(2021) G Luke Brown to Ball State

[IU/Butler/Notre Dame 580]

1 hour ago, ray said:

Ball State is not a perennial MAC champion, but they are consistently finishing in the top 5 and usually find themselves somewhere in the top 2 or 3 before they fumble in the last week or two of the seasons. I’ve never quite figured it out.

Either way, for selfish reasons, I would love for him to attend Ball State. I have seen Worthen Arena packed to the gills, but each of those games were during the Bonzi Wells era...a homegrown kid on the brink of setting the MAC scoring record (Ray McCallum was the long-time holder of that scoring title before Wells broke it). Bonzi came along just a few years after the BSU Sweet 16 run (a time when UNLV players wore BSU hats at the press conference out of respect for the only team to compete against their roster of future NBA all-stars), so fans were already into BSU basketball upon his arrival. Things have dropped off considerably since Bonzi’s days, so I can’t foresee any sell-outs at Worthen. But, as for the MAC schools, I believe BSU has the best attendance for basketball games and Brown would be another local kid who could make a big impact at a school like Ball State. 

I would go to a lot more games if he comes to Ball State, and I know A LOT of other people who have already told me the same thing. 

Count me in ...also they made the Maui run in 01 and made noise in the tourney with Patrick Jackson rob Robbins ( delta kids ) and Theron smith 

[TheWatShot 13,799]

There's no reason BSU shouldn't be in the top 4-5 every year in that conference. Much like us, their program has been comically mismanaged since their Maui run in the early 2000's. They've had a slew of coaches, presidents and athletic directors who all played a part in tearing down what had been a strong basketball program. A lot of similarities to what's happened here. 

 

There are a lot of '21 recruits locally who won't play at high majors, including Brown. Unfortunately, their current coach seems more interested in recruiting transfers than trying to bring in high school players anymore. 

[scoot 116]

Yes BSU program is in bad shape and last I saw their coach was only paid like $250K a year. Might be a little more now but if they paid better for coaches and got a better coaching staff to help recruit would be a plus. All the years Ball State was dominant was because of local talent along with a few quality JC guys. Next few years east central indiana has talent and if they miss its going to be the same bad ride.

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[IU/Butler/Notre Dame 580]

54 minutes ago, scoot said:

Yes BSU program is in bad shape and last I saw their coach was only paid like $250K a year. Might be a little more now but if they paid better for coaches and got a better coaching staff to help recruit would be a plus. All the years Ball State was dominant was because of local talent along with a few quality JC guys. Next few years east central indiana has talent and if they miss its going to be the same bad ride.

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Good call on he talent pool

...may never be deeper than next year so they better cash on the overflow 

[IU/Butler/Notre Dame 580]

3 hours ago, TheWatShot said:

There's no reason BSU shouldn't be in the top 4-5 every year in that conference. Much like us, their program has been comically mismanaged since their Maui run in the early 2000's. They've had a slew of coaches, presidents and athletic directors who all played a part in tearing down what had been a strong basketball program. A lot of similarities to what's happened here. 

 

There are a lot of '21 recruits locally who won't play at high majors, including Brown. Unfortunately, their current coach seems more interested in recruiting transfers than trying to bring in high school players anymore. 

Agreed on bsu ...and that Maui run was one of the most fun college basketball experiences in memory for me ....I’m leaning towards agreeing with you on brown if aau doesn’t get in a partial season  but don’t make it an absolute just yet ...there may be a power six still in the mix 

[ray 1,563]

On 4/27/2020 at 12:59 AM, IU/Butler/Notre Dame said:

Count me in ...also they made the Maui run in 01 and made noise in the tourney with Patrick Jackson rob Robbins ( delta kids ) and Theron smith 

T Smith was GOOD.  It's awful what happened to his career (knee).  I think he averaged 18 and 9 throughout his career at BSU before blowing out his knee in his senior season.

14 hours ago, scoot said:

Yes BSU program is in bad shape and last I saw their coach was only paid like $250K a year. Might be a little more now but if they paid better for coaches and got a better coaching staff to help recruit would be a plus. All the years Ball State was dominant was because of local talent along with a few quality JC guys. Next few years east central indiana has talent and if they miss its going to be the same bad ride.

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Along with a couple talented, former coaches in Rick Majerus and Dick Hunsaker.  Ray McCallum wasn't too bad at BSU either.  Tim Buckley made a much better assistant coach than a head coach, although I always liked him.  It was the fiasco known as the Ronny Thompson hire that completely changed the trajectory of Ball State basketball, in my humble opinion.

Majerus and Hunsaker were 140-51 combined.  Since the hire of Ronny Thompson, the coaching record has been 200-239.

[IU/Butler/Notre Dame 580]

5 hours ago, ray said:

T Smith was GOOD.  It's awful what happened to his career (knee).  I think he averaged 18 and 9 throughout his career at BSU before blowing out his knee in his senior season.

Along with a couple talented, former coaches in Rick Majerus and Dick Hunsaker.  Ray McCallum wasn't too bad at BSU either.  Tim Buckley made a much better assistant coach than a head coach, although I always liked him.  It was the fiasco known as the Ronny Thompson hire that completely changed the trajectory of Ball State basketball, in my humble opinion.

Majerus and Hunsaker were 140-51 combined.  Since the hire of Ronny Thompson, the coaching record has been 200-239.

Great post ....I couldn’t agree more about the coaching points you made ....not only was Theron tough , but the roster just complimented each other so well ....Robbins and Jackson making them state run at delta led to them having a tough minded winners mentality 

[IU/Butler/Notre Dame 580]

Saw ball state got jalen windham to transfer from creighton ...that just got more interesting 

[IU/Butler/Notre Dame 580]

https://www.hudl.com/video/2/79205/5eb729c12ab1270b0c073701

 

its a shame none of these highlight comps ever show much passing but this one does show his range and quick release pretty well

[LamarCheeks 18,374]

24 minutes ago, IU/Butler/Notre Dame said:

https://www.hudl.com/video/2/79205/5eb729c12ab1270b0c073701

 

its a shame none of these highlight comps ever show much passing but this one does show his range and quick release pretty well

Man, he has Steph Curry-like range. As soon as he crosses the half-court line, he's in scoring position! 

[IU/Butler/Notre Dame 580]

32 minutes ago, LamarCheeks said:

Man, he has Steph Curry-like range. As soon as he crosses the half-court line, he's in scoring position! 

He doesn’t need a lot of time or space to get it off

[woodenshoemanHoosierfan 6,198]

https://www.hudl.com/video/2/79205/5eb729c12ab1270b0c073701
 
its a shame none of these highlight comps ever show much passing but this one does show his range and quick release pretty well

Put him in a body stretcher and get him taller. I'd love to see that in an IU Uniform. Unfortunately, I don't think it will happen because of his size

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[Stuhoo 79,911]

 

And every single 22 footer went in!  (lol)

 

For me? This short video featuring #22 says so much more:

 

[IU/Butler/Notre Dame 580]

1 hour ago, woodenshoemanHoosierfan said:

Put him in a body stretcher and get him taller. I'd love to see that in an IU Uniform. Unfortunately, I don't think it will happen because of his size

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If only !  Or add some

serious bulk 

[IU/Butler/Notre Dame 580]

45 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

 

And every single 22 footer went in!  (lol)

 

For me? This short video featuring #22 says so much more:

 

Might be my phone but I can’t see what you posted Stu 

[Stuhoo 79,911]

38 minutes ago, IU/Butler/Notre Dame said:

Might be my phone but I can’t see what you posted Stu 

Jordan Geronimo dunking with his forehead hitting the rim. Ahh, to have won the genetic lottery! Lol

[IU/Butler/Notre Dame 580]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

Jordan Geronimo dunking with his forehead hitting the rim. Ahh, to have won the genetic lottery! Lol

Lol  count me in on loving THAT also ...makes the last name appropriate 

[IUsafety 2,775]

How many points does Luke need to take the crown from Bailey? I’m assuming not having a state tournament hurt his chances.


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[ray 1,563]

He needs 1,073 points, if my math is correct. 
 

He currently has 2,061 points.

Freshman - 417 pts in 15 games

Sophomore - 805 pts in 23 games

Junior - 839 pts in 26 games

 

Blackmon has 1,565 points.

Freshman - 601 pts in 27 games 

Sophomore - 726 pts in 26 games

Junior - 238 pts in 8 games 

 

Both players sustained injuries that prevented them from playing three complete seasons, with Blackmon’s ruining any chance of catching Bailey. And with Covid-19, the three-decade long scoring record is likely out of reach for Brown (although, with a full season and a deep tournament run, anything is possible). 
 

Brown also averaged almost 8 assists per game this past season, and he has averaged just under 7 assists per game through his varsity career. I don’t care how big he is, how athletic he is, or if he’s worthy of a power conference scholarship, he’s still a whole lot of fun to watch.

[IU/Butler/Notre Dame 580]

4 hours ago, IUsafety said:

How many points does Luke need to take the crown from Bailey? I’m assuming not having a state tournament hurt his chances.


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Not having the remainder of the tournament really did hurt because he was guaranteed one game but it’s likely he would have gotten three more ...that 90+ points would have made things a lot more interesting.  The 8 And 3/4( and more if they win a sectional game ) games freshman year is what really did him in he was averaging around 25 so that would have been another 200