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UNI is heading to Brazil in late July/early August. With 6 incoming freshmen, 2 RS freshmen expected to contribute, and only one senior, this will be an important offseason while they look to build off the last few years of success. I think most fans are excited about 2012-13 season the most, but next year will be fun to see all the new faces. It's arguably UNI's best recruiting class to date...which is what you hope for coming off of a Sweet 16 run.
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It appears Jevon Lyle verballed before the 2010 NCAA tourney so can he be counted as a benefit from the Sweet 16? -- but anyway -- wasn't he troubled last season, fought with teammates, was suspended, then finally kicked off his high school team permanently?
Most of the rest of the class seemed to be pretty strong leans towards UNI even before the Sweet 16 run (Tuttle, Singleton, Bohannon)
BUT-- what rankings or data are you using for the players? scout.com has every one of them as unrated...except Tuttle is 2-Stars, and likewise Rivals has most of them either unlisted, unranked, or 2-Stars...Comment
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That is a really good job of previewing next season's UNI team by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, especially considering it was posted back on April 24! Nice job by the reporter to get coach's comments about every returning and incoming player.
That's the kind of stuff Bradley fans would like to see more of.Comment
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True, Jevon verballed in September (I believe) prior to the Sweet Sixteen run. He did get in a fight with a teammate just before their playoffs. The teammate is headed to Oral Roberts. There were some write ups in the KC Star newspaper/blogs about this, but it seems like Jevon's father felt Jevon was singled out (maybe he was, maybe not). The funny thing is, by all prior accounts, he was a quiet kid from a great family, with no problems. A month or so after being kicked off the basketball team, he was voted prom king. Couldn't be all that bad right?!Originally posted by tornado View Post
I think he probably just got frustrated with the teammate and they both went after each other. I'm really not worried about it. He will most likely RS next year with UNI's guard depth.
Tuttle the only other one offered before the end of the season. He was offered a 4-for-5 and had been rumored to be a UNI lean, but after the tourney run, Jake staying at UNI, and getting a full ride scholy for all years at UNI, he committed (I believe in May). He said he wanted to get the full scholy and to know Jake was staying before committing. He had a great summer last year and this year led his team to a state championship.
Singleton wasn't offered until June at Big Man Camp. His only offer was Wofford. He's a tweener on the surface, but he has a nice skill set and athleticism that will allow him to play as a strong 3 or an undersized 4. He and his teammate Joe Coleman (Minnesota) led Hopkins HS to back to back state championships.
Bohannon was the next to commit. He was recruited during the run, but never gave any indication that UNI was his #1 to my knowledge. He was offered after UNI team camp in June and committed later that month or early July. He has a great shot and helped lead his team to a state championship (alongside Marcus Paige- N.Carolina). Matt was named MVP of the entire state tourney (Class 1-4).
Deon Mitchell was not on UNI's radar until sometime in the summer. He is a top 25 player (by Rivals I believe) in the state of Texas. He was named Central Texas POY (Austin and San Antonio area I believe). Had an offer from Marquette at one time. I could name a few other BCS schools that he had offers from but those end up getting debated due to no great proof.
Chris Olivier is from Chicago, rated in top 25 by Chicagohoops at the end of his senior year. Went to Quakerdale Prep where he played mostly Juco competition, with some other prep schools thrown in there. He had an offer to Auburn and others (again, it's hard to prove in the public forum b/c schools won't comment on offers).
So, based on UNI's superb recruiting history of Rivals and Scout.com giving UNI great props for previous classes, this class exceeds them all based on their own standards (sarcasm tornado, sarcasm). I think this group is a fairly solid group that will contribute right away. Is this the best class...IMO it's got to be close with the Koch, Eglseder, Kwadzo, and Dunham class. The Crawford, Jacobson, Little class was pretty good too. Anyway, just one man's two cents.
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And as for which rankings system I use...I tend to follow all of them from a distance, but I really think ESPN has done a great job improving theirs. I like the numerical system as compared to the stars. Stars tend to be more telling of offers, and no one knows if they have been seen. The numerical system seems to give some legitimacy to whether or not the athlete has been seen. What system do you like to use/follow?
As for the WCF Courier coverage...I think we tend to be spoiled at times. Like alot of message boards, the info comes out there and then it goes to mass media after it's picked up on. With some much instant information, it's hard for there to be new info out there for the media to find as fresh. I think the coach and player interviews are the one thing that separates mass media as compared to message boards (and IMO, it's probably best that way). A month ago, UNI's beat writer posted on his twitter and blog that he had some new or major information for UNI fans. It came out that UNI was going to Brazil and Johnny Moran was going to have surgery (but be back in August). Most fans new about Brazil and Johnny tends to have surgery every off season! Fans were upset with the tease. We just tend to be spoiled sometimes. It's not the living/breathing coverage that Wichita, SIU, or Omaha get, but it's consistently getting better. I always thought the PJ Star did a pretty good job historically...no?Comment
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ESPN has a unique set up, but I feel they are the poorest of the 3 major ratings sites (ESPN, Rivals, Scout) at evaluating talent. They overrate size and underrate a player's ability to translate his game to the next level. For example, all 4 four of the MVC recruits that are listed as 3* on ESPN (89-91) are 6'6 or taller.Originally posted by PTTB View Post
To be honest, I don't think there is a 'best' option. I believe Rivals to have the best evaluations, but they evaluate a small number of players. ESPN evaluates a ton of players, but their ratings are rarely congruent with what the majority of evaluators believe. Maybe ESPN is a step ahead, or maybe they're just throwing stuff up there and hoping it sticks.
My best advice? Find a train, plane, or automobile, and go watch these kids play yourself. Take it all in (the good and the bad), and make your best evaulation. Your guess is as good as any!"But instead lets just hate while their MBB and WBB programs play blackjack against BU. Twenty-One in a row, seven by the Men & 14 by their women." ~NSBF
@FrontRowStoComment
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The Illini will be going on a tour to Italy --
they leave August 10 -- the itinerary is mostly set but it's not known yet what teams they'll play in Italy... they will begin their allowable 10 practices in July.
John Supinie has a column about the Illini basketball team yesterday...
Sammy has already started grad school at Illinois...
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My first BU hoops game was on 12/30/1963. My dad took me to watch the Braves defeat Arizona 67-59. He helped me get Coach Orsborn's autograph before the game.Comment
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Remember the Braves took a trip to Italy before their 32 and 3 season.Originally posted by tornado View PostWhat part of illegal don't you understand?Comment
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Birds going to Montreal!
Good article too; a lot of info on a little bit of everything."But instead lets just hate while their MBB and WBB programs play blackjack against BU. Twenty-One in a row, seven by the Men & 14 by their women." ~NSBF
@FrontRowStoComment
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Great -- John Wilkins can serve as translator...
also -- the news on the schedule ought to give the 'Birds a little hope of actually seeing an opponent outside the mid- and low-major ranks...
...home games = Lipscomb, SIUE, UNC-Wilmington, and Arkansas-Little Rock. road game = Fresno State, Morehead State, the BracketBuster, and then in Cancun - Rutgers then Illinois or Richmond
also -- interesting that so many old Redbirds are back for the summer -
"Emmanuel Holloway was on the Redbird Arena floor Tuesday morning
playing a one-on-one game with Carmichael. Other ex-Redbirds expected
on campus this summer are Osiris Eldridge, Anthony Slack, Boo Richardson,
Brandon Sampay and Lloyd Phillips."Comment
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Many teams are getting ready for foreign exhibition tours within the next couple weeks..
UNI left yesterday and are in route today..to Brazil...
-- then Creighton, ISU, Wihcita State, Illinois, SLU, Ball State, and many others take off...Comment
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Per Bruce Weber interview.
Illinois will play the New Zealand National team in Italy
followed by one of Italy's highest level pro teams, and then some other lower level pro teams...Comment
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#illini Bruce Weber: they may scrimmage West Virginia in Italy, will know in coming days. "It's a unique situation..Some talk has happened."
http://twitter.com/#!/WernerConnectFMComment
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any such scrimmage against another D-I squad might have to be a closed scrimmage with no press coverage according to NCAA rulesComment
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