Zek enters the portal

[bradleyfan124]

We are all p***ed off.. as we should be.. but we are venting to each other... lets start aiming to people who can change this... The NCAA... I can find the address of the home office in Indianapolis. Send your opinions to them..or at least get Chris Reynolds on here what with him being part of the NCAA.. From what I read about the new incoming president he is in the frame of mind of making changes

[patrick_o'brian]

We will get a couple impact transfers. Losing Montgomery hurts, but as the new NCAA has shown us, no one is irreplaceable.

[ManMythLegend]

I only verbally told one person that I was afraid we would lose Zek to the portal...I was afraid to jinx us. My apologies because apparently telling one person was enough...this one stings.

[Stryker]

Tommy You are not the only one saying this. I know of one big time Bradley booster that is done with all this. He is giving up his tickets, saying he is tired of the big schools preying on smaller schools for talent. I am still trying to talk him out of quitting on them

For large boosters/scholarship society members, etc. they are making an investment in a student they want to support. Really hard to keep that up if the kids leave after a year.

[Tommy]

We will get a couple impact transfers. Losing Montgomery hurts, but as the new NCAA has shown us, no one is irreplaceable.

Very true, nobody is irreplaceable, even Rienk, but that's not the point. College basketball used to be special because we could see the kids grow in the program and as players, and it was fun to root for the same guys and see their progression. Now we're looking at a brand new team every year! I suppose I should be glad that so far we've only lost 2 players to the portal and another 2 to graduation (JaShon and Ville) but like I've said two times already, if we are losing average players with potential like Zek, the future doesn't look brighter for retaining our core.

I hope that BW is recruiting with his no. 1 goal being kids that want to be here for a full 4 years.

[JMM28]

The unsung villains in this era are the agents. These guys are the tamperers.

[Bball31]

I wonder why there weren’t a lot of upset people when Jayson Kent, Terry Nolan, Kevin McAdoo and Antonio Davis transferred.

[Nashville Cat]

I wonder why there weren’t a lot of upset people when Jayson Kent, Terry Nolan, Kevin McAdoo and Antonio Davis transferred.

Those guys left pre-NIL. There were tangible circumstances that influenced them. Today's players are leaving for money.

[Da Coach]

....
I hope that BW is recruiting with his no. 1 goal being kids that want to be here for a full 4 years.

There is no way to know that, and most kids will tell you "yes" if you asked them. I'll bet prior to today, even Zek would have said he was committed to Bradley if he was asked.
There is tampering going on all over the place. Much of it involves promises of NIL money, but not always.

[Stryker]

This stuff will have to even out eventually. Too many kids are going to jump ship and realize they made a poor decision or the NIL money wasn't actually there. Kids should figure this out at some point I would hope.

[Harley06]

Complete disappointment that 20 some year old kids are making life decisions on the all mighty dollar.
Influenced by promises of money and possible playing time at Power 6 school. I am sure they are not thinking
about what will happen when they recruit over you and there you sit with no more money and no where to go after.

[Nashville Cat]

Complete disappointment that 20 some year old kids are making life decisions on the all mighty dollar.
Influenced by promises of money and possible playing time at Power 6 school. I am sure they are not thinking
about what will happen when they recruit over you and there you sit with no more money and no where to go after.

Well said

[Tommy]

This stuff will have to even out eventually. Too many kids are going to jump ship and realize they made a poor decision or the NIL money wasn't actually there. Kids should figure this out at some point I would hope.

I agree. I think in time this will all work itself out one way or another. Still, this paying players with no contractual agreement along with what seems to be a wide open portal has seemingly created a monster that may be too big to reel in. Time will tell.

[BUfan14]

Zek will be interesting to watch his market and subsequent career develop. Who will be interested? Will he play much? He will have to take a BIG step forward to do so. I certainly can't see big things on a high major winner. He developed a lot last year, but will still just average at this point. He is replaceable.

I now 100% want to restate we desperately need to find AT LEAST one shooter and a point guard. We are incredibly thin at guard/wing. Hickman, Deen, and zero other guards with experience. Burch will hopefully be here as well, but I'm sure will have a learning curve on both sides of the ball in D1.

[tomahawk chop]

Zek will be interesting to watch his market and subsequent career develop. Who will be interested? Will he play much? He will have to take a BIG step forward to do so. I certainly can't see big things on a high major winner. He developed a lot last year, but will still just average at this point. He is replaceable.

I now 100% want to restate we desperately need to find AT LEAST one shooter and a point guard. We are incredibly thin at guard/wing. Hickman, Deen, and zero other guards with experience. Burch will hopefully be here as well, but I'm sure will have a learning curve on both sides of the ball in D1.

Zek is a good player at Bradley but not sure if he will fit in at a bigger school because most of them makes promises and then the players end up being role type of players. I can see him and Mast getting less minutes somewhere else plus not the same fan fare that they got at Bradley. I also remember that coach took Zek as a late recruitment player because no one else was offering him a full ride.