Moments before an attempt to sell potential sponsor Ken Nelson, Brad Grenoble began a different sort of pitch in the dealership parking lot last November.Hed gotten Carlton Fays cell phone number from Bryan Mullins, Fays former Southern Illinois University teammate. He left Fay a long-winded message describing an opportunity to play for the Sauk Valley Predators in their inaugural Premier Basketball League season [read more]
Moments before an attempt to sell potential sponsor Ken Nelson, Brad Grenoble began a different sort of pitch in the dealership parking lot last November.
Hed gotten Carlton Fays cell phone number from Bryan Mullins, Fays former Southern Illinois University teammate. He left Fay a long-winded message describing an opportunity to play for the Sauk Valley Predators in their inaugural Premier Basketball League season.
I didnt expect him to call me right back, but 40 minutes later, he did, Grenoble said. He was interested.
With a trip to Fays hometown of Hennepin for lunch the next day, the first piece was in place. Now Grenoble hopes Fay will be a veteran in next seasons mix and remain a fixture in the Grenoble household. But thats where things get tricky in semi-professional ball
The Grenoble family would love nothing more than to someday see Fay play ball in the NBA even if its from hundreds of miles away.
You want to keep who you can keep, but wed love nothing more than for folks in the area to turn on the TV and see our guys playing, Grenoble said. All the guys said theyd like to come back, but you want them to improve and move up.
Fay will take part in many workouts over the following months, including for the Bakersfield Jam, the NBDL affiliate of the Los Angeles Lakers. Preds coach Kevin Keathley also hopes to move up to the D-League and will be coaching an upcoming invite for the league. Hed be happy to return and told Grenoble hed know where hell coach by June.
All the players who helped the Preds to a 13-8 record and a playoff appearance against the 3-time defending PBL champion Rochester RazorSharks will test waters outside the Sauk Valley some of them overseas. The Preds already got a taste of talent departing when leading scorer Desmond Holloway left the team midseason to play in Europe.
Back at the ranch, Grenoble and his staff will start courting potential new players in June. After witnessing the massive size advantage Rochester boasted, hes determined to add some bulk and veteran leadership next season.
If I come back, being a leader in the second season in this league would be a plus for me, Fay said. We never used being young as an excuse. We tried to use it to our advantage.
Forming the 2013 roster will be a process and, interestingly enough, the longer it takes, the better, Grenoble says.
If youre closing players in August, those probably arent guys you want, he says. You need guys with bigger dreams and aspirations
While the Preds will likely see a lot of turnover on their roster, many things will stay the same come next season.
Theyll keep playing their games at Musgrove Fieldhouse, to which they drew about 29,000 fans in 10 games this season.
[Sterling High School principal] Jason [Austin] loved it and had nothing but good things to say, Grenoble said. Maybe the most important group that gets the least amount of credit is the custodial staff. The crap they go through, on top of everything else they do? Ive thanked them 40 times. Its not enough.
Also, the players host families are back on board.
The host family program took off even more than I expected, and the saddest part about the season being over is now we wonder, when [Fay] does move out, how are our girls going to take it? Grenoble said. He and his wife, Leah, have four daughters.
Thats the hardest part of the host family program is letting go, Leah said. They know the end is coming. The hardest part will be breaking it to Maliah, our 6-year-old.
Potential Predators first interview with Grenoble. Then they meet with his wife.
She finds out if theyre good people, Brad said.
We can find great, athletic basketball players all over the nation, Leah said. We dont just want to see the talent on the court. We want to see the talent within them. We want players wed trust to bring into our homes to live with our families.
She was sold on Fay the moment she saw his love for his grandmother, who was also at the small restaurant where the group enjoyed their recruiting visit in November.
It was nice seeing that connection between him and his grandmother, Leah said. It was so great to see how important family was to him, just like it is to us.
And its translated. Before a softball game Wednesday, Milledgeville sophomore Taylor Grenoble texted Fay, asking if hed stay forever.
The Grenobles got home from Rochester just hours before Taylors game. When they got to it, Maliah sprinted toward them, screaming, Carlton! Carlton! She lept into the 6-8 forwards arms.
She went tearing right by mom and dad, Fay said, laughing. It means a lot to know youre such a big part of someones life.
I just really didnt realize how close we would become with my son, Leah said. And I just called Carlton my son. Were going to follow him wherever he goes.
Player of the Year: Perry Petty (6'1''-G-88) of Cent.Illinois D.
PBL Finals MVP: Perry Petty (6'1''-G-88) of Cent.Illinois D.
Guard of the Year: Perry Petty (6'1''-G-88) of Cent.Illinois D.
Forward of the Year: Chris Commons (6'9''-F-84) of Scranton/W-B
Center of the Year: Anthony Slack (6'8''-F/C-84) of Cent.Illinois D.
Defensive Player of the Year: Marcel Anderson (5'9''-PG-86) of Chicago M.
[read more]
USBasket.com All-PBL 1st Team 2012
#s#
Petty
Radcliff
Commons
Davis
Slack
#e#5
Player of the Year:Perry Petty (6'1''-G-88) of Cent.Illinois D. PBL Finals MVP:Perry Petty (6'1''-G-88) of Cent.Illinois D. Guard of the Year:Perry Petty (6'1''-G-88) of Cent.Illinois D. Forward of the Year:Chris Commons (6'9''-F-84) of Scranton/W-B Center of the Year:Anthony Slack (6'8''-F/C-84) of Cent.Illinois D. Defensive Player of the Year:Marcel Anderson (5'9''-PG-86) of Chicago M. Coach of the Year:A.J. Guyton of Cent.Illinois D.
Evans' double-double lands him Player of the Week award - Apr 18, 2012
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25-year old forward Terry Evans (196-F-86) put on an amazing game in the last round for St. Louis P. and receives a Eurobasket.com Player of the Week award for round 12. He had a double-double of 41 points and 18 rebounds, while his team beat Indiana D. (#5, 4-14) in overtime 130-125. [read more]
25-year old forward Terry Evans (196-F-86) put on an amazing game in the last round for St. Louis P. and receives a Eurobasket.com Player of the Week award for round 12. He had a double-double of 41 points and 18 rebounds, while his team beat Indiana D. (#5, 4-14) in overtime 130-125. St. Louis P. is placed at 4th position in PBL league. Too late to salvage the team, which is currently ranked such low. They already lost 13 games and recorded just four victories. In the team's last game Evans had a remarkable 70.0% from 2-point range and got nine three-pointers out of 13 attempts. He just recently signed at St. Louis P., being already a very valuable addition to the team. Terry Evans averages this season 17.6ppg and 9.4rpg.
Second best performed player last round was Christopher Ames (191-G/F-84) of Indiana D.. He is a swingman in his second season at Indiana D.. In the last game Ames recorded impressive double-double of 25 points and 21 rebounds. Bad luck as Indiana D. lost that overtime game 125-130 to slightly higher-ranked St. Louis P. (#4, 4-13). This loss caused Indiana D. to drop to 5th position in Central. 14 lost games are too many comparing to just four victories Indiana D. managed to get this year. Ames is well-known at Indiana D. and he already established his position as one of the team's leaders.
Third place about best performers goes to another St. Louis P.'s star - guard Lonnell Johnson (188-G). Johnson got into 30-points club by scoring exactly 30 points in the last round. He went also for six rebounds and six assists. He was another key player of St. Louis P., helping his team with a 130-125overtime win against slightly lower-ranked Indiana D. (#5, 4-14). St. Louis P. can only dream about fighting for top spots in Central. They have rather bad season and 4-13 record places them close to the bottom of the standings. Too bad for Johnson he does not play for a better team. But maybe if he did, his season stats would not be that high. Johnson has a very solid season. In 17 games in PBL he scored 11.4ppg. He also has 4.3rpg and FGP: 52.4%.
Other top performing players last week: 4. Keith Radcliff (186-G-86) of Indiana D. - 38 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists 5. Joscar Demby (203-C) of Chicago M. - 21 points and 14 rebounds 6. Corey Hill (193-G/F) of St. Louis P. - 30 points and 10 rebounds 7. Perry Petty (185-G-88) of Cent.Illinois D. - 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists 8. Herman Favors (174-G-84) of Sauk Valley P. - 27 points and 8 assists 9. William Harris (201-F-87) of Dayton A.S. - 19 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists 10. Anthony Slack (202-F/C-84) of Cent.Illinois D. - 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists
The Player of the week is choosen based on efficiency calculation, but also including game result, importance of the game, if played recorded double-double/triple-double, etc. The efficiency formula is a combination of various formulas used by different basketball organizations/leagues. We got involved many basketball scouts and journalists to assure it's accuracy. The formula: 1.5*PTS + 3*(REB+AST+ST+BL-TO) - 2*BSAG - 4*PF + 3*PFRV + 4*(2FGPM+3FGPM) + 1.5*FTM - 3*(2FGPA-2FGPM) - 3*(3FGPA-3FGPM) - (FTA-FTM)
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