Dave Reynolds writes about Thomas Hamilton

[tornado]

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x1037529408/Reynolds-Former-Young-big-man-to-visit-Bradley

Chris Blake & DeShawn Delaney also visiting in April

[LongTimeFan]

It looks like Delaney grew a couple of inches this year. I believe Rivals has him at 6'4".

[Da Coach]

Dave also mentions a bit about next year's schedule. He mentions that Bradley is committed to play in a pre-Christmas Las Vegas tournament. That would seem to be the same tournament Bradley played in last December, 2012. However, previously it was said the 2013 tournament would be the November Thanksgiving one. Does anyone know for sure.
And then Dave also said:
BU is also working on getting into an exempt tournament

But would Bradley then play in 2 exempt tournaments?


One final thought on the schedule....I hope we can fill the remaining slots with some better quality teams that what we have lined up so far. The teams listed are not appealing at all to ticket-buying fans. I seem to recall that a previous column said we intentionally scheduled down this past season, and that the schedule would get stronger next season. But without a Michigan on the schedule next year, and with the games now contracted, and without Creighton, next year's schedule is looking awfully weak.

[Monmouth_Bradley_Fan]

Delaney, IMO, would probably be the best player we ink since POB. We have to land this kid. Come on Geno, lets get this kid to BRADLEY.

[bradleyfan124]

I think it is significant that Thomas Hamilton's mother is coming with him

[Da Coach]

Apparently, DePaul and Bradley are his 2 solid offers. Hamilton and his mother visited DePaul last weekend, so it seems likely he will make his decision between those 2 schools. Maybe soon.

[Bobby Parker]

A couple of schedule notes:

The Las Vegas event is not an exempt event, so the Braves still can enter into an exempt tournament.

As coaches will often tell you, there is nothing more difficult than putting together a schedule. This past season's schedule looked far different last March than it does now. For instance, South Florida was 22-14 and tied for fourth in the Big East in 2011-12 when the home-and-home series with the Bulls was scheduled. The Bulls going 12-19 and tying for 13th in the Big East was not in the plans when the series was scheduled and being a member of the America 12(?) certainly was not part of the plan.

Say what you want about IUPUI, but the series against the Jaguars provided an opportunity for our fans to watch us play a non-conference road game against a team that has traditionally been strong in its league. A road win against an upper-half conference team is supposed to be a good RPI thing. Seeing IUPUI (6-26, 1-15) tank was not in the plan. The Jaguars had averaged 19.1 wins per season the previous 10 years with never fewer than 14 and had averaged a 3.2 finish in the Summit League the previous 10 years, finishing fourth or better in 9 of the previous 10 years.

We committed to the Las Vegas Tournament knowing that we would be in a tournament field with Virginia Tech and Colorado State. VT plays in one of the strongest leagues in the country and has been a NCAA Tournament bubble team several times in recent years. Had we been able to hold on against the ACC's VT, we would have played a Colorado State team that finished 26-9 overall and tied for second in the strongest RPI league in the country. Instead, by letting the VT game slip away, we played Portland (11-21, 4-12 WCC). Late in the season, I asked Jerry Palm if there was a way to determine how a win vs VT and a loss to CSU would have impacted our RPI and it made an 80-spot difference. Ifs and buts, I know, but the schedule was set up for a chance at that scenario.

The tournament ended up backfiring more when you consider Mississippi Valley State was coming off a 21-13, 17-1 NCAA Tournament season when they joined the tourney field. Their coach then departed and most of their players did too. So instead, we got a team that finished 5-23 overall and 5-13.

Even in our own league, did anyone expect Missouri State to go 0-10 against Division 1 competition in November and December? For that matter, I don't think ISU red or Drake enjoyed the seasons everyone expected.

My point, our coaches are working hard to assemble the schedule that best suits our team, will be both challenging and give them a chance to succeed, and be entertaining for our fans. That is a difficult combination to achieve and even when you think you have accomplished all the goals in the spring, only hindsight after the season is complete will tell you how you did.

[tornado]

I know scheduling is tough - and with Wichita doing this well - who's gonna want to come & play Valley schools - so just keep working hard ..
and I know many coaches DO NOT want to go and play on the road at some big guy's place as a guarantee game but a few Valley schools are doing it...
are we considering it??

[BradleyJD]

A couple of schedule notes:

The Las Vegas event is not an exempt event, so the Braves still can enter into an exempt tournament.

As coaches will often tell you, there is nothing more difficult than putting together a schedule. This past season's schedule looked far different last March than it does now. For instance, South Florida was 22-14 and tied for fourth in the Big East in 2011-12 when the home-and-home series with the Bulls was scheduled. The Bulls going 12-19 and tying for 13th in the Big East was not in the plans when the series was scheduled and being a member of the America 12(?) certainly was not part of the plan.

Say what you want about IUPUI, but the series against the Jaguars provided an opportunity for our fans to watch us play a non-conference road game against a team that has traditionally been strong in its league. A road win against an upper-half conference team is supposed to be a good RPI thing. Seeing IUPUI (6-26, 1-15) tank was not in the plan. The Jaguars had averaged 19.1 wins per season the previous 10 years with never fewer than 14 and had averaged a 3.2 finish in the Summit League the previous 10 years, finishing fourth or better in 9 of the previous 10 years.

We committed to the Las Vegas Tournament knowing that we would be in a tournament field with Virginia Tech and Colorado State. VT plays in one of the strongest leagues in the country and has been a NCAA Tournament bubble team several times in recent years. Had we been able to hold on against the ACC's VT, we would have played a Colorado State team that finished 26-9 overall and tied for second in the strongest RPI league in the country. Instead, by letting the VT game slip away, we played Portland (11-21, 4-12 WCC). Late in the season, I asked Jerry Palm if there was a way to determine how a win vs VT and a loss to CSU would have impacted our RPI and it made an 80-spot difference. Ifs and buts, I know, but the schedule was set up for a chance at that scenario.

The tournament ended up backfiring more when you consider Mississippi Valley State was coming off a 21-13, 17-1 NCAA Tournament season when they joined the tourney field. Their coach then departed and most of their players did too. So instead, we got a team that finished 5-23 overall and 5-13.

Even in our own league, did anyone expect Missouri State to go 0-10 against Division 1 competition in November and December? For that matter, I don't think ISU red or Drake enjoyed the seasons everyone expected.

My point, our coaches are working hard to assemble the schedule that best suits our team, will be both challenging and give them a chance to succeed, and be entertaining for our fans. That is a difficult combination to achieve and even when you think you have accomplished all the goals in the spring, only hindsight after the season is complete will tell you how you did.

Thank you, Bobby!

[it's boogie time]

Apparently, DePaul and Bradley are his 2 solid offers.

I haven't seen a DePaul game in years. Does Oliver Purnell still try to full court press the entire game like he did at Clemson?

[Buesch N Chips]

Mr. Parker, I appreciate you being open with the process. I am sure there are just an insane number of variables that go into these things. I don't give two craps who we play, as long as we win and the away games are on TV.

[Bobby Parker]

Please, no formalities. Bobby or BP is fine

[tornado]

Dave also mentions a bit about next year's schedule. He mentions that Bradley
is committed to play in a pre-Christmas Las Vegas tournament. ..

just saw where Florida Gulf Coast is playing in the 2-day pre-Christmas Las Vegas tournament ......interesting...

http://www.setanchor.com/news/2013/may/02/mens-basketball-fgcu-playing-las-vegas-tourney-roa/

[Da Coach]

The Thanksgiving Las Vegas Invitational (which Bradley played in 2 years ago) has already been announced to have UCLA, Missouri, Northwestern and Nevada for 2013.

The tournament that FGCU will be in is the Dec. 22-23 Las Vegas Classic (which Bradley played in last year). It has Mississippi State, South Florida, Santa Clara, and UNLV as the major teams.

So if Bradley is playing in a Las Vegas event, it must be a different one, or they are one of the "minor teams". Is that possible?

Here is a listing of all the early season tournaments- it does list a number of the new "round robin" format events, including the one Bradley is in, but it does not list any other tournaments or events that include Bradley.

http://www.bloggingthebracket.com/2012/12/7/3739262/2013-14-college-basketball-early-season-tournaments-events-MTE