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.