2016 top target

[LongTimeFan]

I concur with DC about the talent being thin at this time. It might be the best to hang onto scholarships instead of just settling for warm bodies as we have done in the past. However, this means we might need better luck to land impact players next year than we have had in the past.

Of course, I'm not on the recruiting trail with the coaches and not an basketball insider.

[tornado]

Jerelle DeBerry - former Wardle commit when at Green Bay - commits to Kent State
Rian Holland - former Shocker who hit 50% from the arc - commits to Mercer
Former BU Recruit Tyquone Greer signs with Hofstra
Former IU Hoosier Emmitt Holt visiting Providence who are going after him hard

[Da Coach]

Another former Bradley recruit just decommitted from UNLV and has reopened his recruiting.
Carlos Johnson, who was offered by Brian Wardle back in May, 2015, eventually committed to UNLV. But with all the coaching changes at UNLV, he has decided to reopen his recruiting.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/carlos-johnson

Info from Recruiting board-

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=25358

He is a 6'5", 220 pound physical forward, who would fill a real need for Bradley.

[tornado]

will try to update this list...there are certainly some other names - even some we have threads about,
but these all had serious offers or interest in the recent couple months..

2016 recruits:

These two have recent offers...
Hunter Rhodes - from Canton - a very good shooter
Rodney Culver - just recently offered
Nate Taphorn - could be available in 2016 as a grad-transfer - another link - already talking about graduation...but gets absolutely ZERO respect at Northwestern and PT not likely to improve - would love to see at BU


These are probably not gonna happen now...
Justin Thomas - Indianapolis Pike point guard first mentioned here over 3 months ago - LINK--> also here- LINK LINK- probably backed off now that we have a commit from PG Darrell Brown
Richardson Maitre - puzzling scarcity of offers, still playing AAU!
Zion Morgan - decommitted from Valpo - reopened recruitment, playing spring AAU - strangely NOT getting offers


These seem way off our radar at this point...
Charles Tucker - again, highly touted but very scarce offers - maybe land at Texas State
Daniel Soetan - LINK - stock has fallen - no new offers in months
Derrick Walker - moved to Sunrise Prep, still mentions Bradley offer- still unsigned and getting very few offers & playing AAU against 15, 16 & 17-yr olds - a bad sign
Ben Coupet - still available - not sure if "qualified"- the lack of much recruiting news on such a talented kid usually means bad academics
Montrell Dixson - still strangely no offers - and still playing AAU - generally that means recruiters know something


Committed elsewhere........
Emmitt Holt - ex-IU Hoosier - Just verballed to Providence
Kavell Bigby-Williams - Commits to Oregon
Freddie McSwain, Jr. - just offered & just visited - down to Indiana vs. K-State
David Burrell - doubt he ever had a BU offer but verballed to East Tennessee State
Jerrell DeBerry - verballed to Kent State
Rian Holland - just verballed to Mercer
Daeshon Francis - verballed to Stephen F. Austin
Nick Robinson -verballed to St. Joseph's

[tornado]

Emmitt Holt off the board - just verballed to Providence

[tornado]

juco Charles Tucker off the board - signed with Sacred Heart

[tornado]

Rodney Culver - just recently offered...

Rodney Culver - who visited Bradley and who had a Bradley offer..
just verballed to Ohio

[Da Coach]

I suspect after the commitment of Jerome Merritt, our coaches pulled back any offer or interest in Culver, a very similar 6'5" athletic wing.

[tornado]

2016 recruits:
...not many left that we know are still being pursued...perhaps our staff are turning towards the 2017 guys...


Hunter Rhodes - from Canton - a very good shooter- we recently offered
Nate Taphorn - could be available - no word yet, may need 'til summer to become grad studentin 2016 as a grad-transfer - another link - already talking about graduation...but gets absolutely ZERO respect at Northwestern and PT not likely to improve - would love to see at BU


These are probably not gonna happen now...
Justin Thomas - Indianapolis Pike point guard first mentioned here over 3 months ago - LINK--> also here- LINK LINK- probably backed off now that we have a commit from PG Darrell Brown. Thomas not getting much interest
Richardson Maitre - puzzling scarcity of offers, still playing AAU!



These seem way off our radar at this point...

Daniel Soetan - LINK - stock has fallen - no new offers in months- kinda looking at Chicago State vs. DII
Derrick Walker - moved to Sunrise Prep, still mentions Bradley offer- still unsigned and getting very few offers & playing AAU against 15, 16 & 17-yr olds - a bad sign
Montrell Dixson - still strangely no offers - and still playing AAU - generally that means recruiters know something...

then lastly...
Ben Coupet - still available - not sure if "qualified"- the lack of much recruiting news on such a talented kid usually means bad academics
Gotta remember - at one time Ben Coupet was ranked in the TOP THREE players in his class in the entire COUNTRY, and #1 in Illinois Class of 2016!
Wow- has he fallen - now he's about to graduate and still hardly has any offers...as I said above, recruiters clearly must know something.


Committed elsewhere........
Zion Morgan - decommitted from Valpo - reopened recruitment, playing spring AAU - but now going the prep route & will become 2017 recruit - grades?
Charles Tucker - again, highly touted but very scarce offers - finally verballed to Sacred Heart, a DI that's barely beyond the transitioning period from DII
Rodney Culver - BU offered but chose Ohio
Emmitt Holt - ex-IU Hoosier - Just verballed to Providence
Kavell Bigby-Williams - Commits to Oregon
Freddie McSwain, Jr. - BU offered and were in the running but he pared down to Indiana vs. K-State & chose Indiana
David Burrell - doubt he ever had a BU offer but verballed to East Tennessee State
Jerrell DeBerry - verballed to Kent State
Rian Holland - just verballed to Mercer
Daeshon Francis - verballed to Stephen F. Austin
Nick Robinson -verballed to St. Joseph's

[Da Coach]

Here is an interesting name I came across-

https://verbalcommits.com/players/xavier-mcdaniel-jr

Xavier McDaniel, Jr. commits to Texas-Rio Grande Valley (used to be Texas-Pan Am, but the name changed when they merged with The University of Texas at Brownsville).
Most fans will recall his father, Xavier McDaniel, who was a consensus 1st team All American player for Wichita State in 1985 when he lead the country in scoring and rebounding. He was a pretty good NBA player, too.

[tornado]

or use one of our scholarships to take a grad-transfer if one is available that can help right away - that way the scholarship is available still for 2017 and can be used again..

Looks like finally we can close this 2016 recruiting thread and move on to 2017!
There's really nobody left anyway!

[tornado]

there are reports that Ben Coupet has verballed to UNLV..
Maybe they can find a way to get him eligible but we heard the same about Marcus Lovett to St. John's and Luwane Pipkins to UMass last year and ultimately neither one was eligible.

Las Vegas article still prominently lists the Bradley offer

http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/unlv-rebels/basketball/unlv-picks-chicago-s-ben-coupet

[tornado]

Here's a "kid" who is "unsigned"....

He is the top player for Mira Costa Community College - a California juco...
and the 9th leading scorer in the state

http://mccspartans.com/sports/mbkb/2015-16/bios/boyd_buddha_tdxa

he's averaging 19 ppg (22 ppg in conference play) and hits 40% from the arc...
he's a 6-4 guard that also grabs 7.6 rpg, and hands out 2.3 apg

Here's the interesting thing - after a career in the military - this "kid" is already 34 years old...

His name is Buddha Boyd

http://cccaastats.org/sports/mbkb/2014-15/players/buddhaboydrx3a

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/4744019/highlights/240345487

[tornado]

Montrell Dixson - ....

Montrell Dixson, cousin of UIC's Dikembe Dixson - who was surprisingly good this year at UIC- averaging nearly a double double in league play - and winning the Horizon Freshman of the Year..
..MONTRELL was offered early on by Bradley but his academics failed to qualify him...
Montrell Dixson will attend junior college at Coffeyville Community College in Coffeyville, KS

He's pretty talented and could maybe land later at UIC with his cousin, who he had played alongside in several different high schools from Freeport, to the Kentucky team coached by AJ Youngman's dad, to West Virginia..
(UIC has ex-Bradley assistant Ronald "Chin" Coleman, but they haven't landed any Chicago Public School kids...in fact- most of the kids they've even offered are from well away from Chicago - they still aren't having much success in-town.
The only Chicago kid they have is little utilized redshirt freshman Dominique Matthews, whose commitment to UIC had nothing to do with Coleman, as Matthews verballed there a full month before Coleman was hired.)

But you'd also have to think that if Dikembe Dixson improves upon his freshman season at UIC, then he will undoubtedly be getting a few careful phone calls telling him that he could play at a higher level - and just like Drake's big man, Dominik Olejniczak, Dikembe will have the chance to be "recruited" again. If that happens it will be a real bummer to UIC as they are rebuilding. But look for schools like DePaul or other schools desperate for a little more talent to keep up in their conferences like Tennessee, K-State, Iowa State to come calling...
BTW - anyone notice how many DI transfers lately have headed to Nevada...especially a couple of top MVC kids - they are becoming the Iowa State of the Mountain West. They even poached one transfer from Iowa State!

[tornado]

...
BTW - anyone notice how many DI transfers lately have headed to Nevada...especially a couple of top MVC kids - they are becoming the Iowa State of the Mountain West. They even poached one transfer from Iowa State!

Nevada picks up TWO MORE DI transfers... LINK
They now have seven college transfers - eight if you count juco and four will have to sit out this season..and two more are sitting out now from transfer last year.