2017 Valley recruits

[Da Coach]

If Loyola wishes to enforce the 2-year rule, then it doesn't make sense for Chastain to transfer within the MVC.
But the MVC bylaws do allow for a waiver of this rule is the initial school agrees to enforce only the NCAA-mandated 1-year residency requirement.

Here are the bylaws- the transfer rule is under section 4.2 (on page 12), and the waiver is addressed in 4.2.4 & 4.2.5-

http://www.mvc.org/manual/bylaws.pdf

[Da Coach]

Less than a week in the signing period .....
maroon=signed

Trying to update...could have missed someone...

2017
Bradley - Ryan Stipanovich - LINK, Elijah Childs, Luqman Lundy (0 open scholarships)
Drake - Teyvion Kirk - now reopened, Tai Bibbs - now reopened , Jalen Gibbs, Noah Thomas, Connor Gholson (walk-on) (2 scholarships currently open as Bibbs, Kirk, Johannes Dolven and Billy Wampler are all gone)
Evansville - Evan Kuhlman (signed), Noah Frederking (signed), Marty Hill (2 or maybe 3 scholarships currently open) (Silas Adheke removed as he classified as a 2016)
Illinois State - William Tinsley, Elijah Clarance (signed), Zach Copeland, Taylor Bruninga, Christian Romine & Milik Yarbrough, transfers eligible in 2017 (one scholarship currently open - Washington gone)
Indiana State - Devin Thomas (signed), Tyreke Key (signed), Elafayette Stone (now reneged and signs with juco - see below) (signed), Daniel Huenermann (signed), Clayton Hughes (2 scholarships currently open as Donovan Franklin is gone & Elafayette Stone gone)
Loyola - Cameron Krutwig (signed), Christian Negron (signed), Lucas Williamson, Adarius Avery, Carson Shanks - transfer (zero scholarships currently open, Maurice Kirby gone, maybe one-over)
Missouri State - Reggie Scurry (signed), Darian Scott (signed), Mustafa Lawrence, (signed), Abdul-Hakim Fofana, James "JT" Miller - a grad transfer from Howard - (will not sign a Letter of Intent) (zero or poosibly 1 scholarships currently open, Chris Kendrix, Robin Thompson leaving and Austin Ruder is leaving & Ronnie Rousseau is back)
UNI - Austin Phyfe (signed), Tywhon Pickford, Adam McDermott - walk-on transfer from North Dakota sitting out 2016-17 (zero scholarships left for 2017)
SIU - Demarius Jacobs - had signed LOI but now reneged and going to prep school, Eric McGill, Kavion Pippen,
Jeremy Roscoe - (will not sign a LOI since he signed one in 2016), Marcus Bartley - transfer eligible in 2017 (0 or 1 scholarships currently open - depends if Jeremy Roscoe qualifies)
Wichita State - deleted
Valparaiso - Markus Golder (LOI signed), Parker Hazen (LOI signed), Mileek McMillan (LOI signed) (2 scholarships open)

SIU's Jeremy Roscoe, who redshirted as a freshman last season, will transfer to Panola junior college.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/jeremy-roscoe

[tornado]

I think that gives SIU the league lead in LOI's from guys who don't ever play there..

[isufan]

Sycamores added a grad transfer from Louisiana Tech today

[Da Coach]

Sycamores added a grad transfer from Louisiana Tech today

Louisiana Tech 6'6" redshirt-senior Qiydar Davis has transferred to Indiana State as a grad-transfer-

http://gosycamores.com/news/2017/5/23/qiydar-davis-joins-sycamore-basketball-program.aspx

http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/qiydar_davis_907940.html

He is originally from the Atlanta area, and went to Pensacola State College, then Indian Hills CC before transferring to Louisiana Tech in 2014.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/qiydar-davis

His only full season of play at Louisiana Tech was his first season there (2014-15) when he averaged 3.3 ppg and 2.2 rpg in 29 games-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3132373/qiydar-davis

But then his 2015-16 season was cut short, just 7 games, by a MCL knee injury. He received a medical redshirt, rehabbed, and came back this past season (2016-17). He averaged 10.6 ppg and 6.7 rpg in those 7 games.
Here is a Youtube video from when he was healthy at La. Tech-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9ydVBkZuHo

He played in just 5 games this past season (2016-17) for Louisiana Tech before his season ended with a serious ACL injury in the 5th game. He averaged 5.0 ppg and 2.8 rpg in those 5 games.-

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sports/college/la-tech/2016/12/13/la-techs-qiydar-davis-season-acl-injury/95377012/

He may need to receive a waiver from the NCAA to play a 6th year (at Indiana State) because he has already played in 5 seasons (1 at Pensacola State, 1 at Indian Hills, and 3 at Louisiana Tech) though 2 of the 3 seasons at La. Tech were limited by his knee injuries.

[tornado]

Louisiana Tech 6'6" redshirt-senior Qiydar Davis has transferred to Indiana State as a grad-transfer-.......Louisiana Tech.....

the infamous Louisiana Tech --> to --> Indiana State Pipeline...

http://www.tribstar.com/sports/isu-men-s-basketball-adds-louisiana-tech-transfer/article_18d5d11e-b655-5508-800f-d72a4f93c0eb.html

[Da Coach]

Northern Iowa just added a junior college recruit for their 2017 class-
Miles Wentzien- a 6'3" guard from Division II juco Kirkwood Comunity College in Cedar Rapids will be a walk-on. He averaged 14.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg, and shot 45% from three this past season at Kirkwood.

http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/college/mens-basketball/uni-hoops-adds-kirkwoods-miles-wentzien-as-walk-on-20170524

Kirkwood Comunity College is the same school current UNI guard Hunter Rhodes attended, as well as the same junior college that former UNI star Ali Farokhmanesh attended prior to transferring to UNI.

For any who don't remember Ali Farokhmanesh, here is what he is famous for-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDWYx3LVrPg

[Da Coach]

I am hearing rumors that former Leroy star Matt Chastain, who spent last year as a medical redshirt at Loyola, could end up at Illinois State. Though Dan Muller has 2 open scholarships, the rumor is that Chastain is being offered a walkon spot for next year, then possibly a scholarship after that.

And again, it seems that my ISU inside connection is 100% accurate! We had this story right 1?? weeks ago.
LeRoy, IL All State player Matt Chastain, who spent last year at Loyola as a medical redshirt, announced today that he will transfer to Illinois State as a walk-on.

https://twitter.com/Pg_Benson/status/870028180819779584

He will sit out next year per NCAA rules, and then have 3 years of eligibility left. Also as we suggested, Loyola will not be enforcing the MVC 2-year residency rule.

[Da Coach]

And again, it seems that my ISU inside connection is 100% accurate! We had this story right 1?? weeks ago.
LeRoy, IL All State player Matt Chastain, who spent last year at Loyola as a medical redshirt, announced today that he will transfer to Illinois State as a walk-on.

https://twitter.com/Pg_Benson/status/870028180819779584

He will sit out next year per NCAA rules, and then have 3 years of eligibility left. Also as we suggested, Loyola will not be enforcing the MVC 2-year residency rule.

Article from the Bloomington Pantagraph-

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/former-leroy-all-stater-chastain-transfers-to-illinois-state/article_81ef8213-6d57-51c2-8d1b-bd4192c9cbaa.html

There is also an article in the PJ Star, but it is almost a carbon copy of the Pantagraph article.

[tornado]

A couple comments are interesting...

"Because Loyola did not give Chastain a release to another Valley school —
which is standard practice in transfer cases — Muller was not able to talk to
Chastain until he officially enrolled in classes last week."
...so Loyola did not want him transferring to ISU??


Then:
"Having a year to sit out while getting healthy will be very beneficial to Matt"
and
"his knee is getting better all the time. He hopes to be able to be cleared for full contact in October."
and
"We'll see where he's at when he gets healthy..” (so he must not currently be "healthy"?)
...
a lot of athletes get ACL tears then have surgery and rehab all within 6 months...some take longer...
Chastain's recovery must be taking longer, since it has already been 6 months and he's only now hoping to get "cleared" by October...
Plus, Muller thinks he needs a year to sit out "to get healthy".


Then Matt's comment-
"I did not feel it was the right fit basketball-wise."

[Vent]

The kid can shoot!

[PurpleAceFan]

Have a colleague at work whose son was a classmate of Matt's and still a good friend. Primary reasons why he left Loyola, from what I was told that he - Just did not like the big city and did not acclimate well. Culture shock of going from a town of 2,700 to the big city was hard on him. Having the knee injury did not help as it caused him to have to disconnect somewhat from the team.

[tornado]

Here is what Matt Chastain said in the article..

he said he wanted to go away to school --
"..“The big thing with me coming out of high school is that I didn't want to be super close to home..."

and that his shock at being away and in the big city "got better".....
“At first being in the city was quite a bit different for me coming from LeRoy. That got better and I enjoyed that,” said Chastain."

I think some of the truth in these situations never gets told...
The coaches sure don't want to bad-mouth the kid and make himself look bad..
..and the main reason any player leaves is that he finds he's not likely to get playing time there...so I suspect that's what most people will reason..

[Da Coach]

I wish him luck, but considering almost all his offers coming out of high school were Division II offers, apparently most college coaches were not convinced he was a D1 caliber player when he was 100% healthy.
Again, I hope he proves them wrong, but after a serious ACL injury and reconstruction, and after sitting out of competitive basketball for 2 full seasons, I expect his speed, athleticism, and jumping ability will be less than it was. Since he is walking on and paying his own way at ISU, maybe it would have been better for a kid in his situation to go to a junior college, get back into playing shape, work on his game, then come back to D1. He would still have 3 more years to play at D1, and would not waste a full year of eligibility by sitting idle like he will next season. There are very few examples of kids who miss 2 full years who are able to come back and produce like they would have before such a serious injury.

[Vent]

Danny Adams wasn't heavily recruited out of high school either, after an injury. He also was a pure shooter and I believe he was a walk-on. I saw this kid play at the IHSA state tournament and he is also a pure shooter. I think it's a good pick up for ISU. They get a local kid that can shoot and don't burn a scholarship. Kind of like Bradley did with Adams.