Messages

Good luck to Homer in his second retirement,  He has been a credit to the University and will be ending a successful career.  You will be missed Homer!!!!!

Also good luck to Bryce.  You have some large shoes to fill, hopefully you will continue the legacy that your Dad leaves.

On a lighter note, isn't it ironic that VU has a player transfer to MSU and one transfer from MSU?   

actually Ole Miss is University of Mississippi.
UM not MSU

Duh!  My bad.

As of 4:30 P.M. CDT, there is no mention of Brandon Wood transferring to Michigan State, on the MSU website.

As a VU season ticket holder I am not happy that Brandon is leaving.  As a MSU alum, I will be rooting for his success.  Weird, eh?

Bye bye Brandon.

Coming out of high school, VU showed some interest....and he was definitely interested in the Crusaders.  They never offered him although he was their's for the taking, or so I'm told.  He can't beat out the guys we have, so would not be a good get for us.  He's  a prime example of what I was saying in an earlier discussion, I'd hate to see us get the point of not renewing guys scholarships just because they are not the player we were hoping they would be...he gave them three years of play, and just because there is a new coach should have at least been allowed to finish.  I have a problem with this type of thing and hope we never get into it. 

Me to, rlh!

I just can't see any upside for Michigan State to take Brandon. and I mean absolutely nothing negative towards him.  Tom Izzo has a ridiculous number of set plays, which could take a while to get comfortable with.  I think his playing time would be reduced, which defeats the purpose of transferring.

Name some guards from either of those schools that have been successful in the NBA (Jerry Sichting).

How about Mateen Cleaves?  Whoops, never mind...

Magic Johnson!

Brandon never played point this past season.  Is that something that is pretty easy to pick up?  I mean, moving over to MSU would be having to learn an entire new style of play/tendencies of both coaches and teammates.  Maybe it is easier then I think and these are just pipe dreams I'm creating in hopes of convincing myself that he is better off staying at Valpo.

Actually, point is one of the harder positions on the team, PLUS you have to be willing to give up scoring in most cases to set up others....no doubt Brandon has the talent to play the point, but could he do all that is involved and sacrifice some of his scoring, I'm not sure.....but then Kalen Lucas did that for Michigan State, although I'm not sure he was considered a point

Kalin was the MSU point guard.

The notion of Brandon to Michigan State per the above article really scares me.  MSU needs an experienced point guard and they just had a scholly open up with a transfer.  Word on the street (per message boards, so take it for what it is worth) is that MSU might not want to use this additional scholly this year so that they could use it for an additional recruit the year after next.  Bringing Brandon on the MSU team for one year would fill their need for an experienced point guard AND allow State to have an additional scholarship the year after next.  Also, at the present time, the only true point guard on State's team next year will be a true freshman.  This would mean that Brandon (if offered a scholly - which is pure conjecture at this point) would have a very good chance to start for a team is generally at the top of the heap in the Big 10 and usually makes very good runs in the NCAA tourney.  A good fit for all, except Valpo.  :-(

Michigan State's point guard apparent is Keith Appling, who , as a freshman this year, played the fifth most minutes.  He is a  very good athlete and ran the point quite well for a freshman.  He, however isn't the scorer that Brandon is.
Here is a link from the MSU student newspaper, The State News - http://www.statenews.com/index.php/blog/hoop_there_it_is/2011/04/msu_possible_destination_for_valparaiso_guard

Over the last 10 years Butler is probably "head and shoulders" better than 95% of D1 programs (us included).

If what you are saying is true, then only 17 D1 schools are better than Butler. No way, Jose.  I would say 50-60%, maybe, but not 95% of D1 programs. 

Don't break your arm, rlh. 

One thing that is usually overlooked when "the shot" is mentioned is that it took two excellent passes to set up Bryce.  Jamie Sykes and Bill Jenkins deserve credit, also.

It was great to watch Brandon expand his game this year, from just a scorer to an all around team player.

How did Milw. expect to win when their star player only took 3 shots in the first 37 minutes ? 

Yo!