Messages

koala--did you make the trip to Shenzen.

There are key distinctions to be made. First is sectionee a "booster". The rules spell that out. Second, is he legitimate media. This is an important debate in the blogosphere and has seen melt downs by certain members of MSM who get scooped by bloggers. The Deadspin writers had a great debate with a certain famous author, who has since embraced social media. If someone has media credentials to games or who can apply and receive them that is one indication. What happens if they have media credentials, write something deemed "critical" by the AD's/PR office and then have those credentials pulled? Are they less "legitimate"?

The second point is are they "recruits" or students.

The third issue is whether the University is staying up to date on contacts with student-athletes. Are they providing thorough media relations training, warning/banning about twitters, facebooks, etc. One way to make sure you are compliant and to be considered legitimate is to go through the PR Director in the AD office for permission to interview athletes if you are not doing that already. First, it's a good job to keep them informed, but also the PR Director can remind the athlete what he can and can't say about incoming or recruited players. Nonetheless, AD offices at other schools can be very protective and in that case, a good way to show you are legitimate is to use your resources.

Keep up the good work as a legitimate source for Valpo sports news where the locals aren't covering it well enough. It also helps them get better.

Tess Sito was a pretty good player in HS having watched her pitch in 2 State Finals. She seems to want to challenge herself at the next level. Guess she is a bit like BWood.

http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2011/06/11/college-softball-elyrias-tess-sito-picks-georgia-to-finish-college-career/

Congrats to both and I hope to get to Shenzen for a game or two.

Article on Richie's NZ team:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/basketball/5231543/Emerging-Tall-Blacks-face-height-funding-issues/

lowposter, I was actually thinking of the kid whose Dad is President at Concordia Mequin in Milwaukee. Great family. He was a "walk-on" but due to injuries ended up with more minutes, played decent and is now successful at lower level.

There are two themes running through this thread:

1. In the first, should Valpo have a transfer centered strategy for recruiting. It is not preferred, but you have to be selective and opportunistic about it. We have had the ability due to departures and graduations to add a few bodies. We have a mixture coming in that should also smooth out the scholarships on a per year basis. More important is are we adding talent equal to or better than what we have lost with departures and seniors. Picking up major and even upper mid-major talent that didn't fit at the previous school can pay big dividends. The question is what are you promising that player. If they expect to walk on campus and be handed a job ahead of guys who have worked hard and did their time, then you can have issues. But if they come in and work hard during their off year (aka Cory and Brandon) and then play hard and be a part of the team, then it can be hugely successful. Foreign big men "projects" are a gamble but sometimes you hit (Grafs, Zoran, etc). Sometimes they do not fully develop. But, and not to pick on anyone, sometimes you get the all-stater or 2d all-stater and it doesn't work out either. College recruiting as someone alluded to is a crap shoot. And add in the 1-and-done rules, foreign professional opps, and easy transfer rules and it's not surprising that the veteran coaches think about retiring.

2. On picking a college, I agree with the difficulty for the student-athlete. Lots of people want him to pick the name on the uniform, when the player should be looking for the program that allows him to succeed the most academically and athletically. Some players are happy with the 4-5 year experience where they get to go to a big time school. But sometimes, that isn't in their best interests. I may have used this story before but there were two "7-footers" at the same HS in northeastern Ohio. One was a big-name recruit, played the most minutes, did all the things. The other started playing ball later as he grew to 7 feet, was a bit uncoordinated, played less minutes. The first got the scholly to Ohio State, the other chose to go to Kent State where his mom worked. The first layed sparingly at OSU and would have been better off at the MAC and Horizon schools who recruited him and he would have started and been impactful. The other redshirted to gain weight, improve his foot work and conditioning. By his senior year, he started on the successful NCAA Kent teams and then played with the Atlanta Hawks. His school was a better fit. Brandon and Cory were both better fits with Valpo's style and atmosphere and thrived in it. The same can be said for Bryce picking Valpo as well. We have had transfers too and for a variety of reasons, Bouchee being a good example. He thought he was improving his "fit" and it ended sadly. The guard whose name I forget today who had to play more than expected a couple years ago transferred to a non-D1 school and has thrived. The important thing is finding the right place to play -- coach, school atmosphere, etc.

Welcome to the VU family bg321!

covufan, as to the Kone question, there were a number of issues with that group being a "team". This group is/will be a more cohesive group of personalities. Notwithstanding, that dysfunctional group still won a game on the road at Charlotte.

So, does he have 2 years of eligibility?

BTW--long airflights dramatically affect the legs, especially of taller players. You are cramped for many hours and circulation is tested. Everything is a step slow, especially if there is time zones involved. Had a long flight overnight and played this morning and you can really feel it. Shots felt good but no legs so everything was short. But, a workout like that right away can really help adjust to the time and reduce the jet lag, plus lots of water.

Koala--we hope to see you in Melborne in the Fall!! We have met you a couple times in the states, including the Akron game in Akron and at Valpo during Ryan's freshman season. In my Saturday runs, play with a couple of your countryfolk, including Shawn Tilby pretty good guard if you have heard of him.

Anybody want Ali at the point?
Broekoff at the 3
Zoran at center
Grafs at the 4
Barton at the 2

Gomes, Ortiz, Vujic and Tony V off the bench. And yes we have had great success with players from around the world. Falu would need an *.

I said their stories are similar, we will have to see about Fernandez' game. Duncan was not heavily recruited out of HS (he had a couple of offers from BCS and then lower mid-majors v Fernandez' couple of BCS offers and mid-majors), from places not well known for their basketball (St Croix v Jamaica), learned the game in HS (Duncan started in 9th grade after his Olympic swimming dreams were shattered by a hurrican destroying the only pool in St. Croix) and was a cerebral student and athlete.

Not sure if I have said this before, but his story seems very similar to Tim Duncan's. Not that he will be Duncan, but that he started his hoops career later and was a bit under the radar.

Gaedele story makes Chicago Tribune.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/cbsports-valpos-gaedele-hoping-baseball-career-no-short-stint-20110605,0,3337770.story

President Heckler understands the marketing value of athletics and the importance of successful mind, body and spirit. He believes that athletics can be a front porch for a University so that it has to be both tended to, supported and nurtured but be under control and meeting its mission. Successful teams are a very important part of that equation. But also important is having facilities that all students can benefit from, eg the bookstore weight training facility and hopefully a state of the art student athletic facility.

Also, here's a question, we heard a lot about Austin Richie and that he was offered. Saw that he is going to Western Michigan? Why did he "pass" on Valpo? Wouldn't he have been a Brandon Wood replacement option too?

Lowposter, why do you say we "passed" on Smoot. He chose the Naval Academy. Lots of big schools looked at him.

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/high-school/indiana/article_7333a37d-31eb-50ea-b05d-0aa2341e6661.html

http://www.nwitimes.com/high-school/crown-point/article_18620fbe-1a67-50dd-a14c-8b2617cdce02.html

Sounds like the kid chose the honorable option of going to a military academy, not that we "passed" on him. Was an offer made, did we have an opportunity to make an offer before he verballed? Would he have taken the offer? Why didn't Purdue or BYU get him?

Not every kid in the Region wants to stay in the Region for college even if we offered. And by the way Tim Duncan hadn't played much HS ball before WF signed him. But a player Washington (BCS) is looking at and we get seems like there must be some big upside here.

I think I might replace Casey, move Lubos to the 3 and add Bruce Lindner at the 2. Dick Jones also needs to be considered for G. Joel Oberman was a rebounding machine as defense and rebounding need help unless this is solely scoring. Zoran may have had more toughness than Raitis and had a bit more D. Mo Smith is another all-around forward. And you have to look at Don Bielke who played in the 50s at F too.

My preference would be a big man coach. Luke is good, but someone like Ivan Vujic to be brought in to teach some toughness and interior play. Also relates to the kids we have from Croatia and Eastern Europe.

You dont' need to be a big guy to be a big man coach. Also, there's only 1 Croatian/Eastern Europe player on the team. You want a coach hired to relate specifically to him?

There's two from Split Croatia, and maybe a 3d coming. And it also helps with recruiting big men from that area.

DCvalpo--I did see Scott at the presser but not sure he's ready to come back

By the way, Lubos had a shot at the NBA. The Cavs had him on their summer team that year. I thought he played well enough that summer to be included on a very bad Cavs team (pre-Quitness era). Lubos had NBA shooting range but was labeled slow and no D. Frankly, he was better than fellow countryman Jiri Welsch whom he played with on Junior teams, who later was traded to Cavs. We used to razz Welsch as he sat at the end of the bench telling him Lubos was better. He pointed to his wallet in reply.

Which part

And, I'm not sure which D1 coach at the university should have had a sniff, but I can't think of one except maybe Carin Avery, but BBall isn't her specialty.

You can't be serious. 

Which part?

Please do not try to read too much into this. In the corporate world, the transition to a new coach/ceo should be a process and one that goes on quietly but is fully understood by the parties involved. In this case, there was a clear transition or succession plan that took place. You hear it in Mark L's comments during the presser as well as how smoothly and effectively this transpired. Unlike the business world, where the investors may or may not be interested in this, the future recruits of a program (and the competition) are very interested in who the coach/ceo will be, and can be recruiting against you because of the "uncertainty." In this case, you can assume that this has been planned out and executed. It is important in this process that the AD, current HC and President of the University are all on the same page. Fortunately, this change was made with all parties on board and ready to go (based on what we saw today). There does not need to be a search when you already have made the plan and decision. For an example of a school that also has a succession plan, see Butler or Purdue. Every AD should have a list of 1-3 choices if something should happen. This clearly wasn't the Gary Williams retirement, which did not seemed planned, especially with their coaching hire.

And, I'm not sure which D1 coach at the university should have had a sniff, but I can't think of one except maybe Carin Avery, but BBall isn't her specialty.

As to assistants, that is a good question. My preference would be a big man coach. Luke is good, but someone like Ivan Vujic to be brought in to teach some toughness and interior play. Also relates to the kids we have from Croatia and Eastern Europe.

A bit in shock on this one as I thought he would try for one more Tourney appearance this year with this class. However, the way recruiting is people probably are using it against us and this is forcing the transition.

Homer's legacy at VU and in college basketball will be hard to match by any coach. But more important was that he was the same terrific, caring person from the first time I talked to him his first year until today. God bless his 2d retirement.

And congrats to Bryce. He has done all the work necessary to be a head coach and this is a great succession plan by the University and AD Mark L.

By the way, as to the comment about Bryce, that was way off base. Wood doesn't go to MSU without very good coaching and in fact any guard that wants to improve their game just saw a way to do that. If Bryce can help a transfer/JUCO from SIllinois to be a starter at MSU/play "professionally," look at what they can do for me. Ask the question -- was BWood's total game much better than when he came in as just a shooter?

BWood and Izzo both had quotes about the level of coaching.

NKVU may be on to something on developing bigs for top schools. 3 good years of a big. The payoff is 75% revenue split on the return game at the United Center. Maybe a 1-1-1 program (one at the big school, one at ARC and one at United). We improve our revenues and have the services of the player for 3 years. I am starting to really like that idea. (not sure SI).

Finally, this actually opens up a bunch of shots for Jay Harris, who looks a lot like BWood, and could pick up double-digit scoring next year. His games against Butler and Iona were very encouraging. And playing more at the 2 will also feature more plays for him. Spread the other 10 shots around to Broekoff and the new guys and there is confidence this team will score. That hasn't been the issue as we have discussed, bringing defensive intensity to every possession is still critical.

I've probably said similar things in earlier posts on this, but this is really not an issue of being disloyal or loopholes. For Brandon, the choices about his playing role for Valpo or another school have been discussed -- either stay and be an HL POY candidate or go to a new program, new conference and have to adjust quickly to be successful. But what I'm not sure has been clearly discussed is that this is also a "master's degree" opportunity in hoops too. Brandon has learned a great deal from Homer and the coaching staff. He has excelled under that teaching and this program. He took full advantage of Valpo and its educational opportunities too. (Brandon, congratulations on earning your degree and being able to have this choice). Homer is an HOF caliber coach. Among the all-time active wins leaders in all of men's hoops. But, Brandon received an offer to play for what many argue is another HOF caliber coach and one of the best strategists in the game, someone who has been recruited to coach in the NBA (not that that is so great). Someone who has rings for Nat'l Champs. BWood has a chance to play and earn a Master's Degree in hoops from one of the top tier hoops institutions. It's like going to University of Chicago or Yale for Law School and to be taught and challenged by the most brilliant minds in that field. It's akin to many of our Valpo experiences. Valpo was a terrific opportunity for me to excel and test boundaries. But when I had a choice of post-grad education for my profession, besides Valpo, I looked at schools ranked higher for that profession and so did my buddies, and I firmly believed and wanted to test the waters against the next level of competition. But I was in that position because the outstanding professors (coaches) at Valpo prepared me for that competition. I ultimately chose that different school and I don't think many would challenge my loyalty to Valpo today. If you have that desire to want to test yourself, you logically believe that going to an MSU-level serves that purpose in hoops.

However, I will continue to lobby for him to stay and push himself to make himself and this team legendary, and that the Horizon has proved again this year that it has enough talent and ability to play with the big conference teams. But if he wants his classroom to be in East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Columbus and Madison or Cameron, Dean Dome and Maryland, it's hard to argue with that. He has earned that right to use the Rule to explore his options. Noentheless, whatever he chooses, it is a testament to Coach and the staff and Valpo that it has developed a player who now has choices. Yeah, it would hurt to lose that talent from Valpo, but is it any different from the CC scholarship student choosing to go to Northwestern Law when they could have stayed at Valpo Law. If the Valpo student succeeds at NW Law it proves how well prepared he was by that Valpo and that CC program and ishould be Exhibit A for why other students should come to Valpo. What is disappointing are the personal potshots that he is being selfish and disloyal. It's similar to saying a player who leaves early to the NBA is being selfish. It may be in their self-interest, but from the media and other personal accounts, BWood is doing this the right way -- systematically, professionally, process-focused, weighing his options. Seems like he has learned a lot from Valpo, including maturity.

And 78, the loyalty ship is a 2-way road. In the legal profession that you referred to, the ship sailed 15-20 years ago when partnerhips erected roadblocks and hurdles for young lawyers to become equity partners, meaning why stay too long if there is no golden rainbow at the end of 8-10 years, best to find what is best for your career plans and act on it sooner. In the business world, loyalty from corporations has had to give way to cost-cutting restructurings, focus on productivity, costs of legacy and worker benefit systems and portability of plans. Long-term futures at the company you hired into are uncertain and that's not a value judgment but cold facts. Last time I checked, most of us were "at will" employees. The younger generation has had to reinvent itself for survival in that world. Yes, they believe themselves free agents. It just mean they might learn earlier as to whether the grass is greener elsewhere or if they should pursue their vocation sooner?