UNI gets recruit

[user1]

Stephen Jones who had verballed and signed his LOI last fall to Ball State, was recently released after a coaching change there,
and has now verballed to Northern Iowa.

http://www.bradleyfans.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=19423#19423

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=4333

http://www.ballstatesports.com/article/0,1382,37907-6-team,00.html

[cpacmel]

This is a good get for UNI, who recently lost a player to a JUCO.

[user1]

UNI continues their tradition of getting guards, reasonably small ones at that, and they have done well in developing them into better players than some would have predicted.
John Little, Eric Crawford are examples.
They still are terribly weak in the interior.
they have only Stout and Coleman.
When those two are healthy and both in the game, UNI's frontcourt is solid.
If either is hurt or in foul trouble, then UNI instantly becomes a bit small and weak in the post.
Even the loss of Crawford this past year was more damaging than it had initially appeared. It created a real depth problem and forced the starters into playing HUGE minutes and wearing down. It was THE major reason that UNI lost 7 of their final 11 games, and was simply not a factor anywhere in the post season.

[Da Coach]

Since we started the same topic at the same time, I deleted mine, but here is my thoughts, even if they seem eerily similar to user1's--

UNI had a scholarship open up when redshirt freshman mason Stewart left last week. So they gave that scholarship to Stephen Jones, a 6'0" point guard from Bethalto (Illinois) Civic Memorial high school (a Class A school in southern IL).

http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=40181

Stephen Jones is ranked anywhere from #30 to over #100 among Illinois high school players in the class of 2006-

Scout.com does not list him among their Top 50 in Illinois

#47-

http://www.freewebs.com/chipatsj23h/classof2006seniors.htm

Not in Top 40-

http://www.highschoolscoutings1.8k.com/whats_new.html

Not even in the Top 25 point guards in Illinois for 2006-

http://illstat.bravehost.com/2006pg.html

Not in Top 100 overall-

http://illstat.bravehost.com/Rest.html

#30-

http://www.midstatehoops.nstemp.com/players/2006.html

#31-

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/2006rankings.html

It would seem strange that UNI would go after another guard, especially another point guard, when they are loaded with guards, and if they had a deficiency last year, it was not enough big men. One of their other top 2006 recruits is a highly rated point guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe, and they have 5 other point guards returning from last year's team--
Brooks McKeown- who started all 33 games and played over 30 minutes a game.
Michael Williams- a backup point guard who played in 19 games last season.
Brian Haak- a recruited walkon redshirt freshman point guard who will have 4 years of eligibility, and some expected would be awarded this scholarship.
Jared Josten- a sophomore 5'11 point guard who averaged over 8 assists a game in high school, and who appeared in all 33 games this past season.
Adam Viet- another sophomore guard who only appeared in 13 games last season.

Panther fans think they have a pretty good recruiting class with Jones added to the 4 previous recruits. Here is a message board topic where they call them the "Fab 5".

http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=4333

[user1]

By the way, here is another interesting signing...

http://statesmen.wmpenn.edu/m-basketball/view_release.php?release_id=1099

Joel Stout signed with William Penn University.
This is the brother of Grant Stout of UNI.

[DUBulldog]

By the way, here is another interesting signing...

http://statesmen.wmpenn.edu/m-basketball/view_release.php?release_id=1099

Joel Stout signed with William Penn University.
This is the brother of Grant Stout of UNI.

I think it's his cousin....there were three seniors named Stout on that high school team this season. I think 1 was Grant's brother and the other 2 were cousins.

[cpacmel]

UNI continues their tradition of getting guards, reasonably small ones at that, and they have done well in developing them into better players than some would have predicted.
John Little, Eric Crawford are examples.

Isn't Crawford like 6'4?

[cpacmel]

They still are terribly weak in the interior.
they have only Stout and Coleman.
When those two are healthy and both in the game, UNI's frontcourt is solid.
If either is hurt or in foul trouble, then UNI instantly becomes a bit small and weak in the post.

7'1 Freshman Jordan Egleseder should help them here. They also have a 6'8 Freshman coming in from Wisky.

[Da Coach]

This article discusses Jones, and lists their 2006 recruits at the bottom.

http://unipanthers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/041806aaa.html

Will Egelseder and Koch (the 6'8" kid from Wisconsin) be able to contribute immediately? Of their only 2 forwards with much experience, Stout will be a senior, and Coleman a junior. Their other big guy, Santos, left UNI. No others played significantly last year. With Jacobson, Crawford, and Little gone they may have to get more scoring from from their big guys. I would anticipate they will have more difficulty scoring next season.

[Bravesguy]

Eglseder is a fine player, but like POB will he be able to handle the rigors of lugging up and down the 94' court for the full season in his freshman year?

[tornado]

Since we started the same topic at the same time, I deleted mine, but here is my thoughts, even if they seem eerily similar to user1's--

UNI had a scholarship open up when redshirt freshman mason Stewart left last week. So they gave that scholarship to Stephen Jones, a 6'0" point guard from Bethalto (Illinois) Civic Memorial high school (a Class A school in southern IL).

http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=40181

Stephen Jones is ranked anywhere from #30 to over #100 among Illinois high school players in the class of 2006-

Scout.com does not list him among their Top 50 in Illinois

#47-

http://www.freewebs.com/chipatsj23h/classof2006seniors.htm

Not in Top 40-

http://www.highschoolscoutings1.8k.com/whats_new.html

Not even in the Top 25 point guards in Illinois for 2006-

http://illstat.bravehost.com/2006pg.html

Not in Top 100 overall-

http://illstat.bravehost.com/Rest.html

#30-

http://www.midstatehoops.nstemp.com/players/2006.html

#31-

http://www.chicagohoops.com/articles1/2006rankings.html

It would seem strange that UNI would go after another guard, especially another point guard, when they are loaded with guards, and if they had a deficiency last year, it was not enough big men. One of their other top 2006 recruits is a highly rated point guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe, and they have 5 other point guards returning from last year's team--
Brooks McKeown- who started all 33 games and played over 30 minutes a game.
Michael Williams- a backup point guard who played in 19 games last season.
Brian Haak- a recruited walkon redshirt freshman point guard who will have 4 years of eligibility, and some expected would be awarded this scholarship.
Jared Josten- a sophomore 5'11 point guard who averaged over 8 assists a game in high school, and who appeared in all 33 games this past season.
Adam Viet- another sophomore guard who only appeared in 13 games last season.

Panther fans think they have a pretty good recruiting class with Jones added to the 4 previous recruits. Here is a message board topic where they call them the "Fab 5".
http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=4333

After a couple reports I have read and a little discussion with some people in the know, I have come to some conclusions about Stephen Jones.

He played for a very small Class AA school, and actually did NOT get much recruiting interest while at Bethalto.
He committed to BALL STATE early in his junior year and the signed a LOI and had remained loyal to Ball State all the time in between until just 10 days ago--then he decommits and quickly he recommits to Northern Iowa.

Then he gives this interview to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier
today claiming he was "offered scholarships by Marquette, Southern Illinois, Bradley and Tulane before signing with Ball State..."

http://www.panthermania.net/articles/2006/04/20/news/mensbball/doc44464eec9f383027936880.txt

My response...

This is just not plausable nor believable.
Why in even the most extreme situation would this small, 6'0" "combo guard" commit early in his junior year of high school to BALL STATE of all places, if he had OFFERS from schools like Marquette, SIU, and BU???
Trust me, good, talented kids just don't commit to Ball State all that often, and surely not so incredibly early in the recruiting process when they also have offers from Marquette.

So, if forced to offer an opinion, I think the kid is substituting the word "offers" for the word "interest". He may have been receiving interest from those schools, but I seriously doubt he was getting offers. It just points out how much caution one has to use when reading about the offers these kids claim to be getting. I am convinced that almost all the time, a testimony of "offers" is inflated and inaccurate.

[PTTB]

Actually, those weren't quotes that he said. I think that info came from this website: http://www.bsufans.com/modules.php?o...rticle&sid=298

It was originally posted on Panther Nation, and then the WCF Courier put it in their story. It's not coming from Stephen.

[PTTB]

Also, I found a link that has him listed as top 30.

http://midstatehoops.com/players/2006.html

This is the updated midstatehoops.com ranking from April.

Also, Joel Stout is Grant's brother (I'm pretty sure). Grant has two twin brothers who are seniors at North Mahaska. Joel is one of them. So, he is the one that is just recently signed.

The Fab Five comment comes from the fact that this is the most anticipated recruiting class in UNI history. Jordan Eglseder was one of the top centers in the country this past year (top 25 centers). He wasn't ranked as high by rivals or scout, b/c those rankings typically come from the teams that recruit players prior to their commitment. Jordan commited before his sophomore year. Kerwin commited after his sophomore year, and his game is very similar to Benny Jacobson's. He's thinner, and needs to add weight, but is 6'5". Adam Koch has some impressive film online, and he had visits lined up to West Viriginia, and scholarship offers from Northwestern, Wichita, and Washington State. Kwadzo commited during his junior year, and thus wasn't getting as much looks at the time. He is a bigger and stronger PG than UNI has had before. He comes from the same HS as Crawford and Coleman, and should be able to step in and help defensively. He had another D1 player being recruited from his team (went to Valpo can't think of his name) that got most of the attention (plus Coleman from the year before). So, this class should be really good.

UNI tends to get kids to commit before they get too highly recruited, and thus their rankings aren't as high as most, but for those who have seen the guys play know why this should be a good class. This comes from a guy who watches lots of HS basketball in the winter (from within Iowa and surrounding states).

[Eddie]

I think UNI has a great recruiting class.

And they were smart to hire Jacobson, so all the recruits would stay committed. They lose a lot next year, but the incoming class should help them stay competetive.

Welcome to the board PTTB. I have read a lot of your posts on the UNI board.

[cpacmel]

Not even in the Top 25 point guards in Illinois for 2006-

http://illstat.bravehost.com/2006pg.html

Not in Top 100 overall-

http://illstat.bravehost.com/Rest.html

Da Coach, just you know these links say as of October of 2004.