Recruiting: 2014

[valpo64]

Are there any rumblings about where E Brown from Butler will land?      If he was BU's top recruit last year, he could be a valuable prize for someone....6'4'' guard  and son of an established player and coach.

[bbtds]

Are there any rumblings about where E Brown from Butler will land?      If he was BU's top recruit last year, he could be a valuable prize for someone....6'4'' guard  and son of an established player and coach.

In this story, last Friday, in the Indy Star, it has no indication of where Brown might be transferring. It does say that due to Brown playing behind Kellen Dunham and Roosevelt Jones he is looking for more playing time. According to the story, Brown liked Butler but he feels he deserves more court time.

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/butler/2014/04/18/elijah-brown-transferring-butler/7881697/

By most accounts Brown enjoyed Butler, the coaching staff and his teammates. But, eyeing the future, he wanted a spot where more floor time was available. Brown would likely be playing behind Kellen Dunham (a second-team All-Big East selection this past season) and Roosevelt Jones (who returns from injury next season) for the next two years.

[ValpoFan]

I hope he doesn't end up at Cleveland State. You know, across the street from the arena where his father is coaching.

[valpo64]

What about dear old Valpo?

[valpo84]

I hope he doesn't end up at Cleveland State. You know, across the street from the arena where his father is "currently" coaching "for a few more days we hope."

Fixed it for you.

[vufan75]

David Skara, a 6'8" forward, has received an offer from VU and will be visiting campus today.

A poster on twitter says David Skara chose Valpo!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Retweeted by MikeHutton

Dave maravilla‏@dave_ismhoops·33 mins
Happy to announce David Skara- 6'8 3/4 of Zadar ,Croatia andMidwest Elite  Prep Basketball Academy is taking his talents to Valpo!Cestitka!

____________________________________________________________
And also as tweeted by Chris Artis. 

Chris Artis‏@chrisartis5·22m
Shout out to David Skara on his commitment to @ValpoBasketball !! #MEPA

[tweet]459477889483046912[/tweet]

Just testing to see on the last post if I was able to embed a tweet. Guess I can from the looks of it.
Sorry LAA.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

[tweet]459477889483046912[/tweet]

[tweet]459459804218413056[/tweet]

huzzah!

[LaPorteAveApostle]

first d1 offer from Green Bay; we were next.  then Robert Morris and Virginia Tech.

http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/david-skara

welcome to the family!

[vu72]

Glad to have him on board!  A big body who can help next year.  OK, I'm going to hijack the thread for a moment to emphasize a point.  We have had the facilities debate, and I want to go on record as wanting facility improvements as quickly as possible, if only to enhance the overall image of Valpo.

That being said, I contacted a former prominent basketball player and asked him about why he chose Valpo over what must have been many choices.

Here is my question:

So I've got a question:  Lots of debate on the Valpo Sports Forum about facilities.  Here's the queston:  What drew you to Valpo and what might have made the difference if you were between two schools?  Was it the size of the arena?  The crowd atmosphere?  the coaches?  The practice facilities?  Lot's of folks think we need to enlarge/improve the ARC.  Would that help with recruiting or is it the school and coaches?  Who better to ask than someone who had many choices!! 

Here is his answer:

What drew me to Valpo was how passionate the Drew family was for me to come there, it was close to home, and the respect of the conference and the big time non conference schedule of my first season being able to play some of the best teams in the country.
And of course wanting to learn from Coach Bryce who had a good professional career.

He went on to say:

I think a new arena and weight room would be a good thing. I considered it a gym and not really an arena and the weight room was very small, maybe they have changed it in the last___ years, I'm not sure. All of my three classes my last semester before graduating were in the room directly across from the locker room!



Without naming names, this was not someone who dropped off of the team for playing time but rather was a significant player.  Sure, he thought an arena would have been nice as would a bigger weight room.  but, the reason he chose Valpo was because of the Drew's, the schedule, and most importantly, Bryce.

[wh]

Without naming names, this was not someone who dropped off of the team for playing time but rather was a significant player.  Sure, he thought an arena would have been nice as would a bigger weight room.  but, the reason he chose Valpo was because of the Drew's, the schedule, and most importantly, Bryce.

This simply supports my longstanding contention that the charisma, image and reputation of the Drews have been able to woo prospects despite the obvious facility disadvantages.  That's fine for now. The question is what happens when Bryce leaves  (which could be at any time) and the next guy doesn't possess that bigger than life persona, and recruits are asking 'what else ya got?'  That's when we're going to learn what happens when a university fails plan for the inevitable reality of  "life after the Drews. 

[valpotx]

Sounds like a good get.  Hopefully he is more of a KVW-type of PF, to complement Peters over the next few years.

[wh]

Midwest Elite's Skara picks Valpo U for hoops

David Skara of Midwest Elite Prep Academy in Merrillville verbally committed to play basketball at Valparaiso University on Thursday.

The 6-foot-8 wing player from Zadar, Croatia, averaged 16 points and eight rebounds for Midwest last season.

The 19-year-old also had offers from Wisconsin-Green Bay, Illinois-Chicago and Robert Morris, with several others showing interest. Living in Valparaiso, though, had Skara feeling a sense of comfort with coach Bryce Drew and his staff.

"David is very versatile," Midwest Elite coach Chris Artis said. "He can dribble the ball, can play the stretch 4 or 3. He needs to gain a little weight to get ready for college ball. But he's willing to put in the work to get there. He has the kind of game where they'll be expecting him to contribute right away." — Steve Hanlon

Saying that he can play the stretch 4 or 3 means his greatest skills are at the 3. We still need help inside.  1 scholarship left to fill that void.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Not a lot on him out there; good to get him now while interest picks up.

http://basketball.eurobasket.com/player/David_Skara/KK_Borik_Puntamika_Zadar/227790?AmNotSure=1#Player%20Stats

His stats from the U17 world championships, now almost 2 years ago.  20 min PT over 4 games for the Croatian national team.  Highlight was 10 pts in 13 min against S Korea, but he was playing because they lost by almost 60 pts (!).  1-7 from 2pt (made only 3PT) and 5-6 from line. 

http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?pcode=004639&gamecode=35&seasoncode=JT12

Next year got 35 mpg in 2 games, averaging 13.5 ppt & 4 rpg.  7/17 floor, 3/6 3PT, 80% from line.

As would be expected of a prep-year player, will be a 19-year old freshman (2/26/95), which is good.  (Bryce was too, if I remember correctly.  not that he's Bryce.  Just saying.)

Times blurb:
http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/high-school/thursday-s-prep-roundup-midwest-elite-s-skara-picks-valpo/article_64750c35-a364-5c0c-a14a-f2487da91f05.html

The 6-foot-8 wing player from Zadar, Croatia, averaged 16 points and eight rebounds for Midwest last season.
...
"David is very versatile," Midwest Elite coach Chris Artis said. "He can dribble the ball, can play the stretch 4 or 3. He needs to gain a little weight to get ready for college ball. But he's willing to put in the work to get there. He has the kind of game where they'll be expecting him to contribute right away."

Green Bay offer was significant as they only have one slot left open for next year.  VT offer significant, because Buzz Williams just took over there, but I'm not going to revive that thread.

STRETCH 4 FTW!

NOTE: PLEASE OBSERVE MORATORIUM ON COMPARISON TO DINO JAKOLIS

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Osipoff weighs in for the Post:

http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/27051357-556/mens-basketball-midwest-elite-standout-david-skara-commits-to-valparaiso.html#.U1sdBF5swkE

"They're getting a steal, a complete steal," said Chris Artis, the associate head coach of Midwest Elite's post-graduate team who recently was named the coach of the newly created high school team.

"He's going to be really, really good, and he's only going to get better. He's a basketball sponge, works real hard, high IQ, deceptively athletic. He has that Euro step down, long stride and he can dunk on you.

"He's a stretch 4- or 3-man. He's kind of similar to (Crusaders rising sophomore) Alec Peters — they'll complement each other well."
...
"A lot of people haven't seen him play, and they're going to be really surprised because he's really good. The kid can play."

thank God for Chris Artis

[historyman]

thank God for Chris Artis

Otherwise known as "CA" on previous message boards a few years back. He used to give a lot of info on the open court sessions because he was invited to play in the open court sessions that the Crusader players put together in the off season.

[valpopal]

I guess this makes it official:

[tweet]461627120007929857[/tweet]

[talksalot]

Pronounciation?    scar -uh   or scare-uh?    just askin' as someone who probably ought to know these things.

[bbtds]

Pronounciation?    scar -uh   or scare-uh?    just askin' as someone who probably ought to know these things.

Go to google translate http://translate.google.com/#hr/en/Skara

then click on the "speaker" icon and google will do the pronunciation. That would be the Croatian language pronunciation.

[vufan75]

Darreon Reddick, another 2014 6-3 2G Valpo had recruited at one point, committed to OVC school Tennessee State per Illinois Prep Bullseye today. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Darreon Reddick Commits To Ohio Valley Conference School: http://ilprepbullseye.com/Reddick_TN_State.html ...

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Darreon Reddick, a player Valpo had recruited at one point, committed to OVC school Tennessee State.

Any idea if we were still wanting him or had cooled on him?

[vufan75]

Just a guess, but I would think we had cooled on him after signing the two Canadian guards for 2014. I would guess the coaches are working hard trying to come up with a frontcourt player with size at this point, ideally a center who can share time with Vashil next year. David Skara has some decent size, but we definitely need another big at this point.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Probably as good a place to put this as any:

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/2014/04/25/college-basketball-transfers-proliferate-various-reasons/8150561/

Contains the obligatory B-Wood reference, but otherwise in-depth & original.

[justducky]

I would guess the coaches are working hard trying to come up with a frontcourt player with size at this point, ideally a center who can share time with Vashil next year. David Skara has some decent size, but we definitely need another big at this point.
                     
                  
                  
                     
                     
                     
                        

The chances for finding more inside help for 14-15 are getting pretty slim. Realistically if another Capo or better size and talent became available then we would have to strike. This would remain true even if the kid would have to redshirt.

[valpopal]

The chances for finding more inside help for 14-15 are getting pretty slim. Realistically if another Capo or better size and talent became available then we would have to strike. This would remain true even if the kid would have to redshirt.

I remember when an unknown player was rumored to have arrived on campus at the end of June, just in time for the second summer session of classes, and he turned out to be a pretty good inside player: KVW. I'm still hoping for another find like that one in the next month or so.

[a3uge]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUT5rEU6pqM