Drake gets verbal from Springfield point guard

[Da Coach]

Drake got a verbal commitment from Springfield Lanphier point guard Karl Madison,

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

Karl Madison is a 2-star point guard on Scout. He is a zero-star recruit on Rivals.-

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=3226330

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Karl-Madison-97858

Scout lists him at 6-foot, but Rivals and nearly everyone else lists him at 5'10". He averaged 21 ppg as a junior, and is Springfield Lanphier's first Division I player since Richard McBride played at the University of Illinois. He chose Drake over interest from Northern Iowa, Nevada, Missouri State, and SIU-Edwardsville.

Bradley followed Madison but never offered him a scholarship.

[Nacho]

Karl is a good player who should do very well our a 4 (or 5) year career in the MVC with Drake...

[DUBulldog]

I don't know much about him yet, but he is ranked the #11 player in the state by Chicagohoops, and #9 by the Sun-Times, who calls him a "Daniel Gibson-like point guard".

[Da Coach]

Here is a YouTube video of Karl Madison- He is the left-handed guard and is #1 in the white uniform for Lanphier HS. It looks like he plays both guard positions.-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C2C7_nBn4M

Also- an article from the Springfield Journal-Register-

http://www.sj-r.com/sports/x1750354933/Lanphiers-Madison-commits-to-Drake

Madison's high school coach Chuck Shanklin said this-
“I understand Coach Phelps is changing Drake’s offense to an open court situation,” Shanklin said. “I think he’ll be getting into the paint and kicking it out or finishing.

"I think Karl will be similar at Drake as to here at Lanphier. His freshman and sophomore years he’ll take his lumps, but by his junior and senior years he’ll be all-conference. Drake and the Missouri Valley are a good fit for Karl.”



Wow- that might be putting too much pressure on the kid, and may cause him to fail!

[DannyCooksey]

Here is a YouTube video of Karl Madison- He is the left-handed guard and is #1 in the white uniform for Lanphier HS. It looks like he plays both guard positions.-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C2C7_nBn4M

Also- an article from the Springfield Journal-Register-

http://www.sj-r.com/sports/x1750354933/Lanphiers-Madison-commits-to-Drake

Madison's high school coach Chuck Shanklin said this-
???I understand Coach Phelps is changing Drake??™s offense to an open court situation,??? Shanklin said. ???I think he??™ll be getting into the paint and kicking it out or finishing.

"I think Karl will be similar at Drake as to here at Lanphier. His freshman and sophomore years he??™ll take his lumps, but by his junior and senior years he??™ll be all-conference. Drake and the Missouri Valley are a good fit for Karl.???



Wow- that might be putting too much pressure on the kid, and may cause him to fail!

I have a migraine today so I may be a bit sluggish so forgive me for asking this but.......are you suggesting this kid might fail at the collegiate level simply because of his HS coach's opinion on his potential???

[jeffsu]

...or simply that people on message boards complain when fans get excited about a player and tell everyone else that there is "too much pressure being put on" that player, and that he is "sure to fail" now.

There was a smidge of sarcasm in DC's statement

[Da Coach]

It is an inside joke here, thus the reason for the smiley face.

For many years, some koolaid drinkers here and on other boards have been accused by some posters of hyping recruits too much, putting too much pressure on them with high expectations, and causing them to fall short of expectations.

Of course, this is ridiculous, and so when I see it done like I noted with Karl Madison's coach's lofty expectations for Karl, I sometimes have to bring it up with a smiley face.

[scout4126]

Karl's a very tough kid. He hosted offers from Northern Iowa, Nevada, Northwestern, SIU-Edwardsville, and Missouri State and was also closely followed by Harvard, Vanderbilt, and UCLA (who actually visited him at Lanphier after the 2008-09). He played with the St. Louis Eagles. Good athlete, tough defender, about 5'10" or 5'11". He's a solid shooter and has very good quickness. He'll likely redshirt at Drake or receive limited minutes in his first season. Great kid with a 4.0 GPA.

[DUBulldog]

Drake received another commitment today, Jeremy Jeffers 6-5 guard from Wilson, NC. Picked Drake over offers from Auburn, South Carolina, VCU Harvard, Bucknell, and many more. He is graded as an '88' by ESPN.com. Very good start on the recruiting class for Coach Phelps, with 2 scholarships left.

[Da Coach]

Here is more on Jeremy Jeffers, a 6'5" forward from Wilson, NC.-

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=4009595

http://rivals.yahoo.com/auburn/basketball/recruiting/player-Jeremy-Jeffers-99540

[DUBulldog]

Rayvonte Rice from Champaign Centennial has also commited to Drake. Big week for Drake.

http://drake.scout.com/a.z?s=458&p=8&c=1&nid=3714642

[Da Coach]

Rayvonte Rice from Champaign Centennial has also commited to Drake. Big week for Drake.
http://drake.scout.com/a.z?s=458&p=8&c=1&nid=3714642

Bradley was also recruiting Rayvonte Rice at one point. He is a fine player and helped lead Champaign Centennial to the Class 3A state championship in Peoria last March. I have seen a lot of him, and he needs to work on his jump shot a little, as he scored the great majority of his baskets on inside moves and putbacks. The other thing that caused some recruiters to back off is that he may be a little under 6'3", and plays more of a forward position in high school. His position in college will be an off-guard, but he will need to adjust a bit. -
article from last month mentioning Bradley-

http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/2009/08/where_do_the_uncommitted_stand.html

http://blogs.suntimes.com/hoopsreport/2009/09/drake_keeps_it_rolling_nabs_ri.html

[tornado]

Rayvonte Rice from Champaign Centennial has also commited to Drake. Big week for Drake.

http://drake.scout.com/a.z?s=458&p=8&c=1&nid=3714642

Rayvonte Rice had some recruiting interest from Bradley before taking the Drake offer.....

this weekend at the U. of I Shootout, Rice had an eye-popping performance...
almost everyone in attendance said he was the most impressive player...or at least the 2nd best behind Meyers Leonard.

He led his Champaign Centennial squad to a 71-54 throttling of Jereme Richmond's Waukegan.
Rice had 32 points but filled the stat sheet everywhere else, too.
If he holds to his Drake committment, he is a steal...but watch out, Illinois might find a way to free up a scholarship and pull a Marcus Arnold or Justin Dentmon...