Valley Recruits

[PhiAlphaBoy]

Yes, Auburn likes to poach players from UNC.

[Da Coach]

As noted above, Belmont lands a portal transfer from North Carolina- Will Shaver, a 6'10" redshirt-freshman forward originally from Birmingham, Alabama. He was a 3-star, Top 150 player out of high school. He chose North Carolina over offers from Stanford, Illinois, Wake Forest, Purdue, Iowa, Florida State, Georgetown, Alabama, Virginia Tech and others. He enrolled at UNC in January, 2022, but did not play in any games in the 2021-22 season, and apparently received a redshirt year. In 2022-23, his stats show he appeared briefly in 3 games (a total of 6 minutes), and scored a total of 2 points on free throws, and had 1 rebound.
https://twitter.com/VerbalCommits/st...70884794032128
Bio- https://goheels.com/sports/mens-bask...l-shaver/23547
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...38/will-shaver
Game log- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...38/will-shaver

Reports are that he injured his foot (fractured bone in his foot) last December after playing in those 3 games, had surgery, and did not play again after that.

Tough luck for Belmont... 6'10" forward Will Shaver of North Carolina committed to transfer to Belmont on April 20. It appeared to be a tremendous get for Belmont coach Casey Alexander.
But today, Shaver announced he was reneging on his commitment, and re-opening his recruitment-
https://twitter.com/willshaver6/stat...40925344399362
https://twitter.com/VerbalCommits/st...60288634195969

Probably he was getting offers for more NIL money elsewhere. I won't be surprised if he commits to Auburn or Arkansas.

[Da Coach]

Murray State picks up a transfer portal commitment from Eastern Illinois junior Nick Ellington, a 6'8" center originally from St. Louis. He played 2 years at Meridian junior college in Mississippi, and played this past season at EIU. He was a part-time starter who averaged 7.3 ppg and 4.4 rpg.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/nick-ellington

Bio- https://eiupanthers.com/sports/mens-...ellington/8366
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...nick-ellington

2023 MVC Commitments-
Belmont- Win Miller, Brigham Rogers, Sam Orme, Drew Scharnowski, Malik Dia, Will Shaver (decommitted)
Bradley- Demarion Burch, Almar Atlason, Trey Pettigrew, Kyle Thomas, Emarion Ellis
Drake- Chico Johnson, Kevin Overton, Ethan Roberts, Patrick Bath, Atin Wright, Kyron Gibson
Evansville- Michael Day, Braylon Jackson, Tanner Cuff, Chuck Bailey, Tyler Myers (walk-on), Weston Aigner (walk-on), Cameron Haffner, Ben Humrichous, Dakota Candler (walk-on), Josh Hughes, Antonio Thomas
Illinois State- Johnny Kinziger, Chase Walker, Ty Pence, Dalton Banks, Brandon Lieb, Ty Blake (walk-on), Jordan Davis, Myles Foster
Indiana State- Camron Manyawu (decommitted), Eli Shetler, Jayden Daughertry, Derek Vorst, Isaiah Swope, Aaron Gray, Jake Wolf, Ryan Conwell
Missouri State- Nick Kramer, Cesare Edwards, Nick Ellington
Murray State- John McCrear, Lawrent Rice, Shawn Walker, Jr., Alden Applewhite
UNI- R.J. Taylor, Kyle Pock, Wesley Rubin, Jacob Hutson
SIU- Kennard Davis, Trey Miller
UIC- Ethan Pickett, Andrew King, Isaiah Rivera, Marquise Kennedy, Grant Welch (walk-on)
Valparaiso- Zane Doughty (decommitted), Jahari Williamson, Yanis Bamba, Ola Ajiboye, Isaiah Stafford, Jaxon Edwards

[DUBulldog]

That would be interesting if he is a walk-on, since Drake has multiple scholarships available. But in this era of NIL, kids can sometimes earn a lot more in NIL money than what a scholarship costs.
247sports.com had him as a 3-star recruit, but that could be an old rating. And he reportedly had multiple other D1 offers, but hard to know if those were active.

https://247sports.com/player/patrick-bath-46117889/

His offers were all "old"....no new offers during his senior season.

[Da Coach]

I have no confirmation of this, but I'm pretty certain he's a walk-on.

That would be interesting if he is a walk-on, since Drake has multiple scholarships available. But in this era of NIL, kids can sometimes earn a lot more in NIL money than what a scholarship costs.
247sports.com had him as a 3-star recruit, but that could be an old rating. And he reportedly had multiple other D1 offers, but hard to know if those were active.

https://247sports.com/player/patrick-bath-46117889/

[DUBulldog]

Drake gets a commitment from 2023 Patrick Bath. He is a 6'9" forward from Totino-Grace HS, in Fridley, Minnesota.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/patrick-bath

https://247sports.com/player/patrick-bath-46117889/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srAqvRvexeU

I have no confirmation of this, but I'm pretty certain he's a walk-on.

[Da Coach]

Valparaiso gets another 2023 recruit-
Isaiah Stafford- a 6'2" guard from John A. Logan College, a junior college in Cartersville, Illinois. John A. Logan won the NJCAA championship in 2022-23, and Stafford averaged 12.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 2.5 apg. His 45.7% from three ranked 17th in the country.

https://www.loganvols.com/sports/mbkb/2022-23/bios/stafford_isaiah_8hr1

[Da Coach]

Illinois State gets a portal transfer- Myles Foster from Monmouth University. Monmouth finished 13th and dead last in the Colonial Athletic Association this past season with a 7-26 overall record, and 5-13 in the CAA.
Myles Foster is a 6'7", 240 pound junior forward from NY City who has played 3 seasons at Monmouth. He was a reserve his first 2 seasons, then started 33 games this past year. He averaged 12.5 ppg and 6.6 rpg.
Bio- https://monmouthhawks.com/sports/men...s-foster/13926
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...5/myles-foster

[Da Coach]

Former Bradley Brave, now at D2 (Kentucky Wesleyan), Antonio Thomas is entering the portal looking to play one more season for his extra Covid year.
He is a good kid. Good luck Antonio!
https://twitter.com/VerbalCommitsD2/...32787137032192

Antonio didn't play a lot at Bradley, and didn't score much-
BU stats for 2 seasons- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...antonio-thomas

But he turned into a pretty good all-around point guard at Kentucky Wesleyan. He started every game for the last 2 seasons, averaged 7.4 ppg in 2021-22, and this year (2022-23) he averaged 9.8 ppg and shot 41.1% from three. He averaged 3.1 assists per game for his career there.
KWU stats- https://kwcpanthers.com/sports/mens-...s%20per%20game

Recent article about Antonio- https://www.messenger-inquirer.com/s...bcc816deb.html

Former Bradley Brave Antonio Thomas commits to Evansville-
https://twitter.com/Antonio_Thomas1/...46450676416512

He becomes the 11th commitment for 2023 for Evansville head coach David Ragland-
2023 MVC Commitments (click on name to see more info about each recruit)-
Belmont- Win Miller, Brigham Rogers, Sam Orme, Drew Scharnowski, Malik Dia
Bradley- Demarion Burch, Almar Atlason, Trey Pettigrew, Kyle Thomas, Emarion Ellis
Drake- Chico Johnson, Kevin Overton, Ethan Roberts, Patrick Bath
Evansville- Michael Day, Braylon Jackson, Tanner Cuff, Chuck Bailey, Tyler Myers (walk-on), Weston Aigner (walk-on), Cameron Haffner, Ben Humrichous, Dakota Candler (walk-on), Josh Hughes, Antonio Thomas
Illinois State- Johnny Kinziger, Chase Walker, Ty Pence, Dalton Banks, Brandon Lieb, Ty Blake (walk-on), Jordan Davis, Myles Foster
Indiana State- Camron Manyawu (decommitted), Eli Shetler, Jayden Daughertry, Derek Vorst, Isaiah Swope, Aaron Gray, Jake Wolf, Ryan Conwell
Missouri State- Nick Kramer, Cesare Edwards, Nick Ellington
Murray State- John McCrear, Lawrent Rice, Shawn Walker, Jr.
UNI- R.J. Taylor, Kyle Pock, Wesley Rubin, Jacob Hutson
SIU- Kennard Davis
UIC- Ethan Pickett, Andrew King, Isaiah Rivera, Marquise Kennedy, Grant Welch (walk-on)
Valparaiso- Zane Doughty (decommitted), Jahari Williamson, Yanis Bamba, Ola Ajiboye, Isaiah Stafford

[Da Coach]

Valpo lands one:
The Portal Report @ThePortalReport
20m
Ola Ajiboye has committed to Valparaiso!

6'8" forward.. was a freshman at Central Michigan
Played in 30 games.. 19 minutes per game 3.4 Rb 3.0 pts / game

Ola Ajiboye is from Chicago. He is the first recruit signed by new head coach Roger Powell.

https://verbalcommits.com/players/ola-ajiboye

Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...43/ola-ajiboye

[KillerB]

Valpo lands one:
The Portal Report @ThePortalReport
20m
Ola Ajiboye has committed to Valparaiso!

6'8" forward.. was a freshman at Central Michigan
Played in 30 games.. 19 minutes per game 3.4 Rb 3.0 pts / game

[Da Coach]

Evansville gets a couple new commitments-
2023 Josh Hughes is a 6'10" forward from Queensland, Australia.-
https://twitter.com/AMFKristensen/st...56836486361093


2023 Dakota Candler- a local 6'5" forward who will walk-on at Evansville. This makes 5 walk-ons for the 2023-24 team.
https://twitter.com/AMFKristensen/st...65177711308805
https://twitter.com/AMFKristensen/st...68731951939589




Updated Valley recruits for 2023-

https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/sports-forums/basketball-fan-talk/485876-valley-recruits?p=510730#post510730

[yoda]

Jordan Davis commits to Illinois State
https://verbalcommits.com/players/jordan-davis5

his "pedigree" is impressive, but his scoring has been quite unlike his NBA brother, altho I owuld be surprised if he isn't given a starting spot.
5.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 30.8% from 3-pt and fewer assists than anyone at Wisconsin who played more than 7 min per game

Where Bradley is adding a bunch of guys with 3 full seasons of eligibility remaining, ISU now has 9 guys who are Jr's and Sr's,
many of whom have quite limited DI experience (Sissoko, Schmitt, lieb, etc..) and will have to restock again each of the next 2 years.

[Da Coach]

Back in 2018, Bradley was recruiting a couple 2020 3-star recruits, the Davis brothers (twins) from La Crosse Central High School. They both ended up at Wisconsin. Johnny Davis became the 2020 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball, the 2022 Big Ten Player of the Year, a consensus 1st team All American, and 1st round NBA pick (#10 overall) in the 2022 draft.
His brother Jordan Davis is still at Wisconsin, but has been mostly a reserve player for 3 seasons, and has a 3 ppg career scoring average.
Bio- https://uwbadgers.com/sports/mens-ba...an-davis/11104
Stats- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...2/jordan-davis
Jordan Davis is now in the transfer portal, and will be visiting Illinois State for the 2nd time on Monday. It's rumored he will commit.
https://twitter.com/Evan_Flood/statu...99772956868609

Jordan Davis commits to Illinois State

https://verbalcommits.com/players/jordan-davis5

[KillerB]

Regarding Kennedy. I am told he told several schools he decided he only wanted to play in Chicago