Jays Go Big in Landing 1st 2020 Recruit!

 

Jays hit one out of the park to start off their 2020 recruiting efforts!  While many fans were seemingly worried that CU wouldn’t pull in a top prospect, the staff just continued to keep their nose to the grind and kept working.  Now it is still really early in the 2020 recruiting cycle, but folks were antsy when seeing no early results.  Visions of last recruiting cycle (no top HS recruits) were rampant, with fingers ready to push the panic button.  The staffs hard work bore fruit Sunday night (22 Sep 19) as 247 (composite) top #75 center Ryan Kalkbrenner committed to Creighton.  Rivals.com #69.                          Make no mistake here…           This is a Big Time get!

Young Mr. Kalkbrenner is the Real Deal.  He was the EYBL’s Defensive PoY this spring, averaging 4.5 blocks and 8.9 rebounds in 13 games for the Mac Irvin Fire.  He entered EYBL play relatively unknown…13 EYBL games and 58 blocked shots later, Ryan has become well known.

At Trinity Catholic in St. Louis, Ryan averaged 13.9 points and 7.6 rebounds as a high school junior.  He is tapping into his potential and showing major improvement at the perfect time.

Kalkbrenner is becoming a well rounded player.  While known primarily for his defensive acumen, he is a good shooter and is developing his offensive game.  Seems his best days as a hoopster are still ahead of him.

Jerry Meyer/247 Sports:

Has NBA center length as a 7-footer. Possesses good mobility, good hands and feet. Not an explosive athlete and needs to gain strength and build up mass. Not a long-range shooter at this point, but has good shooting touch and shoots a high-free throw percentage. Offensive game is improving as strength and confidence improves. Greatest strength is shot blocking. Blocks shots at a high rate.

Coach Irvin/Mac Irvin Fire_EYBL:

“First of all, he’s 7-foot and mobile,” Irvin explained. “He can guard a pick and roll, he blocks shots, and he can guard all five positions. He’s a very smart defender.”

“He never gets in foul trouble,” said Irvin.

That notion is backed up by Kalkbrenner’s 1.6 personal fouls per game. This has allowed him to constantly be on the floor for the Fire, and their defense has proven to be amongst the league’s best when he’s manning the backline.

“(Ryan) has been unbelievable on defense,” Irvin said.  “He’s the best defender I’ve ever coached.”

https://247sports.com/Article/Creighton-Bluejays-basketball-top-75-Ryan-Kalkbrenner-commitment-136002556/

Ryan remarkably grades out higher on 247’s ratings than both Justin Patton and Jacob Epperson, although both were numerically ranked higher.  His 0.9698 score makes him the highest rated player for CU since 247.com began such player ratings.

• Ryan Kalkbrenner
  Trinity Catholic(Saint Louis, Missouri)
• C
• 6-11 / 210
• 0.9698

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/four-star-ryan-kalkbrenner-picks-creighton

Ryan had accumulated 17 offers, including GT, Illinois, Pitt, Mizzou, VT, Purdue, Stanford, KU, and Cincy, among others.  He visited many schools unofficially, the focus centered early on Illinois, and later on Purdue.  Ryan and family narrowed his official visits to the Jays, Purdue, and Stanford.  Kansas offered on 10 Sept 19, attempting one of their famous late entry swoops to snag a promising recruit.  LOL.  However, the process was too far gone by then and the Kalkbrenner family stayed the course with their final 3.

Creighton, with this committment has addressed their greatest needs, in getting a legit big with defensive chops.  Ryan will fill the holes in rim protection, rebounding, and blocked/altered shots.  He adds much needed depth in the frontcourt for the Jays.  Although not needed on a team constructed like Creighton’s, he will develop into another nice offensive weapon also as he fills in his body and gains more strength.

 

The Jays still have one scholie to give for 2020.  Perhaps a nice Euro PF?  Perhaps SG Kerwin Walton from Minnesota?  We shall see.  For now, the Jays have broken the ice for 2020 and are looking good.  Well done Creighton, well done!

Welcome home Ryan.  You done good in making your best decision.  Looking forward to seeing your exemplary play as a Bluejay!

 

LE:

Creighton’s Marcus Zegarowski (hip) has been fully cleared for all basketball related activities, per Greg McDermott. Jacob Epperson (knee) has only been cleared for “non live” activities.

Strategy:  We’re not in the MVC any more…and we’re not playing checkers either. 

 

Our Jays have moved up to the big leagues.  As George Jefferson would put it:  “We’re movin’ on up…to the East Side.  To a deluxe apartment in the sky.  Oh, we’re movin’ on up…”  Feels good, exciting, the air seems fresher up here.  However, we should be mindful of the “catches”.  Even though things have generally gone well thus far, there are a few pitfalls, landmines, and avalanches to be mindful of.  We have acquired new enemies which we may not yet be aware of.  Creighton should be playing the Long Game strategy.

https://hackernoon.com/short-game-and-long-game-738a90fbf884

Short game feels good, gets results today. The results are not defendable.

Short game looks like the obvious choice. Quick ROI, less investment.

Short game is easy to replicate. Everyone wants to play the short game. Everyone wants you to play the short game.

Long Game play seems counterintuitive. Long game is hard, its a grind, its taxing. Taxing on time, energy, emotion.

Long Game strategy is not obvious. Long Game looks wasteful, irrational, never ending.

Long Game players will remain, while Short Game players disappear. The brilliance of Long Game will then be realized.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/08/20/power-in-the-workplace-how-to-play-the-long-game/#7f944ac1e814

She thought they were playing checkers; he knew they were playing chess. She was so taken with the small wins, the piling up of red chips, that she lost sight of the board. Tactics vs. strategy. Rookie mistakes. She won’t be asked to play again.

Exercising power in the workplace is even more delicate in that the relationships are symbiotic and long-term. Short-term gains at someone else’s expense will eventually erode those relationships, and someone will lose. Oddly enough, the losers are usually the ones who have been winning, but winning by playing crudely: looking for chances to take a cheap shot, always needing to be right and having the last word.

 

https://thesalesblog.com/2016/11/09/your-long-game-strategy-and-your-short-game-strategy/

Your Long Game

Over the long term, you need to nurture your dream clients: Patrons/Donors, campaign goals, Marketing partners,  & longterm goals.  Nurture recruits, create new opportunities, and win those opportunities.  Campaign management and Persistence are key elements.  Always be closing.

Your Short Game

Creating new opportunities is the short game. Your long game can set up your short game. By nurturing and building relationships over time, you may make it easier to create opportunities.

Creighton Athletics all aspects, especially MBB, should always be selling our strategic goals of becoming a perennial player/team for conference championships, NCAA successes and contention for National championships, and the perception as an elite program.  Our athletic financial and support campaigns, our donors and patrons, our public supporters, our marketing friends, business partners, our athletes and staff, our recruits, and our fans/the public should be informed of these primary goals of the program and our campaigns and online platforms should also inform and sell our strategic goals.  Campaigns should cite specific athletic department purposes and goals; and at least one campaign should be running at all times.

Our ascent to the Big East has brought some opportunities.  We have tremendous television exposure.  We have upgraded our schedules.  We now have the Gavitt Games and the new BE/Big12 Challenge.  We are going to a 20 game BE schedule.  Beginning next year we are participating in upper tier early season exempt tourneys the next few years (Battle for Atlantis, Maui Classic).

Recruiting has expanded nationally from our traditional regional foes (Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebr., K. St., Iowa St., Mizzou).  We are now recruiting internationally as well as against upper tier conference teams.  More from the B1G (Indiana, Purdue, Michigan, Mich. St.) and the Big 12 (KU, Oklahoma, Okla. St, Texas).   This also implies that CU is now on the radars of said teams.  While perhaps not a direct threat, Creighton is newly infringing on territories others think is theirs.  In the process creating new enemies.

Kansas, while not directly threatened by CU, has recently over the 6 months, started to late offer select recruits heavily recruited by CU.  It appears that if a top 50-75 recruit has heavy interest in/interest by the Jays, KU offers late to snatch up the recruit.  Perhaps they see it as a way to contain/stifle CU’s potential rise.  Perhaps it is a means aimed to cripple CU competitiveness, as we may play one another in an upcoming BE/B12 Challenge match.  I see KU’s actions as the “big dog” in the region telling an up and coming CU program to “stay in your place/lane” type move.  Perhaps it is a welcome to the neighborhood gesture – “keep your enemies closer”.  KU did so last spring with Tristan Enaruna and is doing so again (now) with Ryan Kalkbrenner.  KU had 5 Ctr/PFs prior to getting involved with Enaruna and now has 6 players onboard while they are offering Kalkbrenner.  In both cases the player is/was not a Top 25/50 player and not a primary KU target.  In both cases the recruit will see little to no playing time unless KU gets hit with multiple injuries.  However, the loss of Enaruna hurt Creighton’s frontcourt depth and so would the potential loss of Kalkbrenner.

 

Regardless, Creighton is on the right track.  The important thing is to delineate the primary, longterm, long game goals.  Nurture our campaigns, our multiple stakeholders, and our recruits – educating, encouraging, and selling them along the way.  Obtaining their buy-in to CU’s longterm goals.  Being creative in making opportunities, but selective in taking the appropriate opportunities which support our longterm goals – whether these opportunities are of our creation through exemplary play, campaigning, and marketing, or whether they are presented by others.  Expand our international recruiting – as there is less brand bias with international recruits.  Lastly, the success or failure is pinned to our ability to execute team/program performance.  All the planning is for naught if we fail to perform, to meet program objectives, milestones, and overarching goals.

Work hard, work smart, rise together, and meet our goals.  Always be selling, always be closing.