ball hog and that hurts the team's play. They'd definitly be worse without him but I contend his numbers are deceptive.....Ryan plays a lot of minutes, takes a lot of shots, but helps the team very little in all the other ways...
He's not much of a passer or ballhandler, only 2 apg despite being among the Valley leaders in minutes played and probably leading the Valley in touches of the ball....
He also led the team in turnovers, and among the bigger guards in the league, he gets only 3 rpg....recall Andrew Warren hauled down almost 6 rpg.
Ryan's production fell off in league play and he didn't even finish among the top 15 in the MVC in 3-pt shooting pct.
He only averaged 1.7 3-pointers made per MVC game compared to 2.4 for Warren.

Last year nobody else on the team averaged over ~8 ppg...but their real weakness will be their frontcourt...
they do not have a single player over 6-6 who returns with any experience at all!
Juco transfer Kenneth Harris and guard-turned-forward Denver Holmes are really the only players even over 6-4 who return or has more than 8-9 minutes per game playing in the frontcourt...and neither is going to be able to defend the average post player on their schedule.
They list Harris as a guard but he'll have to log some minutes as a forward given that they don't have anyone else except a couple really inexperienced freshmen.

One new player is a kid I like, Jordan Nelson from Lincoln High School in Lincoln, IL. he's a good shooter and might get some playing time...but Evansville's deepest position is already shooting guard.

They're schedule has Indiana & North Carolina - so we'll see if they can beat those guys with guards!

Given the bottom 6-8 teams in the Valley this season all have weak spots, Evansville might surprise, but I'd pick them for bottom half -- and I think the Valley teams have seen enough tape now on Colt Ryan that his production will stall at about 14-15 ppg.

Some thoughts on Indiana State and more...

For starters - -
Look for some news on BU recruit Coty Clarke soon -- if he isn't coming to BU then we will soon begin hearing of other options...
Our staff is making a top flight push to land Coty Clarke -- if we don't hear anything soon, then I suspect our recruiting attention will turn elsewhere.
We need to fill that spot & that scholarship now or things get very busy in a couple weeks.

Thus far, this blog has had some preseason blurbs about all the non-conference opponents on Bradley's schedule....
http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2011/09/summary-of-non-conference-schedule-and.html

And also we've looked at..

SIU

Missouri State

Creighton

and ISU


Today's look is at Indiana State...
most preseason publications are picking Indiana State to be in the top 3 or 4 teams in the Valley but nobody's picking them to be ahead of either Wichita State or Creighton.

I think everything has to go right for Indiana State to finish that high, and in numerous years in the past....injuries and other player losses, from David Moss, to Tyson Schnitker, to Adam Arnold, to Marico Stinson, to Jake Kelley, to Dwayne Lathan have caused them to finish lower than expected.

First - I think the loss of Aaron Carter will be more significant than many think...this kid always pulled out a big game when the Sycamores needed it!

Second - leading returnee Dwayne Lathan has been so injury prone (ankle, hand, arm) that it is worrisome. In fact, there's talk he is still struggling from last year's arm injury. He was pronounced fully cleared and 100% OK to play in early August, then by the end of August some symptoms necessitated another arm XRay, which showed some troublesome findings that maybe the fracture was NOT fully healed.
http://twitter.com/#!/TribStarTodd/status/108643422570684416

There's been little further word - in fact the lack of anyone seeing Lathan scrimmaging or playing is noted but I would be careful of drawing any conclusions.
If Lathan was 100% and ready to go don't you think they'd be saying so even if for no other reason than to help season ticket sales??
BUT NOTHING official -- except one tiny comment on a tweet by a Terre Haute TV sports reporter that Lansing said Lathan would be ready to go.
Some of these mid-shaft arm fractures can be tricky as noted when it happened to Dodie Dunson -- he took a full year to fully recover, and even then his arm still nagged him.

But compare to how when Taylor Brown was cleared, there's been tons of talk of him playing and scrimmaging since then - yet there's not much more than a single word on Lathan!


The Indiana State schedule is a little weird -- pretty soft early on with EIU, Ball State, and ULM then the Old Spice Classic with a game vs. Texas Tech and a chance to catch either Minnesota or DePaul (both winnable) in the next round, with the final round possibilities to include Dayton, Wake Forest, and Arizona State (also all winnable, non-Top 25 teams).
Then an odd placement of a silly guarantee game at home in mid-December with someone called Maryville College (of Missouri) - what the hey??
Their real test will be the game at Vanderbilt.

Then, believe it or not - a 2nd game in the SAME SEASON against Louisiana-Monroe -- playing them twice in the same season when they're a crappy 325 RPI team that won only five games last year! Sycamore fans are gonna love that!!
This apparently came about because senior Dwayne Lathan wanted a game scheduled down close to his home in Louisiana - so Indiana State complied and set a game at Louisiana-Monroe.
But apparently the ULM people also held out for a return game in Terre Haute just to nab a little more cash - given their horribly weak 2010-2011 season and their really weak prowess in scheduling anywhere that would make them any money!

They have ex-Bradley recruit Justin Gant -- and since the Sycamores are a little thin in the front court, he may get a chance at some playing time.

The other things that stand out to me are these........

-for a school with a rich basketball tradition, Larry Bird, Final Four, etc...
and they're centered in the hottest hotbed of basketball interest - right in mid-American & Indiana -- they still rarely draw more than 5000 for a home game.
Some of their early season home games are in the 3000's and even their home game last year against Bradley drew only 4037 and I guarantee it wasn't even close to that as many seats were empty and a few hundred of those counted were BU fans wearing red!

-Greg Lansing's stock has risen with the Syc's nice run at the end of last season and their NCAA bid....one or two more good seasons and he'll be getting calls from elsewhere - and THIS is the season to get it done.
Why?? - well because this season they'll have the stars all aligned with four of their best players, and top scorers, all playing (Lathan, Printy, Walker, Richard) their senior seasons at the same time!

The next year afterwards, in 2012-2013, they'll need help. As it stands right now, they will have only one senior, who has totalled only a handful of points at the D-I level.
Manny Arop - a little used Gonzaga transfer won't be eligible until 2012.

So - it wouldn't be a stretch that if the Sycamores do well this year and exceed expectations - or win the Valley - Greg Lansing will get some pretty good offers and bolt - even though he will not have coached a single game where any key player was one that he recruited as head coach!

-Lastly Indiana State has been and continues to be both weak and small in the frontcourt. Their strong guard play will help them any time they play another mid-major - BUT -----------
As was seen last year against Purdue, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and even Wyoming....they will get hammered big time by teams with solid post players and strong frontcourt talent.

-InSU hired Marcus Belcher in the off-season as assistant after he was let go by SIU.
He was canned after an aggravated DUI where he crashed his car and walked home, leaving the scene of the accident...then he missed court dates and fine deadlines and had warrants sworn out for him.
He paid over $1600 in fines and just last month finally completed his sentence, paid all his fines, & completed the year of supervision.

BUT ---- His hiring DID pay off though - as he was close to Charleston, IL's TJ Bell who then verballed to Indiana State after they hired Belcher.