Official College Basketball Thread

[GoodAsGould]

eric gordon committed to IU today.

Bruce was wearing leather tonight.

 

IU being Illinois or Indiana... sorry i dont know all the abbreviations im more of a proffesional sports fan than college but i enjoy watching both.

[greasywheels121]

How did D.J. White look tonight? Anyone think he can stay healthy this year?

 

He was great all night. He's strengthened up big time since last season, adding 20 pounds of muscle. He had some nice dunks, though he wasn't in the contest.

 

It was pretty funny, there were a lot of misses in the dunk contest. Sampson ended up getting on the mic, and saying Wilmont was the winner by default and he wanted to see some real dunks. He calls DJ and AJ over, and tells them to show him what a real dunk was. DJ ends up doing a monster slam. AJ did an '06 version of what won him the contest last year: a slam going over DJ, Xavier, and I think the third was Calloway. That was sweet to see in person.

 

And for DJ's health, I believe he can stay healthy. He never had a history of injuries before last year, and both injuries were completely unrelated. They were just bad breaks, literally and figuratively. It would be great to see him stick around to play a year with EJ; however, if he plays remotely close to how he did freshman year, he's an NBAer.

 

IU being Illinois or Indiana... sorry i dont know all the abbreviations im more of a proffesional sports fan than college but i enjoy watching both.

 

IU is Indiana (University) and UI is (the University of) Illinois.

[GoodAsGould]

wow..... that sucks big time... i was thinking Gordon was going to bring us back to the top. I bet the Indiana coach has to be thought pretty low of among his peers.

[Rex Hudler]

wow..... that sucks big time... i was thinking Gordon was going to bring us back to the top. I bet the Indiana coach has to be thought pretty low of among his peers.

 

How can you use "us" referring to a school in which you don't even know if it is IU or UI? And then to throw the IU coach into the mix? Whatever......

[GoodAsGould]

How can you use "us" referring to a school in which you don't even know if it is IU or UI? And then to throw the IU coach into the mix? Whatever......

 

well im tired and just wasnt thinking straight, and yes im a bandwagon fan because i started watching the Illini when they went 29-1. But I check every so often on message boards and watch the games when i can. And wasnt Gordon committed to the Illini and usually when a player makes a commitment isnt he considered off limits. And than the coach from Indiana went and recruited him anyways, I remember reading about it b4 Gordon actually changed his commitment but that sounds like a pretty slimeball move to me.

 

But sure, go ahead and be an ass all you want.

[Heads22]

It's nice that Kelvin's out of the XII.

[CWSGuy406]

Marquette's "Midnight Madness" was tonight; I missed it for a hockey game (went to the Wiscy/North Dakota game).

 

Apparently Lazar Hayward impressed. If he's cleared by the NCAA (he was cleared to practice, not to play), I'm pretty sure he'll start.

 

The hockey game got me pumped for basketball season to start. The guy in front of me was talking about the Marquette/Wiscy game, talkin' s*** about Marquette; I decided not to get into it with him.

 

Can't wait to get basketball season underway...

[IlliniKrush]

And wasnt Gordon committed to the Illini and usually when a player makes a commitment isnt he considered off limits. And than the coach from Indiana went and recruited him anyways

Correct. And it's frowned upon by Big Ten coaches, aka no one does it.

 

But Sampson does what he wants.

 

"The appearance of Indiana's recruiting a committed player irked Weber. The issue came up at the Big Ten meetings last spring. Michigan coach Tommy Amaker and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, who saw committed player Eric Devendorf change his mind and go to Syracuse, were outspoken on the subject."

 

"In football, it's always been known to be open game, but that hasn't been the case with us," Weber said this summer when Gordon was getting attention from Indiana. "If you have a kid [orally] committed, then for that eight or nine months you don't recruit anyone else. So you lose all that time recruiting other kids, because you have one committed. Ask 98 percent of the coaches, and they'll tell you that they stop calling kids once they [orally commit]. We do. Most do it."

Edited October 14, 2006 by IlliniKrush

[IlliniKrush]

The hockey game got me pumped for basketball season to start.

Ugh, cmon Keith...hang with us here

Edited October 14, 2006 by IlliniKrush

[Rex Hudler]

well im tired and just wasnt thinking straight, and yes im a bandwagon fan because i started watching the Illini when they went 29-1. But I check every so often on message boards and watch the games when i can. And wasnt Gordon committed to the Illini and usually when a player makes a commitment isnt he considered off limits. And than the coach from Indiana went and recruited him anyways, I remember reading about it b4 Gordon actually changed his commitment but that sounds like a pretty slimeball move to me.

 

But sure, go ahead and be an ass all you want.

 

Actually, Gordon gave Illinois a verbal commitment, which is non-binding. Generally, you do not recruit a kid that is committed elsewhere. In this case, Mike Davis left IU and Kelvin Sampson came in. Gordon always had interest in IU, just not in the situation with Davis, who was there when he gave Illinois his verbal. Two of Sampson's assistant coaches have ties to the Gordon family. One of them coached Gordon's dad, I believe.

 

The bottom line is that the Gordon's contacted Indiana to see what it was like with the changes. At that point, you can't ask IU's coach not to recruit a kid that shows interest.

 

IU did nothing wrong here. If you want to be mad at Gordon for changing his mind, his dad for possibly orchestrating or whatever, fine. But if the roles were reversed, I guarantee you Weber would have done the same. And he should.

 

Look at it this way. Let's say a 4-star SG from Peoria currently committed to Missouri, calls Coach Weber tomorrow. He says "Coach, I always wanted to play a UI, but didn't have a chance when you had Gordon coming in. I know you sent me letters last year and I understand why they stopped when Eric committed. I think Illinois would be the best place for me to play if you would have me. I'd be close to home which would make my family happy and I think I would be more comfortable. Can I come talk to you next weekend?"

 

Do you honestly think Weber would say no?? Now he might ask the kid to talk to Coach Anderson first and let him know he is coming up for a visit or he may respect the kid's right to take a look (like looking for a new job) without giving up what he has in his pocket (the Missouri scholarship offer). There is no way Weber would not talk to the kid. No way. And once again, nor should there be.

[shipps]

I havent really kept up with the whole Gordon situation with the Illini and Indiana.Whats the latest?Are the Illini gonna loose this kid to IU?That would suck considering how hard it has been for the krush to recruit top tier players.

[greasywheels121]

I havent really kept up with the whole Gordon situation with the Illini and Indiana.Whats the latest?Are the Illini gonna loose this kid to IU?That would suck considering how hard it has been for the krush to recruit top tier players.

 

He's committed to Indiana.

[Sonik22]

The Valley is looking pretty good this year with Wichita State, Creighton, Northern Iowa, and SIU. Looking like we will see 4-5 teams in the tourney again. Its going to be a tough year for SIU to win the conference but I think we can do it again! Go Dawgs!

[Rowand44]

The Valley is looking pretty good this year with Wichita State, Creighton, Northern Iowa, and SIU. Looking like we will see 4-5 teams in the tourney again. Its going to be a tough year for SIU to win the conference but I think we can do it again! Go Dawgs!

Missouri State should be better than UNI this year and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they finish higher than the Shocks either. Now if Hinson can actually get the Bears to the NCAA's this year, who knows but that team should be pretty darn good. If I had to guess right now though, I'd say: Creighton, SIU, Missouri State and Wichita State all get into the tournament this year.

Edited October 14, 2006 by Rowand44

[Heads22]

What's Bradley looking like this year? We play them in Des Moines....

[SnB]

I checked out the first NIU practice tonight, they are one of the favorites to win the MAC. A lot of new guys, but the talent level is WAY higher than last years team, which won the MAC West. That made me feel quite a bit better, I'm really glad I don't go to Illinois, must be a morgue down there tonight at practice.

kinda, everyone was talking about it before hand in the crowd, but once it got started, the excitement kicked right back into normal level.

[Rex Hudler]

Missouri State should be better than UNI this year and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they finish higher than the Shocks either. Now if Hinson can actually get the Bears to the NCAA's this year, who knows but that team should be pretty darn good. If I had to guess right now though, I'd say: Creighton, SIU, Missouri State and Wichita State all get into the tournament this year.

 

Hey, what about *cough* Evansville *cough*?

[Jimbo's Drinker]

Roy Williams was taken out of all clips at late night, except for a quick one, where he was booed.. f*** you roy! Here is the clip at our late night....TRADITION TRADITION TRADITION

 

My Webpage

Sherron Collins was by far the best player last night god my man crush grows every day!!!!!

Edited October 14, 2006 by Jimbo's Drinker

[Rowand44]

Hey, what about *cough* Evansville *cough*?

Honestly Rex, I think they'll be pretty solid. If I were to guess, I'd say 6th or 7th in the valley, while not great is an improvement, they've brought back a lot of talent from last season, the problem is the valley's top teams are extremely good once again.

Edited October 14, 2006 by Rowand44

[Buehrle>Wood]

Missouri State should be better than UNI this year and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they finish higher than the Shocks either. Now if Hinson can actually get the Bears to the NCAA's this year, who knows but that team should be pretty darn good. If I had to guess right now though, I'd say: Creighton, SIU, Missouri State and Wichita State all get into the tournament this year.

Taking Wichita State to the final 4 was my only blemish in my otherwise perfect bracket last year, but I have just as much confidence in them this year as I did with them last year. They are a top 15 team for sure, even with the loss of Paul Miller. Their only problem is a lack of hieght, as I don't believe they have a ready contributer over 6'8 this year.

[Palehosefan]

lol, without Roy, you would have much less TRADITION, TRADITION, TRADITION. Without Roy you wouldn't have Bill Self wanting the job. Normally I try to ignore this stuff, but enough is enough, give it up already.

[Jimbo's Drinker]

lol, without Roy, you would have much less TRADITION, TRADITION, TRADITION. Without Roy you wouldn't have Bill Self wanting the job. Normally I try to ignore this stuff, but enough is enough, give it up already.

 

Its Kansas, its a top 3 job in the nation....Roy got us in a huge huge pickle and weazled out and now we are losing a few recruits. Oh well This is THE YEAR.

 

KU and UNC will always be a family tree gone wrong...

 

Jayhawks in the NBA from late night

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7573799154293320606

[CWSGuy406]

Well, I don't know how many people really care about Marquette basketball, but the UWM Panthers have backed out of a five year deal that would have them playing Marquette. UWM would have gotten something close to $180K out of the deal. So, while UWM more or less "called out" the Marquette basketball program, Crean had this to say (per the blog Cracked Sidewalks):

 

"Maybe at the end of the day they never really wanted the game or wanted the series," Crean said. "Maybe it was always about the money. And I haven't seen anything that would lead me to believe differently, based on the fact that they've turned down what I think was a substantial amount of money to literally come across the street to play a game."

[Heads22]

That's a good blog.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

Interesting "power" rankings from this guy on si.com...

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...ings/index.html

 

1. Florida

2. Kansas

3. North Carolina

4. UCLA

5. LSU

6. Wisconsin

7. Georgetown

8. Pittsburgh

9. Texas A&M

10. Alabama

11. Ohio State

12. Arizona

13. Memphis

14. Creighton

15. Wichita State

16. Duke

 

17. Boston College

18. Marquette

19. Southern Illinois

20. Washington

21. Tennessee

22. UConn

23. Georgie Tech

24. Syracuse

25. Texas

26. Xavier

27. Nevada

28. Louisville

29. Hofstra

30. Oregon

31. DePaul

32. Gonzaga