Random Thoughts

I checked it out and confirmed that Dudley is in fact shooting exactly 70% over the current six-game win streak (43 for 61). Sean Williams is also shooting in the same stratosphere during that span (27 for 41 - 66%)...Driving back from the game, I was thinking about BC recruiting over the years. I have some friends of mine who think Skinner is a shitty recruiter who's gotten real lucky. I disagree. I think he recruits guys for his system, and when the right guys get in his system, they flourish. He's developed three certifiable studs over the years (Bell, Smith and Dudley) that no one else wanted out of high school, but by their sophomore years could have started for every single team in the country, including schools like Duke, North Carolina, UConn, and Kansas. That's not luck, that's a pattern. He's also recruited and developed some very nice role players, such as Kenny Harley (one of my all-time favorites), Kenny Walls, Uka Agbai, Ryan Sidney, Jermaine Watson, Louis Hinnant and the current ensemble...Skinner seems to always get about 2 solid rotation guys a recruiting class, which is a great way to keep things rolling with consistent NCAA tourney appearances. Check out the current rotation: he has two seniors (Dudley, Marshall), three juniors (Oates, Williams and McLean), two sophomores (Rice, Haynes) and one freshman (Spears). I'm pretty happy with the freshman class this year even though only one guy is getting meaningful minutes -- I expect Tyler Roche to break the rotation next year unless someone from the stellar incoming class leapfrogs him (which wouldn't be a bad thing), and Spears could develop into a real star if he can learn to get off his shot against taller guys...Thinking about Skinner's recuits got me wondering where some of the transfers went. I was interested to learn that Gordon Watt, who was in Williams' and McLean's class, is now a starting guard for Purdue averaging 26 minutes and 9.5 ppg. Purdue is no slouch either; they are 8-2 with an RPI of 12, and they've knocked off Oklahoma, Depaul, Virginia and Missouri, so bully for Watt...Purdue must like BC's sloppy seconds. A few years ago they took a Skinner discard named Willie Deane, who went on to become 1st team All-Big Ten for the Boilermakers, averaging 17 ppg in 01-02 and 18 ppg in 02-03, and leading the Big Ten in scoring his senior year. Deane was in the same recruiting class as Kenny Harley and Jonathan Beerbohm, and was a bit player for BC as a freshman (he sucked then, but obviously improved after leaving the Heights)...Troy Bell's old backcourt sidekick Ryan Sidney, who transferred to D2 Cheney State after being booted from the Heights (drugs), is reportedly playing pro ball in Mersin, Turkey for $55,000.00 this year...speaking of overseas hoops, you may have read recently that erstwhile Syracuse star Gerry McNamara came back from Greece with his tail between his legs because he couldn't get on the floor with his Greek team, Olympiacos, one of the top clubs in the European circuit. That's because GMac got beat out by one James "Scoonie" Penn, perhaps the most famous BC transfer of all time (he followed Jimmy O'Brien to Ohio State).