Redbird Recruits 2023

[Adunk33]

Matt Chastain (Leroy) and Taylor Bruninga (Illini Bluffs) were very intriguing prospects from small schools who's careers were derailed by injuries. They showed flashes when healthy.

What was the level of competition in his summer AAU games, and how did he look?

His AAU team is elite. He played along side two Iowa commits, a Mizzou commit, Ethan Kizer (recruited by ISU & Bradley) who is headed to South Bama, Zack Hawkinson who is leading Springfield SHG towards another state title and likely headed D1 as well. That team won a lot together.

[Adunk33]

I spent the week at the State Farm Holiday Classic tournament here in Bloomington-Normal checking out 2023 Commit, Ty Pence of St. Joe-Ogden. Ty led all scorers throughout the tournament, averaging around 31 ppg en route to his team’s championship of the Small School Boys Bracket. The 6’6 guard does not only score the ball extremely well at all 3 levels, he is a really good passer as well. He played four games in four days and in the last three games, the score was tight at half (down 4, down 2, tied) and Ty came out and absolutely took over each game in the 3Q. That’s highlighted by yesterday’s championship win where he scored 32 points, 19 of which came in the third quarter. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited about a recruit…what could possibly go wrong?

I think Ty is a really good recruit but the level of play he plays against isn't great as you know so it's hard to tell. I remember watching Shawn Jeppson score 52 in the state title game - he ended up having a decent career at ISU.

For the record - I wish Bradley would have gotten Pence - but it's so hard to tell on small school guys.

Another thought, both ILST and BU were on Ethan Kizer from Metamora. Would you feel more comfortable getting him to sign since he plays 3A?

2018 makes a good point that I forget about. With AAU, they play basically a full high school season over 2 months. That's where the recruiting tends to get done versus during the high school season.

[tribecalledquest]

I spent the week at the State Farm Holiday Classic tournament here in Bloomington-Normal checking out 2023 Commit, Ty Pence of St. Joe-Ogden. Ty led all scorers throughout the tournament, averaging around 31 ppg en route to his team’s championship of the Small School Boys Bracket. The 6’6 guard does not only score the ball extremely well at all 3 levels, he is a really good passer as well. He played four games in four days and in the last three games, the score was tight at half (down 4, down 2, tied) and Ty came out and absolutely took over each game in the 3Q. That’s highlighted by yesterday’s championship win where he scored 32 points, 19 of which came in the third quarter. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited about a recruit…what could possibly go wrong?

I think Ty is a really good recruit but the level of play he plays against isn't great as you know so it's hard to tell. I remember watching Shawn Jeppson score 52 in the state title game - he ended up having a decent career at ISU.

For the record - I wish Bradley would have gotten Pence - but it's so hard to tell on small school guys.

Another thought, both ILST and BU were on Ethan Kizer from Metamora. Would you feel more comfortable getting him to sign since he plays 3A?

2018 makes a good point that I forget about. With AAU, they play basically a full high school season over 2 months. That's where the recruiting tends to get done versus during the high school season.

ISU and Bradley backed way off Ethan Kizer.

[Adunk33]

I think Ty is a really good recruit but the level of play he plays against isn't great as you know so it's hard to tell. I remember watching Shawn Jeppson score 52 in the state title game - he ended up having a decent career at ISU.

For the record - I wish Bradley would have gotten Pence - but it's so hard to tell on small school guys.

Another thought, both ILST and BU were on Ethan Kizer from Metamora. Would you feel more comfortable getting him to sign since he plays 3A?

2018 makes a good point that I forget about. With AAU, they play basically a full high school season over 2 months. That's where the recruiting tends to get done versus during the high school season.

ISU and Bradley backed way off Ethan Kizer.

I heard the same, just curious if he is hypothetically more appealing because he plays against "better competition."

[Adunk33]

Wisconsin's (co) Mr. Basketball is headed to ISU! Congrats to Johnny Kinziger!

[tribecalledquest]

Ty Pence has to be off to one of the worst starts in the country.

He has played 12 games. He is 1 for 22 from the floor. 0 for 14 from three. He is 4 for 6 from the line.

In 110 minutes he has scored six points with 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 7 turnovers. 0.5 PPG.

It's amazing to me because he actually plays as a part of the rotation.

He may end up being a good player. And as I said in this thread I wanted Bradley to get him. It's just been wild to see how poorly he is shooting it.