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BU recruit 2014- Josh Cunningham

This news is definately THEE game changer. Excitement is back and looking forward to the fall. Better days ahead on the Hilltop!
 
New interview with Josh
with video from his press conference...

"Cunningham explains his final call

CHICAGO - Josh Cunningham was aware how many stops and starts his
recruitment has had this spring.

During his announcement this evening at his high school, the four-star
2014 forward from Chicago Morgan Park joked, "With that being said, I've
decided I don't know where I'm going to attend. ... No, I'm just playing."

After a recruitment with plenty of twists and turns, the 6-foot-7 forward
announced he will attend Bradley after narrowing his list to Indiana and
Bradley at the end.

He had postponed a decision several times and added visits to South
Carolina, St. John's and DePaul after an in-season visit to Indiana.

By the time his recruitment was over, he had at least 18 scholarship offers,
including Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Carolina,
Oklahoma, St. John's and others in addition to Bradley.

Josh Cunningham: "The top two were Bradley and Indiana. It was real hard,"

He said his long-standing relationship with the Bradley coaches, the
chance to be a key part of building a program and how he would be
utilized were keys to his decision, which didn't come easily.

"It was pretty much up and down after every visit I went on," Cunningham
told Peegs.com. "When I went to South Carolina, I thought that was the
school for me. Then I started thinking about Bradley.

"A few days after that I started think it was going to be Indiana, and after
that, it was back to Bradley. I was thinking, 'Man, if every time I think
about these other schools and always come back to Bradley, that's the
school for me to go to."

Cunningham took visits to Northwestern, Creighton, Iowa State and
Oklahoma before his senior year started. Then he had a strong senior year
and number of other schools began recruiting him, including the Hoosiers.

"The top two were Bradley and Indiana. It was real hard," Cunningham
said. "Also with just talking with coach (Tom) Crean, getting to know him,
he's a great person. It was real hard to go through the process. If I could,
I'd go to two schools, but it had to come down to a final decision."

Cunningham added it was "one of the hardest decisions I've had to make
in my life. I had to deal with a lot of mixed emotions being recruited by
some of the greatest schools in the nation."

Bradley assistant Ronald "Chin" Coleman, a former Mac Irvin Fire coach,
was the lead recruiter for Bradley. Cunningham said he also got to know
Bradley coach Geno Ford very well.

"I built a great relationship with not just coach Chin but coach Geno," he
said. "Also, you look at their recruiting class they have coming in with the
previous kids they already have, I believe we can be a great ball club next
year."

Flanked by his mom, coach Nick Irvin and his Morgan Park teammates,
Cunningham put on a Bradley hat to make his announcement.

"He really strongly considered Indiana," Irvin said. "He was back and forth
between Indiana and Bradley. One thing I told him was, follow your heart
and do what's best for you. He was back and forth with it. Creighton was in
there a little bit, but I think it was down to Bradley and Indiana.

"Indiana has a tradition of being good. They've won national
championships, been to the Final Four. They make the NCAA Tournament.
And then you've got Bradley, they're up and coming. They've got good
talent in there. They've got three kids from Chicago down there that he
could get in the trenches with and feel comfortable with."

Cunningham also had a strong relationship with former IU assistant Kenny
Johnson as well as Bradley's Coleman.

Cunningham said during the recruiting process he wanted to play the three
(small forward) and not the four (power forward).

"Chin did a great job of recruiting him and explaining how Bradley will use
him and get him in good situations where he could thrive," Irvin said. "He
did a great job with him."

Press conference video:
https://indiana.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1636530
 
Ok, which one of you cut him the check? I will have my secretary forward my contribution to your depleted bank account.

In all seriousness though, what a great get!
 
I don't think I've stopped smiling since I saw Dave's Tweet. This will not only do wonders for this upcoming season, but for future recruiting as well. Looks like the future is bright once again for Bradley Basketball! :D
 
Congrats on the big verbal. Good for Bradley. Sounds like they recruited him very hard and very well. They used the built in advantages they had over the other schools and it paid off (former teammates, mother as a proud alum, former coach etc).

Great to see talented kids added to MVC rosters. I look forward to both of our programs getting back to where we need to be. The Valley needs the Bradley/ISU rivalry to wake up. Getting kids like this to realize the Valley is a good place to be will help.

Been too long since both programs were strong at the same time. Here's hoping those days are coming soon.

congrats
 
Congrats guys. I believe that Bradley can be **** good again and thought Geno could get you there. Granted, it's not gone as smoothly as I expected but it sounds like things are finally turning around for you. Would love to have your company at the top of the conference.
 
Thx... but oddly fans here have sorta been pleading with the higher ups for the past 30 years (since the Versace era) to get more influence in Chicago....
It never happened with the Mo era, it happened only briefly in the JL era when Jim hired Willie Scott, but Willie was muscled out quickly, and only in the past 1.5 years now have we had someone with substantial influence in the Chicago HS & AAU arena.
I say 'bout time...
 
tornado said:
Thx... but oddly fans here have sorta been pleading with the higher ups for the past 30 years (since the Versace era) to get more influence in Chicago....
It never happened with the Mo era, it happened only briefly in the JL era when Jim hired Willie Scott, but Willie was muscled out quickly, and only in the past 1.5 years now have we had someone with substantial influence in the Chicago HS & AAU arena.
I say 'bout time...
Click to expand...

But we did great in Ontario for awhile! :rolleyes:
 
I would also like to thank Dave Reynolds and the PJS for sending Dave to cover this big moment. It's been a long time since we were able to celebrate such an announcement and Dave's tweet brought new life to our program.
I realize JC is not a savior but he is a great building block for our future and a top 100 kid. Some people have already said Barnes will start at the 3 ahead of JG and maybe he will but my question is if Barnes was able to be recruited today with his ability and 4 yrs. to play would he be a top 100 kid with the same schools recruiting him that recruited JC. I think not but we'll see in a couple of months.
 
ihatetea said:
Dave Reynolds tweeted the last Top 100 player to come from high school was voise winters.
Click to expand...


Dave has stated this several times, and it is true, but only depending on who's Top 100 list you are using.

There were several National Top 100 lists that had Jordan Swopshire, who was just recruited last year, in their Top 100. He fell out of most of those rankings by his senior year with his limited playing time at prep schools, but he still shows up on some National Top 100 Recruit lists for the Class of 2013-
Here is one with Jordan Swopshire at #82 nationally-
http://www.baselinehoopsports.com/s...s_top_100_national_rankings_class_of_2013.pdf

That is actually a higher ranking than Josh Cunningham, who is at #88 on the Rivals Top 150 list.
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/rankings/rank-2993/0

There are several other recruiting lists that also had him in the Top 100.
 
Happy to hear JC has "verbally" committed to BU. As we ALL know - that is as good as the paper it's written on. I will be REALLY happy when he signs but still not solid until playing summer ball with the fellas ..... Ask U of I how that verbal commitment worked for them !!!!
 
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