2017 Valley recruits

[mvcfan]

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.

It's a good get. A talented kid wants to join your program and pay his way. I love all the thoughts that he is not talented enough or should have gone to a juco. There seems to be two individuals that always know what would have been best for a kid and it never is attend ISU.

[tornado]

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.

I love this example- Danny Adams was a key piece of the team that won 22 games, finished in the Sweet 16, and will get celebrated in Bradley history as one of our best teams ever. He didn't score a ton of points, but he was a spark, added hustle and some key defensive plays, and more.
I would take a kid like DA as a walk-on any time. We actually had another one just a few years ago in Jimmy Gavin - but let him slip away.....he went on the star at Winthrop, averaged 19 ppg/3 asst and a nearly 2:1 A/T Ratio and even got some NBA looks before becoming a star overseas. Of all the players in the GF era, he is one of only two or three who have went on to play successfully at the professional level.

[Da Coach]

It's a good get. A talented kid wants to join your program and pay his way. I love all the thoughts that he is not talented enough or should have gone to a juco. There seems to be two individuals that always know what would have been best for a kid and it never is attend ISU.

In case you haven't noticed, this is an opinion board. And it is not the only one. There are far more outrageous opinions found on other opinion boards locally, including the ISU board. There are even more critical and demeaning posts on the Redbirdfan.net board, as well as suggestions there that he would go to a juco, that he will be recruited over, and even one poster who suggested (maybe joking) that he was recruited to help the ISU team "getting whiter". .

But as I have said before, I post a lot of opinions and predictions, and amazingly, nearly every one of turns out correct. We had the report of Matt Chastain transferring to ISU 1?? weeks before anyone else, and it turned out to be 100% correct.
Can you point to any of my predictions on this board that I was completely wrong about?

Also, can you point out any post I have made where I was critical of ISU? Or where I ever suggested a kid shouldn't "attend ISU"? Or that Matt Chastain "is not talented enough". No, I have never said any of those things, so you are the one who is 100% wrong!


As I posted above-

I wish him luck.....
...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....

[tornado]

....individuals that always know what would have been best for a kid and it never is attend ISU.

that's funny - quite a few of your posts seem to trash ISU kids cuz they didn't know what the right move was and you knew better

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=825131214&postcount=13

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=825131201&postcount=7

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=825131199&postcount=5

...etc...

[cpacmel]

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.

Didn't he have like 12-13 Division 1 offers (including Utah) coming out of high school?

[Da Coach]

Didn't he have like 12-13 Division 1 offers (including Utah) coming out of high school?

Looks like you are right. I retract that statement. I guess I was recalling the offers he got prior to the 2016 state tournament, which were all non-D1 offers. But verbalcommits.com shows that he got a flurry of late D1 offers in March, 2016, during and after the state tournament.

http://verbalcommits.com/players/matt-chastain

[tornado]

Yet another late addition for Porter Moser and Loyola
they add transfer Aher Uguak, 6-7 from New Mexico - will have to sit out 2017-18 and will have 3 years left

http://www.loyolaramblers.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/060817aaa.html

[HobertRich]

I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes with Miles Wentzien. I think he has potential.

[tornado]

another roster change for Evansville
redshirting freshman Silas Adheke has transferred to Eastern FL State College
Former Bradley asst Cole Pittis was an assistant coach there but is now no longer listed on their coaches page

he has been hired as Director of Basketball Operations under John Groce at Akron

https://hoopdirt.com/akron-zips-head-coach-john-groce-announces-mens-basketball-coaching-staff/

[tornado]

another likely roster move...
One of Drake's only big guys, 6-8 TJ Thomas - who started half their games and was by far their leading rebounder...
..is now reportedly NOT returning for 2017-18

In the two games he started against us he averaged 11 pts & 10.5 rebounds per game...
but late in the season, his production dropped a little when his playing time was cut...

That would leave Drake with 3 open scholarships headed into 2017-18 with almost nobody left to target..

[Da Coach]

another likely roster move...
One of Drake's only big guys, 6-8 TJ Thomas - who started half their games and was by far their leading rebounder...
..is now reportedly NOT returning for 2017-18

In the two games he started against us he averaged 11 pts & 10.5 rebounds per game...
but late in the season, his production dropped a little when his playing time was cut...

That would leave Drake with 3 open scholarships headed into 2017-18 with almost nobody left to target..

That could hurt Drake next season, though with a new coach, expectations won't be very high.

Drake's top 5 scorers last year were all guards (Timmer, Wampler, McMurray, Arogundade, and Woodward). They got very little production from their forwards, but T.J. Thomas was their top rebounder and their top scoring forward.

With his loss, and other personnel losses, Drake has only 3 forwards on their roster for next season- Casey Schlatter, Nick McGlynn, and Kory Kuenstling, none of whom produced much last season. No other player is taller than 6'3".

[tornado]

who knows, maybe this time things will be different...but Drake fans have every right to be a little ticked at their administration and especially their AD.

... each of the last several hires as head coach (since Tom Davis & Keno Davis) have been guys with next to zero recruiting prowess in the midwest...
Phelps, Giacoletti, Rutter, and now Niko Medved
...none had much name recognition and none had any real history of landing decent talent anywhere in the midwest.
Niko Medved was hailed as having "strong midwest ties"...but his "ties" barely extend to the recruiting area...
Just because he was born & raised in the midwest doesn't exactly equate to recruiting ties - just ask Ray Giacoletti.
Medved has virtually zero presence in Chicago and to the best of my ability I can't find that he's ever landed any player of any impact from Chicago..
..and nobody he's landed yet at Drake is from Chicago

I hate to be so blunt, but all Drake has ever landed over the past decade or so have been leftovers that no other DI was targeting and a few way undersized shooting guards & forwards that were more suited to DII (which is why many Drake kids end up leaving and transferring down).

Then they finally landed a kid that any midmajor would have loved to build their future around - big man Dominik Olejnicsak - and they barely gave the guy any playing time!!

The first time I saw the kid, I wondered what the hey ....- why isn't the guy playing more??
They rationed only 16 minutes a game to the kid as if they were worried he'd blow a gasket if he played more.
Even playing just 16 mpg, he was among their top scorers & rebounders...plus led the team in blocks and ......he hit an astounding 72.2% of his shots!!!
Even a comatosed fan had to wonder why Dom didn't start more, play more and SHOOT MORE!!

Well, whatever the factors - the kid obviously felt underappreciated and bolted as soon as that season was over...

Niko might have success there but nobody else has without having the recruiting connections in Illinois, Iowa and elsewhere in the midwest. If they have to hire again, they need to keep this in mind.

They certainly coulda done way worse than to have considered AJ Guyton for their hire...
AJ wanted to be considered but they didn't apparently give him the time of day!!

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showpost.php?p=825128835&postcount=3

[DUBulldog]

I hate to be so blunt, but all Drake has ever landed over the past decade or so have been leftovers that no other DI was targeting and a few way undersized shooting guards & forwards that were more suited to DII (which is why many Drake kids end up leaving and transferring down).

I don't think that's true at all....maybe for Giacoletti, but certainly not for Phelps. Guys like Karl Madison, Rayvonte Rice, Jeremy Jeffers, Ben Simons, etc were considered very good gets that had multiple solid mid-major offers.

Rayvonte Rice was a two year starter in the Big 10 and Joey King was a 3 year starter in the Big 10. Micah Mason was a 3 year starter at Duquesne.

Verbalcommits actually had Drake's talent rating higher than most in the MVC even last season.

Giacoletti certainly recruited a lot of big guys who weren't MVC level players. He seemed to think it was still the 1960s when you could win just by being bigger than the opponent's team.

..and nobody he's landed yet at Drake is from Chicago

lol...he's been at Drake for all of 2 months and has signed a grand total of 2 players. It might be a little early to say that he's failed in Chicago. We can see what happens over the next few years, and if he still hasn't signed anybody from Chicago area, I'll gladly come on here and admit you were right.

And yes, Drake fans are very unhappy with the athletic director. The Phelps hire was a terrible hire at a critical time and the Giacoletti hire was very unpopular on Drakenation from day 1 (actually, from the first time his name came up as a candidate)

[tornado]

I will give you that Rayvonte Rice was a very good player...
but here's where I think you have helped solidify my point...

I have to think that the groundwork for landing Rayvonte was likely begun by Keno Davis... but even if you wanna credit Phelps 100% - Rice - just like Mason & King (who were decent midmajor guys but wouldn't have made that much difference at Drake)- all played just 1 or 2 years at Drake then bolted and left them with an open scholarship.
So in the end, they didn't stay and they really didn't help Drake like you'd have hoped.
And nobody else recruited over the last 8 years has had much impact..

But one more thing- if you want to count Rice as a really good commit - then it also solidifies my argument that whoever is in charge over there at Drake oughta stop spending so much time prowling the AAU tourneys in Maryland and exposure events in Australia
they need to get over to Illinois and find more players like Rice...

He's got 3 open rides....how about Romon Douglas-Watkins? He coulda offered a starting spot to Taylor Bruninga!

[tornado]

Drake fills one of their open scholarships with a very late addition...
A 6-6 German kid, Antonio Pilipovic who turns 20 in August and is well under the radar (nobody on the Drake board seems to even know about him and he's not listed by any US recruiting sites. He did visit Montana but they apparently declined to offer.)

He is, hopefully, immediately eligible but has been playing German Club ball as an amateur junior team member for the past two years with the Rhein Stars of the Pro A league - averaging a under 1 ppg.

http://www.zweite-basketball-bundesliga.de/teams/kader/spieler/2541/

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/drake/2017/06/27/drake-receives-commitment-german-forward/433540001/

Drake also has another new guy but won't be eligible until mid-year, named Samm Jones, a little heralded transfer from Northwestern..
he was a walk-on at Northwestern but never played there & is likely a walk-on at Drake.

http://godrakebulldogs.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=5406&path=mbball

Northwestern already had two familiar walk-ons - they have the son of past Bradley player Rick Malnati (Tino Malnati) and they have the son of Seinfeld actress Julia Louis-Dreyfuss.