Preseason press and pubs

I love the publicity, that’s always good for the program.

As a fan, it still feels kinda hollow. We are the obvious top choice because we kept most of our players and re-added a known good MVC player in Zek. The MVC doesn’t get the top recruits that are known to make a difference in P5 preseason polls.

But still great seeing our name on the Blue Ribbon list.

And Wardle will still somehow find a way to refer to us as the underdog, and lament our youth and inexperience.

I’m fully aware of the rosters of other MVC teams. Bradley has an experienced, older team. One that has played together for a fair amount of time - successfully - and should 100% be expected to win the league. It’s not really a surprise that BU is expected to win is it? Seems like a good thing to me.

Having a bunch of experienced high minute guys who suck seems suboptimal. That isn’t Bradley.

Part of the upside and case for high continuity is that the kids that you bring in and stick with you will develop and improve for it. Darius Hannah is as good a case for this as anyone. You’d think a Burch and Atlason grow from the run they got last year. Would be disappointed if they didn’t. How much better though?

I do agree with the sense of expecting some teams in the MVC to be stepping up and being a contending force. I know schools got decimated, but I just am not walking into this season believing the conference is dropping down into that 14th-15th range from when we won 2 seasons ago. Time will tell, but I think some schools with be firmly too 100 and others will be close by. If Murray or IlSU have functional post play somewhere on the roster, I’d list them there, but also can see SIU having that potential along with UNI. Could be about anyone really, though. They all have so many unknowns, but some will hit on recruits I will assume.

We don’t have many unknowns though, and so we should be picked at top. Competitors will emerge to make it uncomfortable, but if we aren’t in the mix that’s a problem, and I don’t want any managing expectations down. Don’t need the hype either, really, but definitely don’t want the underdog spin this season.

And if most of your dreams come true, the "major rebuild" will likely include a new head coach.

Yeah, I never liked that stuff to begin with, because you probably have the best support of anyone in the current iteration of the MVC year to year.  

I cringe hearing them still playing the hits on that slogan in a year they are favored.  But then Georgia football coaching staff was convincing their players nobody thought they were any good a few years ago, and it seemed to have the intended effect, so I guess it’s just a mindset a lot of coaches have and need even when you are good. 

There will need to be at least one player playing at a higher level than expected.  Who will emerge as that guy on the team?  Usually it is someone heading into their junior year.  Our seniors will be who they are.  

Also, rebuilds are not like they use to be.  The portal has changed that.  

Right, and I'd be good with that.

If BW leaves, who would you guys want theoretically to replace him? I'd love a high character guy, who knows basketball at the NBA level, with ties to Peoria. Now who could that be? Imagine having Shaun Livingston as the coach at BU? We could afford him. I bet he could form a pretty good coaching staff.

He'd would have to talk his wife into moving from Las Vegas to Peoria.