Matt Roth -- Still Considering BU, SLU, & IU

[Da Coach]

Matt Roth's recruiting story is getting a little strange with this latest blurb in today's PJ Star. I am happy to hear he hasn't eliminated Bradley, if that's the case. But in a phone interview with the reporter from the Louisville Courier-Journal, Matt said pretty clearly that he was down to 2 schools, Indiana and St. Louis. I have also talked with an Indiana "insider" who says Matt told Kelvin Sampson that he was planning on coming to Indiana. So something doesn't quite add up. Maybe after that interview, Matt talked again to Jim Les and saw the light? Stay tuned.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070814/SPORTS11/70814036/1002/SPORTS

Some clips from the above article--
The 6-foot-3 Roth has narrowed his decision to the Hoosiers and Saint Louis and will make a decision in the next few weeks.

Roth said he has ???‚¬?“been back and forth 1,000 times,???‚¬?? on his feelings about the pending decision and right now doesn???‚¬?„?t have a favorite between the two schools.

"The hardest part is that both are offering great opportunities,???‚¬?? Roth said. ???‚¬?“It???‚¬?„?s great for me to have two schools like that after me. I???‚¬?„?m just trying to talk to the coaches a lot more and getting to know the situations better.???‚¬??

???‚¬?“It???‚¬?„?s a huge decision for me,???‚¬?? he said. ???‚¬?“It makes it a lot easier to compare things when I have just two schools I am looking at rather than five or six.

[basketball nut]

interesting is all I can say about these events but MR should talk to JC & DR & DA about being a local kid who goes to the hilltop and plays and what that does to his reputation in this town. MR goes to IU and will hardly be known in Ptown, or even in Bllomington, IN for that matter, but if he goes to BU he can be mayor if he wants

[tornado]

I don't know that this is a sign that Matt Roth is idecisive.....as I believe the various reporters who write the articles
and the blogs seem he!!-bent on making calls on the kid's choices before the kid has even made his choices.
I think the indecisive people are the reporters who run with a story line even before it is true.

As noted at the top of page two in today's sports section (not linked online)


"Contrary to an Internet report, Matt Roth of Washington High School has not eliminated Bradley
from the list of colleges he is considering.
Washington coach Kevin Brown told the Journal Star on Tuesday that Roth is still deciding
from among BU, St. Louis and Indiana.
"In fact, he's visiting Bradley (today)," Brown said.
......"
---PJS

[Braves4Life]

interesting is all I can say about these events but MR should talk to JC & DR & DA about being a local kid who goes to the hilltop and plays and what that does to his reputation in this town. MR goes to IU and will hardly be known in Ptown, or even in Bllomington, IN for that matter, but if he goes to BU he can be mayor if he wants

.................................Phegley, McDade, Les, Stowell, Buescher, Mathews, Getz, etc................

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....the benefits of being a hero and staying local

[real fan]

I doubt he would make an official visit to Bradley if they were not still in the running; he would certainly have a better future here then at the other 2 schools in my honest opinion.

[Big Mike]

Any scoop on how the visit went?

[TheHeemyMonster]

just got back from seeing roth up at hausler when i was shooting around

he was scrimmaging with the team and seemed to have a good time. He was talking a lot to Crouch, Sam M and Danny Adams who was also present. I saw him drill a couple 3's from long range.... looks like a stud

Crouch was not playing and I did not see either Sally or Austin either

Wilson looks like he could start immediately by the way

[Big Mike]

Thanks for the report HEEMY!

Say what you want........I'd like to have MR on the Hilltop....would be a Win/ Win IMO!

[TheHeemyMonster]

agreed this was the first time i have seen roth play and it looked like he belonged out there.

he was not hesitant at all and looked like he could handle the ball pretty decently as well

I would like to have him on our squd

[tornado]

agreed this was the first time i have seen roth play and it looked like he belonged out there.

he was not hesitant at all and looked like he could handle the ball pretty decently as well

I would like to have him on our squd

I want him on our squd, too,
and hope he picks BU.
I agre, from what I have seen of Wilson. Cole-Scott, and Collins, all are big, strong, and look like they could compete for starting positions, with Maniscalco, Egolf, and Thompson not too far away. AT needs to put on some pounds, and Austin needs to finish his vacation and get to work in Peoria.
By the way, JC is only a few days away from being fully released to play, practice, and scrimmage.

[TheHeemyMonster]

i really didn't watch thompson that much but i did notice him being reallly skinny. I dont think we can count on him to do much so i would think an option would be a RS so he could contribute his whole time he is here

Egolf looked pretty athletic and I saw him throw one down 2 handed under the basket. However he would be out done shortly by Wilson who went flying down the lane looking like Zach Andrews but about 2 or 3 inches shorter with a 2 handed slam from about 10 ft away from the basket

Sam M will def get some playing time. Can handle the ball and hit the ball up J

Sam S looked surprisely good. I had my doubts tornado, but he was rebounding with the best of him and looked like he lost at least 20lbs. Very incouraging since we dont really know the status of Sally or Austin really for that matter

Didn't see cole-scott that much but maybe i was just watching at the wrong times but from what i have heard sounds like he can nail the 3 like Will Franklin

[Braves4Life]

Thanks for the report Heemy. Awesome! Job well done!

[tornado]

New report....on premium Illinois/scout board....tells of a converation he had today by phone with Matt Roth personally.
The lead writer says this:

"Just spoke with Mat Roth by phone......

Here are some comments from Matt???‚¬?„?s conversation with me about ten minutes ago.

*My schools I will choose from will be Indiana, Bradley and St. Louis, all three of those schools have offered me a scholarship.

*Illinois has never offered me a scholarship. One of their coaches called my high school coach recently and wanted to know what my interest level with them was and he told them not too much at this point after the asked me what I thought. I???‚¬?„?m going to be looking at the three schools I just mentioned to you. St. Louis and Bradley are mid-major schools but both should make the tournament and Indiana is a Big Ten school you can???‚¬?„?t go wrong with that, they have a great program and good players around.

*I???‚¬?„?m not mad at Illinois like I said to you once before I grew up an Illini fan and Big Ten but they wanted to go in a different direction with their recruiting and I can respect that. Because Indiana is a Big Ten school it is kind of nice to have an offer from them, at first most of my offers were from smaller schools.

*Indiana called me before I went out to Vegas and they told me they wanted to see me play a little more, I played really well out there so they became very interested in me.

*When I decide on a school I???‚¬?„?m going to do it based on what???‚¬?„?s best for me, Bradley is close and St. Louis has been with me for a long time, and Indiana is a Big Ten school.


*My plans are to pick a school here real soon, maybe the first couple weeks of school."

[Big Mike]

Nice find T.............I hope MR comes to Bradley.......he could be a star in Peoria..........for life!

[TheHeemyMonster]

seems to me that indiana is still the favorite but I seem to think that BU is ahead of SLU right now... maybe i am wrong but who knows