Ryan Tillema

[beanocook]

UWM said:

It does not help with recruiting when a great recruit like Passley leaves.

I dont know what is taking so long with signing a legit recruit. UWGB is closing the gaps fast on us, which overall is great for state basketball, but not for our program.

Later,
UWMfreak

How is UWGB closing the gap so fast? See, this is the one problem with recruiting. People get hyped over commitments. Sure, its nice. But each team is eventually going to fill its roster.

So, you feel GB is closing the gap because they got commitments? What if all of those players suck? Do we/you know if any of those kids are any good?

Personally, I am not the LEAST big concerned for UWM that GB has commitments. None of this matters until the two signing days.

One could argue that GB gets early commitments because they are recruiting against awful schools and the kids are thrilled to get that ride. Meanwhile, UWM is recruiting against MUCH bigger players. You may lose some recruits and it may take awhile to get them to commit, but, in the long run the talent is better.

Its not about when you get commitments or how many you get. Its about who has the best talent. I havent really seen anything yet that proves GB is closing the gap in that regard.

[admin]

UWGB was just picked #2 in the conference on the Athlon preseason poll. We were #1. The gap is closing very fast. I do think they are overrated this year, and I doubt they will beat us. Granted this will be a weak HL season, but they have moved into the top of the pack.

GB is getting some good recruits. Some wont pan out, but there has been a dramatic increase in the level of tallent they are bringing in over the past two years.

Overall, they will have a better W/L record because they play cupcakes. At least they should, otherwise they are hurting! ;D Of course our RPI will be much higher because we have a quality schedule.

Later,
UWMfreak

[admin]

Actually, I take back what I said about the UWGB schedule. It's not horrid, MUCH better than last year, but still void of many challenges.

Saturday 20 IUPUI 7:05 p.m.
Tuesday 23 at Michigan State 6 p.m.
Saturday 27 SE MISSOURI STATE 7:05 p.m.
December
Wednesday 1 at Chicago State 7:30 p.m.
Saturday 4 WEBER STATE 7:05 p.m.
Tuesday 7 at Wisconsin 7 p.m.
Saturday 11 at Montana State TBA
Wednesday 15 at Northern Iowa
7 p.m.
Oneida Bingo & Casino Classic - Green Bay, Wis.
Wednesday 29 RIDER vs. HARTFORD 5 p.m.
UW-GREEN BAY vs. NORTH DAKOTA STATE 7:30 p.m

Later,
UWMfreak

[beanocook]

First off...I dont care what Athlon magazine says. Or any preseason publication for that matter. Those "predictions" are often times written by a local beat writer. There is no "research" going into that.

Im gonna guess UWGB will be picked 4th or 5th in the only poll that counts---the league poll. This is the only one where people who follow the league know whats up.

Outside of Schnatcher (sp), what other GB recruits are talented? Do we really have any idea? Have any of us seen the kids play?

[Hack]

beanocook said:

Outside of Schnatcher (sp), what other GB recruits are talented? Do we really have any idea? Have any of us seen the kids play?

I echo beano's thoughts on GB ... who cares if they have all these recruits no one has heard of lined up? The only gap that matters is the one in the Horizon League win column, and by my calculations, GB only has done that because there was nowhere to go but up.

I've seen Werch and Springborn play ... low-level DI talent at best. Werch only went to Utah because Majerus is good friends with Ripon College's basketball coach, Gordie Gillespie.

[dylanrocks]

A good friend of mine, who also goes way back with UWM basketball. once told me, 'Show me the other schools that are recruiting a player, and I'll tell you what kind of a player he might be.' Bottom line: What other schools recruited these kids? I think the other schools that pursued Tevah Morris, for example, were Western Carolina and Appalacian (sp.?) St.

[dylanrocks]

FYI: Randy Berry (the 6-7 forward from Almond-Bancroft who scored 38 points on WILD ROSE, Hack) received his only other offer from North Dakota St., in its first year in Division 1. Simon Farine, the 6-2 PG from Canada, was also offered by Boston University, Canisius, C. Michigan and Colgate. Just the facts.

[dylanrocks]

Your reactions?


UWGB men’s recruits rate highly

By Rob Demovsky
[e-mail]

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball recruiting class for 2005 already has garnered national attention.

The recruiting Web site Hoopscoop online.com has coach Tod Kowalczyk’s four-player class ranked No. 25 in the country — ahead of programs such as Oklahoma, Arizona and Georgia Tech. Granted, it’s early in the recruiting cycle and some schools ranked below the Phoenix have received commitments from only one or two players, but only one other mid-major program (College of Charleston at No. 18) was in the top 25.

Just think what could happen if the Phoenix land Randolph star forward Ryan Tillema, who made his official visit to UWGB this weekend. The same Web site has Tillema rated as the 188th best player in the country.

Among the four players who have committed to UWGB and are expected to sign their national letters of intent in November were two of the top-5 seniors in Wisconsin, according to recent player rankings published by Wisconsin Basketball News. UWGB has commitments from Somerset forward Mike Schachtner (No. 3 in the state) and Racine St. Catherine’s guard Cordero Barkley (No. 5). Tillema was ranked No. 4.

UWGB also has commitments from Toronto’s Simon Farine, the top-rated point guard in Canada, and unheralded big man Randy Berry of Almond-Bancroft.

Nationally, Tillema would be the highest-ranked player in the class. Hoopscooponline.com ranked Tillema as the 188th-best high school senior in the country. Earlier this year, renowned recruiting expert Bob Gibbons had Tillema ranked 95th. Hoopscooponline.com ranked Barkley 197th in the country, Farine at No. 241, Schachtner at No. 245 and Berry at No. 296.

Tillema, a 6-foot-7 forward, has narrowed his choices to UWGB, UW-Milwaukee and Wisconsin.

Badgers coach Bo Ryan wants Tillema to walk on and redshirt the first year, walk on again in year two before getting a scholarship for the final three years.

Tillema visited UWM last weekend after the Panthers coach Bruce Pearl became interested following the summer AAU season.

Kowalczyk has recruited Tillema perhaps as hard as he has any other player since he was hired at UWGB in 2002. He offered Tillema a scholarship last summer after his sophomore season.

“He’s been on me so long, and he’s really shown how much he wants me to be a part of their program,” Tillema said. “He’s been to just about every one of my AAU games the last two years.”

Tillema has already turned down scholarship offers from West Virginia and Valparaiso. Vanderbilt also likely would have offered, but Tillema declined to visit there.

“I think Green Bay would be a good fit for Ryan,” Randolph coach Bob Haffele said. “I know the Green Bay coaching staff and the Wisconsin coaching staff very well, and he certainly couldn’t go wrong at either one. I know that coach Pearl has obviously done a nice job recruiting him here lately. I think it’s probably important for Milwaukee to get a Wisconsin recruit. When coach Pearl called, it caught me by surprise. I didn’t think they were interested.”

NCAA rules prohibit college coaches from talking about recruits until after they have signed a letter of intent.

Tillema said the idea of playing in the Big 10 interests him, but he said he had to weigh that against being able to play right away. Tillema refused to rank his choices but said he hoped to have a clear idea after his visit to UWGB.

“I really want to make my decision before this season,” Tillema said. “I’m really going to try to, but I don’t want to hurry it if I don’t know for sure.”

Tillema was a first-team all-state selection by the Associated Press last season as a junior. He averaged 19.1 points per game in leading Randolph to a 26-0 record and the Division 4 state title.

“He’s an all-around player,” Haffele said. “Someone his size who can shoot it as well as he can makes him very valuable. He can play inside and outside, pass the ball and handle it. He’s intelligent, and he’s a winner.”

[beanocook]

The rankings dont mean much until all kids actually sign letters of intent. The signing period isnt until November.

I did find the timing of the article interesting. Hmm, a VERY PRO Kowalczk, pro Ryan Tillema article on the weekend Ryan Tillema visits the GB campus. Dont think for a second that wasnt planned.

Does Demovsky work as a PR agent for UWGB or as a writer for the Press Gazette? Sometimes I wonder.

I thought the comments from the Randolph coach were curious. He says he was surprised Bruce started recruing Tillema. Also said he thanks its important that Bruce get some Wisconsin kids.

Thanks coach, Im sure Bruce will heed your advice. Im sure if he wanted it, he would ask

[Kroener3535]

FYI...Ryan Werch is a good basketball player...he honestly could have went to any Mid Major school of his choosing...granted his HS coach Dean Vanderplas has many connections Dick Bennett though enough of him to come to his HS basketball games so Dean could get a feel of what a respected D1 coach thought about him and Dick said he was a diamond in the rough....also Adrian Karsten had a son who was on the team with Werch and he though he was one of the best players in the state...just a thought is that UWGB is going to be much improved over the year...not enough to knock us off I dont think...but they do have some players

[dylanrocks]

Thanks, Beano, for the balance in your remarks. Although it's easy for us as fans to get frustrated with a lack of early commitments, it's important for us to remember that what matters is the caliber of players that eventually sign. In regards to Demovsky, I generally like his style of writing, but I agree that he's way too close to the program -- for instance, he picked Brandon Morris over McCants for his "all-state" first team. That's a joke.