MSU’s reputation in St. Louis might be changing

December 19th, 2009
When the big man was hired for the SLU job, I thought that was going to be the end of STL recruits for MSU. Not the case, at all.

When the big man was hired for the SLU job, I thought that was going to be the end of STL recruits for MSU. Not the case, at all.

I remember saying this exact phrase out loud when Saint Louis University coach Rick Majerus was hired back in 2007.

“There is no way Missouri State will ever pull an impact player out of the St. Louis area again. It’s not going to happen.”

No way. Southern Illinois was, and is, still pulling the top Missouri Valley-level recruits and new Mizzou coach Mike Anderson was making statements about how he didn’t want the state’s top talent leaving the borders. Add in someone with Majerus’ national pedigree, and that meant MSU would have to settle for fourth-tier guys (with Barry Hinson, of course).

Do you think these girls would hang out at Ray's? (Yes, that was from some lingerie show at Icon.)

Do you think these girls would hang out at Ray's? (Yes, that was from some lingerie show at Icon.)

And who knows if that thinking extended to the entire state. If so, that’s like saying  you wanted to pick up a hot, young coed from Icon, but had to settle for a last call hook up from the talent at Ray’s Lounge. (Or a Commercial Street pro.)

I even remember thinking that St. Louis was a lost cause and how Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa and Arkansas might need to be panned as recruiting bases. But then, MSU hired Cuonzo Martin, an East St. Louis, Ill. native. I was still skeptical, and while I’m not praising current freshmen Keith Pickens and Jerome Jones as the next greatest MSU players, both look legit. Better than I ever imagined, assuming they were table scraps from SIU-SLU-Mizzou meals.

Needless to say, I’m shocked. Fast forward to the Bears’ 9-0 start and huge game at Saint Louis U today. It got me thinking about MSU’s perception in STL. Obviously, I don’t live in St. Louis or listen to STL talk radio, so I figured I’d go straight to Pickens and Jones and ask them about MSU’s STL perception.

Brace yourselves.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Missouri State men's basketball, Opinion | 1 Comment »

The Spring Vegas podcast - Bowl Breakdown Vol. I

December 18th, 2009

vegaslogo.recspecsAh, it’s the one of the best times of the year. For gambling and against-the-spread purposes, this might be the best time of the year, if nothing else, but sheer quantity.

Yes, it’s college bowl season.

And, of course, here at Spring Vegas, we are vested in picking as many games correctly as possible. Uncle Rob joined me for a podcast, where we broke down the first half of the bowl games, starting with Saturday’s New Mexico Bowl and ending with the Dec. 30 Holiday Bowl. To listen click on this link, or the link below.

But, we have some exciting news. We have started a  Spring Vegas Bowl Pick ‘Em entry at FoxSports.com, the only legitimate operation that allows contestants to pick games against the spread. Here is the information you’ll need to know:

CFBBowl

SPRING VEGAS THROWDOWN

  • Log on to FoxSports.com’s Bowl Pick’Em page. If you haven’t registered, create an entry.
  • Entry number: 1151563
  • Group password: SpringVegas
  • Prize? Yep, the winner will win a $50 dollar gift card, sponsored by TagSGF.com
  • You can not only choose a winner, but each week, you can assign a bonus point value to your confidence in each game. For instance, if you feel like Alabama is going to wax Texas, you can assign 20 points to the BCS championship and get those 20 pts, plus one for choosing the game correctly. They do not count against you if you miss. If you’re confused, click the help section.
  • This competition doesn’t actually start until the Dec. 26 games, starting with the Little Caesar’s Bowl, so you have time to get your picks in. And tell your friends.

And in the interest of fairness, if you want to discover my picks, or Uncle Rob’s picks, you’re going to have to listen to the podcast:

Spring Vegas podcast — Bowl Breakdown Vol. I w/ Uncle Rob

Posted in Audio, Spring Vegas | No Comments »

Spring Vegas sneak peek — The NFL

December 17th, 2009

vegaslogo.recspecs

Ok, there’s a whole lot of Spring Vegas business to get to, but most of it’s going to have to wait until Friday. I recorded a podcast with Uncle Rob that lays out the entire first half of the bowl season and it’s utterly fantastic.

However, it does include some NFL wisdom, including tonight’s game. So, as an appetizer, here are our NFL picks:

Allen
Houston (Infinity) at St. Louis — There’s no way the Rams keep this within any perceivable spread.
Tampa Bay at Seattle (-6 1/2) — While not impressive, Seattle actually has a home-field advantage.
NY Giants at Washington (+3) — Who cares that Washington is cleaning house in the front office? They play D, something NYG has no idea about.

Uncle Rob
Indy (-3) at Jax
Cleveland at Kansas City (-1 1/2)

Overall in the NFL: 29-35-1

Posted in Spring Vegas | No Comments »

The Hannah Wilkerson Watch

December 17th, 2009
This future Lady Bear has a chance to become Missouri's all-time leading scorer

This future Missouri State Lady Bear has a chance to become Missouri's all-time leading scorer.

Hannah Wilkerson is positioning herself to be one of the best players in Missouri girls’ basketball history.

The 5-foot-9 Miller High School junior has been a prolific scorer since she took the court as a freshman and has developed an uncanny knack for scoring, one that sometimes doesn’t seem possible. Through last season, Wilkerson scored 2,474 points, leaving her 737 points behind Melissa Grider’s all-time mark of 3,211. Does Grider’s name sound familiar?  She’s the star that split the all-time scoring mark from 1988-91 between Morrisville and Marshfield.

Eerily similar to Caleb Schaffitzel’s countdown to breaking the state’s touchdown record, Wilkerson is poised to the girls’ basketball equivalent. Now, I don’t care if you love high school girls’ basketball, or choose to ignore it, there’s no shunning the importance of this mark. It will mean that our corner of the state has an absolute lockdown on the state’s most hallowed career record.

Just take a look at the top two:

  1. Melissa Grider, Morrisville-Marshfield, 1998-2001, 3,211
  2. Kari Koch, Elsberry, 1999-2002, 3077

Yep, that’s an Ozarks native in Grider and a Lady Bear great in Koch. Time to swell with pride. And if you feel that 737 points over a span of 30-or-so games is impossible, 737 would represent Wilkerson’s lowest season total.

  • Freshman, 749 points (a state record)
  • Sophomore, 785
  • Junior, 940

Here at RecSpecsOnline.com, we are going to do weekly updates on Wilkerson’s scoring outbursts — and the first couple are ridiculous (You’ll see by clicking the more link below).

Keep checking back, it’s going to be another record-breaking season.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , ,
Posted in High school girls' basketball, The Hannah Wilkerson Watch | 2 Comments »

Caleb Schaffitzel among trio of MSU football oral commitments

December 15th, 2009
Fair Grove's Caleb Schaffitzel orally commits to play for Missouri State.

Fair Grove's Caleb Schaffitzel orally commits to play for Missouri State.

It’s official: Caleb Schaffitzel is going to play football at Missouri State.

According to the News-Leader and Fair Grove coach Jason O’Neal, Missouri’s all-time leading touchdown leader and all-time leading scorer has chosen to play for the Bears and will exclusively play defense.

Of course, RecSpecsOnline.com has been following Schaffitzel all season long, counting down to his breaking Missouri’s career TD mark. You can check out the final Caleb Schaffitzel Watch here.

Other local players that committed along with Schaffitzel were Hillcrest QB Mitchell Jenkins and Lebanon RB Josh Mattes.

All four players can make their decisions official during the signing period, which begins on Feb. 3.

Posted in Friday Night Football, The Caleb Schaffitzel Watch | No Comments »

D-I Diary: Northern Colorado’s Tate Unruh

December 15th, 2009
And this is Tate Unruh now.

And this is Tate Unruh now.

This is Tate Unruh then...

This is Tate Unruh then...

Whether it was his record-tying eight 3-pointers in Branson’s Blue and Gold championship victory over Clever in 2008 , or pulling his weight in the Pirates’ Class 5 quarterfinal run last season, Unruh became a bonafide star amongst the Ozarks’ — and the state’s — elite.

Or maybe you know him for his size. Admittedly as a freshman, Unruh was 5-foot-5 and barely 100 pounds. He sprouted to 6-2 and 155 pounds, but still, many doubted his ability play at college basketball’s highest level.

Well, that’s where Northern Colorado comes in. Now, I’m sure few of you are familiar with the Bears, members of the Big Sky Conference and the lesser known of the state’s four D-I basketball programs. (Maybe it’s tied with Denver?)  recruited Unruh and are redshirting him this season. But that hasn’t stopped Unruh from experiencing the D-I routines, taking a part of ESPN’s 24-hour college hoops marathon and being a vital practice player for a team that has the highest RPI of any Colorado university (8-2, 107).

Unruh has agreed to share a few of his thoughts with us throughout the season and let us know what it’s like in Greeley, Col. and what it’s like to be a Division I basketball player.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Division I Diary | 2 Comments »

RecSpecs Top 15

December 14th, 2009

If you’re not familiar with how the RecSpecs 15 works, it’s simple. These are my high school basketball rankings, assuming each team will beat the teams ranked below them. No questions asked.

If you missed my boys’ basketball previews, click here for the boys and here for the girls. Also, if you missed the Blue and Gold Tournament seeds, click here.

Now, on to the rankings:

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in High school boys' basketball, High school girls' basketball, Opinion | No Comments »

The Thought Notebook — MSU basketball edition

December 10th, 2009
John Wall was ridiculous last night for Kentucky, much of which could have been forecasted by T of C diehards.

John Wall was ridiculous last night for Kentucky, much of which could have been forecasted by T of C diehards.

I feel like a ton of hyperbole is being slung around by many media outlets lately, especially today. And with that said, it’s tough for me to not act like ESPN’s current love affair with John Wall when I think of the Missouri State Bears.

(Yes, this is the same John Wall of T of C-Bill Self-odd conversation fame. Does this link jog your memory?)

I didn’t expect Tennessee-Martin to beat the Bears, but I expected something more competitive, rather than a 79-51 groin kick. But that’s just it about this year’s MSU squad. They actually seem to have a killer instinct, some type of esoteric toughness about them. That’s exactly what UTM coach Jason James said, heaping high praise in Missouri State’s direction. Unlike other coachspeak, this sound byte has value, seeing how UTM has already played (and lost to) Missouri and Southern Illinois.

“Missouri’s a little longer and a little more athletic,” James said. “(SIU) is very similar. Both are deep … but I think there’s a toughness level here with (MSU) that it’s going to be hard for them to be beat, especially at home.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Missouri State men's basketball | 1 Comment »

Spring Vegas — The Ugh Edition

December 10th, 2009

vegaslogo.recspecs

This season can’t get over fast enough.

Of course, that’s just from a gambling perspective. As for the actual games and real fandom, I’m still invested. More than ever, actually.

However, after a tragic 3-8 week — including an 0-for-2 week for yours truly — there are still plenty of NFL games left to choose from and the greatest measure of college football spread picking prowess. Yep, the bowl challenge. (More on that later.)

Because of an exorbitantly busy week and a clashing of schedules, there is no Spring Vegas podcast with Uncle Rob this week, but we did correspond over e-mail and we have our official picks. Hopefully, this is the comeback we’ve been looking for. (We haven’t said that before, have we?)

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ,
Posted in Spring Vegas | No Comments »

How good are the MSU basketball Bears?

December 9th, 2009

msu.logoWho could have predicted this as of Dec. 9?

AP Poll
Others receiving votes: Memphis 99, Clemson 96, Vanderbilt 74, Florida State 59, Kansas State 59, Northwestern 48, Miami (FL) 46, Oklahoma State 41, Notre Dame 37, New Mexico 35, Illinois 18, Charlotte 18, Baylor 17, Richmond 17, Louisville 15, St. John’s 14, Missouri State 14, Brigham Young 13, Pittsburgh 11, Dayton 8, Seton Hall 6, California 5, Minnesota 5, North Carolina State 3, Cornell 3, Illinois State 3, Tulsa 3, William & Mary 2, UAB 1, Northern Iowa 1.

College Insider Mid-Major Poll
1. Butler (6-2)
21. Missouri State (7-0)

RPI (KenPom.com)
54. Missouri State (7-0)

The final straw would be finding a way into Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology, right? Calm down, the Bears aren’t quite there, yet.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , ,
Posted in Missouri State men's basketball, Opinion | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »