Its the last week of May, which means it should theoretically be warm and sunny. Instead its 49 degrees, overcast, and feels like basketball season. If it wasn't for the crew mowing my yard as I enjoy a tasty beverage in my kitchen while praising the saints that my association fee covers yard work, it would be hard to tell that its spring. Or nearly summer. Since it feels like fall anyway, we might as well talk hoops, right? On to this weeks notes:
- Bradley has signed a contract to play in the Top Of The World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. The tournament takes place just before Thanksgiving, and features the Braves as well as Stanford, Central Florida, and host school Alaska-Fairbanks. Other schools rumored to be rounding out the field include Winthrop, Miami of Ohio and Stephen F. Austin.
- Within that same article, coach Jim Les comments on their scheduling woes, which seem to stem at least in part from having to share the Civic Center with other events. "It's just been a real challenge for us to get home games. Of the first 21 days we can play a game, 10 of those are locked up (with other events). We weren't going to do a tournament this year, but that's a reason we did...It's nobody's fault, but we need to maybe be a little more selfish at the approach to getting dates...It becomes crippling to us."
- Still, its hard to feel too sorry for the Braves. Their preliminary schedule already includes Michigan State, Iowa State, Butler and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
- The saga of Illinois State forward Bobby Hill took another twist this week. Hill, who played in eight games for the Redbirds in 2006-07, transferred to Lincoln College last year to work on his academics. He had planned to transfer back to Illinois State this year, but suffered a knee injury during a pickup game. Coach Tim Jankovich says in the article that Hill will have surgery, but expects him to be ready for practice in November.
- Deryl Cunningham, who played for Dana Altman at Kansas State, is the newest member of Kevin McKenna's staff at Indiana State. He was named to the position just hours after his fiance gave birth to their daughter. Speaking of their similar coaching backgrounds, McKenna told the paper "I think the biggest thing he learned there was work ethic. Coach Altman used to talk about how he'd win every sprint, he'd just run like a deer. That type of work ethic, and hopefully some of the tricks of the trade he's picked over time, will help us."
- A former Indiana State player who played for legendary coach John Wooden when he was at the school has died.
- The Springfield News-Leader recently ran a series on the Top 20 Games in Hammond Student Center history. None of the games featured the Jays, but its an interesting read.
- Meanwhile, JQH Arena is starting to look like an arena. The arena will be finished this fall, and will open with a game between Missouri State and Arkansas on November 22.
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