BU recruit- class of 2009- Marshall Henderson

[real fan]

The best reason to commit early is so some other player does not take your spot that is open now but may not be when november arrives as there are only so many open slots to be filled.

[tornado]

Agreed.......how many times have you heard a coach say they'd far, far prefer to have kids who really want to be there...
Guess what....making an early commitment is one of the strongest ways to indicate to the coach that you really want to be there.
Nobody ever had any doubts about Sam Maniscalco's commitment and maybe it's no coincidence that the coach puts a lot of faith in Sam and that translates into playing time.

Recall all those guys who waited until their stock jumped sharply then they committed to Indiana (Jamarcus Ellis, Deandre Thomas, Eli Holman...).
They seem to have all wanted simply to "go to the highest level that offered".
Now, I am not saying the kid can't do that, but then (as I have said many times before) that's effectively like letting the college recruiters make your mind up for you.

I know some of the early commitments do back out, but that's life and it works both ways, as the whole coaching staff can change before you get there, if you commit too early.

[Manual Labor]

I'm all for a kid making an early "verbal" commitment if that's what he wants to do, but it's not binding. Let's say a school has 3 open scholarships available and 3 kids give a verbal commitment. At the November early signing date, one of those kids signs the LOI and the other two change their mind and sign a LOI with one of the other schools that has been recruiting them. It happens all the time. Some kids sign the LOI and before the season starts, the head coach leaves for a job at another school. Now the kid is stuck playing for a coach he wasn't recruited by and who may run a totally different system that's not suited to his game.

All I'm saying is that a kid giving an early verbal doesn't necessarily mean that he's totally committed to that school. Has Bradley always held a scholarship for every kid they receive a verbal commitment from ? I know of cases where the college changed their mind about a kid after the kid verballed and offered the scholarship to a different kid at the signing date.

There's a lot of pressure on high school athletes in today's world due to the internet, the various ranking services, message boards like this, etc. A lot of college basketball message boards has so called fans of that university analyzing every little detail about a kid and being critical when the kid has one bad game during a summer AAU tournament. Everyone today has an expert opinion of who their college should or should not be recruiting.

Try to imagine yourself as a kid who's about to start your Senior year in high school and you have to make a decision on which college will provide you with the best opportunity to succeed, both academically and in your chosen sport. It's a huge decision and one that may take some time, despite fans of that college wanting a recruit to decide now. Put yourself in their shoes. Think about it.

[Big Mike]

You make some very good points ML.....but as a Bradley fan I can see where a kid like MH could get an excellent education and flourish in a great D1 atmosphere @ BU! The knowledge a player could get from Jim Les with his NBA past combined with Steve Merfeld, giving you 2 D1 head coach's on one staff and the support of 10,000 strong fans at every game.....heck I think they average over 800 fans for the pre game luncheons! People on this board all have opinions....some are more out-spoken...but you will find almost every poster on this site wants a kid like MH on this squad! But hey...good luck to MH where ever he wants to go.....we all remember that it is the player's choice to go where he feels most @ home.....but if education and family are important... it's hard to beat BU!

[Da Coach]

I agree Big Mike. It shows how passionate BU fans are. We all think Marshall Henderson would flourish in Bradley's offense, and get more playing time right away here than at the other schools recruiting him.
And if coaching continuity it a factor, even that may afvor Bradley.

We'd love to have him at Bradley, but Bradley fans will wish him success whereever he chooses to go.

[tornado]

ditto......but tell me this, Manual...

What is the ultimate criteria when a kid chooses a college?

--does the kid select the biggest school among the ones that offered, that gets on national TV the most, and that might be the most prestigious offer?
Some do......in fact a lot of them seem to do it this way.

--or should it be the school with top/good academics, that has the best atmosphere for completing his coursework, and that maybe, just maybe, is a place the kid really wants to be. But it should be the kid's decision, not so strongly influenced by the recruiter/salesman.

as I am sure you know....kids go both ways, and I guess if you think you have a shot at the NBA, then your best bet is use the first criteria.

But you can still make it to the NBA from the 2nd criteria, just ask Courtney Lee and Patrick O'Bryant.
and then check out how many kid transfer..a full 1/3 of all DI basketball scholarship players!! So I can assume many select a college for quite possibly the wrong reasons, and then reconsider and transfer.
In other words....a pretty big percentage (I'd call 1/3 enormous as every one of my college acquaintances finished college where they started) made a "mistake". Some times, as in the case of DeAaron Williams, Jeremy Fears, etc..., it ends up leading to a miserable college career, wasting the talent the kid has!

[Manual Labor]

The 1/3 of D1 basketball players who transfer typically do it for one major reason....lack of playing time. There are kids who are being pushed in one direction by their AAU "handlers" and there are kids who might just want to go to a school because of its "name", but I think a kid who really loves the game of basketball, who plays hard and gives maximum effort all the time, who plays with his heart on his sleeve with a lot of emotion, I think a kid like that is not the kind who is swayed by an offer from a school with a big name. That kind of kid has one thing that is most important. Is he going to get the opportunity to play a lot of minutes and become a major contributor on the team ? That type of kid will not be happy sitting on the bench at a so called big name school, he would rather be starting and starring at a smaller D1 school who values his contribution. Is that the definition of Bradley ? I'm sure Bradley is a very good school. Current students and graduates of Bradley need not have an inferiority complex when kids who are being recruited by Bradley also happen to be recruited by so called bigger name schools.

[tornado]

.....but I think a kid who really loves the game of basketball, who plays hard and gives maximum effort all the time, who plays with his heart on his sleeve with a lot of emotion, I think a kid like that is not the kind who is swayed by an offer from a school with a big name.

.....he would rather be starting and starring at a smaller D1 school who values his contribution. Is that the definition of Bradley ?.....

My answers to those two points of yours...

--Yes, I am glad to hear you say this, because that's the kind of kid the 10,000 who pack Bradley's Carver Arena will stand and cheer for, that is who I think the BU fans really want to see here at Bradley.
we kinda know we won't get the 5-Stars and the kids with legions of "handlers".

--Yes, I think Bradley is the kind of school at which such a kid could flourish, find plenty of playing time, and be greatly appreciated. I think Patrick O'Bryant is just such an example. Maybe he won't have a long stay in the NBA, but he got there after his sophomore season and would have still been sitting the bench anywhere else.

[Manual Labor]

Tornado, only the Duke's, North Carolina's, Memphis, and UCLA's of the world are able to get any 5-star athlete they want. All other schools are fighting over the leftovers. Even though there are numerous ranking and scouting services analyzing every tiny detail about high school prospects all over the USA, they are not perfect and don't always get it right. There are lots of examples of kids who were rated a 3-star by these services who end up being a much better college player and experience more success than some of the 5-star rated athletes. Bradley can contend and make the NCAA playoffs with a team full of 3-star athletes I have no doubt.

You keep mentioning the NBA. Do you think Bradley sometimes isn't able to get a prospect who thinks their NBA potential would be greater by signing with another school ? The percentage of high school players who make it to the NBA is incredibly small, so I don't see a kid turning down Bradley for that reason, unless they are being sold a bill of goods by their "handlers".

I'm going to ask a question but don't take it personal. Do loyal fans of Bradley, both alumni and current students, sometimes have an inferiority complex when comparing yourselves to the larger bigger named schools ? The term "mid-major" has been around now for several years, and a lot of talking heads on TV do sometimes use that term in a derogatory manner. There are schools that were labeled that way, but after building their program and having several successful years, they are no longer being looked at that way anymore. Look at the incredible success Davidson had last year in the playoffs. Bradley experienced that with Hersey Hawkins. If Bradley can get there again and be able to maintain the level for several years, the term "mid-major" will go away and so will any inferiority complex. That's how I first learned of Bradley, due to the NCAA playoff success several years back. And I have no doubt that Bradley will experience that success again.

[dogsrus]

Tornado, only the Duke's, North Carolina's, Memphis, and UCLA's of the world are able to get any 5-star athlete they want. All other schools are fighting over the leftovers. Even though there are numerous ranking and scouting services analyzing every tiny detail about high school prospects all over the USA, they are not perfect and don't always get it right. There are lots of examples of kids who were rated a 3-star by these services who end up being a much better college player and experience more success than some of the 5-star rated athletes. Bradley can contend and make the NCAA playoffs with a team full of 3-star athletes I have no doubt.

You keep mentioning the NBA. Do you think Bradley sometimes isn't able to get a prospect who thinks their NBA potential would be greater by signing with another school ? The percentage of high school players who make it to the NBA is incredibly small, so I don't see a kid turning down Bradley for that reason, unless they are being sold a bill of goods by their "handlers".

I'm going to ask a question but don't take it personal. Do loyal fans of Bradley, both alumni and current students, sometimes have an inferiority complex when comparing yourselves to the larger bigger named schools ? The term "mid-major" has been around now for several years, and a lot of talking heads on TV do sometimes use that term in a derogatory manner. There are schools that were labeled that way, but after building their program and having several successful years, they are no longer being looked at that way anymore. Look at the incredible success Davidson had last year in the playoffs. Bradley experienced that with Hersey Hawkins. If Bradley can get there again and be able to maintain the level for several years, the term "mid-major" will go away and so will any inferiority complex. That's how I first learned of Bradley, due to the NCAA playoff success several years back. And I have no doubt that Bradley will experience that success again.

You can't play or perform your way out of mid-major status. The term is used to describe
non BCS Universities which BU and many others will alwys be UNLESS we get a football team and raise out budget 10 fold........

BU could go to the final 4, 5 years in a row, and will STILL be a mid by its current defenition. Many use the term to simply show there is a seperation between Universites when it comes to budgets.

We tend to label everything in our society and this is just another example. While I don't really like it I have started to look at is as a badge of honor. When some little ole Mid can compete and often beat the Kansas's and Pitts of the world it says alot about the lil guy.

Bottom line is we are D1 and play MAJOR hoops here in Peoria.

[tornado]

.....You keep mentioning the NBA. Do you think Bradley sometimes isn't able to get a prospect who thinks their NBA potential would be greater by signing with another school ? The percentage of high school players who make it to the NBA is incredibly small

....I'm going to ask a question but don't take it personal. Do loyal fans of Bradley, both alumni and current students, sometimes have an inferiority complex when comparing yourselves to the larger bigger named schools ? ....

answers.........

--from my experience, most kids, right down to the 1-Star kids still think they have a shot at the NBA (or at least a long pro career somewhere) even though I agree with you it is very unlikely. They still seem to prefer to be the 12th man at Indiana over a starting spot at Bradley.
I am not bitter about this fact, just aware for the past 30 years that it happens all the time!

--I'd have to say a qualified-yes, since everyone from the major media/talking heads to recruiters, to the average guy on the street, hears about Duke & Tom Izzo a million times, before they ever hear a single word and Bradley. The ESPN folks even snicker when they talk about Bradley or show a map of Indiana or Texas as if they don't know where we are.
You are obviously very knowledagble fan and quite the exception in this area, and I appreciate that.
We don't so much have an "inferiority complex", but we are reasonable enough to know everyone outside of Peoria (and the alums who go elsewhere) considers us inferior.
we have been and will be battling that forever.
Same goes for George Mason and Davidson... a couple years from now, if they don't keep up their NCAA appearances, nobody will have ever heard of them.

[Manual Labor]

Here's to hoping Bradley goes to the Final Four for the next 5 years....and I promise you that if that happens, the term "mid-major" will no longer be applied to Bradley.

Whereas there are huge differences between a big D1 school and a mid-major in football, the ability to compete in basketball is much closer and can be achieved by establishing a long running string of success. What would the outside perception be of Bradley if they won and dominated their conference for ten years in a row, each year going to the NCAA playoffs, making the sweet sixteen or elite eight in some of those years ? Kids all across America would know where Bradley is and want to go there.

It can happen. Believe it !

[Big Mike]

Nice post ML!

[tornado]

Here's to hoping Bradley goes to the Final Four for the next 5 years...!

thanks....but this is why we covet highly talented, coachable kids, like the one this thread is titled after!!

[Da Coach]

The Utah Rivals site has a new article on Marshall Henderson. He still lists Bradley among his top 5 schools, along with Utah, Notre Dame, Stanford, and Gonzaga. But the article reports that he is leaning toward Utah. I hope that doesn't happen! He has said that playing time is important, and he would probably get more immediate time at Bradley.
It also reports that he is planning to make his decision in the next 3 weeks.


Rivals premium article--

http://utah.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=824119

Profile--

http://utah.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=60550