MAC Transfer Update:

Ty Groce - Transferring from Eastern Michigan - Undecided on transfer destination - RS SR - 6’8” - SF - 2* recruit from Lincoln HS (Ypsilanti, MI) - Groce played 4 seasons for the Eagles and became a full time starter as a junior. In his senior season, Groce played and started all 18 games averaging 33 minutes and 15.2 ppg/6.9rpg/2 apg/1.3 spg shooting 53% from the field (34% 3PT - 16 of 47) and 72.3% FT (47 of 65). Even though he’s a graduated senior and is moving on from Eastern Michigan, the simple fact that he’ll be playing elsewhere has to sting the fan(s) of the Eagles. Obviously, with a new coach, EMU will be going through a rebuilding phase and I don’t blame Groce one bit for wanting to play his final season some other place. Coming out of HS, Groce received additional offers from Northeastern (where he initially signed to play but transferred to EMU before he ever stepped on the court), Illinois State, Kent State, Oakland, Cornell, Toledo, Rice, Detroit Mercy, Akron, Duquesne, and Central Michigan.

I found a little more information about Montavious Myrick (it's definitely spelled Myrick) and about an injury he had. I updated the original post with the following:

Quote:I found another video of Myrick which led me to a few tidbits of information I thought I'd pass along. The video was almost like a bad documentary about him coming back from some injury. It was in black and white but there wasn't much information about what was wrong with him. In a Google search, I believe he suffered some kind of foot and/or leg injury that kept him out a good part of his junior(?) season. The video made it seem like it was some kind of devastating injury and he was working out like the 6 Million Dollar Man. I have no idea what it was, but I think it was enough that it knocked him down some prospect boards and he just recently getting some buzz back.

MAC Transfer Update:

Evan Bainbridge - Transferring from Kent State - Undecided on transfer destination - Sophomore - 6’9” - PF - 2* recruit from Stow-Monroe Falls HS (Stow, OH) - Bainbridge has played, and been a spot starter and regular, at Kent State for 2 seasons. As a sophomore, Bainbridge played in 13 games (3 starts) averaging 8 minutes per game and 2ppg/1.2 rpg shooting 23.5% from the field (12.5% 3PT - 3 of 24) and 87.5% FT (7 of 8). I’m sure Kent State was hoping for more development from the 6’9” PF but I don’t think he’s put on all that much bulk since joining the team and his shooting hasn’t developed to the point where he’s much of a threat to defenses. I’m guessing he’s going to transfer down a level where he might be much more impactful. Coming out of HS, Bainbridge received one other offer from Furman.

NIU Recruiting Update:

Noah Kon - 6’1” - PG - 2* recruit from Houston Christian HS (Houston) - Okay, so the first thing I did was google this kid and look at his picture (this is usually my first step in the process). He’s 6’1” but has muscles. I’d bet almost anything he also plays football. He just has a body that screams two sport athlete. I also found an article and some quotes from his coach. Apparently, Kon took over as PG on the HS team as a sophomore when the starting senior PG got hurt. Coach said Kon was always going to be the PG but the injury sped up the process and Kon really took to it and blossomed. Now, here’s where things get interesting. I then went to YouTube and the first thing I found was a YouTube channel called “Noah Kon 2021 PG *****Northern Illinois University******” Yeah...you don’t see that everyday. His inclusion as an offer was just posted today. I have no idea who owns the channel, but my eyebrow was raised.

Anyway, the kid is a scoring PG. He can shoot a little from the outside but his strength is quickness with the ball and going to the rim. He can dunk. Easily. And forcefully. He can jump and has an extremely quick first step that leaves a lot of defenders off balance. He can take contact and hang long enough to make shots at the rim and attract fouls. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly this develops. Kon currently has no other offers from schools.

MAC Transfer Update:

Jarron Coleman - Transferring from Ball State - Undecided on transfer destination - RS SO - 6’5” - SG - 3* recruit from Cathedral HS (Indianapolis) - Coleman played 2 seasons at Ball State. As a sophomore, Coleman played in 13 games (10 starts) averaging 27 minutes and 13.8 ppg/5.2 rpg/3.2 apg shooting 47.4% from the field (42.5% 3PT - 31 of 73) and 78.1% FT (25 of 32). This one has to sting for Ball State to lose a sophomore who was supplying valuable minutes and contributing. Not only that, but this is the 2nd of 2 very good players who will not be returning to the Cardinals next season (granted, El-Amin had graduated but he is making an effort to continue his playing career elsewhere). Coming out of HS, Coleman received additional offers from Robert Morris, Western Illinois, IUPUI, and Northern Kentucky.

NIU Recruiting Update:

As I suspected yesterday, Noah Kon has verbally committed to NIU.

With Kon's committment, NIU currently still has 4 scholarships to fill (if my math is correct).

Noah Kon - COMMITTED - 6’1” - PG - 2* recruit from Houston Christian HS (Houston) - Okay, so the first thing I did was google this kid and look at his picture (this is usually my first step in the process). He’s 6’1” but has muscles. I’d bet almost anything he also plays football. He just has a body that screams two sport athlete. I also found an article and some quotes from his coach. Apparently, Kon took over as PG on the HS team as a sophomore when the starting senior PG got hurt. Coach said Kon was always going to be the PG but the injury sped up the process and Kon really took to it and blossomed. Now, here’s where things get interesting. I then went to YouTube and the first thing I found was a YouTube channel called “Noah Kon 2021 PG *****Northern Illinois University******” Yeah...you don’t see that everyday. His inclusion as an offer was just posted today. I have no idea who owns the channel, but my eyebrow was raised.

Anyway, the kid is a scoring PG. He can shoot a little from the outside but his strength is quickness with the ball and going to the rim. He can dunk. Easily. And forcefully. He can jump and has an extremely quick first step that leaves a lot of defenders off balance. He can take contact and hang long enough to make shots at the rim and attract fouls. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly this develops. Kon currently has no other offers from schools.

Down the Road Recruiting

NIU Recruiting Update (Class of 2023):

Emery Young - HS SOPHOMORE (2023) - 6’3” - PG - 2* recruit from Centennial HS (Phoenix) - Young is just a sophomore so we’ll have to wait a couple years to see what he does. I did a quick search for him on YouTube, not expecting to find much, and I think I found some vidoes of him when he was like 10 years old. I’ll check them out later for entertainment purposes. Needless to say, it appears in the past 5 years, Young has grown about a foot. Anyway, not much to report here, but NIU is Young’s first official offer.

(03-25-2021 10:09 AM)Big Red Wrote:  NIU Recruiting Update:

As I suspected yesterday, Noah Kon has verbally committed to NIU.

With Kon's committment, NIU currently still has 4 scholarships to fill (if my math is correct).

Noah Kon - COMMITTED - 6’1” - PG - 2* recruit from Houston Christian HS (Houston) - Okay, so the first thing I did was google this kid and look at his picture (this is usually my first step in the process). He’s 6’1” but has muscles. I’d bet almost anything he also plays football. He just has a body that screams two sport athlete. I also found an article and some quotes from his coach. Apparently, Kon took over as PG on the HS team as a sophomore when the starting senior PG got hurt. Coach said Kon was always going to be the PG but the injury sped up the process and Kon really took to it and blossomed. Now, here’s where things get interesting. I then went to YouTube and the first thing I found was a YouTube channel called “Noah Kon 2021 PG *****Northern Illinois University******” Yeah...you don’t see that everyday. His inclusion as an offer was just posted today. I have no idea who owns the channel, but my eyebrow was raised.

Anyway, the kid is a scoring PG. He can shoot a little from the outside but his strength is quickness with the ball and going to the rim. He can dunk. Easily. And forcefully. He can jump and has an extremely quick first step that leaves a lot of defenders off balance. He can take contact and hang long enough to make shots at the rim and attract fouls. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly this develops. Kon currently has no other offers from schools.

https://twitter.com/noah_kon/status/1375089890459783175

(03-25-2021 10:43 AM)NorthCoast Wrote:  

(03-25-2021 10:09 AM)Big Red Wrote:  NIU Recruiting Update:

As I suspected yesterday, Noah Kon has verbally committed to NIU.

With Kon's committment, NIU currently still has 4 scholarships to fill (if my math is correct).

Noah Kon - COMMITTED - 6’1” - PG - 2* recruit from Houston Christian HS (Houston) - Okay, so the first thing I did was google this kid and look at his picture (this is usually my first step in the process). He’s 6’1” but has muscles. I’d bet almost anything he also plays football. He just has a body that screams two sport athlete. I also found an article and some quotes from his coach. Apparently, Kon took over as PG on the HS team as a sophomore when the starting senior PG got hurt. Coach said Kon was always going to be the PG but the injury sped up the process and Kon really took to it and blossomed. Now, here’s where things get interesting. I then went to YouTube and the first thing I found was a YouTube channel called “Noah Kon 2021 PG *****Northern Illinois University******” Yeah...you don’t see that everyday. His inclusion as an offer was just posted today. I have no idea who owns the channel, but my eyebrow was raised.

Anyway, the kid is a scoring PG. He can shoot a little from the outside but his strength is quickness with the ball and going to the rim. He can dunk. Easily. And forcefully. He can jump and has an extremely quick first step that leaves a lot of defenders off balance. He can take contact and hang long enough to make shots at the rim and attract fouls. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly this develops. Kon currently has no other offers from schools.

https://twitter.com/noah_kon/status/1375089890459783175

Thanks for posting this. Obviously, this developed quickly and I kind of rushed the write-up on him but, once I started watching video on him, I really liked what I was seeing and was hoping he'd commit.

We still have 4 spots to fill (barring any walk-ons) and, as of yesterday, he was one I was hoping we'd get.

I suppose right now (and I know this list is going to expand because it appears Coach Burno is getting after it on the recruiting trail), I'd definitely want (in no particular order at this point): Zion Russell, Maxime Ekono, Ibbe Klintman, and Montavious Myrick. Although, I'm just excited to see who else gets an offer as it seems the days of "1 open slot, 1 outstanding offer" are over. Teams, and I honestly have no clue how they manage this, will have like 3 openings and 11 offers. So, every day I expect to see a new name pop up and that next name could easily displace someone from my list.

As for the others..

Thompson is a Montgomery offer so, he's probably not in the mix anyway. He's a hell of an athlete but I never really figured out how that might translate to the college game for him. Maybe great, maybe not.

And Saint Thomas, I'm just not 100% sold on. At lot has to do with if he grows. If he does, he's probably way more attractive to higher profile programs. If he doesn't, he seems like a guy Montgomery would be excited to get. I'm probably wrong, but I'm putting him last on my wish list...well...he's ahead of Sinkler, who I'm not overly impressed with. The ONLY reason to grab him would be to have someone who can provide some level of college experience to the team.

And, well...it maybe seems like we might be done losing transfers (although there are two more I'd like to see shop their wares elsewhere). With that said, we're really only losing Justin Lee and Keenan Cole. I don't really count Nathan Scott as he'd already graduated and there was no guarantee he'd come back and all signs at the end of the season were indicating he had played his last game. I think I heard he's a really smart kid so going to grad school makes total sense and if he can get on a team...all the better.

And with Lee and Cole, well, they were both hurt all the time anyway. I honestly have no clue where either of them are going to end up. Neither can go JUCO for a year so I'm guessing they both go D-II or lower just to play and get a new start. But, especially with Lee, he couldn't be counted on anyway so him leaving (and Cole and his lack of availability) are more blessing than curse, imo. If a guy is on scholarship and can, at best, play 50% of the games and not at 100% when he does, than I'm more than fine with him moving on. I just honestly have no clue where they'll end up and it doesn't appear that any of them have received any offers, although transfers often kind of pop up out of nowhere.

Would be interesting to see if Coach Burno fills one or two slots with a Grad Transfer or transfer

(03-25-2021 02:41 PM)NIU89 Wrote:  Would be interesting to see if Coach Burno fills one or two slots with a Grad Transfer or transfer

Outside of him adding a big who will start, I'm not sure the point of adding another senior when we have a bunch of seniors and juniors (although...two fewer juniors than before with the loss of Lee and Cole).

I mean, I get why some (you and others) would like to add an experienced player but, personally, I'd rather Burno spend his bullets on guys who are going to make the program better, not next year's team that is still not going to be very good no matter what grad transfer they get.

I mean, does it really matter if they win 10 games instead of 5 next year?

I'm not saying they'll win 5 but does adding one grad transfer make them a contender for the conference? IMO, it doesn't and since we have a ton of guys who have (at minimum) 1 year of college experience, then I don't see the point of bringing in someone like that.

If they do, fine. I'll still root for them and I'll defer to Coach Burno because (I'm sure) he has a plan and (I know) I don't fully know what it is.

With that said, at times I felt Coach Montgomery was hamstrung a bit by too many scholarships when he came on board. It became a cycle where he'd bring in like 6 or 7 freshman and then within a year or two, half or more of them would transfer out or quit which meant for a few years, he always had like 8 or so freshmen and sophomores on the team.

But...and this is wishful thinking...I also think Montgomery wasn't a very good recruiter so he wasn't getting in guys who should be sticking on a D-I roster and the ones that left, were often over-matched at the level anyway.

My wishfullness is thinking that Burno has a better handle on this and hopefully has a better plan in place to keep guys in the program (which is admittedly harder to do these days) and allows him to build the program.

Grad and JUCO transfers should be for filling in gaps. Not to resurrect or save a program.

He mentioned on the Zoom call last night that he is looking to grow the program with high school commits. He wouldn’t rule out the GR route when it fills a need but wants players who will produce over 4 years. He said that retention of players is key because if they leave after a couple of years, then you have wasted that time and resources developing the player into your program and it really hurts when they leave early.. He also said he was getting to close to a couple of players committing and obviously one just signed. He said the fans will be really excited to see some of these players.
The man is working really hard and I am hopeful this hard work pays off. He also said the Huskies will be one of the most well conditioned teams in the country in order to play the fast pace type of basketball that recruits want to play. I believe he also said the team has some talented guards that will fit into this style of play.

(03-25-2021 03:23 PM)Growler83 Wrote:  He mentioned on the Zoom call last night that he is looking to grow the program with high school commits. He wouldn’t rule out the GR route when it fills a need but wants players who will produce over 4 years. He said that retention of players is key because if they leave after a couple of years, then you have wasted that time and resources developing the player into your program and it really hurts when they leave early.. He also said he was getting to close to a couple of players committing and obviously one just signed. He said the fans will be really excited to see some of these players.
The man is working really hard and I am hopeful this hard work pays off. He also said the Huskies will be one of the most well conditioned teams in the country in order to play the fast pace type of basketball that recruits want to play. I believe he also said the team has some talented guards that will fit into this style of play.

I was unable to be on the Zoom call last night. Can anyone summarize?

Anything on the assistant positions?

(03-25-2021 03:34 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(03-25-2021 03:23 PM)Growler83 Wrote:  He mentioned on the Zoom call last night that he is looking to grow the program with high school commits. He wouldn’t rule out the GR route when it fills a need but wants players who will produce over 4 years. He said that retention of players is key because if they leave after a couple of years, then you have wasted that time and resources developing the player into your program and it really hurts when they leave early.. He also said he was getting to close to a couple of players committing and obviously one just signed. He said the fans will be really excited to see some of these players.
The man is working really hard and I am hopeful this hard work pays off. He also said the Huskies will be one of the most well conditioned teams in the country in order to play the fast pace type of basketball that recruits want to play. I believe he also said the team has some talented guards that will fit into this style of play.

I was unable to be on the Zoom call last night. Can anyone summarize?

Anything on the assistant positions?

He is taking his time with the assistant coaches. He is looking at college and NBA people. He wants to make sure he gets the right people. He has talked to some very good candidates.

He talked about recruiting a lot. Spending 12 to 14 hour days with a lot of time on the phone which is what you have to do during the no contact period. Looking for players with talent and accountability. The need to understand the team comes first and can take constructive criticism. There is a 95 percent rule that Hurley used at ASU. It means that 95% of the time on the court you do not have the ball. So what areyou doing with that 95%? Rebounding, getting loose balls, setting screens doing things to help your teammates. He is looking for his team to be vulnerable with each other which will lead to trust.

He has been working with the players this week and next and realizes they have been through a lot with losses of games and a coach. He is seeing small improvement already. Needs to get their confidence back. He has two months this summer starting the end of a June to work with the team and a lot of time will be spent outside of basketball to build trust and character.

Recruiting Not only Chicago but all of Illinois will be important. He is also looking nationally too with his established contacts.

Asked why he chose NIU, he said the location, facilities and most important the people at the school. He also mentioned that he graduates 100% of his players where he has been if they don’t transfer or leave school early.

That’s all I can remember right now. If I think of anything else I’ll post again. Overall he was very impressive.

.

(03-25-2021 06:10 PM)Growler83 Wrote:  

(03-25-2021 03:34 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(03-25-2021 03:23 PM)Growler83 Wrote:  He mentioned on the Zoom call last night that he is looking to grow the program with high school commits. He wouldn’t rule out the GR route when it fills a need but wants players who will produce over 4 years. He said that retention of players is key because if they leave after a couple of years, then you have wasted that time and resources developing the player into your program and it really hurts when they leave early.. He also said he was getting to close to a couple of players committing and obviously one just signed. He said the fans will be really excited to see some of these players.
The man is working really hard and I am hopeful this hard work pays off. He also said the Huskies will be one of the most well conditioned teams in the country in order to play the fast pace type of basketball that recruits want to play. I believe he also said the team has some talented guards that will fit into this style of play.

I was unable to be on the Zoom call last night. Can anyone summarize?

Anything on the assistant positions?

He is taking his time with the assistant coaches. He is looking at college and NBA people. He wants to make sure he gets the right people. He has talked to some very good candidates.

He talked about recruiting a lot. Spending 12 to 14 hour days with a lot of time on the phone which is what you have to do during the no contact period. Looking for players with talent and accountability. The need to understand the team comes first and can take constructive criticism. There is a 95 percent rule that Hurley used at ASU. It means that 95% of the time on the court you do not have the ball. So what areyou doing with that 95%? Rebounding, getting loose balls, setting screens doing things to help your teammates. He is looking for his team to be vulnerable with each other which will lead to trust.

He has been working with the players this week and next and realizes they have been through a lot with losses of games and a coach. He is seeing small improvement already. Needs to get their confidence back. He has two months this summer starting the end of a June to work with the team and a lot of time will be spent outside of basketball to build trust and character.

Recruiting Not only Chicago but all of Illinois will be important. He is also looking nationally too with his established contacts.

Asked why he chose NIU, he said the location, facilities and most important the people at the school. He also mentioned that he graduates 100% of his players where he has been if they don’t transfer or leave school early.

That’s all I can remember right now. If I think of anything else I’ll post again. Overall he was very impressive.

.

Thanks for posting. No idea how talking to NBA people would work with that pay scale, but, I wish him well. I guess I got us off the track in this thread. Sorry about that.

(03-25-2021 06:10 PM)Growler83 Wrote:  

(03-25-2021 03:34 PM)HuskieDave Wrote:  

(03-25-2021 03:23 PM)Growler83 Wrote:  He mentioned on the Zoom call last night that he is looking to grow the program with high school commits. He wouldn’t rule out the GR route when it fills a need but wants players who will produce over 4 years. He said that retention of players is key because if they leave after a couple of years, then you have wasted that time and resources developing the player into your program and it really hurts when they leave early.. He also said he was getting to close to a couple of players committing and obviously one just signed. He said the fans will be really excited to see some of these players.
The man is working really hard and I am hopeful this hard work pays off. He also said the Huskies will be one of the most well conditioned teams in the country in order to play the fast pace type of basketball that recruits want to play. I believe he also said the team has some talented guards that will fit into this style of play.

I was unable to be on the Zoom call last night. Can anyone summarize?

Anything on the assistant positions?

He is taking his time with the assistant coaches. He is looking at college and NBA people. He wants to make sure he gets the right people. He has talked to some very good candidates.

He talked about recruiting a lot. Spending 12 to 14 hour days with a lot of time on the phone which is what you have to do during the no contact period. Looking for players with talent and accountability. The need to understand the team comes first and can take constructive criticism. There is a 95 percent rule that Hurley used at ASU. It means that 95% of the time on the court you do not have the ball. So what areyou doing with that 95%? Rebounding, getting loose balls, setting screens doing things to help your teammates. He is looking for his team to be vulnerable with each other which will lead to trust.

He has been working with the players this week and next and realizes they have been through a lot with losses of games and a coach. He is seeing small improvement already. Needs to get their confidence back. He has two months this summer starting the end of a June to work with the team and a lot of time will be spent outside of basketball to build trust and character.

Recruiting Not only Chicago but all of Illinois will be important. He is also looking nationally too with his established contacts.

Asked why he chose NIU, he said the location, facilities and most important the people at the school. He also mentioned that he graduates 100% of his players where he has been if they don’t transfer or leave school early.

That’s all I can remember right now. If I think of anything else I’ll post again. Overall he was very impressive.

.

Awesome. Thank you very much for the summary. Those are all great things to see and hear.

One thing I have noticed is, and I believe Kon is one of them, but of the 4 HS recruits he's made offers too, I've seen note in articles and whatnot that most of them (the ones I saw) all had GPAs 3.8/4.8 (depending on scale) or higher. I almost made note of it but just left it out of a few of those write-ups. But it may be a thing he's also highly prioritizing.

As for recruiting the whole state, that's smart. I've mentioned it before, but I'm from southern Illinois and there are a couple of areas where there are really good basketball players. One is obviously Peoria where for decades it has been considered a basketball hotbed. Champaign and Bloomington/Normal are a couple others. Danville as well. Same with the Quad Cities. Obviously Rockford up north. But an area that I think a lot of coaches up here neglect is what's called the Metro East. Basically, the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis.

Belleville West has had a number of really good teams the past few years (back to back state champions with EJ Liddell who plays for Ohio State). Edwardsville is typically really good as well. Same with East St. Louis. Other schools like O'Fallon, Belleville East, and Alton go through spurts. The thing about down there is, much like how players move around and transfer around Chicago, that stuff happens down there too (on a much smaller scale) with the Metro East and St. Louis schools.

Althoff Catholic in Belleville had some killer teams for a few seasons because they steered hard into recruiting. They never got busted for anything but something happened because they haven't pulled in the talent like they were the past 3 or so years. But the talent does move around down there. And with that, recruiting St. Louis should be included. Sure, it Missouri but it's a border town. St. Louis and Milwaukee should be both highly scoured for talent.

I know coach is tapping in to his resources right now which is why we're seeing offers made to guys kind of all over the place geographically. But it sounds like, and I like what I'm hearing, he's interested in developing a regional recruiting footprint which could pay off well.

(03-25-2021 01:51 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(03-25-2021 10:43 AM)NorthCoast Wrote:  

(03-25-2021 10:09 AM)Big Red Wrote:  NIU Recruiting Update:

As I suspected yesterday, Noah Kon has verbally committed to NIU.

With Kon's committment, NIU currently still has 4 scholarships to fill (if my math is correct).

Noah Kon - COMMITTED - 6’1” - PG - 2* recruit from Houston Christian HS (Houston) - Okay, so the first thing I did was google this kid and look at his picture (this is usually my first step in the process). He’s 6’1” but has muscles. I’d bet almost anything he also plays football. He just has a body that screams two sport athlete. I also found an article and some quotes from his coach. Apparently, Kon took over as PG on the HS team as a sophomore when the starting senior PG got hurt. Coach said Kon was always going to be the PG but the injury sped up the process and Kon really took to it and blossomed. Now, here’s where things get interesting. I then went to YouTube and the first thing I found was a YouTube channel called “Noah Kon 2021 PG *****Northern Illinois University******” Yeah...you don’t see that everyday. His inclusion as an offer was just posted today. I have no idea who owns the channel, but my eyebrow was raised.

Anyway, the kid is a scoring PG. He can shoot a little from the outside but his strength is quickness with the ball and going to the rim. He can dunk. Easily. And forcefully. He can jump and has an extremely quick first step that leaves a lot of defenders off balance. He can take contact and hang long enough to make shots at the rim and attract fouls. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly this develops. Kon currently has no other offers from schools.

https://twitter.com/noah_kon/status/1375089890459783175

Thanks for posting this. Obviously, this developed quickly and I kind of rushed the write-up on him but, once I started watching video on him, I really liked what I was seeing and was hoping he'd commit.

We still have 4 spots to fill (barring any walk-ons) and, as of yesterday, he was one I was hoping we'd get.

I suppose right now (and I know this list is going to expand because it appears Coach Burno is getting after it on the recruiting trail), I'd definitely want (in no particular order at this point): Zion Russell, Maxime Ekono, Ibbe Klintman, and Montavious Myrick. Although, I'm just excited to see who else gets an offer as it seems the days of "1 open slot, 1 outstanding offer" are over. Teams, and I honestly have no clue how they manage this, will have like 3 openings and 11 offers. So, every day I expect to see a new name pop up and that next name could easily displace someone from my list.

As for the others..

Thompson is a Montgomery offer so, he's probably not in the mix anyway. He's a hell of an athlete but I never really figured out how that might translate to the college game for him. Maybe great, maybe not.

And Saint Thomas, I'm just not 100% sold on. At lot has to do with if he grows. If he does, he's probably way more attractive to higher profile programs. If he doesn't, he seems like a guy Montgomery would be excited to get. I'm probably wrong, but I'm putting him last on my wish list...well...he's ahead of Sinkler, who I'm not overly impressed with. The ONLY reason to grab him would be to have someone who can provide some level of college experience to the team.

And, well...it maybe seems like we might be done losing transfers (although there are two more I'd like to see shop their wares elsewhere). With that said, we're really only losing Justin Lee and Keenan Cole. I don't really count Nathan Scott as he'd already graduated and there was no guarantee he'd come back and all signs at the end of the season were indicating he had played his last game. I think I heard he's a really smart kid so going to grad school makes total sense and if he can get on a team...all the better.

And with Lee and Cole, well, they were both hurt all the time anyway. I honestly have no clue where either of them are going to end up. Neither can go JUCO for a year so I'm guessing they both go D-II or lower just to play and get a new start. But, especially with Lee, he couldn't be counted on anyway so him leaving (and Cole and his lack of availability) are more blessing than curse, imo. If a guy is on scholarship and can, at best, play 50% of the games and not at 100% when he does, than I'm more than fine with him moving on. I just honestly have no clue where they'll end up and it doesn't appear that any of them have received any offers, although transfers often kind of pop up out of nowhere.

Solid first commitment for Coach Burno!!! He was also being recruited by Stanford and VCU.

(03-25-2021 11:20 PM)BDB5yp Wrote:  

(03-25-2021 01:51 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(03-25-2021 10:43 AM)NorthCoast Wrote:  

(03-25-2021 10:09 AM)Big Red Wrote:  NIU Recruiting Update:

As I suspected yesterday, Noah Kon has verbally committed to NIU.

With Kon's committment, NIU currently still has 4 scholarships to fill (if my math is correct).

Noah Kon - COMMITTED - 6’1” - PG - 2* recruit from Houston Christian HS (Houston) - Okay, so the first thing I did was google this kid and look at his picture (this is usually my first step in the process). He’s 6’1” but has muscles. I’d bet almost anything he also plays football. He just has a body that screams two sport athlete. I also found an article and some quotes from his coach. Apparently, Kon took over as PG on the HS team as a sophomore when the starting senior PG got hurt. Coach said Kon was always going to be the PG but the injury sped up the process and Kon really took to it and blossomed. Now, here’s where things get interesting. I then went to YouTube and the first thing I found was a YouTube channel called “Noah Kon 2021 PG *****Northern Illinois University******” Yeah...you don’t see that everyday. His inclusion as an offer was just posted today. I have no idea who owns the channel, but my eyebrow was raised.

Anyway, the kid is a scoring PG. He can shoot a little from the outside but his strength is quickness with the ball and going to the rim. He can dunk. Easily. And forcefully. He can jump and has an extremely quick first step that leaves a lot of defenders off balance. He can take contact and hang long enough to make shots at the rim and attract fouls. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly this develops. Kon currently has no other offers from schools.

https://twitter.com/noah_kon/status/1375089890459783175

Thanks for posting this. Obviously, this developed quickly and I kind of rushed the write-up on him but, once I started watching video on him, I really liked what I was seeing and was hoping he'd commit.

We still have 4 spots to fill (barring any walk-ons) and, as of yesterday, he was one I was hoping we'd get.

I suppose right now (and I know this list is going to expand because it appears Coach Burno is getting after it on the recruiting trail), I'd definitely want (in no particular order at this point): Zion Russell, Maxime Ekono, Ibbe Klintman, and Montavious Myrick. Although, I'm just excited to see who else gets an offer as it seems the days of "1 open slot, 1 outstanding offer" are over. Teams, and I honestly have no clue how they manage this, will have like 3 openings and 11 offers. So, every day I expect to see a new name pop up and that next name could easily displace someone from my list.

As for the others..

Thompson is a Montgomery offer so, he's probably not in the mix anyway. He's a hell of an athlete but I never really figured out how that might translate to the college game for him. Maybe great, maybe not.

And Saint Thomas, I'm just not 100% sold on. At lot has to do with if he grows. If he does, he's probably way more attractive to higher profile programs. If he doesn't, he seems like a guy Montgomery would be excited to get. I'm probably wrong, but I'm putting him last on my wish list...well...he's ahead of Sinkler, who I'm not overly impressed with. The ONLY reason to grab him would be to have someone who can provide some level of college experience to the team.

And, well...it maybe seems like we might be done losing transfers (although there are two more I'd like to see shop their wares elsewhere). With that said, we're really only losing Justin Lee and Keenan Cole. I don't really count Nathan Scott as he'd already graduated and there was no guarantee he'd come back and all signs at the end of the season were indicating he had played his last game. I think I heard he's a really smart kid so going to grad school makes total sense and if he can get on a team...all the better.

And with Lee and Cole, well, they were both hurt all the time anyway. I honestly have no clue where either of them are going to end up. Neither can go JUCO for a year so I'm guessing they both go D-II or lower just to play and get a new start. But, especially with Lee, he couldn't be counted on anyway so him leaving (and Cole and his lack of availability) are more blessing than curse, imo. If a guy is on scholarship and can, at best, play 50% of the games and not at 100% when he does, than I'm more than fine with him moving on. I just honestly have no clue where they'll end up and it doesn't appear that any of them have received any offers, although transfers often kind of pop up out of nowhere.

Solid first commitment for Coach Burno!!! He was also being recruited by Stanford and VCU.

But he’s not from the Chicagoland area!!!

MAC Transfer Update:

Jacob Washington - Transferring from Bowling Green - Undecided on Transfer - RS Junior - 6’8” - PF - 2* recruit from George Washington Prep HS (Los Angeles) - Washington started his collegiate playing career at Los Angeles Harbor College and then transferred to Cerritos College (Norwalk, CA) (both community colleges) before transferring to Bowling Green for a season and it looks like he off to the university to discuss yet another transfer….(The ‘Burbs fans might catch that movie quote). As a junior at BGSU, Washington played in 25 games (2 starts) averaging 10.1 minutes and 3 ppg/2.4 rpg shooting 47.6% from the field and 71.4% FT (15 of 21). I assume he’s leaving because of playing time. I didn’t watch many (if any at all) of Bowling Green’s games so I’m not sure why they didn’t have much use for a dude his size who seemed to contribute when he was in the game. But I’m sure it’s something that can’t be gleaned from his stat line. Anyway, coming out of HS or JUCO (either one), Washington received no other offers inquiring about his services so it doesn’t appear this guy is all that in demand. I’d suspect a move to the lower levels of college basketball where he can use his 6’8” physique to its fullest extent.

NIU Transfer Update:

Tavon Jones - Undecided on transfer - Junior - 6’3” - SG - 3* recruit from Linden HS (Linden, NJ) - Jones started his collegiate career at Odessa College (Odessa, TX) before transferring to NIU. At NIU he………..didn’t play. Not once. So…anyway...coming out of HS, Jones received offers from Saint Joseph’s, St. Peter’s, Seton Hall, Stony Brook, Buffalo, Hofstra, Niagra, Quinnipiac, Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure, and Eastern Kentucky.

Anyway, yesterday I made a comment about 2 players I’d like to see grab the portal window and he is one of them (maybe I’m magic). Nonetheless, this is a scholarship that was being consumed by someone not giving value to the team. Honestly, I don’t mean to be mean, I’m sure he’s a fine young man and means well and has had injuries that have kept him out of the lineup (I honestly have no clue why he never dressed...it was never mentioned in any press conference so I wonder if it wasn’t something else but that would just be speculation and that doesn’t do anyone any good but...that long list of offers and then going JUCO leads me down a path that may or may not be fair). Needless to say, Coach Burno just opened up another scholarship so now we’re back up to 5 slots still needing to be filled. Btw, I bet that 2nd player sticks around...