2008 BU commitment- Eddren McCain

[Beninator]

I would bet Coach Brooks has something to do with this commit.....perhaps he knew of him from back in his JC coaching days.

Good point.

[Grassman]

This does not mean that at all Grassman. In response to another post regarding Sam Maniscalco being the 'point guard of the future', I think after seeing Sam play you'll see that he's more of a combo-shooter than a pure, 'pass first' point guard. Can he play the point? Absolutely. And play it well. But he can also score, and score in bunches. I would compare him to Will Franklin in that regard. Will could always handle the point, and handle it well. But he was at his best playing off of another 'pass first' guy, like a Dan Ruffin. I (and I believe the coaches) think that Maniscalco will be the same way. You can never have enough good guards, as most of the great Valley teams have proven over the years. With BU being committed to the 3 and 4 guard attack (which I think is the wave of the future in college basketball), depth at guard is paramount. Would I like our guards to be a little bigger? Yes. I think it will be very important to land some 6'4"-6'7" wing players to really compete on a national level. But, speed and quickness have tremendous value as well. It sounds like we're continuing to add that.

IMO, this guy was to good to pass up, regardless of what happens with Daniel West.
We can run the 4 guard O, but with 6'8" Singh, 7'0" ft. Collins, 6'10' Thompson, 6'9 Egolf, and a possible 7'0" X, it seems like Les has other opportunities.

[BUBraves06]

This is great news! Sounds like a good get.

[Beninator]

IMO, this guy was to good to pass up, regardless of what happens with Daniel West.
We can run the 4 guard O, but with 6'8" Singh, 7'0" ft. Collins, 6'10' Thompson, 6'9 Egolf, and a possible 7'0" X, it seems like Les has other opportunities.

This sounds like the case here. JL going after another quality player who knows how to win!

[Da Coach]

Sorry if somebody already posted this, but it is a rather tragic story that relates to Bradley's new commit--

http://www.nola.com/weblogs/print.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_topnews/archives/print245029.html

http://eteamz.active.com/HAAY/ (scroll down to see the Sept. 10, 2007 entry)

[BradleyBrave]

Another Houston native commits to Bradley!

One of the elite and most respected point guards in all of the South has pledged to Bradley. We will have him on "The Basketball Show" which can be viewed LIVE Mondays (9 - 10:30pm) over the net. Past and present shows can be seen at www.houstonsports.com .

PS: This is not intended to be an advertisement or marketing scheme just to get you guys to watch the show. We simply think Bradley fans would want to hear this kid speak in regards to how he came to this decision (within the past few hours).

His name??? I'll tell you this much, he was named MVP of his state tournament this past season.

Respectfully,
Jim Hicks
RCS Sports
www.rcssports.com "#1 info source of Greater Houston HS Basketball"

Jim - Thanks for the great news! Sounds like we got a great player!

[Big Mike]

Hey from what I see this is a really good get........thats a lot of production from a jr. and McCain could end up being a major player!

Congrats to the staff on this find......and Asst coach Brooks is probably really in on this kid!

[VromanFan]

Another Houston native commits to Bradley!

One of the elite and most respected point guards in all of the South has pledged to Bradley. We will have him on "The Basketball Show" which can be viewed LIVE Mondays (9 - 10:30pm) over the net. Past and present shows can be seen at www.houstonsports.com .

PS: This is not intended to be an advertisement or marketing scheme just to get you guys to watch the show. We simply think Bradley fans would want to hear this kid speak in regards to how he came to this decision (within the past few hours).

His name??? I'll tell you this much, he was named MVP of his state tournament this past season.

Respectfully,
Jim Hicks
RCS Sports
www.rcssports.com "#1 info source of Greater Houston HS Basketball"

I gotta give some props to the "RCS Sports" outfit. Its not often this board gets scooped...and I mean that as a compliment to the posters here. Or maybe some of our fine posters knew all along but had to keep it top secret...

Either way I'll be checking out your internet show tonight because it sounds cool and also because I don't have a wife or girlfriend so I can spend my Monday night drinking some beer and watching internet tv.

Cheers,
VromanFan

[BradleyBrave]

A couple of questions that need to be asked (call it the nervous nelly in me) -

1.) Why did he change high schools?

2.) Where does he stand academically?

I know our staff does their due dilligence as much as they possibly can in these areas, but these are questions that can put all of our minds at ease. We're eager to see Eddren in a BU uniform!

[Da Coach]

Here is a national ranking of 2008 players, and Eddren McCain is rated #80 nationally by this site. Wow! A Top 100 player!--

http://underclassmen-b-ball.tripod.com/id10.html

Another site has him ranked #93 in the country--

http://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=preprankings2008

He played in a tournament last January in Anchorage, Alaska, that Will Egolf's team played. in. I don't know if they met or got to know each other. Eddren was the high scorer in the tournament.--

http://www.alaska-airlines-news.com/2007/01/14/alaska-airlines-classic---anchorage-daily-news.php

Another picture--

http://www.houstonselect.org/edgerinmccain.html

[Big Mike]

Isn't West more of a 2 guard than a pg?

[Da Coach]

Here is Hoopscoop's ranking. They are usually reliable.
He was #49 in the country in this ranking--

http://www.hoopscooponline.com/members/classof2008-freshmen-top260-1282005.html

[ser_solace]

This is definitely a surprise. He seems like an awesome player to have.

Welcome to Bradley, Eddren!

[BradleyBrave]

Those rankings are great...but they're all from 2005. I am curious as to where he ranks in the 2007 rankings. I am also curious (in addition to my questions about why he transferred and how he stands academically) as to who else has offered him and what level of competition he played against in high school. Again, I am not trying to downplay how good this kid is, I just want to know more about him. It seems like he was very highly regarded at one point, and has fallen off some of the national radars (which can mean absolutely nothing considering what we've learned about the national recruiting 'experts'). I trust the staff to identify talent, so I have full faith that he's good enough to play at BU. I really just want to know more about the guy.

[Da Coach]

I agree that 2005 don't always reflect where a kid would rank now.
But here is what is baffling about these rankings-- he doesn't appear to have done anything that should have taken him out of the rankings. All he's done is help lead his team to the state championship 3 years straight, and last year as a junior he averaged 21.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 3.3 steals per game and was 1st team All State.
Maybe because he plays at a small school he has fallen "under the radar", but if he was Top 50 as a sophomore, he seems to have only gotten better!