John Shurna

[tornado]

Last night Northwestern's John Shurna had another tremendous game...going 10-11 from the floor - despite a horrible night at the FT line, going only 4-10!
Shurna had 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists..
He has only scored fewer than 20 points once this season (17 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff when he was rested the final 10 minutes)
he is hitting 64.3% of all his shots, including 64.5% on his 3-pt attempts (20-31)

So how did so many other schools miss on this guy??

He was rated only 1-2 Stars coming out of Glenbard West in Class of 2008...
Many of the major recruiting services never mentioned the guy's name until he verballed to Northwestern...and some didn't even have Shurna in the top 20 players in Illinois.
Here- he's ranked #24 in Illinois behind kids who never even made it to D-I basketball...(Chris Parrish, Supo Sanni, Byron Woods..)

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=27285&postcount=1

(Kenyon Smith was ranked #57!)

also -- one of our experts who always gets every other prediction right on......
...didn't have Shurna in his Top 20...and said he was maybe "Top 50"....I guess Shurna posted this one on his bulletin board!

Shurna is a bit overrated to me. I think he fit the Illinois Wolves system very well which helped him with the offer from Northwestern. He'll do solid in their system but will be an average player at their school. He's undersized for a 4-man but is skilled. I'd give him top 50....

Shurna verballed to Northwestern the exact same day as long time friend and AAU (Illinois Wolves) teammate Nic Fruendt also verballed to Northwestern...and Fruendt was ranked #8 in Illinois.
And his only other offers came from Army, Davidson, Loyola, and Washington State...meaning that current BU assistant Jim Platt knew what he was doing!!

BTW -- here's an old article about the Illinois Wolves from April of 2007, just before Shurna's senior season at Glenbard West...

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=664159

..and Shurna gets a fairly brief mention noting only that he's got interest but still no offers at that time

[Da Coach]

John Shurna is shooting 64.5% from three so far, and ranks 4th in the country. He is the only forward in the top 5.-

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/stats/leaders/NCAAB/TPPCT/regularseason

[PTownHawkeye]

Have you watched him play? Shurna is the most unassuming player I can remember. He doesn't move quickly, but makes great decisions and tends to be in the right place at the right time...all the time.

His shot, however, is one of the ugliest I have ever seen. He holds the ball about a foot in front of his forehead and "pushes" the ball forward with his shooting hand.

I just found this link from their game vs Creighton...his first shot is at the :30 mark...ugly, but it works!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UULmWB_m1mQ

[Da Coach]

I have watched him a lot, and I agree with you. He reminds me a little of Larry Bird in college (yes, I am old enough to remember seeing Bird in college ). Shurna seems like he has such tremendous court awareness, is a great passer, as well as being a great shooter.

[Beninator]

I have watched him a lot, and I agree with you. He reminds me a little of Larry Bird in college (yes, I am old enough to remember seeing Bird in college ). Shurna seems like he has such tremendous court awareness, is a great passer, as well as being a great shooter.

Just from the video, there should be no comparison of Shurma to Larry Bird
Bird was a much more polished player than Shurma ever will be
...and yes I saw Bird a couple of times when he played for Indiana State.

Shurma will not be able to get that shot off when he plays the big boys. SMH

[AZ BU Fan]

"So how did so many other schools miss on this guy??" - including BU????

Would have loved to see JS at BU...

Hopefully Coach Jim Platt can help BU find more guys like this from the greater Chicago area in the future!

[tornado]

Anyone see the Northwestern game last night on Big Ten Network??
Shurna is incredible -- and fun to watch.....

I know they played a slightly weaker opponent, but John Shurna literally is able to score at will...
he can hit out to 28-30 ft. and is shooting 65% from 3-pt on the year!
Then if you challenge him anywhere, he can dribble-drive and lose you on a screen and dunks to finish...
..but maybe his best skill is that if and when they can stop him, or catch him when he pulls up his dribble or double-teams him..
he can still hit the open man...getting more than 3 assists per game ..and he even has one of the best assist to turnover ratio in the Big Ten!!

Last night in Northwestern's 78-62 win (to go 7-0) Shurna had 28 pts, 4 rebs, 2 asst, 3 blk, 3 steals!

[Future Walk-On]

Illinois will shut him down...with Richardson and Cole and Richmond...

[PTownHawkeye]

Anyone see the Northwestern game last night on Big Ten Network??
Shurna is incredible -- and fun to watch.....

I know they played a slightly weaker opponent, but John Shurna literally is able to score at will...
he can hit out to 28-30 ft. and is shooting 65% from 3-pt on the year!
Then if you challenge him anywhere, he can dribble-drive and lose you on a screen and dunks to finish...
..but maybe his best skill is that if and when they can stop him, or catch him when he pulls up his dribble or double-teams him..
he can still hit the open man...getting more than 3 assists per game ..and he even has one of the best assist to turnover ratio in the Big Ten!!

The closest recent comparison I can think of is Gordon Hayward. Shurna isn't a smooth or big as Hayward, but is a more accurate shooter. They both are very smart players who make good decisions...guys you would definitely want on your team.

[RedSeaElite1]

Fruendt went to my high school and it was a joy watching him play. He really would take over games. I'm really surprised he hasnt done more at the college level. Though i've also heard he thought about transfering, but since he also is a really smart kid, he has decided his northwestern education will be worth more than a few more minutes on the floor.

[Da Coach]

John Shurna, the Big Ten leading scorer, left the game today with an injury. He sprained his left ankle as Northwestern beat Mt. St. Mary's 70-47.

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/12/nu-gets-final-tuneup-before-big-ten-opener.html

[tornado]

if there's a one-man-team anywhere in college basketball -- Northwestern may be close...check what happened after Shurna went down....Northwestern got out scored 23-13

I know they have Crawford and Thompson...but those are players Northwestern stole from other mid-majors...and I am not so sure they'd carry the load against anyone stronger than Mt. St. Mary's.

Note this game was a blowout from the start...
Northwestern scored the first 20 points, and also led 29-5...
Northwestern amassed a 39-16 first half lead...
and they were up by 33 points when Shurna went down....

Then from that point on Mt. St. Mary's played pretty well against Northwestern -- outscoring them 23-13...and not because the starters were all pulled
..Northwestern had starters Crawford, Marcotullio, & Thompson in the game all the way down to the 5-min mark

[tornado]

John Shurna, the Big Ten leading scorer, left the game today with an injury...

Chicago Tribune says John Shurna has not yet even been able to practice because of the ankle sprain..
but ESPN says he'll practice today...
He is uncertain for Friday's Big Ten opener at Purdue.

I will stick my neck out and say if he doesn't play they will lose at Purdue...
A 2nd starter, Jershon Cobb has also missed several game and has not practiced full speed since last week due to back injury.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/northwestern/ct-spt-1229-northwestern-basketball-s20101228,0,6177259.story

[tornado]

Shurna did play today -- (11pts, 4 reb) but did not look real mobile, and only attempted 8 shots -- one of which was really forced near the end..
Northwestern lost to Purdue 82-69, and things don't get too much easier as they get Michigan State on Monday then travel to Illinois Thursday.

Here's the question -- let's say they finish 9-9 in the Big Ten and 19-10 overall, and finish in -- say 6th-7th place in the league behind Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State, Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan...and maybe win a game in the Big Ten Tourney

how good do they have to be to get their first ever NCAA bid??

[tornado]

Northwestern now sits near last place in the Big Ten -- really tough break for John Shurna - who likely sees his chance of playing in the NCAA tournament evaporating...

Shurna did help his coach, however, cash in...on a contract extension..

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/news/story?id=6008510