Speaks Volumes

[Taj79]

Is the fact when folks we are after (?) are looking at and in some cases committing to such luminous athletic programs as Western Michigan, Loyola of Chicago, Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Illinois State. I am open to any and all interpretations as to just what that means.

I read with obvious interest on the Bobby Hill signing because of the ardor some of my boardmates have had for this guy and I recognize some of the issues dropped about the need for no more wings and who shoots better than who but is one really truly to believe that ILLINOIS STATE is getting what some believe is the top recruiting class (in this moments snapshot in time) in the state of Illinois? Or one that could even be considered as such? Frankly, I don't think so ......

[Billikenbooster]

Taj

At the Tip Off Club coach said that they will use the remaining schollies for big men x2, and the remaining one for the next best player. Now I believe you are completely correct that while Hill may be a better player, the Billiken TEAM may be better off with McGuire, since he brings to the table a skill where we have historicly been weak in the recent past.

This approach is reasonable, one that can reach out and bite you if 1-Hill becomes a real star, 2-McGuire is a bust. Such is D1 bball.

mhg

[guest]

I must of missed the 2 Big Man thing. I am VERY happy to hear that... My ideal would be 1 big man a year, and develop them slowly. If you can ****** 2, grab 'em and Red Shirt them for a year.

[StLouBlue]

I think that shows SLU has a hard time getting non-local kids to be interested in our program. I think most of us can agree that locally Brad has done a very good of recruiting, landing Polk, Lisch, Liddell and Meyer. National and even regional recruits are a far different story. SLU just doesn't have the name recognition or history of other programs and because of this we are looking more for the diamond in the rough type players.

Moser at Ill St is doing a nice job and in a couple of years will be in the mix for MVC titles.

[Box and Won]

I wonder what we'll see out of Bryce this year.

[billiken_roy]

porter moser is definitely an up and comer. remember he took that team when he was at northsouthwest arkansas state college or whatever it was, and beat the billikens a few years back. if i remember correctly his last year in arkansas won the conference championship.

[Billikenbooster]

He wants a play now type guy, and a red shirt project guy as well. That would give him a rotation of younger/older players who will be a stable front line for a while.

Whether he gets that or not remains to be seen. After last year, this must be a bang up year, record-wise or we're in the crapper for a while.

mhg

[3star_recruit]

"Moser at Ill St is doing a nice job and in a couple of years will be in the mix for MVC titles."

I really don't see anybody competing with Northern Iowa, SIU and Creighton anytime soon. They've got the best teams now and their haul from the 2005 class were significantly better than Moser's. This year in particular, sans Gordon, the Redbirds are going to get their heads kicked in.

[StLouBlue]

This year will be a struggle, but I really think Moser has the program in the right direction. He is also a Creighton Alum so do wish him well except for those Creighton games. He has turned over the roster quite a bit since he has been there and even though the talent isn't there yet, I expect these to be tough games.

I agree Creighton, N Iowa and SIU are really the top teams, but the Valley as a whole seems like it is on the rise. There is a lot of talent in Bradley & MO St, if their coaches can put it together also. Should be a fun year in the MVC, would like to see 3 teams again in the NCAAs.

[3star_recruit]

Do you think Dotzler will start for the Bluejays this year?

[StLouBlue]

I would be surprised if he is not the starter, Altman has a history of bringing in a freshman to take over the PG spot--Sears and Mckinney were both 4 year starters. CU also brought in a JUCO pg, Bishop who should help take some of the pressure off Dotzler to where he won't be expected to play 30 minutes a game from day 1.

Here is an article from the Omaha World Herald over the summer talking about Dotzler.

Josh Dotzler is living up to the advance billing. All three years of it.

"He's fulfilled just about everything we had heard about him," Creighton forward Anthony Tolliver said. "From the very first day that he played with us, he fit in. The coaches did a great job of snapping him up early because they knew he was the type of player they wanted at the point."

It was three years ago, during Dotzler's sophomore year at Bellevue West, that he became Creighton's earliest commitment when he told coach Dana Altman that he wanted to become a Bluejay.

In the interim, Dotzler earned All-Nebraska honors three times, led Bellevue West to two Class A state championships and watched a lot of Creighton basketball.

"It seems like it's been so long that I've been a fan of Creighton," Dotzler said. "It's going to be a lot different going out there and playing for them, but that's something that I'm definitely looking forward to."

And no one needs tell Dotzler that he's going to be expected to play, and at a high level, right from the first tip. The Bluejays return four starters from last season's NCAA tournament team but the one regular not back is Tyler McKinney.

Creighton made it to the NCAA tournament in three of McKinney's four seasons as the starting point guard. The one season the Bluejays missed came when McKinney missed the final 19 games because of an eye infection.

Creighton's priority when it opens preseason practice in October will be finding someone to replace McKinney. Ask 10 Creighton fans now, and nine probably would tell you that they expect Dotzler to be that guy. He's aware of those expectations, although Dotzler quickly adds that the coaches signed a second point guard, Dominic Bishop, last spring.

"Nobody knows what exactly is going to happen," Dotzler said. "It's going to be hard to replace the experience of a Tyler McKinney with two brand-new point guards. It's important for Dominic and I to learn the system as quickly as possible and to get as comfortable as we can with it.

"As a freshman in high school, I was kind of thrown into that position. It was tough - I'm not going to lie. It took me almost a whole year to get comfortable. But I definitely think I've learned a lot. I wouldn't say that I feel a lot of pressure being in this situation, but I do know what's going to be expected of me."

Creighton does have options in that senior Johnny Mathies joined the program two years ago as a point guard. The Bluejay coaches shifted Mathies to the off-guard spot midway through last season, and his effectiveness at that position helped fuel a late-season run that secured Creighton's sixth NCAA tournament berth in seven seasons.

The coaches would prefer to keep Mathies at the No. 2 spot, relying on Dotzler and Bishop to run the show. A 6-foot, 170-pound junior, Bishop signed with the Bluejays after leading Brown Mackie College of Salina, Kan., to a Division II junior college national championship last spring. Bishop averaged 11 points and 5.7 assists last season, and he showed scoring potential when he averaged 32 points as a high school junior in Buffalo, N.Y.

The 6-foot, 180-pound Dotzler fits more in the classic point guard mode, a ball distributor who can score when called upon. He averaged 7.5 assists and 5 steals as a senior at West while averaging 13.4 points. As a junior, Dotzler averaged 15.8 points, 6.1 assists and 5.3 steals.

"Josh gets the ball where it needs to be," Tolliver said. "He knows he's going to be expected to do a lot for us as a freshman, and he has the type of personality that can handle it."

Not to mention the mentality.

"It's going to be my job to get the ball to the right place at the right time," Dotzler said. "We have so many good scorers and shooters on this team that I don't see myself as someone who needs to score too much. I need to control the floor and play good defense.

"I need to get people the right shot at the right time. I just need to be a point guard."

Dotzler's work at that spot last summer earned him the outstanding player award at the adidas-Las Vegas Big-Time tournament. It also spurred a late run of interest by other schools in Dotzler, but he never wavered in his oral commitment to the Bluejays.

Now he's doing everything he can to prepare for his first season. He and his teammates are lifting weights and playing pick-up games five times a week. In addition to trying to get bigger, stronger and faster, Dotzler is trying to establish himself as a player who his new teammates will have confidence in this season.

"I've played with these guys before, so from that standpoint it's been a smooth transition," Dotzler said. "This team has a lot of good guys, a lot of accepting guys, on it. It wasn't that hard to step in and start playing right away.

"But the game is different. The guys are bigger, stronger and more athletic. You have to raise your game just to try to keep up with them."

[billikenmetz]

Larry also has "HY" tatooed somewhere on his body that expands to "Have A Nice Day Love, Larry" when he gets excited.

[Quality Is Job 1]

You have officially demonstrated that your mind is in the gutter. For crying out loud, it's Sunday!

[Quality Is Job 1]

[former_d1]

We are the 2 time defending sbc east champs.

Can't get no respect......

I will tell you that porter was only a part of the turn around ualr. The AD here, Chris Peterson of CU out of the valley, got 25 million to build a new BB arena on campus. It is nice is an understatement and upgraded baseball statium. He won't last long in Little Rock nor will the coach, Steve Shield that regularly puts a coaching clinic on the much more talented teams in the sbc (WKU AND ULL).

[AJ]

I've been one of the biggest advocates for recruiting Hill; I think he may be a real sleeper. Having said that, I am not prepared to second guess Brad on the McGuire/Hill decision. Since both players are local he and his staff obviously had an opportunity to see both of them play 4-5 times and felt McGuire fit the current needs better. At least Brad has figured out that he needs to check the local talent first before he gets on a plane for Milwaukee or Minneapolis. The only thing worst than getting beat by SIUC and SWMS (now MS) is having them do it with local players that we didn't recruit while our Minneapolis guy sits on the bench. Hopefully, those days are behind us.

As far as the "two bigs" he wants to round out our 2006 class, I wish him the best. Again, Brad has done a pretty good job recruiting bigs that can play rather than automatically assuming that bigger is better. I trust he's watched the SIUC and SEMO game tapes enough times to know that our problem last year wasn't a lack of size.

[Taj79]

....lives in his own world of sophomoric humor. If we don't laugh at his "cleverness" then we're all up tight and need to chill. I would offer that if you go back and reread any or all of his posts, its all the same. One liners void of any useful information or intelligent comment. Oh yes, the billikenputz is a shining example of what well-rounded graduates even the most ardent institutions of higher learning can produce still today.

And you hit it on the "head" --- so to speak --- in that he is indeed responding to the incorrect thread. This is pure genius at work and I'm sure Conan O'Brien and Jon Steward are dutifully impressed but we should all take a few steps back so that the leader of our nation is easily discernable for any Mizzou snipers lurking out there lloking ot take that "head" out.