Wood to Michigan State. Official

[rlh]

I think this frees Broekhoff up to be the scorer and leader many of us think he can be....and I think Jay Harris will pick up the rest of the scoring slack.  I'm not worried about Brandon's scoring, more about his passing...but hopefully Buggs will be better with another years experience, Kurth we know can run a team, Kenney will be even better if he can keep his ankles from twisting,  and I'm very interested to see what Boggs, Edwards and Jakolis add to the mix.  I've made no secret of the fact that I think Brandon leaving will not accomplish what he thinks it will, but I do wish him the best and hope he finds what he's looking for.  (I'm more concerned that Izzo apparently contacted him first)  I think he's a European player at best and will be after MSU as well.  I'm afraid he might get lost there, certainly he is not going to be an All-Big 10 player in my opinion, but as I've said before I wish I'd taken some chances I didn't take when I was younger.  All in all, I think Valparaiso will be just fine and I look for us to be in the hunt again next year....Now if VU and Cam can play at all and Kevin's back improves, we may shock a few people.

[32]

Wood is now top of the VU-spite list that includes:  Diebler's brother, Scott Martin, Robbie Hummell, Kenny George, and Bryan Bouchie.  

I admire all of the "good luck" comments but pretty crappy that he is leaving the girl that got him to the prom.  Big black eye on program that clearly stamps us as "not big time" or "able to help folks get to next level".

Broader question is about the value Bryce Drew is brining (or not bringing) to the program as an ex-NBA player.  This needs to be considered by ML - and likely will not.

[Valpo10]

You cannot blame the kid for leaving.

I think what hurts the most is next season could have been one hell of a ride.

[mj]

Is everyone happy now? Our best player just left because we weren't good enough for him.

Also, I'm not going to fault Bouchie for leaving the program. He clearly has some issues going on with him, considering he now completely out of college basketball.

[valpo04]

Is everyone happy now? Our best player just left because we weren't good enough for him.

Also, I'm not going to fault Bouchie for leaving the program. He clearly has some issues going on with him, considering he now completely out of college basketball.

I don't think anyone here is happy... let's get that straight.  

Some of us are just being more rational about it.  Would Butler fans be happy if Stevens left to take a job at a major?  No.  But if he did, I would understand why he left.  There are opportunities at major schools that mid-majors just can't provide, for players as well as coaches.  Especially when that mid-major hasn't even gotten to the NCAA tourney.

[valpospartan]

As a VU season ticket holder I am not happy that Brandon is leaving.  As a MSU alum, I will be rooting for his success.  Weird, eh?

[justducky]

If I were in Brandons position I might well have made the same decision.

I am willing to agree with all the earlier posts which believe that this move has more to do with future basketball success and less to do with education. I am also willing to agree that his future in pro-basketball will only be marginally increased. However both of these points are irrelevant.

The kid is sticking his neck out to better pursue his dream. How many times in your lives have you made choices that worked out incredibly well but for far differant reasons than you first expected? This type of move opens many new avenues for his future success in life and that is all that is important.

[lowposter]

I wanted to get a conversation started on the Masters Degree thread, but no one was interested.

This is the new reality that schools have to monitor regarding their student athletes.  If you are too successful in moving the athletes thru your system, you are at risk at losing that player.  Particularly players which transfer in and gain a red-shirt year (at the school's expense). 

That obviously was not the case here, his redshirt year occurred at SIU, but in the past the student - athletes could use that extra year to load up on classes and graduate with a year remaining, thus using that extra year for an advanced degree.  Summer school and APC classes also give a tailwind to that occuring.

One of the mid major's advanatages has been the ability to keep their student athletes for a full four years of eligibility and that is often with an extra year of maturity due to transfer or red shirt.  Look for that to change, not a huge change, but something that will occur.  First at Bradley, now at VU.  This could be common at the mid majors that attract a certain level of student.

Just thinking out loud. 

[valpospartan]

As of 4:30 P.M. CDT, there is no mention of Brandon Wood transferring to Michigan State, on the MSU website.

[wh]

I've already shared my thoughts ad nauseam about Brandon leaving so I won't get back into that.  I will just say that I have thoroughly enjoyed watching him for the past 2 years and wish him the very best in his new pursuit. 

[Pgmado]

Izzo weighs in.

http://nwitimes.com/app/blog/sports/?p=5238

[justducky]

Izzo weighs in.

http://nwitimes.com/app/blog/sports/?p=5238

At the risk of again being labeled as stupid or dumb by 56 (which in reality is a great honor); I would like to venture that I believe Izzo owes us a future 2 for 1 with us getting the 2. Thoughts?

I have to get back to the Bulls, but might add a bit more later.

[sectionee]

 
I'd settle for a 1 for 1 with ours being held at the ARC instead of the UC.  I like your thought here!

[valpofan56]

Izzo weighs in.

http://nwitimes.com/app/blog/sports/?p=5238

At the risk of again being labeled as stupid or dumb by 56 (which in reality is a great honor); I would like to venture that I believe Izzo owes us a future 2 for 1 with us getting the 2. Thoughts?

I have to get back to the Bulls, but might add a bit more later.

Haha.  I actually agree with you that Izzo owes us.  Unfortunately, it will never happen.  I'd think the best we could hope for with a team like MSU is a 2-1 with our 1 actually being at the ARC instead of the United Center.

[Valpo89]

Wood is now top of the VU-spite list that includes:  Diebler's brother, Scott Martin, Robbie Hummell, Kenny George, and Bryan Bouchie. 

Scott Martin and Rob Hummel (nice try on the spelling) don't belong on this list. Please.

[crusaderjoe]

i mean, are you still bound to your wife if she dies? are you disloyal to her for remarrying if she dies? obviously not. kind of starting to get into a different topic there though...

What if your wife leaves you for some other guy who has more money and is better looking?

Arden Skoglund was a terrible basketball player. That's a fact. I think he recognized it and realized he could be doing better things with his time and left. There's nothing similar going on here.

It's disloyal because when you get a scholarship you're expected to use all of your eligibility with that team. Granted sometimes there are situations where a player needs to leave (change in coaches, lack of playing time, disagreement with the coaches that can't be reconciled, issues at home, etc), but for the most part players should stay all 4 years. There's no extenuating circumstances that warrant a transfer.

Like I've said before, if Brandon goes to the NBA or Europe I'll be disappointed but I understand. Going to another Division 1 team is another story. How anyone can be ok with a Big Ten school coming in and taking our best player is beyond me.

I'm a fan of the Valpo basketball TEAM. I root for individual players because they're a part of that team. Brandon's actions are going to leave this team worse off. I can't be happy about that.

We are discussing player loyalty, not player ability.  Therefore, your comments that relate to Arden Skoglund unfortunately border on absolute irrelevancy in this discussion.  

So let's see here:

1)  Arden Skoglund.  Left program.  As to loyalty, he gets a pass, since he left the program for Lutheran youth ministry reasons.  He wanted to either end or close out his career somewhere else.  Acceptable.

2)  Bryan Bouchie. Left program. As to loyalty, he gets a pass, since he left the program because he had personal issues.  He wanted to either end or close out his career somewhere else.  Acceptable.

3)  Brandon Wood.  Left program.  As to loyalty, eff this kid. He's a moron, you know, because he wanted to either end or close out his career somewhere else.   Oh by the way, he's a graduate of VU.  Unacceptable.

Like I said before, this board absolutely amazes me sometimes.

[nkvu]

Any chance we can formalize our relationship with MSU, maybe become an unofficial farm team to MSU's big league club?  Maybe if they have a couple of big guys who need to develop, they could transfer here, sit out a year so they will graduate with a year of eligibility left, play for us a couple of years to develop, and then go back up to the big club for their last year.  At least we get some bigs we wouldn't normally have a chance at for a couple of years, and MSU gets more developed players to help them that last year.  Win win for everyone, right?

If you can't tell, I don't care much for this loophole.  I don't blame the kid for taking advantage of it, but it kind of reduces us to a developmental league for schools who already have all the recruiting advantages.  That's not an image I would like to have for my school.

[Pgmado]

He went from Southern Illinois to a junior college to Valpo and now Michigan State in five years. Until this past season, Brandon had never had the same coach in consecutive years since 7th grade. Moving from Valpo to Michigan State falls in the category of "normal" for the amount of times he's switched schools.

As a fan, I wish Brandon the best of luck next season, but I'm glad he'll be taking his talents to Michigan State. I think Valparaiso has a pretty solid team coming back next year, a team with multiple scoring options and a team where one guy doesn't need 20 shots a night. Brandon may have needed (or possibly taken) 20 shots a night. I don't think Broekhoff gives a damn if he scores 30 a night or 15, as long as the team is successful. That's not to say that Brandon didn't want the team to be successful, but for what he wants for his future, he would've needed to be this year's version of Norris Cole. Cleveland State rode that guy until the very end. If their season-ending loss to Charleston, there wasn't even another player who thought about shooting. I fear that's what would've happened next season and that's not the way to win games. (I don't think)

Now, one can argue that Brandon won't be a Norris Cole at Michigan State, but as he told me today "they don't have a dominant scorer and I hope I can fill that void." I wish him the best of luck, but I'm happy to take a starting lineup of Buggs, Harris, Kenney, Broekhoff and Van Wijk into next season.

[DMvalpo18]

Any chance we can formalize our relationship with MSU, maybe become an unofficial farm team to MSU's big league club?  Maybe if they have a couple of big guys who need to develop, they could transfer here, sit out a year so they will graduate with a year of eligibility left, play for us a couple of years to develop, and then go back up to the big club for their last year.  At least we get some bigs we wouldn't normally have a chance at for a couple of years, and MSU gets more developed players to help them that last year.  Win win for everyone, right?

If you can't tell, I don't care much for this loophole.  I don't blame the kid for taking advantage of it, but it kind of reduces us to a developmental league for schools who already have all the recruiting advantages.  That's not an image I would like to have for my school.

it's a rule...don't see why we think it's not as legitimate by calling it a loophole. i wish brandon wasn't leaving either, but i don't see it breaking the team. so i am not too worried. i really believe it's a clean move, since he has graduated.

[cmack]

I don't mind the loophole and I don't hold it against Brandon for taking advantage of it.  I felt we at Valpo overhyped him at times.  I think we will end up right near the same place without him as we would have with him.

And yet again, I want to wish Brandon the best of luck  (following his MSU layover) in his very successful professional basketball career..........overseas.

[justducky]

Izzo weighs in.

http://nwitimes.com/app/blog/sports/?p=5238

At the risk of again being labeled as stupid or dumb by 56 (which in reality is a great honor); I would like to venture that I believe Izzo owes us a future 2 for 1 with us getting the 2. Thoughts?

I have to get back to the Bulls, but might add a bit more later.

Haha.  I actually agree with you that Izzo owes us.  Unfortunately, it will never happen.  I'd think the best we could hope for with a team like MSU is a 2-1 with our 1 actually being at the ARC instead of the United Center.

I don't know but Izzo has always seemed to me to be a man with some character and integrity and so ( like Homer) is almost totally out of place in todays college sport sceen. Perhaps we can use this weakness to our advantage by publicly shaming him. Perhaps Homer and Bryce can go ESPN and cry uncontrollably just like the rest of us are doing. I'm sure the man has a breaking point, we just have to find it then leverage it to the maximum advantage.

Before I leave this subject for good I think that NKVU's farm team concept might merit some serious consideration. Our first priority as always should be to funnel Butler as much talent as possible thus ensuring them deep NCAA  runs that generate those big NCAA revenue splits that enable us to travel  the country so that we can play the best in college basketball (like Michigan State). Need I go further? The possibilities with other schools are endless.

And what better cover man than Homer Drew? It might be years before the NCAA starts to raise questions and by then I could have him trained to lie  through his teeth with a "how dare you question me?" look on his face. At worst we can always defend it as a logical extention of free market capitalism because we know the NCAA's respect for the dollar.

Enough- I'm beat.

[32]

I would like to venture that I believe Izzo owes us a future 2 for 1 with us getting the 2. Thoughts?

Valpo has a better chance of getting a home-and-home with Notre Dame Football than a 2-1 (with 2 in the ARC) with MSU.

[valpo84]

By the way, as to the comment about Bryce, that was way off base. Wood doesn't go to MSU without very good coaching and in fact any guard that wants to improve their game just saw a way to do that. If Bryce can help a transfer/JUCO from SIllinois to be a starter at MSU/play "professionally," look at what they can do for me. Ask the question -- was BWood's total game much better than when he came in as just a shooter?

BWood and Izzo both had quotes about the level of coaching.

NKVU may be on to something on developing bigs for top schools. 3 good years of a big. The payoff is 75% revenue split on the return game at the United Center. Maybe a 1-1-1 program (one at the big school, one at ARC and one at United). We improve our revenues and have the services of the player for 3 years. I am starting to really like that idea. (not sure SI).

Finally, this actually opens up a bunch of shots for Jay Harris, who looks a lot like BWood, and could pick up double-digit scoring next year. His games against Butler and Iona were very encouraging. And playing more at the 2 will also feature more plays for him. Spread the other 10 shots around to Broekoff and the new guys and there is confidence this team will score. That hasn't been the issue as we have discussed, bringing defensive intensity to every possession is still critical.

[agibson]

For a moment, I thought we had 14 pages of posts after the official announcement!

But, I see that some thread merging has been going on.

[nkvu]

"NKVU may be on to something on developing bigs for top schools. 3 good years of a big. The payoff is 75% revenue split on the return game at the United Center. Maybe a 1-1-1 program (one at the big school, one at ARC and one at United). We improve our revenues and have the services of the player for 3 years. I am starting to really like that idea. (not sure SI)."

Major league baseball teams often play a game with their AAA affiliate before the season starts, usually at the AAA park.  Why not us?