Valpo Junior Brandon Wood Considers MSU, Other Options
by Con-T on Apr 19, 2011 8:37 AM CDT
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PrintAccording to SB Nation Indiana and nwi.com, All-Horizon League first-team guard Brandon Wood, who has already declared for the NBA draft, is considering his options, which include going to Michigan State for one year.
Wood is set to graduate from Valparaiso in May, but still has a year of eligibility left. He could return to Valpo or he could take advantage of an NCAA rule that allows student athletes who have graduated to gain immediate eligibility at another school, provided that school has a graduate program not available at his original school. He is reportedly considering both Purdue and MSU and has had conversations with Tom Izzo and Draymond Green. He could also stay in the for the NBA draft, so there is no shortage of options for him.
Wood averaged 16.7 points per game on a .523/.363/.664 (2pt/3pt/FT) shooting line to go along with 4.3 rebounds 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals. He was named to the First Team All-Horizon League at the end of February and led the Crusaders to a final record of 23-12, including a first round loss to Iona in the Collegeinsider.com Tournament.
According to the nwi.com article, Wood is focused on the draft right now with other options considered a "fallback". But with the 6'2" 190# Wood not on many draft radar screens at the moment (he does not have a profile on DraftExpress.com, but his stats are there) it seems likely he'll be giving those fallback options greater scrutiny as the May 8th deadline for withdrawing from the draft approaches. He has not yet hired an agent, which is the point of no return.
Michigan State technically has two scholarship spots to play with for 2011-12 after the transfers of Korie Lucious and Garrick Sherman. One is presumably committed to Austin Thornton, so Izzo could use the other on Wood and still have a spot left in the 2012 class (Sherman's final year). Wood could conceivably be a good fit for the situation. He started at Southern Illinois before going to community college for a year and then transferring to Valparaiso. That he will already have graduated before any move to MSU would set aside any of the usual academic concerns about JUCO transfers. We'll provide updates to this story as they become available.
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That's a good question
But my impression from listening to Izzo is that he’s comfortable with Appling and Trice. What he appears to want is someone to bolster a young, inexperienced group of wings.
This would be a very great fit if Izzo thinks Wood is right for MSU. You don’t jeopardize a 2012 spot for Gary Harris, you add an experienced player you can contend for a starting spot, and you provide flexibility if Anderson or Kearney would benefit from a redshirt. Definitely preferable to taking Henton or Gibson, IMO.
"And how much are intangibles worth? 10%? 20%?" - kj@theonlycolors
by intrpdtrvlr on Apr 19, 2011 8:57 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Literally Everything I had to say
You just said. I like the immediate eligibility, the assists he gets, the points he scores, the experience he has, the lack of academic concern, the fact you can more easily redshirt Anderson or Kearney or maybe both, plus then you don’t have to start Dawson, and of course I love the fact that he only takes up one year so we can still get Gary Harris.
On that point though I still only think we should get Harris if Izzo expects either an early departure or the transfer of Dwaun. I naturally don’t hope for transfers I think they damage your program, but I realllllllyyyyy want Jabari Parker, much more than i want Harris, since his skill set seems to be in direct competition with, well everybody we’ve recruited besides Matt Costello. Parker is still growing and is likely to be a top 5 recruit, the type of player you build around. Is Harris that? Who knows, but its food for thought thats been gradually chewing away at my mind the more I think about it.
Jabari Parker...
I feel like i saw that Duke has made Parker a #1 priority type target. Is it really realistic to think he is going to choose MSU over duke in that situation? When have we ever gone head to head with duke for a recruit they really wanted and won? For them to plan a long term strategy based on the small chance they land Parker seems silly.
by Rainking720 on Apr 19, 2011 11:28 AM CDT up reply actions
Well, two things:
How can you truly call yourself an elite program if you don’t compete with the big boys for recruits? Sometime we’re going to have to actually get a recruiting coup that signals Duke, UNC, Kentucky, etc that we are a recruiting force to be reckoned with, if we havent already which brings me to point number two:
Whens the last time you saw someone that Tom Izzo set his sights on and went after 100% and then struck out? I can’t think of one frankly, maybe Chris Paul?
Izzo struck out a lot of times...
Greg Oden. Anthony Roberson. Dexter Strickland. Jarret Jack. Dee Brown.
Just look at Maurice Joseph – You have to know he wasn’t a Plan A guy. I think he was closer to plan C or D.
Given, it’s been better as of late with izzo getting his plan A guys, but at the same time most of his plan A guys don’t seem to be the instant impact one-and-done type talents that the dukes, kentucky and UNCs are getting.
Was Izzo ever really in the running for Oden?
I forgot about Strickland though.
I think that what we’ve seen with people like Sullinger is that they’re staying longer despite draft stock. Parker doesn’t hit me at all as a one and done. After Randolph I dont think Izzo wants to deal with that.
We were in oden's top 4... in it till the end.
He chose OSU over MSU, Indiana, and Wake Forrest
He's never been listed as the point guard
Although he led the team in assists this year. Looks like Erik Buggs and Matt Kenney were the primary PGs for Valpo this year.
Even if he isn't a "true" pg
Hopefully given his experience he can be a quality ball handler that can help our young points break pressure if necessary.
He sounds like a good fit. Biggest question mark for the backcourt next year is lack of experience so this could help solve that. And coming from D1 it seems like he is much easier to project as a guy that can help us. More so than a juco at least.
by trivialstuff16 on Apr 19, 2011 9:50 AM CDT up reply actions
Agree
6’2 guard? Sign me up.
(I didn’t really have anything else to add and agree with everything above)
by RickTheBloggerMartel on Apr 19, 2011 9:02 AM CDT reply actions
Here is some more on Wood
He went to my high school, who I cover extensively for a part-time newspaper job I have.
http://www.hammerandrails.com/2011/4/19/2120023/brandon-wood-will-the-boilers-get-a-one-and-done. I’ve seen him play A LOT over the last several years, ever since he was a freshman in high school. He’s really grown as a player and offensive threat.
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
Great article, thanks!
I know this – MSU could really use someone who can put up 30 on UNC! We should have someone like that on the roster at all times. Ever see Wood play on an aircraft carrier? That would be useful scouting information.
"And how much are intangibles worth? 10%? 20%?" - kj@theonlycolors
This makes sense
A guard with D1 experience that keeps a spot open for 2012.
Even if he’s not a PG I can’t imagine he has no handle. What’s his TO%?
The Gibson option scares me unless he’s redshirting.
"the game is out there, and it's play or get played. That simple" - Omar
It scares me even if he redshirts
GIbson just doesnt add anything we need. I think the only reason he in consideration is cuz of his ties to Kearney
Question marks
First off, it seems like there’s obviously some real upside and potential for this to be a very good move for next year’s team (taking pressure off the freshmen guards, giving us an experienced scorer, etc). However, I think there are some legitimate questions that go toward the issue of whether he specifically will be a good “fit” for the program. And this is coming from the perspective of following a team that for the last 2 years has had all kinds of we-can’t-talk-about-this-publicly “chemistry” problems. Now with Wood, we’re talking about a player who has bounced from SIU to a CC to Valpo to entering the draft early to possibly coming to MSU for one year. What is his personality like? Is he just looking out for #1? Trying to make a name for himself at a high-profile school to improve his draft status? Is he committed to playing D and rebounding? Can he play within a system where he won’t be the go-to option? The H&R writeup used the phrase “Shoot early, shoot often” and said he was publicly called out for not playing D. Obviously Izzo and his staff will ask all these questions and they wouldn’t welcome him aboard if they weren’t 100% convinced about it, but I think they’re valid questions to be asking at this point. It’s not as easy as “we could really use a guard with experience and he’s a guard with experience.”
"You can look at the dinosaur that weighs you down or you can look at the big pot of gold (and) try to say, 'You know what? I'm going to try to live up to expectations.' " -Tom Izzo, Iron Mountain Philosopher
by Ducking Delvon on Apr 19, 2011 12:25 PM CDT reply actions
Yeah, all good questions
but they’re really only answerable by Izzo and staff. That’s why I phrased my comment “this would be a very great fit if Izzo thinks Wood is right for MSU.” Hard to know that last point unless you’re there on the ground, so to speak. Even then, it’s not an exact science.
"And how much are intangibles worth? 10%? 20%?" - kj@theonlycolors
by intrpdtrvlr on Apr 19, 2011 12:59 PM CDT up reply actions
Those are good questions
But I actually think the team needs a guy like that especially if just for a year.
A scorer to alleviate some pressure from Green who will be expected to carry the load on offense and will be the focus of every opponents game plan.
I think a guy like this would be perfect until all of the young wings get their teeth cut and we find out who can really play at this level and whether or not KA is going to be able to successfully bring his HS game out now that he has the green light.
The way Coach Izzo is recruiting, pursuing guys like Harris and Parker to go with the guards/wings already on board potentially at the expense of big man depth, suggests to me that he wants/needs more guys capable of scoring in bunches or at least have that mentality. Here’s a chance to experience life with a guy like that on a short term lease to see how it goes.
"the game is out there, and it's play or get played. That simple" - Omar
Green Carrying the Offense
My man if Appling and Russel Byrd don’t step up on offense and score next year in bunches and Green is expected to carry the offense it’s going to be a longggggg year. Day Day needs to go back to doing what he does best banging down low getting rebounds and assists leave the outside game alone unless he’s picking and popping. Why woulsn’t we want Dawson to start and play a ton next year??? This kid is tough rebounds and can defned bigger wings something we could not do last year he better get a ton of minutes.
1 – Appling
2 – Byrd
3 – Dawson
4 – Green
5 – Payne
Starting 5 on paper looks pretty good to me if they can come together and get some good chemistry going.
Recently, if it wasn't for bad luck ...
we would have no luck at all. This is a positive, not a done deal. I like the upper class
status, we will be young next year, except Day-Day & Delvon.
And AT – but with four total upperclassmen (am I missing someone?), that’s a young team.
by SpartanBoiler on Apr 19, 2011 3:40 PM CDT up reply actions
This would be a good get
for all the reasons others have already stated. I like that we add an experienced player who should at least be solid while still keeping a scholarship open for 2012.
The thing that jumps out to me is his odd shooting line of 523/.363/.664 (2pt/3pt/FT). You would think he’d be a better free throw shooter considering he has a very good 2 pt % and a very solid 3 pt %.
No more Wood
Just read a tweet saying Wood will not be considering msu.. :-(
MSUfinalfouru John Withers
FYI: Valpo transfer B. Wood will not transfer to msu. Don’t believe the freep.com and message board hype.
4 hours ago favorite retweet reply
Don't believe everything you read on Twitter
I haven’t read anything to suggest that Wood has made a decision either way.
by Pete Rossman on Apr 20, 2011 9:37 PM CDT up reply actions
And, to put it charitably,
There is no consensus on the credibility of “FinalFourU.”
"And how much are intangibles worth? 10%? 20%?" - kj@theonlycolors
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