Two point guards and a 7'1" center are transferring to Ball State. Naiel Smith, a 6'4" point guard from Brooklyn, played last year at San Jacinto Junior College (Texas) and has two years of eligibility. He played his first year at Texas State. He will be available this year.

Tayler Persons is a 6'3", 230 pound point guard from Kokomo, Ind.,who was the Atlantic Sun Conference freshman of the year last season at Northern Kentucky. He was also 2nd team all-conference. He will sit out his transfer year this coming season. He chose to transfer after the coach at NKU was not re-signed this spring.

Nate Wells is a 7'1" center transferring from Bradley where he graduated this spring. He will have one year of eligibility at Ball State.

Look for the Cardinals to be vastly improved next season.

(05-18-2015 08:24 PM)LongtimeFan Wrote:  Look for the Cardinals to be vastly improved next season.

Just getting transfers doesn't make a team better, even if they are more talented than the current players. Without a good coach and good team chemistry, even very talented teams can end up with a mediocre record.

(05-18-2015 09:24 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  

(05-18-2015 08:24 PM)LongtimeFan Wrote:  Look for the Cardinals to be vastly improved next season.

Just getting transfers doesn't make a team better, even if they are more talented than the current players. Without a good coach and good team chemistry, even very talented teams can end up with a mediocre record.

Annnnnnnnd....a mediocre record would be a vast improvement.

We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

good moves for ball st. team has struggled at pg. turner could score but wasn't much of a distributor. davis isn't a pg but played there a lot last yr. these transfers help them team be more balanced next year and with persons in the mix in 2016-17 they should have pg and wing players that can compete with the mac's best.

(05-18-2015 09:24 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  

(05-18-2015 08:24 PM)LongtimeFan Wrote:  Look for the Cardinals to be vastly improved next season.

Just getting transfers doesn't make a team better, even if they are more talented than the current players. Without a good coach and good team chemistry, even very talented teams can end up with a mediocre record.

Thank you Captain Obvious. It doesn't sound like you are fan of Whitford but he hasn't had a whole lot to work with. His teams will need to show some improvement and I expect they will.

I like predictions of how good teams will be in two years when the predictions for the upcoming year are consistently bad.

(Here's the chance for someone to link to a post that predicted that CMU, UB, and KSU would be the ones winning the regular season this past year so we can salute their awesomeness. What, no one? Two out of three? All these great judges of basketball talent and there's no one?)

(05-18-2015 08:24 PM)LongtimeFan Wrote:  Two point guards and a 7'1" center are transferring to Ball State. Naiel Smith, a 6'4" point guard from Brooklyn, played last year at San Jacinto Junior College (Texas) and has two years of eligibility. He played his first year at Texas State. He will be available this year.

Tayler Persons is a 6'3", 230 pound point guard from Kokomo, Ind.,who was the Atlantic Sun Conference freshman of the year last season at Northern Kentucky. He was also 2nd team all-conference. He will sit out his transfer year this coming season. He chose to transfer after the coach at NKU was not re-signed this spring.

Nate Wells is a 7'1" center transferring from Bradley where he graduated this spring. He will have one year of eligibility at Ball State.

Look for the Cardinals to be vastly improved next season.

I'm going to have some fun with this thread. Please no...

Persons is a very interesting pick up. I like young players (e.g., frosh) with good upside who transfer into the MAC.

Wells is 7' 1" and getting 7-footers in the MAC isn't easy. Role player - say 10 - 15 minutes?

Not don't shoot me... Smith played on the same San Jacinto team as EMU's Willie Mangum. Mangum was the gunner on that team. Smith played second fiddle, but shot very well when he shot.

We could debate until the cows come home, who got the better guard from San Jacinto CC, esp. as almost certainly none of us have seen them play...

http://njcaaregion14.com/sports/mbkb/201...pos=sh&r=0

http://www.mlive.com/eagles/index.ssf/20...cart_river

I'm just asking for a capable, pure point guard. And it's a plus that he's 6'4".

(05-19-2015 10:40 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Not don't shoot me... Smith played on the same San Jacinto team as EMU's Willie Mangum. Mangum was the gunner on that team. Smith played second fiddle, but shot very well when he shot.

We could debate until the cows come home, who got the better guard from San Jacinto CC, esp. as almost certainly none of us have seen them play...

http://njcaaregion14.com/sports/mbkb/201...pos=sh&r=0

http://www.mlive.com/eagles/index.ssf/20...cart_river

Don't disagree with anything here, but I will point out that BSU has a lot of shooters, but not many ball handlers and/or people who could get the ball to the shooters consistently. Thus, Whit was not recruiting a gunner here and instead filling a role for a pass-first PG who also can make enough shots to keep people honest. Time will tell, but I think he got what he was looking for if his press is any indication.

BSU was also in need of some size, as they've played undersized each of the last two years (and really, outside of Majok, even beyond that). I would be thrilled if Wells could come in and average 15 minutes of solid shot-blocking defense, rebounding, and maybe a bit of scoring. I will also be thrilled if either of the freshmen bigs can contribute in that fashion as well. That would certainly take the pressure off of our competent, though undersized, returning forwards (House, Calhoun) and allow them to not have to play center against players considerably taller than them. Another mystery is if Gill will finally pan out this year. I'm kind of assuming no, but I guess we'll see. Would be nice if he could at least contribute some minutes. Of course, if he couldn't contribute minutes last year, especially when Kam was out, I have doubts if we will see much from him this year either. Luckily they may not need him.

The interesting thing for me, assuming everyone stays healthy, is how the minutes play out for Sellers, Davis, Tyler, Kiapaway, Smith, Weber, etc. I assume that Belcaster is relegated to the bench with that list sharing time at 1-3. Mallory and Wilburn as well.

It certainly should be a better season. I'm not ready to make bold predictions, and I think my bold prediction would be a very mediocre record anyway, but I still like Whit and think he can turn this thing around.

5th year transfers have gotten alot of press attention this year, as much if not more than the incoming Freshman talent. Will be interesting to see how many 5th year transfers have an impact on the teams they join

(05-19-2015 10:40 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(05-18-2015 08:24 PM)LongtimeFan Wrote:  Two point guards and a 7'1" center are transferring to Ball State. Naiel Smith, a 6'4" point guard from Brooklyn, played last year at San Jacinto Junior College (Texas) and has two years of eligibility. He played his first year at Texas State. He will be available this year.

Tayler Persons is a 6'3", 230 pound point guard from Kokomo, Ind.,who was the Atlantic Sun Conference freshman of the year last season at Northern Kentucky. He was also 2nd team all-conference. He will sit out his transfer year this coming season. He chose to transfer after the coach at NKU was not re-signed this spring.

Nate Wells is a 7'1" center transferring from Bradley where he graduated this spring. He will have one year of eligibility at Ball State.

Look for the Cardinals to be vastly improved next season.

I'm going to have some fun with this thread. Please no...

Persons is a very interesting pick up. I like young players (e.g., frosh) with good upside who transfer into the MAC.

Wells is 7' 1" and getting 7-footers in the MAC isn't easy. Role player - say 10 - 15 minutes?

Not don't shoot me... Smith played on the same San Jacinto team as EMU's Willie Mangum. Mangum was the gunner on that team. Smith played second fiddle, but shot very well when he shot.

We could debate until the cows come home, who got the better guard from San Jacinto CC, esp. as almost certainly none of us have seen them play...

http://njcaaregion14.com/sports/mbkb/201...pos=sh&r=0

http://www.mlive.com/eagles/index.ssf/20...cart_river

nice post

but i kinda see it as murphy adding another guy who leads the team in turnovers and missed shots, but on a good night can torch ya - a perfect fit for eastern.

while ball st adds a guy who can handle the ball, pass and rebound but isn't going to win too many games for you - who knows what the formula is at ball st. they haven't been good enough for you to see their flaws.

there seems to be more positive growth at ball st than there's been in a minute. persons choosing to transfer there was in part a location thing. but he was a transfer who could have wrote his ticket to most any school that didn't already have blue chip type guards already in the program. for him to say i wanna start over at ball st means he sees something. if you look at how their roster is evolving they have some bangers. they have some young talent at guard coming back, add in weber the 2014 transfer from ysu and probably get tyler back from academic suspension. they bring in guys 6-8, 6-9 and 7-1. i don't see enough really good players yet to make the jump cmu and buffalo made, but i think ball st wins a bunch more games next season.

good to see a bunch of mac teams adding a strong group of new players.

(05-20-2015 03:14 AM)pono Wrote:  

(05-19-2015 10:40 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(05-18-2015 08:24 PM)LongtimeFan Wrote:  Two point guards and a 7'1" center are transferring to Ball State. Naiel Smith, a 6'4" point guard from Brooklyn, played last year at San Jacinto Junior College (Texas) and has two years of eligibility. He played his first year at Texas State. He will be available this year.

Tayler Persons is a 6'3", 230 pound point guard from Kokomo, Ind.,who was the Atlantic Sun Conference freshman of the year last season at Northern Kentucky. He was also 2nd team all-conference. He will sit out his transfer year this coming season. He chose to transfer after the coach at NKU was not re-signed this spring.

Nate Wells is a 7'1" center transferring from Bradley where he graduated this spring. He will have one year of eligibility at Ball State.

Look for the Cardinals to be vastly improved next season.

I'm going to have some fun with this thread. Please no...

Persons is a very interesting pick up. I like young players (e.g., frosh) with good upside who transfer into the MAC.

Wells is 7' 1" and getting 7-footers in the MAC isn't easy. Role player - say 10 - 15 minutes?

Not don't shoot me... Smith played on the same San Jacinto team as EMU's Willie Mangum. Mangum was the gunner on that team. Smith played second fiddle, but shot very well when he shot.

We could debate until the cows come home, who got the better guard from San Jacinto CC, esp. as almost certainly none of us have seen them play...

http://njcaaregion14.com/sports/mbkb/201...pos=sh&r=0

http://www.mlive.com/eagles/index.ssf/20...cart_river

nice post

but i kinda see it as murphy adding another guy who leads the team in turnovers and missed shots, but on a good night can torch ya - a perfect fit for eastern.

while ball st adds a guy who can handle the ball, pass and rebound but isn't going to win too many games for you - who knows what the formula is at ball st. they haven't been good enough for you to see their flaws.

there seems to be more positive growth at ball st than there's been in a minute. persons choosing to transfer there was in part a location thing. but he was a transfer who could have wrote his ticket to most any school that didn't already have blue chip type guards already in the program. for him to say i wanna start over at ball st means he sees something. if you look at how their roster is evolving they have some bangers. they have some young talent at guard coming back, add in weber the 2014 transfer from ysu and probably get tyler back from academic suspension. they bring in guys 6-8, 6-9 and 7-1. i don't see enough really good players yet to make the jump cmu and buffalo made, but i think ball st wins a bunch more games next season.

good to see a bunch of mac teams adding a strong group of new players.

Weber should have a positive measurable impact. He can score not just shoot. Person's reportedly had a visit lined up with Xavier as reported by Kyle N of the Indy Star who doesn't mix chaff with wheat. I suspect X had offered and the visit was official. Nixing that and going to Muncie underscores location to family but also the opportunity like Weber to measurably contribute. Teaming with Sellers in AAU was an important aspect too.
Cards still need bigs to guard the rim, kick start the break and negate others post O making it a skill on skill on the perimeter. That is where BSU is strong by any measure.

(05-20-2015 11:28 AM)gobaseline Wrote:  

(05-20-2015 03:14 AM)pono Wrote:  

(05-19-2015 10:40 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(05-18-2015 08:24 PM)LongtimeFan Wrote:  Two point guards and a 7'1" center are transferring to Ball State. Naiel Smith, a 6'4" point guard from Brooklyn, played last year at San Jacinto Junior College (Texas) and has two years of eligibility. He played his first year at Texas State. He will be available this year.

Tayler Persons is a 6'3", 230 pound point guard from Kokomo, Ind.,who was the Atlantic Sun Conference freshman of the year last season at Northern Kentucky. He was also 2nd team all-conference. He will sit out his transfer year this coming season. He chose to transfer after the coach at NKU was not re-signed this spring.

Nate Wells is a 7'1" center transferring from Bradley where he graduated this spring. He will have one year of eligibility at Ball State.

Look for the Cardinals to be vastly improved next season.

I'm going to have some fun with this thread. Please no...

Persons is a very interesting pick up. I like young players (e.g., frosh) with good upside who transfer into the MAC.

Wells is 7' 1" and getting 7-footers in the MAC isn't easy. Role player - say 10 - 15 minutes?

Not don't shoot me... Smith played on the same San Jacinto team as EMU's Willie Mangum. Mangum was the gunner on that team. Smith played second fiddle, but shot very well when he shot.

We could debate until the cows come home, who got the better guard from San Jacinto CC, esp. as almost certainly none of us have seen them play...

http://njcaaregion14.com/sports/mbkb/201...pos=sh&r=0

http://www.mlive.com/eagles/index.ssf/20...cart_river

nice post

but i kinda see it as murphy adding another guy who leads the team in turnovers and missed shots, but on a good night can torch ya - a perfect fit for eastern.

while ball st adds a guy who can handle the ball, pass and rebound but isn't going to win too many games for you - who knows what the formula is at ball st. they haven't been good enough for you to see their flaws.

there seems to be more positive growth at ball st than there's been in a minute. persons choosing to transfer there was in part a location thing. but he was a transfer who could have wrote his ticket to most any school that didn't already have blue chip type guards already in the program. for him to say i wanna start over at ball st means he sees something. if you look at how their roster is evolving they have some bangers. they have some young talent at guard coming back, add in weber the 2014 transfer from ysu and probably get tyler back from academic suspension. they bring in guys 6-8, 6-9 and 7-1. i don't see enough really good players yet to make the jump cmu and buffalo made, but i think ball st wins a bunch more games next season.

good to see a bunch of mac teams adding a strong group of new players.

Weber should have a positive measurable impact. He can score not just shoot. Person's reportedly had a visit lined up with Xavier as reported by Kyle N of the Indy Star who doesn't mix chaff with wheat. I suspect X had offered and the visit was official. Nixing that and going to Muncie underscores location to family but also the opportunity like Weber to measurably contribute. Teaming with Sellers in AAU was an important aspect too.
Cards still need bigs to guard the rim, kick start the break and negate others post O making it a skill on skill on the perimeter. That is where BSU is strong by any measure.

Webber visited Ball State first and then immediately cancelled his visit to Xavier.