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Ahmad Starks to come home

no -- both Bradley & U of I are well beyond 100 miles from Chicago - but then it has to be 100 miles from the home of the ailing grandmother - and I do not know where she lives....although all indications are that she lives near where Ahmad came from, which is in Chicago, south of the Loop.

BUT a 100 mile radius would still require her to live in the EXTREME south suburbs (south of Joliet for Bradley) and south of Crete, Monee, or Chicago Hts., IL for Urbana.
 
tornado said:
no -- both Bradley & U of I are well beyond 100 miles from Chicago - but then it has to be 100 miles from the home of the ailing grandmother - and I do not know where she lives....although all indications are that she lives near where Ahmad came from, which is in Chicago, south of the Loop.

BUT a 100 mile radius would still require her to live in the EXTREME south suburbs (south of Joliet for Bradley) and south of Crete, Monee, or Chicago Hts., IL for Urbana.
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She lives in Hyde Park.

from NCAA

"It's important to understand the guidelines are for staff's initial review," Phillips said "There are occassions in which the welfare of the student athlete takes precedence or other unique circumstances are presented and those cases should be appealed to the subcommittee."

Bradley and Illinois both have compliance people working on understanding if it will be granted.
 
ultimately it comes down to the NCAA deciding...
as I said above...the 100-mile rule is kinda new - last November - reportedly added just last fall as a requirement
Even then - the requirement sounds like a soft rule - what if the kid doesn't live within 100 miles of a D-I school?
..so there haven't been many of these medical waiver requests since the rule was changed...we'll see


BTW - it is now fully official - Ahmad Starks has received his release
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...1/ahmad-starks-transferring-from-oregon-state


That column also notes that Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson has to show considerable improvement
in 2012-13 or he's on a very hot seat...
 
tornado said:
ultimately it comes down to the NCAA deciding...
as I said above...the 100-mile rule is kinda new - last November - reportedly added just last fall as a requirement
Even then - the requirement sounds like a soft rule - what if the kid doesn't live within 100 miles of a D-I school?
..so there haven't been many of these medical waiver requests since the rule was changed...we'll see


BTW - it is now fully official - Ahmad Starks has received his release
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...1/ahmad-starks-transferring-from-oregon-state


That column also notes that Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson has to show considerable improvement
in 2012-13 or he's on a very hot seat...
Click to expand...
How can he improve last seasons record? ;)
Unless he can get other teams to forfeit their wins.
 
Starks will be visiting Illinois and will not visit BU, according to several reports and twitter feeds. His father wants him to go to Illinois and be a backup apparently. You have to wonder when these kids wake up one day and realize they have better oppportunities at the "mid-major" level. Same old story...
 
BU freak said:
Starks will be visiting Illinois and will not visit BU, according to several reports and twitter feeds. His father wants him to go to Illinois and be a backup apparently. You have to wonder when these kids wake up one day and realize they have better oppportunities at the "mid-major" level. Same old story...
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I am hearing somewhat similar things from an Illinois insider- that Illinois is his preferred choice. So it comes down to whether Groce offers, and that seems imminent.
 
BU freak said:
Starks will be visiting Illinois and will not visit BU, according to several reports and twitter feeds. His father wants him to go to Illinois and be a backup apparently. You have to wonder when these kids wake up one day and realize they have better oppportunities at the "mid-major" level. Same old story...
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It really depends on the kid and what is important to him, individually. I'm not sure if Stark's future aspirations are in basketball or business, his major. I will say I'm very thankful for my time at Bradley, I met my wife and most of my best friends there. It was truly a highlight period of my life, and I can't imagine changing it. I've also been fortunate have a career I'm proud of, however, with hindsight it is easy to see how much easier it is to start a career with a U of I degree (at least in the fields of finance and accounting) if you want to live in Chicago or nationally.

When I was making my decision on college, this wasn't something my family was aware of or something shared, however it certainly will be something I share with my children. Private Equity Firms, investment banks and big 4 accounting firms all use Colleges to segregate their candidates, and the schools with higher standards of entrance and more alumni in the organization are always going to be focused heavily at certain schools.

As an employer, I've used this to our benefit to recruit at Bradley, as we can hire top tier employees that would be going to P.E. firms if they were at NW or Illinois. Now, I'm not saying every athlete will be making decisions based on the degree, and I really don't know what is important for Starks, but I think it's fair for people to make decisions around more than just playing time.

I do think some H.S. athletes fall prey to a sales pitch and get stuck on a bench at a BCS where it may not be the best situation, however Starks should be familiar enough with High Major College B-Ball to understand what he is walking into.
 
wow - Groce loves those midmajor transfers - but if you're gonna be among the elite in the Big Ten I just don't think a lineup of Ekey's, McLaurin's, Paul, Starks are gonna do it
 
Personally, I won't lose sleep if we lose a 5 foot 8 inch 1 year guy from a not so good Pac-12 team. The Pac-12 hasn't even been that great as of late. As I have said, I believe we will likely already have the best back court in The Valley. Hard to draw a conclusion that Ahmad would actually play more here than at Illinois. If Ahmad is a 2 guard, and Lemon is going to go back to the 2 guard position, I am taking Lemon to start that spot over Ahmad every time. I really do not see where he would actually help improve us. Plus who knows if his head is even right if he is actually transferring for "personal" reasons.
 
Monmouth_Bradley_Fan said:
Personally, I won't lose sleep if we lose a 5 foot 8 inch 1 year guy from a not so good Pac-12 team. The Pac-12 hasn't even been that great as of late. As I have said, I believe we will likely already have the best back court in The Valley. Hard to draw a conclusion that Ahmad would actually play more here than at Illinois. If Ahmad is a 2 guard, and Lemon is going to go back to the 2 guard position, I am taking Lemon to start that spot over Ahmad every time. I really do not see where he would actually help improve us. Plus who knows if his head is even right if he is actually transferring for "personal" reasons.
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With the state of our program, a kid that can play for Oregon State and play well... would immediately help. We're clearly going to start 3 guards, and will need scoring. Even if Starks wouldn't start(though I think he would) he would be one of the best 6th men in the Valley.

I am very skeptical of the idea we'll have the best backcourt in the Valley. We lost every guard that got playing time last year save Lemon, including the best defensive guard in the conference (midwest?), and we're going to start 2 new guards? I sure hope your right, but I definitely am not ready to jump to that conclusion.
 
tornado said:
wow - Groce loves those midmajor transfers - but if you're gonna be among the elite in the Big Ten I just don't think a lineup of Ekey's, McLaurin's, Paul, Starks are gonna do it
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tornado said:
btw - these guys predict a 9th place finish next year for Illinois
http://hawkcentral.com/2013/05/01/124057/
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the fact that Groce is working on 2014 recruits and using 5th years players for 1 year is fine with me.... I think a sophomore year Ekey could help...

give him some time...

and Paul is a potential big time get ... WMU wasn't bad this year.

9th place is possible.... but I think Rayvonte Rice is gonna be a stud.. and shoot me in the face if Purdue finishes ahead of Illinois this year.
 
With Lemon, Fields, Grier and Bell, I definitely think we will have the strongest back court in the valley. I didn't know it was a guarantee that we were starting 3 guards??? Oregon State is NOT a premier program, nor do they have prime time players by any means. They haven't danced since 1990, and won a whopping 4 conference games in a not-so-strong Pac-12 last year. I think people see a transfer from a BCS school, and immediately get excited. However, I don't think there is so much exciting here. Sure the kid can play... but have a true impact? Doubt it.
 
I am not so convinced - I think he'd battle even for a starting position this coming fall - although it's not a certainty he's going to be eligibile 'til 2014
and in that kind of interval I don't like locking up a scholarship because I think we ought to be able to do better between now and fall of 2014.

Here's an article from Mark Tupper - says Starks is a "pint-sized" 5-7, who is a "one-year insurance policy" to back up Tracy Abrams..and he
is presuming that Starks will get the waiver - something NCAA would have to bend their own rules if they gave..
http://www.pantagraph.com/blogs/mar...cle_f3988653-051d-5f34-a285-1e611d52f871.html

If some school thought that about me, that they are targeting me as a pint-sized 1-yr backup - I'd go elsewhere
 
Monmouth_Bradley_Fan said:
With Lemon, Fields, Grier and Bell, I definitely think we will have the strongest back court in the valley. I didn't know it was a guarantee that we were starting 3 guards??? Oregon State is NOT a premier program, nor do they have prime time players by any means. They haven't danced since 1990, and won a whopping 4 conference games in a not-so-strong Pac-12 last year. I think people see a transfer from a BCS school, and immediately get excited. However, I don't think there is so much exciting here. Sure the kid can play... but have a true impact? Doubt it.
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Wake Forest is no where near a premier program either, why do we expect Fields to be so good? And are we saying a Florida Atlantic transfer who didn't regularly start (3 games total) has a better pedigree that an Oregon State starter? Being on BU already doesn't make these guys backgrounds better. And honestly the Pac-12, despite being weak, was still far superior to the MVC...

Why do I think we're going to start 3 guards? Mainly because we barely have 1 starting "big man" let alone two (JP). The only center we have on our team is NW and he hasn't seen any meaningful time so far. Our best "big man" recruit decomitted/didn't qualify. We have Pickett, but he is smaller than many BCS guards, so I think we going to be playing 3 guards, because we don't have any big men.
 
Old Coach said:
Starks would have significant impact at Bradley. He would be the 2nd best player on the team.
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Id say 3rd at best.......Lets not take Grier lightly ! Maybe I am blinded by how he reminds me of Andrew Warren ... I know those are huge shoes to fill but the kid can shoot! And has a rep for being Clutch
 
amckillip said:
Wake Forest is no where near a premier program either, why do we expect Fields to be so good? And are we saying a Florida Atlantic transfer who didn't regularly start (3 games total) has a better pedigree that an Oregon State starter? Being on BU already doesn't make these guys backgrounds better. And honestly the Pac-12, despite being weak, was still far superior to the MVC...

Why do I think we're going to start 3 guards? Mainly because we barely have 1 starting "big man" let alone two (JP). The only center we have on our team is NW and he hasn't seen any meaningful time so far. Our best "big man" recruit decomitted/didn't qualify. We have Pickett, but he is smaller than many BCS guards, so I think we going to be playing 3 guards, because we don't have any big men.
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Id say 3 guards at least maybe 4!

Pickett is more ready than Pross to be our starting 5...IMO


THE VALLEY was better than the Pac 12 last yr


If you are considering Tucker a Big why not Barnes too ....who I am Really excited about! Barnes and TP will be beastly on the glass, I think, for not so tall guys!
 
Bradleyfan1 said:
Id say 3rd at best.......Lets not take Grier lightly ! Maybe I am blinded by how he reminds me of Andrew Warren ... I know those are huge shoes to fill but the kid can shoot! And has a rep for being Clutch
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I like the potential Grier brings, but he's much more slight than what Andrew Warren was.

Anyway, clearly, opinions differ with regards to Starks.
 
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