Illinois State football coach Brock Spack’s thoughts on his defensive recruits:
DE Colton Underwood (son of former Redbird Scott Underwood): “Was also offered by Northern Illinois and a Big Ten team. I would take him at Purdue every year I was there. I wouldn’t even hesitate.”
DB Steve Nelson (brother of former Redbird Tom Nelson): “According to his dad it’s a coin flip who’s faster (Tom or Steve). Tom says his younger brother might be faster. He’s not a big guy but either was Tom. It’s all about speed, toughness, intelligence and play-making ability. He’s very good, one of the best guys I saw all summer. A very explosive athlete, what you look for on defense.
DL Charles Cowley: “Really good athlete. Had official visit to UConn. Miami was on him. Coach Shula was at Miami and their coaches put us on him. We thank them for it. Got a huge upside. Another kid from a small high school. Plays lot of positions, tight end, defensive end, linebacker. We’re projecting him to be D lineman.”
DB Matt Goldsmith: “Really good athlete, one of the better athletes in the class. We were all over him. As soon as we offered him all those Atlantic 10 guys came in on him. We had him signed, sealed and delivered. Good athlete. We like him a lot.”
DB Terrance Moore: “Very good athlete. Had lot of MAC (Mid-American Conference) interest early. Been a quarterback but we’ll play him at safety.”
LB Tacius Pierre-Louis: “High motor, very explosive from South Florida. Kind of off the beaten path out by the Everglades. Great personality. Had to fight off some I-AAs in East Coast to get him. Really like his upside. Compact, explosive build. Very strong. Looks like a linebacker already.”
DE Bradon Prate: “May be one of the best kept secrets in Illinois. Luke (Huard) brought a tape back from Wauconda. I said ‘there’s never been a good player from Wauconda.’ He put the tape on and said ‘this guy you’re going to like.’ No one knew about him because no one goes up there. Got a huge upside. Think 240 is very light. He’s about 255 or 260. He’ll start at end. Very thick. Impressive looking kid.”
DB Todd Shorter: “Safety with great range. Also plays receiver. Coach Elmassian has very good rapport with high school coach there. His coach swears by this kid. Going to be safety probably.”

All things considered, Illinois State isn’t in too bad of shape. Drake has led the entire way, by as much as 10, before settling for a 35-30 halftime lead.

The Redbirds made three of their first 14 shots. Dinma Odiakosa didn’t play the last 8:24 after picking up his second foul and has one point at the break. Osiris Eldridge has jacked up some 25-footers, going 2-of-8 from distance and 3-of-11 overall. (Read more…)

Illinois State football coach Brock Spack’s thoughts on his offensive recruits:
OL Rocco Ammons: “Big body. He was a very good player and had a great senior year. We thought we needed more size and length in our front. He’s already got a 300-pound body. Don’t know if he’ll be a guard or tackle. Think he can be right tackle but we would love him as a guard. He’s from a great program. We’re very high on him. We felt we needed that kind of body.”
TE Casey Beck: “He’s one large tight end. I’ve known about him for a long time. He can do both (block and catch). His frame is so big who knows what he’ll be four years from now. Big body, big target.”
RB Cameron Hunt: “As a defensive coach, I love this guy as a linebacker prospect. He’s a big back who can really run. (Offensive coordinator) Luke Huard’s got connections up there (in Washington state). We have a former colleague of mine at Purdue his son plays with him and he recommended this kid. We looked at him and as soon as we offered him Montana and all those Big Sky teams tried to pull him away. We were able to hang on to him. Really excited about him.”
RB Travis Mullen: “Travis had a better junior year than a senior year. He has a lot of upside. There were times last year he could have taken over a game and he didn’t. I told him that.”
H-back Bryce Kiser: “His dad is a Purdue grad. His dad brought him over to our camp. We liked him in camp and offered him. Very versatile could play defense or offense. We’ll play him at H-back or tight end.”
WR James O’Shaughnessy: “Dad played basketball at DePaul, mom ran track at Drake. Very good athlete has very few catches. Kind of off the radar because he played in a running program. He was at one of our one-day camps and was very impressive. Best receiver we had in one-day cam p. Will be an outside guy.”
OL Isaac Rinehart: “We beat Wyoming on him. Had Miami of Ohio offer. Very explosive. Fast enough to play defense. I liked him as a D lineman. But we want to continue to improve our front on offense.”
QB Matt Younger: “Very good athletic quarterback. Led his team to 2A state championship that says a lot about his athleticism. We’ve made some inroads in the state of Florida and that’s a very good program.”

Indiana State might have won the battle against Illinois State on Wednesday in Terre Haute, Ind. But the Sycamores definitely came out on the short end in the long run.

The Terre Haute Tribune-Star reported Friday that Indiana State guards Harry Marshall and Dwayne Lathan will be out four to six weeks. Both suffered injuries against the Redbirds in Indiana State’s 72-65 victory. (Read more…)

There is so much information available on Signing Day. It’s impossible to get all the interesting stuff in one newspaper story so I’m going to use this blog as an avenue to get additional nuggets of information out to Redbird fans.
I’ll start with a few miscellaneous items. Look for other blogs to follow with Coach Brock Spack’s thoughts on each recruit who signed Wednesday. (Read more…)

The two top scorers have been held to a combined three points in the first half Wednesday at the Hulman Center. Indiana State’s Koang Doluony hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to give Indiana State a 36-34 lead over Illinois State.

The Redbirds’ Osiris Eldridge, the Valley’s leading scorer with a 16.7 average, is 0-of-4 from the field and scoreless. Indiana State’s Harry Marshall, the Valley’s leading scorer in league games with a 16.2 mark, has made 1-of-3 shots and scored three points. Eldridge and Marshall are guarding each other and basically taking each other out of the game. (Read more…)

Was impressed by how the ISU women handled themselves while humbling Bradley in a 68-53 win Sunday that was not as close as the score indicated.
There was plenty of bumping and pushing on both sides, but the Redbirds did not let the Braves get under their skin. (Read more…)

Sorry, but the wireless connection at Redbird Arena was going in and out on Saturday. The full house might have had something to do with that. That prevented me from posting pregame and postgame reports from Illinois State’s game against archrival Bradley.

Those interested probably were either at the game or watching on television and saw ISU totally dominate while blowing out the Braves, 66-47. This was a game the Redbirds simply couldn’t lose as they moved into a third-place tie in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with Creighton and Drake at 6-5.

Dinma Odiakosa was the man for ISU, posting a career-high 25 points thanks to 9-of-12 field goal shooting and 7-of-11 at the line. Odiakosa also had his eighth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. (Read more…)

Illinois State, led by some inspired play by Lloyd Phillips, rallied from a nine-point first-half deficit to take the lead against Wichita State in the first half Wednesday at Koch Arena.

But the Redbirds didn’t score in the last three minutes and played a terrible final minute to let the Shockers grab a 37-30 lead at the intermission. (Read more…)

Illinois State has received a verbal commitment from quarterback/athlete Matt Younger of Cocoa, Fla., to sign a national letter of intent on Feb. 3.
The 6-foot-2, 170-pounder passed for 942 yards and 11 touchdowns and ran for 419 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior.
Check out Thursday’s Pantagraph for Coach Brock Spack’s thoughts on what he is and isn’t looking for in his recruiting class.

As national signing day fast approaches on Feb. 3, the Illinois State recruiting class continues to grow.
Tight end Casey Beck, fullback Bryce Kiser and defensive back Matthew Goldsmith all have indicated they will sign with the Redbirds.
Beck is from Spack’s hometown area of Rockford, Machesney Park Harlem to be exact. At 6-8, 250 pounds, Beck is a huge tight end.
Kiser is from Royal Center, Ind., and fits in the fullback/H-back mold.
The 6-1, 175-pound Goldsmith is from Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Md. A cornerback prospect, Goldsmith could be tried at other positions because of his versatility.

Illinois State coach Robin Pingeton had one regret after her Redbirds romped past Evansville, 75-46, Saturday at Redbird Arena. And it certainly had nothing to do with the dominant play of her team. (Read more…)

Defense was pretty much non-existent on both sides in the first half Saturday at SIU Arena. Southern Illinois made its first seven shots and hit 64 percent in the first 20 minutes.

Still, Illinois State led most of the half, but let SIU come back before Alex Rubin’s 3-pointer with two seconds left forced a 46-all halftime tie.

The teams are heading to their locker rooms to catch their breath. (Read more…)

Illinois State has received a verbal commitment this week from linebacker Tacius Pierre-Louis.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Pierre-Louis is from Seminole Ridge High School in Loxahatchee, Fla. (Read more…)

Coach Tim Jankovich had little trouble calling Wednesday’s 71-62 victory over Creighton his “favorite” win of the season for Illinois State’s basketball team.

When the season is finished in two months or so, it might be looked back as the most crucial, too.

The Redbirds couldn’t afford a loss, especially at home, coming off a 69-59 setback at Drake three days earlier in which they trailed by 25 points. ISU had not played well in its previous three games and needed something to go right heading into three road games in the next four, starting with Saturday at Southern Illinois. (Read more…)