Lennox' Comments on JUCO recruits

I am not going to spoil all the fun, but will provide a few tidbits from coach Forrester and brief analysis to give the fan-base a little early insight on our new additions, and our one subtraction.

All three players signed during the late period are junior college transfers.

Alex Brown, who we may remember from his alleged run-in with an older woman at a convenient store where he was offered all kinds of goodies in exchange for sex (which he and two of his teammates allegedly turned down, despite keeping all of the free goodies) will not be joining the Cougars next season. Brown has signed on with John A. Logan, a junior college and did not make the grades to compete in Division I. Brown, as we may remember was kicked off of Herrin's team in January because of his little incident, which I still think was an inappropriate decision on the part of Herrin High School. I wish Mr. Brown the best of luck and hope the kid is able to get back on the right track on and off the court. School is cool.

Anyways, Brown's scholarship instead goes to Abel Tillman, a 6"8 junior coming in from Highland junior college in Freeport.

Forrester's comment on Tillman:

“He is versatile, very long and athletic and can block shots and rebound. He needs to hit the weight room pretty hard, and he is, but he can hit the 15-footer consistently and his ceiling is high for basketball.”

 Sophomore line on Tillman: 9.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 103 blocked shots (most in NJCAA) 

Other schools vying for him:  Detroit, Fresno State, Oral Roberts, SEMO and Tennessee Tech. 

Where will he fit in? Tillman's shot blocking and rebound ability could have him positioned for the starting lineup at some point in the season. Tillman has an outstanding wingspan and vertical, giving Forrester many options at either the five, four or even three. It all depends on how big he wants to go inside, as Nikola Bundalo will likely be the team's starting center. Since Mark Yelovich is basically penciled in at the four position, Tillman could also provide him spells off the bench. Tillman is athletic for a big man, and is tenacious crashing the glass. He could potentially be an upgrade over guys like Zeke Schneider and Dob Mavrak at the post position.

The next two guys are from Wabash Valley junior college, and both of these guys were teammates with our old pal Brandon Dunson, who is also moving on up from Wabash, and headed to Arizona State.

First up is Cornelius Chatt, a 6"2, 190 pound shooting guard.

Forrester's comment on Chatt:

“He adds a lot to our team as far as the way we want to play."

 Sophomore line on Chatt: 10.9 ppg, 45 percent shooter from the field.

Other schools vying for him:  Albany, Austin Peay, Portland State, Sam Houston State, and SEMO

Where will he fit in? Chatt has a great build for basketball. He is a hard-nosed defender, and can push the ball in transition. As far as Forrester's quote, he is really looking to add physical toughness to his team. They need to develop a gritty attitude, which was something they lacked last season. The Cougars were soft in 2009-2010, and that's why they were pushed around so often, especially on the glass. Chatt is not necessarily a rebounder, averaging just under three a game, but you can't expect much on the boards from a shooting guard. He probably won't be a starter with all the players SIUE already has at the position, with Murphy destined to start and Stineman undoubtedly getting his fair share of minutes due to experience, but Chatt is a step in the right direction as far as fitting into Forrester's system and changing the team's approach. 

The final addition comes in Corey Wickware, a 5"10 point guard.

Forrester's comment on Wickware:

““Shooting is a key, that is how you score. That’s what Corey brings to the table. He can also pass it and push it forward; he is an all around team player. All of these guys are."

Sophomore line on Wickware: 11.6 ppg, 46 percent three point shooter, 86 percent free throw shooter .


Other schools vying for him:  Montana State, Morehead State, Austin Peay and North Carolina A&T

Where will he fit in? Tillman may have the best rating according to Scouts, but Wickware is the real steal in this recruiting class. Point guard is the most important position in basketball, and with Aamir McCleary graduated, SIUE needs a replacement and they need it now. Wickware could potentially solve this problem, as he and Gerald Jones are the only two natural point guards on the team's roster. Wickware is very creative, and has great vision and basketball IQ. His 46 percent three point shooting last season was insane. As a team, SIUE averaged 31 percent last year, and if Wickware's numbers can translate well to the next level, we could be in for a pleasant surprise. 


Forrester's latest recruiting class looks really good on paper, but then again, you never know how these things pan out until the guys are on the floor together. I was worried heading into a question mark filled off-season, but Forrester seems to have alleviated some of my concerns. The Cougars will have more depth in the paint, and I have the hope Zeke Schneider can develop into a better player over the course of the off-season. He was showing strides towards the end of the year, and the only way to go for him is up at the moment.

I really like the collection of guards, although I am a little worried about the potential minutes available to Murphy next season. His electric presence needs to be on the court as much as possible.

The point guard spot is kind of a wait and see at the moment. It's a JUCO guy, a freshmen and whoever is left over from shooting guard capable of doing the job in competition.

I would be happy to hear any and all fan feedback, it is very much appreciated in the early stages of this blog.

-Allan.

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A cool cat named Alex Brown

One of the toughest decisions looming for SIUE men's basketball Head Coach Lennox Forrester will be one made off the court.

Alex Brown, a senior recruited out of Herrin High School was set to join the Cougar's roster next season, but allegations of theft put his high school career in limbo, as the Alestle reported two weeks ago.

Once details regarding the allegations became public at a Jan. 20 hearing in Herrin, the decision inevitably got harder for the SIUE coaching staff. Brown's prep playing days have ended.

Brown, along with two teammates, JoJo Hart and his younger brother DeShaun Hart walked to a local convenient store to get some snacks and sodas to compliment a long night of video gaming.

You probably know what's next; they stole from the store. Well, you guessed wrong. Enter, gray area.

A "cougar" approached the trio. No, it was not our furry friend Cory, rather the other kind: a 35-year-old woman, according to the Benton Evening News.

The article out of Benton tells the story of how the woman asked them to come to her house, where she offered food, alcohol and sex.

Interesting.

At the meeting, the Harts' mother, Dondra Porter, addressed the incident, claiming the players did not give into their temptress, declining her sexual advances, passing on her booze and not eating her food, meanwhile accepting the non-SIUE-cougar's gifts, which included a television, camera and iPod.

Porter said once the woman fell asleep, with Brown and the Harts still at her residence, they hightailed it out of there with the gifts, prompting the "cougar" to identify the players on Facebook and call the police. The police went to Herrin and questioned the players, prompting their suspension.

The items were later returned.

The biggest question is why did the players go to the house in the first place if they wanted nothing to do with sex, booze and free food? Why did they stay?
If what Porter says is the real story, then no harm is done. The players made a stupid decision and apparently never learned about taking candy from a stranger in kindergarten.

The woman should be the one punished for offering alcohol to minors, and the younger Hart was under 18 so if she was offering him sex, she could be punished for that as well.

On the other hand, parents are always trying to get their kids out of trouble, and it is easy for anyone to speculate on the night being any different than we have come to believe.

Truthfully, we will probably never know the entire story.

I have no idea whether or not SIUE needs to reconsider Brown's scholarship. That ball is in their court. One train of thought leads to believe boys will be boys and the other lends to every action having a consequence.

SIUE wants the best student athletes they can get. From numerous stories we have done, and the shiny 3.03 GPA across the Athletic Department, I can honestly conclude this university does not want questionable individuals on its courts or fields.

This whole situation opens the door to questions concerning Brown. Once again, if the story is as it was told, he did nothing wrong. He is also 18, so if anything sexual occurred, it is null and void in the eyes of the law.

SIUE needs to make an informed decision about Brown. Given what we know, the ideal scenario would be for Forrester to sit down and have a conversation with Brown, find out the whole situation, and try and get him to learn from this and become a better person on and off the court. This is a character issue that can be fixed, rather than something with criminal intent and should be treated that way.

His suspension may just be an overreaction to a young adult's actions by Herrin High School, but Forrester and his staff need to give this some serious thought, and ultimately give Brown his shot at continuing his basketball career and growing up a little bit.

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The first Wednesday Word

Seems like it's been forever since we have updated this thing, my apologies, got a little sidetracked with classes starting back up, but the Alestle started back up as well, no real excuses, no rest for the weary, that sort of thing.
All of that being said, there is a lot to talk about, so let's get rolling!
The SIUE men's basketball team has hit a rough patch. There have not been a whole lot of positives to write home about this season, there are various things factoring into this, and it has been a frustrating time for all of us who consider ourselves to be fans of the mighty Cougars. (Yeah, I know, I shouldn't be a fan, because I'm a so-called 'journalist,' but the school gets tuition money from me too.)
The last column I wrote summed up what I feel this team is about, and since it ran the team has done nothing to make me change my mind. We suck.
It is hard to be rough on these guys. You cannot help but like our team, they're a bunch of lovable losers, really classy guys and I'm sure all the losing has been taking its toll on them and incredibly hard to stomach. Going to Division I isn't easy, and I do not like using it as an excuse because SIUE has so much going for it, being in the Ohio Valley Conference (No. 21 in conference RPI) and what not, having a great recruiting pipeline (St. Louis and Chicago) and becoming more and more a legit college.
Now I'm done being nice and ready to talk business.
Monday's game shows us how far we have come, or not come for that matter throughout this process.
UT Martin entered the game dead-last in the OVC. At the Alestle, we count OVC games against SIUE in our newspaper's OVC standings. No one else does. So, as it stands, the Skyhawks are 0-9 in real OVC play, and 1-9 in Cougar-included OVC play. They are 3-16 overall, with wins against the Cougars and a pair of non-DI schools, Westminster (Tenn.) and the pride of St. Louis, Harris Stowe. To put it lightly, losing to this team was really really really embarrassing. (notice how the expletives were replaced with the word 'really?'...Really?
How bad was it? Picture us losing to the mess SEMO was last season or New Jersey Tech during their two-season long losing streak. Maybe picture what it would be like if SIUE lost to a D-III school...oh, that actually happened. Never mind. Through Sunday, SIUE's RPI ranking sat at No. 318 out of 346 D-I schools, Martin at 335, so that number will inevitably drop.
A few telling stats from the boxscore, and nothing really out of the ordinary here.
Mark Yelovich and Aamir McCleary combined to score 38 of SIUE's 56 points. Breaking out the good old calculator, we figure that is 68 percent of the team's offensive total. Without these two guys on the floor the Cougars have zero pulse.
McCleary's night could have been even better had he been knocking down his shots. He was just 6-18 from the field, 2-4 from three-point territory and knocked down two of three free-throws. He had five rebounds, tied for the team lead with who else? Mark Yelovich.
So, Mark and Aamir, you get a pass on this one.
SIUE shot 38 percent as a team, and the bench scored ZERO POINTS in 61 combined minutes. 30 of that went to the defensive efforts of Stephen Jones, while the freshmen LeShaun Murphy played just seven minutes, going 0-2 with one rebound. SIUE collected just 27 rebounds the entire game, to UT Martin's 46. SIUE had just six on the offensive glass to 15 for UTM.
The Cougars again, took 24 shots from beyond the three-point line, making eight.
So, what is new?
Absolutely nothing.
There is really no point in analyzing this team because every single game they have the same problems, and if you read up on your Cougar basketball you can easily get a sense of Deja Vu. Wait, did they just take the game story from the Kennesaw State game and slap on UT Martin's name instead? Seems like it.
A change in philosophy is really the only thing in order here. Lennox Forrester claims to preach to his guys about playing the game inside out, working the interior post and kicking it out to create open looks. Coach, how do you improve on rebounding? "well, I'll tell the guys to box out and harp on it in practice..." yet, here we are, 20 games into the basketball season and the same things are happening over and over again.
Is it too late to switch things up and implement a motion or Princeton style offense to push aside the failed high post strategy? Probably.
Again, by no means do I want to be hard on these guys, but the smartest college basketball man I have ever met, Kyle Whelliston of the Mid Majority (who was in town for the Robert Morris game,) said it best trying to describe what he has seen from SIUE. He told me our guys have a real business-like approach to the game. Kind of like robots, they go out there, play basketball and that's it. On a more awesome note, here is a photo of myself and his friend Bally.
Next time you watch SIUE, pay attention to their composure on the court.
I won't go into detail about the Robert Morris game, but 92-71? Come on. They are in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. I had never even heard of that before the game. Yes, there is a level of college basketball BELOW the NAIA and we witnessed it.
In other news (somewhat related,) there has been some off-the-court trouble-making on the part of SIUE recruit Alex Brown, which I did a little brief on a few weeks ago but alas, the juicy details regarding his suspension from the Herrin High School basketball team have emerged, in an article by the Benton Evening News.
At first I laughed, then I cried, and after that I wrote a View From the Sidelines column sharing my opinions on the matter for Thursday's paper. Big decision looming for coach Forrester, his staff and AD Hewitt, and it could mean another scholarship becoming available during the off-season recruiting period if SIUE decides to act on the matter.
In my opinion, Brown, the Harts and the Hart's mom; who inevitably attempted to take a bullet for her kids as all mothers of distressed teenagers do, are not giving away the whole story. There has got to be more than this, and it could cost Brown more than just half a high school basketball season.
Another intriguing SIUE basketball related note involves former Cougar guard Brandon Dunson.
Dunson left the Cougars after playing just one semester of basketball upon transferring into SIUE from UT Chattanooga for Wabash Valley, a junior college. It kind of upset me, to be honest because I was expecting big things from the kid. Apparently, people obviously more important than me feel the same way.
I didn't understand the reasoning behind Dunson's transfer to Wabash Valley of all places. Maybe Bradley in the Missouri VALLEY, but not WABASH VALLEY. The reasoning behind his departure is now apparent because bigger and better things await, and transferring to another mid-major right away for his sophomore season of eligibility means another long red-shirt period due to NCAA guidelines. Dunson is getting scouted HEAVILY by the likes of UCLA, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Illinois, Oklahoma State, USC and Nevada. The Gonzaga people seem to be excited at the prospect of having Dunson join their squad, and according to Dunson's twitter page, all of the major schools looking at him seem to be eager for his services.
This is jaw-dropping news to me that he was ever that good. Dunson is averaging 11.5 points a game at Wabash, and looked to be an intriguing player to watch at the mid-major level, but never a guy playing half his season on ESPN. Looks like the kid has options now, good for him, but SIUE could sure use his contributions right now...(cough...play LeShaun Murphy more...cough.)
Men's basketball is all the talk, because of the media coverage, but the women have been doing fairly well recently, as in not consistently being awful, and being winners of their last two home contests against D-I schools, something the men have yet to do over two seasons. Things are really looking up for Amanda Levens and crew, they could legitimately compete for the OVC regular season crown next season, with the conference on the women's side shaping up horrendously thus far in 2010, (although it would all be for naught, with no trip to the conference tourney and what not.)
We have baseball, softball and tennis getting started up soon, hopefully we see a few positive story-lines come across featuring those teams down the road, because we need them.
Finally, I just wanted to end by congratulating the Southern Star Dancers on winning their competition this past weekend in Chicago. Good job.
Also, wanted to give a shout out to Alex Helton for his feedback on a few of our blogs, not hard to agree on any analysis of the Cougars, or headless chickens.
That's all, keep your pant's off the ground all you cool cats.

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