Empty cupboard saga

[Da Coach]

The PJ Star and a few people have tried to make the case that Geno inherited an "empty cupboard". But in retrospect, that is clearly not the case.
Walt Lemon was a 2-time All-MVC player for Geno (2013 & 2014)
Taylor Brown was an All-MVC player his only season for Geno (2012)
Dyricus Simms-Edwards was a double digit scorer for Jim Les, and the Defensive Player of the Year in the MVC his senior season (Geno's 2nd year)
Will Egolf was the first post player at Bradley to average double figures since Bayo Akinkunle, plus Will tied for the lead in rebounding the only year he played for Geno
Jordan Prosser started 31 of 32 games in Geno's first season and lead Geno's first team in rebounding (2011-12)
Jake Eastman was a starter for Geno, starting 34 of 35 games in 2012-13, he averaged over 4 rebounds per game both seasons he played for Geno, more than any guard that Geno ever recruited.

I am not suggesting the talent Geno inherited was going to win the MVC, but it certainly was not "an empty cupboard". There were multiple All-MVC players, and a Defensive POY, and there were players who lead Geno's teams in nearly every category for his first 3 years. Even in year 4, his best post player was one he inherited.

That brings me to the cupboard that Brian Wardle has inherited.
A historically empty cupboard....
Ka'Darryl Bell...averaged 4.3 ppg and 1.2 assists per game over 3 year career
Anthony Fields...averaged 0.7 ppg and 0.3 assists per game in 2 seasons at Bradley
Omari Grier...averaged 9.2 ppg, 35% FG%, and 32% on threes over 2 seasons with Bradley
Warren Jones...11.9 ppg in 21 games, 34% FG% and 29.6% on threes
Mike Shaw...1.9 ppg, 34% FG%, 18% from three, 41% FT%, 3.4 rpg, 20 assists, 35 t/o's last season
Donte Thomas...the only non-senior next year, 2.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 33% FG%, 23% on threes, 40% FT%

This "cupboard" has to rank with the emptiest cupboards that any coach has inherited in Division I history. Can anyone name one worse (other than ones involved in NCAA penalties)?
Brian Wardle has a really big challenge ahead of him.

[Art Haines is God]

Cuonzo Martin inherited this seemingly bare cupboard but won a title 3 years later at MSU. If Wardle is a good coach he can turn this around quickly.

Shane Laurie
Spencer Laurie
Will Creekmoore
Kyle Weems
Chris Cooks
Ryan Jehle
Isiah Rhine
Justin Fuhremeyer

Thomas and Jones are good to build upon.

Creekmoore was a former walk-on candidate who developed, and Weems was an add on recruit that Barry used to get the more coveted Lamont Austin who plain and simply was just a lucky get.

Just a side note, Martin added 6 players in the spring season of his hiring year. None lasted more than a year. So if I were you, I wouldn't get too high or low regarding the spring signings. We had 4 transfers that turned the tide for us, Ricks, Leonard, Patterson, and Mallet all transfered to MSU during Martin's second year and paired with Weems and Creekmore won the Valley title in year 3.

[tornado]

Jones may be one of the best players we have currently, but wow, are we lulled into a sense of mediocrity if we think he's all-conference potential or we're gonna win games with him...
He's uni-dimensional, looks only to launch, hit only 34% of his shots overall - a terrible shooting pct., and only 29.6% from the arc - which wouldn't probably place him inside the top 50 players in the MVC!
He has only one year left and has been terribly inconsistent - can score 33 one night, then go danged near scoreless the next.
In fact - I am not too sure there's more than one or maybe two games Bradley won with him that we wouldn't have won without him...
- plus he is a serious defensive liability..and wasn't even available for a full third of our games....

Nope - this current cupboard is the textbook definition of BARE - and even the anti-JL crowd will have to concede that....but I doubt we will ever see the multiple PJS columns highlighting the bare cupboard as we have had to tolerate the past four years...even tho as DC said, the last time the cupboard contained several kids who landed on All-Conference Teams (the only such players GF had) and the bulk of all the scoring and talent we've seen the past four years.

[capecod]

Digger Phelps at Notre Dame

This "cupboard" has to rank with the emptiest cupboards that any coach has inherited in Division I history. Can anyone name one worse (other than ones involved in NCAA penalties)?

Well, only since you asked.....the only coach and team that come to mind would be Digger Phelps at Notre Dame

Previous Irish coach Johnny Dee left a fairly bare cupboard = the top 6 scorers graduated(including AA Austin Carr). The top varisty returner had averaged 3.6 ppg.

The top 2 recruits on the ND frosh team(a Frosh team that the undefeated Bradley Frosh had beaten-see previous post) were also missing = Sam Puckett transferred to Jacksonville and John Shumate was unable to play with blood clots in his leg(guess that wasn't Dee's fault)

It also didn't help the Digger booted heralded soph guard Valibus off the team after 6 games

Phelps finished 6-20 and lost to Bobby Knight's Indiana 94-29

[bu fan 9]

Geno was the worst coach in BU hostory. He couldn't recruit or coach. His asst coaches were a joke. How he kept his job so long shows Cross didn't have a clue.

[tornado]

capecod, this is recent history to you since you always talk 50's-60's but...
Albeck left this batch on the roster...

-Xanthus Houston, James Hamilton, Andy Bastock, Adam Carl, Paul Lee, Mark Dietrich, Tom Wilson, Kwame Brown - all of whom did not stick around & ended up leaving or transferring...

-Charles White, James Bailey, Sean Smith, Duane Broussard - who stayed, but except for Charles White combined for miniscule production for Coach Mo, who pretty much had to rebuild from scratch with his empty cupboard


Likewise - Joe Stowell left the cupboard pretty incredibly bare - with only Garrett & McMath providing any mentionable production for Versace...


And yet - by his 2nd year Versace won 23 games and by his 3rd year Molinari won 23 games!!!

[lefty]

hey guess what? Geno is gone.......the horse is dead....




I guess we could rank the empty cupboards....just not sure what the point is though

[tornado]

but it hasn't been beaten nearly as much as the last couple horses...
...get back to me when we're all still blaming Geno seven years down the road in 2022 for problems that happen then...like Kirk has been doing continually to JL

hey lefty - is Brian Wardle gonna make any appearances down at the Auto Show?
The kids wanna come & see Spiderman, Spongebob & Ronald McDonald - I'd love to see Wardle there!!

[capecod]

capecod, this is recent history to you since you always talk 50's-60's but...

Ouch...50& 60s?....hey! the Phelp's/ND story was from the 1970s!

which of course reminds me of another story

The story behind the Indiana 94 Notre Dame 29:

Bobby Knight claims to this day that he didn't pour it on vs Phelps and ND in this game

The results tell a different story....perhaps this is the reason:

A year or two before, Bobby Knight was coaching his Army team vs Digger Phelps Fordham squad

With less than a minute left in the game, Fordham led, but the game was still in doubt.

Fordham coach Digger Phelps walked over to Bobby Knight and stuck out his hand. Digger said "I have to shake hands now, because when we win the students are going to carry me off the court"

Fordham held on to win and the students did in deed carry Digger off the court.......

The next time Phelps met Knight as coaches,they were both coaching at new schools:

final Indiana 94 ND 29

I don't think Knight forgot the handshake

[Da Coach]

Cuonzo Martin inherited this seemingly bare cupboard but won a title 3 years later at MSU. If Wardle is a good coach he can turn this around quickly.

Shane Laurie
Spencer Laurie
Will Creekmoore
Kyle Weems
Chris Cooks
Ryan Jehle
Isiah Rhine
Justin Fuhremeyer

Thomas and Jones are good to build upon.

Creekmoore was a former walk-on candidate who developed, and Weems was an add on recruit that Barry used to get the more coveted Lamont Austin who plain and simply was just a lucky get.

Just a side note, Martin added 6 players in the spring season of his hiring year. None lasted more than a year. So if I were you, I wouldn't get too high or low regarding the spring signings. We had 4 transfers that turned the tide for us, Ricks, Leonard, Patterson, and Mallet all transfered to MSU during Martin's second year and paired with Weems and Creekmore won the Valley title in year 3.

Most of that list is not good, but Kyle Weems all by himself trumps what Wardle has inherited.
Weems was All Freshman the first year he played, and averaged double digits (10.2 ppg).
Weems improved to 13.6 ppg his sophomore season, finshed 6th in MVC scoring, and 8th in rebounding (6.2) and was 2nd team All-MVC.
Weems was the MVC Player of the Year as a junior in 2010-11, and an Honorable Mention All-American pick by the AP. He is the only MVC POY Missouri State has ever had.
He was also the Pre-season pick for Player of the Year his senior season, and he would have probably won it a second time except for Doug McDermott blossoming into an All American. Nonetheless, he was First Team All-MVC again as a senior.
Saying Cuonzo inherited an empty cupboard when one of them was a POY and All American goes a little against the definition of "empty cupboard".

[tornado]

.....
I don't think Knight forgot the handshake

I am sure you recall the game in Champaign that Lou Henson laid a defeat on Bobby Knight - and with less than a minute or so left in the game - Bobby and his coaching staff walked rudely past Lou to the visitors' lockerroom - essentially leaving the team to finish the game on their own..

this incident doesn't even make the Top 10 list of Bobby Knight's offensive, rude, or notoriously offensive incidents - but I remember it well....

[BU freak]

but it hasn't been beaten nearly as much as the last couple horses...
...get back to me when we're all still blaming Geno seven years down the road in 2022 for problems that happen then...like Kirk has been doing continually to JL

hey lefty - is Brian Wardle gonna make any appearances down at the Auto Show?
The kids wanna come & see Spiderman, Spongebob & Ronald McDonald - I'd love to see Wardle there!!

I would assume Wardle will be at the AAU Nike Spring Showdown in Romeoville this weekend. Active recruiting period

[Art Haines is God]

Most of that list is not good, but Kyle Weems all by himself trumps what Wardle has inherited.
Weems was All Freshman the first year he played, and averaged double digits (10.2 ppg).
Weems improved to 13.6 ppg his sophomore season, finshed 6th in MVC scoring, and 8th in rebounding (6.2) and was 2nd team All-MVC.
Weems was the MVC Player of the Year as a junior in 2010-11, and an Honorable Mention All-American pick by the AP. He is the only MVC POY Missouri State has ever had.
He was also the Pre-season pick for Player of the Year his senior season, and he would have probably won it a second time except for Doug McDermott blossoming into an All American. Nonetheless, he was First Team All-MVC again as a senior.
Saying Cuonzo inherited an empty cupboard when one of them was a POY and All American goes a little against the definition of "empty cupboard".

Weems was a freshman Zo's first year. No one knew he was going to blossom into that player when Zo arrived. That is the point. You are swininging your argument into, wow Wardle has a lot of work to do, so much more than anyone ever. Cuz your ticked off at Geno, I get it. I've been there, but hey if he is a good coach and one that will take you to better days, he will do it sooner than later.

But take this part of the argument. Is Wardle in a hole that Zo wasn't because he was not able to retain Cunningham. Cunningham was a far more heralded recruit than Weems ever was. If Wardle wanted to quickly turn this thing around Cunningham should have been his first priority. Keep the assistant that brought him and move on. I don't fault the guy for wanting his own assistants, but blaming your old coach for your new coach's inability to keep talent the old coach brought in is kind of weird.

Was Geno a bad coach, yes. Was he a bad recruiter, no, he appeared to get talent, just looked like crap on the floor.

If all of Geno's guys would have stayed, the cupboard wouldn't be bare.

I don't know why I got in this argument, but it interests me for some reason.

[tornado]

Weems was a freshman Zo's first year. No one knew he was going to blossom into that player when Zo arrived. That is the point. You are swininging your argument into, wow Wardle has a lot of work to do, so much more than anyone ever. Cuz your ticked off at Geno, I get it. I've been there..

well, no, I think you haven't - at least when Cuonzo took over there were talented freshmen with potential (Weems) plus some returnees that would give you good production (Cooks, Creekmore, Laurie, Knapp had 9ppg/4rpg)

Our current roster does not have anyone comparable, plus only one of what Wardle inherits has more than a single season of eligibility left remaining and only two have more than a single season of experience in a BU uniform or!
...Wardle will have to go get a whole team...

[Art Haines is God]

well, no, I think you haven't - at least when Cuonzo took over there were talented freshmen with potential (Weems) plus some returnees that would give you good production (Cooks, Creekmore, Laurie, Knapp had 9ppg/4rpg)

Our current roster does not have anyone comparable, plus only one of what Wardle inherits has more than a single season of eligibility left remaining and only two have more than a single season of experience in a BU uniform or!
...Wardle will have to go get a whole team...

Fair enough, I just think it is odd that teams constantly make excuses for new hires. In year 3 you should be ready to compete for an upper division finish, if you are going to stick around, by year 5 you should be running a program in the ilk of UNI under Jacobsen.

Mid Majors can't afford to be waiting on guys, and making bad hires. Bradley probably kept Geno two years too long, and maybe didn't have enough patience with Les' rebuild strategy, but Bradley wasn't UNI when Les left.

I would have fired Lusk this season, but we have buyout issues. When Martin came in, he said very clearly, "Year three we will compete for a championship". I just liked that mentality take accountability and put a deadline on yourself. Now I wish he would have stayed to bring us back to the NCAA tournament, but hey, he did exactly what he promised.

Good luck to you, the league is better when Bradley is good. Bradley always used to bring in big crowds at Hammons, hope to see it again at JQH.