Drake gets another commitment for 2008

[Da Coach]

Drake had just got a verbal on Thursday from 6'11" Sean Jones from Carson City, Michigan--

http://www.bradleyfans.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=58778#58778

Today they got another verbal from 6'6" wing forward Jared Vlastuin from Lennox, South Dakota. He averaged 15.7 points and 7.5 rebounds his junior year.

He must be under the radar, as he does not appear in the databases of Rivals or Scout.

http://www.southdakotaheat.com/roster/vlastuin.htm

[tornado]

Jared Vlastuin is way under the radar screen but I guess the jury is out until we see how he turns out.

Most sites list him at 6-5.

Here are some pics -- #2

http://cmsimg.argusleader.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Avis=DF&Dato=20070316&Kategori=SPORTS&Lopenr=316006&Ref=PH&Item=1&MaxW=500&MaxH=420

[Lakeview Brave]

Wasnt WIll Egolf way under the radar? I dont think Bradley had to fight off the Big Ten for his services. Maybe they got a steal.

[DUBulldog]

This kid is definitely under the radar. He is apparently a good athlete, as he won the South Dakota long jump championship as a junior, and as a sophomore, finished 3rd in the high jump.

Obviously, his competition is South Dakota isn't much, but he apparently played quite well this summer on the AAU circuit.

Here's the strange thing.....Drake has only 2 scholarships available, and Vlastuin is the 3rd verbal Drake has received. In addition, Wendell Faines who signed with Drake last fall and will attend prep school this year, has said that he still plans on attending Drake, which would make 4 verbals.

http://www.drakenation.com/Topic12220-10-1.aspx

[tornado]

Jared Vlastuin has decided NOT to pursue basketball and will instead go to
South Dakota State in track.
He jumped 6-8 in the high jump and apparently got a few late track offers!

[DUBulldog]

From those "in the know", the new Drake staff is not upset in the least by this development....I guess they weren't as high on him as the previous staff was. I don't know many Drake fans who expected much out of this player, so I'm confident that even at this late date, Coach Phelps can find a better player to take this scholarship.

[tornado]

Explain this, anyone, if you can..........

just out of curiosity, I checked to see how this kid's state winning jump of 6-8 would fit in IHSA history,
and I found that the IHSA all time record is 7-5.25!!!

AND....the top 30 high jumps of ALL time are all 7-0 and higher, BUT>>>>

of the TOP 76 high jumps ever in the state of Illinois among high schoolers,
ONLY SIX of them have been in the last FIVE YEARS, and........
ONLY NINE of them have even occurred within the LAST DECADE!!!
and no jump in the past decade has beaten any of the top 30 jumps.

So even though this kid's jump is nowhere near a record in Illinois, it is certainly among the best jumps recently
6-7 won Class A and 6-8 won Class AA this year!

So my question is............
What has happened??
Track records are falling all around. all the running, hurdling, and vaulting events
have records set every year, but the high jump seems different?

It seems for some reason, nobody can do as well as the best guys were doing
in the 70's and 80's!!

Does anyone have an explanation? Is it because it isn't a "glory sport" and
doesn't get the headlines, so the better athletes just aren't committing to high jump?
Or maybe the technique or rules have changed and it alters the outcome??

Someone clear this up??

[DUBulldog]

His best event is actually the long jump, not the high jump.....but there is a similar pattern in the event.....very few of the top jumps of all time were recent. Vlastuin's 23-7 in the event would have been on the fringe of the all-time best list in Illinois.