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Juco transfers

Da Coach

Da Coach

Moderator
Staff member
I have previously noted the successes of many junior college transfers in the MVC this season. Every MVC team except Bradley has players who played at jucos now contributing significantly for them, including several who are leading their teams in multiple categories, and some who are leading the MVC in offensive and defensive categories.

Here's a nice article from Jim Benson of the Pantagraph about this year's jucos-
Valley notes: JC transfers Johnson, Willis making their marks
http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/co...cle_e9e4abee-c410-5a61-b09f-7e6b3591f59c.html
 
JUCO Transfers

JUCO Transfers

Cummon Brian....Lets stop recruiting these 12 ppg high school boys and go get some JUCO players who can shoot, are tough, and don't turn the ball over 25+ times each game.
Wizard
 
Here's an article in the Wichita press on the recruiting strategies of the MVC teams...
they spend a fair amount of ink on Bradley - here's some..

"You can always go transfers and the junior-college route for a quick fix,”
Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. “You’re going to have one good year and
then you’re going to take a step another two or three years and then you’re
going to do it again. As long you have an athletic director and president that
understand it’s a process and we want to build something to last. That’s what
excited me and why I wanted to be at Bradley.”

Bradley went 5-27 last season, Wardle’s first, with 10 freshmen, a senior and
a sophomore on the roster. This season, the Braves are 6-8 with six
freshmen, six sophomores returning and three juniors. Wardle added two
NCAA Division I transfers to supplement all the youth.

Patience is the key. Bradley, which finished fifth or lower in the MVC the past
seven seasons, is willing to take it slow. Former coach Geno Ford went
heavily into the transfer market – both junior college and NCAA Division I –
with unsatisfactory results. Ford didn't finish higher than seventh in his four
seasons.

“We wanted to get a group of freshmen we could build with and then keep
recruiting talented classes,’ Wardle said. “Now it’s a matter of getting
experience, getting these players better. You had to change culture, you had
to change mind-set, you had to change work ethic. You bring in young guys.
I knew we were going to struggle, at times.

...Long-term players such as Toure Murry, Garrett Stutz, Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet also built the program at WSU. It
is those kind of players that Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson sees as the foundation of a successful MVC program.
He references NCAA Tournament wins by Bradley, SIU, WSU and Northern Iowa as proof that experienced MVC players
can triumph against higher-profile freshmen.

“We try to salt-and-pepper with junior-college players,” Hinson said. “History has shown that the success of this league
has always been with fourth- and fifth-year seniors. Maturity and experience really weighs a lot."

http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article124385109.html
 
Building Right

Building Right

I like the approach of growing a team from within. As we build from within, I like the addition of a few carefully selected Juco players or transfers like Jojo. I think David Thirdkill was a transfer from Juco? I guess I am saying it is worth the wait and we are seeing some of the improvement already. We have hope and we are optimisitc. We would all love the turnaround to be faster, but the improvement is clear. Our cupboard was so bare and looked to be empty for many years to come with the previous regime. Glad it is over. Go Coach Wardle! Go Braves!
 
Coach Wardle also spoke briefly to this topic in this week's MVC Coaches' teleconference and Dave Reynolds drew on those comments in his pregame article in the PJS this morning..

"BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE: Bradley coach Brian Wardle was asked on this
week's MVC media teleconference about his decision to sign mostly freshmen
in his first two seasons at BU.

His response: "(Athletics director) Chris Reynolds and I thought a lot about
the program coming in. You can always go with transfers and the junior-
college route for a quick fix. You're going to have one good year and then
you're going to take a step back another two or three years and then you're
going to do it again. We're trying to do this right. As long you have an
athletic director and president that understand it's a process and we want to
build something to last, that's what excited me and why I wanted to be at
Bradley.

"We entertained some junior-college players here and there ***, but overall we
wanted to get a group of freshmen we could develop and build with and then
keep recruiting talented classes in back-to-back years. I think we have. Now
it's a matter of getting experience and getting these players better.

"Bradley hadn't had much success in recent years and you had to change
culture, you had to change mindset, you had to change work ethic. You bring
in young guys. I knew we were going to struggle at times. But it was getting
them to believe in your vision. I'm still doing that this year."

NEXT UP: Wardle was also asked about one of the two committed incoming
freshmen for next year, Ryan Stipanovich of St. Louis.

"Ryan is a tough young man who can make shots and make plays," he said.
"He has a very high basketball IQ and has a swagger to him. It'll be a huge
off season in the weight room for Ryan. He can bring some of the things Nate
Kennell is bringing to us now, but he's bigger. We can definitely use another
player like that next year."

*** Remember, we did go very hard after and target
Freddie McSwain, Kavell Bigby-Williams, David Burrell, Hunter Rhodes and Tre'Darius McCallum,
as it was clear they could help right away - but they all went elsewhere -
so it's not as if we didn't try to land some juco kids

...btw- McSwain & Bigby-Williams aimed too high and don't get to play much, but the others are having good years...
Rhodes is averaging 45.5% on 3-pt shooting at UNI, Burrell 9 ppg, 4.5 rpg at 10-3 ETSU, and McCallum starts and averages 10 ppg & 7.4 rpg at DePaul
 
Good Point

Good Point

tornado said:
Coach Wardle also spoke briefly to this topic in this week's MVC Coaches' teleconference and Dave Reynolds drew on those comments in his pregame article in the PJS this morning..

"BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE: Bradley coach Brian Wardle was asked on this
week's MVC media teleconference about his decision to sign mostly freshmen
in his first two seasons at BU.

His response: "(Athletics director) Chris Reynolds and I thought a lot about
the program coming in. You can always go with transfers and the junior-
college route for a quick fix. You're going to have one good year and then
you're going to take a step back another two or three years and then you're
going to do it again. We're trying to do this right. As long you have an
athletic director and president that understand it's a process and we want to
build something to last, that's what excited me and why I wanted to be at
Bradley.

"We entertained some junior-college players here and there ***, but overall we
wanted to get a group of freshmen we could develop and build with and then
keep recruiting talented classes in back-to-back years. I think we have. Now
it's a matter of getting experience and getting these players better.

"Bradley hadn't had much success in recent years and you had to change
culture, you had to change mindset, you had to change work ethic. You bring
in young guys. I knew we were going to struggle at times. But it was getting
them to believe in your vision. I'm still doing that this year."

NEXT UP: Wardle was also asked about one of the two committed incoming
freshmen for next year, Ryan Stipanovich of St. Louis.

"Ryan is a tough young man who can make shots and make plays," he said.
"He has a very high basketball IQ and has a swagger to him. It'll be a huge
off season in the weight room for Ryan. He can bring some of the things Nate
Kennell is bringing to us now, but he's bigger. We can definitely use another
player like that next year."

*** Remember, we did go very hard after and target
Freddie McSwain, Kavell Bigby-Williams, David Burrell, Hunter Rhodes and Tre'Darius McCallum,
as it was clear they could help right away - but they all went elsewhere -
so it's not as if we didn't try to land some juco kids

...btw- McSwain & Bigby-Williams aimed too high and don't get to play much, but the others are having good years...
Rhodes is averaging 45.5% on 3-pt shooting at UNI, Burrell 9 ppg, 4.5 rpg at 10-3 ETSU, and McCallum starts and averages 10 ppg & 7.4 rpg at DePaul
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reminder that we did go hard after these jucos. Sometimes I forget our recruiting targets as time passes and I (we) only see the current team and not the kids that were pursued and we didn't land.
 
Coach Wardle said:
"You can always go transfers and the junior-college route for a quick fix,”
Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. “You’re going to have one good year and
then you’re going to take a step another two or three years and then you’re
going to do it again.
Click to expand...

I appreciate Coach Wardle's opinions about not focusing on junior college recruits, but I don't necessarily agree with this statement. If anything has been proven in the last year, it is that taking freshmen, especially late recruits, can be far more of a gamble, lead to "recruiting misses", and can set recruiting back.
Three of Coach Wardle's freshman recruits from last year left right after last season ended (Cooper, James, Okafor), resulting in the need to sign a bunch more late recruits. And it looks certain that another two, or more of last year's freshmen, and maybe some of this year's new recruits will likely leave after this season. So I don't see how the concern about having one or two jucos for 2 years can be any worse than the huge turnover we've already seen that sets the program back every year.

Plus, jucos are less concerned about playing for a winning program, and just want to play right away. They usually come in and produce right away, compared with the freshmen we've seen come and go, and who tie up scholarship slots for 1 or 2 years, and never develop and never produce significantly. Wouldn't a coach rather have to worry about replacing kids who help you win, rather than keep replacing "recruiting misses" every year or two?

And finally, the suggestion by Coach Wardle that the jucos help you for a year or two, then they set you back when they leave, and "then you’re
going to do it again"- doesn't make a lot of sense, as long as you are also recruiting good 4-year players to go along with the occasional juco.
Many of the most successful teams and coaches in college basketball do it. And the best teams in the MVC year after year bring in key jucos almost every year.

Wichita State lost 2 NBA players last year, but they are right back as the top team in the MVC because they brought in leading scorer Darral Willis, Jr., and starting point guard Daishon Smith from junior colleges. Missouri State has leapfrogged about half the teams in the MVC by relying on quality jucos. They have started as many as 4 jucos in some games, and their top 3 scorers and top rebounder are jucos. And Illinois State is competing for the league title after losing their top scorer last year (also a juco), and now 2 of their key players this season are new juco recruits. And SIU, Indiana State, UNI, and Loyola have all benefited from jucos on a regular basis.

I don't know why a coach would want to eliminate a major source of good quality players that help other midmajor programs be successful, while we remain in a continuous rebuilding mode.
 
JUCO Transfers

JUCO Transfers

Again Coach, I agree 100% with you on the need to recruit some JUCO transfers. We continue to see mostly nice high school boys who don't (or can't) average more than 12 to 15 points per game in high school but cannot play consistently well against Divn.1 and MVC level teams. We need a couple of strong, athletic, tough players, who can score and defend. Without these, we will continue to struggle but will never reach the level of successful Mid Majors like Creighton, Wichita, Gonzaga, Butler, Xavier, etc.
Wiz
 
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