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.