Basketball Recruits - 2018

wiu2013
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It is hard to find post players at this level. If you are decent then schools considered bigger conferences are going to get you first. Thought we had lucked out with the Robbins kid. So, should the coaches look for the Gavin's of the world then the fans complain that they are terrible and a waste of scholarship? Luckily, the Summit is not full of post players.
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sealhall74
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Mid-major coaches would be wise to chase down the 6'7" player with football build along with good hands and feet and use them at the post. The now pig farmer Marshall Bjorklund from NDSU is a good recent example. If he has a strong football background as well, odds are this guy will have a significantly better vertical than the 7 footer who has been playing AAU ball all his life and never had to jump much to slam it home. Football players train for pure explosiveness. At the combines, NFL players typically have a 6 to 8 inch better vertical than their NBA counterparts.

http://www.verticaljumpdevelopment.com/ ... mp-record/
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leatherneckcountry
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We also added Zion Young from Simeon I like kids who come from winning programs
LeatherCy
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Hey Seal...what's wrong with being a Pig Farmer?? :)
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sealhall74
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LeatherCy wrote: Wed May 02, 2018 12:33 pm Hey Seal...what's wrong with being a Pig Farmer?? :)
Not a damn thing. Life would be very boring without bacon.
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sealhall74
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sealhall74 wrote: Wed May 02, 2018 2:17 pm
LeatherCy wrote: Wed May 02, 2018 12:33 pm Hey Seal...what's wrong with being a Pig Farmer?? :)
Not a damn thing. Life would be very boring without bacon. The Bjorklunds are doing well. Here is a little article about the youngsters a few years back.

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/news/lo ... 59cf5.html
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sealhall74
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I was thinking about somethng today. Maybe I am mistaken, but it just does not seem like we recruit the Chicago Public League kids anymore. I am sure that most of the stellar ball players up there are way beyond our reach but what about the others. My guess is if you are not of the better players, your chances of playing AAU ball and getting some serious looks from coaches are pretty limited. However, it does not mean they do not have some serious talent worth looking at. Problem is you have to look at during the season which makes it difficult. I went back and looked at 10 years of rosters and found maybe 2 at most that looked to be from the Public League. IIRC from my early days at WIU, we had quite a few good players with size or quickness from the City schools. I think Margenthaler tended to go more for Iowa players during his reign. Maybe what we really need is staring us right in the face and we are afraid to look for it.
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ST_Lawson
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Coach Wright seems to like to go towards the Indy area for a lot of his recruiting. Kinda makes sense, he's from Indiana, so probably has a decent number of contacts around there.
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LeatherCy
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Jack went to Iowa because he had just spent three years in Des Moines at Drake and knew Iowa. I remember early in his tenure we played at Iowa State. We started Joe Dykstra from Des Moines, Doug Garlock from Urbandale and Jamie Lilly from Humboldt. Later Jack recruited Todd Hutcheson from Boone who turned out to not only be a very good player and excellent rebounder but a great student. Hutch turned down a post graduate scholarship from the NCAA for a job with Rockwell Collins where he stayed for 30 plus years. Interestingly Hutch has a son Trey who is ranked in the Top 5 players in IA this year. Western has offered but I think he is a notch higher. Drake has offered. UNI has had him in for a visit. Billy has a player from Simeon coming this year. I stopped in to see Coach Mo in Lincoln a couple weeks ago while there on business. He is hoping Billy can turn it around. Mo about fell out of his chair when I told him enrollment was down to 6,600. He's got a good gig going with the Big Red. .More than doubled his salary . As long as Tim Miles is ok Mo will be fine. He's about three years from retiring and most likely returning to the Peoria or Chicago area.
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sealhall74
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LeatherCy wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 9:20 pm Jack went to Iowa because he had just spent three years in Des Moines at Drake and knew Iowa. I remember early in his tenure we played at Iowa State. We started Joe Dykstra from Des Moines, Doug Garlock from Urbandale and Jamie Lilly from Humboldt. Later Jack recruited Todd Hutcheson from Boone who turned out to not only be a very good player and excellent rebounder but a great student. Hutch turned down a post graduate scholarship from the NCAA for a job with Rockwell Collins where he stayed for 30 plus years. Interestingly Hutch has a son Trey who is ranked in the Top 5 players in IA this year. Western has offered but I think he is a notch higher. Drake has offered. UNI has had him in for a visit. Billy has a player from Simeon coming this year. I stopped in to see Coach Mo in Lincoln a couple weeks ago while there on business. He is hoping Billy can turn it around. Mo about fell out of his chair when I told him enrollment was down to 6,600. He's got a good gig going with the Big Red. .More than doubled his salary . As long as Tim Miles is ok Mo will be fine. He's about three years from retiring and most likely returning to the Peoria or Chicago area.
Add Banks and Washington from Peoria, and that group was fun to watch. Jack's team liked to put up points early in the game. Before the 3pt shot put in but I am pretty sure I witnessed at least two games when I looked up at the scoreboard at the 5 minute mark and saw 25 points for the Necks. Johnny Washington might be the quickest ball handler WIU has suited up.

An interesting study would be to explore the success of a college coach over time along with the geographical footprint of his/her recruits. Initial success may be there simply because the relationships with high school coaches are still fresh. Eventually those relationships go stale, maybe new HS coaches move in, etc. Also, the added travel time back to his familiar territory means less visits. I think a really smart coach is always going to adjust his recruiting areas to be in closer proximity to his location. Chicago to Macomb vs Indy to Macomb not much different when you drive it, but the Amtrak Chicago option makes a difference, if for no other reason than a kid's family has a better chance to come to the game.
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