Northern Iowa Lands New Recruit

[PTTB]

The schools that UNI beat out for Montgomery were Cleveland State and Northeastern.
Some other schools (UMass, Loyola, NIU) had interest earlier when Montgomery had a very fine summer AAU tour, but during the CPL season some of the offers dropped off.
Lincoln Park lost the opening game of their regional to Chicago Crane, pretty surprising for a team that had 3 D-I players in Montgomery, Michael Thompson (Northwestern) and JJ Henley (Wisc.-GB).

I'll be honest, I have never seen Jon outside of online highlight videos. I'm excited for his strength and shooting ability from what I could see. I like that he was a 4 year starter, and has been all-conference 3 times, but I really don't know what else to expect. His teams recruiting him aren't exactly 'name' teams, but supposedly some teams backed off of him with concerns that he wouldn't get a qualifying score (which he did)---per his coach in the WCF Courier, Penn State was one of those that really was going after Jon.

The thing I like about these 2 additions is that it equals out the classes.

Sr- Coleman, Josten, Viet
Jr- Culliver, Brown, Reed
So- Ahelegbe, Koch, Eglseder
Fr- Dunham, Montgomery, O'Rear
RS- Lundberg (to get scholy in 2 years), and Barz (most likely...could play, but probably will use a year to get stronger)

Tornado-
Can you refresh my mind on why Ray Brown sat out this year? I thought he had a legal run-in last year, but I thought that was taken care of last season. I'm not trying to open up old wounds, but I just wasn't sure what the story was. Are Bradley fans expecting huge things from Ray this year?

[Da Coach]

PTTB-
Ray Brown tested positive in random testing conducted by the NCAA at the Auburn Hills Regional in March of 2006. He sat out the 365 day suspension mandated by NCAA rules. He has gotten bigger and stronger this past year and will be a key player next year.

[PTTB]

PTTB-
Ray Brown tested positive in random testing conducted by the NCAA at the Auburn Hills Regional in March of 2006. He sat out the 365 day suspension mandated by NCAA rules. He has gotten bigger and stronger this past year and will be a key player next year.

Thanks Da Coach! I was curious about that. I remember when Ray was at Richfield with Travis Brown. They were quite the team. I expect good things from Ray next year.

[tornado]

PTTB, I had a chance to talk to Ray Brown both at the Valley Tourney in St. Louis and at the banquet Monday, and he has really matured.
He knows the seriousness of his actions, and he knows what he neded to do to overcome it, to stay in the program, to stay in the coach's good graces, and to regain his opportunity for playing time.
And he has worked very hard to accomplish what's needed.
He worked on strength like the active players couldnt't even lifting hard on game days, and he has worked on his shot by shooting several hundred shots daily.
When people see him in a uniform they will be impressed.
He is sculpted and built like a senior, but he'll have at least two full years of eligibility left.
He is maybe the one guy I am most looking forward to seeing.

I am curious about Brett Barz.
There were comments that he'd be able to play right away and contribute right away, and now you are listing him as a redshirt!

Who will be your starting guards?

Let me take a guess....Josten, Ahelegbe, Travo?
With Coleman and Koch up front? Or do you think Big Jordan is ready to start?

[PTTB]

Good stuff tornado. Thanks for the in depth look at Ray Brown. Being able to sit out a year to work on getting stronger is a fantastic luxury for a player (whether it's a mandatory RS, a requested RS, or something along the lines of RB's situation). If you are mentally strong enough to endure sitting out of the game you love, and still driven to improve your game, it's going to be so beneficial on the other side. I remember Eldon Miller used to play some freshmen their first year, and then RS them their true sophomore year. Maybe that was one of his rationales.

About Barz: Barz is the #1 prospect in Iowa. No, he didn't win Mr. Basketball, but he also didn't have guards to get him the ball. There were games where he did have 30 points/15+ boards, but all in all, he didn't have good enough guards to get him the ball. And, as we know, if you have good guards you can be successful in the post. Barz went to Nike AA camp last summer and needs to improve his strength (which he has continued to do), however, I have heard that he actually is requesting a redshirt if possible. With having Coleman and Eglseder at the '5', that's a luxury UNI should be able to accommodate.

Starting guards?

Good question. The point guard position will be one of two guys, Kwadzo Ahelegbe or Matt Culliver (the Juco recruit). Kwadzo played alot better once he entered the starting lineup. I think his game will continue to expand. He needs to provide more of a defensive presence and play smarter, but that aspect of his game should improve with the experience he gained this year and headed into next year. This summer, UNI is eligible to go on a summer tour, so expect that to benefit his game. So, those are the two I expect to play the PG spot. If UNI for some reason needs a 3rd PG, it would be Brian Haak, a 2 year walk-on, son of a coach, and smart ballhandler. It would be a drop off from those two to Haak, but he could provide some spot minutes.

At '2' guard, that spot will be Jared Josten. He's too unselfish sometimes, and I think you will see him more assertive next year. For a better part of a month, he was the best offensive guard for UNI late in the season when Brown/Viet couldn't buy buckets. His pull-up game, speed, ball handling, and defense is needed for this team succeed, and if he can become a bigger leader and more assertive on the court, he should easily be able to be a double digit scorer for UNI. As for his back-up, I don't really consider there to be a backup at the 2/3 positions, as UNI will have numerous guards to choose from. I honestly don't know who will start in the '3' spot. Brown has experience, but Carlton Reed brings more ability to get to the rim than Travis. Part of the problem for Brown is that he was injured in the summer and couldn't play with the guys until late July/August. There was also a documented insomnia health problem halfway through the year that finally got taken care of.

So, if I had to guess, I would have to say that Reed will probably be the starter at the '3' position, but Travis Brown will get alot of minutes too. I think it's a luxury to be able to bring off the bench a 20+ game starter. Also, at that '3' position, you could see Kerwin Dunham (6'6" SG), who (as I stated in a post previously), has similar offensive tools as Benny J, although not as good defensively right now. His feel for the game is pretty impressive, and he can pop the three, use the screen for a pull up jumper, or do the 'fade away' that Benny J used to his benefit. At 6'6", he is able to maybe find more shots than Benny, but defensively, he needs to improve.

The other candidates are Adam Viet (who I feel will be a 3 point specialist---was about 50% from three prior to a shoulder injury halfway through January) and Jonathon Montgomery (who is just a freshman, but supposedly strong enough to play right away). The thing that will change most about the guard group for UNI is the fact that Josten will hopefully no longer have to be the main defensive guy. He won't have to wear himself down (although I don't think that happened too much) by guarding the primary ballhandler/scoring guard all the time. With Reed, Ahelegbe, Culliver, and Montgomery, that should be less of the case. UNI gave up so much defensively with McKowen (who was able to make up for some of his deficiencies with his smart play) and Travis Brown wasn't ready to be that primary defender. Now, if UNI has the quickness to compete on the perimeter, it should make the posts even more effective defending...which leads me to the posts.

Coleman and Koch will most likely start, but I expect the most ground to be gained by Big Jordan. He's 7'1" and was VERY efficient on offense this season. He was 57% from the field and 50% from 3 (which is something he can do). He averaged a point per two minutes in the game, and shot 75% from the FT line. He needs to get stronger in his lower body, but I think if Coleman wasn't the baller that he was, Jordan would be the starting center. Koch will also get better this summer. He was like a Stout clone form his freshman year. Koch will get stronger, and improve his game. Koch is more versatile than Stout, in that Koch can drive, whereas Stout didn't do that, and rather had a stellar turnaround jumper. Koch has to be consistent in shooting the three ball, which he can do, but you could see when shooting the last half of the season, that he was thinking too much out there. He showed improvement at the end of the year in 'just playing', and I hope that will transfer over next year. Coleman is well, Coleman, and he has to use the right more, and maybe even stepping out to 10 feet. If he can improve his FT percentage like he has the previous 2 years, he's going to be the cornerstone inside that he needs to be.

So, my best guess (6 months in advance):
PG- Ahelegbe (6'2")
SG- Josten (5'11")
WG- Reed (6'4")
PF- Koch (6'8")
C- Coleman (6'6")

[Scouter]

PTTB or anyone else who knows:

Why did Jones leave UNI? The high school I went to was in the same conference as his so I was excited about following him in the Valley.

Also, I think you'll be very impressed with O'Rear. He reminds me a little bit of Stout, although not as big.

[tornado]

I would like to hear the UNI guys' opinions, but someone who says they know Jones
posted on the panthernation.com message board and said that Jones was confronted by the coaching staff
that there would be a glut at the guard position next season.
Jones, who played very little last year, was likely to play very little this coming year as well.

[PTTB]

At the end of each year, the UNI coaches have one-on-one meeting with the players to let them know where they stand, what they need to improve upon, and what they would like to see them mold into for the next year. It's good feedback for player and coach to hear where they stand and what expectations are. I guess (per the WCF Courier), in that meeting, Stephen wanted to play more, and with all but one guard coming back, plus a JC PG (ended up being Culliver) and RS freshman Kerwin Dunham, the minutes were going to be wide open and the likelihood of big minutes weren't going to be there for Stephen. In that meeting, both coach and player decided that if playing time was going to be an issue that it may be best for Stephen to go to a JC (most likely SW IL CC) and get plenty of playing time to improve his game to get back to the D1 level. I have no doubt in my mind that Stephen will be a solid D1 player. Like I said in a previous post, he played 16 minutes against Washington in his 3rd game of his career, and played respectably. Stephen can shoot the three, and was able to be a steady ballhandler.

[tornado]

It really hasn't been mentioned much, but UNI is also on the hook for a scholarship for this kid, too.

Drew Lundberg who picked UNI among the schools that were recruiting him (the other two were North Dakota State & South Dakota State), is yet another guard.
Recall, guards like Stephen Jones are bolting from UNI because they have such a glut at the guard position.

He will apparently walk on his freshman year and redshirt, then get a scholarship for the next four years.
He is a 6-1 SG, from Owatonna, MN.

http://minnesotapreps.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=605853

[PTTB]

I realize what this article says, but it's my understanding (source close to the team) it's a 3 for 5 scholarship, like Jared Josten had. He will walk-on for two years, redshirting one year. He is getting a scholy in 2009. There will be:
PG: Ahelgbe (Sr.)
SG: Montgomery (Jr.)
WG: Dunham (Jr.)
as the only scholarship guards known. UNI will probably sign 2 guards next year. That will be 6 known guards for the 2009-10 year. Lundberg is a tough kid, from Owatonna, MN, who doesn't get much pub being from southern Minnesota.