Valley Recruits

[Da Coach]

Not sure this is the right place to put this but Drake announced Penn, Wilkins, Sturtz, and Brodie will all return for their final year of eligibility. I think we know who the Valley favorite will be…..

Thanks for posting that. I was expecting most or all of those seniors to return. They lose ShanQuan Hemphill and Tremell Murphy, but with those 4 returning, combined with Tucker DeVries, that would give Drake a solid starting 5, but not a lot of depth. But they should be picked in the top 3 next year.

Here is the updated Drake 2022-23 roster page that was just posted-

https://godrakebulldogs.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

One name missing is 2022 recruit Will Lovings-Watts. He was a Bradley recruit from Jeffersonville (IN) High School who committed to Drake last September-

https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sports-forums/basketball-fan-talk/487788-bradley-offers-class-of-2022-sf-will-lovings-watts?p=499523#post499523

So is he still attending Drake for the 2022-23 season?
As recently as April 12, the Des Moines Register was still listing him as a Drake commit-

https://twitter.com/AlyssaHertel/status/1514030119605706759

[Nashville Cat]

I found an article from www.wbiw dated 26 January referencing WLW's suspension for 5 games. He subsequently returned to school and played the remainder of the year. Not sure this is relevant unless Drake withdrew their offer-which I doubt.

[Da Coach]

I found an article from www.wbiw dated 26 January referencing WLW's suspension for 5 games. He subsequently returned to school and played the remainder of the year. Not sure this is relevant unless Drake withdrew their offer-which I doubt.

I've tried to find a report of Will Lovings-Watts signing his National Letter of Intent. Usually schools publicize those things, and fans comment on them. But neither Drake nor any other source has reported that. If he hasn't signed yet, then that would explain why Drake doesn't show him on their 2022-23 roster, as they are prohibited from making any comment about him.
The NLI signing period runs from April 13 through May 18, so he still has another week.

[Tommy]

Not sure this is the right place to put this but Drake announced Penn, Wilkins, sturts, and Brodie will all return for their final year of eligibility. I think we know who the Valley favorite will be…..

Good info, houstonbrave and agreed, they will be the Valley favorite to most. BU did beat them both times we played them last year, though, so hopefully the matchups still work in our favors in the upcoming season.

[Da Coach]

I've tried to find a report of Will Lovings-Watts signing his National Letter of Intent. Usually schools publicize those things, and fans comment on them. But neither Drake nor any other source has reported that. If he hasn't signed yet, then that would explain why Drake doesn't show him on their 2022-23 roster, as they are prohibited from making any comment about him.
The NLI signing period runs from April 13 through May 18, so he still has another week.

I have heard from a pretty reliable source connected to Indiana preps that Will Lovings-Watts is not enrolling at Drake for academic reasons. He may go the prep school route.

[Da Coach]

New Illinois State head coach Ryan Pedon gets a transfer portal commitment from Joe Petrakis, a 6'10" forward who is transferring from Western Carolina. He is originally from Wichita, Kansas, and graduated high school in 2018 and played the 2018-19 season at Dodge City Community College. He then transferred to Kansas State for 2 years. He redshirted his first season there (2019-20), then played his second season (2020-21). He played very little (11 games, 2.8 minutes/game, and 1.4 ppg), then transferred to Western Carolina for 2021-22. He averaged 8.0 ppg and 3.2 rpg at WCU.
https://pantagraph.com/sports/colleg...8720b8e8a.html
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...1/joe-petrakis
Bio- https://catamountsports.com/sports/m...-petrakis/9807

He would have 2 seasons of eligibility left at ISU. This is ISU's 6th transfer from the transfer portal.

Updated list of 2022 MVC commitments-
Belmont- Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Kyler Vanderjagt, Keith Robbins, Cade Tyson, Keishawn Davidson, Jake Dykstra, Drew Friberg
Bradley- James "Pop" Weathers, Christian Davis, Cody "Duke" Deen, Goanar Biliew
Drake- Will Lovings-Watts, Sardaar Calhoun, Andrew Alia (walk-on), Eric Northweather
Evansville- Logan McIntire, Zaveion Chism-Okoh, Chris Moncrief, Matthew Ragsdale, Sekou Sada Kalle
Illinois State- Takai Simpkins (decommitted), Tajuan Simpkins (decommitted), Colton Sandage, Malachi Poindexter, Darius Burford, Luke Kasubke, Seneca Knight, Joe Petrakis
Indiana State- Robbie Avila, Jayson Kent, Robert Martin, Courvoisier McCauley, Cade McKnight, Trenton Gibson
Missouri State- Jonathan Dunn, Jalen Hampton (decommitted), N.J. Benson, Bryan Trimble, Jr., Dalen Ridgnal, Chance Moore, Damien Mayo, Jr., Tommy Pinegar (walk-on), Jonathan Mogbo, Alston Mason, Matthew Lee, Kendle Moore, James Graham, Kanon Gipson (walk-on)
Murray State- Braxton Stacker, Justin Morgan, Jaxon Edwards, Quincy Anderson, Kenny White, Jr., Jamari Smith, Rob Perry, JaCobi Wood, Patrick Chew, Brian Moore, Sam Murray, Marlon Lestin
SIU- Cade Hornecker, Xavier Davis, Jawaun Newton, A.J. Ferguson, Clarence Rupert
UIC- Jalen Jackson, Cameron Fens, Steven Clay, Tyler Stevenson, Trevante Anderson, Christian Jones
UNI- Trey Campbell
Valparaiso- Maximus Nelson, Nick Edwards, Quinton Greene, Jerome Palm

2023-
Belmont- Win Miller
UNI- R.J. Taylor

[yoda]

Petrakis was a walk on for his two seasons at Kansas State but was awarded a scholarship for 2nd semester of his 2nd season there when another player left.
He transferred to Western Carolina for the scholarship and is transferring now as a grad transfer so won't need another waiver.

[Da Coach]

Murray State just landed one of the top junior college point guards in the country. Brian Moore was a talented 2nd year point guard at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M that Bradley began recruiting last fall-
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...449#post499449

He averaged 18.4 ppg as a freshman and 21.3 ppg this past season as a sophomore and shot 26% from three.
https://stats.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/...brianmoore8qnb
Bio- https://neoathletics.com/sports/mens...moore-jr-/5230

He had a number of good mid-major offers, and even a couple high-major offers.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/brian-moore

[Da Coach]

A couple more commitments today-
Drake got a commitment from Eric Northweather, a 6'10" forward who is transferring from Division II Truman State.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/eric-northweather

https://trumanbulldogs.com/sports/me...thweather/5746

He averaged 0.5 ppg as a freshman and 9.5 ppg and 4.1 rpg this past season as a sophomore at Truman State.
He is the older brother of Luke Northweather, a high school senior and 2022 recruit that Bradley recruited.
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sp...757#post502757


And SIU just got a commitment from A.J. Ferguson, a 6'6" freshman wing from Division II East Central University in Oklahoma.
https://ecutigers.com/sports/mens-ba...guson-jr-/3148
https://twitter.com/writingump/statu...99724989075458

https://verbalcommits.com/players/a-j-ferguson-jr

He is originally from Houston, Texas. Ferguson averaged 11 ppg and shot 36% from three at ECU this year.

[Da Coach]

Southern Illinois gets one more transfer portal commitment-
Clarence Rupert, a 6'8" freshman forward from St. Peter's, commits to SIU. He is originally from Norfolk, Virginia. He appeared in 30 games this past season, including 7 starts. He averaged 4.4 ppg, and 2.6 rpg

https://verbalcommits.com/players/clarence-rupert

Bio- https://saintpeterspeacocks.com/spor...ce-rupert/4891
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...larence-rupert

[Da Coach]

Murray State gets a commitment from 6'8" forward Sam Murray of Harrison Central High School in Gulfport, Mississippi.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/sam-murray

[Da Coach]

UIC got a commitment last night from Christian Jones, a 6'4" senior (class of 2022) guard from East St. Louis HS. He is rated a 3-star recruit and 2nd team All-State, and was previously committed to Missouri.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/christian-jones-il

https://twitter.com/urcjay/status/1527846138312904705

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/high-school/all-metro/boys-basketball/christian-jones-senior-east-st-louis/article_385f64ea-b2aa-11ec-84f1-5f7df7fd94fa.html

[DUBulldog]

I've tried to find a report of Will Lovings-Watts signing his National Letter of Intent. Usually schools publicize those things, and fans comment on them. But neither Drake nor any other source has reported that. If he hasn't signed yet, then that would explain why Drake doesn't show him on their 2022-23 roster, as they are prohibited from making any comment about him.
The NLI signing period runs from April 13 through May 18, so he still has another week.

Drake publicized this back in November. https://godrakebulldogs.com/news/202...asketball.aspx

As far as the roster, the only newcomer listed so far on next season's roster is Sardaar Calhoun, and he was enrolled at Drake for 2nd semester this season. So, none of the incoming newcomers are listed yet. They probably will be as soon as they're officially in classes.

[Da Coach]

I have heard from a pretty reliable source connected to Indiana preps that Will Lovings-Watts is not enrolling at Drake for academic reasons. He may go the prep school route.

Drake publicized this back in November. https://godrakebulldogs.com/news/202...asketball.aspx

As far as the roster, the only newcomer listed so far on next season's roster is Sardaar Calhoun, and he was enrolled at Drake for 2nd semester this season. So, none of the incoming newcomers are listed yet. They probably will be as soon as they're officially in classes.

Thanks. I knew Lovings-Watt had signed, but just a bit puzzled why he wasn't listed on the Drake website 2022-23 roster. Once a recruit is signed to an NLI, a school is allowed to comment on him or list him on their upcoming roster. And most schools will list their signed recruits on their future roster. Maybe Drake doesn't do it that way. Or maybe my source was right.

[DUBulldog]

Thanks. I knew Lovings-Watt had signed, but just a bit puzzled why he wasn't listed on the Drake website 2022-23 roster. Once a recruit is signed to an NLI, a school is allowed to comment on him or list him on their upcoming roster. And most schools will list their signed recruits on their future roster. Maybe Drake doesn't do it that way. Or maybe my source was right.

Drake's media team isn't the best, to put it mildly. I'm actually surprised they even have 2022-23 roster up at all. Probably will take a while for them to update it.