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What are Bradley's other 2022 recruiting needs?

Da Coach

Da Coach

Moderator
With the departure of starting point guard Terry Roberts, the top need for the Bradley coaches was another point guard. And tonight, Bradley got a verbal commitment from one of the top available junior college point guards, James "Pop" Weathers-
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/s...es-pop-weathers-commits-to-bradley#post502871
https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/james-weathers

There are now 3 open scholarships available-
Updated Scholarship Grid- https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/s...lk/494018-bradley-scholarship-grid#post494018

Who do fans want the coaches to target or think they will target with the other 3 scholarships.
I think Bradley's needs include remain similar to what they were before the Terry Roberts/James Weathers moves-
> another big man, preferably a strong rebounder and capable of shot-blocking (to replace Ari Boya)
> another shooting guard or wing player (to replace Kent)
> another ball handling, passing point guard, preferably who is an outside threat- this was a priority even before the departure of Roberts.
 
Very happy to add a new PG for that was priority #1.Need a back-up center behind Mast. Also would like a real 3pt shooter who can hit them consistently. Lastly a power forward to replace Leon's when he comes out.
 
In my opinion we need a shooter more than anything. When we need a 3, who is the ball going to? I don't really know who our go-to guy is with the current roster.
 
Feel it’s pretty obvious we need:

1 another scoring combo guard/ point guard preferably one that shoots threes really well.

2 a back up big, I’d like him to be a competent offensive player so we don’t lag so badly when we go to our bench.

3 a bigger guard/wing who shoots well.

In other words someone to replace 1 Howell, 2 Boya, and 3 Kent

Hoping merely for improvements from Ekono, Hannah, and Montgomery without getting competition or even upgrades to their roles would be poor planning.
 
I would love him also. But I’m betting we have about a 1% chance of him coming here and that’s probably over shooting it by a full percent. Most of the choices he’s made since at least his sophomore year of high school has been in the pursuit of more exposure. He may be from Peoria, but hasn’t played for Peoria for almost 6 years now.
 
We can hope maybe he's tired of transferring and coaching changes, and is looking for a school where he can play out his career. :?:
 
The thing that makes me nervous is there don't seem to be too many pure shooters even mentioned in recruiting threads. It feels like this pattern has been similar for a few years....say we need shooting bad and then don't land any pure shooters, and of the recruits mentioned seemingly barely go after pure shooters. Who is the last pure shooter we landed after Nate? I guess Ville was supposed to be one? Zek seems to have a nice shot, so maybe him?

I still think we need: a pure shooting wing, another PG, and a big that plays tough post defense.
 
BUfan14 said:
I still think we need: a pure shooting wing, another PG, and a big that plays tough post defense.
Click to expand...

Ville really needs to take the next step and become more consistent from the outside. Hickman & Leons have good outside shooting which can improve. Zek would also have to develop consistency with his outside shooting... I also believe Reink has shown he can hit the outside shot: He had some early struggles this season, would be nice to (again) get consistency from these players... If they hit from the outside, will open up drives to the basket as well. We have some shooters, always can use more
 
️ Fanatic said:
Ville really needs to take the next step and become more consistent from the outside. Hickman & Leons have good outside shooting which can improve. Zek would also have to develop consistency with his outside shooting... I also believe Reink has shown he can hit the outside shot: He had some early struggles this season, would be nice to (again) get consistency from these players... If they hit from the outside, will open up drives to the basket as well. We have some shooters, always can use more
Click to expand...

we may not have that pure shooter.(I dont know of very many ) but all of our guys can shoot the 3 on a regular basis so if any one of them steps back and shoots i have confidence that they can make it. I think that makes us a very dangerous team. I think that will prove out next year as the other teams will not be able to concentrate their defense in one guy
 
Some interesting stats on 3-point shooting-
Everyone wants to have shooters that can make 40% or better from three. But, how many players in the MVC shot 40% or better last season?
It was probably fewer than most of us think. Here is the list, and there were only 6-
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...alPct/dir/desc

And of the top 16 three-point shooters on that list, all but 5 or 6 will not be returning in 2022-23- Norris will be gone to the A-10, Coupet, Minnett, Schwieger, Hall, Williamson, and Berhow were all 5th year guys who used up their college eligibility, and Antonio Reeves, Ja'Monta Black, and Kevion Taylor are all in the transfer portal.

Getting reliable "pure shooters" who can shoot 38-40% from the arc and play D1 at this level is just not as easy as we think. Guys like Nate Kennell, Jeremy Crouch, Will Franklin, Andrew Warren, Anthony Parker, Aaron Zobrist, etc. are pretty rare. Bradley is fortunate to have had so many great shooters in the past.
Here are the top career 3-point percentage shooters in Bradley history-
1. 42.0% - Will Franklin (105-250) 2005-2007
2. 41.5% - Trevor Trimpe (78-188 ) 1984-1988 (only 2 seasons played with 3-point line)
3. 41.2% - Nate Kennell (253-614) 2016-2020
4. 40.9% - Gavin Schairer (96-235) 1995-1999
5. 40.6% - Aaron Zobrist (233-549) 1993-1997
6. 40.5% - Anthony Manuel (152-375) 1985-1989 (only 3 seasons with 3-point line)
7. 40.4% - Jeremy Crouch (262-649) 2004-2008
8. 40.2% - Andrew Warren (225-560) 2006-2011
9. 37.9% - Anthony Parker (195-515) 1993-1997
10.37.5% - Paul Wilson (131-349) 1986-1989

Only 8 players in Bradley history have averaged 40% or better (minimum 50 made shots).
Even the great Hersey Hawkins was a 36.2% career three point shooter (played 2 seasons with the 3-point line). Though he did shoot 39.4% his senior season.

And Note that the 3-point line has been 3 different distances over the time it has been used by the NCAA
From the 1986-87, when it was first used, through the 2007-08 season, it was 19 feet 9 inches.
From the 2008-09 season through the 2018-19 season, it was 20 feet 9 inches.
Then since the 2019-20 season it has been 22 feet 1 3/4 inches (equal to the FIBA distance)

The only player on the list to play with the extended FIBA length of 22 feet 1 3/4 inches was Nate Kennell
Nate played only his senior season (2019-20) with the 22 feet 1 3/4 inch line, yet ironically, that was Nate's best year, shooting 44.7% from three. That ranked 5th best in the country in 2019-20. Jeremy Crouch lead the country with his 50.0% three point shooting in 2006-07.

In the 2 seasons since Nate graduated in 2020- here are Bradley's top 3-point shooters:
2020-21- Rienk Mast 35.9%, Elijah Childs 35.5%, Sean Est 34.9%, Terry Nolan 34.3%, Ville Tahvanainen 33.8%
2021-22- Malevy Leons 38.1%, Connor Hickman 37.4%, Zek Montgomery 37.1%, Ville Tahvanainen 36.2% (shot 38.6% in MVC games)
 
Da Coach said:
Some interesting stats on 3-point shooting-
Everyone wants to have shooters that can make 40% or better from three. But, how many players in the MVC shot 40% or better last season?
It was probably fewer than most of us think. Here is the list, and there were only 6-
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...alPct/dir/desc

And of the top 16 three-point shooters on that list, all but 5 or 6 will not be returning in 2022-23- Norris will be gone to the A-10, Coupet, Minnett, Schwieger, Hall, Williamson, and Berhow were all 5th year guys who used up their college eligibility, and Antonio Reeves, Ja'Monta Black, and Kevion Taylor are all in the transfer portal.

Getting reliable "pure shooters" who can shoot 38-40% from the arc and play D1 at this level is just not as easy as we think. Guys like Nate Kennell, Jeremy Crouch, Will Franklin, Andrew Warren, Anthony Parker, Aaron Zobrist, etc. are pretty rare. Bradley is fortunate to have had so many great shooters in the past.
Here are the top career 3-point percentage shooters in Bradley history-
1. 42.0% - Will Franklin (105-250) 2005-2007
2. 41.5% - Trevor Trimpe (78-188 ) 1984-1988 (only 2 seasons played with 3-point line)
3. 41.2% - Nate Kennell (253-614) 2016-2020
4. 40.9% - Gavin Schairer (96-235) 1995-1999
5. 40.6% - Aaron Zobrist (233-549) 1993-1997
6. 40.5% - Anthony Manuel (152-375) 1985-1989 (only 3 seasons with 3-point line)
7. 40.4% - Jeremy Crouch (262-649) 2004-2008
8. 40.2% - Andrew Warren (225-560) 2006-2011
9. 37.9% - Anthony Parker (195-515) 1993-1997
10.37.5% - Paul Wilson (131-349) 1986-1989

Only 8 players in Bradley history have averaged 40% or better (minimum 50 made shots).
Even the great Hersey Hawkins was a 36.2% career three point shooter (played 2 seasons with the 3-point line). Though he did shoot 39.4% his senior season.

And Note that the 3-point line has been 3 different distances over the time it has been used by the NCAA
From the 1986-87, when it was first used, through the 2007-08 season, it was 19 feet 9 inches.
From the 2008-09 season through the 2018-19 season, it was 20 feet 9 inches.
Then since the 2019-20 season it has been 22 feet 1 3/4 inches (equal to the FIBA distance)

The only player on the list to play with the extended FIBA length of 22 feet 1 3/4 inches was Nate Kennell
Nate played only his senior season (2019-20) with the 22 feet 1 3/4 inch line, yet ironically, that was Nate's best year, shooting 44.7% from three. That ranked 5th best in the country in 2019-20. Jeremy Crouch lead the country with his 50.0% three point shooting in 2006-07.

In the 2 seasons since Nate graduated in 2020- here are Bradley's top 3-point shooters:
2020-21- Rienk Mast 35.9%, Elijah Childs 35.5%, Sean Est 34.9%, Terry Nolan 34.3%, Ville Tahvanainen 33.8%
2021-22- Malevy Leons 38.1%, Connor Hickman 37.4%, Zek Montgomery 37.1%, Ville Tahvanainen 36.2% (shot 38.6% in MVC games)
Click to expand...
 
I'm sure it's difficult to find because everyone needs/wants them, I don't debate that, but it is also noteworthy that every 20 win Bradley team since Hersey Hawkins has had one or more of those top ten guys on it. Of Warren, Franklin, Crouch, Kennell, Zobrist, Parker at least one, if not more, played a significant role on all 20 win teams since Hawk except the slightly above average 08-09 team that finished 21-15 after postseason play and that year Sam Maniscalco average 2.0 threes a game.

It sure seems like there is a strong correlation between having a knockdown shooter and success at Bradley. UNI seems to take some chances on guys that aren't as athletic but can shoot, and I just wish we would do the same a little more. Obviously not a whole roster full of chances, but at least go after a few more guys that can potentially be shooters. It seems we take more chances on athleticism.

I do think we have an advantage with posts that can shoot decently already in place, but I still would feel much more comfortable with a guard who can nail one in a big moment. I'm not sure we have that right now.
 
BUfan14 said:
I'm sure it's difficult to find because everyone needs/wants them, I don't debate that, but it is also noteworthy that every 20 win Bradley team since Hersey Hawkins has had one or more of those top ten guys on it. Of Warren, Franklin, Crouch, Kennell, Zobrist, Parker at least one, if not more, played a significant role on all 20 win teams since Hawk except the slightly above average 08-09 team that finished 21-15 after postseason play and that year Sam Maniscalco average 2.0 threes a game.

It sure seems like there is a strong correlation between having a knockdown shooter and success at Bradley. UNI seems to take some chances on guys that aren't as athletic but can shoot, and I just wish we would do the same a little more. Obviously not a whole roster full of chances, but at least go after a few more guys that can potentially be shooters. It seems we take more chances on athleticism.

I do think we have an advantage with posts that can shoot decently already in place, but I still would feel much more comfortable with a guard who can nail one in a big moment. I'm not sure we have that right now.
Click to expand...

I think Ville will be better next year. He shot 36% and I think will better that percentage this coming year along with all the others
 
bradleyfan124 said:
I think Ville will be better next year. He shot 36% and I think will better that percentage this coming year along with all the others
Click to expand...

I agree. As I posted above, Ville's three point percentage improved to 38.6% in the MVC-only stats. That was the best 3-point percentage on the team in MVC games among the regular rotation players. That could suggest that his early-season shooting might have been affected by the foot injury.
Let's hope Ville stays healthy in 2022-23, and returns to being a deadly three point threat.

Another guard who I believe will improve his shooting percentage in 2022-23 is Connor Hickman, He shot 37.4% from three, which is very good and quite impressive for a freshman, especially coming off a full year layoff and surgical repair on his shooting shoulder. But I am optimistic that a full year of D1 conditioning along with a better penetrating and better passing point guard in James Weathers, Connor will get more open looks and boost his efficiency.
 
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