Chris Reynolds named new Bradley AD

[Da Coach]

It is his fault if you recruit head cases! It is hilarious to see posts from people from the admin about agendas. This is a good hire and Howard would be a mistake.

I think you are wrong here. It is the head coach who, in almost every case, makes the decisions on who to recruit, and who to offer a scholarship to. The job of the recruiting assistant is to get the job done and land the recruit he is assigned to recruit. In those cases, Jerrance did his job, and out-recruited a lot of high-major schools. If they turn out to be head cases, or failures, that is not the fault of the guy whose job was simply to get the kid signed.

And Jerrance was the main recruiter on a bunch of Webers quality recruits like Joe Bertrand, D.J. Richardson, Brandon Paul, Meyers Leonard, .

Jerrance landed Cliff Alexander for Bill Self. The "smoke" that is being referred to is related to the family dealing with an agent, and nothing that I can find or have heard about the Kansas staff.

And he has landed high quality recruits at SMU[/URL], as well as gaining the reputation as a good recruiter by playing a part in helping to land quality recruits when he was a lower-level assistant for Billy Gillispie at Texas A&M and Kentucky.

"Recruiting Ace"-

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/smu-mustangs/20130529-report-larry-brown-smu-lose-ace-recruiter-jerrance-howard-to-kansas.ece

"Gifted recruiter"-

http://cjonline.com/sports/2013-05-29/quick-rise-coaching-has-howard-poised-rejoin-self-ku

[Vent]

Ok ok.....you guys have inside sources. Good for you. I couldn't give 2 &$its about who reported what first or any pissing contests between boards.

Lets unify and get frickin' excited!!!!! Onward and forward. For the first time in a long long long time there's a reason to believe!!! So glad the action took place in time to have a legit chance and getting a coaching staff in here to begin the process of restoring the order.

Go BU!!!!!!!!!

Good post. I agree, it's time for everyone to check their egos at the door.

[Vent]

This is a very good hire for Bradley. He is a person of high character, trustworthy, knows the NCAA guidelines like the back of his hand and is athletic minded.

So many athletic directors these days have all kinds of degrees and papers, but little experience as a player or being around great coaches.

Chris brings all of these to the table.

[basketball nut]

Happy days are here again!
As for JH being the next coach I would be very surprised now. It could still happen as I know he already had his complete staff in place and ready to head to although the hilltop and get started
Can't say that is still the case although, personally, I would love to see it happen.

[TampaBrave]

Fantastic hire!

I think BU has made the best hire possible. Chris has been at a great sports school like IU and 2 great universities who value academics and athletics in NU and ND.

I have a personal Chris Reynolds story. I was a sophomore at BU Chris' senior year at Peoria and we had a mutual friend at BU. Chris was in his room one Saturday afternoon I came to visit the mutual friend. Spent about an hour talking to Chris.

Then several years later I was getting a tour of ND athletics with another BU friend. This was shortly after Chris was hired at ND. Ran into him during the tour and he remembered me and we talked a while.

I think BU athletics is heading in the right direction. Excited to see who Chris selects to lead BU MBB.

[lefty]

Chris sounds like a good hire...but for the most part any success attributed to the AD will come through the men's basketball program......


Hopefully he gets the best possible candidate for BU.......and I would think there many better candidates than Howard.......I'll support whoever but I would be somewhat disappointed if it's Howard.

[Braves2006]

Great hire! Excited about BU heading back to the prominent program it once was. Excited to see his choice as Head Coach!

[RickBB]

Great, another guard who can't shoot. Oh wait, he' s the new AD.....carry on then.

J/k.....great hire. Of course the hires he makes and culture he sets for the department will be the most important immediate decisions. I just hope it unites that fan base and alums....but let's face it, BU hoops is more Peoria's team than it is BUs. But as a Peoria kid who left Peoria in 89, I'm sure he remembers how exciting things are when BU hoops is successful.

And maybe we sneak him in uniform just for kicks.

[Da Coach]

Here is a name to keep in mind- former teammate of Chris Reynolds, and maybe the only one who is in D1 coaching now, Calbert Cheaney-

http://www.slubillikens.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209257489

Is he ready for a head coaching job?

[Da Coach]

I just got off the phone with a close friend of Chris Reynolds who was one of the first people to talk to Chris last night when the "oath of silence" was lifted, and the news came out about his hiring. He confirmed that this hiring indeed was made official quite some time ago, but that Chris was sworn to silence about it for these past many weeks, and even refused to answer or return calls to many of his close friends in Peoria and elsewhere because he knew they'd ask him about this, and he did not want the news to come out prematurely. He was committed to stay with Northwestern and work at the Women's Big Ten Tournament March 4-8, and the Men's Tournament March 11-15, thus the timing of the announcement Monday.
He is as excited as he can possibly be to get started at Bradley. He said he has always thought about becoming AD at Bradley some day, and this is a destination job for him. Even Chris' wife, Katrina, who is from Indianapolis, and will have to leave a job she loves at Northwestern, is excited to come to Peoria!


Is anyone going to the presentation ceremony at the Renaissance Coliseum Wednesday?

[tornado]

No matter who we hire as a head coach - there might still be an occasional "recruiting miss" (even Duke has them!), but what we need is more hits than misses - something we have not seen on the Hilltop for 4 years.
I know Reynolds won't be recruiting but his presence and his connections will definitely help...and if Nate Taphorn or Max Bielfeldt choose to look elsewhere, his Big Ten connections could help Bradley

Also - I wonder what percentage of the PJStar staff - 50%, 60%, 75% - are working 24/7 digging thru arrest records in every county of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan - looking for a speeding ticket or jaywalking on Chris Reynolds?


One more thing - here's a name we might hear some more...
AJ Guyton has said he'd like to be considered for any coaching vacancy and the guy has coached - even at the professional level...earning "Coach of the Year two consecutive seasons" (hmmm)
And both AJ & Chris Reynolds are strongly connected to another HOF coach - could we bring him out of retirement (he's 74 years old) the same way SMU did with Larry Brown (who is also 74 years years old but a little older than the other guy)?

[basketball nut]

I would love to be there but can't since I just got my knee replaced and sill not mobile enough to try some thing like that.


The next 2 weeks to 2 months will be real interesting for the future of BU

[molar50]

Our local paper, the Journal Star, could not even investigate our local representative, Aaron Schock. The AP had to send reporters to look at Aaron's rise to wealth on a congressman's salary.

[tornado]

not a BU fan alive that doesn't feel better today about Bradley's future....
I am hearing from some that are 1000 miles away calling or e mailing to say they are thrilled with this news...

[Dub]

I support this as a great hire.
1. The testimonials given by those that have worked with Chris paint the picture that he is a man of integrity, which is huge. He is also a man who knows how to win. Further, he is a baller.
2. His cross-section of experience is impressive, all the way down to the fact that he briefly worked for the NCAA. The ability to win AND stay compliant is exactly what my dream would be as a fan of Bradley basketball.
3. I actually like that he was placed in before the new president. Not only will the timing be perfect for assessing coaching options, but he will already be established as a leader before the president comes in, and should therefore be allotted more autonomy going forward to lead the way he sees fit. This is a man who does not need to be micromanaged, and all indications are that Chris is a high-level leader. He will make sure there is a leadership structure under him as well (including on the playing floor!)
4. We should all extend our trust in his choice of head coach, regardless of who it is. I trust that he will put a team in place that will get on the road to winning, and maintaining integrity. If either of these two fail, he will know when to make the appropriate moves.

Warm welcome to our new AD.