Just got back from a great afternoon viewing the men's basketball open practice. Hats off to AD Steve Watson For putting on a great event.
After the practice there was a great barbecue. Pat Schultz and Tom Soboros did a great job on the grill serving burgers and hot dogs and all the usual goodies. Plenty of beer and pop and Bball talk.
A lot of former players were there like john Hunter. Greg Williams, Andre Moore, Tracy Robinson, Stephen Robinson, Dave Klusendorf and several others. Nice reach out to former athletes.
The NCS state game is set for after Paradise Jam in Ralaigh.
Next year at the Joe. Then we go there for a cash payout.
Don't be surprised to see a home and home with a Chicago rival from a suburb to the north.
Very impressed with Custer and Satherwaite. Kirby has really improved. Milton not there as he had to be at a funeral that our head coach took time to attend. Bruno still recovering from his minor surgery.
The big 6'9 kid from Crotia looked good and can also shoot from beyond the arc. I also liked the 6'5"
220 pound forward and the kid from central Illinois from the level one championship team. (Drawing blank in the names).
The team heads to Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid and play four pro clubs.
No return game to Western Illinois. We open at home against Alcorn State. Play Wright State and UW Milwaukee at home and only return the Milwaukee game. UIC and Toledo on the road.
Why not take a minute and write a check to men's basketball or better yet but a season ticket.

A very interesting report, Streak. Thanks for the info.

Alcorn State must be November 11. A 2 for 1 with NC State is a good deal.

It's long past time to work out a deal with Northwestern, the closest D1 program to us-- we haven't played them since Dec 21, 1996, coming up on 20 years. In the interim we've played every other D1 school in Illinois multiple times, and we've played five other Big 10 teams more than once (Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin).



Season tickets is the way to go. You can't high-five anybody, meet new people, or have a beer before/after the game if you don't show up.

Thanks for the report Streak!

I love this time of year when we are undefeated and all the new players are promising, all the returning players are improved, and all the injured players are recovering.

Plus all the beer is cold, all the hot dogs hot, and Cigarboy is facing impeachment.

Life is good!

The Streak ALWAYS gives out with great reports !! NICE !! BUT when he listed former players he named David Klusenheimer !! Who is that and when did he play for us ???? JUST FUNNIN YOU KLU !!!

I will say this --our schedule is as good as any and better than most !! We are getting good and others --except Chgo Media is realizing this , hence the enhanced schedule !! NEXT--Win a few of these games !!

YAY !!

GO RAMBLERS !!

Kirby definitely looked a lot better. Vlatko had a bit of a rough practice, but he seems able to finish well inside.

Chastain and Satterwhite both very athletic, as advertised. Both seemed very coachable as well.

Clayton, Ben, and Townes all seemed to be very vocal leaders. That was nice to see. It was a noisy practice. Those three all looked like really good players.

In the surprising (to me at least) news department, Tyson Smith was out on the floor. He said he's a few weeks away yet from full contact 5 on 5, but he's doing drills and expecting to be ready by October.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

So you think Tyson will be ready when we play Alcorn State on November 13th?

Maybe we'll add an exhibition game. Have you heard anything about that?

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Custer looked to be as good as advertised and if I had to choose was the best player on the court at practice. Had a great deal of control and a great jump shot; his game was smooth and he plays with confidence. He's going to be fun to watch this year.

Marques Townes our red shirt guard also looks to be a major piece moving forward; strong, fast, and physical. He'll be huge in replacing Milton after he graduates. He went down with an injury but hopefully he is okay.

Cam Satterwhite flashed on defense with his long arms had a steal that led to a dunk during a 5v5 drill. He looks like he may have a halfway decent 3 point shot which would be a nice bonus in addition to his athleticism. Of all the newbies he was talking the most with teammates. Porter asked him if he wanted a break and Cam said he didn’t want to go out which Porter was pretty thrilled by. Good sign.

Chastain needs to add some weight but I was surprised to see how explosive he was above the rim in person (between him and Cam we have some highlight dunks in our future). He did some work down low against our posts and battled admirably preventing inside passes.

Aundre Jackson’s game does seem to be really reminiscent of Christian Thomas’. He’s undersize but strong down low. Also looked to have some range to his game; he may become a fan favorite if he keeps it up.

Vlatko Granic looked like he had a rough practice but seems to have a strong will to improve and get better. I got the sense his attitude is right and he’ll be fine. Working in a gym with bad acoustics has to be especially tough when English isn’t your first language. When he got his 3 pt shot going it looked nice.

I was really surprised at how much Kirby has improved. His footwork improved greatly as did his touch around the rim. He hustled up and down the court and always seemed to know exactly where to be.

Donte looked steady as usual; he’ll likely continue to add a steady 8 points per game. If his 3 pt shot can bounce back maybe more.

Ben Richardson looked much more confident offensively, even driving to the basket. He looked a bit bigger and quicker. Clayton and him have great on court chemistry and were both very vocal on the court. Hopefully they provide strong leadership for the team moving forward.

Overall the team looked good! It’s still early and there will be growing pains with all the new players during the season but that’s true of any team with this many new players. It’s encouraging that Ben and Clay are taking on leadership roles; and I would certainly say the team chemistry seems stronger this year.

Sorry for the long post. Only 3 months til tip off!

If we do, I just hope it's not some Division 2 team! One thing for sure, it won't be DePewl!

Thanks for the great scouting reports, ahunte and blers.
Well done!