(01-07-2023 10:58 AM)uiniu57 Wrote: (01-06-2023 06:59 PM)Big Red Wrote: (01-06-2023 05:30 PM)uiniu57 Wrote: Assume this was one that slipped through the cracks between Monty and Burno, but an example of an overlooked and underrated prospect from our backyard: https://www.yahoo.com/news/former-honone...05974.html
He wasn't underrated. Spent 3 years at St. Cloud State and had a nice little career there but his stats at EIU aren't exactly eye popping.
If anyone missed on him it was ISU being that he played high school at Bloomington HS.
He's basically Zarique Nutter but not as tall and slightly to moderately worse.
As the article notes, he spent three years at Rockton Hononegah (our backyard) before transferring to Bloomington for his senior year so he could be as much our miss as ISU's.
It's also fair to say he had more than "a nice little career" at St. Cloud since "he was pursued by 10 different Division I schools" and had "two years of eligibility left" because of Covid.
Beyond NIU's top three scorers we've got plenty of guys whose stats are not "eye-popping" and there is a little more value in having local talent on the roster. For one, you send the message you look for in-state talent and two, it may be very incremental, but local could be a small boost for attendance and media interest on the hometown. Not arguing that this kid is an answer but he's no less a consideration for a roster that is still very limited and incomplete.
Excellent Post.
I know some posters roll their eyes when I (and some others) draw up some history, but I do because the ones who don't go far back enough don't "get" how NIU got to be what it is.
So, just for a wider perspective, compare any of the above with the late John McDougal.
His record at NIU was 136-141. Only one of his 10 teams went to the NCAA (1981-82, when the tournament had 48 teams). But every one of those 10 teams always *felt* like it had a chance. None of the 10 won less than 11 games; always double digit-wins. There was no "this sucks" attitude on or around the team, the campus or community. Attendance (the old fieldhouse, capacity 6,000) was always at least a quarter full even during holidays, usually more.
The real difference between "Mac" and the coaches you mentioned is perspective. He was the much-lauded, much-awarded and much-respected head coach at nearby West Aurora HS. When he got the NIU job, he was the "kid on the block who made good" among other Illinois HS coaches. He knew everbody and was not known to diss any other coach or team. He had connections.
{What did him in (fired) was his outspoken opposition to the Wingfield/Brigham "stars in their eyes" "we're gonna be in the Big12" dreamers after the 1983 California Bowl win that shortly after tripped NIU into football independence. Mac said it would kill other sports (like bball) and it pretty much did. It also almost killed football, saved only by going back to the MAC.}
OK, with that history behind us, compare Mac's recruiting to Montgomery and/or Burno. (Forget Patton. Monty was around long enough (10 years) to assess "current" team history and put it in perspective with Mac). Mac had to recruit "locals" against DePaul, Loyola, Northwestern, UofI and the MVC schools like Illinois State and SIU. All of them knew what Mac was after. But he got good kids anyway who worked hard, played hard and "schooled" hard.
Burno's connection is he played for DePaul and was head coach at Marmion. After then he went where he went. Montgomery was a main man for Izzo at Michigan State.
So what have we got/gotten from these two guys? Read Big Red's summary of their recruiting, where their players come from. This is a "mid mid-major," as BR correctly calls it. What "pipeline is Burno building? Nigeria? Japan? Switzerland? Colombia? Lithuania? The United Nations?
And might there be a little cultural barrier in there somewhere? These guys have to "live" together off the court.
NIU needs that Chicago regional pipeline more than anything. Get a wired-in HS coach as #1 assistant. Make him the new "kid on the block who made good."
(Footnote: the more "local" players you have -- and get some damn home o-o-c games -- the more you build "community" and attendance. It's a helluva lot easier to play in front of 2,000 screaming fans than 500 who are busy searching for the elusive hot dog.)
Just my rambling thoughts.
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MBB today, WBB tomorrow
