Rienk Mast

[Da Coach]

Great article by Dave Eminian about Rienk Mast-

https://www.pjstar.com/story/sports/college/basketball/bradley-hoops/2023/03/03/rienk-mast-heart-of-bradley-basketball-magical-run-to-mvc-title-arch-madness/69960415007/

If Rienk leaves after this year, he will be remembered as a very good player who helped Bradley reach the goal of winning the MVC regular season for the first time in 27 years, and maybe an NCAA bid.
But if Rienk returns next year, he could achieve goals that would put him in the category of Bradley's all-time greats (Melchiorre, Walker, Hawkins, Parker, Sommerville, etc.).
Obviously, we all want Rienk to make his own decision of what is best for him. He is a remarkable young man, who graduated near the top of his class with a degree in Physics (no easy task), and as a 1st team All-MVC player. Good luck Rienk, whatever you decide.
But every Bradley fan wants you back for another year (or two).

[yoda]

If Rienk returns and continues his development as a fine inside player, both offensively & defensively,
he would approach the ranks of the greatest big men in BU history (POB, Donald Reese, Massive Mike, Joe Allen)
and maybe even Valley history - Wes Unseld, Benoit Benjamin,
..(altho likely not the dominant rebounding numbers of Unseld)

There are reports that Rienk already is exploring his pro options for next year, but I hope the thrill of accomplishing
a MVC Tourney Championship will lure him to come back for another season.

[BUfan14]

I know Rienk was upset about player of the year, but no doubt Devries was the best player and it showed today. Bradley won the regular season, but it sure seems like Drake wins on a neutral court probably 75% of the time. If there was any good that came out of today (and really yesterday too) Rienk sees what Drake accomplished by everyone coming back and is upset by his own performance in these big games, and decides to give it one more run. He has had a solid career, but it could be great if he comes back.

[LittleBrave]

Could someone tell my where Reink would go after this season that would be a better opportunity than to improve his game on a contender at Bradley?

He had a solid season, but not spectacular IMO for the potential he has.
He could be close to unstoppable next season, but is nowhere near that now, as evidenced by the last 3 games. He needs to work on his 10-foot jumper and still needs to up his 3-point%.
He couldn’t stop Avill (Freshman) or Brodie, on defense.

[BUfan14]

Could someone tell my where Reink would go after this season that would be a better opportunity than to improve his game on a contender at Bradley?

He had a solid season, but not spectacular IMO for the potential he has.
He could be close to unstoppable next season, but is nowhere near that now, as evidenced by the last 3 games. He needs to work on his 10-foot jumper and still needs to up his 3-point%.
He couldn’t stop Avill (Freshman) or Brodie, on defense.

I think the common consensus is he would turn pro. With knee injuries already he might need to capitalize his earning potential while he can. He also has his degree now. The questions for him I would think are what can he make as a pro versus at Bradley with NIL deals, how much does a potential NCAA run mean to him, does he want a graduate degree that Bradley offers, and could he improve his pro earnings with another development year here.

[LittleBrave]

I think the common consensus is he would turn pro. With knee injuries already he might need to capitalize his earning potential while he can. He also has his degree now. The questions for him I would think are what can he make as a pro versus at Bradley with NIL deals, how much does a potential NCAA run mean to him, does he want a graduate degree that Bradley offers, and could he improve his pro earnings with another development year here.

Thanks BU14!

Now looking fw to getting my script jersey and winning an NIT game!

[PhiAlphaBoy]

I think the common consensus is he would turn pro. With knee injuries already he might need to capitalize his earning potential while he can. He also has his degree now. The questions for him I would think are what can he make as a pro versus at Bradley with NIL deals, how much does a potential NCAA run mean to him, does he want a graduate degree that Bradley offers, and could he improve his pro earnings with another development year here.

I kind of think he's hit his ceiling as far as development in college. I would think his advisors would recommend that he turn pro, but yajusneverno. The allure of college life and comraderie with coaches and teammates might be strong enough to make him want to give the old college try one more try. Of course then there's also the potential that Wardle takes a deal elsewhere. I wouldn't expect to hear a decision from Mast until a month or so after the season ends.

[bradleyfan124]

I kind of think he's hit his ceiling as far as development in college. I would think his advisors would recommend that he turn pro, but yajusneverno. The allure of college life and comraderie with coaches and teammates might be strong enough to make him want to give the old college try one more try. Of course then there's also the potential that Wardle takes a deal elsewhere. I wouldn't expect to hear a decision from Mast until a month or so after the season ends.

There are pros and cons for both sides of the argument. I live in Chicago for awhile when DePaul had some good teams. One player, Ron Norwood if I remember right had a great run in the NCAA with DePaul as a junior. They were saying for him to go pro. He decided to go back for his Senior year. During Senior year he ended up getting hurt and never got drafted because of the injury. Personally i would like to see him come back and get more experience and exposure

[BUBraves2006]

I was thinking about this a lot during the game today.

My first reaction was, "How can he think he's ready to go pro, even overseas? He's not tough enough yet and needs to get way stronger and wilted in a couple of the biggest games of the season."

My reaction later in the day was, "Stylistically, it might serve him best to go pro because his game is really tailored for how I best know euro league ball, which is way less physical and his inside/outside game would be served well. How many Brodies will he actually face in the pros?"

Selfishly, I hope he comes back because we have to be considered a favorite again to win the title, especially Drake finally graduating most of their senior citizens. But, I do wonder if my latter thoughts are what wins out for him.

[Dubl R 1]

I kind of think he's hit his ceiling as far as development in college. I would think his advisors would recommend that he turn pro, but yajusneverno. The allure of college life and comraderie with coaches and teammates might be strong enough to make him want to give the old college try one more try. Of course then there's also the potential that Wardle takes a deal elsewhere. I wouldn't expect to hear a decision from Mast until a month or so after the season ends.

I don’t think he’s anywhere close to hitting the ceiling on his potential development here. Areas I think he can get much better at:

1. Face up game: knocking down short jumpers, or being able to take stronger defenders off the dribble as opposed to backing them down
2. Finishing and Explosiveness: If he could get a little quicker and get off the floor a bit more it would really transform his ability to score at the bucket
3. One on one perimeter defense.. he’s great at hedging and recover but struggles a bit to stop guys that can face him up and put it on the deck (avila, Betz)

Improving in those areas would really make him a complete player.

I think if he returned next year we would be good enough to let him work on those things in game and still be able to win most of them as he gets even better

[LittleBrave]

Reink has shown that he still has much to improve on.
He got better this season, but will be a dud as a pro anywhere at this point.
Absolutely makes sense for him to stay another year and sharpen his game on both ends.
He showed flashes of being great, but inconsistent.

He has been outmatched the last 3 games - by 3 above avg guys, but not spectacular.

Great kid and really hope he’s a Brave for 1 more year.

[Go_Braves]

Reink has shown that he still has much to improve on.
He got better this season, but will be a dud as a pro anywhere at this point.
Absolutely makes sense for him to stay another year and sharpen his game on both ends.
He showed flashes of being great, but inconsistent.

He has been outmatched the last 3 games - by 3 above avg guys, but not spectacular.

Great kid and really hope he’s a Brave for 1 more year.

I "totally" agree with you LittleBrave - Reink should stay another year. He needs to realize that he needs to put his future career on hold and continue to work on his skills. What European Pro Team would want Reink playing on their team next season after viewing Reink's last 2 games? Well - what ever Reink chooses I only wish him the best. Reink was a joy to watch when he is "on" his game.

[Tommy]

I "totally" agree with you LittleBrave - Reink should stay another year. He needs to realize that he needs to put his future career on hold and continue to work on his skills. What European Pro Team would want Reink playing on their team next season after viewing Reink's last 2 games? Well - what ever Reink chooses I only wish him the best. Reink was a joy to watch when he is "on" his game.

He does seem to have bad games when teams get physical with him and I'm sure that's part of the scouting report out on him. Hard to judge him based on just his bad performances though, as there were games he performed quite well when faced up against aggressive and physical centers. Murray State was pretty physical with him at Carver and he had a pretty good game there (though not great), just to name one off the top of my head, but the fact remains, he struggles with physicality and I think most of us would agree with that.

That being said, since the 2nd half of the game against Northern Iowa in the MVC tourney, he has played poorly, so it may just be that he's been in a funk. No idea what the reason would be, but he hasn't really played well since then. I thought he looked sick in the MVC tournament, but there's nothing indicating that was the case. Suffice it to say he didn't play his best basketball at the end of the season. Unfortunate to see both him and JaShon go out this way. They really deserved a better ending to their BU careers (but let's hope Rienk and Ville both opt to come back).

[LittleBrave]

They really deserved a better ending to their BU careers (but let's hope Rienk and Ville both opt to come back).

So true Tommy.

I think the pro to Ville coming back would be his leadership and fire. He is a competitor and really seems to work well with the younger guards.
He did shoot better toward the end of the season, but can't really rely on him to be a sharp-shooter suddenly, though he should help us from the perimeter. I did notice his D was much stronger this year and didn't get burned as badly as in seasons past.

Connor really needs to work on his 3-pointers. He could be an all-conference player with more consistency from long range.

[Tommy]

So true Tommy.

I think the pro to Ville coming back would be his leadership and fire. He is a competitor and really seems to work well with the younger guards.
He did shoot better toward the end of the season, but can't really rely on him to be a sharp-shooter suddenly, though he should help us from the perimeter. I did notice his D was much stronger this year and didn't get burned as badly as in seasons past.

Connor really needs to work on his 3-pointers. He could be an all-conference player with more consistency from long range.

Agree with all that, LB. Also, Ville provided a lot of timely and important rebounds from the guard position. I do love his fire and intensity too, as I think he's probably the guy who provides this more than anyone on the team.