Live Blog
ISU vs. Drake
Chat with Pantagraph sportswriter Jim Benson before the ISU men's basketball game.
- Hello from Redbird Arena! Illinois State meets Drake at 7 p.m. today. ISU tries to stay third in the Valley. Drake is a game behind the Redbirds and Missouri State, but without Ben Simons today because of mono. Huge loss for the Bulldogs. On to the questions...
- Do you know if there is any news on how Alvin Ellis' visit went saturday?
- Of course, the coaches aren't allowed to say anything about recruits. For those who don't know, Ellis is a 6-4 shooting guard from De La Salle in Chicago. He is a junior. Very early in the recruiting game to know where he is headed. I'm sure he enjoyed the show the Redbirds put on Bradley. Wouldn't you want to play with Nic Moore in two years?
- I am thinking of how the standings will finish. I see ISU winning tonight and find it very possible to lose 3 straight then beat the Braves in Peoria.. If that happens do you see the Birds playing in the Thursday play in round in St. Louis?
- Good question. I think if the Redbirds get to 9-9 they should be able to stay in the top six ... provided Missouri State is in that mix. Because ISU swept the Bears, any tiebreaker scenarios ISU has that involve Missouri State will be very good for the Redbirds. Somehow, I think the Redbirds are going to get one of the two roadies coming up. Just a gut feeling.
- Officials for tonight are Verne Harris, Rick Randall and Brad Ferrie. Verne didn't have a very good game last time at Redbird Arena against Creighton. Hopefully, there will be no questionable decisions.
- If the season ended today is Jackie Carmichael first team all conference?
- Would like that to happen, but saw Creighton fall @ UNI and INST has been much improved as of late, and I dont think Jank has had much success at either place... Maybe 1 win @ INST, and dont know if he has ever won in Cedar Falls.
- I was thinking about all-conference today. First team locks are McDermott, Ryan, Stutz and Weems. The five spot is up in the air with Jackie definitely in the discussion. Others would be Toure' Murry, Anthony James, Ben Simons and Rayvonte Rice. Obviously, the more games Simons misses the less his chances are. If he would have stayed healthy, I think he was going to get that fifth spot. Jackie could help himself with a couple more double-doubles.
- ISU hasn't won in Cedar Falls since 2006, so Jankovich hasn't won there --- or in Terre Haute. Porter Moser's last ISU team won in 2007, breaking some lengthy road Valley losing streak, but the Jankovich Redbirds are 0-4. Some bad luck there, with Osiris getting the flu one year and I believe Lloyd Phillips missed a game when he went AWOL.
- Does the valley have freshman of the week recognition?
- The Valley does a Newcomer of the Week weekly honor. Tyler Brown won it a couple weeks ago. Nic Moore has not won it yet. Nic is in a dogfight for Freshman of the Year with Seth Tuttle. I really think Tyler has a chance at Newcomer of the Year. I thought Grant Gibbs was probably a lock for that if Creighton ran the table, but the Jays are struggling and Gibbs is really struggling. Wouldn't it be something if ISU could grab Freshman and Newcomer of the Year? BTW, the same player can win both.
- Does Bradley have any highly touted recruits coming in?? Geno needs a lot of help and in a hurry..... If he doesnt have anything coming in next year, we could see some more of those 30 pt wins vs the Braves
- Bradley has a point guard from Oak Park-River Forest High School plus a JC forward from Dodge City, Kan. I would expect Bradley would have a few more scholarships open in the spring when some of the guys who got to play two minutes in a blowout Saturday look for other places to go. The Braves are really lacking a point guard. Lemon is a 2 guard like DSE. Plus their frontcourt not too good either. Geno Ford has a massive rebuilding job ahead of him.
- Actually, ISU hasn't won at Cedar Falls since 2004. So that's a seven-game losing streak there. At least there might not be any snow on the ground in Frigid Falls. That will be a welcome relief.
- Do you see Trey Blue returning next year? He looks like he has packed it in for the season on the sideline.
- How are MVC tourney ticket sales? I can only attend on Sat and Sunday and wasnt sure if it would be sold out this year?
- I do know Trey is going to graduate this spring. I'm going to feature him before the game against Oakland. He was a high school teammate of Oakland's Reggie Hamilton, who is the No. 2 scorer in the nation. I wouldn't say Trey has packed it in at all. In fact, I think he has kept a very positive attitude knowing he isn't going to play much. He doesn't dog it in practice and is very attentive. A lot of guys in his situation wouldn't be. It's a difficult spot to be in. I'll ask him if he's returning.
- Sorry so late. The Valley office sent out a ticket update last week. They have sold 5,874 tickets thus far to schools, an increase of 15 percent from last year.
2,575 – Creighton
1,328 – Wichita State
500 – Northern Iowa
400 – Illinois State
281 – Missouri State
200 – Bradley
200 – Indiana State
190 – Southern Illinois
100 – Drake
100 - Evansville
Having little trouble ... that's the number of tickets sold per school. Those are all-session tickets only.- If the Birds don't make it to the big dance do you see them as a lock for the NIT?
- I wouldn't say ISU is an NIT lock at this moment by any means. If the Redbirds can finish third in the league and get to 20 wins, I think they can get to the NIT. But as someone mentioned earlier, getting 20 wins down the stretch could be difficult. Need to beat UNI, Indiana State or Wichita, plus Drake, Oakland and Bradley, in addition to a win at Valley tourney.
- What do you believe is the ceiling for Johnny Hill? He and Nic Moore seem like a very bright future back court.
- Johnny Hill definitely needs to get stronger in the offseason and must become a better outside shooter. But he has a chance to be a very good player. I think the Redbird backcourt for the next couple years is in decent shape. Bryant Allen still has two years after this, too.
- Looks like it is going to be a very small crowd tonight.
- If they miss NIT , I assume we will have a chance @ CBI or CIT?
- Is ISU recruiting John Wilkins younger brother?
- Oh, yeah, definitely. I know in the past Jankovich hasn't been an advocate of playing in those tourneys if ISU didn't make the NIT. I haven't specifically asked him yet about those tourneys (about two weeks away), but I would think he would be all for it this year with no seniors on the squad.
- Who wins Freshman of the Year, Tuttle or Nic Moore? Is Carmichael going to be first team all-mvc?
- ISU is definitely recruiting Wilkins' younger brother. As far as MVC Freshman of Year, going to be close between Tuttle and Nic. The last four games should decide that. I talked before about Jackie and first team. He's in the mix for the last spot on first team.
- Anymore word who is in the South Padre tourney next year?
- I just asked Larry Lyons about this in the press room earlier tonight. He said ISU has not heard any more about the other teams in South Padre.
- Really sad to see the students turn out in force for the Bradley game and then not show up tonight. They made a big difference in the atmosphere. I don't get it. Everyone can't be in the library, right?
- Any thoughts on Creighton losing to Evansville last night? How does that effect ISU and the MVC tournament? What seed do you think ISU will end up?
- I tell you, Evansville doesn't look like much, but all coaches always fear playing them because Marty Simmons coaches them up big time and they are tough to match up with, even with a small front line. It could hurt ISU if Evansville ties ISU in the Valley standings, but still four games left to see that. I see ISU having a 4-5 seed and in the 2:30 p.m. game on Friday. By the way, that's a sportswriter's dream. Lots of time to write.
- What year is the younger Wilkens? Is he in Gary IN?
- I believe the younger Wilkins, who is close to 7 feet, is in Belgium or France.
- I believe younger Wilkins is a junior.
- The wins by Evansville and No Iowa really tightened up 3-8. I thought we were in really good shape for 3-6, but had counted those two as Creighton wins
- Yeah, Creighton didn't exactly help out ISU, but the Redbirds just need to help themselves and beat either UNI or Indy State on the road.
- Cool, thanks. Does big Jeff come to any games?
- Coach Jankovich said once he doesn't read the papers or things like message boards? Do you think he is does?
- Yes, but Jeff Wilkins tries to stay out of the limelight as much as possible. Sometimes he goes up to the upper bowl and watches.
- I don't think Jankovich ever reads message boards, he's not very tech savvy, and rarely reads the newspaper during the season. But I'm fairly sure someone in the office does and will point something out to Jankovich if they think he needs to see it. Rob Judson ever once in awhile will mention something I have on a blog.
- As bad as the schedule has been, is that something the coaches and the athletic director should be working on year around?
- There are periodic calls made by the basketball coaches and other athletic administrators about the schedule, but the main focus during the season by the coaches is recruiting and upcoming opponents. I would think you would find this at most schools.
- Any other recruits of note that we are going after?
- To add to Jess comment do you think the Valley is on the verge of losing its almost for sure 2 bids
- I still think Creighton and Wichita are in good shape for at-large bids, but they can't afford to lose too many more games down the stretch and especially both need to win those BracketBusters games, which suddenly become huge. As far as recruits, nothing major to report. That really heats up in the spring and summer.
- I was in college for one year with him, my freshman year, his senior year. He was really awesome his senior year.
- National anthem about to start. We will do this again at 6 p.m. Saturday from Cedar Falls. Thanks.
- Thanks, Jim, GO BIRDS!
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