John Wilkins PJS Juco story....

[Big Mike]

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x1992969051/Bradley-recruit-passes-JC-eye-test

[thefish7]

The comments about his commitment to Bradley leave me pretty hopeful that he'll still want to come here when he's done with JUCO.

[Big Mike]

Sounds good that they will get him in the weight room and that they see him as a 4!

[BU30]

If he is cleared by the NCAA by the summer, can he enroll at BU, or does he now have to finish his JC degree?

[jeffsu]

I can see the silver lining here...

--He doesn't lose a year of eligibility this year. That's huge.
--He gets to get in basketball shape all semester.
--He gets one full year of playing on a talented JUCO.
--We get him for THREE YEARS!

Even if he had qualified now, after his 5 game suspension, we'd only have him for a few games this year. And then three more years. We still get three years with him, they're just delayed by a year. And he's had quite some time playing! That just means he'll be more developed and stronger! Basically, one semester (or less!) and having him NOW is what we're trading to give him a year and a half of getting prepped for the hilltop.

The NCAA may have done us a favor here (Okay, so maybe not... but the future with JW is going to be amazing. And yes, I wholeheartedly trust in JW and his family when they say he is still committed to us.)

[ser_solace]

Yeah, sounds like Wilkins is still enthusiastic about being with BU. Hope he still makes it here.

[Da Coach]

If he is cleared by the NCAA by the summer, can he enroll at BU, or does he now have to finish his JC degree?

If the NCAA clears him, then he becomes an official qualifier out of high school. In that case he does not need to stay at the junior college until he receives his degree, and can transfer to a 4-year school any time.
In that case he becomes like Lance Stemler. Lance was a qualifier out of Waterloo-Gibault HS, but went to juco because he didn't have a D1 offer he liked. After spending just a few months at Southwestern CC, and while redshirting his freshman year there, he committed to Bradley. He transferred after one year there, and had 4 years of eligibility after that.

[ph]

Sounds good that they will get him in the weight room and that they see him as a 4!

JW a 4 kills my dream of playing (3) 6'8"+ guys at the same time. (After hearing he played a 2 or 3) I guess better to set expectations now.

I guess we'll have a lot of guys fighting for few spots in a year or 2 (TB, MK, JW, SH, JP, WE, AT)

[ser_solace]

JW a 4 kills my dream of playing (3) 6'8"+ guys at the same time. (After hearing he played a 2 or 3) I guess better to set expectations now.

I guess we'll have a lot of guys fighting for few spots in a year or 2 (TB, MK, JW, SH, JP, WE, AT)

How this coach saw JW does not necessarily mean this is how Coach Les might see or use JW. Didn't most reports up until now say he could basically do anything, even limited PG duty?

Eventually, JW might make a play, and the coach will be like, "whoa, you can do THAT?!"

[lefty]

If the NCAA clears him, then he becomes an official qualifier out of high school. In that case he does not need to stay at the junior college until he receives his degree, and can transfer to a 4-year school any time.
In that case he becomes like Lance Stemler. Lance was a qualifier out of Waterloo-Gibault HS, but went to juco because he didn't have a D1 offer he liked. After spending just a few months at Southwestern CC, and while redshirting his freshman year there, he committed to Bradley. He transferred after one year there, and had 4 years of eligibility after that.

I thought Stemler went to juco after BU?

[Da Coach]

He did return to Southwest Illinois CC after 1 year at Bradley and became a juco All American, but he spent a year there redshirting after HS and before coming to Bradley.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&c=2&cid=260742&nid=1296817&fhn=1&pg=2

IL JC Redshirt Signs with Missouri Valley
by Chris Monter of CollegeBasketballNews.com, May 20, 2004 at 1:33am ET

Lance Stemler Profile

Lance Stemler, a 6-foot-7 forward from Southwestern Illinois (IL) CC signed a National Letter of Intent with Bradley. Stemler, a 2003 graduate of Gibault Catholic High School in Waterloo, will have four years of eligibility at BU after he redshirted last season after breaking his left (non-shooting) wrist during the preseason. He was eligible to transfer to Bradley because he was an academic qualifier out of high school.

"When we looked at our roster, the one thing I wanted to address was the ability to shoot the ball," Bradley head coach Jim Les told the Peoria Journal Star. "You never have enough shooters, and our shooting percentages last year weren't where I wanted them to be. Lance can play multiple positions (primarily small and power forward) and is just a knockdown shooter who is also a pretty good post-up player."

Stemler was the Belleville Area Player of the Year in 2003 and earned second-team Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Class A all-state honors and honorable mention all-state notice from the Associated Press following his senior season. During that 2002-03 campaign, Stemler led Gibault to a 25-3 record by averaging 23.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. He shot 57.2 percent overall the field, highlighted by a 63-for-111 (.568 ) effort from behind the 3-point line. Stemler attracted interest from Loyola, Georgia State and San Jose State.

[ph]

How this coach saw JW does not necessarily mean this is how Coach Les might see or use JW. Didn't most reports up until now say he could basically do anything, even limited PG duty?

Eventually, JW might make a play, and the coach will be like, "whoa, you can do THAT?!"

It may be possible that coach see's a 6-8 guy and thinks he must be a Center and is currently suprised to see JW can at least be a 4. (That would be a typical HS coaching mentality as most schools do not have many 6'5"+ guys in enrollment, but I would not think that mentality would still exist in any college)

but seems unlikely given the history of players in our system. We are more likely to emphasize speed and ball handeling at positions 1-4, so typically if there is a change in a player's "natural position" it will be a 1 in HS becomes a 2 at BU; or a 2 becomes a 3; or a 3 becomes a 4 in our system...

[PeoriaLou]

If the NCAA clears him, then he becomes an official qualifier out of high school. In that case he does not need to stay at the junior college until he receives his degree, and can transfer to a 4-year school any time.
In that case he becomes like Lance Stemler. Lance was a qualifier out of Waterloo-Gibault HS, but went to juco because he didn't have a D1 offer he liked. After spending just a few months at Southwestern CC, and while redshirting his freshman year there, he committed to Bradley. He transferred after one year there, and had 4 years of eligibility after that.

Now that would be something.... I'm sure BU is still pursuing a decision from the NCAA on this matter. Who knows, maybe we will see Wilkins at BU in the fall...

[jeffsu]

since Wilkins is now enrolled at juco, how come the article didn't interview Wilkins himself...or the head coach???
it only quotes a few comments from an assistant coach at SCC.


and can someone explain the headline to me and what it means...
"Bradley recruit passes JC eye test"

Didn't you hear the PJS had cuts? No no, not just people, but content!

[Bradleyguy10]

Maybe that particular team just happens to NEED a 4 player more than anyone else...so that's what he'll be used for. I'm going to assume that if JW gets here he'll be used as a 3 that can shoot and TB will probably be used as a 4. I still think that TB can shoot and it will eventually show. Maybe not this season but hopefully sometime in his career, but I think JW will be used both at the 3 and 4 spot, and if he can shoot really well even at the 2. Think of that mismatch.