When the postgame melee broke out Wednesday night at Chicago State that left a 17-year-old high school student shot to death, Bradley men?s basketball coaches Geno Ford and Ronald ?Chin? Coleman were just yards away in the parking lot.
The coaches had been checking out recruits at the Chicago Simeon-Morgan Park contest and were walking to the head coach?s vehicle.
?It got ugly in a hurry,? said Ford. ?There were about 100 people (fighting). It was a surreal thing to see. But coach Coleman told me I was in good hands.?
Coleman accompanied Ford to his car as the fight was breaking out.
?Being from Chicago and knowing the terrain, you kind of have a spider sense about a rivalry game like that,? Coleman said. ?You anticipate a little aftermath. I wanted to make sure coach Ford got to his car safely.
?The game was high intensity and decided by one possession, but the kids on the court had nothing to do with it. Some silly kids wanted to make a bad thing out of a good thing. Chicago is a city where it?s survival of the fittest and you have to be smart. I just feel for the family of the kid who got killed.?
Ford said he heard what sounded like gunfire while he waited in line to exit the parking lot.
Tyrone Lawson, a Morgan Park senior, was reportedly shot twice in the back while running away from the fighting. ?
Coleman was back in the school when the shots rang out. ?They held us inside for quite some time until they had things under control outside,? he said.
SCHEDULE QUIRK: Bradley assistant coach Jaden Uken, with time on his hands at the Atlanta airport Thursday morning, noted that all five Missouri Valley Conference matchups this weekend are in standings order. Longtime MVC communications guru Mike Kern can?t remember it ever happening before.
The top two teams, Creighton (6-0) and Wichita State (5-1), meet in an ESPN2 game at 3 p.m. Also matched up are the 3-4 teams, Evansville (4-2) and Indiana State (4-2); the 5-6 teams, Missouri State (3-3) and Bradley (3-3); the 7-8 teams, Drake (2-4) and Northern Iowa (2-4) and the 9-10 teams, Southern Illinois (1-5) and Illinois State (0-6).
What may be odder than this occurring on the same weekend is that there are no overlapping ties among the pairs of teams. In a league with great parity, that?s a true rarity for this time of year. And consider this: Last season the final standings ended in a five-way tie for third place.
SEASON-TICKET HOLDERS INVITE: Bradley season-ticket holders may buy up to two tickets for $4 each in Priority IV (upper bowl) sections at Carver Arena for Saturday?s 1 p.m. home game against Missouri State.
The discounted tickets must be purchased in advance at the Renaissance Coliseum ticket office during regular business hours Friday from 9 a.m. through halftime of the BU women?s game that evening.
Evansville is also debuting a ticket discount deal that involves the Braves? visit to the Ford Center next Wednesday.
Fans who attend the BU-UE game will receive $1 off a regularly priced adult ticket for the Aces? following home game for every 1,000 people in attendance. So if there are 8,000 folks for the Braves, they?ll get $8 off the UNI game on that Saturday. ?
NEW BULLDOG: Jordan Daniels, a 5-foot-9 point guard, has transferred to Drake from Boston College. He?ll be eligible after the first semester of next season.
Daniels started 25 games as a freshman at BC, averaging 6.4 points and 2.6 assists. Daniels announced just days before the season opener this season that he would transfer at the semester break. He?ll have nearly three years of eligibility remaining.
?Jordan is a guy who has proven he can play at the highest level as a starter in the ACC,? said Drake coach Mark Phelps. ?He brings quickness, poise and composure to the point guard position as well as really outstanding three-point shooting. He will be a great addition to our program.?
BRAVES BRIEFS: Bradley is tied for second in the nation for most improved overall record from last year. The Braves? 11-7 mark, four more wins than all of 2011-12, is tied with Arizona State, Santa Clara and Loyola-Chicago. Bryant, which went from 2-28 to 11-4, is No. 1.
Dave Reynolds can be reached at 686-3210 or dreynolds@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @davereynolds2.
?
Source: http://www.pjstar.com/bradleyhoops/x1926910588/Reynolds-Ford-nearby-during-fatal-shooting
Nastia Liukin Gabby Douglas hair Kayla Harrison Mars landing Gabby Douglas John Orozco Garrett Reid
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.