Recruiting Illinois????

[DannyCooksey]

So again, the only example comes down to Osiris Eldridge, and Bradley recruited him hard. He just chose to go to ISU for reasons I will not go into.

Why can't you go into the reasons? What are you suggesting? Curious.

[AZ BU Fan]

......should we start a separate "negative nellie" forum??

Would a forum where all anyone does is post:

how great BU is, how great BU recruits/recruiting is, how great BU players are, how great BU coaching is, how great BU's MVC record has been, how great BU's effort has been in MVC tournaments, how great CIT and CBI tourneys are in helping BU win 20 games but not winning championships, how great the past has been etc.

be as interesting?

Re BU Illinois recruiting, just win baby, everything else (including BU recruiting more top talent in Peoria/ILL) will take care of itself..

[SFP]

To argue that Illinois is the best place to recruit could be argued multiple ways. The DC-Balt. corridor is a hotbed of talent as well as the Texas ,NC and So.Cal., Indiana, and NY. Why limit your exposure to one area? No one else is! I know for a fact that the number of players that can play at BU is a lot less then ISU or SIU due to other factors then just talent. There are some programs that need to recruit student athaletes not just ball players.

[shaunguth]

Valid Point from Tornado on his last comment...


However, are we getting it done??

Success is measured by Wins and Post Season Play.

2005-06 22-11 .667 11- 7 .611 NCAA Tournament (2-1)

2006-07 22-13 .629 10- 8 .556 NIT (1-1)

2007-08 21-17 .553 9- 9 .500 CBI (4-2) Runner-Up
(Record without CBI ... 17-15)

2008-09 21-15 .583 10-8 .556 Collegeinsider.com(3-1) Runner-Up
(Record without Collegeinsider.com ... 18-14)

CBI and Collegeinsider.com Tounaments are an absolute JOKE of a tournament. Cool in the sense that at least its some type of post season play and we get to go to more home games. But what does it prove if you win it that you should of been the last team selected to the NIT???


LG281...

I agree that alot of schools across the country come in and take kids out of the state. I just have the feeling that we should and could do alot better. Just my opinoin

And what was SIU's record with the Illinois studs they had on their roster? What did Bradley do to them last season? For that matter, what was Drake's record last year? St. Louis?

I just don't get this "argument" at all!

[KillerB]

but haven't we learned anything from the facts of history...
BU likes to keep their name off the front pages...

ONLY the people on BradleyFans last year knew BU was still in the lead for Prosser & DSE...yet all the other sites said he wasn't considering BU at all...

so just because "the Braves are getting little to no mention"...doesn't mean the Braves aren't going to get anyone...
time will tell....wait and see...the sky is not falling yet...
four 20+ win seasons in a row, four consecutive post-season tourneys, record breaking attendance and funds, new campus facilities...
can't anyone find some good somewhere......should we start a separate "negative nellie" forum??

Come on Tornado.. Bradley had been mentioned with Prosser for more than a year.. and DSE for nearly as long not just on this site but others. I'm not saying those other sites gave BU a chance to land them.. but we were mentioned as recruiting them. My point is we are not being mentioned with hardly any of the big name recruits in IL right now. And if you read my entire message instead of taking a quote out of context you would see I said Les often flies under the radar. For a guy who likes to pound on the mainstream media for its faults.. you should be the last guy taking a quote out of contest.

[wily coyote]

I think BU has done a decent job recruiting in Central Illinois since Jim Les came on board. The rest of the state is questionable. But, in the grand scheme of things I don't really care where the kids come from as long as we win. I think most fans probably feel the same way.

BB, I feel the same way. I don't care where they come from as long as they are better then kids we may pass on from around here. I think the two local kids we got this year will pay huge dividends.
On a similar note, I'm hearing our staff is divided on the Limestone boy Stewart. Whats your thoughts on him. Can he play at BU? At one time he had an offer from the U of I. Pretty sure that offer is gone but he had one at one time. I'm pretty sure BU has not offered as yet, Are we missing the boat here or is Jim recruiting kids far better then him? Whats some of your thoughts on Stewart?

[MacabreMob]

......should we start a separate "negative nellie" forum??

Would a forum where all anyone does is post:

how great BU is, how great BU recruits/recruiting is, how great BU players are, how great BU coaching is, how great BU's MVC record has been, how great BU's effort has been in MVC tournaments, how great CIT and CBI tourneys are in helping BU win 20 games but not winning championships, how great the past has been etc.

be as interesting? ...

First of all, the PJStar board has/had plenty of Negative Nellies. There is/was also Valley Talk full of Negative Nellies (is it back online yet).

But so, yea... Is there a board where posts talk about "how great BU is, how great BU recruits/recruiting is, how great BU players are, how great BU coaching is, how great BU's MVC record has been, how great BU's effort has been in MVC tournaments, how great CIT and CBI tourneys are in helping BU win 20 games but not winning championships, how great the past has been etc."

Answer is, Yes there is. And YES, IMO - it IS more interesting to fans of BU.

[AZ BU Fan]

If it weren't for us "negative nellies", all the 'true fans' of BU in this forum would only be able to post rebuttals against ISU fans' posts

I'd like to think we provide a service to the other posters, more subject matter/posters for them to reply to/disagree with

Makes this Forum more interesting..

I also consider myself a fan of BU, since I am very interested in them and hope they have great success, but I don't drink kool aid and consider myself a realist when discussing the teams I follow.

[MacabreMob]

If it weren't for us "negative nellies", all the 'true fans' of BU in this forum would only be able to post rebuttals against ISU fans' posts

I'd like to think we provide a service to the other posters, more subject matter/posters for them to reply to/disagree with

Makes this Forum more interesting..

I also consider myself a fan of BU, since I am very interested in them and hope they have great success, but I don't drink kool aid and consider myself a realist when discussing the teams I follow.

And there we go... the same old "true fans" vs true fans and "real fans" vs real fans.

This little argument is an old tired one.

And I laugh how it keeps coming up.

[tornado]

Come on Tornado.. Bradley had been mentioned with Prosser for more than a year.. and DSE for nearly as long not just on this site but others. ....

you are way incorrect...

in fact, a more accurate statement would be that Bradley had NOT been mentioned in regards to Prosser in more than a year..
BU offered early, then nobody mentioned Bradley from late 2007 onward except for a few stories that reflected back to mention the prior offer....

Here are dozens of articles on Prosser...and this is just a sampling...
but find me one between 2007 and 2009 that says BU is one of his CURRENT considerations (at the time of the article)....
The only ones that even mention the name Bradley say this... "hearing from...Bradley".
http://search.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=4...22&sssiteid=-1

Here's a story from April 2008 and it lists FIVE different programs he's considering and planning visits to (IU, ND, Wisc., Xavier, Baylor)...but the word "Bradley" isn't in the article at all.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=2&c=744591

Other articles also add Illinois, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Iowa, SIU, Illinois State, Missouri, Oregon State, and Purdue...
those articles go on and on about his interest in all those bigger schools, but never is Bradley mentioned as more than just tagged onto the end of his list of schools he's heard from or got an offer from.

The kid was AT more than a dozen Bradley games...yet not one of the recruiting sites seems to have known this...nor do they mention it...
but when he was AT an Indiana game, there were 25 stories about it!!

Just a few weeks before Prosser chose BRADLEY, this Rivals story said...
"Prosser has top six...
My top six right now are Iowa, Indiana, Purdue, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Texas A&M."
BRADLEY IS NOT EVEN MENTIONED ANYWHERE IN THE ARTICLE!!

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=805323

Finally, in early August of 2008, when JP verballed to BU, the story just days earlier on the Iowa site suggested he was favoring Iowa..
it said this...
"Is Prosser Close to a Decision"
"I talked to Missouri and Oregon State today. I really don't think I am interested in Oregon State, but Missouri said they would be evaluating me in July."
" the 6-foot-7 forward from Eureka High School in Illinois who is ranked by Rivals.com as a three star prospect hasn't completely narrowed down the field quite yet.
"I am still waiting to hear from a some schools."

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=822975

Oh, and on Dyricus....here's a major Rivals article on Dyricus from last season.....

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=866155

It says he's considering Iowa, Illinois State, Wichita State, Kent State, as well as Missouri State, Kansas State and even Indiana...
but not even a hint that the kid has ever heard of Bradley!
Nope, I stand by my statement, that the educated folks on BradleyFans were among the VERY few who gave BU serious consideration with either DSE or JP....and someone on this board actually predicted BOTH of their committments several monoths before they happened...at the very time everyone else was saying JP to Iowa and DSE to ISU or K-State.

[Braves4Life]

the educated folks on BradleyFans were among the VERY few who gave BU serious consideration with either DSE or JP....and someone on this board actually predicted BOTH of their committments several monoths before they happened...at the very time everyone else was saying JP to Iowa and DSE to ISU or K-State.

Right on tornado! Didn't this board actually scoop all the news outlets on Eastman as well?

[tornado]

actually, a lot of the stuff on recruiting, who BU might be looking at, or who's visiting is kept quiet

[midstateknowitall]

The question I will bring up about Prosser and DSE is did we land them or did they fall to us. (Either way they are here.. I understand that)

It seems like both these guys had a ton of hype early in the process and both didn't have much hype at the end of the process. I think with DSE his injury really hurt his recruitment duing his Final Year on the AAU Circuit.

With Prosser I think he was big and had a lot of potential early in the recruiting process.. However never really got any taller and the big schools lost interest late. He definitely benefited from playing on just an absolutely loaded AAU Team.


I also feel that Bradley needs to make there recruitment more public. Not for the sake of us fans, but for the sake that it shows love to the recruits they are going after. Hey why does BU not have a Rivals or Scout site. Do interviews, articles, write ups ... on the current team, current players, and recruits we are going after. I think if we arent mentioned by recruits in articles and interviews ... I feel thats a problem. "OUT OF SITE, OUT OF MIND". type of thing. The more we can show about our program and players we are interested in ... the better chances we have on gettting and keeping players interested.

[dogsrus]

The question I will bring up about Prosser and DSE is did we land them or did they fall to us. (Either way they are here.. I understand that)

It seems like both these guys had a ton of hype early in the process and both didn't have much hype at the end of the process. I think with DSE his injury really hurt his recruitment duing his Final Year on the AAU Circuit.

With Prosser I think he was big and had a lot of potential early in the recruiting process.. However never really got any taller and the big schools lost interest late. He definitely benefited from playing on just an absolutely loaded AAU Team.


I also feel that Bradley needs to make there recruitment more public. Not for the sake of us fans, but for the sake that it shows love to the recruits they are going after. Hey why does BU have a Rivals or Scout site. Do interviews, articles, write ups ... on the current team, current players, and recruits we are going after. I think if we arent mentioned by recruits in articles and interviews ... I feel thats a problem. "OUT OF SITE, OUT OF MIND". type of thing. The more we can show about our program and players we are interested in ... the better chances we have on gettting and keeping players interested.

The only thing they (BU) can say is to acknowledege they are recruiting player A. IF they want to keep something under the radar I trust they have good reason. I'm sure the staff lets the player understand how badly they want them...i.e., showing them love.

[dogsrus]

Would a forum where all anyone does is post:

how great BU is, how great BU recruits/recruiting is, how great BU players are, how great BU coaching is, how great BU's MVC record has been, how great BU's effort has been in MVC tournaments, how great CIT and CBI tourneys are in helping BU win 20 games but not winning championships, how great the past has been etc.

be as interesting?

Re BU Illinois recruiting, just win baby, everything else (including BU recruiting more top talent in Peoria/ILL) will take care of itself..

Once again AZ...dead on. A board, IMO, needs diversity. I don't like labels but for arguments sake....kool aid drinkers....negative nellies.....realists.....debbie downers.....bring em all on.

I like hearing ALL sides then making up my OWN mind.