Press Row

John Wilkins’ fate now appears to lie in the hands of the NCAA Eligibility Center.
Sources tell me the Eligibility Center has received all of the documentation it needs from Wilkins’ high school in Belgium and the ball is now in the NCAA body’s court.
The 6-foot-9 Wilkins, living with his father, Jeff, in Gary, Ind., was hopeful of enrolling at Bradley at the beginning of spring semester Dec. 17. But delays in his high school transcripts arriving from Belgium to the NCAA offices in Indianapolis pushed that date back. The holidays also may have slowed the process.
But all indications are that the NCAA now has what it needs to review the case. Since Wilkins must sit out the first five games if and when he is cleared, the Braves would have him available to play for a shrinking period of time this season.
If he’s cleared and admitted to BU this week, Wilkins would be eligible to play in the Jan. 28 home game against Wichita State and could play in the final 10 regular-season games, the MVC tournament and potential postseason. 

Just got home from Springfield, Mo., which is just down the road from Branson, which has turned into the capital of where entertainers can go to resurrect their careers. I mean, I thought Andy Williams was dead. But there’s a giganto billboard of him on I-44, just down the way from a more giganto billboard of Yakov Smirnov, who really is a funny guy but who, for all intents and purposes has become King of Branson. Anyway, I didn’t go to Branson. I didn’t even go to the world’s most massive Bass Pro Shop. Heck, I didn’t even play golf, although Saturday the weather was delightful and we certainly could have played had we brought our sticks and called ahead for a tee time. Goodness, the parking lot at the golf course on the northeast side of Springfield was packed, and there were people playing in shirtsleeves and even one female golfer in a sleeveless number. Such was not the case this morning, when the cold and bitter wind was blowing winter back into the area, just as JS colleague Dave Reynolds and I were escaping.

Last night, we watched Bradley survive and win another road game, this one from the Missouri State Bears.  Read Dave’s game story here. And read my column here.

They played at the brand new JQH Arena, which is a rather sterile-looking place, but a nice basketball facility. They’re still working on the inside. In fact, the Bears locker room is still in the old arena next door, and they have to commute via tunnel. But that’s their problem. The place allegedly seats 11,000, though one official confided to us that capacity is probably a couple hundred shy of that. Seems designers miscalculated the amount of space on the mezzanine for wheelchair seating, figuring for two or three rows when there’s only enough room for one. Didn’t matter last night, though, because the announced crowd was a smidge under 7,500. This was due in part to Mo State being on semester break; the vast end zone bleachers section dedicated to students was sparsely populated. Probably the fact that Mo State has a team picked for last in the MVC and, after the loss to BU, now 0-3 in league play didn’t help the turnout either.

JQH, in case you don’t know, stands for John Q. Hammons, the big-time developer who pretty much owns Springfield. The old place next door was known as the Hammons Center. Within a few blocks there’s Hammons Field, where the Mo State baseball team plays (and so does the Class AA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals), a Hammons plaza, a Hammons Building, a Hammons Center for something or other, a Hammons Tower and a whole bunch of other stuff with JQ’s name on it in some form or other. There’s also a John Q. Hammons Drive (I think it was Drive, though it might have been Avenue or Parkway or something like that), which runs past the front door of the JQH Arena. I think it’s pretty neat that a fellow of such means would give so much of his wealth to the betterment of his community and its university. But boy, he sure likes to put his name on stuff and remind everyone what he has done.

In case anyone is wondering, Reynolds remains directionally challenged. (Sorry, Dave, I have to tell the truth.) Worse, he’s starting to rub off on me. I turned the wrong way in the hotel parking lot this morning and had to hang a U to head for the exit. And then, when we stopped for gas, I almost got back on I-44 going West instead of East. To give Dave credit, he caught me in time. However …

The GPS his wife, Linda gave him for Christmas worked well. Her name is Samantha. Problem is, Dave doesn’t always listen to Sam, who got us to Springfield and to our hotel without a hitch. But then, after we went to a rib joint for dinner, Dave decided to ask directions to the arena (which, since it’s right next door to the old one, Dave has been to every year since like 1991). He asked the waitress, who had no clue how to get to the university, which should have told us something, and she got a manager, who started out by drawing a map and then gave up and simply wrote out directions. So, when we got back into the car, Dave declined to use Sam. And then, when we reached the campus, instead of following the rib joint guy’s directions, Dave decided he knew where he was going, which of course, he didn’t. We went around in circles near Hammons Field, because Dave believed it was “right by” the arena. “Right by” actually is about five blocks. We finally got there.

When we got out of the car, I asked for the keys.

I did not give them back. That’s why we made it home today in less than six hours. At my house, I got out and gave Dave the keys. I hope he makes it home.

Some might think this sad. It’s New Year’s Eve. I’m in my basement, wearing Mountain Dew sleep pants, a JS T-shirt and a St. Louis Cardinals sweater … watching Bradley tip off against Wichita State … and blogging. I don’t think it’s sad. I think I’m glad my wife took me out to dinner early enough so I could get home and do this.

First thought—Though Bradley came up empty on its first possession, I liked the ball movement, liked the fact they went down low early in the possession, liked everything except Eddren McCain not finishing the drive to the hoop.

Second thought—Looks like the refs are gonna let ‘em play. Bradley had better step up and at least match the Shocks’ physically or this could be a long night.

Timeout at 15:59—WSU 9, BU 4

Nice pick and roll, Sam to Sam/Maniscalco to Singh. At the end of the shot clock. BU needed that. Score now 11-6. Braves are struggling with the Shocks’ zone … and, man, this game is physical.

Bradley, though, has responded well. Dodie Dunson hard to the rack. Theron Wilson a steal and a dunk. And now Wilson takes a hard charge in the lane.

Under-12 timeout: WSU 11, BU 10

Braves have to keep playing like this. That good response is the kind of thing that can be a difference-maker. Look back on that at the end of the game and say that’s why they won. We’ll see. But it’s sure good to see them take that first hard punch, go wanting for a whistle a couple of times, then fight back and into it.

And what the heck? How long was that 3 by Chris Roberts? Had to be 30 feet. Did I miss something? Was the shot clock burning out? Or did he just decide to launch? If he was just launching, that’s one of those no-no-no-yes babies, and let’s hope he doesn’t fire off another. One is enough.

There we go. McCain, who has been showing better patience—sometimes even too much patience, to the point of reticence—shooting, passed up one, then got the ball back and made a nice move left and popped a mid-range jumper.

Wilson makes another nice steal—and good whistle. Intentional foul keeps him from another dunk, and it gets called. He makes the FTs and on the ensuing possession, Roberts two-hand slams the board. And now Wilson, with a man hanging on him, rebounds one in. BU up 23-17.

What’s impressive right now is that Bradley is really fighting. Braves are playing aggressive. The defense has tightened up. Offense is clicking, not relying on the 3, taking it when it’s there and finding seams to the basket. The rebounding is … OK. Shocks are the best board team in the Valley, but you can’t simply concede. Bradley is battling, but is still being out-toughed on the glass. Shocks are getting too many second chances. Not capitalizing a whole lot yet, but BU has to shut that off.

On the telecast, Dick Versace just put it pretty well: “Swagger.” Somewhere, Bradley’s guys have gotten some.

Halftime: Bradley 36,Wichita State 27

Wichita has some brawn inside, and uses it. Would like to see Bradley’s bigs be that relentless with the ball. Put it this way, if Bradley’s bigs went to the rack the way Wilson does, the 3-point shots would open up real wide. Wilson the last couple of games had turned up his game to where I thought it would be when the season opened. Better late than never. He is flying to the ball on both ends, and taking it hard to the rim every time. And he’s getting fouled and making his tosses.

Couple of poor judgment mistakes by McCain in the final minute cost BU four more points. They gotta work to prevent that from being costly. He’s trying to make something happen, but maybe trying too hard. First one came after a nice rip by Singh in the post … Braves had a nice advantage on the break, and McCain tried to fire high for a lob-and-dunk instead of an easy toss-and-catch for a layup. Then, final possession, he drove it to the left block and tried to go with a blind pass to the paint … but nobody was home. Just take a little more time kid, just a little more time.

Now, can Bradley put together another half as good as this one? Will need to. Maybe need to be better. Maintain the intensity level for sure. Keep playing D.

They just put up the first-half stats. BU shooting 54 percent—a function of good ball movement, good off-ball movement and patience. People sometimes confuse patience with slow play. Not so. The pace is fast, but Bradley isn’t rushing its shot selection. Braves are moving the ball quickly, but with purpose to find the best shot. Big difference between that and just shooting quickly. The other stat was a bit of surprise. Rebounding is even, 13-13. I would’ve thought it was more like 16-10, Shocks. I still think BU can RB better than this, so that’s good. If they can control boards, there’s almost no way they lose this game.

SECOND HALF

So far, still up nine. Couple of nice plays by McCain to start the half. One was a high-low dish to Wilson for a dunk, the other a free-throw-line pull-up J. On the other end, Roberts has two really nice blocks at the rim. Rebounding is tough, but Bradley is battling and just kept one alive long enough for the Shocks to knock the ball OB. Bradley up 42-33 at 15:00.

OK, at 14:08, BU is up 42-35 and just got a foul after having to force a 3 at the end of the shot clock. Time for BU to get a stop and get its offense back on track. Shocks have notched up their D, extended it, and Bradley is a little out of synch.

Yowsa! Nice drive and acrobatic layup by McCain. That, on a second-chance possession by the Braves. Need more of those second-chances. And need to capitalize. Here’s another one. Dodie Dunson misses a 3 from the corner, but there are Bradley guys flying to the basket and in that exchange, Taylor Brown gets decked, foul on Wichita. Hey, take some bumps and bruises and they eventually pay off. If you’re not banged up, you’re not sticking your nose in there to get the work done.

Now, here’s what BU needs to keep doing: Strong D in the halfcourt, Singh comes up with a strong RB in traffic after the Shocks miss at the end of the clock—survives some fouling to hang on—and outlets. Then Brown converts a tough layup in transition. Goes to the line for the and-one and misses (gotta hit those FTs), but all-in-all a good sequence. Lead back to 9.

Under-8 timeout: Bradley 50, WSU 45

I was doing some checking in the archives. Just a once-through, but it appears Bradley has not won back-to-back trips to Wichita since the 1968-69 and ‘69-70 seasons. Almost 40 years. Braves are doing what they need to, as far as intensity, aggressiveness, hustle. But they’re gonna have to maintain composure and execute.

Shocks just drained a 3 before the TO. Not that the perimeter has been a problem all night, but you don’t want a team to get some mo and start rolling. Big possession coming up out of the timeout. BU needs to grind it, score and then get back to getting stops.

First real gut test of the conference season coming up. Withstand this and pull out the win, and you have a chance to start building. Let this one get away, and while not disastrous, you kick yourself and go into Mo State on Saturday needing to win to avoid starting a losing streak.

First big BU play: Dunson misses a tough drive to the basket, but Wilson flies in to contest the rebound and gets the Shocks to lose the ball OB. Second chance. Gotta capitalize. Maniscalco throws the ball away. Fortunately, BU gets it back on the other end. No harm done, but now is the time to execute.

Points have been tough in the second half. BU has only 14 and there’s 5:45 to go. Wichita has really bodied up and extended the D. BU has handled fairly well, turnovers minimal. But the Braves are not getting any good looks since the opening couple of minutes.

Four-and-change to play, Bradley up 50-46 with Wilson going to the line … but with a cramp in his calf.

Wilson makes both. Nice work there. He was clanging everything a couple of weeks ago. As much as he gets to the line, those have to go down.

3:27 timeout: Bradley 54, WSU 49

Getting dicier. Shocks hit a 3. Maniscalco retaliated with a nice mid-range pull-up vs. the shot clock. But then he commits a 3-point foul on the other end. So this thing could be a deuce in a hurry.

This is what happens on the road. You’ve seen Bradley do this to teams time and again at Carver Arena: come from behind down the stretch after being outplayed and pull it out. This is where championship teams have to step it up and say, nope, not gonna happen. Hold off the charge and take the roadie.

And you sure as hell can’t go bananas against the press and throw the ball away. Which BU just did.

…

So, this is what it will be like. Braves go snoozing on D and give up a layup. And then McCain drives and dishes for a Wilson layup on the other end. Right now, Bradley will happily trade baskets. But you don’t want to fall into that. They need stops.

And there you go. Didn’t get the stops. Roberts gets a nice block inside, but no RB help and Shocks get a putback. Then BU runs clock but throws it away and Wichita gets a 3 in transit … Tie at 58 with 20 seconds left.

Boom! Bradley runs “Butter” and Maniscalco drives to the hole, misses the contested layup, but Singh crashes the board and gets the putback. Zero-point-nine left on the clock, and WSU has called time. Length of the floor to go. Absolutely cannot cannot cannot give up a 3.

Good move by Jim Les. David Collins is back in the game to guard the inbounds pass. Seven feet plus arms. Need to get ‘em up and make this a tough pass.

Cool chess game. Shocks call timeout and reconfigure. They try to get DC to charge, and he almost does. But now they call time again. One last chance to get the play off.

Collins does a wretched job of defending the pass. Way too soft. So the pass goes long, Hail-Mary style into a sideline scrum. Refs rule it off BU with one-tenth of a second left. But of course, the refs are going to put time back on the clock. Looks like it should be about 0.3 when the ball hit OB. They make it 0.2.

Shocks try a lob to the basket, but it’s an airball throw. OB. Ball to Bradley. Just a throw-in. And BU wins, 60-58.

Hot. Strange. Thrilling. Well fought. Bradley reached down and pulled it out, avoided throwing this one away. And I don’t mean that negatively. That’s a tough win in a tough place. Like I said earlier, that’s the first time BU has won back-to-back years in Wichita in four decades. Young team. First time a Les team has been 2-0 to start an MVC season. All good. Now, on to Mo State.

While the rout of Southern Illinois has certainly lifted the spirits of Bradley fans, there is one bit of negative non-news to report: Bradley athletics officials still have heard nothing from the NCAA Eligibility Center regarding John Wilkins.
Wilkins is the heralded 6-foot-9 orally committed recruit from Belgium whose original high school transcripts are held up in the bureaucracy of the Belgian educational system. He would have been eligible to enroll at Bradley last week for spring semester had the transcripts made it into the NCAA’s hands.
But that hasn’t happened yet.
If you follow world politics, you’ve no doubt heard about the turmoil engulfing the small European country, not that such events should have any effect on this case. And now that we’re in the midst of the holidays, there is a further excuse for delay.
For their part, the necessary NCAA folks are available to Bradley during the college sports governing body’s Christmas break, which lasts until Jan. 5. So if something miraculously arrives in the mail in the next week or so, BU officials can be alerted.
But the longer this drags out into the second half of this season, it seems the chances of Wilkins ever arriving at Bradley will continue to grow dimmer.

During the first half of the Bradley-SIU game today, my cell phone buzzed: Text message incoming. It was from my wife, who was about 50 feet away, in the “Red Zone Sea” student section at Carver Arena, where she had purchased tickets to use while most Bradley students are away on break. BU had sold Red ZoneSea specials to the general public—$50 for four games and a Red ZoneSea T-shirt—to try to goose up the excitement. There are still students in this section, and they stand the whole game. That was supposed to be clear to people who bought this package. Apparently, some didn’t get—or ignored—the memo.

Here was the first text from my wife: “OMG! Ppl r (griping) @ students 2 sit down!”

A little while later, here came another: “One idiot right in front of me called the students dang fools and I told him it was their section and he (griped) that he paid 4 his seats.”

At halftime, my wife moved down a couple of rows so she could stand with the standees—and get (griped) at.

Readers of this blog—and my column—know I have long been advocate for student fans at the games. I’ve also championed the university being proactive to fill that section during semester break with enthusiastic fans who would join the students, rather than sell them to casual folk who prefer to sit on their rumps. The word was put out—but apparently not loud enough or wide enough.

When I went to the ticket office a couple of weeks ago to purchase the Red ZoneSea tickets, there was no material handed out to explain what was expected here. No warning that people in this section would be standing a lot. The person manning the ticket office that day said nothing, either.

Obviously, better communication is needed. This is still a good idea, and I applaud BU for making this effort. I saw quite a few non-students—including a couple of really old-looking gents—who stood the entire game in the Red ZoneSea today. Build on that success, and work for improvement in the future. That’s what needs to be done.

MONDAY MORNING UPDATE

I just got a call from Rob Bogardus, BU ticket manager. He said small flyers were placed with the tickets that basically told buyers that the adult Red Sea was created to help continue Bradley’s home-court advantage over break, and reminded that the seats were located behind the students. It ended with the encouragement to “be loud, be proud, go Braves.” Bogardus said it’s possible there were some buyers who didn’t get the message. For example, he speculated some of the tickets might have been purchased as holiday gifts and the flyer didn’t get passed along to the user. He said I didn’t get the flyer because the person working the window that day knew who I was and figured I didn’t need a reminder. That makes sense. Rob also said he and his staff, after the New Year’s holiday. would be contacting the people who purchased the package, to make sure they understand the situation.

Again—and I told Rob this—I applaud Bradley’s effort here. There are always kinks when you roll out a new idea, and this is no different. I encourage BU to keep this up, look for ways to improve the communication and make the “adult Red Sea” even better.

I’ve been mulling some stats from the past several Bradley basketball seasons, and one set leaps out of the numbers. They’re from the 2005-06 season, Bradley fans will fondly remember as the Sweet 16 season; BU’s deepest NCAA penetration since 1955. That team was talented, multifaceted. I remember during that run, scouts and coaches from other teams being awed by the Braves’ personnel and athleticism. But looking at the numbers, here’s what grabs the attention: The defensive stats.

Those Braves allowed 64.8 points per game, limited opponents to .404 accuracy, including .303 from the 3-point line; they had a rebound margin of plus-3.1, stole the ball 8.9 times per game and enjoyed their rivals committing turnovers at a 16.5 rate. Each of those numbers ranks as the best in its category during the six-plus seasons of the Jim Les Coaching Era at BU. Three of those numbers rank in the top 10 all-time at Bradley—opponents’ scoring (9th), opponents’ 3-point accuracy (3rd) and opponents’ turnover rate (6th). In addition, Bradley ranked 29th nationally in steals that season and 36th in overall field-goal percentage defense.
By comparison, that team’s offense was decent, but not spectacular, averaging 71.5 points, shooting .439 overall, .336 from the arc, 16.2 assists per game for a 1.1 assist-turnover ratio. None of those figures are the best put up by one of Les’s teams. In fact, only assist-turnover ratio cracks a top three in the Les Era. None ranks on the BU all-time lists.

For the most part, I am a defense-first guy. I qualify “for the most part,” because I believe in recruiting basketball skill first. Give me players who can shoot and handle and have a good basketball IQ, and I’ll take my chances. You can teach a player how to use his body, his feet and hands. They can learn how to screen, cut, block out, dive for loose balls, rebound and play individual and team defense. Take talented players, get them to rebound and guard well, and you’re going to win. Yes, you can try to outshoot opponents, but that has limits, as proven by the 1987-88 Bradley team. Those guys could score on anyone, but their inattention to guarding the opposition resulted in a ridiculous first-round exit from the NCAA, against Auburn. Shooting goes into slumps; sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in the hoop. Not so defense, unless your effort lacks or your opponent is simply too powerful.

Still, balance is key. Ken Pomeroy has been tracking “efficiency” stats on offense and defense since the ‘03-04 season. You can read more about it here. Most noteworthy, for this discussion, is the balance of the NCAA champions since ‘04. Here they are, with their national efficiency rank on offense, defense and overall:

2004—Connecticut 6-3-2
2005—North Carolina 1-6-1
2006—Florida 2-5-1
2007—Florida 1-12-1
2008—Kansas 2-1-1

Bradley in that Sweet 16 season was ranked 26th nationally in overall efficiency. Those Braves were 70th offensively, 11th defensively. Over the next two years, Bradley’s offensive efficiency was even better. The Braves were 33rd in 2007 and 45th in 2008. But their defensive efficiency dropped to 10th in ‘07, then to 143rd last season; resulting in overall efficiency ranks of 61st and then 81st. If they had maintained a defensive efficiency in line with their offensive, I believe Bradley would have challenged for the last two Missouri Valley championships and likely would have returned to the NCAA at least once, if not twice.

This season is a little different. Not to make excuses, but the losses of Andrew Warren and Will Egolf to injuries have severely hampered Bradley on offense. The Braves lack a knockdown 3-point shooter of Warren’s caliber, and Egolf was beginning to give them an active and effective body in the post; something they are still missing. If they were able to play, Bradley’s offensive efficiency would be considerably better than its 214 ranking after 11 games. But I’m not sure BU would be all that much better as a team, given the 140 defensive efficiency rank. Neither Warren nor Egolf has established himself as a consistent and tough defender during his Bradley career, and the team defense continues to lag.

We can argue all season about three- and four-guard offenses and the merits, or dismerits, of going small rather than big. I’ll grant that size mismatches can be tougher to manage on defense, but I don’t think size is the be-all/end-all some people make it. You can play outstanding defense with a smaller lineup—if your system is sound and taught well and the fundamentals executed. That’s where the focus should be.

Bradley center Sam Singh, who has missed the last two games after suffering a broken nose two weeks ago against Southeast Missouri State, is expected to return to the court Sunday afternoon when the Braves open their Missouri Valley Conference season at Carver Arena against Southern Illinois.

BU coach Jim Les said Friday that Singh returned to practice Christmas night and went through about 75 percent of Friday’s workout as well.

“He was going this afternoon to get some adjustments made with his (protective) mask,” Les said. “There were some pressure points that were bothering him. Sam’s been doing a lot of extra work to get himself ready and I would think he’d get some minutes Sunday.”

Meanwhile, guard Andrew Warren, sidelined since mid-September with a broken right foot, has still not returned to practice and isn’t expected to play. But he is getting better, Les said.

“Andrew’s pretty much out of the boot and we’ve ramped up some of the intensity of his workouts.” Les said. “He’s not involved in practice yet, but today he said he felt really good. He’s not doing anything high intensity yet, but he did more today than he’s done in a while. We’ll wait and see how he feels tomorrow.”

Being off and all, I took in tonight’s Bradley basketball game with my wife. I bought her some “Red Sea” tickets to use while the students are on break, so we sat down there. That was fun, and director Dave Vroman did a great job with the “alumni and friends band.” The bass player was particularly funky. I’m starting here because the band was one of the best things of the night. The best thing was when Ben (sorry, dude, I can’t remember your last name) won everybody free Buffalo Wild Wings when he made a free throw, a 3 and a half-court shot in 30 seconds. I knew Ben would have a good chance; we run in the same Sunday night game, and he can shoot the rock a little bit. Otherwise …

The best thing about the game itself was Bradley at least tried to go inside with the ball and score, thus helping to open the outside. Both David Collins and Anthony Thompson scored from the post and did some decent things. And BU did win the game. But, man, if a good team had come into Carver Arena tonight, chalk up an “L” for the home team. Probably by double digits. SIU-E is a transitional D-I program, and not really very good. Bradley made them look very good because, once again, the defense was awful.

I’ve come to accept that this season is going to be more of an offensive struggle than anticipated for Bradley—unless Andrew Warren comes back, and I’m not convinced he’s the cure-all. But that shouldn’t matter. Offensive drought happens, even to good teams—unless you’re Carolina this year. That’s why you play defense. Good defense should be nightly. It should never slump, because you don’t have to put the ball in the basket or make precision passes or take care of the ball. You just play sound, fundamental defense, individually and as a team. This team does not do that. The number of unmolested backdoor layups SIU-E got was disgusting. BU got better against that in the second half, but still let the visitors get the lead down to a single possession. I’m not even going to harp on another bad free-throw night for the Braves. Until they play defense consistently well, they have no hope of finishing in the top half of the Valley.
 

Bradley center Sam Singh, who broke his nose in the Braves’ Sunday win over Southeast Missouri State, will not make the trip to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Jim Les said following the Braves’ practice Friday.
“He’s feeling much better, but he’s probably not suited to travel so he’s going to hang at home,” said the BU coach.
Singh had successful corrective surgery Wednesday morning and has been fitted for a protective mask. But he has not returned to practice.
“The first day after surgery, he was feeling well and asked if he should come over for practice,” Les said. “We told him to stay home and rest. The second day the medicine wore off so he stayed off his feet all day.”
Singh’s absence leaves the Braves with just two post players—7-foot David Collins and 6-10 Anthony Thompson—for Saturday night’s game against the Panthers. Will Egolf is out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.
The Braves departed by bus Friday afternoon for Milwaukee.

This was supposed to be the day Bradley basketball recruit John Wilkins arrived on campus to begin his new life as a college student-athlete
But since Bradley officials received no word today from the NCAA Eligibility Center regarding Wilkins’ academic status, the 6-9 freshman-to-be remained in Gary, Ind., as well as in limbo.
The NCAA can’t make a decision on Wilkins’ eligibility until it receives Wilkins’ official transcripts from his Belgium high school. The documents must be approved for release by a Belgium government educational agency. Word from the NCAA is that there is no process to know if and when the transcripts have been sent until they are in hand.
Wilkins, who orally committed to BU last August, is hopeful of enrolling for spring semester at BU. If his transcripts are in order, he would be eligible to play once he satisfies a five-game suspension already issued by the NCAA amateurism clearinghouse for participating in five European professional games.
Check the Journal Star sports section for updates on Wilkins’ quest to become a Brave.