Bradley schedule- BU to play Eastern Tennessee and SEMO

[Da Coach]

The Bradley schedule has not been released yet, and there may be more work to do with the cancelling of the BP Top of the World Classic.

But there is news of one of Bradley's non-conference games--
Bradley appears to be scheduled to play Eastern Tennessee University at Carver Arena on Saturday, November 29.--
http://www.etsubucs.com/sports/mbbal...LEASE_ID=10792

ETSU is coached by Murry Bartow. They are lead by 6'1" guard Courtney Pigram who lead ETSU with a 15.8 ppg average as a junior last year.

2007-2008 stats--
http://www.etsubucs.com/sports/mbbal...sp?PAGE_ID=223

2008-2009 roster--

http://www.etsubucs.com/sports/mbball/rosters/

Note- Former Metamora star Blake Mishler played the first semester last year for ETSU. He played in 11 games, then left and transferred to Illinois State.

[MacabreMob]

East Tenn St finished 19-13 (11-5 in conference, tied for 3rd) with an RPI of 145. They ended their season in their conference tournament title to Belmont.

They play in the Atlantic Sun Conference which (by RPI numbers) was the 28th/29th best conference non-conference/overall.

The Atlantic Sun boasted some big wins last season. Mercer won at USC. Gardner-Webb won at Kentucky. E Tenn St beat Georgia in the Rainbow Classic. Belmont won at Alabama and at Cincinnati.

[mportsch]

This should be an entertaining game, as ETSU really likes to get up and down the court, but Bradley shouldn't have much trouble winning. ETSU finished 192nd in Pomeroy's ratings last year, and they lose a good shooter in Travis Strong and their two best rebounders. They do return their two best players in combo guard Courtney Pigram and wing Kevin Tiggs, both seniors. The other returning members of the rotation are 6'6'' PF Mike Smith, a solid rebounder, and turnover-prone PG Jocolby Davis.

In limited minutes, sophomore wing Micah Williams and senior PF Greg Hamlin were efficient scorers, and Hamlin was an excellent shotblocker. Those two figure to join the rotation, if not the starting lineup. They also return junior combo guard Dequan Twilley, who was pretty awful in limited minutes.

Their incoming class consists of four freshmen, one at each position except PF. None were highly rated by the major sites, but there is talk among the fanbase of this being one of the better recruiting classes at ETSU in some time. 6'11'' Seth Coy is a rebounder and shotblocker from the same HS as UNC recruit Tyler Zeller, and will probably be needed right away due to their lack of size.

Here's how I see their rotation:

PG Courtney Pigram 6'1'' Sr.
SG Kevin Tiggs 6'4'' Sr.
SF Micah Williams 6'4'' So.
PF Mike Smith 6'6'' Jr.
C Greg Hamlin 6'7'' Sr.

PG Jocolby Davis 6'1'' Sr.
SG Dequan Twilley 6'1'' Jr.
C Seth Coy 6'11'' Fr.
SF J.C. Ward 6'6'' Fr.
PG Adam Sollazzo 6'6'' Fr.
SG Jarvis Jones 6'2'' Fr.

I don't see ETSU improving much over last year, so a finish somewhere in the bottom of the top 200 is likely. Bradley should win this one going away.

[mportsch]

I left two guys off that roster - redshirt freshman Isiah Brown (6'8'' 200) and sophomore SF Tommy Hubbard (6'4'' 205). Hubbard really struggled in limited minutes as a freshman. Brown redshirted last season, but might get some minutes due to his size.

Also, I came across the Rivals ratings for ETSU's 2008 class - Jarvis Jones is actually a 3-star recruit, and is listed as the best incoming SG in the Atlantic Sun. So, he might move into the rotation a bit quicker than I originally thought.

[mportsch]

We might get an opportunity to see ETSU on TV before they come to Peoria - they are opening with a tournament put on by ESPN, Nov. 14-16. The confirmed teams are Clemson, Temple, Texas Christian, Western Michigan, North Texas, ETSU and College of Charleston. They have not confirmed the final team - I would say that Bradley should try to get in this tournament, but doesn't BU already have a game scheduled on Nov. 15 against UIC?

[chitown fanatic]

This is the garbage I was afraid of when Top of the World was cancelled and Loyola and Iowa St. bolted. Directional schools from weak conferences are noticed by the committee when SOS is figured in March. There have got to be some higher tier mid-majors looking for a home and home. This is awful. You can try and put as much whip cream on their team as you want, it still tastes awful.

[BradleyBrave]

Kinda agree with fanatic here. I know we're in a bit of a scheduling bind, but I don't think grabbing teams from the 29th rated conference is the answer.

[houstontxbrave]

I agree this is not an ideal team from an ideal conference to play but BU has some scheduling conflicts early on in the season with Carver and this date is a replacement date for the lost Iowa State game and atleast it is at home.

It appears we now have 5 non conference games:

Nov 15 UIC home
Nov 29 ETSU home
Dec 7 Michigan St there
Dec 10 Butler home
Dec 20 UW Milwaukee there

It appears we still have 3 more non conference games to schedule. If we can not get into a exempt tourney we will not be able to replace the 3 lost games. JL had stated before we had ETSU on the schedule when he needed 4 more non conferences that he wanted 3 of those at home.

Now we need 2 more home and one more road if he sticks to his orginal intention. Losing the Alaska tourney is terrible because we needed the games to if anything play more games, the more we play the better we will be.

http://www.pjstar.com/sports_bu/x1192323226/Bradley-basketball-on-Top-of-the-World

[MacabreMob]

I thought something with Tulsa would have materialized after the CBI.

Heck - even opening conversation with Cincinnati.

[BUBraves06]

I'm not a big fan of this either, but we are in a tough spot. Hopefully this will be the weakest team we play and the rest of the teams that we schedule will pick the slack for this game.

[Da Coach]

BU to play SEMO at Carver this season

Another home non-conference game appears to be set-- at home against SEMO.

This article refers to Southeast Missouri's basketball schedule, and says it hasn't been finalized yet. It is mostly about SEMO scheduling SIU this coming season, but if you read down to the 10th paragraph, it lists other non-conference games for SEMO, and one of them is a guarantee game at Bradley. The date is not mentioned.

http://www.semissourian.com/article/20080708/BLOGS0205/654747663/-1/sports01

[Bradleyguy10]

Wow...this is shaping up to be a really good non-con. schedule

[MacabreMob]

Another directional school from a weak conference? Huh-oh.

[squirrel]

At least SEMO's non-con appears to be of excellent quality, which has benefits for BU.

[BU ICEMAN]

We've played SEMO quite recently, as in the last 5 years or so, haven't we? Is this game still part of that deal?