Former Fordham guard Trey Blue transfers to ISU

[Da Coach]

Trey Blue, a 6'3" shooting guard, originally from South Holland, Illinois (Thornwood HS), and who left Fordham after his freshman season, is transferring to Illinois State. He will sit out a year, and have 3 years of eligibility left. I recall hearing that Bradley recruited Blue a little out of high school, but was never seriously interested and did not offer a scholarship.

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/tblue.html

ISU is out of scholarships. So apparently Blue will pay his own way for his first year, then receive a scholarship for his next 3 years.

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2009/05/07/usports/doc4a03ac38b0010802443595.txt

[tornado]

their roster will be Creaned over..

Blue is yet another 2-guard/wing player....and they will be stocked deep next year at that position.
But you sure can't argue that this is a pretty great deal for Trey Blue...he goes from playing in total obscurity, on a team that
won only THREE games last year, yet has now lost their best player and a few of their other top scorers.
Instead, he moves from a 320 RPI team to a team that'll be a player in the MVC....


ps-- one question....when BU played down at ISU, there was one additional kid on the bench and I learned he was another walk-on, a Peoria kid, possibly a Richwoods kid,
but I cannot recall his name. I do recall is was a kid we had seen playing at the RiverPlex the previous summer. Anyone with info, is he still at ISU?
Also...is Kenyon Smith coming back to ISU in 2010, and is Alex Coppejans going to walk on at ISU?

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12230

If they get all these guys, they might have to start up a JV team!!

[NSBF]

I guess you could look at it both ways. There are bound to be some chemistry or defection issues once everyone realizes they're not going to play 30-35 minutes a game.

But I guess it's a nice problem to have that kids are wanting and willing to walk-on and pay their own way at ISU. Sure makes recruiting a lot easier when you have your pick of the litter.

If they add Coppejans to the mix they'll be a lot of bodies, but might make any defections a bit easier to handle. The proverbial cream will eventually rise to the top.

[RedbirdFan21]

Just remember Trey will be walking on and paying his own way this upcoming
year, in which he will not be available as he has to sit out per NCAA transfer
rules... He will be on scholarship while playing the following year. But yes,
there are two ways to look at everything... I choose to see this as a great
job by Jank to get guys to come on and pay their own way for a year.

If the situation is anything like last year, Jank might already know there is a
50/50 chance that 1 or 2 current players or incoming freshman will not made
grades or qualify, and told both Lewis and Trey that they may be on
scholarship this coming year. It is safe to assume he knew there was as
50/50 chance that Kenyon Smith would not qualify, and probably told Kellen
Thornton there was a 50/50 chance he would not have to walk on... Only
time will tell I suppose...

[buballer82]

Tornado, the kid from Richwoods on the end of the bench was Matt Coates. He is still at ISU and is supposed to dress next season for the redbirds from what I've been told.

[RedbirdFan21]

Tornado, the kid from Richwoods on the end of the bench was Matt Coates. He is still at ISU and is supposed to dress next season for the redbirds from what I've been told.

Coates made the team during open tryouts that Jank and staff had last summer/fall. From what the paper had to say about the tryouts, it was more of a conditioning test to see which kids were able to cut it as a practice player.

[NSBF]

Coates made the team during open tryouts that Jank and staff had last summer/fall. From what the paper had to say about the tryouts, it was more of a conditioning test to see which kids were able to cut it as a practice player.

Someone with more knowledge on the subject may be able to tell me, but is there a limit to the number of kids you can suit up and dress to play in college basketball?

It seems like ISU is going to have about 15-16 players eligible this year counting all the walk-ons. Once again, if they can all play or make a contribution it would be a nice problem to have.

[Da Coach]

There is no limit on the number of team members that can dress or play. The NCAA only limits the number of scholarships.

Here is an NCAA D3 team that frequently plays as many as 20 kids per game--

http://wm.grinnell.edu/athletics/mbasketball/statistics/MBK0809/teamcume.htm

[tornado]

But I guess it's a nice problem to have that kids are wanting and willing to walk-on and pay their own way at ISU. ...

this is a nice luxury, but if they were really talented kids who you are going to expect some solid contributions from, then you'd have to ask why are they walking on? The other offers Blue got must have been less than impressive.
But if he gives ISU as much as Danny Adams gave BU as a walk on, then go for it...

Tornado, the kid from Richwoods on the end of the bench was Matt Coates. He is still at ISU and is supposed to dress next season for the redbirds from what I've been told.

yup, that's the name...so between Coates, Thornton, Mishler, Blue....a lot of walk ons, and didn't ISU barely miss out on Reggie Hamilton, too, as a walk on...
he was Trey Blue's high school teammate and instead chose to walk on at Oakland.

lastly...this is (unfortunately for schools like BU) one "advantage that a state school gets..
no way a kid can transfer to BU and pay his own way like they do at ISU, as the tuition is subsidized and kept lower by taxpayers, and likely the kid can find other sources of tuition aid.

[NSBF]

this is a nice luxury, but if they were really talented kids who you are going to expect some solid contributions from, then you'd have to ask why are they walking on? The other offers Blue got must have been less than impressive.
But if he gives ISU as much as Danny Adams gave BU as a walk on, then go for it...

The one kid Lewis seems to be talented, but his overriding decision was made on playing with his former teammate and coach. Not too bad when you can get a guy to walk-on vs. a scholarship from SIU.

If they make a contribution, you basically get a free-trail offer from these kids. They're auditioning for a scholarship. If they stink, you tell them the whole "scholarships are for one year" deal and if they don't like it they move on.

The risk/reward factor seems to be in Illinois State's favor IMHO.

[RedbirdFan21]

this is a nice luxury, but if they were really talented kids who you are going to expect some solid contributions from, then you'd have to ask why are they walking on? The other offers Blue got must have been less than impressive.
But if he gives ISU as much as Danny Adams gave BU as a walk on, then go for it...




yup, that's the name...so between Coates, Thornton, Mishler, Blue....a lot of walk ons, and didn't ISU barely miss out on Reggie Hamilton, too, as a walk on...
he was Trey Blue's high school teammate and instead chose to walk on at Oakland.

lastly...this is (unfortunately for schools like BU) one "advantage that a state school gets..
no way a kid can transfer to BU and pay his own way like they do at ISU, as the tuition is subsidized and kept lower by taxpayers, and likely the kid can find other sources of tuition aid.

No disagreements here... except...Thornton was on scholarship last year and will be his remainder of the time at ISU... he came in as a walk-on for one year but was given a scholarship when Kenyon Smith did not qualify.

[RedbirdFan21]

Someone with more knowledge on the subject may be able to tell me, but is there a limit to the number of kids you can suit up and dress to play in college basketball?

It seems like ISU is going to have about 15-16 players eligible this year counting all the walk-ons. Once again, if they can all play or make a contribution it would be a nice problem to have.

Based on last year, Coates dressing is not guaranteed. It was in the pantagraph that he was going to practice with the team and dress for home games last year. But he didn't dress for any home games (at least that I know of) last year. He was on the bench in a warmup suit with Bobby Hill and Mishler.

[shaunguth]

Someone with more knowledge on the subject may be able to tell me, but is there a limit to the number of kids you can suit up and dress to play in college basketball?

It seems like ISU is going to have about 15-16 players eligible this year counting all the walk-ons. Once again, if they can all play or make a contribution it would be a nice problem to have.

That wouldn't be much different than Bradley.

[tornado]

No disagreements here... except...Thornton was on scholarship last year and will be his remainder of the time at ISU... he came in as a walk-on for one year but was given a scholarship when Kenyon Smith did not qualify.

can you give a link to verification that he'll be on scholarship? I don't doubt at all, just want to see where it's already been decided.
There was at one time a suggestion he'd be ask to stay as non-scholarship


now--- let me try to get this all straight, here are all the players who will be NEW on the bench next year, or who will (or might) be new in uniform...

Bobby Hill, Blake Mishler, Matt Coates, Trey Blue, Terry Johnson, Zeke Upshaw,
Justin Clark, Jon Ekey, Jackie Carmichael, Austin Hill, Tony Lewis, Alex Coppejans.

whoa.......twelve new guys...........they're gonna have to wear name badges for the first few months!!

[RedbirdFan21]

can you give a link to verification that he'll be on scholarship? I don't doubt at all, just want to see where it's already been decided.
There was at one time a suggestion he'd be ask to stay as non-scholarship

umm... no I guess it is just assumed.

I am pretty sure there was a story in the Panty that said he wsa getting Kenyon Smith's scholarship when it became available.

13 scholarships (randomly ordered)
1. Osiris
2. Phillips
3. Rubin
4. A. Hill
5. Johnson
6. Clark
7. Ekey
8. Upshaw
9. Robinson
10. B. Hill
11. Odiakosa
12. Carmichael
13. Thornton

It is already "public" the Mishler, Shipley, Lewis, and Blue are walking on this year.