John Wilkins PJS Juco story....

[Majik45]

I really think JW will be a 4 in Bradley's current system, as Les likes to use a more mobile athletic guy at the 4 currently which is why Wilson has been playing the 4 position both years here at Bradley instead of the 3.

[ph]

I really think JW will be a 4 in Bradley's current system, as Les likes to use a more mobile athletic guy at the 4 currently which is why Wilson has been playing the 4 position both years here at Bradley instead of the 3.

In every other game this season (except UNI) TW has been too valuable to not play, but TW is really only effective as a 4 in this system (TW does not seem to have the ball handling and 3 point shooting needed from the 3 in this system) I think TB would play more as a 4 if TW were not so usually effective.

Which brings up the "concern" TB seems to be a darn good 4 of the future, and a known good D1 quantity (I cannot project any non D1 player overtaking TB). To a fan like me, I loose some enthuiasm about getting so many more, bigger guys in the future if we are only going to play a max of 2 at any time. It appears that TB and WE will be the standards of the 4 and 5 starting positions next year.

We also only have 1 more year of DD and CR at the 3 I would like the option of JW being groomed as that 3 replacement. If that "grooming" is toughening up JW as a 4 in Juco, while not loosing any of his quicks and ball handeling, then so be it.

I realize I'm only a fan, and nothing I say will make any difference to the coaches.

[lefty]

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.

thanks DC

[mrcoachdude]

TB should be the 3 next year and if JW clears NCAA and he can bypass the JC route he should be the 4....but they could switch...they both have the ability to play either.....



what am I doing this for we are only halfway thru this season..........

[Bradleyguy10]

All I care about is the following:

When JW comes...if we still have TB, WE, AT, JP, MK, and (depending on when JW comes) SH...there NEEDS to be some sort of combination where 3 of those guys are out there the MAJORITY (>50%) of the time. Who knows who else we'll have by then also.

We FINALLY are getting the size and athleticism. If we let that go to waste...it is most definitely on the coach and is a travesty to Bradley basketball.

[BUBrave28]

Personally, I just love to see the versatility we're going to have and it comes with some size. It seems like most of the guys can play multiple positions. It let's us play the match ups better on a game by game basis. Also, I think it will make us difficult to prepare for because teams will have to guess how we're going to set up and won't have a true tendency to look back at. I really think that in our system only the 1 and 5 are usually set positions and 2-4 could be interchangable (the 4 isn't now but I think that's only because of Theron). Maybe the biggest difference is that in the future players won't be forced into positions that aren't their natural bests. Next year we could have Egolf, Milos, Roberts, Warren, and Dodie on the floor one minute and Edge, Sam, Darian, Brown, and Prosser the next. We can go big or small on people and still have talent on the floor to win. Throw in JW who, if pressed, could probably play anything from a 1 to a 5 with his combo of size and ability. The future looks good. Very interested to see what we do with our remaining scholarships...Would Jim Les be able to answer whether he's holding a scholarship for JW for 2009-2010? If not, don't we have 2 to give?

[braveatheart]

All I care about is the following:

When JW comes...if we still have TB, WE, AT, JP, MK, and (depending on when JW comes) SH...there NEEDS to be some sort of combination where 3 of those guys are out there the MAJORITY (>50%) of the time. Who knows who else we'll have by then also.

Right, if JW comes after next year, we will have 7 or our 13 scholarships going to bigs. You would think that 1/2 the minutes or more will go to the bigs. That mean AW will have to log alot of minutes at the shooting gaurd position. Of course DD and CR will be gone but how good will we be when our bigs force AW to get his minutes from the 2 position and not the 3.
EM at point and SM picking up minutes at 1 and 2 behind EM and AW.
Throw in DN and we have one more scholarship that needs to go to a gaurd. A DD clone would be perfect. Someone who can play the 1,2 or even 3 position.
It's along way off so we cant get too excited. Lets just win Saturday.

[lefty]

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"

Reynolds explains on the other board......it was strictly a time issue and he wanted to get something out right away and a phone interview with Jon G. was all for now.He hopes to do more in depth article in the near future...