Happy Mother's Day to the Falcon Nation!

Falcon Basketball Survey...

Hey, if you are a Falcon basketball fan (and if you are reading this, I think it stands to reason you could be), you could help the school out by completing their online survey about the game experience.  I think the game experience was pretty good, could be better, and I don't know if they will fix the things I commented on, but it is a start.  Anyway, you could also win tickets to the MSU game and you will get a modest gift certificate from the shop...

http://bgsufalcons.com/news/2012/5/9/MBB_0509124440.aspx

Career Review: Oglesby

I did a career review of Scott Thomas and Dee Brown a couple of weeks ago and I didn't want to forget about our third senior, Torian Oglesby.  We got so used to Thomas and Brown being in the same class and part of the team that you can forget about Oglesby and the significant contribution he made at times for this team.

He was a JUCO transfer and we didn't really know what to expect of him.  He came here from Mott CC with a 10/8 line and a reputation for being a good defensive player.  I think he actually was a bigger surprise than any player we have had for a long time.  He had energy and was pretty athletic and tough, and two of those three things were not in surplus in BG.  He finished around the basket better than anyone else we had and have had, with the possible exception of Marschall, going back to the pre-WVU days.

Of course, he will forever be remembered at BG for the NCAA record he set.  He made 26 straight field throw attempts, breaking a record set in 1978.  Yes, I know they were all close to the basket, that's how you set a record like that, and I'm going to guess that over the 34 years that record existed, there were hundreds of guys who only shot near the basket and none of them made 26 in a row.

He was certainly far from a dominant player.  He averaged 4.5 PPG and 4.0 RPG during his Falcon career.  That was, however, in 16 minutes per game.  He was the 7th most efficient offensive player in the MAC, meaning that he didn't use a ton of shots to get those 4.5 PPG.  He shot 74% from the field in his senior season, which was more than twice as good as his FT%, which is something which I doubt has been done very often in NCAA hoops, if ever.

He double-doubled twice this year, against UTSA and KSU.  In total, his senior season saw 5 double figure scoring games.

Anyway, he was a role player, there's no doubt about it.  He didn't get a ton of minutes, but I do think he was valuable to the team, he had the ability to bring the crowd to its feet and he was tough, and (as mentioned) we didn't have a ton of guys like that.

Best of luck in life, Torian.

MAC Men's Basketball Transfers

Out:

Akron


Michael Green (Chaminade)
6'6" played in four games.  2-star recruit.

CMU


Austin McBroom
All Fr., 10.9 PPG, 2.9 Assists per game.

Trey Zeigler (Pitt)
All-MAC 3rd team

Jorddan Myrcik
2 star.  Only played 5 minutes.

WMU

Matt Stainbrook (Xavier)
Probably the best player to leave the MAC.  Scored 11.4 points and got 6.8 rebounds.

KSU

Patrick Jackson
Transfer from Rutgers.  Never found role, never happy.  Will graduate and play next year.

Scooter Johnson
6'6" Lost time due to academics and injuries.  NQ

Miami


Brian Sullivan
Leading returning scorer, top 3-FG shooter in the MAC and All-MAC Freshman.

OU


Tyquan Goard (Delaware)
Tyquan had been a verbal to the Blue Hens, then he decided to go to OU, where he played 29 games and then quit just before the NCAA run to decide to go back to Delaware.  Godspeed, Tyquan.

Ethan Jacobs
At 6'10", he would get your attention, and yet he only played about a third of the games in two years.

NIU


Zach Miller (Hillsdale)
This one is fairly interesting.  Zach was told by Coach Mark Montgomery that he was off the team and off scholarship.  Zach and his family charged up to the AD's office, and the AD said that Montgomery could not take away his scholarship and he wasn't off the team.  AD apologized, Montgomery apologized, and then the kid decided to transfer anyway.

How's that taste, Coach?
The kid's dad is a big-time Illinois HS Coach, so that might not work out too well for them long-term.

Stien Berg
Jeremiah Jackson

Walk-ons walking on their way out of DeKalb.


In:

EMU

Mike Talley, Duquesne
This is potentially a pretty good get for the Eagles, who might well stock their entire roster with transfers before all is said and done.  He's a PG who scored 7.2 and had 2.1 assists in two years for the Dukes.

UT

Justin Drummond, Loyola, MD
A transfer from Loyola-MD (known as the other Loyola) where he was third-team all-MAAC and Sixth Man of a Year.  He was a double figure scorer.

OU

Kadeen Green, Missouri
He's a body at 6'8" who didn't play much at Missouri.  He will be eligible at mid-year.  He played about 11 minutes a game.

NIU

Tommie McCune, WVU
Lest you think the flow in DeKalb is only out, they did pick up this guy.  He only played a little as a FR at WVU, but he was a 3-star recruit and is 6'7".  Could be a very big player in the MAC.

College Football Zealots Previews the Falcons...

College Football Zealots is a pretty good website that lives up to its name with zealotry.   They asked me to answer some questions as a preview of the Falcons, and I was happy to do so.  Check it out, let me know what you think.

Falcons Dismiss Kyle Bryant

The Falcons announced today that they had dismissed LT Kyle Bryant from the football team, citing an unspecified violation of team rules.

The dismissal comes at a time when BG is trying to rebuild its O-line depth.  Bryant had game experience, with 6 starts and 8 games played in two seasons.  I know he had been mentioned as having an important role on the line next year, especially at the vital LT position.  Obviously, if a guy is counter-productive, he's counter-productive...it will be interesting to see how we adjust at T.

MAC Men's Basketball Attendance

Just a quick look back at the men's basketball attendance in the MAC.  I was mostly interested in seeing how our attendance changed when BG moved to the Stroh Center.

Granted, the team was a little better than the year before, but the team wasn't a lot better and it wasn't like BG was on a MAC title run at any point, so I will suggest that the move to the new facility was the bigger variable.  We also had Toledo at home and a nice home game with Temple, too.  Other than that, it wasn't anything too outlandish.

Attendance did improve.  For all games, BG drew 2,157 per game, which was a 37% increase over the last season at Anderson.  And BG moved from 10th in the MAC to 8th in the MAC.  Obviously, that still has a ways to go--we are pretty far behind the next highest team--but we're not going to start drawing like that until the team starts to win consistently.  Still, it was a nice improvement.

Beyond that, a few conclusions.  UT always draws well in MAC standards, and as Kowalcyk gets things turned around, you'll see them either lead or compete with OU for the lead.  OU and Ball State, I will contend, are the places where I consider there to be a year in and year out, win or lose historical support for the program.  Obviously, Kent and Akron are usually good and good at home, so they are drawing pretty well, too.

EMU, has the opposite problem.  There is just no feel of support for any of their programs, win or lose.  Perhaps Murphy will change that.

Back to the Falcons.  I honestly think until people start to sense that this team is challenging for something, this about as high as it is going to get.  We don't have UT next year but we are supposed to have MSU so that will help.  I just don't see too much more of an increase so long as the team is about .500 and not among the truly elite teams in the MAC.  We have not drawn anything close to well dating back to end of the Dakich years.

Anyway, the Stroh did bring some improvement, and has the potential to be a great place to watch a game with a great home crowd.  All we need is some wins.