Missouri State signing

[tornado]

Jarmar Gulley (nope -- this is not Paris Gulley for all you fans who want Paris Gulley at Bradley) just signed with Paul Lusk and Missouri State..

Jarmar is from Highland Community College in Highland, KS -- not to be confused with Highland in Freeport, IL...
Highland in KS is a Division II junior college, and Gulley, who is originally from Texas, is currently a 6-3 sophomore guard there averaging 23 pts, 6 rebs

http://www.highlandcc.edu/Site/Athletics/athletic_resources/mens_basketball_gallery/7.jpg

http://highlandcc.edu/Site/Athletics/Athlete_Profile.php?id=174&sport=2&Name=Jarmar%20Gulley

[Da Coach]

New Missouri State coach Paul Lusk signs his second player, another juco-
Anthony Downing. Downing is a 6'1" point guard from Independence CC, in Independence, Kansas. He is originally from Atchison, Kansas.
He averaged 18 ppg and 5 apg at Independence, and chose Missouri State over interest from Central Michigan.

http://www.kspr.com/sports/kspr-missouri-state-basketball-bears-sign-point-guard-anthony-downing-20110418,0,5477689.story

http://rivals.yahoo.com/jucojunction/basketball/recruiting/player-Anthony-Downing-119348

[45otseoj]

I really like what Lusk is doing to fill gaps.

Pickens, Downing, Gulley, Weems, Patterson

Possible top 5 team?

[amckillip]

I really like what Lusk is doing to fill gaps.

Pickens, Downing, Gulley, Weems, Patterson

Possible top 5 team?

MSU will be looking for a new coach in 3-4 years again due to their success IMO.

[Da Coach]

I really like what Lusk is doing to fill gaps.

Pickens, Downing, Gulley, Weems, Patterson

Possible top 5 team?

Top 10 at least!

But seriously, Weems will be the preseason POY pick, but the other 4 you project as starters are unproven.-
Gulley and Downing are untested jucos. Maybe they will surprise like Booker Woodfox, or maybe they will underwhelm like Nafis Ricks did his junior year.

Keith Pickens is coming off a serious knee injury that required an emergency second surgery last August for repair. His rehab isn't completed yet, though his progress reports have been good. I actually expect Nathan Scheer to start ahead of Pickens, until he proves he is 100%.

Caleb Patterson will need to improve his senior year for Missouri State to have a chance at the postseason. He has only started 1 game in his career at Missouri State, and his scoring (5.5 ppg) and rebounding (2.2 rpg) are pretty weak for a 7-footer and actually went down last year compared to his sophomore season.

With a new coach, and the loss of 4 starters, I think top 5 could be difficult.

[45otseoj]

With a new coach, and the loss of 4 starters, I think top 5 could be difficult.

Good rebuttal.

Picking 4-10 next season looks like a crapshoot.

[Da Coach]

Wichita State is losing a player, though not a significant loss-

http://blogs.kansas.com/shockwaves/2011/04/18/heres-your-scholarship/

[Da Coach]

Nice article about Missouri State coach Paul Lusk-
Paul Lusk was born to coach

[jrish12]

MSU will be looking for a new coach in 3-4 years again due to their success IMO.

Good problem to have if you ask me, sure beats looking for a coach in that time span for the opposite reasons haha.

[LittleBrave]

I really like what Lusk is doing to fill gaps.

Pickens, Downing, Gulley, Weems, Patterson

Possible top 5 team?

I hope you're joking. I think it was you who stated that if BU stays out of the Thursday game, Coach Ford should be COY. Well, If MSU finishes ahead of BU next season (with no key losses to BU players), then Lusk should be COY, and I will wear an MSU bear costume around the BU campus. (Now THIS is a joke!)
If Missouri St. finishes Top 5, then we are in another really down year in the Valley.

The teams below should be better than MSU next season:

Indy St.
Creighton
Wichita St.
UNI
BU
Drake

[45otseoj]

I already think next year is going to be another down year.

Why do you think Bradley should be better than MSU?

Last place losing the league's best scorer is what it is.

[LittleBrave]

I already think next year is going to be another down year.

Why do you think Bradley should be better than MSU?

Last place losing the league's best scorer is what it is.

Not that he's a miracle-worker, but I think that Coach Ford will make a difference. I should have specified that if we have the Big 3: TB, DSE, JP (healthy off injury), and no more defections, we will be much better than last year.

Again, I don't look at our team over the entire Valley season, but rather the last 10 games. We found our identity, and DSE showed us the REAL DSE. Adding TB is a key ingredient we were missing last year, and IMO, is just as good a scorer as AW was last year. We also have a legit PG, albeit a freshman with some question marks. I'm pretty sure Ford will bring in a couple more guys too that will make some kind of positive impact and give us more depth.

From all that Coach Ford has said, and from what he's proven in past situations, we will undoubtedly be a tougher team physically & mentally. I believe guys like JE & WL will develop into solid role players this next season, while WE might actually learn from his mistakes and stay ON the court for 30+ minutes (this is a hope more than a certainty )

I just think that the Bears will lose too much, and they already were not that deep of a team. IMO, JP, WE, and TB are more skilled than Patterson. Weems is a stud but will be hoarded by opposing teams next year, and while I like Pickens, he has a LOT to prove as PG. Their starting 5 is nowhere close to last year's starting 5.

[TNMSUFAN]

I like Pickens, he has a LOT to prove as PG. Their starting 5 is nowhere close to last year's starting 5.

Pickens isn't a PG...more of a wing but he does cover the PG on the defensive end sometimes.

PG will be either Anthony Downing (juco we just signed) or Trey Anderson (juco who is visiting today). Bears might have 4 juco guys by the end of the week...3 for sure.

No clue where we finish and it all depends on how quickly the juco guys figure things out at this level. One thing I am pretty confident in though is we will be deeper and much more athletic.

[LittleBrave]

Pickens isn't a PG...more of a wing but he does cover the PG on the defensive end sometimes.

PG will be either Anthony Downing (juco we just signed) or Trey Anderson (juco who is visiting today). Bears might have 4 juco guys by the end of the week...3 for sure.

No clue where we finish and it all depends on how quickly the juco guys figure things out at this level. One thing I am pretty confident in though is we will be deeper and much more athletic.

Thanks TNMSUfan - your input is appreciated here, and thanks for putting up with some Bear-bashing from time to time.
Would be nice if the Juco's can step in and fill in for the seniors who had a fine career at MSU. Mallett, Ricks, & Leonard panned out quite well for you guys with only 2 seasons at Missouri St.

[TNMSUFAN]

Thanks TNMSUfan - your input is appreciated here, and thanks for putting up with some Bear-bashing from time to time.
Would be nice if the Juco's can step in and fill in for the seniors who had a fine career at MSU. Mallett, Ricks, & Leonard panned out quite well for you guys with only 2 seasons at Missouri St.

Anytime and I enjoy talking basketball. I don't really worry about the bashing much and I expect most to pick us very low considering what we lost. Weems, Scheer and Pickens is a good start...Patterson and Rhine need to improve and the new guys (jucos plus Kirk and Wilson) need to figure things out quickly. Everyone I have talked to says Gulley is a great scorer and we have done well in the limited number of DII juco guys we have grabbed...Terrance McGee and Nafis Ricks. Downing is a good scorer also and if we get Butler or Anderson or both we will have added some much need creators who can score it. Before anyone says anything I understand it is juco scoring punch and it doesn't always translate to DI...we will see though and we have had good luck recently with jucos. I expect us to probably take some lumps early but hopefully get things together by conference time.