When will the Braves sign a new player...

[LittleBrave]

???

Hopefully another month won't pass by without any good news.
For gosh sakes - right now, Ja'Shon Henry and Reink Mast will be taking the ball down the court to start our offense! (not far from the truth)

[Da Coach]

I have this bad feeling, that with all of the transfers and no waiting period, Bradley is going to end up have to scrape the bottom of the barrel for transfers. For whatever reason, kids would rather sit the bench or be limited role players on a P5 than come to Peoria.

There seems to be some Bradley fans who are on suicide watch by now because we haven't signed a boatload of impact transfers.
So are the other MVC teams leaving Bradley in the dust by stockpiling transfers and distancing themselves well ahead of BU with talent?

Actually, no....Most of the MVC teams have lost key talent from their teams, and in the last 3 months, not a single MVC team has landed a single commitment from an incoming D1 transfer. So it's still a long way to the "bottom of the barrel". Approximately 75% of the 1200+ transfers are still available, and I expect hundreds more names to be added to the list.
So move back from the ledge, Bradley fans. There is still plenty of time, and plenty of talent available.
There is also an unusually good quality juco class available, few of whom have committed anywhere yet because their season was delayed and recruiting restrictions have kept D1 coaches from seeing them play.
And there are still a lot of good high schoolers available, since many of them did not play or played limited seasons, and the NCAA's recruiting dead period, which has been in effect all season has kept coaches from being able to see and evaluate recruits in person.

[BUfan17]

I agree there will be a lot of hidden talent out there just due to the sheer volume of transfers this year. We might be able to get some good jucos or high schoolers who are flying under the radar with all that is going on.

[LongTimeFan]

I am out of the loop, but I thought Loyola, Drake, Missouri State, and SIU were retaining almost all of their best players. Also SIU is supposed to be getting one of their best players back from injury next year. I know Loyola's coach is leaving and that may affect the makeup of next year's team. I really don't know much about NIU, but Madsen had mentioned them among the most active schools recruiting him.

[Da Coach]

I am out of the loop, but I thought Loyola, Drake, Missouri State, and SIU were retaining almost all of their best players. Also SIU is supposed to be getting one of their best players back from injury next year...

Those 4 teams have been hurt less by transfers than some other MVC teams. But all 4 have lost players to transfer.
Drake lost a couple players, including Joseph Yesufu, their best player down the stretch.
SIU has lost 2 players so far, a freshman guard (Eric Butler), and a grad-transfer (Jakolby Long), neither of whom ever played much. But they were a 9th place team in 2020-21.
Missouri State lost Jared Ridder, one of their starters who averaged 25+ minutes per game.
Loyola lost 3 players, but none were among their top scorers (backup center Franklin Agunanne, sophomore guard Cooper Kaifes, and freshman guard Baylor Hebb). But as you noted, the loss of their coach could have a significant effect.

The SIU player you are referring to is juco forward J.D. Muila, who missed the 2020-21 season with a knee injury and surgery. It's hard to know how much difference he would have made or will make next year after returning from major knee surgery. He was not highly recruited out of juco. In fact, despite not committing until very late (April, 2020) in the 2020 recruiting cycle, SIU was the only offer that he had. Muila's sophomore season at Indian Hills CC he started and played a lot, but only averaged 6.8 ppg. IMO, he will probably be a backup to Kyler Filewich, their starting center in 2020-21 who looked pretty good in his freshman year.

[LongTimeFan]

Actually Domask was the SIU player I was thinking of. He didn’t play after the 4th of January. He was one of their best players as a freshman.

Drake could possibly be adding a 4 star recruit. I guess he could follow his father who is moving to a new school to coach.

[egib52]

Those 4 teams have been hurt less by transfers than some other MVC teams. But all 4 have lost players to transfer.
Drake lost a couple players, including Joseph Yesufu, their best player down the stretch.
SIU has apparently only lost 1 player so far, a freshman guard who didn't play much (Eric Butler). But they were a 9th place team in 2020-21.
Missouri State lost Jared Ridder, one of their starters who averaged 25+ minutes per game.
Loyola lost 3 players, but none were among their top scorers (backup center Franklin Agunanne, sophomore guard Cooper Kaifes, and freshman guard Baylor Hebb). But as you noted, the loss of their coach could have a significant effect.

The SIU player you are referring to is juco forward J.D. Muila, who missed the 2020-21 season with a knee injury and surgery. It's hard to know how much difference he would have made or will make next year after returning from major knee surgery. He was not highly recruited out of juco. In fact, despite not committing until very late (April, 2020) in the 2020 recruiting cycle, SIU was the only offer that he had. Muila's sophomore season at Indian Hills CC he started and played a lot, but only averaged 6.8 ppg. IMO, he will probably be a backup to Kyler Filewich, their starting center in 2020-21 who looked pretty good in his freshman year.

DC, you feel good with where BU currently sits? I don’t disagree that there is a ton of talent out there. However, as I’ve posted in other threads, I don’t think this a good sign for BU or the Valley. Most players in the portal think they can play P5 or were disgruntled with their previous stop and so MMs will likely be the last chairs open when the music stops. I am not arguing several programs aren’t in similar spots, but I honestly don’t care about them. Good low major players that can’t get P5 offers will be looking at the Loyola’s first. I know I’m in the minority, but I thought East was a bad fit, and I think he’s the type of player that will be high end. As for returning talent, we are definitely in a better spot, but it’s not like we are bringing back the foundation of a top four roster.

[Da Coach]

DC, you feel good with where BU currently sits?...

I try not to stress over things that I have no control over, and the Bradley recruiting is one of those things. So I'd prefer to answer that question when the recruiting is completed.
Obviously, I don't like where Bradley currently sits. They lost a bunch of players and haven't signed anyone this spring yet. They don't have a point guard, their big man is coming off a serious foot injury and surgery, and the best player's future is unclear.
On the other hand, I don't think the players that transferred are irreplaceable, and there is a nice core of returning players.

Drake could possibly be adding a 4 star recruit. I guess he could follow his father who is moving to a new school to coach.

LTF, Drake does have a commitment from a 4-star recruit- Tucker DeVries, who is the son of their head coach. And his father, Darian DeVries, is still the coach at Drake, and doesn't appear to be moving anywhere.

[bradleyfan124]

There seems to be some Bradley fans who are on suicide watch by now because we haven't signed a boatload of impact transfers.
So are the other MVC teams leaving Bradley in the dust by stockpiling transfers and distancing themselves well ahead of BU with talent?

Actually, no....Most of the MVC teams have lost key talent from their teams, and in the last 3 months, not a single MVC team has landed a single commitment from an incoming D1 transfer. So it's still a long way to the "bottom of the barrel". Approximately 75% of the 1200+ transfers are still available, and I expect hundreds more names to be added to the list.
So move back from the ledge, Bradley fans. There is still plenty of time, and plenty of talent available.
There is also an unusually good quality juco class available, few of whom have committed anywhere yet because their season was delayed and recruiting restrictions have kept D1 coaches from seeing them play.
And there are still a lot of good high schoolers available, since many of them did not play or played limited seasons, and the NCAA's recruiting dead period, which has been in effect all season has kept coaches from being able to see and evaluate recruits in person.

I agree with Da Coach. In looking at the transfer list there are alot of players that have not stated where they are going yet. I also think that alot of junior college players and high school players are waiting to see what the fall out is with all the transfers. They might have a school they like but if that school picks up alot of transfers that school has fewer scholarships to offer. The player will then have to look at his second choice

[egib52]

They might have a school they like but if that school picks up alot of transfers that school has fewer scholarships to offer. The player will then have to look at his second choice

So best case scenario is we are the last open chair when the music stops, which is what I said.

DC, I get it, I'm not trying to worry about the little things, but this is one of my escapes.

[LittleBrave]

I am not high on our current roster.
Other than Mast and Henry, who else has proven themselves?

I would say our talent is on par right now with a few of Geno’s teams and perhaps even Wardle’s 2nd season, which was mediocre.

[Bradley3342]

I am not high on our current roster.
Other than Mast and Henry, who else has proven themselves?

I would say our talent is on par right now with a few of Geno’s teams and perhaps even Wardle’s 2nd season, which was mediocre.

IMO Hannah and Kent both have huge upsides with their athleticism and if we get Ari healthy again and hopefully a couple of decent transfers we should be competitive next year.

[Chibearsfan10125]

I do like the upside of a lot of our young players, but the Valley is going to be really deep next year. UNI gets Green back. Drake has almost their whole team back, minus Yesufu, and Mo St still has their two stars. Loyola could be good too, depending on what Valentine can do. I think a couple of good guards could help us be a top 4 or 5 team in the conference, but we definitely won’t be the most talented team in the Valley next year. It might be tough to even avoid Thursday. The conference should be as deep as its been in years.

[LittleBrave]

I do like the upside of a lot of our young players, but the Valley is going to be really deep next year. UNI gets Green back. Drake has almost their whole team back, minus Yesufu, and Mo St still has their two stars. Loyola could be good too, depending on what Valentine can do. I think a couple of good guards could help us be a top 4 or 5 team in the conference, but we definitely won’t be the most talented team in the Valley next year. It might be tough to even avoid Thursday. The conference should be as deep as its been in years.

Agreed up until the last statement.
I think a few Valley teams could be really bad, but even so, BU will be lucky to finish Top 5 with what we have now, plus a couple decent pick ups.

[Da Coach]

Player's are committing all over and with the new transfer portals, and competition is stronger than ever. When will the Braves get a commitment with 5 new open roster spots? Am I the only one wanting some positive news on the Braves men's team?

Could be soon...