Bryce drawing plenty of attention!

[vu72]

Both local papers had good stories today about the impact Bryce has had/will have on our basketball program.  Interesting that both articles are written by someone other than the local beat writer.

Here they are:

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/columnists/steve-hanlon/article_f44672e8-6e46-5783-a548-8b6afdc5f626.html

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/6375272-419/mike-hutton-bryce-has-instant-impact-at-valparaiso.html

[Valpo89]

Both writers are the main high school boys basketball beat writers.

[vu72]

Both writers are the main high school boys basketball beat writers.

I guess I should have said, "written by someone other than the normal person covering Valpo basketball"!! 

[agibson]

The buzz around Drew is glowing red-hot now, and the Crusaders are still four-plus months away from their first game.

!

[lowposter]

Minor point of clarification.  The Post Tribune article indicated Elijah Ray is a junior...not so.  He will be a senior.  He would be a great addition to the squad, as would Beaman of Bishop Noll.

lowposter

[setshot]

  I'm impressed by Bryce's early recruting of both transfers and local recruits. Hell, those of us that were born during Hoover's last year and/or Roosevelts first term are getting anxious to see the b'ball team return to the NCAA's. Time is short,so let's get going. GO CRUSADERS!

[bg321]

Based on Coach Drew and Coach Bryce's recruitment of Will, I can say that those two guys are awesome recruiters. Coach Bryce was the primary recruiter in Will's case; Coach Drew was involved but more in a head coach / figurehead (not exactly the correct word by strict definition, but hopefully you get the point) way. Coach Bryce did his homework and presented the school and the basketball program in a very compelling way. He covered the smallest details. It's amazing how the most seemingly insignificant things get noticed, make an impact, and are remember by recruits. Coach Bryce has a keen awareness of that. In Will's case, Coach Bryce was flat out a better recruiter than any other D1 coach that recruited Will. That includes about 20 schools from The SEC, PAC-10 (now PAC-12), Ivy League, WAC, and Mountain West.

Mid-majors and even bigger non-BCS schools have some huge challenges recruiting true high-major caliber talents. No matter how terrific the smaller school is at recruiting, most (by far) kids will never choose them out of high school. It's not really a matter of good or bad recruiting. There's waaaaay more to it than just that.

[vu72]

Based on Coach Drew and Coach Bryce's recruitment of Will, I can say that those two guys are awesome recruiters. Coach Bryce was the primary recruiter in Will's case; Coach Drew was involved but more in a head coach / figurehead (not exactly the correct word by strict definition, but hopefully you get the point) way. Coach Bryce did his homework and presented the school and the basketball program in a very compelling way. He covered the smallest details. It's amazing how the most seemingly insignificant things get noticed, make an impact, and are remember by recruits. Coach Bryce has a keen awareness of that. In Will's case, Coach Bryce was flat out a better recruiter than any other D1 coach that recruited Will. That includes about 20 schools from The SEC, PAC-10 (now PAC-12), Ivy League, WAC, and Mountain West.

Mid-majors and even bigger non-BCS schools have some huge challenges recruiting true high-major caliber talents. No matter how terrific the smaller school is at recruiting, most (by far) kids will never choose them out of high school. It's the not really a matter of good or bad recruiting. There's waaaaay more to it than just that.

Now that Will has had a few weeks to get to know the players (except Ryan Broekhoff--and trust me, he is a peach of a kid), what are his overall impressions of team chemistry v. Ole Miss and does he also see, as Vucic did during the interview with EE, a larger rotation (9 or so).  Without naming names of course, is Will impressed with the talent and, could we beat Ole miss next year??   

[sectionee]

Based on Coach Drew and Coach Bryce's recruitment of Will, I can say that those two guys are awesome recruiters. Coach Bryce was the primary recruiter in Will's case; Coach Drew was involved but more in a head coach / figurehead (not exactly the correct word by strict definition, but hopefully you get the point) way. Coach Bryce did his homework and presented the school and the basketball program in a very compelling way. He covered the smallest details. It's amazing how the most seemingly insignificant things get noticed, make an impact, and are remember by recruits. Coach Bryce has a keen awareness of that. In Will's case, Coach Bryce was flat out a better recruiter than any other D1 coach that recruited Will. That includes about 20 schools from The SEC, PAC-10 (now PAC-12), Ivy League, WAC, and Mountain West.

Mid-majors and even bigger non-BCS schools have some huge challenges recruiting true high-major caliber talents. No matter how terrific the smaller school is at recruiting, most (by far) kids will never choose them out of high school. It's the not really a matter of good or bad recruiting. There's waaaaay more to it than just that.

I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we really appreciate your insight!  That is very encouraging to hear how great of a recruiter Bryce is!

[wh]

Mid-majors and even bigger non-BCS schools have some huge challenges recruiting true high-major caliber talents. No matter how terrific the smaller school is at recruiting, most (by far) kids will never choose them out of high school. It's not really a matter of good or bad recruiting. There's waaaaay more to it than just that.

Other than possibly Gonzaga and an occasional exception here or there, I believe this to absolutely be the case.  The evidence just isn't there to support that mid major programs anywhere in the Midwest (including Butler) can successfully compete over the long term against Big Ten schools and Notre Dame for the same players.  Rest assured that looking for transfers from D-1 majors will long remain an important part of Bryce Drew's recruiting strategy.  They can do nothing but make the program be more successful.

[justducky]

Minor point of clarification.  The Post Tribune article indicated Elijah Ray is a junior...not so.  He will be a senior.  He would be a great addition to the squad, as would Beaman of Bishop Noll.

lowposter

As both Ray and Beamon will graduate at a time when there is likely to be no available scholarships, this might be a moot point. If the players that have been assembled are happy and if Bryce is happy then we are pretty well set for the next two seasons and until the seven seniors graduate in 2013. Maybe we can pick them up a few years from now as either transfer or grad students?

Meanwhile Bryce seems to have made a pretty fair start on the 2013-2014 freshman class and I would think that is where his focus will remain.

[lowposter]

Curious to know how the transfer recruiting process occurs.  Once Will determined he was not returning, how did the word get out that he was available?   Did the Ole Miss coaches help?  Former HS and AAU coaches?  Or is there an official announcement released by the school that he was leaving and then the recruiting began?

lowposter

[bg321]

Curious to know how the transfer recruiting process occurs.  Once Will determined he was not returning, how did the word get out that he was available?   Did the Ole Miss coaches help?  Former HS and AAU coaches?  Or is there an official announcement released by the school that he was leaving and then the recruiting began?

lowposter

The player informs his current school (A) that he wants to talk to other schools (B) about transferring. Most often the player also requests to be released from his scholarship at the same time. The player must give the current school a list of transfer schools he is interested in. School A can:
1-Deny the request.
2-Approve the request with explicit limitations (no schools in same conference, no schools on coming season's schedule, no schools in same state, etc).
3. Approve the request with no limitations.

If action 1 or 2 is taken, school A must send a Permission to contact letter to the school B. School B cannot contact the player until they receive, sign, and return the letter. Once the letter is exchanged, school B can contact the player according NCAA transfer contact rules (the rules differ from HS contact rules). Like HS recruit, transfers are allowed a certain number of official visits.

In Will's case the Coach Kennedy and the assistants we're very helpful. After the Permission to contact letter was in place, two Ole Miss coaches contacted Valpo. Will's AAU coach contacted other schools as did his HS coach.

Another way word gets out is through the Internet at sites like: http://www.yardbarker.com/blog/jeffgoodman/ Schools always watch sites like this for potential transfers.

For Will, the transfer recruiting process was very similar to HS, only much more condensed and intense. The process took place during graduation and his final inter-session summer class. He was literally flying all over the country and answering a steady stream of calls while trying to finish school. It was pretty crazy and exciting.

Honestly though, after Coach Bryce traveled to Oxford to meet Will all the other schools were in a position of trying to recruit him away from Valpo. Will was pretty much convinced right then. I'll say it again, Coach Bryce is really, really good! Consider this: Will's childhood dream conference was the PAC-10... Sunny, warm west coast... Awesome competition (Arizona, UCLA, USC, Washington, etc)... regionally local, but far enough from home... great TV exposure. One PAC-10 school that Will had already made an official visit to called the day after he gave his verbal to Valpo still trying to talk him out of it. Will told them thanks, but no thanks. I'm goin' to Valpo! Coach Bryce completely sold Will on Valpo.

[lowposter]

So, quite a bit of this is cooperation between schools.  You state that Ole Miss was helpful.  Obviously they have their own school's interest at heart (an available scholorship), but also the young man's interests.  Networking seems to come into play here.  We tend to think of these college coaches as rivals, but they all know each other and talk.

lowposter