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Do I need to mention more than Patrick O'Bryant, Boogie, Zach, or Will Franklin as examples of fine D-I talent that Jim Les has found and recruited.
But here is an example of just how astute Jim Les is when assessing a kid's talent, even when he fails to land a kid.
Right now, AJ Graves is the point guard/combo guard and leading scorer for Butler who beat Purdue yesterday to go 11-1.
Graves is leading the team with 18ppg, 36 minutes per game, 98.4% FT shooter and is known for his ability to score in the clutch when the team really needs it. Anyone who has seen him can attest that he is a fine player, but guess who were the only schools who offered the kid a scholarship even though he finished as runnerup to AJ Ratliff in the Mr. Basketball voting when Graves was a high schooler from Switz City, Indiana.
Only Butler and a couple MVC schools, one of which was Bradley.
Does it surprise anyone anymore?
Jim Les knows talent, even though Bradley ended up losing this kid to instate Butler, (probably because BU already had Daniel Ruffin.)
(BTW in 2004-2005 when Butler played Bradley, Graves was only a freshman but he had quite a game at Carver arena. Graves had 16 points, 6 steals.)
But here is an example of just how astute Jim Les is when assessing a kid's talent, even when he fails to land a kid.
Right now, AJ Graves is the point guard/combo guard and leading scorer for Butler who beat Purdue yesterday to go 11-1.
Graves is leading the team with 18ppg, 36 minutes per game, 98.4% FT shooter and is known for his ability to score in the clutch when the team really needs it. Anyone who has seen him can attest that he is a fine player, but guess who were the only schools who offered the kid a scholarship even though he finished as runnerup to AJ Ratliff in the Mr. Basketball voting when Graves was a high schooler from Switz City, Indiana.
Only Butler and a couple MVC schools, one of which was Bradley.
Does it surprise anyone anymore?
Jim Les knows talent, even though Bradley ended up losing this kid to instate Butler, (probably because BU already had Daniel Ruffin.)
(BTW in 2004-2005 when Butler played Bradley, Graves was only a freshman but he had quite a game at Carver arena. Graves had 16 points, 6 steals.)
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