Updates on Bradley's Class of 2019 recruits

[Vent]

Until proven otherwise, I have no reason to believe Wardle’s recruiting has or will be improved.

[tornado]

We have recruited good kids -- I like them and they are decent ball players.....but we need to step it up a bit....

First ... many who came in here recently have left....and the guys here keep making the same danged silly mistakes & turnovers year after year...
They do NOT seem to be getting better - and instead are decidedly NOT very offensively skilled. Put simply, we can't hold onto the ball and can't make a basket.

Meanwhile, most other teams in the MVC are recruiting two types of athletes that we seem to pass on....

-they recruit guys who are quite UNATHLETIC, below-the-rim players but who can actually hold onto the ball and make a basket -
..examples: Clayton Custer, Wyatt Lohaus, Nick McGlynn, Cameron Krutwig, Jordan Barnes, Derrick Smits ...

-and they recruit big, strong, athletic guys who aren't necessarily scorers but who can bang, grab rebounds and who don't fumble the ball out of bounds every time it gets into the low post...
..examples: Kavion Pippen, Phil Fayne, Tulio Da Silva....

[tornado]

Stephan Gabriel played last night against one of the top college teams from China (20-23 year-olds)

He is #24 in the white jersey - https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DxU2gAAU0AU7Pue.jpg
They play Findlay Prep Monday night

Veritas' other star player - Iverson Molinar, the high scoring PG who is signed to Mississippi State - is apparently no longer with Veritas.


Antonio Thomas had another nice game last night - https://www.news-leader.com/story/sp...an/2626018002/

[tornado]

go back and read all the posts about Rienk Mast above to catch up on how well he's been doing in the top pro league in Holland...

Stephen Gabriel plays tonight at 9:30pm Central - https://twitter.com/Veritashoops/sta...67015528984576

Antonio Thomas in the back on right - must be standing on something- https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DxYOWBdVsAA0iJM.jpg

[tornado]

In the late game last night Veritas Prep with tough loss to Findlay Prep 67-62 -- (Veritas played without two of their starters)
Stephan Gabriel was the Player of the Game with 31 points! (Half his team's total!)

https://twitter.com/WCEBball/status/1087581315380109312

Here's a video clip - https://twitter.com/valerieinvegas/s...72816310919168

"6'6 2019 Stephen Gabriel is really getting hot for Veritas Prep at @WCEBball @VegasMLK.
Physical beast who can defend multiple spots and can stroke it from deep. Great get for Bradley."
https://twitter.com/rodgerbohn/statu...63548954226688

[tornado]

updates-

HBA Marsky played today - they won, beating Pyrintö Akatemia 80-59

Rienk Mast & Groningen play Saturday vs. Den Bosch, the team just ahead of them in the standings

Stephan Gabriel & Veritas are playing in a top prep showcase this weekend in Gainesville FL
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...ights?p=481691

JaMir Price & Rock Island play at Galesburg Friday night. They play Alton (at Galesburg) Saturday at 1pm

Antonio Thomas & Memphis East play Mountain Brook at a big prep showcase in Mississippi Saturday - https://twitter.com/HotbedClassic/st...79844843540485
https://www.commercialappeal.com/sto...me/2666443002/

[tornado]

Antonio Thomas and Memphis East played last night on Senior Night at Memphis East
They played a very tough opponent and won in OVERTIME with Antonio Thomas being one of the heroes -

https://twitter.com/CourtneyHoops90/status/1088635899095773184

https://twitter.com/CourtneyHoops90/status/1088640083056607233

https://twitter.com/CourtneyHoops90/status/1088623214236979205

[tornado]

Stephan Gabriel and Veritas are playing Superior Collegiate Prep (from Clearwater FL) right now
streamed LIVE right here
Veritas is currently ahead 17-6 - Gabriel is #24 in red with white arm sleeve on left arm
https://www.facebook.com/therocklion...7699134953547/

Gabriel plays a Scottie Pippen-like point forward...he brings the ball up even against traffic and is the distributor - he plays mostly on the wing when he's without the ball, but readily slips inside, too
On defense - he regularly matches up man-to-man with the opponents' biggest player.
He is currently doing a good job guarding and shutting down 6-11 Kassem Ouedraogo - https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/kassem-ouedraogo

I have said this before - he reminds me of Theron Wilson but handles the ball a lot better.
I doubt he will be asked to play the point here - so he will probably be a SG or SF here.
He shoots the 3-pointer well but that doesn't always translate to college.

[tornado]

Halftime score
Veritas Prep 34 - Clearwater (FL) Superior Prep 29

Gabriel is carrying the load as Veritas' other two top players have both left & transferred.

Veritas' Ismael Cruz just left and transferred to AZ Compass Prep where Chol Marial is, but I do not know what happened to Iverson Molinar (high scoring Mississippi State commit)


Veritas plays two games tomorrow - at 11:30am & 4:10pm Central Time - https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DxsBLr1VAAExMDX.jpg

[tornado]

The game tightened up and went back & forth in the 2nd half. Veritas was playing without 2 of their top 3 players but Gabriel had a very good game despite being frequently double-teamed and even triple teamed late.
He scored inside and out, hitting a couple 3's. I don't have stats and the video feed cut out a couple times but I would guess Gabriel had 12-15 points, maybe more.
Final score - Superior 60 - Veritas 58

Gabriel got knocked hard to the floor with about 3 minutes remaining but got back up after a while and stayed in the game. Several of the Veritas players were fouled late and repeatedly missed crucial free throws.
BUT it was Gabriel who they fouled intentionally in the final 30 seconds and Stephan nailed them both to give Veritas a 58-57 lead - only to have one of the other Veritas players commit a silly foul with only a couple seconds remaining - and the Superior kid hit 1-of-2.
So with only 7 seconds left Veritas put it into play and tried to get it to Stephan but a poor pass led to a breakawy and Veritas loses 60-58.


Addendum - note that the Veritas team flew clear across the continent from California yesterday - must have some jet-lag, landed in Orlando then bused to Gainesville (over 120 miles - probably almost 3 hour bus ride) -- only to have to play the early game a little after NOON today and
also they played without 2 of their top 3 players & scorers - who are not with the team - so I think their performance today was admirable.

[tornado]

JaMir Price and Rock Island are currently being audio streamed LIVE right here - https://network1sports.com/station/qcsportsnetri
game just started...

[tornado]

JaMir Price had foul trouble so he sat quite a bit and Galesburg takes a 27-20 halftime lead

[Da Coach]

The game tightened up and went back & forth in the 2nd half. Veritas was playing without 2 of their top 3 players but Gabriel had a very good game despite being frequently double-teamed and even triple teamed late.
He scored inside and out, hitting a couple 3's. I don't have stats and the video feed cut out a couple times but I would guess Gabriel had 12-15 points, maybe more.
Final score - Superior 60 - Veritas 58

Gabriel got knocked hard to the floor with about 3 minutes remaining but got back up after a while and stayed in the game. Several of the Veritas players were fouled late and repeatedly missed crucial free throws.
BUT it was Gabriel who they fouled intentionally in the final 30 seconds and Stephan nailed them both to give Veritas a 58-57 lead - only to have one of the other Veritas players commit a silly foul with only a couple seconds remaining - and the Superior kid hit 1-of-2.
So with only 7 seconds left Veritas put it into play and tried to get it to Stephan but a poor pass led to a breakawy and Veritas loses 60-58.

I just watched the replay of Stephan Gabriel's Veritas Prep team's game today. They actually played Victory Rock Prep, though some schedules showed them playing Superior Prep, and the graphics on the Vimeo video site showed Superior-
https://livestream.com/therocklions/...deos/186314542

Victory Rock is a really good prep team, and they won the game 60-58 because of a turnover with 5 seconds left, and a full court pass for a layup-
https://twitter.com/VRockHoops/statu...06150744113159

My impressions were: Veritas was missing a couple of their best players, and played without a true post player. Stephan Gabriel appeared to me to be the best player for Veritas. He helped lead Veritas to a big lead in the first half (the games featured two 16 minute halves) with a couple quick baskets, and free throws. He was clearly their best ball handler, even though several other teammates tried too often to dribble, which lead to a ton of turnovers. And when Gabriel went out for a rest, which he did once in each half, Veritas made a lot of turnovers, and the other players took a lot of bad shots. Even after Gabriel came back in, his teammates continued with the turnovers and poor shot selection. It allowed Victory Rock to slowly come back, and eventually take a 2 point lead late in the game. Gabriel was fouled and made both free throws to put them up 58-57 in the final minute. Then Veritas got the ball again with the score tied 58-58 and a few seconds left. But unfortunately, Gabriel was trapped and it was him who turned it over and Victory Rock got the layup at the other end at the buzzer to win 60-58. But I was very impressed with Gabriel. He plays with a lot of maturity, and doesn't take bad shots and did not make many bad passes, except for that final one that lead to the turnover.
Gabriel's game is a lot like what Milik Yarbrough does for ISU. I am not suggesting he will be as productive, but I see a lot of upside. IMO, they would be a much better team if their coach would stop the other kids from gunning so many bad shots, and develop a better offense. Their offense looked very helter skelter, and it seemed every kid just takes whatever shot he can get.

Stephan Gabriel was the game's leading scorer with 15 points-
https://twitter.com/TheRockHoops/sta...10326161162241

I will also say that I have never seen a high school or prep school game officiated as loosely as the Veritas-Victory Prep game. It became very physical as a result. There was a lot of contact on many of the shots and rebounds that was not called. And gabriel was not shy about contact. He got a lot of rebounds despite playing almost exclusively as the point guard.

[tornado]

Rock Island got down by 13 but battled all the way back only to lose in the final couple minutes when players started to foul out...
Final score Galesburg 63 - Rock Island 56


Price plays again tomorrow vs. Alton at 1pm
Antonio Thomas plays at 6pm vs. Mountain Brook (AL)
Rienk Mast play but they are 7 hours ahead of us
Stephan Gabriel plays twice on Saturday - the most recent schedule says 11:30am & 4:10pm but the games do get changed at the last minute
Ville Tahvanainen doesn't play again until Jan. 31

[tornado]

Stephan Gabriel live streaming right now

https://livestream.com/therocklions/events/8537125