Valpo offer to Steven Haney Jr.

[valpopal]

I am told that Valpo has also made an offer to another 2013 guard, Robert Knar, listed at some places as "Robert Knur":

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/137819/robert-knur

http://mundelein.suntimes.com/sports/6946818-419/mundeleins-knar-obrien-shine-brightly-at-nationals.html

[wh]

I am told that Valpo has also made an offer to another 2013 guard, Robert Knar, listed at some places as "Robert Knur":

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/137819/robert-knur

http://mundelein.suntimes.com/sports/6946818-419/mundeleins-knar-obrien-shine-brightly-at-nationals.html

I see that Knar is an 80 with 2 more years of HS basketball.  He is the 78th ranked PG in the class of 2013.  The 78th ranked PG in the class of 2012 is an 82 and the class that just graduated is an 87.  Hopefully, he will continue to improve.  87's are they type of players that will help us compete for HL championships and be in contention for at-large bids.  Otherwise, we're just maintaining the status quo, which hasn't been good enough to date. 

The same holds true for a lot of other teams in the HL.  We all have to pick up the quality of our recruiting, if we ever expect to be a legitimate multi-bid league.  By the way, I am defining a "legitimate" multi-bid league as one that gets more than one entry into the tournament WHEN THE NO.1 SEED WINS THE HL TOURNAMMENT.  That means that our 2, 3 and 4 seeds are good enough to get there on their own merit - not by upset where otherwise they'd be in the NIT or worse.  How many times has that happened in the past 10 years?  How many times has it ever happened?   

[vu72]

I am told that Valpo has also made an offer to another 2013 guard, Robert Knar, listed at some places as "Robert Knur":

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/137819/robert-knur

http://mundelein.suntimes.com/sports/6946818-419/mundeleins-knar-obrien-shine-brightly-at-nationals.html

I see that Knar is an 80 with 2 more years of HS basketball.  He is the 78th ranked PG in the class of 2013.  The 78th ranked PG in the class of 2012 is an 82 and the class that just graduated is an 87.  Hopefully, he will continue to improve.  87's are they type of players that will help us compete for HL championships and be in contention for at-large bids.  Otherwise, we're just maintaining the status quo, which hasn't been good enough to date. 

The same holds true for a lot of other teams in the HL.  We all have to pick up the quality of our recruiting, if we ever expect to be a legitimate multi-bid league.  By the way, I am defining a "legitimate" multi-bid league as one that gets more than one entry into the tournament WHEN THE NO.1 SEED WINS THE HL TOURNAMMENT.  That means that our 2, 3 and 4 seeds are good enough to get there on their own merit - not by upset where otherwise they'd be in the NIT or worse.  How many times has that happened in the past 10 years?  How many times has it ever happened?   

Couldn't agree more, and there appears to be a definite improvement in our recruiting, at least as far as ESPN goes.

Our highly thought of class of Kurth, Kenney and Broekhoff were ranked 83,85 and 85 respectively. An average of 84.3

Since then we added Dino Jakolis, Vashil Fernandez, Ben Boggs, Richie Edwards, Bobby Capobianco and Jay Harris. They were ranked 84,86,87,89,89 and 93 respectively, an average of 88.0.  Oh yeah, we also added Will Bogan, Idaho Mr. Basketball and Ole Miss signee, who wasn't ranked by ESPN.

I'd say, on paper, we have definitely stepped up our recruiting.   

[zvillehaze]

Agree totally with wh and 72. 

As for the history question, you'd have to go back to '02-'03 to find a pair of teams with solid at-large resume`s.  Butler and UWM were #12 seeds, so in theory, they were both good enough for at-large bids.  The HL received two at-large bids in '97-'98, when UDM and UIC got in after Butler won the tourney.  Other than those two years, it hasn't happened nearly often enough.

[dylanrocks]

If memory serves, Joe Lunardi had the Panthers as the second-to-last (after Minnesota) at-large candidate out of the NCAA Tournament field in 2002-03, the year that it earned its first NCAA Division 1 postseason bid with a win over Butler at The Cell.

That year, the Panthers lost their BracketBuster mid-major elimination game at Southern Illinois on a putback at the final buzzer.

It's generally accepted here that Milwaukee wouldn't have gained an at-large invitation in any of the three years in which it qualified.