Brace for more bad news

[Da Coach]

...
I'm hearing that some of the remaining players are not happy, and there are some who are thinking about leaving.
I just heard that Donte Thomas may be one of them who is considering leaving.

Update on the "Bad News" topic:
I just heard Donte Thomas is now working out with the departing players at an off campus site arranged by the Chicago AAU people. Though there has been no official announcement, Donte has joined the list of those players leaving leaving.
That now leaves only Bell, Jones, Fields, Shaw, and Grier, and at least one more of those guys is close to leaving as well.

[Vent]

Update on the "Bad News" topic:
I just heard Donte Thomas is now working out with the departing players at an off campus site arranged by the Chicago AAU people. Though there has been no official announcement, Donte has joined the list of those players leaving leaving.
That now leaves only Bell, Jones, Fields, Shaw, and Grier, and at least one more of those guys is close to leaving as well.

That's too bad. I would have liked to have seen what those guys could have done for the new coach. It looks like our relationship with the Chicago AAU guys is not very good right now. Even though the guys we had from the Chicago AAU team(s) didn't contribute a lot last season, other than Josh, it would have been nice to have a continuing good relationship with them. You never know when you may get a player from them, that could play for Wardle and be a factor in the Bradley program.

Hopefully, the guys leaving eventually get their degree at a four year school. It will be the best thing for them and the best thing for Bradley.

Thanks for the update.

[Vent]

Coach - Are we getting into a situation where Wardle will have to offer scholarships to players for next year, just to field a team, that are not good enough to play in the Valley or improve the program? If so that would mean the only way out of those scholarships would be to pull the scholarships after a year and that would give us a very bad reputation as a school that doesn't honor scholarships. I can see him having to offer scholarships to three to four kids that fit that mold for next year unless he uses walk-ons.

[Da Coach]

I am sure Wardle is smart enough not to do that. I believe he thinks he can land recruits that are better than what we are losing.

If we can't, maybe we'll just sit out next season.

[wily coyote]

That's too bad. I would have liked to have seen what those guys could have done for the new coach. It looks like our relationship with the Chicago AAU guys is not very good right now. Even though the guys we had from the Chicago AAU team(s) didn't contribute a lot last season, other than Josh, it would have been nice to have a continuing good relationship with them. You never know when you may get a player from them, that could play for Wardle and be a factor in the Bradley program.

Hopefully, the guys leaving eventually get their degree at a four year school. It will be the best thing for them and the best thing for Bradley.

Thanks for the update.

Hey Vent I do think it would be nice not to burn our Bridges in Chicago but other than josh we really haven't gotten much during Geno's years. Myself I'd like to see more kids from Iowa , Wisc & Minn that can shoot. It will be interesting to see what he can bring in and if we can be competitive. Sure hope so. It also is not hard to see why we've been SOOOOO bad during Geno's years. The kids he brought in obviously were not very tough. We saw that in their play now we're seeing that in them leaving because this guy is much tougher on them than the previous staff. Exception Nate of course. I do not want to see Thomas leave but if he does good riddance. There is an old saying." when the going gets tough, the tough get going" and that did not mean out the door.

[tornado]

Vent, wily - remember the circus and the threads we had going back a year ago with Josh Cunningham alternately announcing that he was going to announce..then putting it off, teasing again and again....
then having his AAU boss speak for him and announce yet another press conference - only to re-announce that it was pushed back again and again.....
Likely he was holding out for a promise that he'd start every game - dickering for the best deal - wanting to be the prima donna - something almost unheard of for a freshman - but....
but indeed he did start regularly from Day-1, he started more than any other player on the entire roster
He played more minutes than anyone - more than just about everyone in the entire MVC except Ballentine, Beane, and 2 others...

Some that silliness was captured in this thread and others - LINK

but many here knew even then that we were dealing with people who had their own agenda way, way above either Bradley or team or sportsmanship...
those who saw this all coming quite accurately predicted that even if Josh had talent - he wouldn't likely help us win any games, that we'd get little else from the same AAU bunch without paying the piper, and that in a year or two if he was any good, he'd leave and go somewhere else.
Pretty amazing how it all turned out just as some predicted. Cross & JG bear some responsibility as well since they encouraged this by OK'ing paying the AAU boss twice what all the other assistants were getting..
Wardle seems smarter than that - I think he will build with solid kids who want to be here.


and one more thing - and won't bother you with this any more..
but a lot of what went on will never be known because things were kept secret...even the Board minutes that I have made known reveal that some members of the Board of Trustees were ticked that they were kept in the dark and even lied to about some of the shady stuff that went on...spending, hirings....

Board members citing "failure to report", "Non-disclosure", "lack of transparency"...and Athletic losses "that ballooned" way out of control and beyond what was reported to the Board..
this is the stuff that generated such drastic, broad, sweeping changes starting in January with the massive house-cleaning...
Like I said - there's more, and wizard knows some of it, too.... but much will never be known..

[wizard1]

Brace for More Bad News

I am very happy that Coach Wardle is at BU and I will support him 100%.

However, I hope he has not overdone it with the "Tough Guy" drill instructor approach and driven off people that we are going to need next year and that he is not giving the BU program a reputation that turns off good prospective recruits. We will still need at least 10 players to run a program next year.
Wiz

[wizard1]

Brace for more bad news

Coach...At the current very high cost for season tickets and patiently enduring the last 4 BU seasons, I'm not sure I will be willing to "just wait out next season" unless there is some kind of ticket/maintenance cost accommodation. 'Just waiting out next season" could be a disaster for BU.
Wiz

[basketball nut]

Hey Vent I do think it would be nice not to burn our Bridges in Chicago but other than josh we really haven't gotten much during Geno's years. Myself I'd like to see more kids from Iowa , Wisc & Minn that can shoot. It will be interesting to see what he can bring in and if we can be competitive. Sure hope so. It also is not hard to see why we've been SOOOOO bad during Geno's years. The kids he brought in obviously were not very tough. We saw that in their play now we're seeing that in them leaving because this guy is much tougher on them than the previous staff. Exception Nate of course. I do not want to see Thomas leave but if he does good riddance. There is an old saying." when the going gets tough, the tough get going" and that did not mean out the door.

Good point to go get the guys that can play in your system. How many Chicago kids are the successful programs in the MVC getting? BJ @ UNI says he wants the kids that want to work hard and fit in his system no matter where they come from. He beats the bushes for the kids that fall in the cracks and look at the teams he comes up w/ every year. Am I saying that we forget the Chicago kids? Not at all but if it means having to make promises that might not be in the teams best interest and pay off the AAU people then I would not worry about those kids. How many kids does GM @ WSU have or has had in the past that are from Chicago? Yet we keep saying we need those kids and we never get out of the bottom half of the league so maybe we really don't need these kids as bad as we think unless they really want to come here-AKA JL, TL, HH, JJ and the kids like that like we use to get.

[Chico]

I am very happy that Coach Wardle is at BU and I will support him 100%.

However, I hope he has not overdone it with the "Tough Guy" drill instructor approach and driven off people that we are going to need next year and that he is not giving the BU program a reputation that turns off good prospective recruits. We will still need at least 10 players to run a program next year.
Wiz

I would hope the ones leaving would have been man enough to be able to have a tough guy coach and would welcome a chance to win more than 9 games.

[TPS1]

Glad he's not abusing this rule like Maniscalco did.

Speaking of Nate....I have heard he is making progress toward a decision where he will transfer to. Nate is the rare instance where his transfer is because he truly wants to pursue a masters degree in an area that Bradley does not offer a masters (that is what the NCAA grad transfer rule is for, but it is usually abused).

[Da Coach]

Nice to see he is not. But don't suggest that Maniscalco was somehow unique. 99% of the 5th year transfers use the rule to play basketball elsewhere, not specifically to further their education. I suspect that will be the case with Max, too.

And for those who do not know, Sam transferred because he and his family had been given assurances that if he redshirted in 2010-11, that he'd be able to return and play his last year for Coach Les in 2011-12. They were fooled, and nobody can blame them for their animosity toward those who betrayed them. Sam gave everything he had for Bradley and still loves Bradley, the fans, and almost everyone and everything about BU.

[PistolP]

That's too bad. I would have liked to have seen what those guys could have done for the new coach. It looks like our relationship with the Chicago AAU guys is not very good right now. Even though the guys we had from the Chicago AAU team(s) didn't contribute a lot last season, other than Josh, it would have been nice to have a continuing good relationship with them. You never know when you may get a player from them, that could play for Wardle and be a factor in the Bradley program.

Hopefully, the guys leaving eventually get their degree at a four year school. It will be the best thing for them and the best thing for Bradley.

Thanks for the update.

Remember that Donte Thomas last played for Meanstreets on the AAU circuit and BU has no specific relationship with anyone from Meanstreets. I happen to know Tai Streets a little bit and if anyone else knows him they would confirm that Tai is a down to earth, stand up guy who fully understands the + and - of AAU. Arguably one of the best dual sport HS athletes ever in the state of Illinois, it would be nice to see if Wardle can create a relationship with his organization as Tai is vested in truly helping kids out.

[MacabreMob]

I am sure Wardle is smart enough not to do that. I believe he thinks he can land recruits that are better than what we are losing.

If we can't, maybe we'll just sit out next season.

I am all in favor of having maybe 7 or 8 scholarship players next season and the rest walk-ons.

We can't get worse, can't finish worse.

And if that is considered "just sitting out" next season, I am in favor of it.

This leaves us with the ability to build for the future without getting locked into (scholarship) players we may not want in 2 years cause we can recruit and replace them with better ones. No hurt feelings. Walk-ons can continue to practice and maybe make the team in the end.

The pressure is not on for NEXT SEASON to show change. Next season is only the beginning in the longer and slower process of making Bradley a successful program every year.

[Tommy]

I'm convinced Wardle has the ability to win more games with all walk-ons than last year's team provided us.