Honoring seniors on Senior Night

[tornado]

Our senior night isn't until Saturday...
but tonight and tomorrow several fine Valley seniors will play their final home games in the Missouri Valley...

Here's to those seniors and I wish them well in the future...several are kids that Bradley pursued and some hail from Central Illinois......

Tuesday night games:
ISU -
Blake Mishler (233 career points at ETSU & ISU -- good luck Blake -- my own kids enjoyed playing against Blake many, many times from 5th grade thru HS)
Matt Coates (Peorian who was a walk-on and very little used - has never scored a single career point)
Austin Hill (good player -- not utilized well by Jank despite almost 500 career points - 46% career shooter - pretty good for a guard)
Tony Lewis (apparently in Jank's doghouse despite being one of their best players and best rebounder - getting less PT this year than last - 399 career points)
Alex Rubin (a loyal 4-year guy -- was once designated their PG of the future but never got to play PG much -- 316 career points)

UNI -
Kwadzo Ahelegbe (1264 career points but a tough kid who was far more valuable to the team than just his scoring)
Lucas O'Rear (Two sport college player despite UNI no longer having a baseball program. 529 career points in basketball -- but Lucas is eligible to transfer immediately to somewhere else and play a year of baseball under scholarship or may go pro)
Kerwin Dunham (only 440 career points, but a loyal 5-year guy who was never much more than a 6th man)

Wednesday night games:
SIU -
Carlton Fay (one of my all time favorite guys -- would have loved to have had him at BU..1143 career points. There's one part of Carlton's legacy at SIU that I am sure he won't want to remember...that in his stay over four years, SIU lost 64 games (and will lose at least ONE more) so that NO PLAYER in SIU's Division I history has played in more SIU losses ever!).....
Justin Bocot (Justin's a senior and may be back next year as he could have a year of eligibility, but he's been in Lowery's doghouse and hasn't done much this year - Justin would have been much better going to some school in, say, the Southern Conference or Summit where there's a less disciplined offense and he could have showcased his abilities. He might yet do that for his senior season if he's not back at SIU - 576 career points)
Jack Crowder (juco kid who was recruited as a fill-in and never got much chance to play -- his 40% 3-pt shooting this season shows he could have been a good player in the right system -- 207 career points)
John Freeman (likewise was recruited pretty much only as a back-up and never played much - 265 career points)
Nate Mitchell (even good Valley fans wouldn't be able to pick Nate out of a lineup...he barely played...and his stats kinda show why...
Despite appearing in 21 games this season he hasn't hit a shot yet, has zero points on the season and only 14 career points)

Drake -
Ryan Wedel (transfer from Ark. State, 1470 career pts overall, 663 with Drake)

Wichita State -
Gabe Blair (2-year redshirt player - 372 career pts)
JT Durley (5th year senior, 1229 career pts)
Aaron Ellis (Ellis would have been a good big man at a smaller school but has had to share PT with Durley & Stutz, 432 career pts)
Graham Hatch (4-year kid who is older because of a 2-year mission, played very little his first year or two - career 36% on 3-pointers but 39% this year, and 626 career points)
Derek Brown (little used walk on 16 career pts)

[LittleBrave]

Our senior night isn't until Saturday...
but tonight and tomorrow several fine Valley seniors will play their final home games in the Missouri Valley...

I think the two Valley teams affected most due to seniors saying good-bye next season are Wichita St. & Missouri St.
No senior season has compared to A-Dubb's.

I see the impact seniors next season to be only a handful - Lathan, Maniscalco, Young, Murry, Weems. (maybe Seck for SIU)
Anyone else?

[dogsrus]

Oh..those Seniors.

I thought this was going to be some tribute to the BU home crowd.

[amckillip]

I think the two Valley teams affected most due to seniors saying good-bye next season are Wichita St. & Missouri St.
No senior season has compared to A-Dubb's.

I see the impact seniors next season to be only a handful - Lathan, Maniscalco, Young, Murry, Weems. (maybe Seck for SIU)
Anyone else?

Taylor Brown?

[Da Coach]

Egolf?

[tornado]

TB has the potential to be POY in the Valley

[amckillip]

Egolf?

I would argue, as a senior, he would likely only be the 5th best player on his team, and may not even be there. Hard to argue he'd an 'impact senior' IMO...

[tornado]

Here's to the rest of the Valey seniors........

Bradley-
Andrew Warren - 5th year senior -- battled bacjk from very troublesome fractures in hands and feet, and will end his career at around 1600 career points, 10-11th in career scoring at BU and one of the top two in all time BU history in Career Free Throw Accuracy.
Dodie Dunson - one of everyone's faviorite Braves -- career marred with injury but he always plays hard.

Missouri State-
Nafis Ricks - 2-year juco player, 8 ppg career avg
Adam Leonard - transfer from EKU, takes most of his shots from the arc...career 37% 3pt shooter, should end his career with around 1500 career points, 716 of which were at MSU
Jermaine Mallett - 2-year juco player, 11 ppg average with MSU
Will Creekmore - transfer from Boston U. Funny how so few MSU players were there all four years, but Creekmore is yet another of Barry Hinson's leftovers that Cuonzo Martin is benefitting from. Having his best year with 11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg.

Creighton-
Kenny Lawson, Jr. - was on par for 1500 career points and was preseason Valley POY, but did not fit as well for McDermott and is having the worst year since he was a freshman... is only averaging 8.9 ppg this year and will end his career at around 1200 career points.
Kaleb Korver - the last of the MVC Korver brothers...not a big scorer..369 career points and 3.1 ppg career average.
Wayne Runnels - part of Dana's weird recruiting class from a couple years ago that had jucos and kids who have since bolted (Andrew Bock) -- only a 3.6 ppg career scorer.
Darryl Ashford - another of Dana's juco kids - 395 career D-I points
Casey Harriman - a great shooter in high school never developed in college. 336 career points.

Indiana State-
Isiah Martin - has played in 108 games but never much playing time...only 435 career points.
Aaron Carter - seemed to always shoot well against BU -- 829 career points, 87% FT shooting this year.
Jake Kelly - after two great years at Iowa - he was never quite the same after transfer to Indiana State, but dealt with injuries.883 career points, only 25.6% 3pt shooting this year compared to 43.5% when he was at Iowa.

Evansville-
Kavon Lacey - decent pg, not a big scorer...516 career points
Clint Hopf - mainly used as a sub, 466 career points, ends his career with a 50% 3-pt shooting pct, as he was 1-2 when he was a freshman.
Pieter VanTongeren - 5th year senior -- I always thought they failed to utilize this guy's size -- 6-11...
He has a career 55.4% FG% and 65% this year -- so why not play the guy more and give him a few more touches and shots? 584 career points.

[wily coyote]

T thanks for posting this subject. Found it very interesting. It also pointed out to me the Valley doesn't lose much in the way of production. I felt the Valley was down compared to what its been the last couple of years. With most teams returning their more productive players we should be a more competitive conference next season. At least I hope so .

[srw]

Here's to the rest of the Valey seniors........

Bradley-
Andrew Warren - 5th year senior -- battled bacjk from very troublesome fractures in hands and feet, and will end his career at around 1600 career points, 10-11th in career scoring at BU and one of the top two in all time BU history in Career Free Throw Accuracy.
Dodie Dunson - one of everyone's faviorite Braves -- career marred with injury but he always plays hard.
.

Kudos to both guys...

Dodie is my sons favorite player, and andrew has had a fantastic senior season, and gotten rid of all the things that I felt made him overrated prior to this season.

AW really should be POY but thats not how the award works.

[LittleBrave]

Egolf?

I hope you're joking DC!

[LittleBrave]

TB has the potential to be POY in the Valley

But TB will be a junior, right?
And how do we know he'll be cleared to play? I thought the chances of him returning were about the same as the chances of him not being able to play.

[dogsrus]

We ALL hate losing but this season will do more to make AW and DD stronger in the years to come then going undefeated and winning the MVC.

Congrats to both....two GREAT Braves.

[shaunguth]

But TB will be a junior, right?
And how do we know he'll be cleared to play? I thought the chances of him returning were about the same as the chances of him not being able to play.

I'm not positive, but I believe TB will only have one year of eligibility remaining.

I don't know who said he'd be cleared to play, only that he has the potential to be POY in the Valley.

[canadian]

We ALL hate losing but this season will do more to make AW and DD stronger in the years to come then going undefeated and winning the MVC.

Congrats to both....two GREAT Braves.

Agreed. Best of luck to both of them as they move on.