"It is really unfortunate that some Chicago area high school coaches still have a negative perception of Northern Illinois University's local recruiting efforts. In fact some of them are still saying that NIU head coach Mark Montgomery is not making in-state recruits a priority. The reality is that nothing could be further from the truth and the coaches who are saying that all have axes to grind." From Roy and Harv Schmidt
http://ilprepbullseye.com/Springs_NIU.html

Thought I would post that interesting beginning of the article announcing the A. Springs commitment. What a hurdle NIU has had with perception among some Chicagoland area coaches. Some positive, some negative, and some unsure. It seems weird it can be all over the place like that. Hopefully MM brings some stability to the perception that NIU would be a good place to be.

Getting Springs and Nader on board is definitely a good start. There was not really that much to recruit from the area in 2012. The upcoming years of 2013 and 2014 are really what matters. I just hope we have a decent number of schollys available for those classes.

Key here is "Chicago area" and "Chicagoland" read: the suburbs and their stock of Miller's (less athletic, short, inconsistent shooters with poor defensive skills).

Coach Smith of the world-class Simeon HS team recently had good things to say about MM and NIU.

NIU and MM will be fine.

Funny how the "undercurrent" finds its way in everything in the "Chicagoland" area.

It takes years to build credibility with HS coaches, it is not an overnight process or something that will be accomplished in a year or two. Sadly, it does not take all that long to destroy it.

If NIU is going to be a launching pad for coaches, we will have a fair amount of turnover and it will be important to have an AD (like Jeff Compher) who rules the roost and sets expectations for incoming coaches. In my mind Mr. Compher is doing the right thing when he looks at scholarship committments as four year committments and not one year as might be permissible under current NCAA rules.

It was fine for Mark Montgomery to give Zach Miller an honest assessment of his skills and to let him know that he would face reduced playing time if he stayed with the program but I liked Jeff Compher's decision to not allow him to take away the kid's scholarship. Hopefully the Miller situation will die down and not hurt NIU's reputation with Illinois HS coaches. I am in the minority in believing that some damage has been done that will take a while to rebild.

Winning is the biggest perception changer. If NIU starts winning, doors open. If not, we'll keep picking at scraps.

I think it's important to at least have something from the chicago area each class (depending on size), that's why I don't know much about Springs, but I'm glad we have at least one in this class. I don't blame MM at all for going to the connections he has other places, especially with the down year in Illinois and the fact that his main goal has to be to win.

You can recruit the heck out of guys, but if they don't want to go to NIU for whatever reasons, then there is nothing wrong with getting guys from other parts of the country where the high school and AAU coaches know you are a good coach to send their players to. He can build relationships even while NOT getting Chicago area kids to come to NIU. Just by recruiting them and getting to know the coaches. We don't have to end up with them on the roster right now to be effective at getting some good ones from the area down the road.

Anyone ever feel like Chicago high school coaches as a whole are just a small step up from mob bosses and prostitutes?

(04-20-2012 07:44 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Anyone ever feel like Chicago high school coaches as a whole are just a small step up from mob bosses and prostitutes?

Here is a link to see how Indiana Crean recruits players.
It is the AAU coaches that are calling the shots.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/...id=6587668

Chicago is the biggest cesspool of all.
If the link does not work, google Crean AAU espn
Does MM and JC want to play in this sandbox?