Shaun Reid and Tor Anderson quit

[LTown Cat]

Mslacat has brought it up before that the largest contributing factor to MSU and UM taking chances on these developmental MT guys is the NCAA dropping the scholarship level to, I believe, 12 or 13, from, I believe, 15???

Anyway, if you are a parent of one of these kids and you have full-ride offers for your son from Rocky, Carroll (both schools cost in excess of $25K/year), and Tech, vs. a partial or walk-on offer from either UM or MSU, what do you do? The kid and you both know he can play and probably be a major factor at the frontier level for 3-4 years. All they know about UM or MSU is that he might develop into a contributor at some point.

This is why the level of play in the Frontier has increased so much and also why these kids aren't generally willing to take the chance at MSU or UM. Obviously a kid like Emerson is an exception.

Also, look at 2 more things: 1. MT players going out of state (Huestis, Bradshaw, and Osweiler would have). 2. MT players playing fball, sometimes out of state (Osweiler, Miller, and Roderick).

I just listed 5 super legitimate D1 MT basketball talents. I don't think that anything MSU or UM could do would have changed their minds because the offers were there...

Those are all very good points, especially about the players who go out of state to play. It seems like the "BSC window" is smaller than ever, because most Montana kids aren't good enough to play D-I, and those that are good enough get snatched up by higher profile out of state programs. Although I don't know that I completely buy the "fewer scholarships" argument. Even with fewer scholarships available now, I'm not sure that we wouldn't sometimes be better off giving a few of those to lesser talented, but more committed Montana kids who will stay for 5 years, versus a more talented out of state kid who bails after 2 years. Are you saying that those 4 in-state players from the 1996 team may never have landed at MSU, without the additional scholarships that were available back then? If they were coming out of high school today, would they all have ended up in the Frontier? I don't know how many, if any, of those players may have started out only on partial scholarships or as walk-ons, but it would have been a shame if MSU had missed out on any of those guys, just because they weren't wiling to spend a full scholarship on them.

Going back to how I remember it I believe the only non-full scholly guy from 1996 out of those guys would have been Sullivan. The rest were pretty legit D1 guys right out of HS. I don't kow that I agree with that part either--just re-stating what Mslacat has said.

[feb]

not positive, but basketball does not allow partial scholarships.

[John K]

not positive, but basketball does not allow partial scholarships.

Really? I didn't realize that.

[ilovethecats]

not positive, but basketball does not allow partial scholarships.

correct. still no partials in D1 hoops. i know there are in D2 but not certain about D3 or NAIA. but definitely none in D1

[Platinumcat]

Great conversation going (other then my terrible memory regarding the '96 team members ). Other then having an interest in gaining more knowledge, I won't be able to add much to this whole thing. I appreciate everyone's opinions and answering my questions.

[John K]

I agree that this topic is worthy of conversation. I've been following MSU/BSC hoops for many years, and the last few seasons there's been fewer in-state kids on the rosters of MSU and UM than I can ever remember, and I'm curious about the reasons for this. There's probably a number of factors...some Montana kids may have been overlooked and ended up in the Frontier, the very best players have attracted the attention of major programs and gone out of state (which may not have been as likely to happen back in the day), many of the best athletes are now focusing most of their attention on football (even if they played both sports while in HS), and athleticism has become increasingly important in college BB, while fundamental "basketball" skills are probably not emphasized as much as they once were.

And at least at MSU, it seems like we've been recruiting a lot more JC players than in the past, which of course takes opportunities away from HS kids, whether they're from Montana or elsewhere. That's probably mostly a result of the program's long term mediocrity, with Huse (and Durham too, during the last few years of his tenure) feeling a great deal of pressure to produce results sooner rather than later.

[Freecats]

Wether Reid's decision will impact Marcus Colbert's commitment to MSU is a worthless thing to worry about.

Marcus Colbert is at best an ok player at this point and Bradley Huse is certainly not going to make him become a 5 star player ever.
Who did Bradley Huse turned into a solid high profile player? In the past few years, only Erik Rush and Bobby Howard, to a certain extent, became decent players under his tenure. Which means that over the last 6 years only 2 players out of about 45-50 Huse had in his roster became ok players.

Even if Marcus Colbert starts (which he will 99% not his freshman year) he will have a very minized impact on the team.

He is no superstar, at best a possible all-conference third team his senior year....


Lets worry about the real issue;

How to get Huse finally fired?

[catpound]

Lets worry about the real issue;

How to get Huse finally fired?

Amen!!! The coach over there in Dillon at UM-Western Steve Keller would be a perfect choice. He has taken the Dawgs from middle of the road or doormats when he took over like 4 years ago to the National Tournament 3 years in a row. He would be outstanding!

[wbtfg]

Lets worry about the real issue;

How to get Huse finally fired?

Amen!!! The coach over there in Dillon at UM-Western Steve Keller would be a perfect choice. He has taken the Dawgs from middle of the road or doormats when he took over like 4 years ago to the National Tournament 3 years in a row. He would be outstanding!

Wasn't keller fired from helena high?

[ilovethecats]

Lets worry about the real issue;

How to get Huse finally fired?

Amen!!! The coach over there in Dillon at UM-Western Steve Keller would be a perfect choice. He has taken the Dawgs from middle of the road or doormats when he took over like 4 years ago to the National Tournament 3 years in a row. He would be outstanding!

first, we don't need to figure out "how to get huse finally fired". that is not our jobs as a fanbase, and he's a human who deserves better than that. i'm on record saying i think his time has come, but that is for the university to decide. and it's based on job performance alone. no sense in gathering a lynch mob. (egriz shoutout )

as for keller, i think he has done a great job in high school and at western. not sure he has the personality for division 1 basketball....even at msu. i just don't see him meshing with other faculty and boosters very well. he's very rough around the edges and while that flies in naia...especially if you're winning, it often doesn't work at this level. his players love him though, and he always seems to get his guys up to play.

i can't imagine he'd be in the running for the head job here if/when it opens up.

[Freecats]

Some hints about how to get Huse fired;

1. start bowing your own players on the court
2. Come to the games wearing shirts "B. Huse, please leave"
3. Sing during games "Huse step down, Huse Step down"

[catpound]

[/quote]
not sure he has the personality for division 1 basketball....even at msu. i just don't see him meshing with other faculty and boosters very well. he's very rough around the edges and while that flies in naia...especially if you're winning, it often doesn't work at this level. [/quote]
??????????? You have obviously not been around him. The boosters, fans and players at Western love him.

[ilovethecats]

not sure he has the personality for division 1 basketball....even at msu. i just don't see him meshing with other faculty and boosters very well. he's very rough around the edges and while that flies in naia...especially if you're winning, it often doesn't work at this level. [/quote]
??????????? You have obviously not been around him. The boosters, fans and players at Western love him.[/quote]

just the opposite. i have been around him a great deal going back to his time at HH. i have been with him in a basketball setting as well as away from the game. and i have little doubt the boosters and fans at western love him. i said as much. and i certainly don't have a problem with him personally. i disagree with how he's handled himself at times but that doesn't change the fact that he's a good naia coach. but i know many fans and boosters here in bozeman, some that already are very familiar with steve, and i can say with some certainty that he wouldn't be a good fit here.

it's all moot anyway. even if huse is let go, keller won't even be on the initial list of candidates....let alone the short list.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

not sure he has the personality for division 1 basketball....even at msu. i just don't see him meshing with other faculty and boosters very well. he's very rough around the edges and while that flies in naia...especially if you're winning, it often doesn't work at this level.

??????????? You have obviously not been around him. The boosters, fans and players at Western love him.

NAIA boosters, fans and players are different from Division I boosters, fans and players. The money is bigger, and the politics & personalities are different, and the recruiting is different.

I'm not familiar with Keller in particular, and I'm not saying he couldn't adjust, but in general you don't see a lot of coaches go straight from NAIA to Division I. Usually you see guys with Division II head coaching and Division I assistant coaching on their resume, or else retread Division I head coaches. I'm sure there's a reason for it.