2008 BU commitment-Dodie Dunson

[tornado]

The Indiana Rivals site has gotten very interested in Dodie Dunson, since one of their 2008 recruits, guard Bud Mackey, just had some legal problems and may not be coming to IU.
If the Hoosiers suddenly lose out on Mackey, it will leave their program very thin at guard, especially PG in 2008 and beyond.
Plus it is getting late to start from scratch and start recruiting another 2008 kid, so IU is definitely looking at juco kids.

Dodie Dunson left Bloomington HS and verballed at first to Illinois State University, then reneged and went to Brewster prep, then went to Iowa State, then left and went to Vincennes junior college, where he will play this season.




Here are some clips from the new premium article on Dodie.

"Vincennes Guard Gets IU Look
October 9, 2007

Likely down an expected guard signing due to the Bud Mackey saga, it should be of little surprise that some new guard names are popping up on the Hoosier recruiting scene. This weekend the Hoosier staff scouted one just down the road. Former Iowa State guard Dodie Dunson has surfaced at Vincennes University where he seems poised to become one of the most sought after junior college players in the country.
Last year at Iowa State, Dunson played in all 31 games for the Cyclones, averaging 5.2 points and 1.5 rebounds.
Dunson is originally out of Bloomington, Illinois. As a high school senior there he averaged 16 points, five assists and three steals a game for a team that went 24-4. Dunson was a full qualifier out of high school and signed with Illinois State. He ended up getting a release from that letter and made a one year stop at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire and impressed enough there to sign with Iowa State over offers from Minnesota and Tulsa.
"He is a point guard in the natural sense but he can play the off guard position...
The Vincennes coach indicates that Dunson is currently measuring in about 6-foot-3 and 195-pounds.
At this point the coach does not anticipate Dunson will sign in November.
"More than likely he is going to wait and then in the spring take some visits," said Sullivan. "He has had a lot of schools look at him but I don't want to start anything by throwing out names."
Sullivan did confirm that the Hoosiers are taking a look.
"Indiana was at the Jamboree," said Sullivan. "I believe it was Coach (Jeff) Meyer."

[FarmerClone]

I only wish Dodie was a point guard. He is a shooting guard that is a very streaky shooter. I loved his potential, but he showed me nothing while at ISU to believe he could ever be a high major point guard. He plays hard on defense and does not turn the ball over, but he cannot run a team from the point guard spot very effectively IMO.

Best of luck Dodie.

[scout4126]

I don't think Dodie was given the fair shot to play the point guard at ISU. All the schools that recruited him recruited him at the PG except ISU who recruited him as a combo. Midstatehoops.com also reports offers from Charlotte, Duquesne, Fordham, and Rhode Island.

http://midstatehoops.wordpress.com/2007/10/01/off-the-court-extras-3/

[scout4126]

This was also in the rivals article:

"Just a great all around kid both on and off the floor," said Sullivan. "You can't say enough about his work ethic. Great player and it is rare that you get a great player and a great kid and we are happy that he is here."

A lot of people give Dunson a bad wrap because he is well traveled but every coach has nothing but good things to say about the kid.

[DannyCooksey]

I don't think Dodie was given the fair shot to play the point guard at ISU. All the schools that recruited him recruited him at the PG except ISU who recruited him as a combo. Midstatehoops.com also reports offers from Charlotte, Duquesne, Fordham, and Rhode Island.

http://midstatehoops.wordpress.com/2...ourt-extras-3/

Dodie never gave himself a fair shot to play PG at ISU. He opted out of his LOI in July of '05 1 month before he ever started taking classes at ISU.

[scout4126]

ISU=Iowa State not Illinois State

[tornado]

scout....I have a really tough question for you......

I don't know what goes on in the minds of the kids or the recruiters, but I have been following college ball long enough to notice a pretty strong correlation between
the "well-travelled kid" and the kids who turn out to flop and be seen as very overrated.

Look elsewhere, and see the ongoing talk about DeAaron Williams, he is a perfect example....never sticking very long anywhere, a little issue here and there, and then in the end....a big flop, a sad waste of talent...

Go back a few years and look at some of the names of the top kids in the rankings, and many of the ones who are "well travelled" and had a couple transfers, turned out to underproduce.

Here are a few other names (all hopped around to 2, 3, or more different schools -- and
all were in the TOP 10 in their class in Illinois as seniors and were heavily recruited)
....and the talent is there, but the end results aren't...
Class of 2001....Najeeb Echols
Class of 2002....Mike Thompson, Aaron Spears, Robert Faulkner
Class of 2003....Dameon Mason, Nick Brooks, Othyus Jeffers
Class of 2004....DeAaron Williams, Justin Cerasoli, Jeremy Fears, Brandon Lee, Chris Cornelius
Class of 2005....Nate Minnoy, Dodie, and the jury is still out on Josh Tabb, Sead Odzic, & Phillip Perry.
Class of 2006....( jury is still out somewhat, but the suspicions are there) Robert Eppinger, Manual Cass


Just about the ONLY exception to the "well travelled" rule is Jamarcus Ellis.
He seems set for a fine career, although it hasn't happened yet and the jury is still out.

Can you name any others who were talented but bounced around from one committment to another and one school to another,
and still turned out to have a fine & productive college career?
(also see my posts about the BTMA and DCS kids who in effect bounced around to and from those schools, and it's the same thing....lots of hype, little actual productivity)
This is why in Dodie's case, I have my suspicions that the issue is deeper than it appears.
I have never disputed the kid's talent, nor his work ethic......maybe the doubt I have is the committment and loyalty to a single school.
Seems that the loyalty of all these guys like Dodie, DeAaron, Fears, etc....is not to the school they play for but to themselves.

[DannyCooksey]

ISU=Iowa State not Illinois State

oooops


my bad

[tornado]

Here is an interesting followup on this Dodie Dunson topic.........

In a premium report on the Indiana Rivals site....the same place this whole story started
about Indiana interested in Dunson...............the lead writer has now issues a bit of a retraction.....

"We wrote a story here on Monday about Indiana being at Vincennes the day before to apparently scout Vincennes guard Dodie Dunson. Have since gotten some sourced info indicating that the Dunson interest may not be serious and that there may have been more interest in another prospect or two at this "Jamboree" event that featured prep schools as well as junior college players. One such player may have been Terrell Holloway from Harmony Prep in Cincinnati.

(pretty rare when a top writer writes a story about who they are NOT interested in...)



sooooo...........seems maybe IU isn't looking at Dodie at all and the story was one of those that exemplify the "internet chatter that does more harm than good", that they spoke of at the "Smoker" last might.

[scout4126]

I think Josh Tabb had a very successful rookie season at Tennessee. He's a key player for one of the nation's top 5 teams.

Justin Dentmon didn't honor his LOI w/ ISU and went prep then Washington and is having a tremendous career.

Dwayne Curtis (from Whitney Young) has been to a couple schools but is now the star player at Auburn and was a key element last season.

Aaron Spears has been to a few schools and was one of Rutgers big time players last season.

Dameon Mason has bounced around but has been very successful at LSU. He's a big time player there.

I guess what I'm saying is, there's a strong correlation both ways.

Dunson has only been to one college (Iowa State) and is now at a JC and will be headed somewhere else. A lot of players go through the same process. Despite the commitment to Illinois State, he has only been to ONE college and will end up at 3 like all players that transfer JC so I really don't see why such a big deal is made with him. He didn't honor his LOI with ISU went to prep school but many have done the same.

Looks like this whole conversation is out the window anyway since Sampson violated another recruiting rule and loss the scholarship.

[FarmerClone]

I don't think Dodie was given the fair shot to play the point guard at ISU. All the schools that recruited him recruited him at the PG except ISU who recruited him as a combo. Midstatehoops.com also reports offers from Charlotte, Duquesne, Fordham, and Rhode Island.

http://midstatehoops.wordpress.com/2...ourt-extras-3/

Well, you may be right, but Iowa State had THREE scholarship guards on it's roster last year and desperately needed a point guard and Dunson could not show the coaches that he was the man. Instead, we played natural shooting guard Mike Taylor there as a backup to Cory McIntosh and Taylor proceeded to lead the nation in turnovers. If Dunson could play the point effectively at a high level, I would think he would have been given every chance to do just that last year.

He is a great kid and works very hard and every Cyclone fan wishes him the best, but I will be very surprised if he ever is a high major point guard.

[tornado]

Dodie has another mention..... I guess the kids that intrigue the scouting experts the most are the D-I kids who drop out and go to juco.
Dodie hasn't played a single game of juco ball yet, but there have already been several national recruiting stories about him.

http://jucojunction.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=730964

"Six Strong Sophomores at Vincennes"

They even state that Illinois State is pursuing Dodie....

Here are some clips......
"Head coach Everick Sullivan enters his 3rd year at the helm of the Vincennes University Blazers with a 51-14 record. Sullivan played his college ball at Louisville under the legendary Denny Crum. JucoJunction had a chance to see the Blazers earlier this month. The Blazers have six sophomores this season.

Devon Dumes: (SO) 6-foot-2 (185) from Indianapolis, IN. Dumes is a transfer from Eastern Michigan University where he averaged 8 ppg last season. Devon recently visited UTEP-offered the weekend of October 12-14.

"Devon can really get to the basket and shows great explosiveness off the floor," said JucoJunction staff member Bret Swanson.

UAB, Butler, Charlotte, Evansville, Indiana State, Georgia Southern, Wright State and Cleveland State are keeping tabs on him.

Dodie Dunson: (SO) 6-foot-3 (190) Bloomington, IL. Dunson transferred in from Iowa State University where he averaged 5 ppg last season. Dodie prepped at Brewster Academy (NH) coming out of high school.

"Dodie has huge hands for a guard and great knowledge of the game. Dunson is like having another coach on the floor at all times," said Swanson.

Nevada, Florida Atlantic-offered, Indiana State-offered, Illinois State, Charlotte have shown interest in Dunson this fall.

Patrick Posey: (SO) 6-foot-6 (205) from Greenville, SC.

"Patrick is a pogo stick who is really great in transition and loves to play up tempo. He needs to work on his perimeter skills for the next level," said Swanson.

Posey visited USC-Upstate back on October 12-14. USC-Upstate wasted no time and offered him while on his visit. Campbell, Murray State, South Carolina State and Georgia State have expressed interest in Posey this fall. Posey averaged 6.6 ppg and 3.9 rebounds last year.

Zvonko Buljan: (SO) 6-foot-9 (220) from Croatia.

"Buljan is a very skilled combo forward with a great touch from the perimeter," said Swanson.

Nicknamed "Z" by his teammates has been receiving a lot of looks this fall from DePaul, St. Johns, St. Bonaventure, Indiana State, Duquesne, Iowa State, George Mason and South Florida. Buljan averaged 8.2 ppg and 6 rebounds last season for the Blazers.

Rashad Reed: (SO) 6-foot-0 (185) from Mansfield, OH. Reed averaged 11.7 ppg and 3.6 assists last season for the Blazers. Rashad shot 44% (65-14 from three-point range.

"Rashad is a kid that could really benefit playing with Dumes and Dunson this season. I
really think he could go by unnoticed by a lot of teams this season. Rashad has a great stroke from the corner and can pull up and hit the midrange jumper," Swanson commented.

Mario Thomas: (SO) 6-foot-1 (170) from Indianapolis, IN. Thomas is a 3rd year point guard who played last at Shawnee Community College in Ullin, IL back in 2005-2006. Thomas redshirted last season at VU. Thomas has received some interest this fall from Montana State."

[Da Coach]

Here is an update on Dodie Dunson--

Rivals now lists Bradley as having offered a scholarship to Dodie, and BU is listed as the only school with high interest--

http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=72835

He is a sophomore at Vincennes Junior College.

[tornado]

Dodie Dunson to Bradley

Look for news soon on this.........

I have a brand new premium report that says this..........

"Dodie Dunson, (SO) 6-foot-3 (190) from Vincennes University, has committed to Missouri Valley Conference school Bradley University located in Peoria, IL. Dunson, a Bloomington, IL native, is currently in his first year with the VU Blazers. Dunson played his freshman season at Iowa State University where he averaged five ppg for the Cyclones.


"Dodie really liked the idea of only being 30 minutes from home attending Bradley and that Bradley will be losing there starting back court this season to graduation. Dodie has a great chance to go in and play a lot of minutes," said Vincennes University assistant coach Brian Davis.

Dunson on the season is averaging 10.4 ppg, 3.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the (24-4) Blazers. Florida Atlantic and Illinois State also showed interest in Dunson this season. Dodie attended Brewster Academy in New Hampshire after high school. He originally signed out of high school with Illinois State University with then head coach Porter Moser."

http://jucojunction.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=778599

[BradleyBrave]

I know we wanted him out of high school, but hasn't this kid been a head case everywhere he's gone? After this season weren't we going to try and start getting away from kids with 'baggage'? I can't say I am overly excited about this, although it certainly will add some fuel to the newly rekindled BU-ISU fire.