WIU takes a big hit

[tornado]

Just when it was looking like WIU would have a great shot at being among the leaders next year in the Summit League - they took a big hit today as it's being announced that possibly their best player - freshman Obi Emegano (13.1 ppg, 4 rpg, 49% FG shooting) is leaving and transferring to ORU.
Emegano turned out to be a great player - and Coach Mo was virtually the only D-I coach that showed any interest in him.

Emegano is from Edmond, OK (less than 100 mi. from Tulsa) and says he wants to transfer to play in front of his hometown friends & family..
but there's a little suspicion that he might be leaving for the very same reason mid-majors lose their best players and coaches all the time -- that the schools with bigger fan bases, more money, and better TV contracts simply have the ability & power to steal other teams' best players.

Oral Roberts head coach Scott Sutton says...
"It’s a great pickup for us,” ORU head coach Scott Sutton said."
(isn't it a VIOLATION for the ORU coach to talk until Emegano enrolls there?)


--BTW -- Scott Sutton is one of the candidates that was reported to have been offered the Bradley position last year and declined... LINK
"pulled himself out of the search process", "..it wasn't a good fit"...

[lefty]

That's a bad deal for Mo. Emegano was a fun player to watch and was only going to get better.

[tornado]

Looks like Mo and other at WIU also think there's some shenanigans going on...

"Western Illinois University athletics director Tim Van Alstine said on Friday
that he and men’s basketball coach Jim Molinari were “surprised” at the
decision by forward Obi Emegano to transfer to Oral Roberts.

“I’m very disappointed that he wanted to leave, and I know Jim’s
disappointed, but we wish him the best,” Van Alstine said of Emegano. “If he
wants to play closer to home, certainly we understand that.
“But we’re also very disappointed that Oral Roberts still took him. That’s not
something we would have done to another conference member. I know that’s
something I wouldn’t have wanted to do, and I know that’s something Jim
wouldn’t have wanted to do.”
Van Alstine said that before the transfer decision was announced, Emegano,
like the rest of the players on the Leathernecks’ roster for the upcoming
season, had been enrolled in summer classes at Western Illinois and was
going to be on campus for summer workouts.
“That’s why this was a surprise,” he said.....
....... we’ll be fine. It’s just disappointing to have this happen.”

http://www3.thehawkeye.com/bohnenkamp_blog/?p=2016

My guess is that Mo has crossed Sutton off his Christmas card list...

[tornado]

Mo gets a late replacement by landing Jordan Foster

http://www.goleathernecks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=49946&SPID=4947&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205438229&DB_OEM_ID=12000

[Da Coach]

Interesting that article from the WIU website starts out by saying-
"Western Illinois head coach Jim Molinari announced the signing of freshman guard Jordan Foster (Chicago, Ill./Seton Academy) to a national letter of intent Wednesday (June 13)."

But the article is incorrect. He could not have signed a National Letter of Intent, as the signing period was April 11, 2012 - May 16, 2012.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/nli/nli

A recruit can only sign a National Letter of Intent during those dates. It would not be valid if signed after May 16.
I have seen this mistake reported many times, but I am surprised WIU's own website doesn't seem to know the NCAA rules.

[tornado]

Just when it was looking like WIU would have a great shot at being among the leaders next year in the Summit League - they took a big hit today as it's being announced that possibly their best player - freshman Obi Emegano (13.1 ppg, 4 rpg, 49% FG shooting) is leaving and transferring to ORU......

Ex-Leatherneck, Emegano was Oral Roberts' best player and leading scorer in their first four games - averaging 19 ppg...
but now he is unfortunately done for the year as he tore his ACL and will require surgery

https://twitter.com/bfreeland/status/404458094018572288