Indiana State gets verbal commitments from 2 Illinois players

[Da Coach]

Twin brothers Logan and Lucas Eitel, from Marshall, Illinois (just 15 miles west of Terre Haute), have verbally committed to play for the Sycamores next year as walkons. They are both seniors at Marshall High School (class 2A), and are both 6'4", 180 pounds. Lucas Eitel averages 17.3 ppg and Logan Eitel averages 15.1 ppg for their undefeated team.

http://www.tribstar.com/highschoolsports/local_story_002202737.html

[mrcoachdude]

Marshall has agreat team...one of the top in the State....

[tornado]

Marshall HS is a Class 2A school.
they were 25-3 last year but didn't even get out of their own Regional.
(losing their first game to Effingham St. Anthony)
They play in the "Little Illini" Conference with the following teams:
Albion (Edwards County)
Bridgeport (Red Hill)
Casey (C.-Westfield)
Flora
Hutsonville
Lawrenceville
Marshall
Oblong
Palestine
Toledo (Cumberland)

They are in the Effingham Regional this year, Robinson Sectional and generally anyone other than Teutopolis never gets out of there....but maybe this year...

It will be interesting to see how much a couple of 6-4/180 lb, walk ons help Indiana State.

The Eitels had interest (but not reportedly offers) from "Eastern Illinois, Southern Indiana, the University of Indianapolis, McKendree, in addition to junior colleges Vincennes, Olney Central and Lincoln Land."

other area players --Rockville’s R.J. Mahurin and Terre Haute South’s Jake Odum are also set to head to Indiana State next season.
Looks like InSU head coach McKenna really has the recruiting hotbeds of southwestern Indiana and southeastern Illinois locked up.

[brocks]

Is it just me or is recruiting in the Valley looking really unimpressive lately? Outside BU, I haven't heard of any commits for the next couple years who add much. SIU seems especially down in recruiting.

[vbird]

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=11&cfg=bb&yr=2009&pid=-1&sspid=-1&iRatingValue=-1&iGetJUCOFlag=-1&iCommitFlag=-1&iGroupbyPosition=0&toinid=515&iInterestLevelId=-1&iOffer=-1&iRecruitVisitFlag=-1&OrderbyColumn=RatingValue

For ISU's recruits, Scout has Ekey and Clark as 3 stars, Johnson as a 2 star, and doesn't have Upshaw listed.

[amckillip]

everyone is different in regards to grading recruits...but here's what Rivals thinks...

BU has a 3-Star (Prosser) and a 2-Star (Knezevic)

That's funny, because at one time Prosser was a four star and highly touted player and as it became clear he was going to commit to BU it seemed as if people weren't as high on him... hmmmm... What could that be about?

I think recruiting for the Valley is pretty solid still. SIU, IMO has had some pretty good recruits with Fay, Booker, Hare, etc. they may be down for a year or so, but I think the pieces are in place to attract recruits if CLo can right the ship.

Also don't forget about CU, I haven't followed them incredibly closely, but Altman always has a roster full of talent. Next year it looks like he's got a 2 star, and 3 star so far (same as BU), and he'll get the most out of 'em.

Then there's InSU... Anyone who was been to a game there knows it can't be easy to recruit to. The women's program there is as popular if not moreso. The Hulman Center is at best 1/3 full for conference games and the student section doesn't even compare to BU's (and I don't think ours is any where near it should be) while the school has twice as many undergraduates... McKenna seems to be well liked by those in town and might be able to get the ball rolling, but he's fighting a uphill battle there.

[LoneStar_Brave]

They play in the "Little Illini" Conference with the following teams:
Albion (Edwards County)
Bridgeport (Red Hill)
Casey (C.-Westfield)
Flora
Hutsonville
Lawrenceville
Marshall
Oblong
Palestine
Toledo (Cumberland)

Wow. Never thought I'd see my hometown on this message board !!!! GO FLORA!!!!! (Used to have a good b-ball program there, a few D-1 players in the 80's).
A former assistant coach to Molinari at NIU and BU is now the head coach of the Flora HS program.

[LoneStar_Brave]

I'll have to double check. I would be embarrassed if I were wrong since his brother married my sister.

EDIT:
Leib was a player at NIU from 88-90, coach in 90-91
Molinari was the head coach from 89-91

I believe Leib was one of Mo's assistants in the 91-92 season at BU, then he went to Henry and then to Flora. I talked to Phil's brother just now and he confirmed this (although with not 100% confidence)

[Da Coach]

I recall Phil Leib as one of Molinari's assistants. You are right, he was at Bradley for one season in 1991-1992, Mo's first year, along with Rob Judson, Ritchie McKay, and Pat Donahue. Leib had worked under Mo at Northern Illinois, as did Judson and Donahue. In 1992, the NCAA changed the rules regarding how many assistant coaches each team can have, so at the end of that year, Leib was the odd man out. He then got the head coaching job at Henry High School in 1992, and last I heard, he was coaching at Flora High School, where he graduated from.
Phil was a player for Molinari at NIU from 1988-1999, and before that, he played 2 seasons at Olney Community College.

I remember Phil well- great guy, and his wife was beautiful!

[runninfiend]

I know, but this has been discussed a ton....

If the kids are 3-4 star recruits, they come in expecting to play instantly like the ones who whine about playing time and leave at SIU and Creighton.
I think it's just as well that we get the underappreciated talent like Prosser, Egolf, McCain, etc....

just for the record, prosser wasn't underappreciated. he had at least sniffs from bigtime D1 programs. Duke and Arizona just to name two. He's a big get for BU.

[leebiddlecome]

McKenna has obviously made Illinois a priority for the Sycs--and good for him. He got Carl Richard away from the Illinois mid-majors and that looks like a good get.

I like Carl Richard's game.

[leebiddlecome]

Im guessing McKenna had "heard" of Carl Richard since he was an assistant at Creighton.

I would call NIU, EIU, UIC and Loyola instate mid-majors but what do I know.

Is Richard perfect? Of course not. He has flaws in his game. But I like him. He's an athletic 6-4 guy who can play the wing position. He's a good rebounder and good defender.

Guys like him have good careers in the MVC.

[leebiddlecome]

I like him too...and I thought he'd be more of a factor this year...but he wasn't despite getting a lot of playing time.
I think he'll be a David Moss-type player for them by the time he's gone

Agreed. He looked kinda lost at times but you saw his potential. He took a lot of bad shots too--typical of a young guy. Maybe that will get corrected.

I like seeing good talent in the MVC. It makes the league better and the games better to watch. I just hope BU's talent is a little better than the rest

[Big Mike]

Indiana St grants release a player.....

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x110654216/Indiana-State-backup-guard-leaves-team

[Da Coach]

I was just about to post this. Here is another report from the Terre Haute paper-

http://www.tribstar.com/local_interest/local_story_076233038.html

These reports suggest it was Tyler Cutter's choice to leave and transfer elsewhere. But there has been talk for quite a while that Indiana State coach Kevin McKenna wanted to recruit more athletes, and that some of the current players may not be returning. So I suspect, as is the case many times when a kid transfers, that he might have been encouraged to do so. Cutter was a McKenna recruit. He commtted to Indiana State in August, 2007, and McKenna was hired as head coach in the spring of 2007.