2017 Valley recruits

[PurpleAceFan]

sure, just asking, but many times we've heard the opposite argument that if the kid can transfer with 3 years of DI eligibility - it's infinitely better, -- Phil Fayne, Anthony Cousin, John Wilkins...

No way in the world a year at juco benefits a kid as much as a year at DI...and sometimes they regress - just ask DeAaron Williams or Shang Ping...and you can even take a redshirt year at DI if you want to...

spending that extra season of eligibility in juco generally does not lead to as much development and means the kid won't have the chance to start in the new DI system until a full year later.

if ISU wants him bad enough they'd have found a spot now but remember- the kid said he had Florida State, SIU, UE and others, too.....

True. I know this family very well and they did think about that and was offered that option from a few schools. Ultimately he decided to keep his commitment to the JUCO and use the game time to work on a few things. William is a fantastic kid; definitely old school when it comes to keeping commitments.

The stack of letters he had with official offers, including Florida State, was impressive and growing. Saw them myself, so I can definitely validate that this was not a "the kid said" that I know we all hear from numerous kids as they are being recruited. He had also had numerous conversations with San Diego State recently and they were trying to get him to take visit as well.

Ultimately his dream was to play at ISU so very happy for him that he gets to live that dream.

[tornado]

..... a lot of big $$ from sources
".... shoe-makers such as
Nike and adidas.".........

speaking of shoe compannies influencing where a kid goies...

read this...Gary Parrish from CBSSports...
...recruiting is getting dirtier according to many sources as the shoe company money definitely influences where kids go

http://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/candid-coaches-college-basketball-recruiting-isnt-getting-any-cleaner/

[tornado]

2017
Bradley - Ryan Stipanovich - LINK (0 open scholarships)
Drake - Teyvion Kirk, Tai Bibbs (0 scholarship currently open)
Evansville - Silas Adheke (4 scholarships currently open)
Illinois State - William Tinsley (1 scholarship currently open)
Indiana State - (4 scholarships currently open)
Loyola - Cameron Krutwig (0 scholarships currently open)
Missouri State - (3 scholarships currently open)
UNI - Austin Phyfe (1 scholarships left for 2017)
SIU - (5 scholarships currently open)
Wichita State - (1 scholarships currently open)


Just for those who are interested...
the FALL signing period for Letter of Intent is Wed. November 9 thru Wed. November 16, 2016.
That's just a little over 11 weeks away!!

[tornado]

...
Evansville - Silas Adheke (4 scholarships currently open)..

interesting....
Class of 2017 Silas Adheke
- who just gave his verbal to Evansville, will be RECLASSIFYING as Class of 2016 and will try to join the Evansville Aces this fall!

https://twitter.com/ECP_Allar/status/766688737770278913

However, his "paperwork is not finalized" so he has yet to join the team.

https://twitter.com/ECP_Allar/status/768568695102767104

This will give them 7 new players this season...ISU has 8 if you count the guys who have to sit out after transfer, and Bradley will have 8 as well.

[tornado]

There's a report from SIU that one of the players who was signed for 2016 but ineligible - will enroll at SIU & get his grades in order then reportedly may be on scholarship in 2017-18
Jeremy Roscoe - LINK


2017
Bradley - Ryan Stipanovich - LINK (0 open scholarships)
Drake - Teyvion Kirk, Tai Bibbs (0 scholarship currently open)
Evansville - (4, maybe 5 scholarships currently open) (Silas Adheke removed as he classified as a 2016)
Illinois State - William Tinsley (1 scholarship currently open)
Indiana State - (4 scholarships currently open)
Loyola - Cameron Krutwig (0 scholarships currently open)
Missouri State - (3 scholarships currently open)
UNI - Austin Phyfe (1 scholarships left for 2017)
SIU - Jeremy Roscoe - will not sign a LOI since he signed one in 2016) (3 scholarships currently open)
Wichita State - (1 or possibly zero scholarships currently open - depends on who is walking on)

..the FALL signing period for Letter of Intent is Wed. November 9 thru Wed. November 16, 2016.

[tornado]

Unfortunately now with Evansville's Blake Simmons holding over another year on redshirt, that will reduce their available scholarship number for 2017 by one
..according to various sources, they have at least a dozen offers out for 2017

[Da Coach]

Illini Bluffs senior Taylor Bruninga, who has gotten some recruiting interest from several MVC schools including Bradley, is listed among the 5 top sleepers in the class of 2017 still on the board-

http://ny2lasports.com/article_one.aspx?articleid=3598

His AAU coach for the Peoria based Illinois Irish says this about him-
"Taylor Bruninga will be a steal at the D1 level. Lots of similarities to Alec Peters at same age"

[tornado]

Newest Evansville recruit for 2017 added
Kuhlman was a backup option and when Evansville's top target, a hometown kid that they threw a lot of resources at - decided
to go elsewhere - then they opened to door for Kuhlman.

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=26489

2017
Bradley - Ryan Stipanovich - LINK (0 open scholarships)
Drake - Teyvion Kirk, Tai Bibbs (0 scholarship currently open)
Evansville - Evan Kuhlman (4, maybe 5 scholarships currently open) (Silas Adheke removed as he classified as a 2016)
Illinois State - William Tinsley (1 scholarship currently open)
Indiana State - (4 scholarships currently open)
Loyola - Cameron Krutwig (0 scholarships currently open)
Missouri State - (3 scholarships currently open)
UNI - Austin Phyfe (1 scholarships left for 2017)
SIU - Jeremy Roscoe - will not sign a LOI since he signed one in 2016) (3 scholarships currently open)
Wichita State - (1 or possibly zero scholarships currently open - depends on who is walking on)

[Disturbed]

Illini Bluffs senior Taylor Bruninga, who has gotten some recruiting interest from several MVC schools including Bradley, is listed among the 5 top sleepers in the class of 2017 still on the board-

http://ny2lasports.com/article_one.aspx?articleid=3598

His AAU coach for the Peoria based Illinois Irish says this about him-
"Taylor Bruninga will be a steal at the D1 level. Lots of similarities to Alec Peters at same age"

Also a first team all-state baseball player and an accomplished golfer according to Dave Reynolds in the PJ Star today.

[Da Coach]

Also a first team all-state baseball player and an accomplished golfer according to Dave Reynolds in the PJ Star today.

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/20160912/preps-daily-star-of-day-and-check-this-out

[Da Coach]

Illinois State just received a commitment tonight from a Swedish point guard from the class of 2017.
Elijah Clarance, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound point guard from St. Maria-Goretti High School in Hagerstown, Md. came to the US from Sweden two years ago.

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/maryland-prep-point-guard-commits-to-isu/article_aba247a5-9c4a-54a1-97b3-6be2e4171e70.html

Video-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEGUrXtBXH8

This is ISU's second high school commitment for 2017, in addition to William Tinsley. They also have a couple of redshirting transfers this year who will become eligible in 2017. I think that puts them at the limit of 13 scholarships for 2017.

[tornado]

That's right, so with offers out to a lot of much higher rated kids like Elijah Joiner and Nana Akenten, this would be their final scholarship (on paper) so they may now know those other kids have dropped them and are going elsewhere. Possibly other scholarship(s) will open in the spring.

He plays for an small high school in Maryland with an enrollment of just over 200 - that's roughly the size of Peoria Heights HS. He also had offers from Towson & Delaware. He just got back from a visit to St. Bonaventure but there was no report of an offer from them.
I saw where his brother also played college basketball in the US and went on to play pro overseas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilal_Clarance

Elsewhere they describe Clarance...
[I]"Elijah Clarance, a 6-foot-4 lefty guard (he is listed variably from 6-2 to 6-4)

He spent a majority of his junior season injured, but when he was healthy he averaged 11.0 points per game during his junior year....

[PurpleAceFan]

That's right, so with offers out to a lot of much higher rated kids like Elijah Joiner and Nana Akenten, this would be their final scholarship (on paper) so they may now know those other kids have dropped them and are going elsewhere. Possibly other scholarship(s) will open in the spring.

He plays for an small high school in Maryland with an enrollment of just over 200 - that's roughly the size of Peoria Heights HS. He also had offers from Towson & Delaware. He just got back from a visit to St. Bonaventure but there was no report of an offer from them.
I saw where his brother also played college basketball in the US and went on to play pro overseas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilal_Clarance

Elsewhere they describe Clarance...
[I]"Elijah Clarance, a 6-foot-4 lefty guard (he is listed variably from 6-2 to 6-4)

He spent a majority of his junior season injured, but when he was healthy he averaged 11.0 points per game during his junior year....

Didn't know Joiner or Akenten were rated higher than 3 stars on ESPN. Akenten committed to Nebraska yesterday so very excited for ISU that they got Clarance. Wish my Aces were able to say no to 3* recruits while waiting for others to make decisions.

[tornado]

you seem to be suggesting that Clarance is widely as highly rated as Akenten and Joiner, which is definitely not the case.
Multiple rating services do not even know who Clarance is.

some who at least know who he is have him rated zero stars and don't even know how to spell his name correctly

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/7105

I don't know if that means he can't be a success at ISU but I have to think maybe ISU would have preferred Akenten or Joiner but now know they aren't on his list.
The rankings are interesting but they have been overhyped when it comes to MVC players...given the paucity of MVC kids that even make the NBA or even get a tryout with a team.


btw- there was one recruiting service that rated Koch Bar at 4-Stars, but he probably won't play a lot this season. Ratings can be off a bit but the number of top schools - schools with perennial RPI's better than 250 - who have offered the kid, tell the storySome of the ISU recruits last year got fair hypem but NDiaye, Hein, Harvey, Evans, and Griffin only scored about 100 pts combined last year and I am not sure that group scored any past Christmas..

[WSpringsBird]

you seem to be suggesting that Clarance is widely as highly rated as Akenten and Joiner, which is definitely not the case.
Multiple rating services do not even know who Clarance is.

some who at least know who he is have him rated zero stars and don't even know how to spell his name correctly

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/7105

I don't know if that means he can't be a success at ISU but I have to think maybe ISU would have preferred Akenten or Joiner but now know they aren't on his list.
The rankings are interesting but they have been overhyped when it comes to MVC players...given the paucity of MVC kids that even make the NBA or even get a tryout with a team.


btw- there was one recruiting service that rated Koch Bar at 4-Stars, but he probably won't play a lot this season. Ratings can be off a bit but the number of top schools - schools with perennial RPI's better than 250 - who have offered the kid, tell the storySome of the ISU recruits last year got fair hypem but NDiaye, Hein, Harvey, Evans, and Griffin only scored about 100 pts combined last year and I am not sure that group scored any past Christmas..

Like you, I don't have any idea whether Clarance will have a good career at ISU.

Just for clarity, though, none of the freshmen last year had a 3-star rating from any service, at least according to Verbal Commits. There are good explanations for why most of those folks had low production after December. Three of the guys you mentioned were injured (Griffin, Ndiaye, and Evans). Hein was redshirted. Harvey was always viewed as a project; many of us thought he would be redshirted as well. He has transferred and was a clear recruiting miss, but he was not highly regarded, even on the overexuberant Redbirdfan.net.

Griffin will be a good player somewhere. Unfortunately that "somewhere" will not be ISU.