Van Coleman on cstv.com gave an overall Big Ten basketball recruiting update and listed two early signees for Northwestern. He lists John Shurna, a 6-8 forward from Glenbard West high school and Nick Fruendt, 6-5, out of of Batavia.
Don't know anything about either player, but of more interest was the fact that the Cats enjoyed a visit from 6-11 Garrett Stutz from Kansas City. He sounds like an immediate starter because, well, he's tall.
News today that forward Kevin Coble will take a leave of absence from the basketball team hit me a little hard.
Because I was renewing my season tickets.
We wish Coble's mom the best in her cancer treatment and admit our reaction was not how we wish it would have been. But it's a pretty tough break for a team that looked to be heading into a rebuilding season with decent young talent. But it was all talent led by Coble.
Yes, he's NU's best player. We expected him to improve. We expected him to help lead a team of young players like Mike Capocci and Michael Thompson. But without him this year, Northwestern is a bottom of the Big Ten team.
Adam Rittenberg's article in the Daily Herald discussed how Coble's mother was at all home games last year.
We admire Coble's dedication to family and are thankful that Bill Carmody allowed him the leave of absence without hesitation. After your initial thoughts, you do start to think about how long Coble will be out. It's possible that he could miss the non-conference schedule and be back for the Big Ten season.
Of course, then the cynical Northwestern fan comes out and asks if he'll come back at all. NU has a long history of devastating transfers and you can talk yourself into the possibility that Coble will elect to transfer to Arizona or Arizona State and be close to home. Your mind goes in that direction, but it doesn't seem that is his intent.
For now, we just wish Kevin and his family the best.
So, are there any bright spots in a 13-18 season? As you can probably imagine, yes.
- Kevin Coble proved to be one of the best freshmen in the Big Ten.
- Jeff Ryan also looks like a great recruit out of Chicago.
- Vince Scott graduates
- Mike Capocci and Michael Thompson are two good recruits for next year that should play right away.
- Our two redshirt Croatian players -- Nikola Baran and Ivan Peljusic -- are both 6-8.
The problem, though, is that NU still lacks a big man and the Cats desperately need a player who can rebound consistently in the Big Ten. Could either Baran or Peljusic be that player? I tend to doubt it, but let me offer my theory on how the Cats need to recruit and form their team.
The Cats need to go the route of 2-4 6-8 forwards that can rebound, pass and shoot in the Princeton offense. A 7-foot center more suited to playing on the box will not fit this system. But several 6-8 players who can run and shoot will pose matchup problems for Northwestern's opponents.
If you have two 6-8 players in the starting lineup -- and they could eventually be Baran or Peljusic -- the Cats could have an offense of 2-3 guards, an athletic swingman and two versatile 6-8 forwards. Is it an ideal team compilation? No, but in this era of college basketball, it could work.
Northwestern is never going to have a classic team with a great point guard, scoring small forward and a monster center in the middle. That is not the personnel that coach Bill Carmody has, nor is it the type of player that they are currently after. Carmody seems to want a team made of five players who can all shoot, dribble, pass and move without the ball.
And he's not far from having it. The Cats have one more scholarship to give in the spring signing period and if they can sign a big forward, it'll be the best recruiting class Carmody has ever had.
If I had my way, this would be the starting lineup next year.
PG: Craig Moore - backup: Jason Okrzesik and Mike Thompson
SG: Jeff Ryan - backup: Jeremy Nash
SF: Mike Capocci - backup: Sterling Williams
PF: Kevin Coble - backup: Ivan Peljusic
C: Nikola Baran - backup: upcoming recruit if we can sign a big man
It's an extremely small lineup and is counting heavily on several players that have never played a minute of Big Ten basketball. (Thompson, Capocci, Peljusic and Baran) Coble is listed at power forward just to fill the space, but he is a classic example of a versatile 6-7 player that we are essentially forced to play with at this point. Since he's such an excellent player, and does so many things so well, we could live with him at the 4 spot. But Baran will need to be a monster on the boards.
The Cats are said to be in the running with several Chicago-area recruits, but they need to land a player with size as a necessity. It is a great opportunity for someone to play immediately at a Big Ten school. You have to think there's a possibility that this will appeal to a local player.
All in all, there was a lot of positive steps made this year, despite the record. The Cats need to take a step up next year to be a 17-18 win team. That would enable them to be an NIT team and would allow fans to start dreaming of the NCAAs in 2009.
It's really not such a longshot. It can be done.
I attended the Cat Chat with Coach Bill Carmody tonight at Wolfgang Puck's in Evanston. I've always enjoyed these events because it's a chance to see Carmody in a different setting and hear some insight on the season.
However, the most striking thing for me tonight was the sense that Carmody was so worn down by the season. The loss Wednesday to Indiana was a tough one, a game the Cats played well and gave a great effort against a good team, but lost. And it had to be tough.
And Carmody isn't Norman Vincent Peale in general. He has a dry, self-deprecating sense of humor and he's not a rah-rah guy, but he seemed really down tonight. Let's hope it's nothing more than a long season and a long week. I sure hope so.
The other interesting tidbits from the Chat were Carmody's admission that they need a big man (duh) and they are actively involved with some recruits. "We're working on it," Carmody said, which drew some laughs because it was such an obvious point.
He was asked about the inroads the Cats have made with Chicago-area recruits and he gave a sense that the Cats have another good recruiting class coming in. Mike Thompson, from Lincoln Park high school, is "tough as nails" and Carmody praised the athleticism of Mike Capocci from Glenbard East. Capocci is the key to the recruiting class and I'd be surprised if he didn't start right away.
Going back to the lack of a big man issue, I don't think NU will land a true, 7-footer type. That type of on-the-blocks player doesn't jive with the offense that Carmody runs. What the Cats really need, in my opinion, is a couple 6-8 players who can rebound, but are versatile enough to score and pass on the perimeter.
It's why Kevin Coble is the perfect recruit for NU. Sure, that's easy to say now that he's proven to be one of the best freshmen in the Big Ten, but it bears repeating. He couldn't be more perfect for the offense and he can help in the rebounding department. He's 6-8, but certainly could add more bulk in the future.
And speaking of 6-8 players, Carmody talked about the two Croatian freshmen, Ivan Peljusic and Nikola Baran. Both are redshirting, so we haven't seen them play and there is some curiousity about their ability. Carmody did say that their English was getting much better. Carmody had more praise for Peljusic and told a good story about how he was playing in a scrimmage at practice and was scoring quite frequently. He scored to win the scrimmage game and yelled something that Carmody didn't understand. He asked Ivan Tolic what he had said. Tolic said that he had yelled "8 a.m."
Apparently, Peljusic has been arriving at the gym in the morning every day of the season for extra workouts to work on his shooting and fundamentals. His scoring in the scrimmage was validation that his work had paid off.
It was a good story and you really hope that Peljusic or Baran will pan out for the Cats and be the versatile 6-8 guys that the Cats need to take that next step toward an NCAA tournament berth.
The last tidbit from the Chat that was interesting was a question from a student about whether Carmody still believed that the Princeton offense could be effective in the Big Ten. While I think this question is a moot point in a lot of ways, I think Carmody handled the question well.
Carmody said that the offense was dependent on the players. Basically, that the system was fine, but they need better players. And I honestly think he's on the right track with bringing in players like Coble and Jeff Ryan. No, he hasn't given NU an NCAA berth yet, but if Capocci is as good as advertised, the Cats aren't that far off, either.
Craig Moore drained 7-of-10 three-pointers for a career-high 24 points -- and the Cats gave an inspired, hustling effort to beat Miami, 61-59, Tuesday night.
As opposed to a few previous outings, that Cats hustled and played with a lot more emotion before an ESPN2 TV audience. The Cats shot 51 percent from the field and held Miami to 34 percent shooting in the win.
Of course, the win did not come without a few moments that made you pull your hair out. NU almost blew a 10-point lead late in the game with poor free throw shooting (a continual Achilles heel) and turnovers against the Miami press. But they held on for the win against an ACC opponent.
The Cats stayed clear of turnovers for much of the game and finished with only eight in the game. However, shooting the ball so well and not turning it over AND still only winning by two are a concern. The fact is that NU will need to play near flawless basketball to beat any good team in the Big Ten. It's not impossible because the Cats will knock off a few teams this year. However, there will be nights when the Cats chances at victory are too razor-thin.
But Tuesday was not one of those nights. The Cats now stand at 4-3 on the year and play at home on Saturday, Dec. 9 against Western Michigan at 7 p.m.