O'Reilly off the board
- Thread starter Streak One
- Start date
Curious if anybody thought it made any difference if he played at PP or would have stayed at Campo? I always thought of him as a low D1 player regardless. Sort of like the kid who plays at Lafeyette from Oak Ridge a few years back. Bryce??? Good for him. Good school in a fun league.
Larry: Bucknell is not a low D1 school. Mid major school and a higher level mid major as well. Consistent tournament Bids through the last 10 years, competed well against high majors like Villanova last year.
Congrats and good luck to O'Reilly at a great school athletically and academically.
Congrats and good luck to O'Reilly at a great school athletically and academically.
Doodiejones: Shows how much you know about levels of collegiate athletics. Bucknell is and has been a mid major school and a very successful one. Less relevant in our lives because it is across the country obviously, but if you check tournament berths and victories they likely have the same amount if not more then St. Mary's does.
Oh I forgot about the power programs of Colgate, Army, Lehigh, American University, Lafayette College etc of the Patriot League. Doodie is 100% correct. Low D1. Next thing I'm going to hear is Sac state is Mid major. Common people.
Congrats to Matt O. Glad it worked out for him.
Devil, Bucknell's had something like 2 NCAA berths in the last several years. That doesn't compare favorably with St. Mary's. WCC is superior to Patriot League.
Devil, Bucknell's had something like 2 NCAA berths in the last several years. That doesn't compare favorably with St. Mary's. WCC is superior to Patriot League.
I didn't mean to say they St Marys and Bucknell are on the same level but I know it came off that way. What I meant was that in the past, they have a similar amount of tournament appearances. Bucknell has 4 in the last 10 years and St Marys has 5. Would St Marys likely beat them? Yes, but in the last 10 years they have had similar success as both have been a similar amount of times and Bucknell has 2 tournament victories to St Marys two. In total, Bucknell has 6 tournament appearances to Saint Mary's 8. I was incorrect saying they have as many or more but it is not a difference of basketball level large enough to demote Bucknell from Mid Major status. Yes I understand that the WCC is better in recent years but that is with the new addition of BYU and Gonzaga quite simply won't belong in that league if they remain at the level that they are at. They are head and shoulders ahead of everyone and they are getting better recruits because of it now as well.
Its not about the success of the team, its about the competition in the conference. Southern university makes the tournament almost every year as a 16 seed and gets their butts kicked first round. Their conference SWAC is not a high level of D1 competition. Same with Bucknell. While they may experience success as a program, playing the likes of American U, Lehigh, Colgate etc., makes the conference low-major.
shows how much I know about the levels though......
shows how much I know about the levels though......
I don't want to take away from a free ride to a great school. Congrats to Matt. Playing hoops at the next level (any level) is an accomplishment. My point earlier is I'm not so sure playing at PP really made any difference in his exposure. I think if he played at Campo he would have had great success and end up in the same spot.
Why can't folks just say congrats to the young man and leave it at that, without trying to minimize his accomplishment? I'm real happy for the kid and wish him the best of luck on this next journey.
Larry I get your question. My guess is that he decided to attend PP to play against tougher competition that would better prepare him for college. I don't think it was to get exposure. Again my opinion.
I agree that O'Reilly didn't expect to find more exposure through PP; it was all about getting better, part of which was functioning within a team structure where he was
not going to be "the guy" who seemed to have the green light to shoot whenever he wanted. Had to be much more selective at PP, or he wouldn't have played as much as he did this year.
I'm guessing defending these very-talented teammates in practice every day also was good training for him. Of course, defending the high-class athletes on the other teams PP played against also had to have been a good learning experience. Note I'm not saying that Campo "didn't play anybody", but that PP likely had more tough games against elite players over the course of the whole season, and probably a wider variety of athletes to deal with.
Physical conditioning was important, too. Saw him at a couple PP games, and late in the season at some Campo games as a spectator. To my eye anyway, he looked
a good bit trimmer and fitter than he did last year at Campo.
I'm not saying a prep-team like PP is the best fit for everybody, or even a majority of HS players, but I have an idea it did more good things than bad for Matt's future, *mayyyyybeeee* enough to make up for the excitement he missed by not playing with Campo in that great playoff run. Of course, it's possible some of his PP teammates may not have enjoyed the year in prep ball as much as they would have on their HS team... As they say these days, "your mileage may vary".
not going to be "the guy" who seemed to have the green light to shoot whenever he wanted. Had to be much more selective at PP, or he wouldn't have played as much as he did this year.
I'm guessing defending these very-talented teammates in practice every day also was good training for him. Of course, defending the high-class athletes on the other teams PP played against also had to have been a good learning experience. Note I'm not saying that Campo "didn't play anybody", but that PP likely had more tough games against elite players over the course of the whole season, and probably a wider variety of athletes to deal with.
Physical conditioning was important, too. Saw him at a couple PP games, and late in the season at some Campo games as a spectator. To my eye anyway, he looked
a good bit trimmer and fitter than he did last year at Campo.
I'm not saying a prep-team like PP is the best fit for everybody, or even a majority of HS players, but I have an idea it did more good things than bad for Matt's future, *mayyyyybeeee* enough to make up for the excitement he missed by not playing with Campo in that great playoff run. Of course, it's possible some of his PP teammates may not have enjoyed the year in prep ball as much as they would have on their HS team... As they say these days, "your mileage may vary".
