Josh Piper is a good player that's had a couple 30pt/20reb games for Champaign Centennial and he's already had a 40+pt performance but he's more of an OVC/Summit League level player as is Bielfeldt. There good players and may eventually be able to compete in the MVC but I wouldn't think of them as top priority players.
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Sparkman
- Thread starter BUFanatic
- Start date
midstateknowitall
New member
Da Coach:
I understand where your coming from. However you telling me that Jordan Prosser is a 3 or 4 star player? Becasue thats what they had him on the Scouting Services. I would take Beilfeldt right now over Prosser. Way more polished and better player.
Im telling you PIPER, BIELFELDT, SPARKMAN, KENNEDY are all extremely more polished than Nate Wells. And all are more productive than him right now. Bring Nate Wells to Illinois and see how he does against them. 7'1 in high school good or not you should be averaging a double double... Hell I know guards that do that in Central Illinois.
Blumenshine is the only big on that list that does not have a D1 or D2 offer. Kennedy committed and signed early because he was happy with going to Quincy. He would of had some low D1 offers if he had waited it out. Back to Blumenshine: he isn't a great offensive player however respectable but is a load defensively and rebounding. Anyone that saw the PND vs St. Ignatius game can say he did a great job on big NANA EGWU (Illinois Commit).
Hell, Bradley has never used their bigs as a scoring option anyway... just high ball screens and to defend right....
IMO Bradley should be top 3 in the Valley every year. Because of the New Facilities, How the community supports the teams (especially mens basketball), Location to Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis. And because its in one of the top 3 states of producing of basketball players.
I just feel like every year Bradley talks about who they have coming in and what potential and difference makers they are going to be and it never pans out. Why go to Iowa when you can recruit IL and get a player thats just as good or better?
Maybe Im way wrong in my understanding of talent and what it takes to play at Bradley.
I understand where your coming from. However you telling me that Jordan Prosser is a 3 or 4 star player? Becasue thats what they had him on the Scouting Services. I would take Beilfeldt right now over Prosser. Way more polished and better player.
Im telling you PIPER, BIELFELDT, SPARKMAN, KENNEDY are all extremely more polished than Nate Wells. And all are more productive than him right now. Bring Nate Wells to Illinois and see how he does against them. 7'1 in high school good or not you should be averaging a double double... Hell I know guards that do that in Central Illinois.
Blumenshine is the only big on that list that does not have a D1 or D2 offer. Kennedy committed and signed early because he was happy with going to Quincy. He would of had some low D1 offers if he had waited it out. Back to Blumenshine: he isn't a great offensive player however respectable but is a load defensively and rebounding. Anyone that saw the PND vs St. Ignatius game can say he did a great job on big NANA EGWU (Illinois Commit).
Hell, Bradley has never used their bigs as a scoring option anyway... just high ball screens and to defend right....
IMO Bradley should be top 3 in the Valley every year. Because of the New Facilities, How the community supports the teams (especially mens basketball), Location to Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis. And because its in one of the top 3 states of producing of basketball players.
I just feel like every year Bradley talks about who they have coming in and what potential and difference makers they are going to be and it never pans out. Why go to Iowa when you can recruit IL and get a player thats just as good or better?
Maybe Im way wrong in my understanding of talent and what it takes to play at Bradley.
The BabyMaker
New member
Having seen Sparkman play a few times i'm glad Bradley is not on his recruiting trail. I'm not familiar with Well's so have no basis for comparison but Sparkman was constantly looking for fouls and being out play by players that were 5 inches shorter than him. And played zero defense.
Not trying to knock the kid i'm sure he will have a successful college career somewhere, just don't think it will be a division 1 school.
Not trying to knock the kid i'm sure he will have a successful college career somewhere, just don't think it will be a division 1 school.
Just where exactly did you see him play? He may have been out played by the three people that every team throws on him, I doubt someone that much shorter than him has "out played" him at his position. Also pretty sure he leads the team in blocked shots.
Probably because he is not a D1 player. Nothing wrong with that. Just not good enough for the position he plays. He does play good D and always plays hard. He is the kind of kid who gets the most out of his ability.
Who has offered Sparkman? Had not heard of any offers to him.
Bingo.
Agreed. No way should we be recruiting him. Of the three local big guys, he is third even though he is the tallest. Just don't see the athleticism, skills, or effort needed.
midstateknowitall
New member
Dylan has an offer from U of Illinois- Springfield (D2). And is being tracked by many of the Midwestern D2's. Along with a few low to low-mid majors.
I never said Bradley should be recruiting him. My statement was I would take him and the 4 other guys I mentioned before the Wells kid. Just based on what I've seen from Dylan in the summer and the Wells kid...
To Clear Things Up:
Nate Wells does have the most Potential out of any of the bigs because he is pretty mobile and 7'1. However he plays in Iowa and his team isn't good at all. He should be dominating and changing games no matter how bad his teams.
All the other bigs I feel are just more productive right now and I believe that Bradley needs to stop putting all their eggs in a basket hoping for the next Patrick O'Bryant and go out and land a kid that actually producing and know they will get something out of them the next 4 years...
I never said Bradley should be recruiting him. My statement was I would take him and the 4 other guys I mentioned before the Wells kid. Just based on what I've seen from Dylan in the summer and the Wells kid...
To Clear Things Up:
Nate Wells does have the most Potential out of any of the bigs because he is pretty mobile and 7'1. However he plays in Iowa and his team isn't good at all. He should be dominating and changing games no matter how bad his teams.
All the other bigs I feel are just more productive right now and I believe that Bradley needs to stop putting all their eggs in a basket hoping for the next Patrick O'Bryant and go out and land a kid that actually producing and know they will get something out of them the next 4 years...
Sparkman has no D-1 offers for a reason, why are you knocking Wells as he is going to red-shirt and has been improving his game so I see no problem in him coming to BU .
In a typical recruiting cycle, a recruit like Wells is perfect. But, we do not currently have a center that has been statistically significant against top-tier MVC teams. Hopefully that guy is JP and we don't have to worry and hope Wells develops quickly. I was rather encouraged by what JL said about Wells on Mon. And hopefully other teams will think we got a steal with Wells.
tornado
New member
Ability to run up and down the court and ability to step out and hit a short jumper plays into recruiting a big man..mobility, hands, passing, demeanor, etc..
I suspect since they're seniors -- most people viewing the likes of Sparkman, Kennedy, etc...realize they are seeing much closer to the finished product...but Nate Wells, has possibly more upside, and most mid-majors just aren't going to get a good 7-footer unless you get them before they blowup.
I suspect since they're seniors -- most people viewing the likes of Sparkman, Kennedy, etc...realize they are seeing much closer to the finished product...but Nate Wells, has possibly more upside, and most mid-majors just aren't going to get a good 7-footer unless you get them before they blowup.
midstateknowitall
New member
Totally agree with Tornado on his assessment of Wells. His potential can't be matched by any of the kids I mentioned. However like others stated we don't have any post player that is statistically productive on a consistant basis, so production is more of a concern for me.
Did Wells have any other Division 1 offers besides Bradley?
Did Wells have any other Division 1 offers besides Bradley?
I don't have a problem with BU taking a chance on Wells, in and of itself. My only concern with using a scholarship on a total project like him is based on the fact that we already have another very similar big man project who is going to RS this year in Davis, and we've still got a year left with the other project big man that just never developed (AT)...
Rolling the dice with your last scholarship on a big man project is fine for teams at our level...but we are going to go into next year with 3 of our scholarships tied up in big men that will likely give us little to nothing in terms of actual production next year...That is a risky proposition as far as our depth is concerned, IMO...One or two injuries and suddenly we may be down to walk-ons as the 2nd or 3rd options off the bench...
I guess I would have preferred that we only had a single scholarship tied up in either Davis or Wells...and not both...which would have given us the ability to try and bring in another shooter or a JUCO big that could contribute right away, but that isn't how it worked out.
Maybe Wells is better than scouting services give him credit for...maybe he is worth the risk...I guess in a few years, we'll know the answer one way or the other...
I really wish we'd stop spending all of our "big men" scholarships on "projects". Geeze, there may be a TON of potential in a kid that won't do anything for you the first two years, but would it KILL you to have a proven big man in there for kicks and giggles? (Look how long it took Sticks to develop)
With coach Platt working with our bigs now I believe we will see more improvement sooner as he has really helped J.P..A.T. and Will get better in a short time, wish he had been here 4 years ago, what a difference it makes when you have an inside scoring game, our guards will benefit even more if our bigs continue to get better.
Dubl R 1
Active member
Blumenshine, Really?......No way, no how would I offer him a D1 scholarship.
tornado
New member
I agree, Blumenshine is a great kid and tough competitor, but every high school in the state has a kid that can bang and get 8 pts/5 rebs..
Canton had a 6-11 kid a couple years ago and Washington had Matt Reynolds -- that many were saying both had D-I potential, and yet neither went beyond a year or two of juco...
BTW -- an Ex-Bradley Brave -- a guy who has his jersey retired and hanging in Carver arena --
came up to me last night and said he had seen a few games of Max Bielfeldt, and that he felt Max was not only D-I but would do very well at any level of D-I.
What do you mean? Sticks is still developing. :lol:
Let's face it it is very hard for a mid-major to find a big who will be ready as a Freshmen. We all said we wanted some bigs and finally JL is getting them. JP looked solid last night. WE is playing out of position at the 5 but looks much better when JP is in there with him. There's progress with our bigs and I bet these so called other new projects will work out just fine.
midstateknowitall
New member
Blumenshine's #'s aren't big and would probably be very similar to Wells if he wasn't playing along side Big Max. So thats the reason he is averaging around 8pts and 5rebs...
I didn't say Bradley should have offered all 5 of those guys. I just stated I would have offered those 5 guys before Wells. I have seen them all play at the highest level and against some of the best players in the country. And I feel Bradley needs to go after bigs that they know what they are going to get.
No Projects since Patrick have worked out. Granted it could be the style they play, the system they run, but production out of their bigs is something BU lacks.
I was told once to look for Heart-Skill-Frame when watching players. Unfortunetly most colleges look at Frame-Skill-Heart.
I think you can afford to take chances on a Project if you have other bigs that have production in their game. Right now Wells has no one in that production category around him at Bradley. Thats my concern.
I hope it works out for BU and Im sure Nate is a great kid. I just didn't like the move at all. Especially when you have someone like Bielfeldt (especially) in your immediate area.
I didn't say Bradley should have offered all 5 of those guys. I just stated I would have offered those 5 guys before Wells. I have seen them all play at the highest level and against some of the best players in the country. And I feel Bradley needs to go after bigs that they know what they are going to get.
No Projects since Patrick have worked out. Granted it could be the style they play, the system they run, but production out of their bigs is something BU lacks.
I was told once to look for Heart-Skill-Frame when watching players. Unfortunetly most colleges look at Frame-Skill-Heart.
I think you can afford to take chances on a Project if you have other bigs that have production in their game. Right now Wells has no one in that production category around him at Bradley. Thats my concern.
I hope it works out for BU and Im sure Nate is a great kid. I just didn't like the move at all. Especially when you have someone like Bielfeldt (especially) in your immediate area.