Bearvision

Gotcha. Sometimes teams have other teams' number for some reason...

So, you're saying Lutz > Majerus?

Outside of his obvious athleticism, I always thought the best part of his game was his attitude. He was tough, strong, vocal, would do whatever it took to score. Even if it meant going through you. Was sad to see him leave MSU honestly...we sure could have used a little more of that over the past two years.

Agreed. To the earlier poster, it is quite possible I'm thinking of the Tigers, probably moreso thinking of Stl Today. I haven't been a poster here for long, and am not even the person who brought Kirk up. Similar players for sure. Hopefully Jones doesn't have grade issues. Any details there Nate?

Funny how the revisionist history works as well...Kirk was poo-pooed on this board from the start. Jones is rated top-200 and top-150 by two separate sites...I don't remember Kirk being rated that way at the time. I was excited for Kirk at the time, and that post never slams or disparages Kirk in any way. Jones' recruiting had just begun to start to increase, the summer before your senior year is the biggest summer of your recruiting life. We'll see who has a better college career, but I'd have to wager it will be Jones, considering Kirk didn't start for his JUCO team before getting hurt, wasn't good enough to play big minutes for a team with a hole at both the Guard positions, and the 3, so he redshirted, and had other issues in college. Both players are highly rated for one reason: Their athleticism.

Watched him play for years, both as a Kickapoo player, and at Missouri St. I've hung out with the kid, and he's told me himself that handles were the worst part of his game. He was an athletic slasher for sure, but he slashed more without the ball, or by using his power to get past defenders who were smaller than him, rather than using quickness or dribbling. Kid was built like a LB, was super aggressive, attacked the rim, rebounded well, and was good at finishing above the rim. Perhaps you're remembering him more as a 15 y/o, rather than the player I watched etc? I believe Jones looks much quicker (or agile) than Kirk was in HS. Side to side quickness is important in our scheme. Probably a pretty similar bio to Jones, who I've only seen on film. Jones certainly isn't a great shooter, but neither was Coach Martin, who developed into a good one. I've always subscribed to the theory of getting the great athletes and players who fit your scheme. Our defensive scheme relies on quickness and defensive intensity, so you have to have a certain level of athleticism to play here now. I agree Nate, in a short time of recruiting, Martin has easily surpassed my expectations. Now, we just need to close on Alec Burks as well for '09, and get a PF to round out '08 class to go with hopefully Ryan Allen as a wing.

Kirk had many issues, none of which need to be aired on a message board. If Kirk had better handles than this Jones, Jones should stop playing basketball. That was the absolute worst part of Kyle's game, and he would tell you that. Jones is much higher rated than Kirk was, though Kyle got a 3rd star from one recruiting site. Anyway, Kyle has given up basketball and is in Ranger school in Georgia.

He definitely needs to improve his jump shot, but he was 11-33 from 3pt range, and 66% from the FT line, so he's not exactly a butcher with his shot. ESPN rates him a top-200 player, and Hoopsmaster has him as a top-150 player. Exciting get for Missouri St. even if he does have a few warts. You can teach a kid to be a better shooter, you can't teach his athleticism. Plus, this is another foot in the door of the Stl area for recruiting. I love what Coach Martin is doing thus far.

Lots of reasons to leave, from personal reasons, to playing time reasons, to just being home sick. He's a good player, no one is calling him Derrick Rose, but I'm fairly certain he'd start for either of our teams...

You were correct. He visited last weekend.

I'm not sure that Ben was ever on campus...I can't seem to get it confirmed anywhere. Word was he wanted to see the campus, but who really knows at this point. I could have been completely off base.

Well, I guess that's why you can't always believe the rumors you read and hear.

Ben is on campus today visiting Missouri St. Hopefully he likes what he sees.

The big rumor is he is following Cuonzo to Missouri St. It was reported in the News-Leader as being in teh works etc. but we shall see. We'd obviously welcome Scott to campus...

I think the school itself is taking some pains to not be saddled with "MSU" but our students etc. all chant MSU, and the old song (which we inexplicably still use), has just been amended to state M-i-s-s-o-u-r-i Stttttttaaaaaaatttttteeeee. As opposed to the old song that incorporated SMSU in one verse. It's understandable that some old school MSU alum's etc. will keep calling it that, and I doubt there will be too many MU fans calling it that any time soon It doesn't offend me, but I thought I might issue a fair warning, as you might be able to see how some fans of the school could interpret being called that from a rival fan as a shot, or denigrating remark. With that said, we always welcome other team's fans to come onto our board and chat with us. As long as the smack stays away!

History does tell us to bet against all #1's making it, so I'd imagine at some point one of them gets upset. I keep waiting for Memphis to lose, but they have been pulling out a lot of games this year. Tonight I see: UNC, UL, WVU, UCLA.

Yeah, we're all pretty proud of the name change, and on our own board, we're pretty protective. When I'm here, I realize this is SLU's turf, so I try to not be confrontational etc. and realize most of it is merely said in jest to get a reaction. It was certainly time, and since it's in it's fourth year, most everyone is pretty staunch in their insistence of being called MSU, though my dad does call it SMSU still.

It's www.Bear-nation.com If you call it SMS there though, you might not be long for the board.

Considering just about every coach that has ever coached at Missouri St. has been good, I would imagine that Martin will be as well. I'm going to let this topic go on a rival board, as I wouldn't expect anyone to be wild about a hire for another team.

I'm also kind of surprised by how little respect coach Martin is getting on this board.

What the he!! do you base that on my friend? Did you read my post at all? He was the Associate Head Coach and top assistant at Purdue this year. The lead game planner for the Boilermakers, a team that made huge strides from last year to this. Per their own coach, he was the lead recruiter on 4 four star recruits. You are reading not recruiting this "area" way too much into it.

I slightly leaned towards Montgomery from Michigan St. but I like this hire a lot. Martin was the lead recruiter for Painter on four 4 star recruits according to the beat writer for Purdue (take that FWIW). I'd say that shows he can recruit pretty well. He also moved up to Associate Head Coach this year, something he wasn't last year. I think that increased his resume over the top. His ties to recruiting St. Louis and the Midwest, along with the success that Purdue had this year (MSU played them to see firsthand), combined with his playing and coaching experiences led to this opportunity.

Dayton should be a load next year...

Congrats on getting three teams into the tourney. As a fan of a fellow mid-major conference, I'll be rooting for you guys to pull some upsets, and go far into the tourney. It's a shame Illinois St. was snubbed, but I can't make an extreme argument against them getting in over a few other teams. Georgia probably took ISU's spot, but it may have even been Va. Tech's spot. Anyway, good luck to Temple, St. Joe's, and Xavier this tourney...

St. Joes wins, and punches their ticket for the dance IMO. If Charlotte wins the tourney, the A-10 could three teams in, and have it all even out at the end.