Evansville at Drake (7:05) - ESPNU

[PantherSigEp]

No question that Drake plus VanDeest and Simons is right there... No question that there is an argument for Drake to have top three talent. Truth is that other than SVD, RR, and Simons, there are very few Bulldows that would play on another team in the Valley sans BU. Jeffers and Madison someday, but not this year.

[DUBulldog]

WSU and Creighton have more talent than Drake, sorry.

That would still fall under top 3.......

I will agree that Drake has some very good talent but easily may be going too far. If that talent were easily that far ahead of say UNI, Missouri State and Illinois State, then why have you been trounced by each of those teams (the two former, twice)? I'm not saying that the Rayvonte Rice Show doesn't have better talent than those teams but I would be careful about saying they are miles ahead.

As far as freshman/sophomores go you guys have Rice, Jeremy Jeffers and Karl Madison and that doesn't scare me in the slightest since who knows if Rayvonte will still be around next year.

Although Van Deest and Uhlenhopp aren't technically freshmen or sophomores, they will both reclassify to redshirt-junior status next season. So, for all practical purposes, they are currently in the sophomore class (eligibility).

[Drakey]

No question that Drake plus VanDeest and Simons is right there... No question that there is an argument for Drake to have top three talent. Truth is that other than SVD, RR, and Simons, there are very few Bulldows that would play on another team in the Valley sans BU. Jeffers and Madison someday, but not this year.

So every player on every team in the Valley is better than everybody on Drake's team except for Simons and Rice? I guess Phelps IS a great coach.

[Wufan]

No question that Drake plus VanDeest and Simons is right there... No question that there is an argument for Drake to have top three talent. Truth is that other than SVD, RR, and Simons, there are very few Bulldows that would play on another team in the Valley sans BU. Jeffers and Madison someday, but not this year.

So every player on every team in the Valley is better than everybody on Drake's team except for Simons and Rice? I guess Phelps IS a great coach.

IMO, not one of the other Drake players is in the top 10 at their respective position this year.

[DUBulldog]

No question that Drake plus VanDeest and Simons is right there... No question that there is an argument for Drake to have top three talent. Truth is that other than SVD, RR, and Simons, there are very few Bulldows that would play on another team in the Valley sans BU. Jeffers and Madison someday, but not this year.

Based on what I saw yesterday, every player on Drake's team could get major minutes for Evansville.

While I agree that there is a big dropoff from Rice/Simons/Van Deest to the rest of the team, I think you're overstating your point. There are several other guys on Drake's team who would be in the rotation at most MVC schools. They might not be starters, and they wouldn't be stars, but they could get minutes.

[Wufan]

DU, it gets a little hard to evaluate once you get past the starters/6th man, so I might be a little off. If I went thru the rankings though, I just don't see it.

OTOH, Rice, Simons, and VanDeest are really good and you have a couple of nice freshman. Drake is just a year away, that's all.

[davidfast]

As Wufan has pointed out, I mistook you for Drakey you made that assumption. I did not take care to notice this mistake and I apologize davidfast.

No harm no foul right

[musiccitybulldog]

No question that Drake plus VanDeest and Simons is right there... No question that there is an argument for Drake to have top three talent. Truth is that other than SVD, RR, and Simons, there are very few Bulldows that would play on another team in the Valley sans BU. Jeffers and Madison someday, but not this year.

You may change your opinion late Saturday afternoon the 25th of Feb.

[Wufan]

No question that Drake plus VanDeest and Simons is right there... No question that there is an argument for Drake to have top three talent. Truth is that other than SVD, RR, and Simons, there are very few Bulldows that would play on another team in the Valley sans BU. Jeffers and Madison someday, but not this year.

You may change your opinion late Saturday afternoon the 25th of Feb.

My goodness...I'm not trying to say anything negative about your team, but I am asking for some realism here. Very few teams would fair as well as Drake has with so many personnel losses. They will be quite good next year. There is a lot of talent at Drake, and i would venture to say that the 8th -12th best players at Drake are better than most. That doesn't mean they are EASILY top 3 talent. It doesn't mean their coach is horrible and that any bozo could win there. It means that they need their top three and Ullenhopp to be healthy. They need to be a year older.

Kudos to Drake for beating WSU already. The best team won that night. Good luck the rest of the way. I doubt the 25th will change my opinion much on how I would rate Madison, Clarke, and Jeffers regardless of the result.

[MoBraves]

Kinda' funny seeing "Rivalry Week" on the TV screen and about 1,000 fans in attendance.
And since when was Evansville-DU a rivalry?
What does it take to get more people to come out to the Drake games? 20+ wins?
Just a shame - 'cause this Drake team is not terrible and fun to watch on a good day.