Bradley gets the Blue Devils on their Schedule

In an exciting piece of news Bradley has secured a game with last year's National Champion Duke Blue Devils!  As far as I can tell it's just an away game... It was never likely we'd get a home-and-home with Duke, or a two-for-one deal for that matter.  According to reports Coach Les was able to leverage his relationships in the Duke organization to arrange the game.  My hope is that he will be able to leverage them again in the future for the possibility of playing them at a neutral site-- such as in Chicago (a recruiting boon for both programs).  Actually, scratch that, my hope is that we kick Duke right in the ass which would mean they'd never play us by choice again... But assuming we lose the game at Cameron, a return game at a neutral site would be great.  As far as that goes, it's great news for a team like Bradley however you cut it.  TV details have not been announced yet, but I hope we get to play on the Deuce, or on ESPN Prime for that matter.

Bradley Basketball Doings and Transpirings

Atlanta media sources are reporting that a guard named Jordan Brown (pictured here) will attend Bradley this next year as a preferred walk-on on an academic scholarship.  According to the guys over at Bradleyfans.com NCAA rules are such that a player who receives financial aid, was recruited by the university out of high school, and will walk on to the basketball team must take his freshman year as a redshirt.  Jordan Brown's "commitment" to Bradley on these terms is interesting for a couple of reasons.  First is that it seems if they're taking a player as a walk-on that they may have considered a full scholarship for, they're likely to use that scholarship on another player... Michael Ocherobia, or perhaps a transfer?  I think that's good news, personally, since I don't have interest in "banking" a scholarship for a year when three major minute-contributing guards (Warren, Maniscalco, and Dunson) will graduate.  The second thing is that this guy is hitting lists as a top 20 player in Atlanta.  I try to ignore, when I can, hype in Bradley recruiting because hope is always springing eternal, but what is a top 20 Atlanta player doing as a walk-on?  That could be a ridiculous steal for our program... He plays on the same nationally recognized team, Atlanta Westlake HS, as highly rated (#1 in Atlanta on many lists) Marcus Thornton.  That team went 30-3 and lost the state championship game after Thornton hurt himself in warmups.  Again, trying to discount the hype, but the last player we got out of Atlanta who played on a good HS team but was overshadowed by a more highly recruited teammate was Taylor Brown.  And Taylor Brown is good!  In any case, welcome to the family, Jordan!

Here's Dave Reynold's article in the PJ Star.  That article also quotes an unnamed official confirming that the final scholarship is being reserved for Michael Ocherobia.

In other news...
Chris Roberts is "drafted" by the Harlem Globetrotters. 

Also the posters at Bradleyfans.com have begun reporting on Bradley recruiting for the 2011 class in earnest.  Here's a list of targets and a link to the Bradleyfans discussion.

Remy Abell, 6-4 SG, 3 stars.  Louisville, KY.
Max Bielfeldt, 6-8 PF, Unrated.  Peoria, IL.
Quinton Chievous, 6-5 SG, Unrated.  Niles, IL.
Jamarlas Demas, 6-2 PG, Unrated.  Garland, TX.
Justin Gant, 6-8 PF, 3 stars.  Terra Haute, IN. 
Toddrick Gotcher, 6-3 SG, 3 stars.  Garland, TX.
AJ Price, 6-3 SG, Unrated.  Lewisville, TX.
Jacob Williams, 6-5 SF, 3 Stars. Chicago, IL. 

Looks like a good group of recruits to me.  Would be nice to pull in another point, and an off-guard, and a wing, as far as I'm concerned.  Also interesting, if you follow the link to AJ Price you'll see that the conversation includes someone who is a family member of AJ's posting on bradleyfans. 

Bulls Make Aggressive Salary-Dump Trade

Just before the NBA Draft was set to commence on June 24, news that the Bulls had traded Kirk Hinrich and their 17th pick in the draft to the Washington Wizards for... apparently nothing... started coming out.  The move was heralded as an excellent salary move that puts Chicago in a position where they can sign two max-salary players.  Some of the talking heads think that taking such a risky move (trading a decent role player and a valuable pick) indicates great confidence on the Bulls' part.  I hope so, since that could indicate that LeBron is coming to Chicago... Maybe Chris Bosh (or I guess Joe Johnson) too.  That result should position the Bulls as NBA favorites for several years running.  I can hardly wait to see what's happening come this Thursday (July 1, the beginning of the NBA free agent period).

In-Laws, Happy Birthday to Me, and Other Excuses

I haven't been able to post very often here of late for which I apologize... But I do have lots of excuses!  My in-laws from Japan (as well as a friend of my wife from Tokyo) are in town and staying with us.  They are a lot more interesting than blogging for my own edification (and "you," like both people who read this, heh), so they get priority.  We've been doing interesting touristy things as well as throwing a big party for them and for my birthday.  Anyway, I've not quit or anything, and will post on here when I can.

Also the Duster has departed for Clarion School in San Diego today-- in fact he just texted his arrival.  Best of luck out there to this aspiring writer.

Bradley 2010-2011 Preseason Prospectus is Out

The initial version (still to be updated with any more recruiting and scheduling changes) of Bradley's 2010-2011 Basketball Preseason Prospectus is now published on Bradley's athletics website.  It's a cool guide with some history and recap stuff from last year as well as a bunch of  player profiles, traditional stats, and really interesting "weird" stats such as record on specific TV stations and the like.  If you're interested in Bradley basketball, you should definitely take a look.

Conference Realignment: Utah to Pac-?? Official

Utah has accepted the offer to leave the Mountain West Conference and join the (still currently named) Pac-10.  Here's an ESPN article about it.  Will the MWC try to add another team in their bid to make it into the "BCS" rankings?  Adding more teams doesn't necessarily help them get that BCS automatic qualifier unless they're strong football programs.  One name a guy over on bradleyfans.com mentioned was Fresno State out of the Western Athletic Conference, with might work okay.  The MWC commissioner, though, said today that the MWC is done expanding, at least this season.

That could all change though, if some of the rumors emerging from Texas are true.  Certain players in Texas want the Big XII to have its championship game (Jerry Jones, anyone?  Giant Texas stadium, anyone?) back.  That requires 12 teams by NCAA rules.  Jerry Jones is also a huge player in Arkansas athletics and so there's a new rumor that Arkansas could bolt the Southeastern Conference for the Big XII.  That'd be a strange move since the SEC has one of the highest conference payouts in the country and would have a team leaving a "buyer" conference for a (at least recent) "seller" conference.  Other programs with rumors making the rounds: Houston, TCU, SMU, and Memphis.  I haven't heard of anyone mentioning Tulsa, but why don't we throw them in the mix too.  Those moves could alternatively create "openings" in the SEC, Conference USA, or Mountain West... So this thing may still not be over, with the dominoes just falling slower than everyone thought a week ago.  Plus the Big Ten still looms large in my mind.

Conference Realignment: An Unsettling Calm

Well the immediate crisis has passed with Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State continuing to acknowledge that the Big XII (now with only ten teams) is where they will stay for at least a while.  The air went out of the balloon (even if I've represented that fact with a giant dirigible) and the media seems to have gotten the impression that all is well and we're done with this wave a realignment at least as far as huge adjustments are concerned.

I'm not exactly convinced for two reasons.  The Big XII has the same problems it always did, and in fact, they're a little worse now.  From what I can tell Texas now has gotten an even bigger slice of the revenue pie and while that's certainly made Texas happy how long will the other nine member schools of the newly misnamed Big XII stay content-- put another way, how long before the Pac-10(11, soon maybe 12) or SEC begin to offer those schools more money?  Plus, it's like we've all forgotten how all this started: the Big Ten being suspected of pillaging the Big East.  None of the developments regarding the Big XII really have any bearing on that... At least, not as far as I'm concerned they don't... What does the Big Ten care that the Pac-10 failed in its aggressive bid to wreck the Big XII.  The Big East is an easier target, in any case, and the Big Ten Network monster still needs feeding.  Anyway, we'll have to keep watching.  In other news, the Pac-10 has offered Utah and it's expected that Utah will accept, reducing the Mountain West back to its former size.  ESPN article here.

Conference Realignment: An MVC (Bradley) Megaconference Scenario?

Taking some time to consider megaconference scenarios that could include Bradley I've had trouble coming up with many that I think are particularly interesting, but an article at the Creighton Rivals (pay) site gives what I think to be a moderately realistic MVC scenario in which the Valley adds six basketball only teams to the conference to bring it to 16 teams.  The targets in that article are St. Louis, Dayton, and Xavier from the A-10, Butler from the Horizon League, and Marquette and DePaul from the Big East.

I don't think it's that far-fetched because I think if you can poach all six of those teams you have a conference attractive enough to get you a national TV deal that covers maybe 40% of your games... Or even maybe (this is a longer shot) a chance to partner with someone like Comcast (who hates the Big Ten Network) for a dedicated network.  The advantages in building a conference like that are that it would be a serious basketball contender, and likely send 4-6 teams to the Dance every year (if not a couple more in a big year), may command good TV money, would be quite strong in some other sports (particularly soccer), and has excellent geography.  The only problem I see is the obvious one of playing good enough chess to get the Big East teams to join you-- they don't make much money in the Big East and have to hate the travel, so maybe it's possible.

So how would it shake out?  I see a couple of options, but discount the Big East 16 teams all in one division model so that members can save some money with reasonable travel.  They are detailed below:

Two Division Solution

                                                           EAST (blue)                                               WEST (green)
                                                           Bradley                                                      Creighton
                                                           Butler                                                         Drake
                                                           Dayton                                                       Evansville
                                                           DePaul                                                       Missouri State
                                                           Illinois State                                                Northern Iowa
                                                           Indiana State                                              Saint Louis
                                                           Marquette                                                  Southern Illinois
                                                           Xavier                                                        Wichita State

You would play 18 conference games: 14 against your division mates (one home and one away) and 4 games against out of division opponents.  Problems with this alignment is the lack of games against your out of division opponents and a major gulf in conference strength between East and West.


Four Division Solution

                                                           NORTH (blue)                                            EAST (yellow)
                                                           Bradley                                                       Butler
                                                           DePaul                                                        Dayton
                                                           Illinois State                                                 Indiana State
                                                           Marquette                                                   Xavier

                                                           SOUTH (black)                                          WEST (green)
                                                           Evansville                                                    Creighton
                                                           Missouri State                                             Drake
                                                           Saint Louis                                                  Northern Iowa
                                                           Southern Illinois                                           Wichita State

In an arrangement like this one you'd play a home and away against each other team in your division and one game against each non-division team.  I think this gives you your best scheduling and would work out quite nicely.  You still have a monster of an MVC East in this one, but it's not as pronounced with more games being played outside of each division.

Conference Realignment Update: 6/14/10

Rumors are swirling each direction today with ESPN earlier reporting that Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma state set to abandon the Big XII for apparently brighter pastures in the Pac-10 and Texas A&M bound for the SEC.  However those rumors have been superseded by new rumors that the Big XII is now working overtime to try to keep Texas in the conference by promising a new bajillion dollar television deal for a 10-team conference that seems like it would pay Texas a bigger part of the pot.  It seems desperate to me,  and if I were a non-Texas school I'd tell the Big XII just where to stick it. 

The original story about the demise of the Big XII is here.
The new story over at ESPN is here.

Eamon Brennan has another relatively entertaining blog on the matter here.  Inside he considers what you'd call a 10-team Big XII.  How about Big X, but not "ten," actually vocalize "x."  Or something.

Anyway, if I can get the puppy to behave himself I'll be back to post some Missouri Valley ideas.

Conference Realignment: The Carnage Continues

Oh the humanity!

That should pretty much do it.  It was announced (here's an ESPN article) that Nebraska will leave the Big XII to join the Big Ten... Ironically this brings the Big Ten to twelve members and reduces the Big XII to ten teams.  There's a bizarre symmetry to that, I guess.  As was expected that means the Big XII is now completely dead (sounds like they're trying to sue everyone, by the way), and a "source" has told ESPN that Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma St. will accept offers to join the Pac-10 (Pac-15?) as early as tomorrow (June 11). Texas A&M, for their part, are being choosy and considering joining the Pac-87 or the SEC.  Be interesting to see what happens next... Could be nothing, could be Missouri to the Big Ten, or it could be the Big Ten deciding the Big East needs to get the Big XII treatment and they'll come after some mix of Syracuse, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, and mostly-affiliated Notre Dame.  What the hell, with everyone so drunk on megaconference deathdoom maybe they'll go after all of them plus Iowa State, Kansas, K-State, Baylor, Bradley, Florida Gulf Coast University, UC-Davis, St. Mary's School for the Blind, Alaska-Anchorage, Hawaii, Tokyo University, Erasmus in Holland, and the University of Mars Future Campus 2935 and become the Big Thirty (Big 3-Ten?).

In other news, Boise State has left the Western Athletic Conference for greener pastures in the Mountain West Conference.

Incidentally, anyone enjoy my very first custom artwork (a nod to a famous disaster and the famous Bradley Superfan)?

Conference Realignment: Colorado to Pac-10 (Pac-11?)

ESPN Article.

The video in that article also indicates that Texas Tech to Pac-10 via interview with Texas Tech's head coach.  IT'S ON!  At least as far as realignment goes.

Conference Realignment Articles

Just a couple of articles by Eamonn Brennan from ESPN that I thought were interesting:

Making College Hoops Weird

and

Conference Realignment: The Sad Reality

Bradley Fills Assistant Coaching Vacancy

Jim Les has hired former Bradley point guard, Willie Scott to fill the last opening on his staff.  Willie Scott has been working as the head coach of Malcolm X Junior College in Chicago for the last couple of years and amassed a winning record there.  Prior to coaching at Malcolm X, Coach Scott was a successful businessman who ran his own custom clothing business.  Before that he played professionally in the CBA, Argentina, Italy, and Spain for 14 years.  His college playing days were before my useful memory (though I was alive) but most accounts had him as a quick point guard with good defense-- he was known as The Roadrunner.  As a coach it seems like he'll be in the "circle of trust" as he's part of the Bradley family and it's expected that his ties to Chicago high schools from his JUCO coaching days could help us in the Chicago region.  Welcome aboard, Willie!  This concludes an offseason that I think was a major upgrade to our coaching staff.

This post over at Bradleyfans contains a lot of detail and numerous links regarding Willie Scott.

Conference Realignment: Nebraska to Big Ten Reported

Strong rumors and some reports coming out that Nebraska is ready to announce that they will move to the Big Ten.  This could be the first shot fired in the Megaconference war.  I had thought the Big East would be the one to splinter first because of all of the discontent among its members, but it turns out the Big XII may be the first conference to change.  If Nebraska (and the other strongly rumored Missouri) moves to the Big Ten and the Pac-10 pulls of the raid they've been rumored to be working on, the Big XII could cease to exist very very quickly.

Conference Realignment Update

Pac 10 rumors persist, now with reports of an apparent ultimatum issued from Big XII offices to Missouri and Nebraska to decide by friday... It's assumed that they would go to the Big Ten and that the Pac-10 would eat 4-6 other schools from the Big XII, including Big XII jewell Texas.   An ESPN report that the Pac-10 commissioner has been given the green light to begin exploring expansion options with a deadline for year end.  Most people seem convinced that these mega conferences are the foregone conclusion, while I remain convinced they are a fundamentally unsound idea.  I hold out some hope that becuase I think they are a bad idea that I'm not the only one and the media is running rampant with the mega conference idea while the conference leaders themselves see the issue a little differently.  It's hard, though, to ignore the media blitz, but at least the Pac-10 commissioner's comments in the ESPN don't indicate a particular lean.

It may be worthwhile, though, trying to figure out what would happen if you did see the end of the Big XII and/or Big East with the result being just a few football focused mega conferences.  Right now the BCS conferences contain 73 schools.  If the Big Ten were to take Missouri and Nebraska, as well as Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Pitt, it would grow to 16-- but reduce the Big XII to 10, and the Big East to 13.  If the Pac-10 then went wild and took Texas, TAMU, TT, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma St from the Big XII, it would grow to 16 and the Big Ten would reduce to 4 teams.  At this point the Big XII is no longer a viable conference and remaining members Kansas, K-State, Baylor, and Iowa State would have to find a new home.  I think the Big East would also be very shaky at this point with only six football schools remaining (Cincinnati, UCONN, Louisville, Rutgers, USF, and West Virginia).  That asks a few questions-- namely, what happens to basketball only institutions such as the rest of the Big East and conferences like the Horizon League, CAA, A10 and the Missouri Valley, what will the SEC and ACC do, what will the Big East do about football, and what happens to the orphaned Big XII members?

My own overwhelming interest is in college basketball (and in particular, Bradley), and so I'm obviously worried about this.  If the Football Megaconference Concept is going to dominate college sports for a while then Bradley needs to find a spot at the table or they'll stand to lose a ton of money and put their assets to waste.  I'm convinced these megaconferences are patently bad for basketball, and really don't add anything as far as football goes.  I think the best two outcomes for Bradley would be to end up in (as I've advocated for a while) a "major" conference focused on non-football sports, or to be taken in as a basketball only school in a developing regional megaconference (maybe along with several MVC members in a conference with Kansas and Iowa State-- something that would require the MVC Football schools to probably go for FBS status).  I don't think that Bradley administration can afford to wait and hope but should actively be engaging the MVC on expansion opportunities OR looking for options outside of the MVC, as survival as a top 100 college basketball program has to be a critical objective for the university.

Bulls Select Head Coach and LeBron Rumors Keep on Chuggin'

The Bulls have apparently hired Boston Celtic assistant, Tom Thibodeau, to be their next head coach-- though none of that will become official until the NBA Finals have concluded.  Chicago Bulls blogger, Sam Smith, has a detailed and lengthy article here.  I personally think this sounds like a great hire.  Thibodeau is recognized around the league as a quality assistant with a certain genius for defense.  He's very experienced with, I think, 17 years in the league, and so he's not like a Vinny Del Negro sort of hire.  Additionally it seems he's well respected by players he's coached as well as ones he hasn't, so he gives the Bulls a nice bit of legitimacy in this pivotal free agency year. 

Which brings me to LeBron.  William "World Wide Wes" Wesley, major NBA insider, is now indicating that LeBron is leaning towards the Chicago Bulls now that Tom Thibodeau is in place.  This would instantly turn the Bulls into a championship contender, and I just can't wait to see how it plays out.

Pac 10 Expansion Threat!

Threat level on conference realignment just hit red and we're at DEFCON 2 or something like that. 

An internet report out of St. Louis indicates the Pac 10 may be targeting six schools in the Big XII.  This may just be more mega-super-mecha-streisand football conference stuff (which I still don't really see the appeal of) run amok, or it could be really rolling.  Couple that with efforts of the Big Ten to take members from the Big XII and you could really see the end of everything as we know it.  Honestly, no idea where this road lies, but I have this sneaking suspicion it'll ruin my college sports life if it comes to pass. 

Random 6/2/2010 Bradley Basketball Update

Yesterday Coach Les agreed to do a chat through fansite bradleyfans.com.  I wasn't able to participate or watch directly, but the guys at bradleyfans posted a full transcript of the interview here.  For one thing, I think it's incredibly nice for Coach Les to take some time to interact so directly with his fans...  And in addition, the coach divulged some information that I, at least, found interesting.  It appears the post players have shown him enough this spring that the amount of small ball that Bradley plays could be diminished.  The coach said he could see playing Taylor Brown at the "3" (his natural position), Will Egolf at the "4" (a position that most see to be his natural position), and a big: maybe Jordan Prosser, Anthony Thompson, newcomer Andrew Davis, or Michael Ocherobia should he make it to campus.  Coach Les also confirmed that Michael Ocherobia is still being recruited by Bradley.  Finally, he noted that Milos Knezevic has made progress and is expected to contribute several minutes next year at the 4. 

Also, not mentioned by the coach, but of some interest for me-- Darius Smith, a freshman at UConn last season and one-time Bradley recruit, has announced his attention to transfer to a new program.  Smith was a 6'2 point guard out of Chicago and considered a 4-star recruit by both recruiting services.  Here's the recruiting thread from bradleyfans from last year.  He averaged just over 4 mpg at UConn and likely decided he'd get a shot at some more playing time at another program.  I would love for Darius Smith to transfer to Bradley, and with Sam Maniscalco, Andrew Warren, and Dodie Dunson graduating after the season there will be plenty of minutes for guards to compete for.  Anyway, I will watch where he goes with interest-- hope Bradley's in the running.