Sporting News CBB Preview

[rlh04d]

Point taken. But how many more years of SIU being below mediocrity (even in The MVC) will it take before it wipes out any benefit of those glory years? Not many and you could argue that threshold may have already been reached. Joe average fan (especially recruit age kids) have a pretty short memory.

I'm obviously biased but if I'm a young recruit I pick MSU with a recent Valley title, new facilities, and pretty good young talent over SIU. Its not even close IMO but Im not a 18 to 22 year old recruit either. Time will tell I guess.

It'll be interesting to see how the F4 positively affects WSU recruiting. You guys were doing great before but will that raise it another notch or 2? I was actually a little surprised Wiggins brother didn't pick you this year..... think there would have a lot of upside (for him) to have done so.

I think it'd be a different story if MoSt had gone to the tourney and had some success there after winning the league that year. Unfortunately, you guys really got screwed by the selection committee. I don't know ... I just think it's too easy to recruit against MoSt right now with that hanging over their heads. Now if you're talking just direction of the program, I'd absolutely go to MoSt over the mess that SIU's been in lately. But SIU has far more name recognition nationally, and I really don't have enough confidence in the rational thinking of most recruits or their coaches to really pay attention to facilities, depth charts, etc. right off the back. That stuff will factor in once you get them to campus, but you have to get their attention first. And SIU would get their attention first.

I would have been shocked if Wiggins came to WSU Although I'm a Florida State grad, so I did think there was a pretty good shot he was going to pick FSU. I could definitely see the benefit to going with WSU for him, but at the same time, Bill Self is a hell of a coach with a track record of helping to develop NBA players. I think Marshall's going to have to get a player drafted to start having a legit shot at guys that are going to declare early for the draft -- let alone the best high school prospect since Lebron.

I think Cleanthony will be that NBA draft pick. With a draft pick and a Final Four on his resume, there won't be much holding Marshall back on the recruiting trail.

[kcmsaluki12]

SIU had some very good teams. Their close proximity to Chicago and St. Louis.....

Close proximity to Chicago? It's about 325 miles....Carbondale is much closer to Memphis than it is to Chicago. Large parts of Mississippi are closer to Carbondale than Chicago is. More than half the schools in the MVC are closer to Chicago than Carbondale is.

Yet the vast majority of SIU students come from Chicagoland.

[PantherSigEp]

SIU had some very good teams. Their close proximity to Chicago and St. Louis.....

Close proximity to Chicago? It's about 325 miles....Carbondale is much closer to Memphis than it is to Chicago. Large parts of Mississippi are closer to Carbondale than Chicago is. More than half the schools in the MVC are closer to Chicago than Carbondale is.

Yet the vast majority of SIU students come from Chicagoland.

Now to be clear, "Chicago" refers to anywhere within a 100 mile radius of the actual city limits, that is still in Illinois. Once you get a little ways north of Peoria and a bit to the east just about everything seems like a Chicago suburb.

[Aargh]

Andrew Wiggins was never going to come to WSU. We hoped for a while, but...

...Andrew and Nick play the same position. Andrew would have taken minutes away from his bro - and that was never going to happen.

One of the reasons Andrew picked KU was to be close to his bro in Wichita. KU owes WSU something, but I'm not anticipating a home/home or even a neutral court game. Last time we had a chance to play KU, it was an ESPN one-time-only game in Lawrence and Self turned it down.

[Bradleyfan1]

"BOK BOK BOK" Bill Self

[shockem]

Andrew Wiggins was never going to come to WSU. We hoped for a while, but...

...Andrew and Nick play the same position. Andrew would have taken minutes away from his bro - and that was never going to happen.

One of the reasons Andrew picked KU was to be close to his bro in Wichita. KU owes WSU something, but I'm not anticipating a home/home or even a neutral court game. Last time we had a chance to play KU, it was an ESPN one-time-only game in Lawrence and Self turned it down.

I'd be interested to hear what Bill Self thinks he owes WSU. No doubt the location had something to do with Andrew's decision but I seriously doubt there will be any favors coming our way.

[rlh04d]

I'd be interested to hear what Bill Self thinks he owes WSU. No doubt the location had something to do with Andrew's decision but I seriously doubt there will be any favors coming our way.

Andrew Wiggins would be at FSU right now if Nick wasn't at WSU. I doubt Self thinks he owes anyone anything and certainly won't give WSU any favors, though.

[LJay]

Sporting News is spot on with this one. After Dougie is gone and the luck finally runs out on Gibbs (unless he's granted a 7th year of eligibility), Bluejay Nation will be in trouble. Nebraska has a nice, shiny new arena that already is sold out. If Nebraska ever does anything with that, the Clinky Center will soon only need the lower bowl open for seating.

I took a look over on their board the other day and it's downright hilarious how their 12 message board fans are all over Fox Sports 1, like it's ESPN's equal and is equivalent to high-level "national tv".

Has anyone ever watched that network for more than 10 minutes yet?

They are hoping and praying up there in Cornhuskerland.

Haters hating but the facts are the facts. CU got Leon Gilmore from Texas today who is a Top 100 in a couple places and Top 150 in the others (and are in on other Top 150's). That is FOURTEEN recruits for next year in the Big East who are rated 4 stars+ / Top 100 on recruiting sites. Only the ACC has more to date. The Valley got one last year, Fred VV at WSU. I am not aware of any this year. Honestly, I don't think we get a sniff from this kid if we are still in the Valley.

Why? The Valley is a great basketball league but nobody knows it due to the crappy TV contract and playing in towns and small cities in flyover country. For today's kid it's all about being on national TV, bling-bling facilities and getting to play right away. The TV thing is most important. That's a vast overgeneralization but at it's roots is basically true.

I am confident that CU's ship is sailing in the right direction and if we can have big success this year we can parlay that into more recruiting success which begets more on court success, which begets more recruiting success................

All that said, I'll be watching the Valley and rooting for MVC success this year.

[Cdizzle]

Sporting News is spot on with this one. After Dougie is gone and the luck finally runs out on Gibbs (unless he's granted a 7th year of eligibility), Bluejay Nation will be in trouble. Nebraska has a nice, shiny new arena that already is sold out. If Nebraska ever does anything with that, the Clinky Center will soon only need the lower bowl open for seating.

I took a look over on their board the other day and it's downright hilarious how their 12 message board fans are all over Fox Sports 1, like it's ESPN's equal and is equivalent to high-level "national tv".

Has anyone ever watched that network for more than 10 minutes yet?

They are hoping and praying up there in Cornhuskerland.

Haters hating but the facts are the facts. CU got Leon Gilmore from Texas today who is a Top 100 in a couple places and Top 150 in the others (and are in on other Top 150's). That is FOURTEEN recruits for next year in the Big East who are rated 4 stars+ / Top 100 on recruiting sites. Only the ACC has more to date. The Valley got one last year, Fred VV at WSU. I am not aware of any this year. Honestly, I don't think we get a sniff from this kid if we are still in the Valley.

Why? The Valley is a great basketball league but nobody knows it due to the crappy TV contract and playing in towns and small cities in flyover country. For today's kid it's all about being on national TV, bling-bling facilities and getting to play right away. The TV thing is most important. That's a vast overgeneralization but at it's roots is basically true.

I am confident that CU's ship is sailing in the right direction and if we can have big success this year we can parlay that into more recruiting success which begets more on court success, which begets more recruiting success................

All that said, I'll be watching the Valley and rooting for MVC success this year.

Why so proud that without the shiny conference flag to wave, you couldn't sniff talented players? Not something I'd advertise.

[Wufan]

Sporting News is spot on with this one. After Dougie is gone and the luck finally runs out on Gibbs (unless he's granted a 7th year of eligibility), Bluejay Nation will be in trouble. Nebraska has a nice, shiny new arena that already is sold out. If Nebraska ever does anything with that, the Clinky Center will soon only need the lower bowl open for seating.

I took a look over on their board the other day and it's downright hilarious how their 12 message board fans are all over Fox Sports 1, like it's ESPN's equal and is equivalent to high-level "national tv".

Has anyone ever watched that network for more than 10 minutes yet?

They are hoping and praying up there in Cornhuskerland.

Haters hating but the facts are the facts. CU got Leon Gilmore from Texas today who is a Top 100 in a couple places and Top 150 in the others (and are in on other Top 150's). That is FOURTEEN recruits for next year in the Big East who are rated 4 stars+ / Top 100 on recruiting sites. Only the ACC has more to date. The Valley got one last year, Fred VV at WSU. I am not aware of any this year. Honestly, I don't think we get a sniff from this kid if we are still in the Valley.

Why? The Valley is a great basketball league but nobody knows it due to the crappy TV contract and playing in towns and small cities in flyover country. For today's kid it's all about being on national TV, bling-bling facilities and getting to play right away. The TV thing is most important. That's a vast overgeneralization but at it's roots is basically true.

I am confident that CU's ship is sailing in the right direction and if we can have big success this year we can parlay that into more recruiting success which begets more on court success, which begets more recruiting success................

All that said, I'll be watching the Valley and rooting for MVC success this year.

That is awesome! You guys are really good!!!