Hang on: The Bewley Twins are at Chicago State

I have been informed that the Bewley Twins have come to Chicago State, with the potential to roust the independent school out of its normal bottom-dwelling record.

To be sure, when I was made aware of the Bewley Twins, I had no idea who they are.

Having looked into it, November 6 will be must-see viewing at the Stroh.

Matt and Ryan Bewley are twin brothers from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They are 6'9" forwards and were the first high school juniors to sign with the Overtime Elite professional basketball league. They were both 5-star recruits. The brothers were ranked among the top 15 high school juniors in the country. They signed two-year, seven-figure contracts with Overtime Elite. 

The Bewley twins last played prep ball in 2020-21 at West Oaks Academy in Orlando. They have competed in the Overtime Elite league for the last two seasons. 

They are now headed to play college basketball at Chicago State. 

Matt was ranked #2 overall in 247 Sports 2023 recruiting rankings, and #3 by ESPN and Rivals. 

So this is a big deal.  Imagine, first, any of those sentences even five years ago.  

It puts Chicago State on a new level, for sure.

Men's Basketball Schedule Announced

The basketball schedules were released today.  The big news (BIG!) is that the South Carolina women will be playing at the Stroh, an incredible get for the program and the university.  House will be packed.

The men's schedule has no such headline.  There are still 2 games to be determined...one as part of the Sun Belt Challenge and one...not.  Given that about half of the D1 teams have their schedules out, my guess is that the extra game will be non-D1.  But who knows.

Speaking of which...last year's Southern Utah team played 4 non D1 games, so even if BG ends up with 2, that's (to me) an acceptable number.  (UT plays none). The failure of EMU and CMU with their NAIA-laden schedules shows you cannot succeed playing that way.

Having said that, BG certainly has to have among the softer schedules in the conference, based on where teams were last year. (Not every team has released their non-conference schedule).  Note we have only 2 true road games out of conference.

In the world of the portal, it is harder to predict from one year to the next.  But, here is the BG schedule.  For reference, BG finished last year with a 286 kenpom.

Nov 6 Chicago State

293 last year.  Usually, the worst team in D1, and that's the best in 9 years

Nov 11 Arkansas State     

This is the Sun Belt Challenge.  They finished 287 last year, have a new coach, Bryan Hodgson the former UB and Alabama assistant.  A lot of portal action, including LaQuill Hardnett, formerly of Buffalo.

Nov 14 @Oakland

Finished #272. Worst D1 season for Kampe. BG won last year.

Nov 17 Bellarmine

Finished #262, 3rd D1 season

Montreal

Nov 24 UNC Asheville

#148, in Dance, new coach

Nov 25 UMass Lowell

Good team. #134 last year. 26-8. Lost to Vermont in AEC final.

Nov 26 Dartmouth

#260. One of the teams with longer NCAA drought than BG

Dec 2 @Southern Indiana

#285. First D1 season. Won at Stroh.

Dec 16 Kansas City

#314. Has a nice habit of ruining UT's season.

Dec 19 Hampton

#351. BG beat them in Virginia

Dec 22 Siena Heights

NAIA. 8-20 last year.

Scrimmage Report

The scrimmage yesterday....a few thoughts...first, we were not allowed to video it...but I snuck in a camera.  The footage is below.

So, that ought to tell the story.

Anyway, here are a few things.

It seemed to me that the offense was much like last year.  We made some big plays--a couple runs, a couple double moves in single coverage, a kickoff return, a nice play from under the goalposts on a hard play fake--but I didn't get any sense that we were able to really sustain any drives.  There was a bad turnover and the 2-point drill was scary.  It seemed to me that the defense won their share of the plays, especially on the runs.

Some other observations.  Nate Pabst was getting reps at LT.  He was a DL last year and moved to the OL since then and is listed as the starting LT in Phil Steele, which probably came out of talks with Loeffler. (He had it Pabst, Fatuskai, Deyo, Warner, Wollschlager as BG replaces Grant and Robinson).

Having Terrion Stewart back will help a lot.  He is a difference maker.

We had open FG competition and they seemed to mostly miss them.  A bunch of the snaps were low.

The guys were engaged.  Two big fights broke out.

As has been noted elsewhere, Bryce DeFalco is injured and on crutches.  I did not see any other injuries.

It's hard to tell with a scrimmage.  Was it good offense?  Was it bad defense?  Vice versa.  It's hard to tell.  This team needs to be way more consistently effective to have a shot this year....all will be revealed soon.  The schedule will present little margin for error.

Jaxon Pardon Interview

Here's a full interview with BG's first '24 verbal, Jaxon Pardon.

"Carroll's Jaxon Pardon full interview on committing to Bowling Green men's basketball"

MAC and ESPN Protect Football Rivalries

Following up on @TonyPaul1984's report...
ESPN has agreed to "protect" four MAC rivalries: Toledo-BG, Akron-Kent, Miami-Ohio, and CMU-WMU.
Rivalry games will rotate in and out of weeknight MACtion, two years on, two years off (on a Saturday). https://t.co/x3KSarUZG9

— Dave Briggs (@DBriggsBlade) August 12, 2023

 Good news from the MAC on the issue of football rivalries. 

Not the absolute best news, but good news.  As the FBS' last true geographic conference, and the most stable conference, the MAC has worked a deal to get some sanity to rivalry games.

I get it.  It would be better to have ALL of them in October on a Saturday.  But we will take what we can get.

So, starting next year, BG and UT will run one rotation on Saturday before running back into #maction.  We think.  Who knows what will exist three years from now...but that's the plan.

For my money, this is what will eventually be missed in college football.  If you destroy rivalries--I'm looking at you Bedlam, "Civil" War.  The ongoing storylines are part of our identity as fans...weaken that and you break a bond you might not re-forge.

Bryan Blair says as much in the story.

Anyway, a moment to be proud of the MAC--for that, and for being the last representation of what an athletic conference is supposed to be.

Longest trips in FBS leagues (2024):
MAC: 593 miles (Buffalo to DeKalb, Ill.)
SEC: 1038
MWC: 1340
ACC: 1417
Sun Belt: 1522
AAC: 1742
CUSA: 1979
Big 12: 2320
Big Ten: 2900 (Piscataway to Eugene)
Rutgers now roughly as close to Ireland as it is to Oregonhttps://t.co/UuMJyeERnd

— Dave Briggs (@DBriggsBlade) August 12, 2023

Pardon: The Sequel

2024 6'4 CG Jaxon Pardon has committed to Bowling Green. https://t.co/nIA9wlR2fE

— Basketball Recruitment (@BasketHoopz) August 4, 2023

BG has a '24 MBB verbal....which will be very popular in the Falcon Nation...Jaxon Pardon, the son of Falcon great Brandon Pardon.

I can hear the cheering now.

For review, Brandon Pardon was an Ohio Player of the Year in HS who transferred to BG and played 3 years (99-02), leading the MAC in assists twice and finished #3 in career assists behind David Greer and Antonio Daniels.

His son, Jaxon, is from Ft. Wayne, where he attends Carroll HS.  He scored 15 a game as a junior and was 1st team all-conference and honorable mention all-state.

Here is what he told the website Hidden Gems about BG....

Bowling Green: "The new coaching staff is amazing. They play with a style of play that is something I could fit into very well. The MAC is a great conference where any team can be great competition."

 He's 6'4" and registers as a combo G.  BG was his only D1 offer.

Welcome home, Jaxon.

BG Lands TE Commit

The Falcons continue to add commits to the '24 class.  

This young man is Caden Campbell. At 6'4" and 240 pounds, he is from De La Salle HS in Warren, MI. This verbal is from the DZone, but is not listed on Caden's twitter right now.

BG was his only FBS offer, though he also had offers from Saginaw Valley State and Tiffin.  He did not get much in the way of stats as a junior and my guess is he showed something at a camp this summer.

De La Salle is two-time defending DII champion in Michigan.  Other alumni include JP McCarthy, Steve Phillips and a host of professional athletes, plus an art director from Mad Magazine.

Welcome to the Falcons, Caden.