CaribouJim
02-17-2016, 10:50 AM
You think times have been tough at MU...Front page story below the fold in the Tribune sports section this morning...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-bradley-basketball-youngest-team-spt-0217-20160216-story.html#
A whistle had long since assigned time to stand still. The game clock glowed 34.5 seconds on the scoreboard above Bradley freshman guard Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye's head at center court.
The number under Bradley's name read 16 to Loyola's 23 when Lautier-Ogunleye, a kid from London with a healthy English accent, watched a shot he knew wouldn't count slip into the rim just before halftime of another loss, the Braves' 22nd against four victories to that point.
All he allowed was a shrug and grin as he jogged toward the sideline for a timeout. The 23rd loss followed four days later against Illinois State.
There have been a lot of those kinds of nights for the Braves, the youngest team in the nation. Not everything shows up on the stat sheet or counts on the scoreboard.
Only Navy, which has 11 freshmen, has more first-year players than Bradley's 10. UC Santa Barbara and Northern Arizona also have 10, but none of those teams relies more on its newbies than the Braves.
Of the 12 active players on the roster, the 10 freshmen (including one redshirt freshman) have accounted for 4,495 minutes, tops in the nation by more than 900 minutes over second-place Washington. Those freshmen also average 44.1 points, or 80.4 percent of the Braves offense, which ranks last in the Missouri Valley Conference at 54.9 points per game.
"We had to recruit kids we could lose with," first-year coach Brian Wardle said. "That means high character."
That also means the Braves hope to win for losing, at least down the road, with players ready to be molded. If that means searching the globe far and wide, so be it, Wardle said.
Lautier-Ogunleye, who scored a game-best 18 points that counted during that 54-43 loss to Loyola, is one of four Braves freshmen from outside the United States. The others hail from Australia (Callum Barker), Nigeria (Joel Okafor) and the Netherlands (Luuk van Bree).
"You've got to play the hand you're dealt," Wardle said. "To build a culture, to build a program that lasts, it's important you build it with freshmen and you develop them."
That wasn't necessarily Wardle's initial plan.
Opportunity found
Barker, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward, found himself in Peoria from Australia by way of a prep school in Massachusetts. But only after leaning on Google for some background.
His computer screen wasn't lying about some history time has almost forgotten, those powerhouse Bradley teams from the 1950s, two of which made the NCAA tournament final. The eight tournament appearances. The 12 conference championships.
The truth was there, too, about the program's recent history. The 56-106 record during the five seasons before this one.
"I came here open-minded about what I'd go through," said Barker, who played semipro ball back home. "It's definitely met expectations I did have, and exceeded others."
"It was the opportunity, having the full team being turned over. There was an opportunity for playing time and experience right away."
Ronnie Suggs, a freshman guard who originally committed to Missouri, also has a year of prep school on his resume. He, too, said the opportunity to be able to make mistakes, and learn from them, appealed to him.
"We know it's a process," Suggs said. "(Wardle) knows what it takes. If we stay the course, we're not too worried about the wins and losses.
"The toughest part now is not having as many (upperclassmen) to help out with different challenges."
Oak Park-River Forest graduate Ka'Darryl Bell is the only senior, and he recently returned from a wrist injury. Thornwood alumnus Donte Thomas is the only sophomore. There are no juniors.
'A bumpy road'
A sigh escaped Wardle as he scooted his chair closer to a round table in his office inside the appropriately named Renaissance Coliseum.
How fitting the Hinsdale Central graduate, 36, was hired to try to re-inspire college basketball in a city that has a love affair with the sport. Wardle is trying to earn that affection back 10 years after the program's last appearance in the NCAA tournament, one that ended with an improbable run to the Sweet 16.
Twice this season the Braves have lost six in a row, and early in the season they dropped nine straight. The Sweet 16 seems far away. In a lot of ways, it is.
"My word of the year right over there," Wardle said while pointing toward a sign next to a marker board in his office. " 'Perspective.' I've got to keep it all in perspective, of our youth, that it's going to be a bumpy road."
Wardle has been down a similar road. Six-plus years ago he was 30, freshly hired as the youngest coach in Division I at Wisconsin-Green Bay. After going 29-33 during his first two seasons, the Phoenix were 66-32 during his final three.
He knows what it's like to be young, like his players. He knows what it's like to construct expectation.
It starts, he said, with the basics. Basic passing and shooting drills during practice. Basic instruction and constant reminders during games, when the young players are learning on the spot. He wouldn't say publicly what his goals are for a year or two or three down the road, except alluding to 20-plus wins per season at some point.
Wardle didn't plan for this originally. He thought De La Salle alumnus Mike Shaw, a transfer from Illinois, would play. Back injuries made sure he didn't. Wardle dismissed senior Warren Jones, last season's leading scorer, from the team in August. Six players asked to be released from their scholarships after Wardle was hired.
"I've gotten a lot of, 'Oh, I've been in your position,' " Wardle said of words he has heard from fellow coaches. "I just giggle in my mind, like, 'I don't know if anyone in history has been where I'm at right now.' ... I don't know if anyone really understands."
Signs of Progress
One thing Wardle is learning to understand is patience. He's less animated on the sideline during games, but he's not afraid to remind his players of their mistakes. He knows that without upperclassmen, he must do most of the leading.
Wardle said he hates to lose. He also understands it sometimes is necessary to win, a notion not lost on at least one player he recruited.
"I had envisioned our first year together might not go so well," freshman guard Antoine Pittman said. "Some of that is the level of play we have on our schedule."
Oh, yeah, the schedule.
A 30-point loss to Arizona. A 25-point loss to Virginia. A 36-point loss to Texas-Arlington. Another 36-point loss to Northern Iowa. Two defeats by a combined 61 to Wichita State. A 32-pointer to Evansville.
But the Braves said they see progress. Take their 1-for-13 shooting start that spiraled into 4-for-22 against Loyola, a team they beat by a point earlier this season. All the while, Bradley played defense, stayed in a game that a few weeks earlier might have turned into a blowout.
"We want to build off of our defense," Lautier-Ogunleye said. "That's going to be our thing. Yes, it's a little bit annoying our offense isn't clicking, but that's on us."
The next two or three years, that's on them too. And on Wardle.
pskrbina@tribpub.com
Twitter @ChiTribSkrbina
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-bradley-basketball-youngest-team-spt-0217-20160216-story.html#
A whistle had long since assigned time to stand still. The game clock glowed 34.5 seconds on the scoreboard above Bradley freshman guard Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye's head at center court.
The number under Bradley's name read 16 to Loyola's 23 when Lautier-Ogunleye, a kid from London with a healthy English accent, watched a shot he knew wouldn't count slip into the rim just before halftime of another loss, the Braves' 22nd against four victories to that point.
All he allowed was a shrug and grin as he jogged toward the sideline for a timeout. The 23rd loss followed four days later against Illinois State.
There have been a lot of those kinds of nights for the Braves, the youngest team in the nation. Not everything shows up on the stat sheet or counts on the scoreboard.
Only Navy, which has 11 freshmen, has more first-year players than Bradley's 10. UC Santa Barbara and Northern Arizona also have 10, but none of those teams relies more on its newbies than the Braves.
Of the 12 active players on the roster, the 10 freshmen (including one redshirt freshman) have accounted for 4,495 minutes, tops in the nation by more than 900 minutes over second-place Washington. Those freshmen also average 44.1 points, or 80.4 percent of the Braves offense, which ranks last in the Missouri Valley Conference at 54.9 points per game.
"We had to recruit kids we could lose with," first-year coach Brian Wardle said. "That means high character."
That also means the Braves hope to win for losing, at least down the road, with players ready to be molded. If that means searching the globe far and wide, so be it, Wardle said.
Lautier-Ogunleye, who scored a game-best 18 points that counted during that 54-43 loss to Loyola, is one of four Braves freshmen from outside the United States. The others hail from Australia (Callum Barker), Nigeria (Joel Okafor) and the Netherlands (Luuk van Bree).
"You've got to play the hand you're dealt," Wardle said. "To build a culture, to build a program that lasts, it's important you build it with freshmen and you develop them."
That wasn't necessarily Wardle's initial plan.
Opportunity found
Barker, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward, found himself in Peoria from Australia by way of a prep school in Massachusetts. But only after leaning on Google for some background.
His computer screen wasn't lying about some history time has almost forgotten, those powerhouse Bradley teams from the 1950s, two of which made the NCAA tournament final. The eight tournament appearances. The 12 conference championships.
The truth was there, too, about the program's recent history. The 56-106 record during the five seasons before this one.
"I came here open-minded about what I'd go through," said Barker, who played semipro ball back home. "It's definitely met expectations I did have, and exceeded others."
"It was the opportunity, having the full team being turned over. There was an opportunity for playing time and experience right away."
Ronnie Suggs, a freshman guard who originally committed to Missouri, also has a year of prep school on his resume. He, too, said the opportunity to be able to make mistakes, and learn from them, appealed to him.
"We know it's a process," Suggs said. "(Wardle) knows what it takes. If we stay the course, we're not too worried about the wins and losses.
"The toughest part now is not having as many (upperclassmen) to help out with different challenges."
Oak Park-River Forest graduate Ka'Darryl Bell is the only senior, and he recently returned from a wrist injury. Thornwood alumnus Donte Thomas is the only sophomore. There are no juniors.
'A bumpy road'
A sigh escaped Wardle as he scooted his chair closer to a round table in his office inside the appropriately named Renaissance Coliseum.
How fitting the Hinsdale Central graduate, 36, was hired to try to re-inspire college basketball in a city that has a love affair with the sport. Wardle is trying to earn that affection back 10 years after the program's last appearance in the NCAA tournament, one that ended with an improbable run to the Sweet 16.
Twice this season the Braves have lost six in a row, and early in the season they dropped nine straight. The Sweet 16 seems far away. In a lot of ways, it is.
"My word of the year right over there," Wardle said while pointing toward a sign next to a marker board in his office. " 'Perspective.' I've got to keep it all in perspective, of our youth, that it's going to be a bumpy road."
Wardle has been down a similar road. Six-plus years ago he was 30, freshly hired as the youngest coach in Division I at Wisconsin-Green Bay. After going 29-33 during his first two seasons, the Phoenix were 66-32 during his final three.
He knows what it's like to be young, like his players. He knows what it's like to construct expectation.
It starts, he said, with the basics. Basic passing and shooting drills during practice. Basic instruction and constant reminders during games, when the young players are learning on the spot. He wouldn't say publicly what his goals are for a year or two or three down the road, except alluding to 20-plus wins per season at some point.
Wardle didn't plan for this originally. He thought De La Salle alumnus Mike Shaw, a transfer from Illinois, would play. Back injuries made sure he didn't. Wardle dismissed senior Warren Jones, last season's leading scorer, from the team in August. Six players asked to be released from their scholarships after Wardle was hired.
"I've gotten a lot of, 'Oh, I've been in your position,' " Wardle said of words he has heard from fellow coaches. "I just giggle in my mind, like, 'I don't know if anyone in history has been where I'm at right now.' ... I don't know if anyone really understands."
Signs of Progress
One thing Wardle is learning to understand is patience. He's less animated on the sideline during games, but he's not afraid to remind his players of their mistakes. He knows that without upperclassmen, he must do most of the leading.
Wardle said he hates to lose. He also understands it sometimes is necessary to win, a notion not lost on at least one player he recruited.
"I had envisioned our first year together might not go so well," freshman guard Antoine Pittman said. "Some of that is the level of play we have on our schedule."
Oh, yeah, the schedule.
A 30-point loss to Arizona. A 25-point loss to Virginia. A 36-point loss to Texas-Arlington. Another 36-point loss to Northern Iowa. Two defeats by a combined 61 to Wichita State. A 32-pointer to Evansville.
But the Braves said they see progress. Take their 1-for-13 shooting start that spiraled into 4-for-22 against Loyola, a team they beat by a point earlier this season. All the while, Bradley played defense, stayed in a game that a few weeks earlier might have turned into a blowout.
"We want to build off of our defense," Lautier-Ogunleye said. "That's going to be our thing. Yes, it's a little bit annoying our offense isn't clicking, but that's on us."
The next two or three years, that's on them too. And on Wardle.
pskrbina@tribpub.com
Twitter @ChiTribSkrbina