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BU recruit- class of 2009- Marshall Henderson

http://www.ny2lasports.com/NY2LA%20Sports%20Articles/2009MarshallHendersonUpdate.htm

I found this interview with Marshall that took place back in March...sounds like he is planning on making his decision prior to his senior season...and BU is in his final 5 schools...great news for us as he would be an awesome, awesome get for BU....

Here were some of the excerpts from his interview that were most interesting to me...

AC - What's the status of your recruitment right now?
MH - I've narrowed my choices down to 5 schools.

AC - Who are they?
MH - Gonzaga, Notre Dame, Stanford, Bradley, and Harvard

AC - When do you expect to make a decision?
MH - Probably by the end of the August, once the summer season is over.

AC - What are the biggest factors you're looking at right now regarding where you go to college?
MH - First and foremost I want to go where I can play a lot. I don't want to be somewhere where I play off an on. I want to go where I can come in an play right away. I also want to be in a position where we have a chance to get into the NCAA tournament each year. Winning is important to me and I want to go where we're going to win and also have a great support system for the program.




 
I'm glad we're still in on him, but that interview and an earlier news story means to me that he's probably headed to the Zags.

I hope he comes to BU because he sounds like an awesome player and a good fit for us. He could be a star in Peoria.
 
Rivals has a new article about Marshall henderson and how his recruiting is going.

It is a premium article--
Henderson high on three
http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=806021

It reports that Marshall Henderson has narrowed his choices to a top 3, and the good news is that Bradley is still among them. Here are a couple clips from the article--

One of the better shooters in the class of 2009 is Marshall Henderson....
The sharp-shooter is high on the radar for a number of schools. Gonzaga, Utah and Bradley are high on Henderson's list, he said.
"I'm liking Utah a lot more. I haven't gone out there yet. I think I'll be going there at the first of June when me and my dad said we might go out there. Gonzaga is still probably the top choice right now. I still like Bradley, too. That's pretty much like my top three that I'm really looking at."
There is one noticeable change with Henderson's list. Trent Johnson's decision to leave Stanford for LSU shook things up for the three-star prospect.
"The big thing was coach Johnson leaving Stanford," Henderson said. "Right now in my mind, I don't have Stanford on my list. It's a completely different thing now."
Henderson said Stephen F. Austin, Marquette, Notre Dame and Oklahoma are also in the mix for his services. These schools, however, may have some ground to make up. Henderson said he would like to end his recruitment by the summer's end.
"Whenever the time is right is when I'm going to make my decision," Henderson said. "I think I'd like to make my decision before August. I don't think I'll wait that long anymore."
 
Marshall Henderson has learned the Kyle Kuric/Tijan Jobe rule of recruiting, that if you wait and don't commit early, your stock will always go up as those with open scholarships get more desperate!!

Now scout has zoomed him up to nearly the Top 100 overall in the Class of 2009.
 
Welcome to Bradleyfans, Manual Labor.
I think the rush is on the side of Bradley fans who would like to see Marshall commit here. It seems the coaches really like his game and think he'd be a perfect fit for the style we play.

In the most recent Scout article about Henderson, he was quoted as saying-
"Whenever the time is right is when I'm going to make my decision," Henderson said. "I think I'd like to make my decision before August. I don't think I'll wait that long anymore."

So maybe we could hear something soon?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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! :lol: 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! :wink:
 
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.
 
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!
 
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.
 
Manual Labor said:
.....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 ?.....
Click to expand...


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.
 
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.
 
Manual Labor said:
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.
Click to expand...


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.
 
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