A Tempo-Free Appreciation of Dee Brown

I know that some people are a little frustrated with Dee Brown...he isn't flashy, and never seems to be a huge contributor....has a big game once in a while, but is just sort of there.

I'm not an Xs and Os guy, so I might not catch contributions guys make that don't end up on the stats sheet.  Having said that, I do think Brown is a good player and makes a contribution to the team and it might be bigger than people think.

Based on MAC games this year, Brown is:

• 6th in FT%.
• 9th in Assist/TO ratio.
• 13th in Offensive rating (a measure of shooting and assists divided by the possessions you use).
• 9th in Plus/Minus.  BG averages +6 points per game when he is in as opposed to out of the game.
• He's 15th in scoring and 48th in possessions used.

I think that tells a pretty good story.  He's a very solid player who scores without taking a ton of shots, converts free throws, doesn't turn the ball over and still gets 2 assists a game....and the team plays better when he is in the game.  His numbers have steadily risen in these areas every year and he is having his best season as a Falcon.  He's not an all-time great on any statistical measures, but he is a 4-year player, a 3-year contributor who is having the kind of senior season that is contributing and making the team better.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

BG Travels to Middletown, USA, Looks to Exceed Mean

So, the Falcons head to Muncie, IN, to play the Ball State Cardinals.  In addition to being the home of Ball State, Muncie has the distinction of once being named the most average town in America---America's Middletown.

It fits, if you have been there.  I mean, I'm not sure it is any more in the middle than 100 other places, and it had to be somebody, and this is who it was.

This will be a very interesting game.  Ball State has a 12-9 record, but they are 4-5 in the MAC and the out-of-conference wins were racked up against the #331 ranked schedule in D1 (out of 345).  They have 5 wins against teams with RPIs over 300 (honestly, even making that work from a scheduling standpoint is a challenge) and won non-D1 win.  Then add in IUPUI, Texas Southern and Toledo (all between 250 and 300) and you get an idea what I am talking about.

They did beat Butler in Muncie.  They also lost to IUPUI as well as beat them.

They ran through the first West portion of their schedule with only one loss (EMU at home), and now they are 0 for the East, losing at home to Akron (not surprising) but also Miami, in a game that must give BG some hope.  They have lost 4 in a row.

Now, on one hand, they are clearly not playing well.  On the other hand, teams on four game losing streaks playing at home can be very difficult to beat...they have their backs to the wall and will really want to win.

Having said that, this is a game a team needs to win if they are making a serious run.  On the road this is certainly not easy or a gimmee, but good teams can do things that are not easy.  Coming off the road win at WMU and with UT down the road, it would give BG a realistic shot at a 5-1 run through the West, which is pretty much what are the cool kids are doing anyway.

On the plus side, the Cardinals feature one of the best players in the MAC---Jarrod Jones.  He's leading them in scoring and rebounds (15/9).  We've seen this before on struggling teams, but Jones is actually a pretty good player.  He is only using 25% of their possessions (15th in MAC).  Interestingly, he was 7th in the MAC in offensive rating for all games and 29th for conference games, so I am assuming he is working harder to score in MAC play (as the level of the competition got tougher).

Randy Davis is their next best player.  He's a PG getting 8 points and 4 assists per game (9th in the MAC) but with only about 1 turnover, a ratio that is first in the MAC and 16th in the country.

They are both seniors, so I think that adds pressure to the Cardinal's position.

They have three other guys scoring 8 points a game.

Their team stats are about what you expect for MAC games, which is in the middle of the pack.  They are 7th in EFG% and offensive efficiency, 8th in FT Rate, 6th in offensive rebound % and 4th in turnover percentage, all of which fits together very nicely.  They are 4th in most 3s attempted and 11th in making them, so that bodes well for us.  Unless they are falling, in which case it will be a rainy night in Lyndhurst.

They are 6th in defensive efficiency but 9th in effective FG% allowed.  They do keep you off the line--only 3 teams allow a lower free throw rate--and the are 6th in forcing turnovers.  They are also good on the defensive boards--also 4th in the MAC.  So, not great shot defense, but they upgrade by limiting second shots and free throws.

NCAA Basketball

Ball State has beaten BG 6 of the last 8 times in Muncie.  One of the 2 was a 2003 MAC tournament win that was a nice lift for BG at the time.  (Ron Lewis hung 28/8 up for BG and Netter dropped 19.  The game featured 61 fouls and 78 free throws.  Good times).

Anyway, in Middletown, this is a pretty even game.  It would be great to see BG generate its first 3-game winning streak since well into last year, and pick up another key road win, both as a tiebreaker and as a buffer against another trip through the East.

MAC Online News Association Players of the Week

East: Jordan Crawford, BGSU
West: Rian Pearson, Toledo

Which is exactly how I voted. Great week, Jordan!

Interesting Blade Account of Signing Day...

The Blade ran an interesting account of signing day in BG and at Toledo.  Much of it is kind of predictable (is the fax working?  It it?)  But, first, the reporters had to be down there at the ass-crack of dawn...so I admire that.

For BG, there was one interesting bit....when Mikhail Dubose decided to sign with WMU, the Falcons turned to Anthony Farinella, the K they signed.  So that was (if you will) an audible when they got to the line of scrimmage.

Other note:  I'd like to meet Nick Monroe.  That guy is all-in.

Falcons Beat Dreadful NIU, win 2nd Straight

I said yesterday that Mark Montgomery of NIU had to feel a little strange.  He went from coaching at MSU to coaching Northern Illinois, and those Huskies are just plain awful this year.  The only time I remember seeing a team I thought was worse was the first Gene Cross team at UT.  I actually felt a little pity for them...and I do admire that they kept fighting.

I looked it up on statsheet.com, they are the 8th youngest team in D1, so partly this shouldn't be any kind of surprise.  And, Montgomery had the ability to get some JUCO players and soften the transition and he opted not to.

Beyond being young, this was the first team I have ever seen with two players from Finland.  Or one for that matter.  I thought maybe I had missed something--maybe Finland is an emerging basketball power--but I saw that they have made the Olympics twice and did make the Eurobasket in 2011, though it was the first time in 16 years.

Anyway.  Not a basketball power.

The Falcons did what you are supposed to do with a team this bad, beating them 65-40.

There was hardly one minute out of 40 where it was a game.  BG jumped out to a 10-0 lead and had an 18-1 lead before NIU finally made a field goal almost eight minutes into the contest.  BG led by 25 at the half and that was the final spread as well.

NCAA Basketball

It ended up being a very slow paced game. BG ran a lot of clock in the second half, in a gesture of humanity, and the game ended up only have 57 possessions.  BG had 1.14 points per possession and allowed NIU only .7, the second time in as many games that BG has been roughly in that territory. (In fairness, it was a significant accomplishment against WMU, but NIU has no offensive players at all.  In fact, they had no double figures scorers in the game).

BG shot almost 49% from the field while NIU shot 29%.  In addition to dreadful shooting, NIU turned the ball over 16 times (and remember the very low number of possessions to start with) and then they also shot 53% from the line.

Ouch.

BG got to the line a staggering 34 times. NIU committed 27 fouls, and they weren't even fouling at the end.  In fact, had the Falcons shot free throws better, this spread would have been even larger.

College Basketball Stats

Individually, BG had a big first half from Scott Thomas, who had 14 points for the game and nine of the team's first 15 points.  He also shot 62%, and had 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.  Jordan Crawford had another nice game with 15 points on 56% shooting, and 6 assists over 2 turnovers.  No other Falcons was in double figures, as Coach Orr liberally distributed minutes.  Calhoun, in fact, went without a field goal or a rebound in the game.

Torain Ogelsby also had six points and 7 rebounds in 17 minutes and was 3 of 4 from the field.

Falcons got to get a slightly more extended look at Anthony Henderson....and Craig Sealey and Chauncey Orr got some minutes as well.

BG's is slowly starting to get bigger crowds in the Stroh Center, which is nice to see, and it would be great to go to Muncie and get a win and have a huge crowd for the UT game next Saturday.

Beyond that, everyone has to recognize that BG did what a team should do, which is to wax a team like NIU.  We won't see another team this bad again, so we have to continue to play well.  Ball State has been on hard fade, and the game in Muncie is Wednesday.

Oh...just one more thing.  BG has finally broken the barrier and has now won two in a row.  This had not happened since the Austin Peay/Detroit double-play back during the CBE.

Real MAC Standings

Last night represented another sweep for the East against the West, which means that the East has won 21 of the 24 cross over games this year.

Anyway, here are the standings right now.  I'm using head to head tie breakers where possible...so, OU is ahead of Buffalo because they won their first match up.  Same method for Ball State and WMU and CMU and UT....I have EMU ahead of BG because EMU won the only meeting and will hold that tie-breaker against hte Falcons.

BG is one game out of the bye territory, and we play the team ahead of us on our floor.  Right now, we'd play UT in the MAC playoffs.  It is important to remember that the West teams will get the benefit of playing the last six games among themselves which will help their records.  My feeling is that if we are going to end up with home floor, we just don't want to play Miami.

Huskies Come to Town...

Rebecca Pidgeon, in State and Main.
Married to David Mamet or she
would totally be into me.

State and Main (David Mamet) is one of my favorite movies of all time.  Set in a small Vermont town, the local high school team is nicknamed "The Huskies."  Anyway, they have a little thing that the locals say to each other all the time, which is, "Go You Huskies."  And whenever we play NIU, that's what I think of.

Anyhoo.  Mark Montgomery, the coach of the NIU Huskies, must feel like he fell off the side of the earth.  He left one of the most consistent and successful basketball programs in college basketball to head up to NIU, and now is enduring about as bad a season as a person can endure.  I'm sure he is focusing on the future...you'd have to be.

NIU was already having a really bad year when last week Montgomery dismissed one of the team's two good players from the team.  No one has said officially, but the player (Tim Toler) has had some issues with weight and he might have missed a class or something.  It sounds like it was more of a commitment issue.

And it might pay off in the long term.  In the short term, it just makes a bad situation worse.

NIU has an RPI of 335.  There are only 344 teams in D1 basketball.  So that gives you some perspective.  They are 2-18 with only 1 D1 win, and that was over CMU in DeKalb.  They are winless on the road.  In their cross over games, they lost @Kent by 34 and at home to Buffalo by 15 and Ohio by 9.

They are truly a very bad basketball team.

And yet, here I sit on the morning of the game, thinking what every fan thinks before his team plays a team like this.  Please don't let us lose to these guys.

Because just like the losing streak at WMU had to come to an end someday, and it did in spectacular fashion last week....just like Temple had to break their losing streak against someone (football reference) and they did...well, NIU won't suck forever and let it not start to turn around today.

There's no reason to go into the stats to much.  NIU has the stats of a 2-18 team.  They are 11th in the MAC in offensive efficiency and 12th in defensive efficiency.  They are the worst shooting team in the MAC and 11th in defending the shot.  They are the 5th worst team in all of D1 in turning the ball over.  If you want some relative strengths, they do get to the free throw line but they fail to convert, and have the 10th best FT% in the conference.  They are good on the offensive boards---even when looking at a percentage of missed shots.  (Raw rebounding totals for a team that misses this much are misleading).

Defensively, they are a train wreck.  They are good on the boards, but they are 10th, 11th, or 12th in almost everything.

College Basketball Stats

Note.  Those are all conference games and Toler played in half of the games.

Repeating. Please don't let us lose to these guys.

Individually, their remaining scorer is Abdel Nader, who is scoring 11 points a game.  He is a 6'7" FR, and it has to be noted that he is working VERY HARD to get those 11 points.  Dude is leading the conference in possessions used and has an offensive rating of 81, which is lower than any Falcon regular.

After him, their next leading scorer is getting 6 points a game.

Of course, you wouldn't expect big scorers on the worst team in the MAC in scoring.

Anyway, it would be easy to go on and on with this....point is that with a win, BG can win their second straight game for the first time since before Thanksgiving.  They can get a win they need--everyone else is beating NIU--and they can start to build up their record.  That WMU win was huge, because each of the next 3 games is winnable.

But first, you have to beat a team you should beat.

MAC Blogger Roundtable

So, it was my turn to write questions for the MAC Blogger Roundtable.  We got answers from Hustle Belt and from Bull Run, and they are captured below....

Who's doing a better job coaching this year? Reggie Witherspoon or Rob Murphy?

(Hustle Belt)  Murphy by a mile. He saw the kernels of talent left over by the Charles Ramsey dynasty and saw little shooting ability but some big size and hustle throughout. So he made them keep the opponent to under 25 per half and it won't always work against Kent State and Michigan State, but for now it's keeping them in the hunt for a neat, neat seed.

Witherspoon is staying afloat in the MAC East with the talents he recruited, and not finishing fifth or sixth is going to be an accomplishment in that division. I give this to Murphy.

(Bull Run)  If you measure a coach by how he uses the tools he is given then hands down it's Murphy. Falcon Blog summed it up really well:

Last year, EMU was 9-21 with one of the 20 worst RPIs in D1 basketball. They were 5-11 in the MAC finishing tied for 10th. That team lost its top scorer and rebounder--its only double figures scorer, in fact. They fired their coach, and brought in a Syracuse assistant who is in the first year of implementing a defensive style and the same 2-3 zone that BG has been trying to use for five years. And for all that, EMU beat BG last night. EMU is 5-2 in the MAC.

If this is what he can do with the dumpster fire he inherited in Ypsi then the MAC west should shudder at what he will manage to do with thee or four years of team building under his belt. EMU can be the first MAC team, in some time, that might be able to stand up regularly against the East.

Witherspoon's tenure at Buffalo, if it were a kid, would be going into high school. He is having a good year but given the talent he has that's not too surprising. Murphy is pacing the game, and his approach, around the tools he has.

(My note:  I agree.  Murphy is doing a great job with very little, and thanks to Bull Run for the compliment in my most, written out of frustration that EMU seems to have improved so much while our team seems flat.  I asked the question that way because I think Buffalo is the next most improved team in the MAC.)

How are you feeling about the bracket buster? Both this year's matchup(s) and in general.

(Hustle Belt)  Honestly it's starting to become a bit of a chore. Just trying to keep track of 12 games on one day ... it's always tough to balance it. And yet each one is a little fascinating because it's a quirky little pop quiz in the middle of the year. They're like bowls. They don't accomplish the spirit of the intent, which was to give bubble teams a quality win to improve at-large hopes. But many of these teams are just trying to win their conference — so it'll potentially help one team improve a seed, whichever one wins the MAC, or potentially hurt it.

Generally speaking it's a mixed bag this year. Buffalo-South Dakota State could be a fun under-the-radar one (even though it's televised) but I even want to peek into ones like NIU-SIU Edwardsville, because who isn't at least a little curious how much of a 40fest that could be?


(Bull Run)  (as I write this on Sunday the pairings are still not known) Most places have UB as one of the better road teams this season so the Bulls should get a TV game and a crack at a quality win, something they badly need if they want to impress the NIT should UB fail to win the MAC.

(My comments.  I like the bracket buster.  I think it has lost some of the excitement from when it first started, but it does generate quality home games.  My only beef is when we get paired with Detroit or Youngstown State.  There should be a rule that you at least get to see someone different.)


Based on this, the four lowest ranked teams in the MAC are also the four most inexperienced. Does this surprise you?

(Hustle Belt)  Things aren't supposed to make sense in the MAC like that. I don't like expectations. And while they're each a bit different in why they're inexperienced, I suppose that makes it okay. I don't think anybody expected for Miami, par example, to be where they were based on suspensions and injury, not to mention the Julian Mavunga cloning device shorting out the week before the season started.


(Bull Run)  Well that only somewhat telling. Toledo has serious problems that are *preventing* them from getting the experience they need. Northern Illinois just dumped their best player in what can be called an ethical, yet disastrous, decision.

Who's broken out of the bottom of the pack from last year? Aside from EMU getting better and Miami falling apart the MAC's cellar is just about the same as it's been for several seasons.

Of course experience matters but so does organization.

(I thought it was interesting, but Bull Run is right, these teams have been near the bottom without regard to the experience of their players.  You have to have experienced players and good players.)


It seems like I do less head shaking at the MAC's officiating than I used to. Is it better...or are we just used to it?

(Hustle Belt)  Truthfully I don't really pay much attention to the rating level of a league's officials. Everyone makes the jokes. MAC refs. Big Ten refs. Big East refs. Pac-12 refs. Those darn refs! It could definitely be the final stages of Stockholm Syndrome but in a game where so many calls have to be spur-of-the-moment judgment calls, a lot of them are going to suck and a few may even change the outcome of a game. But nothing major, deadball-wise, has been completely uncalled for, at least what I've seen. That and the ability to replay has certainly mitigated any other potential disasters.


(Bull Run) We're just used to it.

I'm not enough of a hoops wonk to track individual officials so I cant say if it's "the talent pool". But more often than not I just shrug my shoulders are the terrible officiating because, well, that's the MAC.

(I was mostly just curious.  It seems to me that officiating (and its lousy quality) used to be a common source of conversation among MAC fans, and I hardly hear anything anymore.  Maybe the expectations have just been lowered.  I don't find myself as appalled as I used to...but again, maybe that's just a product of no longer expecting anything better.  


I have been thinking about this because the Kent beat reporter tweeted during the BG-Kent game that (paraphrasing) the MAC doesn't get seasoned officials on weekend games.  I thought that was interesting--could the conference be paying less?  It does seem to me that we are getting more and more refs who have hardly worked any games at all.  In fact, BG had a guy working his first college game the other day.  I have this saved for an off-season project.)

East West Imbalance Ridiculous to Date...

Honestly, I didn't think it was this bad....there have been 18 games played so far between the East Division and the West Division, and the East has won 15.

Unbelievable.

Mid Point MAC Standings....

"Kind of surreal" Coach Louis Orr.

Those words from Coach Orr, who is not prone to making statements like that.  After years of gut wrenching and horrifying defeats to WMU, this laugher on their floor could not have been more unexpected.

"One of them nights," said our Coach.  And it was.  A crazy, zombie infested night when BG couldn't miss in the second half and WMU couldn't score, where everything, and that pretty much means everything, bounced the Falcons way as they walked to a delightfully easy victory in a game they really needed to have pretty badly.

The game was close at halftime--BG led by only 2.  But the Falcons came out with incredibly hot hands, and went on a 12-4 run, followed by a short break and then a 13-3 run.  Once BG went up 10 with about 14 left, the delta (like that?) was never in single digits again.

College Basketball Stats

BG shot 76% in the second half.  That is truly surreal.  And Western shot 36%.  Same deal.

For the game, BG had a 1.14 points per possession rate, which is actually on their 3rd best D1 game of the year.  If anything the defensive performance was even more remarkable because it lasted for the whole 40.  It was the program's best D1 defensive efficiency since the Fordham game two seasons ago.

As you can see, WMU had a good day on the offensive boards, which was expected, and 42% is pretty good.  However, BG outplayed them in every other facet of the game.  WMU turned the ball over 22 times, which is almost 35% of their possessions and when you shoot badly on the other 65%, that's not a sign that things are going to go your way.

College Basketball Stats

Individually, Dee Brown scored 21 points, Crawford 16 (and 8 assists) and Calhoun 15 in a huge second half.  Torian Oglesby had a couple of big dunks on alley oops and 6 for the game.

So, that helps a lot with the whole thing.  BG is now 4-4, and with NIU coming in on Saturday, a fading Ball State after that and then Toledo, if they can find a way to string a few together this is a place where they can make some hay.  In fact, most of the teams in the East have been winning, so you almost have to make hay.  But, you go through those games you could be 7-4 heading back to the East, and that would have a different look to it.

That all remains to be seen.  For right now, it is nice to have another road win, and one against a team that is playing really well.  I think all Falcon fans are hoping for the same thing....that this team will string together some wins.  Now, I don't think we're going to shoot 76% in a half again soon, but we also don't need to.  Just nice, solid performances strung together.

Letter of Intent Day, 2012

Class of 2012 Recruits...

I just took some time to watch Coach Clawson's presser from today, which you can watch to, if you want. Obviously, all caveats apply, especially with ratings. These are young men, and some of them will be what we expect and some will not. Every team is talking excitedly about their recruits...the end result is on the field, and years later.

There were a couple of surprises. First, Tyler Goble committed to Navy after being a BG commitment. Obviously, that's a pretty significant life decision to make, and we wish him nothing but the best in Annapolis. Mikhail Dubose was a guy who opened his recruiting recently...the word was to look at Illinois or WMU. You know, I don't think it bothers anyone to lose a guy to Illinois, but you hate to have a de-commit in your own conference. Anyway, he went to WMU, and the best to him, too. You don't want anybody who doesn't want to be here.

On the plus side, we signed a long snapper (Greg Hohenstein) and another kicker (Anthony Farinella), neither of which had been seen anywhere by me, anyway.

So we ended up with 20 guys which was our goal. Because we didn't need a full class, we were able to be a little more patient with guys with offers elsewhere, and Coach felt it paid off for us. We fought some tough battles (he said) and won some and lost some.

He was most excited about the O-line. After two years of really being thin on the line, BG had 15-17 scholarship o-lineman in the program with a good distribution through the years. You will see that there is some size too.

A couple notes....we only brought in WRs because Jermal Hosley and Je'Ron Stokes are both coming in to start this year and are sort of in this class.

Also, 3 guys got scholarships who are not freshman. They are:

Brian Schmeidebusch (Punter of the Gods)
Andre Givens (RB)
Je'Ron Stokes (WR)

He noted that BG can keep promises to players...BG has not lost one player to academics since Clawson arrived.

So, below are the players. I have sort of summarized coach's comments below each player....

Michael Allen, WR, 5-10, 175, Los Angeles, Calif. (Lynwood) (East L.A. College)
Junior College: Spent two seasons at East L.A. College ... was named the team’s Freshman of the Year ... earned first-team all-league as a sophomore. High School: Is a 2009 graduate of Lynwood High School ... coached by Mark Williams ... team captain ... earned first-team all-conference as a senior ... was team’s co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2009.

Similar player to Eugene Cooper. Recruited at a high level last year, but had a graduation issue and couldn't graduate. As Coach said, a year ago, we can't compete for him. He fell under the radar with his year off. He is enrolled.

J.J. Beggan, OL, 6-4, 290, Pittsburgh, Pa. (Seton LaSalle)
High School: Currently attends Seton LaSalle High School ... coached by Greg Perry ...team captain ... helped lead team to a 20-4 record as a junior and senior ... anchored an offensive line that produced a 1,700 yard rusher and an offense that averaged 35.5 points and 325.8 yards of offense per game his senior season ... was named a two-time All-Century conference offensive and defensive lineman ... was named All-State (AA) by the Pennsylvania Sports Writers Association as a senior.

"Classic Pittsburgh Offensive lineman" (HA! Like the sound of that!)
Early commit, never wavered even when the big schools came in late.

Jacob Bennett, OL, 6-6, 290, Lebanon, Ohio (Lebanon)
High School: Currently attends Lebanon High School ... coached by Shawn Lamb ... was named first-team Greater Western Ohio Conference South Division ... earned honorable mention All-Southwest District (Div. I) by the Associated Press.

Has a prototypical LT body. Could end up 6'7" and 320 lbs. Considered a diamond in the rough.

Coy Brown, LB, 5-11, 215, Wakarusa, Ind. (Northwood)
High School: Is a 2012 graduate of Northwood High School ... coached by Scott Hoover ... team captain ... earned first-team all-state and all-area as a senior ... was named to the first-team All-Indiana Football Coaches Association that same year ... helped lead team to a 4A win in the State Sectionals ... was elected to play in the North/South Indiana All-Star game.

Versatile athlete who will contribute at LB and special teams. Enrolled.

Dalton Chapman, OL, 6-7, 285, Grove City, Ohio (Grove City)
High School: Currently attends Grove City High School ... coached by Matt Jordan ... earned second-team All-OCC and honorable mention All-Central District his senior year at offensive tackle ... as a junior was named to the second-team All-OCC and honorable mention All-Central District as a defensive end ... was name honorable mention at offensive tackle in the All-Central District as a sophomore.

Great size potential. Coach says we want lineman tall, lean, and physical, and let them bulk up here.

Jhalil-Nashid Croley, LB, 6-3, 245, Cincinnati, Ohio (Princeton)
High School: Currently attends Princeton High School ... coached by Gary Croley ... team captain ... earned second-team All-Ohio, first-team all-conference and first-team all-city as a senior ... was nominated for the Tri-State (Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana) Defensive Player of the Year, finishing with 102 tackles that same season.

Heavily recruited. Broke some of Dwayne Woods' records at Princeton.

Scott Davis, TE, 6-5, 240, Richmond, Va. (Mills E. Godwin) (Fork Union)
Prep School: Spent one season at Fork Union Military Academy ... coached by John Shuman. High School: Was a 2010 graduate of Mills E. Godwin High School ... coached by John Phillips ... team captain ... earned first-team all-district, All-Metro and All-Region as a defensive end and tight end his senior year ... was team’s offensive MVP.

Neighbor of Coach Clawson's in Richmond. Dual threat TE...not a need, but he was too good to pass up. He is enrolled.

Logan Dietz, OL, 6-5, 280, Pittsburgh, Pa. (Pittsburgh Central Catholic)
High School: Currently attends Pittsburgh Central Catholic ... coached by Terry Totten ... team captain ... earned first-team all-conference as a junior and senior ... was third-team 4A all-state as a junior and second-team all-state as a senior.

Also tall, lean, physical protoypical T.

Anthony Farinella, K, 6-3, 180, Woodridge, Ill. (Downers Grove South)
High School: Currently attends Downers Grove South High School ... coached by John Belskis ... team captain and 4.0 student ... was the West Buburban Conference Special Teams Player of the Year ... named to the Tom Lemming All-Chicagoland team as a place kicker ... named a Top-12 kicker by chrissailerkicking.com ... had 46 touchbacks as a senior ... was a state champion in wrestling and a state qualifier in the 800-meters.

46 touchbacks on kickoffs??? Are you freaking kidding me? Ridiculous! Note, wrestler and runner too.

Erick Hallmon, LB, 6-0, 195, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Cardinal Gibbons)
High School: Currently attends Cardinal Gibbons High School ... coached by Mike Morrill ... team captain ... four year starter ... earned second-team all-county as a senior ... recorded 65 tackles, one interception and one touchdown that same season ... played in the Broward All-Star Game and the Nike South Florida versus Dade County All-Star Game.

Patience helped as BG outwaited a Texas Tech verbal and then other teams. Could be an OLB, even a Box LB. Could play special teams early.

Greg Hohenstein, LS, 6-3, 195, Warrenville, Ill. (Wheaton-Warrenville South)
High School: Currently attends Wheaton-Warrenville High School ... was a two-time state finals long snapper ... played in the 2010 ESPN Rise versus Maine South game as a long snapper ... earned academic all-conference as a senior ... converted on 61 of 62 snaps to the punter and 120 of 120 snaps on field goals and extra points in his career ... ranked 17th nationally and fourth in the midwest according to Rubio Long Snapping.

Our long snapper is a senior this year, so we wanted his replacement in the wings.

(David) Kelii Kekuewa “Chief”, OL, 6-3, 300, Keaau, Hawaii (Kamehameha) (Arizona Western)
Junior College: Spent two seasons at Arizona Western Junior College ... coached by Tom Minnick ... team captain ... led the Matadors to an 11-1 record, including an appearance in the National Junior College Athletic Association Football Championship game ... was part of an offensive line that finished the year sixth in rushing offense and was part of an offense that averaged 50.2 points per game ... earned first-team All-Arizona Community College Athletic Conference, first-team All-Western States Football League and first-team All-National Junior College Athletic Association. High School: Graduated from Kamehameha High School in 2009 ... coached by Ulima Afoa ... team captain

Apparently missed a plane for another visit and was snapped up by BG. BG wanted a JUCO C with Bojicic and Lewis graduating and he will compete for playing time right away.

James Knapke, QB, 6-3, 185, Fort Wayne, Ind. (Bishop Luers)
High School: Currently attends Bishop Luers High School ... coached by Matt Lindsay ... team captain ... was a three-year starter and first quarterback in the state of Indiana to win three state championships ... earned All-State honors as a senior and was a two-time MVP and first-team all-conference member ... owns the school and conference passing records with 5,983 passing yards and 76 touchdown passes.

BG's first choice at QB. Early commit, never wavered when the phone rang and rang. Has an excellent chance to play for BG.

Izaah Lunsford, DT, 6-3, 265, Cincinnati, Ohio (Shroder Paideia)
High School: Currently attends Shroder Paideia Academy ... coached by Gerald Warmack ... team captain ... was a three-year starter ... earned all-league honors as a junior and senior ... also lettered in basketball and track ... was named first-team all-league in track ... owns the school record in the shot put.

Big physical D-tackle we wanted as our current guys become juniors and seniors.

Mike Minns II, DT, 6-0, 300, West Palm Beach, Fla. (Dwyer)
High School: Currently attends Dwyer High School ... coached by Jack Daniels ... team captain ... earned first-team all-state and all-county as a senior, his only season as a starter ... that same season he recorded nine sacks, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries ... played in the Nike South Florida versus Dade County All-Star Game.

Late signee. From Dwyer, where Darrell Hunter came from. Is 300 today, and coach said was sometimes unblockable on tape. They seem very high on this guy.

Josh Pettus, S, 5-10, 200, Detroit, Mich. (Southwestern) (College of DuPage)
Junior College: Was a two-year starter at the College of DuPage ... coached by Gary Thomas ... team captain ... as a sophomore was an All-American Nominee, while earning first-team all-conference and first-team all-region honors ... led his team with five interceptions and was second with 72 tackles that same season ... won his team’s Most Inspirational Award ... team MVP ... helped his team win the Graphic Edge Bowl as a freshman. High School: Was a 2009 graduate of Southwestern High School ... coached by Michael Dennis ... three year starter at wide receiver and cornerback ... was his team’s track MVP as a senior and was part of a 4x100 relay team as a freshman, sophomore and junior.

Also very high on this guy. Not a need, but too good to pass up. Great tackler, said to have BCS offers. Wanted to be near home.

James Sanford, S, 6-2, 190, Xenia, Ohio (Xenia)
High School: Currently attends Xenia High School ... coached by Bob DeLong ... team captain ... earned first-team all-conference honors in his junior and senior season ... was selected to play in the Ohio North/South All-Star game.

Could contribute right away. Had early offers, but BG could wait and it paid off. Could play high S or is strong enough to play Rover.

Ben Steward, OL, 6-7, 300, Holt, Mich. (Holt)
High School: Currently attends Holt High School ... coached by Al Slammer ... team captain ... as a senior he was named to the Detroit Free Press Dream Team and the Lansing State Journal Dream Team ... earned first-team all-state and first-team All-CAAC Blue recognition ... three year starter that blocked for three 1,000-yard rushers ... was nominated to play in the Michigan High School Coaches Association All-Star Game ... was named to the Mid-Michigan Sports Journal Dream Team.

Half the MAC was on him. Early commit, never wavered. Obviously, starts as a pretty good sized fella.

Will Watson, CB, 6-1, 185, Tampa, Fla. (Tampa Jefferson)
High School: Currently attends Tampa Jefferson High School ... coached by Jeremy Earle ... team captain ... was named the 2011 Returner of the Year in Hillsborough County ... was second-team All-Tampa Bay Area in 2010 ... helped lead his team to the 3A Florida State Championship as a junior.

Had an Iowa State offer. Wanted quality at CB because we have good guys. Also want bigger corners.

James White, WR, 6-1, 180, Southfield, Mich. (Crockett Technical)
High School: Currently attends Crockett Technical High School ... coached by Rodereck Oden ... team captain ... earned first-team all-state class “B” honors as a senior ... was ranked as the 47th best recruit by Midwest Blue-Chip ... helped lead his team to a 10-2 record and a Public School League Championship (Div. 1) as a senior.

Was recruited elsewhere as a S. Stuck to his BG commitment...there had been chatter Iowa was looking at him.

Anyway, that's the signing day story from BG...as always, I am enthusiastic for the future of our program. I think we are getting good players...and that all has to play out on the field. Welcome to the Falcons.