Where will Bradley finish next season?

[Da Coach]

With the great news that Josh Cunningham will be joining the 2014 recruiting class, how much does that change things for next season? Does that push Bradley a little higher? From what I see, it appears that virtually every MVC team will be improved next year, as most lost very little. Bradley, who lost more of their team's production than anyone, may have one of the top 2 recruiting classes.
So, without getting into picking the entire 10 teams, where will Bradley finish in next year's MVC race?-

Without Josh, I felt Bradley's previous recruits filled most of their biggest deficiencies- shooting, point guard, interior size & depth. Ball handling and passing could still be a problem, as it has for the last couple years, but with Josh, the team will be bigger and deeper. It could take time for so many new players to come together, but I believe the fallout may be over. I see this team in the upper half of the MVC- I'll predict 4th place next year.

[doug shank's crossover]

There's going to have to be incremental improvement from some key players in order for BU to finish as high as fourth, IMO. The most obvious example being X. He must take a step forward to provide sustained play in the low block if we are to substantially improve. A noticeable improvement in his hand usage and positioning should cut down on his foul issue. KB would be another candidate to show some maturity and stability. One thing for sure is that we can't count on a true Frosh. to carry the team. Fourth to fith is my prediction.

[bravetime33]

With the great news that Josh Cunningham will be joining the 2014 recruiting class, how much does that change things for next season? Does that push Bradley a little higher? From what I see, it appears that virtually every MVC team will be improved next year, as most lost very little. Bradley, who lost more of their team's production than anyone, may have one of the top 2 recruiting classes.
So, without getting into picking the entire 10 teams, where will Bradley finish in next year's MVC race?-
Without Josh, I felt Bradley's previous recruits filled most of their biggest deficiencies- shooting, point guard, interior size & depth. Ball handling and passing could still be a problem, as it has for the last couple years, but with Josh, the team will be bigger and deeper. It could take time for so many new players to come together, but I believe the fallout may be over. I see this team in the upper half of the MVC- I'll predict 4th place next year.

Hard to put a subjective number on the recruiting class as being in the the top 2 4 or 10
Looking strictly at rankings by various subjective services that being 2 of the 15 kids in Chicago and 2 of top100 juncos in the country coming it would be a good argument to say anyone else in the valley tops that this year. Who knows?
Time will tell
But after this class I think it shows Geno and his staff have potentially done what few have done at BU and have proven they have the potential to recruit
I do not know what kind of work is involved in College recruiting but obviously the staff flew under the radar in the past year and it was easy to get down, ready to throw everybody out etc
We have been overly optimistic in the past for many years by the recruits coming and that is only natural
I will continue to be positive based upon what we have to offer, the quality of the kids we are bringing in and our community
As far as predictions it's any bodies guess but I do feel the trend has reversed

[Da Coach]

I've looked carefully at the recruiting classes of all the MVC schools, and I'd still consider Wichita State's class the best. Their 2014 recruiting class includes SIX 3-star players-



Plus, Wichita State has 2 other players coming off freshman redshirt seasons last year- Rian Holland and Shaquille Morris, who were highly rated recruits in 2013-

[ihatetea]

If I had to guess I too would say 4th. There are two teams obviously at the top then I think 3rd through 6th is a toss up. If we finish 4th I think we can make the NIT. That would be awesome.

[tornado]

Just curious what others think...

Since 1980 - has any freshman come into the MVC and dominated or led his team to a title, tourney championship, NCAA in his freshman year?
We all know the MVC has never had a one-and-done player who skipped to the NBA after his freshman year.
In fact - only two that I am aware of jumped to the NBA before they finished 4 years or their senior season.

Among the best freshman in that 35 year span are
Voise Winters
Benoit Benjamin
Antoine Carr
Cliff Levingston
Xavier McDaniel
Hersey Hawkins
Shea Seals
Anthony Parker
Patrick O'Bryant
Osiris Eldridge
Kyle Korver
..and I am sure there are others...
and, of course, Doug McDermott - who was good, but not dominant as a freshman but his team finished tied for 4th and did not make either the NCAA or NIT.

So .... is Josh good enough to do what really hasn't been done in the MVC
since Mitchell Anderson's 21 ppg as a freshman - although Bradley still did not make the post season that year.

[Canton BU fan]

3rd

[RedSeaElite1]

Just curious what others think...

Since 1980 - has any freshman come into the MVC and dominated or led his team to a title, tourney championship, NCAA in his freshman year?
We all know the MVC has never had a one-and-done player who skipped to the NBA after his freshman year.
In fact - only two that I am aware of jumped to the NBA before they finished 4 years or their senior season.

Among the best freshman in that 35 year span are
Voise Winters
Benoit Benjamin
Antoine Carr
Cliff Levingston
Xavier McDaniel
Hersey Hawkins
Shea Seals
Anthony Parker
Patrick O'Bryant
Osiris Eldridge
Kyle Korver
..and I am sure there are others...
and, of course, Doug McDermott - who was good, but not dominant as a freshman but his team finished tied for 4th and did not make either the NCAA or NIT.

So .... is Josh good enough to do what really hasn't been done in the MVC
since Mitchell Anderson's 21 ppg as a freshman - although Bradley still did not make the post season that year.

I'm not sure if Josh is good enough to take us to the post season alone, but Josh added to JM, TS, MS, and development of AB, OG, and XT, I see no reason why we should not finish top 4 with a post season birth

[tornado]

no doubt it is what fans have been waiting for....and as always I am looking forward to next season.......

[bu fan 9]

6 or 7th

[molar50]

I am hoping that we will not have to play Thursday in St Louis. Finishing 5 would be a good goal. It is going to take awhile for the players to get the right chemistry.

[wizard1]

Bradley Finish Next Season

3rd or 4th If Geno can get the guys to bond and like each other and play together.
Wiz

[wily coyote]

3rd or 4th If Geno can get the guys to bond and like each other and play together.
Wiz

I don't think getting the players to like each other will be a problem but getting so many new ones to understand a new system and know their roles might take a while. The quicker that happens the better we'll be. I would be shocked to be playing on Thur. night again but not sure how far up the ladder we can climb. I may sound like a broken record but I do think we have a lot more talent to put on the floor than we've had in a long time. I know several people on this board railed DR and KW for their predications of being more talented and deeper than we'd been in the past but I'm on that ship regarding next years team.

[Da Coach]

I agree. The tales of greatly improved talent and depth we were fed last year were way off. If anything, the talent level and depth of last year's team was significantly worse than the previous year. And the 7th place finish was made possible only by the departure of Creighton and the arrival of a woeful, 10th place Loyola team, which by the end of the season proved to be better than Bradley.
But the talent infusion this year does seem real, unlike last year's. I agree with most here that we should see the first real jump in the standings that we have all been waiting patiently for.

[BU Bill]

I'll give Geno credit, he pulled out some surprises late to land a few players who can really help Bradley. The juco kids sound OK, but jucos usually don't turn a program around by themselves, plus they are not likely to be significantly better than the players on most of the other Valley teams. But the freshmen (Thomas and Cunningham) and hopefully others to come are what we need to really build Bradley into a consistent winner and an NCAA caliber team.
I'd say there is no way this team should be a Thursday team again, but with as much as we lost from last year, I would be surprised to see them as high as 4th place. I think they'll finish 5th or at worst 6th, but the future just got a bit brighter.