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I made a post or two previously about how I was going to the games this week, and I intend to explore that in general after the games either tomorrow or the next day. With this post I wanted to touch on a rumor I heard, how it effects the player I specifically discussed in my previous thread and a publication I picked up that has me as excited as I can ever remember being for the future of BG basketball.

I am sure that there are people who know more about this than me so please feel free to chime in.

First things first. I heard that we had another signee. Conor Tilow of Lakewood St. Ed's. Conor is a 6-6 Forward who runs the floor well and had at least 14 pts in todays win against St. X. He plays with Tom Pritchard a C/4 that is on his way to Indiana. He put up 26 today. There best player is actually hurt. I can't imagine how good they would have been.

The issue here clearly is that we don't have another scholarship unless something changes. In my other post I discussed Ray Chambers a 6-7 F from Chillicothe who had 31 pts 17 rebs in the semifinal win. He is still unsigned and we are listed as a potential destination. I googled him and OU was talking about him too due to his schools proximity. They are also full of schollies but they were discussing something Butler does that i am not familiar with. Apparently they have guys come in for a year in which they are not on scholarship with the understanding that the final 3 years will be. This is a scenario we could be looking at with either Tilow or Chambers.

IMO, fwiw, Chambers was a much better athlete and better specimen for division 1 ball. Tilow would be great as a preferred walk on. He would be an active big man but I wonder if he is good enough to really make a difference for us.

(As I give my opinion in upcoming posts, please remember that this is my opinion from a very brief snapshot of what is out there to see. I am just giving you what I got and that is ever changing.)

So on to why I am so excited about the future of BG basketball. I picked up a magazine entitled prepspotlight that covered both michigan and ohio basketball to read in between games.

Reason #1 to get excited: 2009

Paging thru the Michigan section of the magazine, they have a list of the top prospects at each position for Michigan. fwiw. Listed as the #1 best WF (wing forward) is Austin Calhoun 6-6. #7 PG is Dee Brown 6-1. Calhoun is listed as the #6 best all around player in the state in total. Curiously, Calhoun is listed as being on the 4th team All class A while Dee Brown is listed as 1st team all Class B.

In Ohio, Scott Thomas is listed as first team all division 2, (along with Chambers). He was 7th in terms of scoring in Ohio. Scott is listed as the #4 wing forward in Ohio this year.

This is all about what I suspected. A raw 2/3/4 in Calhoun who at the very least will be a tough defender. A nice offensive option in Thomas. And an active combo guard in Brown. All should contribute right away in 2008-09.

The real reason I am elated about the future, Is the 2010+ classes. I view that 2008 class as a great building block. A special player could, and likely will, come out of those 3 and even more important none will likely be a liability and eat a scholarship. But I think Orr is in what appears to be a great position to get in early on some great talent. The Book lists the top juniors as well as seniors in Ohio. 2 of which have already verbaled and 2 we were rumored to be getting.

Listed 4th on the list of PGs in the 2009 is Cortez Howell, 5-11, from Cincinnati Aiken. #1 on Wing Guards is his teammate Darren Goodson, 6-3. Both of who have verballed for 09. The two players who reportedly verbaled and quickly rescinded are also on the list. Orlando Williams, 6-3 Wing Guard is ranked 5th and Marquise Horne, 6-6 WF is ranked 4th.

Even if thats not our class for 2009 one thing it has me excited about is that we are building relationships with schools that, according to this magazine, have great talent coming up. I will list them below. BGs mens HS team has a few prospects as well.

Aiken
PG-Cortez Howell-5'11 #4
WG-Darren Goodson-6'3 #1
PG-Nick McCoy 5'10 #12 So.
WF-Aaron Thomas 6'4 #5 Fr.
PF-Chane Behanan 6'6 #1 Fr.

Princeton
WG(2)-Orlando Williams-6'3 #5
WF(3)-Marquis Horne-6'6 #3
WF-Stephon Johnson-6'5 #8
WG-Jordan Sibert-6'2 #2 So.

Bowling Green
PF-Pat Graham-6'5 #15
PG-Xavier Brown-5'10 #6 Fr.
WF-Chauncey Orr-6'3 #2 Fr.

And thats just 3 teams. Thats just a few hours cursory glance at the situation. Imagine the depth that Stone, Jackson and Orr are putting into it combined with their knowledge. I expect huge things. All it takes is getting one of these kids to love the potential situation and then go off his senior year. McLeod?

2008-09
1 Jakubowski 6-2 180 So. Simms 6-1 180 Jr. Brown 6-2 Fr.
2 Moten 6-4 190 Sr. Clements 6-4 200 Sr.
3 Miller 6-4 240 Sr. Thomas 6-6 Fr Calhoun 6-6 Fr.
4 Knight 6-7 210 R-So. Marschall 6-7 235 Jr.
5 Polk 6-9 280 Jr. Larson 6-9 245 Jr. Madlock 6-8 200 So.

2009-2010 (3 schollies to offer with the Marschall redshirt, so the #'s dont match up)
1 Jakubowski 6-2 180 Jr. Brown 6-2 So. Howell 5-11 Fr.
2 Simms 6-1 180 Sr. Calhoun 6-6 So. Goodson 6-3 Fr. Williams 6-3 Fr.
3 Knight 6-7 210 R-Jr. Thomas 6-6 So. Horne 6-6 Fr.
4 Marschall 6-7 235 Sr. Madlock 6-8 200 Jr.
5 Polk 6-9 280 Sr. Larson 6-9 245 Sr.

2010-2011 (4 Srs year prior)
1 Jakubowski 6-2 180 Sr. Brown 6-2 Jr. Howell 5-11 So.
2 Calhoun 6-6 So. Goodson 6-3 So. Williams 6-3 So.
3 Thomas 6-6 Jr. Horne 6-6 So.
4 Knight 6-7 210 R-Sr.
5 Madlock 6-8 200 Sr.

You win tournaments with guard play, so I am glad we are targeting that spot, however if you parse it out 3 seasons ahead we are getting thin at the 4 and 5. Its likely that things wont work out this way, but rather a a transfer, ineligibilty or two will shake things up.


Note: these depth charts are done entirely based off year in school. Obviously they would change with ability.

Is Polk really only 6'9" and 280? I noticed in Cleveland that Jarrah Young, who's a pretty impressive physical specimen and is listed at 6'7", 210 or something but is probably more like 225, was simply dwarfed by Polk. Height wise, too. I'd guess that if Young's height is accurate that Polk is easily 6'10" and 300. My fervent hope is that Falconboy convinces Brandon to steal him away and use him on the D-line.

IF we have Conor Tillow signed that is a big big get for us. Conor is every bit of 6-6/6-7 and is a definite 3. He is not going to be a slasher in the MAC, he'll be able to get to the hole on occassion, but give me Dee Brown in the middle creating and Joe Jak on one wing and Thomas or Conor on the other. Conor is an extremely effective shooter from the wing and his range goes comfortably to 23 feet. Not particulary strong, from a first impression, but handles himself better than what you think on the boards and has the ability to shock you athletically. I would be very happy if we get Conor signed and he would be a great addition.

Went to the Michigan A & B semifinals yesterday. Had hoped to see Dee Brown but Country Day was upset in the quarters. Calhoun has had little pub in the local Detroit papers while Brown has received a lot more. Likely somewhat due to the representation of the teams. Country Day is very high profile in most sports and has a number of big time prospects including underclassman. When I did look at Calhoun's team writeups, it seemed he was often the second or third person listed in stats. Don't know what that means but I really do not expect him to be on too many All State lists other than HM. Brown likely could be 1st or 2nd Team Class B. As far as the games I saw, two blowouts and two close ones although I had to leave the last late because my back was acting up from sitting for 8+ hours. MSU recruit Drayman (sp?) Green was a tower of strength in leading nationally ranked Saginaw past an outclassed East Lansing team. The second game was an OT affair with a bunch of quick and agile athletes as Detroit Pershing eked out a win over Romulus. Pershing did have an Otis Polk clone in 6-9 Jr. Nix who had spurts of control before he tired. He did, however, play strong at the end of the game. Both Pershing and Saginaw will utilize a full court press the whole game in the final. Class B's were mostly textbook team basketball with a lot of passing and good three point shooting. No real standouts but a player of the future in Saginaw Nouvel's Lucas-Perry who is just a Frosh. Brother and Sister are and were big time players. FWIW

Also FWIW, Chambers just layed in a state-final winning shot as time expired in OT

You seem to be pretty knowledge of high school basketball in Ohio. I had a question about Alex Sullivan, Akron commit. I don't know if you've seen much of him, but he's from my home area and I've played a little against him, and I really wasn't too impressed with him. He scores in bunches on a bad high school team and puts up an insane amount of shots/game.

Just wondering if you knew anything or if you think he'll translate into a big time scorer in college too. Thanks!

I watched Hitchen (Chilicothe HS) and Akron commit today and was VERY impressed. A little guy at the point that I picture giving us fits for the next four years! Chambers al;so looked good and scored the winning baseket against Libbey.

The price on Chambers futures may be going up.

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/clev ... =cleveland

And Hitchens ain't too bad himself:

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/clev ... =cleveland

eRichFalcon wrote:Also FWIW, Chambers just layed in a state-final winning shot as time expired in OT

That was an incredible game, did you go?

Its impossible to root for Libbey because they are just horribly coached. The players just do whatever they want and it was usually bad, but there absurd athleticsm overcame a lot. Chambers has to be my favorite player down here.

cph2133 wrote:You seem to be pretty knowledge of high school basketball in Ohio. I had a question about Alex Sullivan, Akron commit. I don't know if you've seen much of him, but he's from my home area and I've played a little against him, and I really wasn't too impressed with him. He scores in bunches on a bad high school team and puts up an insane amount of shots/game.

Just wondering if you knew anything or if you think he'll translate into a big time scorer in college too. Thanks!

I really dont know that much and dont know anything about this guy.

Ryne Smith a purdue recruit from Whitmer played last night. He looked just average

factman wrote:I watched Hitchen (Chilicothe HS) and Akron commit today and was VERY impressed. A little guy at the point that I picture giving us fits for the next four years! Chambers al;so looked good and scored the winning baseket against Libbey.

Chambers had 31-17 in game one.

I’ve heard Ohio is pursuing Chambers and that the Bobcats are expecting to have a scholarship open up with one of their JUCO’s who played this year possibly leaving to free up a spot. Whoever lands this kid will be getting a good one.

3 ideas that popped into my head from being in the schott

1. They have an entrance with a huge mural of I think John Lucas on the floor, we should do this with Thurmond

2. The St X team has yellers instead of cheerleaders for obvious reasons. It is much better. Get rid of Sic Sic and replace them with yellers. I would say get rid of cheerleaders but we cant for obvious reasons. We could get rid of the make cheerleaders.

3. Id love to see some Numbers hanging from the rafters. maybe Thurmond, Komives and Daniels. the fewer the better to start out with. Add McLeod and Stacey later on? Also we should have some of displays honoring all the falcon greats over the years. Maybe one that highlights every decade from the first basketball game thru our last. Also I think it would be great to have a display case with the statistics of the current team scoring, rebs etc and how they fit in all time, updated by some intern gamely.

fredthefalcon wrote:Went to the Michigan A & B semifinals yesterday. Had hoped to see Dee Brown but Country Day was upset in the quarters. Calhoun has had little pub in the local Detroit papers while Brown has received a lot more. Likely somewhat due to the representation of the teams. Country Day is very high profile in most sports and has a number of big time prospects including underclassman. When I did look at Calhoun's team writeups, it seemed he was often the second or third person listed in stats. Don't know what that means but I really do not expect him to be on too many All State lists other than HM. Brown likely could be 1st or 2nd Team Class B. As far as the games I saw, two blowouts and two close ones although I had to leave the last late because my back was acting up from sitting for 8+ hours. MSU recruit Drayman (sp?) Green was a tower of strength in leading nationally ranked Saginaw past an outclassed East Lansing team. The second game was an OT affair with a bunch of quick and agile athletes as Detroit Pershing eked out a win over Romulus. Pershing did have an Otis Polk clone in 6-9 Jr. Nix who had spurts of control before he tired. He did, however, play strong at the end of the game. Both Pershing and Saginaw will utilize a full court press the whole game in the final. Class B's were mostly textbook team basketball with a lot of passing and good three point shooting. No real standouts but a player of the future in Saginaw Nouvel's Lucas-Perry who is just a Frosh. Brother and Sister are and were big time players. FWIW

We really need a guy to be a go to scorer for this team. We seem to have everything else but lack that killer instinct guy for the final seconds or when we need to go on a run. Of the three recruits I think Dee Brown seems like the most logical one. Scott Thomas put up a ton of points in a bad league and Calhoun strikes me as a jack of all trades type athletic guy. We need someone who can create their own shot