As I have said before, I like what seems to be an aggressiveness in Bryce's recruiting style. After obtaining a verbal commitment from Nick Davidson, could Bryce be looking ahead in his recruiting? I heard Steven Haney Jr. was offered a scholarship by Valpo today.
Though hard to believe we have a chance (he has expressed a preference for Michigan or Michigan State in the past), this kid would be a huge get. He is a Rivals 4-star player. Steven Haney Jr. 6'6" (SF) Lansing Eastern HS (MI). Class of 2013. Schools in the Recruiting Mix: Offered by Detroit, Toledo, and Western Michigan. Interest from Illinois, Providence, Boston College, DePaul, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami (FL), Notre Dame, Oregon State, Purdue, Cornell, Iowa St., Tennessee, Texas Tech, Michigan State, Nebraska, Harvard, and Michigan. ESPN Grade: 90.
Sometimes you make offers knowing you really don't have a chance, but just in case other schools back off if they get what they consider "better" choices
Sometimes being the first to offer has an impact with kids. As Jay Harris, ESPN rank: 93. For that matter, ask Brandon Wood! Kids can be loyal to a school that has been there all the way. Let's hope so!
oh boy, let's not start to get on brandon's case anymore. i wonder what sort of odds we might have going after a recruit like that?
My reliable sources tell me kid is high on Valpo and is going to visit in the Fall. He is VERY good and would be a perfect fit for us. Holds offers from; Valpo, Detroit, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Akron, Iowa State, Oregon State, Toledo, Eastern Michigan and lots of high major interest and is only an incoming Jr. Biggest shooting guard in Rivals 100...6'6" and young.
Scored 40+ against Eric Gordon All Stars and 38 pts against Dakich Indiana Elite. This kid would be an impact program changer (Rivasl 100). I hear Dad wants him to go to a mid major and play right away. Michigan and MSU are of no interest and never have been. Definitely have a shot at him.
A perfect fit for Valpo: a 6' 6" guard!
Joking aside, sounds like he'd be a good get.
Quote from: agibson on July 27, 2011, 07:09:20 AM
A perfect fit for Valpo: a 6' 6" guard!
Joking aside, sounds like he'd be a good get.
Hopefully he's an Ali Berdiel clone ;)
What AAU program does he play for?
Quote from: lowposter on July 27, 2011, 09:33:24 AM
What AAU program does he play for?
Michigan Mustangs
No, please no Ali Berdiel clone. While he had his moments of good play, his dumb decisions play out more in my mind than anything else. An attempted spin through the lane that leads to his pocket being picked, traveling, or dribbling the ball off of his foot...
Quote from: valpotx on July 27, 2011, 10:47:18 AM
No, please no Ali Berdiel clone. While he had his moments of good play, his dumb decisions play out more in my mind than anything else. An attempted spin through the lane that leads to his pocket being picked, traveling, or dribbling the ball off of his foot...
It amazes me that with all the good play Ali gave us, he's never lived down the turnover against Purdue when he was a freshman. He was a very good, not great player for us....apparently the NBA thought so, he did have a cup of coffee with the Knicks as I remember
When you are a 6'6" point guard,with halfway decent talent, the NBA will give you a look.
My statement was not simply based on that Purdue turnover, but more the spin move he always attempted that rarely led to anything positive. It was kind of like watching Kikas' and his attempted dribbling to the hole from the 3-pt arc. You just knew something was going to go wrong lol.
Ali had good overall talent, but was very turnover prone in clutch situations. I second vu72's assertion.
I took one of my good friends to the Purdue game at Valpo Ali's freshman year. Dave is on the Purdue Alumni board and his family (parents and in-laws) have given a ton of money to the university. They have reserved parking spaces in the first row next to the Mackey entrance and their seats where basically right next to Gene Keady. Purdue is my second favorite team but just once I would love to rub Dave's face in it a little bit... I thought that night might just be THE night.
I could not believe that we were in position to win that game, Ali had played great especially given the fact that he was a freshman and I thought his was going to be a special career at VU.... and then the last procession happened and the deflation could literally be felt in the air that night. It really did seem that Ali never got over that errant foot meets ball mistake, it seemed to hound him the rest of his very decent career at Valpo.
I saw Ali drop 28 points on Oral Roberts in Tulsa one year. He was draining shots that would have made Shelvin Mack blush.
I could never quite figure Ali out. Pretty good talent, but he always left me thinking there could have been so much more.
Perhaps the most vivid memory of him is this, and it didnt even occur in a game. My son and I were in the ARC shooting upstairs during their practice. Layout line to start practice and everyone is throwing down monster dunks, except Ali. Perhaps it was due to his foot problems, but he couldnt jump. Granted jumping isnt everything in the game of basketball, but quickness, jumping, fast twitch movement is fairly critical.
Just my 2 cents based on a five minute observation years ago.
lowposter
I don't really remember Ali ever being able to dunk. Maybe it's a case that he knew what his role was, and that dunking wasn't a part of it, even if he was able to do it?
Jumping was fine...it was the landing that hurt him...something with his arches(I think)...
Ah, good expanation. Why jump if it causes pain?
Where is Ali these days?
Quote from: lowposter on August 01, 2011, 08:23:00 AM
Ah, good expanation. Why jump if it causes pain?
Where is Ali these days?
Ali - Freskerias (OFFICIAL VIDEO) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjiVNN5sH3Y#ws)
Wow. The magic of internet.
:hijack:
I can't start a new thread yet so I must rewply here, sorry vu72.
It was evident that Ali needed some ego boosting. Everyone in the world has quirks to their personalities.
It was up to the coach to make the personalities work together.
It's the Phil Jackson's of the coaching world that have the most success because they know the individuals so well.
Is maybe Ali's chance at a try at the Knicks somewhat of a racial move? There are approximately 800,000 Puerto Ricans in New York City now and 4 million in Peurto Rico. If the Knicks could develop a Rican player than they might attract a whole new fan base. The largest growing grouping in the United States is the Hispanic grouping.
Quote from: historyman on August 02, 2011, 08:03:18 AM
Is maybe Ali's chance at a try at the Knicks somewhat of a racial move? There are approximately 800,000 Puerto Ricans in New York City now and 4 million in Peurto Rico. If the Knicks could develop a Rican player than they might attract a whole new fan base. The largest growing grouping in the United States is the Hispanic grouping.
I'd really doubt it. Do the Knicks have trouble filling up MSG, even with bad teams? I've never been to N.Y., but I don't think so. Ali probably earned the tryout, nothing to do with race.
Quote from: Valpo89 on August 02, 2011, 01:27:27 PM
Quote from: historyman on August 02, 2011, 08:03:18 AM
Is maybe Ali's chance at a try at the Knicks somewhat of a racial move? There are approximately 800,000 Puerto Ricans in New York City now and 4 million in Peurto Rico. If the Knicks could develop a Rican player than they might attract a whole new fan base. The largest growing grouping in the United States is the Hispanic grouping.
I'd really doubt it. Do the Knicks have trouble filling up MSG, even with bad teams? I've never been to N.Y., but I don't think so. Ali probably earned the tryout, nothing to do with race.
In NY it never was about filling up MSG. It's about the TV viewers that the network that MSG owns can attract with Hispanic players. The Steinbrenners make most of their money on their TV deal with YES (is that Yankee Entertainment System or some such?). I think the Yankees get over $100 million a year from a network that they have 1/3 share in.
Rereading my post I noticed that it sounds like I'm trying to dig up some really thorny issues. I'm really not. The reality of today's NBA is that the white players and Hispanic players mean more money to their NBA teams because they attract a different audience than the usual audience that the NBA attracts. In all major sports we all know that money is the biggest attraction for what are really just businessmen just like in any other business.
I am told that Valpo has also made an offer to another 2013 guard, Robert Knar, listed at some places as "Robert Knur":
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/137819/robert-knur (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/137819/robert-knur)
http://mundelein.suntimes.com/sports/6946818-419/mundeleins-knar-obrien-shine-brightly-at-nationals.html (http://mundelein.suntimes.com/sports/6946818-419/mundeleins-knar-obrien-shine-brightly-at-nationals.html)
Quote from: valpopal on August 08, 2011, 11:38:52 AM
I am told that Valpo has also made an offer to another 2013 guard, Robert Knar, listed at some places as "Robert Knur":
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/137819/robert-knur (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/137819/robert-knur)
http://mundelein.suntimes.com/sports/6946818-419/mundeleins-knar-obrien-shine-brightly-at-nationals.html (http://mundelein.suntimes.com/sports/6946818-419/mundeleins-knar-obrien-shine-brightly-at-nationals.html)
I see that Knar is an 80 with 2 more years of HS basketball. He is the 78th ranked PG in the class of 2013. The 78th ranked PG in the class of 2012 is an 82 and the class that just graduated is an 87. Hopefully, he will continue to improve. 87's are they type of players that will help us compete for HL championships and be in contention for at-large bids. Otherwise, we're just maintaining the status quo, which hasn't been good enough to date.
The same holds true for a lot of other teams in the HL. We all have to pick up the quality of our recruiting, if we ever expect to be a legitimate multi-bid league. By the way, I am defining a "legitimate" multi-bid league as one that gets more than one entry into the tournament WHEN THE NO.1 SEED WINS THE HL TOURNAMMENT. That means that our 2, 3 and 4 seeds are good enough to get there on their own merit - not by upset where otherwise they'd be in the NIT or worse. How many times has that happened in the past 10 years? How many times has it ever happened?
Quote from: wh on August 08, 2011, 01:50:01 PM
Quote from: valpopal on August 08, 2011, 11:38:52 AM
I am told that Valpo has also made an offer to another 2013 guard, Robert Knar, listed at some places as "Robert Knur":
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/137819/robert-knur (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/137819/robert-knur)
http://mundelein.suntimes.com/sports/6946818-419/mundeleins-knar-obrien-shine-brightly-at-nationals.html (http://mundelein.suntimes.com/sports/6946818-419/mundeleins-knar-obrien-shine-brightly-at-nationals.html)
I see that Knar is an 80 with 2 more years of HS basketball. He is the 78th ranked PG in the class of 2013. The 78th ranked PG in the class of 2012 is an 82 and the class that just graduated is an 87. Hopefully, he will continue to improve. 87's are they type of players that will help us compete for HL championships and be in contention for at-large bids. Otherwise, we're just maintaining the status quo, which hasn't been good enough to date.
The same holds true for a lot of other teams in the HL. We all have to pick up the quality of our recruiting, if we ever expect to be a legitimate multi-bid league. By the way, I am defining a "legitimate" multi-bid league as one that gets more than one entry into the tournament WHEN THE NO.1 SEED WINS THE HL TOURNAMMENT. That means that our 2, 3 and 4 seeds are good enough to get there on their own merit - not by upset where otherwise they'd be in the NIT or worse. How many times has that happened in the past 10 years? How many times has it ever happened?
Couldn't agree more, and there appears to be a definite improvement in our recruiting, at least as far as ESPN goes.
Our highly thought of class of Kurth, Kenney and Broekhoff were ranked 83,85 and 85 respectively. An average of 84.3
Since then we added Dino Jakolis, Vashil Fernandez, Ben Boggs, Richie Edwards, Bobby Capobianco and Jay Harris. They were ranked 84,86,87,89,89 and 93 respectively, an average of 88.0. Oh yeah, we also added Will Bogan, Idaho Mr. Basketball and Ole Miss signee, who wasn't ranked by ESPN.
I'd say, on paper, we have definitely stepped up our recruiting. ;D
Agree totally with wh and 72. :thumbsup:
As for the history question, you'd have to go back to '02-'03 to find a pair of teams with solid at-large resume`s. Butler and UWM were #12 seeds, so in theory, they were both good enough for at-large bids. The HL received two at-large bids in '97-'98, when UDM and UIC got in after Butler won the tourney. Other than those two years, it hasn't happened nearly often enough.
If memory serves, Joe Lunardi had the Panthers as the second-to-last (after Minnesota) at-large candidate out of the NCAA Tournament field in 2002-03, the year that it earned its first NCAA Division 1 postseason bid with a win over Butler at The Cell.
That year, the Panthers lost their BracketBuster mid-major elimination game at Southern Illinois on a putback at the final buzzer.
It's generally accepted here that Milwaukee wouldn't have gained an at-large invitation in any of the three years in which it qualified.