Recruiting 2019

[VUGrad1314]

Should we consider giving him the keys?

[FieldGoodie05]

I think we all could use a little "feel good" moment.  Take a look at Donovan's team highlights from the O'Fallon game.  He is kinda hard to miss and one play is flat out off the charts athletic.  We got a good one!

https://www.hudl.com/profile/8663096/Donovan-Clay

He dropped 20-pts in the second half last week to overcome a 19-14 first half deficit.  Though one person said much of it came inside (using his height to his advantage).

Man we just need a few shooters who can deliver 38-40% 3-pointers across a season...maybe that's too high for a season but the point stands.  Where's Seth Colclasure!?!?

https://m.riverbender.com/articles/details.cfm?id=33867

And then for a quote from someone watching the game go to the comments section (2nd post).  Talks about him being "very much a team player".

[vu72]

Donovan lights it up!  Big win!  Can't wait to see his athleticism and, he can make a 3 point shot! 

https://www.bnd.com/latest-news/article227000709.html

[bbtds]

Donovan lights it up!  Big win!  Can't wait to see his athleticism and, he can make a 3 point shot! 

https://www.bnd.com/latest-news/article227000709.html

Interesting. Belleville West and Alton go to Edwardsville on Tuesday for their Sectional (same as Regional in Indiana) semifinal game.


Here's the 4A pairings for that part of the state

Class 4A Pairings
Belleville West Regional

Mon., Feb. 25

O'Fallon 46, Belleville East 44

Tue., Feb. 26

Belleville West 71, O'Fallon 32

Wed., Feb. 27

Chatham Glenwood 53, Quincy 45

Fri., Mar. 1

Belleville West 52, Chatham Glenwood 43

Collinsville Regional

Mon., Feb. 25

Edwardsville 56, Granite City 46

Tue., Feb. 26

Collinsville 54, Edwardsville 34

Alton 66, Springfield 61

Fri., Mar. 1

Alton 58, Collinsville 48

Pekin Regional

Mon., Feb. 25

Pekin 46, Peoria 31

Tue., Feb. 26

Pekin 58, Normal Community 54

Wed., Feb. 27

Rock Island 39, East Moline 34

Fri., Mar. 1

Game 4: Pekin vs. Rock Island, 7 p.m.

Champaign Centennial Regional

Mon., Feb. 25

Game 1 : (7) Champaign Centenniall 47, Normal West 44 (OT)

Tue., Feb. 26

Danvlle 60, Champaign Centennial 53

Wed., Feb. 27

Bloomington 87, Moline 69

Fri., Mar. 1

Danville 66, Bloomington 64

East Moline Sectional

Tue., Mar. 5

Game 1: Belleville West vs. Alton-To be played at a site at Edwardsville, 7 p.m.

Game 2: Danville vs. Winner Pekin Regional, 7 p.m.

Fri., Mar. 8

Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7 p.m.

Normal Super-Sectional

At ISU

Tue., Mar. 12

Game 1 : Winner Aurora (East) Sectional vs. Winner East Moline (United) Sectional, 7 p.m.

State Tournament

Site: Peoria (Civic Center)

Fri., Mar. 15

Game 1: Winner Hoffman Estates (Sears Centre Arena) Super-Sectional vs. Winner DeKalb (NIU) Super-Sectional

Game 2: Winner Normal (ISU) Super-Sectional vs. Winner Evanston (Northwestern University) Super-Sectional

Sat., Mar. 16

Third Place

Game 3 Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5:30 p.m.

Championship

Game 4 at 7:15 pm: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7:15 p.m.


It does show how super weighted the 4A tournament is towards Chicago when the farthest south Super-Sectional (Semi-State in Indiana) is Illinois State in Normal.

[FWalum]

Full video of game Alton 58, Collinsville 48

Clay played extremely well on defense guarding Collinsville's leading scorer, a 6'1" guard, holding him 12 points below his 22 point average.

[VU2014]

Full video of game Alton 58, Collinsville 48

Clay played extremely well on defense guarding Collinsville's leading scorer, a 6'1" guard, holding him 12 points below his 22 point average.

His frame reminds me of Javon Freeman's but with more length. He's eventually going to need to add some size/muscle to his frame but that will come with time. Seems to have a high motor. He fights through screens which is key to how Lottich likes his players to play defense. Looks to have a nice 3pt stroke as well. He appears to be a willing passer. Looks like we may have found a good one. I'm not sure what his ceiling will be but he looks like he could become a nice player.

[nkvu]

Full video of game Alton 58, Collinsville 48

Clay played extremely well on defense guarding Collinsville's leading scorer, a 6'1" guard, holding him 12 points below his 22 point average.

Reminds me a bit of E. Victor, the times when he was healthy.

[vu72]

Full video of game Alton 58, Collinsville 48

Clay played extremely well on defense guarding Collinsville's leading scorer, a 6'1" guard, holding him 12 points below his 22 point average.

I defer to FWalum on the informed player evaluations but, what I saw was really impressive.  This kid could be a real steal.  Long, extremely athletic, quick,composed, great defender and can shoot it.  Other than that, not much! 

[crusader05]

https://twitter.com/MatthewBain_/status/1102587942718107648

interesting tweet. I'd assume that the coaching staff is expecting at least one transfer (or maybe someone's career ending due to injury).

[justducky]

interesting tweet. I'd assume that the coaching staff is expecting at least one transfer (or maybe someone's career ending due to injury).

It has been near 7 months since the Bradford back injury. If he is still in pain D-1 programs will be very reluctant to gamble on his full recovery. Might he then hang it up or transfer down? Might Matt roll the dice and hope for the best? This could be a difficult decision.

not much! 

In my efforts to emphasize everything negative about the 19-20 season, I've quoted vu72 for his first observation on Donovan Clay.       .  I've attached a string of smileys to ensure that nobody takes me seriously.

[EddieCabot]

Full video of game Alton 58, Collinsville 48

Clay played extremely well on defense guarding Collinsville's leading scorer, a 6'1" guard, holding him 12 points below his 22 point average.

I defer to FWalum on the informed player evaluations but, what I saw was really impressive.  This kid could be a real steal.  Long, extremely athletic, quick,composed, great defender and can shoot it.  Other than that, not much! 

In the past, vu72 has taken a "wait and see" attitude on recruits, so seeing him excited about Clay gives me a good feeling.

[vu72]

it's do or die for Alton and our guy Donovan Clay when they face Beleview West and defending Mr. Basketball EJ Liddell tonight at 7.  This will really tell us a lot about Donovan as he will go up  against a BIG recruit who is essentially the same size.  Wish I could watch it live.

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/high-school/boys-basketball/illinois-boys-basketball-postseason-preview-capsules/collection_f582b752-3ee0-11e9-aee8-279f4977f6d6.html#1

[bbtds]

I had some thoughts of getting to St. Louis early tonight but couldn't work it out at my place of employment. Although it might be covered on one of the StL TV stations by Thursday. This will be a huge game for Metro East. Too bad I could have swung by Metro East Lutheran HS while in Edwardsville.

Also noticed that Evansville's Frederking's Okawville Rockets play up north in Jacksonville in the 3A Sectional. The team they are playing is Triopia who beat what has become a good Springfield Lutheran team. Would have been nice if SLHS could have played Okawville. I do tend to root for all the Lutheran HS.

[vu72]

Alton goes down to defending state champion Beleville West.

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/high-school/boys-basketball/randolph-comes-alive-as-belleville-west-rallies-past-alton/article_61158bee-3fc1-11e9-a2ef-932bd4baa885.html#7

Some nice comments about out guy Donovan Clay:

Muniz credited his team with how it handled itself early on as Alton took the fight to Belleville West. A 6-foot-7 Valparaiso recruit, Clay was dynamic on both ends as he finished with 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and three blocks. He defended Liddell much of the night and did well despite being outweighed by about 30 pounds.

[VU2014]

If we have a transfer and a scholarship available I'd put in a call. He'd probably be an instant starter.

https://twitter.com/cbb_central/status/1103427549416153088?s=21

[justducky]

If we have a transfer and a scholarship available I'd put in a call. He'd probably be an instant starter.

https://twitter.com/cbb_central/status/1103427549416153088?s=21

Did Bryce and Roger offer? The name is familiar.

[VU2014]

If we have a transfer and a scholarship available I'd put in a call. He'd probably be an instant starter.

https://twitter.com/cbb_central/status/1103427549416153088?s=21

Did Bryce and Roger offer? The name is familiar.

Wow I totally forgot we offer him a while back. I'm sure Gore and Lottich are familiar with him. Maybe that offers somewhat of an advantageous. I think many Valley team will be interested because they offered him out of high school.

He had offers from: Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Bradley, UIC, Valpo, DePaul, Indiana State, Creighton, La Salle, UMass.

[VULB#62]

Could someone come up with a spread like LaPorteAveApostle (as I recall) used to do that showed year-to-year scholarships, available slots and future slots?  I think he took it out a rolling 4 years. Is my recollection accurate?

Right now, I, for one, am a little unsure of who we have for the next 4 years, who's coming in, and what's open in 2019, 2020, 2021, and so forth.

The reason I am asking is that I am wondering if we have room next season for that one grad transfer difference-maker who  would be the final piece that pulls the puzzle together and makes us what we thought we'd be.

Deion, while not a star, kinda filled that slot this year. I don't know if we would have even won as many games as we did if he wasn't on board.

[M]

We have nothing available for next year unless/until someone transfers.

[VULB#62]

We have nothing available for next year unless/until someone transfers.

Thanks, M. That was my immediate concern, and I assume that is one of the reasons for the Transfers string being up now.

ButI also think all of us would benefit by having such a spread going forward for tracking purposes and forecasting future scenarios. I'm sure the coaching staff has a board like that somewhere (but their's list recruiting targets for available slots for each class, I'm sure).  Ours would be kind of after the fact to fill in the open slots once we get, first, a verbal commit and then nail it down after the NLI is signed. When Apostle was doing it, it helped a lot.

[FieldGoodie05]

We have nothing available for next year unless/until someone transfers.

Thanks, M. That was my immediate concern, and I assume that is one of the reasons for the Transfers string being up now.

ButI also think all of us would benefit by having such a spread going forward for tracking purposes and forecasting future scenarios. I'm sure the coaching staff has a board like that somewhere (but their's list recruiting targets for available slots for each class, I'm sure).  Ours would be kind of after the fact to fill in the open slots once we get, first, a verbal commit and then nail it down after the NLI is signed. When Apostle was doing it, it helped a lot.

http://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/valparaiso

This is my way of keeping track of the classes.  Verbal Commits does a good job of showing by year.  Hope this helps.

Keep in mind our transfers classification can be tricky. 

[FieldGoodie05]

We have nothing available for next year unless/until someone transfers.

Thanks, M. That was my immediate concern, and I assume that is one of the reasons for the Transfers string being up now.

ButI also think all of us would benefit by having such a spread going forward for tracking purposes and forecasting future scenarios. I'm sure the coaching staff has a board like that somewhere (but their's list recruiting targets for available slots for each class, I'm sure).  Ours would be kind of after the fact to fill in the open slots once we get, first, a verbal commit and then nail it down after the NLI is signed. When Apostle was doing it, it helped a lot.

http://www.verbalcommits.com/schools/valparaiso

This is my way of keeping track of the classes.  Verbal Commits does a good job of showing by year.  Hope this helps.

Keep in mind our transfers classification can be tricky.

Whoops, pressed submit too early.  Gordon and Robinson are academic juniors but I believe both are eligibile for 2-years.  Think that's the only difference I can see.

[VULB#62]

Cool. Thanks Goodie. i will bookmark it. I'm gonna try doing the spread I talked about too.

[VU2014]

The Sun-Times All first team is pretty big.

https://twitter.com/MichaelOsipoff/status/1106317591033856000
https://twitter.com/nwioren/status/1106331330458107904?s=21

[vu72]

I really think some excitement is due about getting Donovon Clay. The kid was just named First Team All State. I think that puts him in the same talent category as a more recent Valpo get who received the same accolade. I'm excited!