Emmenecker is player of the week

[DUBulldog]

link (http://www.mvc-sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=36371&SPID=2901&DB_OEM_ID=7600&ATCLID=1372548)

For the second consecutive week, a Drake player is POW.....both were walk-ons for their first 3 seasons at DU.

Who needs 4-star and 5-star players? :lol:

[MoValley John]

I'm not impressed.

[Mc Bulldog]

He is a hellva of young man. Great parents too.

[DUBulldog]

He is a hellva of young man. Great parents too.

3.98 gpa with a quadruple-major....I wanna know what class he got the B in. That professor must have been one bada$s mofo.

[redbirdfan21]

I was hoping Osiris would get it with two 21 point games...but Emmenecker is definitely deserving... O prolly would got it if ISU won

Anyways... CONGRATS!!!!

[Dawg_tired]

Emmenecker has a better haircut.

[Keita44]

Emmenecker has a better haircut.

Who doesn't?

[Dawg_tired]

McBullshat.

[DannyCooksey]

Emmenecker has a better haircut.


His hair looks horrible. Looks like someone urinated in it pregame.

[MoValley John]

Emmenecker has a better haircut.

Unimpressive hair.

[getreal4]

Does McB even have hair? :wheelchair: :wheelchair::wheelchair::wheelchair:

[shockball]

An excerpt from 1/24 Wichita Eagle

Missouri Valley Conference report
Drake beat Boston College for the services of point guard Adam Emmenecker.

Knowing that, it makes sense Emmenecker plays a leading role in the Valley's leading story. He must be good if he turned down a school in a big-time conference.

It is Drake, so the story cannot be that simple.

Emmenecker turned down Boston College baseball for a chance to walk on at Drake. He is a shortstop-turned-guard running a three-pointer-crazy team and has not attempted a three this season. He carries a 3.98 GPA with majors in finance, business, management and entrepreneurship.

"He is kind of representative of our whole team," Drake coach Keno Davis said. "We've got guys that were under-recruited up and down our whole lineup."

Four years after walking on, Emmenecker is the centerpiece of Drake's amazing season. The Bulldogs are 17-1 and ranked No. 22 after Tuesday's 68-60 overtime win at Creighton. They are 8-0 in the MVC and survived an injury to leading scorer Josh Young.

Emmenecker, a senior from Saginaw, Mich., made the big plays in Young's three-game absence with a sprained right ankle.

Against Bradley, he scored the winning basket, after grabbing his own rebound twice in the final seconds, in a 69-68 victory. He scored a career-high 19, 14 in the second half, to beat Illinois State on Saturday in a matchup of MVC unbeatens.

Tuesday, he played 43 minutes against Creighton and scored 12 points with seven assists, six rebounds, four steals and three turnovers. Young returned to the lineup and Drake established itself as the clear favorite in the MVC race.

Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich calls Emmenecker a perfect fit for Drake. Davis surrounds him with four good shooters and turns him loose to penetrate and pass.

Defenses cannot help when he drives, because that leaves a shooter open. Opposing centers can't lurk in the lane because Drake center Jonathan Cox makes almost 50 percent of his threes.

Last season, Emmenecker was a backup who did not start a game.

"His weakness is he's not a good shooter," Jankovich said. "The people around him have played exactly to his strengths. He is the perfect ingredient for them, given the guys they have around him."

Emmenecker, who received a scholarship the day before school started in August, understands his role perfectly. He has taken two threes in his Drake career and missed both. Entering Wednesday's games, he led the MVC in assists (5.28) and was fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.94).

"He's smarter than everybody on the bench, including the coaches," Davis said. "He just leads the ballclub."

FAST BREAKS

• Missouri State guard Shane Laurie missed Wednesday's game against Southern Illinois with his second concussion of the season. Laurie hit his head on the court during Monday's practice and lost consciousness for a few seconds, according to the Springfield News-Leader.

He missed MSU's game against Wichita State with a concussion earlier this month.

• Southern Illinois center Randal Falker has taken much of the heat for his team's struggles. Coach Chris Lowery thinks Falker is stepping forward in recent games. Falker got the Salukis off to a good start in Saturday's win over WSU with 13 first-half points. "We wanted him to act like an older player whose been through the wars," Lowery said. "He's our confidence."

• Drake-Illinois State was the prime game of the first half of the men's schedule. Things are not much different on the women's side. First-place Illinois State (15-1, 5-0 MVC) plays host to second-place Drake (11-5, 4-1) on Jan. 31 in Normal. Barring upsets this weekend, they should remain in those spots.

• Creighton played overtime games against Drake in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008.

KEEP AN EYE ON

Bradley freshman guard Sam Maniscalco is doing his part to make up for the loss of Daniel Ruffin. Last week, he averaged 13.0 points, 6.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in games against Drake and Evansville. Against Drake, he hit a three with 10.7 seconds remaining for a one-point lead. "He's an extremely hard worker and a very tough kid," BU coach Jim Les said.

GAME TO WATCH

Creighton at Southern Illinois (8 p.m. Saturday, ESPN2, Ch. 33) --ESPN GameDay visits SIU Arena. It is not the big game ESPN expected when it set this schedule. Valley officials should be nervous. SIU's ugly style might rob this game of its showcase potential.

[Dawg_tired]

And he still has a better haircut than Eldridge.