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It really doesn't matter who did it in this case. The simple fact is that Scott Drew is the head men's basketball coach at Baylor, and anything that happens under his watch is ultimately on him. If this happened, and there is ANY proof that he knew or participated, then this is an extremely serious situation.

Calling a player and trying to get them to transfer is very uncommon. Calling "people" associated with the player and trying to get them to do the work is all too common, however. If this allegation (and that's all it is at this point) were to be true, it is a blatant violation of NCAA rules, and there is NO DOUBT in my mind that it was an intentional violation.

There are a lot of coaches in the Big XII (and elsewhere) who aren't particularly fond of Scott's recruiting tactics as it is...this is only going to stir the pot more. Just as one example, some may remember the Hanner Perea issue (I think it might be earlier in this thread).

If true, the guilty party(ies) should be punished and punished significantly. Yes, I'm talking about jobs lost. Blatant breaking of rules cannot be tolerated.



On a side note, the other school that was directly mentioned, Tennessee, was still under the Sleazeball Bruce regime. That doesn't surpise me a bit that they would be involved.

I don't think we've seen the last of sader'03

Probably not, considering that he's done this act before...

I know that Crusader 03 has left pretty abruptly. He often referenced me in his posts, usually in a positive manner. Not sure what to make of his praise, but it is what it is. Do you guys happen to remember dcvalpo at all? I may be wrong about this, but there were certain times when his posts seemed similar to what that guy used to say. It was almost uncanny. I could be a little off base on that, but it's just a thought.

If you care to put two and two together here, I'm pretty sure most of you will come up with four

I don't think we've seen the last of sader'03

Probably not, considering that he's done this act before...

SD State wins in the Summit (title game tomorrow), Davidson locks up their bit in 2OT against Western Carolina.

Could they, yeah...anybody could. I don't see it though.

They have an RPI of 39, and a SOS of 188, and that doesn't include tonight's "bad" loss to WIU. They have 3 "good wins" (57 Xavier, 52 SD State, 60 Akron), as well as 3 "bad losses" (193 UTSA, 123 Oklahoma [apparently, they aren't very good...math wise], 188 Western Illinois).

I suppose they have a "chance", but extremely unlikely.

And, in game #2 from Sioux Falls, Southern Utah trails by one at the half against South Dakota State. A SUU win would be yet another "lock" for a team to fall below Valpo on the s-curve.

From Asheville, NC:

At the half (RPI #66) Davidson 36, (RPI #222, 15-17 record) Western Carolina 35 in the SoCon Championship.

Would be another team that falls below us if Western Carolina wins this one.

Western Illinois just took a one point lead on Oral Roberts with 23.1 seconds to play. ORU has an RPI well above ours at 38, so a loss would a) knock them out of the NCAA and b) slide one more auto-bid below us potentially. South Dakota State is still above us at 52, however, so they would need to lose as well.

Update: ORU turns the ball over with 7.9 seconds left. WIU is in the 1-and-1 if they were to be fouled.

Update 2: WIU misses the front end, ORU comes down and turns it over again. ORU is out of the Summit.

2. TD and StLu lead sections B-C-D in cheers while wearing only speedos.

Ewwwww

We want people to cheer...not leave 

The capacity of the arc might be 5500, but there aren't that many actual seats. So, a sellout can mean all the seats were sold, with student tickets/standing room accounting for others.

Interesting comments about the HL pulling out of the Bracketbuster.  The Valley currently has a challenge in place with the Mountain West through 2012.  With conference realignment in play however, I wonder if that challenge will be extended to future years.  Who knows, but even if the MVC is unavailable, they may as well have an HL/MAC challenge during the interim since it seems like we play a lot of MAC teams anyway.  It will be interesting to see what exactly happens if anything on the "challenge" front.

Keep in mind that in the next couple of years, the Mountain West will dissolve and those teams will join a big conference with C-USA. Could be the chance to start something up with the Valley.

CSU   likable fans........unlikable program
BU     unlikable fans.....likable program
Milw   likable fans........likable program
WSU  likable fans........likable program

I'd take exception, but "unlikable" is much tamer than the "arrogant a-hole" blast from last week.  At this rate, we may improve to "slightly annoying" by the end of the year.   

Butler: Likeable program, unlikeable fans. Except for zvillehaze. He's a jerk. Can't stand him. Wish I could bounce him off the Butler Bubble. Sheesh, what a moron... 

Not sure why, but I just felt the need   Your sarcasm detector might need new batteries after that though...I'm guessing it was howling away...

Correct. Stanford sat two of their top players who were battling injuries, and it cost them.

There's nothing going on, just two separate cases of kids deciding that they wanted to be closer to home.

Bouchie was clearly never a good fit, transferred back home and never was able to get things straightened out, and Ladd is simply homesick. With everything going on around the team and the rough start to the season, its very easily for a kid to get homesick, especially during their freshman year.

Nothing else to read into...

Well, I wasn't going to respond...but Notre Dame is getting blows out by Gonzaga, so I'm bored...

Houston had 18 and 9, basically on the court by herself, considering the rest of her team. I said she would be the best player on the court when she wanted to be, and WHEN SHE WANTED TO BE, she was...no questions asked. That said, IUN doesn't exactly have any pieces around her. As I said, I've been watching IUN quite a bit over the last week, and will continue to do so...it seems that you have no idea who I am (that sounds a bit self-important...), but I can assure you that the other posters who read these threads do know who I am and what my history is...I'm not exactly an outsider to the world of women's basketball or Valpo women's basketball. Again...Houston was the best player on the court when she wanted to be...she just doesn't want to be very often, and I'm pretty sure that's what I said would happen. So, eat crow, no thanks...I'll stick to my usual routine.



On another note, hopefully, this is the first of many...when all of the pieces of this team finally get put together, I think they have a chance to be a decent team.

2) C'mon now...don't try and sell me on IUN being tough.  If we don't blow out IUN, we have serious, serious problems.  We should expect our D1 teams to pound NAIA schools.

I agree we should win this game, and do so handily. However, one must also understand that NAIA basketball is still scholarship basketball. These players are getting money, in a lot of cases a lot of it, to play basketball. The level of basketball is similar to lower division 2 schools, and in some cases better (and some worse, of course).

And, as I said, IUN happens to have one player that could give us fits...again 30 points and 20 rebounds is something that wouldn't be out of the question. With media timeouts, I would expect her to play 35+ minutes...wait until you see her play...(again, when she wants to work)...she is that good.

Games agains non-D1's don't count against your RPI, but they are reflected in your official record if they are not exhibitions. If you had a bubble team, who had lost a game to an NAIA like IUN, they probably get knocked out based on that alone.

Now, maybe we can get the roster issues figured out and all of the sudden, mid-season, we round into NCAA tourney form.  I think we have to give Keith an opportunity to right the ship with HIS players, but tonight is pivotal.

Couple more issues here:

1) NCAA team? At-large? There's only one team in our conference that has a prayer of an at-large, and that's Green Bay.

2) You say give KF a chance to win with HIS players...whose players do you think he has right now? He's in what, his 15th year (or something like that)...he's been recruiting HIS players for the last 15 recruiting classes...and last I checked we don't have any 35 year olds on the roster...

I'm not saying its a "must-win" or that the staff should be let go...I'll just go with what I always say: At the end of the year, the administration and coaches will sit down and weigh everything that has occurred through the year - injuries, illness, NCAA issues, success, failure, etc. - and make a determination if the program is headed in the right direction (and at the HL level, there's a LOT more to it than just winning games...trust me). Despite the fact that the last couple seasons haven't been what we could have hoped for, at this point I don't see any reason to even bring that discussion up...especially not four games into the season.

Thanks, Hoops I agree the Saders thing has to stop.  Sadly reading 03's posts, it is pretty apparent that he is clueless. A fan for sure, but....

If we can't beat IUN no matter who is healthy then Freeman might as well resign immediately after.  They have one very good player, perhaps the best player in NAIA but they are 1-5 so far. 

Definitely not saying we shouldn't handle them convincingly. I'm just trying to point out to 03 (not that it seems to do much good sometimes) that just because this is an NAIA team doesn't mean we are just going to walk all over them...which you know. Sharon Houston is, hands down, the best player in the NAIA. If she actually worked hard on the court, she could (note that I said could, not would) be the best player in the Horizon League (but, we all know that there's more than just talent and athleticism involved).

Also, you can throw IUN's record out the window...Houston only played in their first game (a loss to Bethel) and their game today (a loss to Purdue Calumet). I don't believe she has even been practicing during the time she was out (not injury-related), so it will take the team time to get her back into the swing.

If the team does what I suggested and doesn't let their offense get her the ball, we should dominate the game...but if they allow her to touch it, she could very easily have 30 and 20...that wouldn't be a big shock to me.

Remember, for all these NAIA/D2/D3 teams we play, this is their biggest game, so they are going to throw everything the have into trying to win. Houston will be the best player on the floor...when she decides that she wants to work hard.

1). Please, for the love of all things holy, stop using 'Saders. It makes me want to see how far I can shove a pen up my nose.

2). Do you know anything about these teams? I've been watching film on IUN for the last few days and I assure you, they are going to present things that Valpo won't see the rest of the year. Sharon Houston is 6'5" and will likely be the best player on the floor - when she wants to be. IUN's guard play is lacking, however, sothe game plan will probably be to pressure the crap out of them and not let them get the ball to Houston.

3). An NCAA Division 1 team is allowed two exhibitions or closed scrimmages. Once you have played a game that counts on your schedule, you can no longer play an exhibition during that season.

4). There's no way tonight's game is a must-win. The test will come when the team is healthy, and to see what they can do then. It's very unfair to players and coaches to judge them when they are not at full strength. Once everyone is healthy, then we can see what this team is capable of.

It's really the same set-up as the HL, just with the 1/2 seeds being an "extra" round between the semi and the final.

The small conferences are seeing what Butler, VCU, etc. have done the last couple of years and everyone is doing whatever it takes to make sure that their best teams get in.

VU has never credentialed bloggers before.  Their reasoning is that anyone can set up a blog then say they need credentials just for the free admission.  The free admission isn't what I'm after since my wife works on campus and they are generous enough to let employees and family in for free.  I'm told they are revisiting this issue and have a meeting on Monday with the HL and this is on the agenda.  They are also looking into what other schools do in regards to bloggers.

I'm just looking to be more legit.  A few of the other perks they offer to credentialed media would be nice though; programs, notes, media guides, statistics would all be useful.

VU has a history of giving credentials to "media" people who actually have no professional reason for being at the game.

Most of them are named "Paul", right?     

Basketball rosters can be as large as a coach wants them to be. Mens basketball gets 13 scholarships at a division 1 school and is not allowed to divide them. Which is why most schools have a roster around 12-15

Slightly off topic, but not too far.  Indications are a LoI must be accompanied by an athletic financial aid award letter which outlines the amount and terms.

Do D1 schools mix and match athletic with academic scholarships?  In other words, one incoming freshman is a 4.0 student and if he was not a athlete, might be on full academic scholarship.  Can a D1 school mix and combine the awards?  Back in the day, some schools would offer a 50% ride...not sure if that occurs now or not.

BTW, might this occur, along with financial aid for "preferred walkons?

lowposter

In some sports, scholarships can be chopped up, but in men's and women's basketball (and FBS football...not sure about FCS) they are all-or-nothing deals. Men's basketball gets 13, so you can only have 13 "scholarship" players in a season. How a school arrives at the 13 is probably up to them...my guess would be the basketball team would simply get a "refund" if a player got a $4,000 academic scholarship.

However, with the economy and scholarship money being how they are now, I would guess that most schools wouldn't offer academic money to someone who they already know is going to be on an athletic full ride. (again, the other sports, this is different)

The way the new forum was set up allowed us to set a minimum number of posts required before someone could start a new topic. Essentially, this allows us to keep a lot of the spam out, as someone can't sign up and immediately create threads.

We set that number at 5, so you just need one more and you'll be good to go.