Recruiting is a very interesting process. Athletes who grow up playing their sport end up being evaluated by coaches and scouts before they’re even out of junior high school. Others are so much better than their adolescent competition that coaches go gaga over kids still in grade school.
Basketball coaches at colleges and universities across the country constantly search for the next great player to lead their teams to potential success, someone who can earn a college degree and/or become a possible professional basketball player.
Unfortunately, until recruits set foot on campus, no one really knows how they’ll do at whatever school they’ve chosen. Will they fit in with the playing style? Will they work hard to build their game, or have they already maxed themselves out? Will they get homesick? Will the coaches who sold them on the program still be in the program?
For whatever reasons, certain players just don’t work out at their initial school of choice. Coaches and players must start the whole recruiting cycle again. Creighton isn’t any different than other schools across the country in this regard. Many Bluejays have flown the coop for various reasons. Take these two recent examples:
- A top recruit out of high school, Ty Morrison came to Creighton in 2006 from junior college expecting to contribute right away. He wasn’t 100% healthy as his CU career started, and he and head coach Dana Altman had their own views of whether he could contribute right away. Altman thought he could play and needed a guy like Morrison to fill an important part of the lineup. Morrison ultimately played a total of 10 games before deciding to transfer again. However, for Morrison, he decided to leave after the second semester started which ultimately left him with one year of eligibility. He never called a Division I court home again.
- Steve Smith came to Creighton in 2004. He was a 6’11” kid that suffered through all types of injuries in his two seasons at Creighton, where he only played in 7 total games. He transferred to South Dakota, a D-II school at the time, and after two seasons out of action was able to play for them right away in the 2006-07 season. By the time all was said and done, South Dakota moved to D-I status, Smith received a 6th year of eligibility, and he played his final collegiate game against the Bluejays last season in the Collegeinsider.com tournament.
WBR takes a look at some recent CU transfers who are still playing elsewhere (stats as of 2/14/2011).
P’Allen Stinnett, Missouri Western: Stinnett is probably the most prolific player on this list. He put in more than two seasons at Creighton, winning Freshman and Newcomer of the Year awards in the Valley in 2008. He scored more than 1,000 points during his Bluejay career, which ended early because of many on and off the court issues and a coaching change.
Stinnett, who would be a senior at CU this season, ended up at D-II Missouri Western. Playing immediately, P’Allen is second on the team in scoring with 17.2 points a game, third on the team in rebounding, and second on the team in assists. However, he easily leads the team in turnovers and his squad sports a 10-13 record playing in the same conference as Nebraska-Omaha.
Issac Miles, Murray State: Miles came to Creighton from Kansas City and contributed immediately to the Bluejays basketball program. He started 27 of 33 games during the 2006-2007 season, the last time Creighton advanced to the NCAA Tournament. With Nate Funk and Anthony Tolliver graduating, it looked like Miles was going to be a major contributor and leader heading into 2007-08. Then Dana Altman left for Arkansas, but came back to Creighton. A few months later, Altman was still in Omaha, but Miles was headed to play somewhere closer to home.
He tried out with Missouri, but a new coaching staff and no available scholarships left Miles with few options. He had connections with coaches at Murray State, where he ultimately ended up. He sat out the 2007-2008 season due to NCAA transfer rules, but he’s been in the starting lineup ever since. And in 2009-2010, Miles was a major contributor to Murray State’s 31-5 season and NCAA Tournament appearance, where the Racers lost in the second round to eventual NCAA runner-up Butler.
This season, Miles is averaging a little over 10 points a game, which has been his average for the past three seasons. He is shooting 40% from 3-point range. His high point this season was a 19 point, 7 assist performance against Tennessee-Martin at the end of January. The Racers are 20-6 so far this season and sit atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings. He plays a somewhat familiar Valley foe this weekend, when Murray State hosts Evansville as part of BracketBusters weekend.
Kenton Walker, St. Mary’s: Kenton Walker came to the Bluejays in 2007 and was another pick-up out of California. Walker joined fellow Left Coaster Kenny Lawson on the bench, creating a down low duo that could be teamed together over the next four seasons. During his first two seasons as a Bluejay, Walker ended up sharing minutes with Lawson at the center position due to the lack of frontcourt players on the roster, Altman’s refusal to play both of them at the same time, and an explanation that Lawson had troubles playing more than 20 minutes a game.
Walker decided to transfer from Creighton at the same time Cavel Witter decided to do the same. Witter ultimately came back for the 2009-2010 season, but Walker wasn’t convinced and ended up closer to home at St. Mary’s.
With the departure of Omar Samhan, Walker had the opportunity to take over the center position heading into 2010-11. Walker did start the first few games of the season but has given way to sophomore Tim Williams. However, the Gaels have gone away a little bit from sporting a tall team and Walker has only played over 20 minutes 6 times this season. He has averaged only a little over 15 minutes a game while contributing 6.5 points and less than 4 rebounds a game. Surprisingly, the Gaels are sitting at the top of the West Coast Conference and have a strong shot of earning an NCAA Tournament bid this season.
D’Angalo Jackson, Mississippi Valley State: Jackson has been the player that has bounced around the most after never setting foot on the court for the Bluejays. Jackson joined CU as a freshman during the 2006-07 season. After getting off to a rocky start because of injury and the guard depth on the roster (Issac Miles, Nate Funk, Nick Bahe, Josh Dotzler, Nick Porter, Brice Nengsu, and Pierce Hibma), it appeared Jackson was the odd man out and would ultimately redshirt that season anyway.
But as with most players, being away from home takes a toll, especially when you don’t get to play. So Jackson left after one semester to head back to his native Wisconsin to play at Wisconsin-Green Bay. D’Angalo had to sit out the first semester of 2007-08 before playing for the Phoenix. He only appeared in 9 games that season, averaging 12 minutes a game. With another large roster of guards at Green Bay, Jackson cited lack of playing time and decided to leave there after the 2007-08 season.
Jackson then took the JUCO route and went to Arkansas-Fort Smith for the 2008-09 season. While at Fort Smith, Jackson averaged 5.6 points, 1.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and one steal per game. He got an offer from Mississippi Valley State.
At MVS, Jackson averaged about 17 minutes and 6 points a game in 2009-10. But in 2010-11 he has started 25 of their 26 games, playing about 27 minutes a game and doubling his scoring average to 12 a game while leading the team in field goals made, attempted, as well as 3-pointers made and attempted. The one thing about Jackson this season is his knack for getting to the free throw line. He is 96-122 for the season from the charity stripe. The Delta Devils are 11-15 overall, but 10-3 and tied for second in the SWAC.
One interesting note: In the three seasons prior to Jackson’s arrival at Mississippi Valley State, Creighton played the Delta Devils during the regular season.
Tom Whitehead, Dixie State: Whitehead is another player that never set foot on the court for Creighton, but created a bit of drama. Whitehead signed with Creighton in the spring before the 2008-2009 season after attending Junior College and some other qualifying issues out of high school. However, during the summer before the 2008-2009 season, Whitehead was no longer on the team as a letter arrived at his parents’ house that his scholarship was not being renewed.
Whitehead never did resurface in D-1 basketball but is completing his second year this season at Dixie State College, a D-II school in Utah. Whitehead leads the team in scoring with 13.5 points a game, going 69-80 from the free throw line and shooting 37-100 from three-point range. Dixie State went to the D-II playoffs last season and are currently 14-5 this season and in the running for another playoff berth this season.
Andrew Bock, Pacific: Last season, Bock came to Creighton with a lot of fan expectations. Some even saw him taking over the point guard duties by mid-season. But he barely saw the court for a team that struggled, and with that another California player decided to say goodbye to the state of Nebraska and head back home.
Bock re-surfaced at Pacific, where he is sitting out this season. The Tigers run a three-guard offense. Heading into next season, Pacific is expected to return their two of their starting guards, Jose Rivera and Allen Huddleston, but point guard Demetrece Young will graduate, giving an opportunity for Bock to compete for the starting spot in 2011-2012.
In the end, everyone looks for that ultimate opportunity to continue their basketball career. For some it works out great, while for others they have to overcome the adversity and to the best they can. As a Creighton fan, you can think of it this way — would we have the likes of Ethan Wragge, Gregory Echenique (a transfer from another D-I school, himself), or incoming recruit Austin Chatman if these defections did not happen?