Imports

[Bigsportsballs]

Merve Joseph, Jason Edwin, Lennox McCoy, Luis Rivas, etc....

Remember these cats? Are the days of the imports over? Is the risk/reward ratio a little to high now (see: Loren Wallace's career)? Maybe the price of oil has put those trips to Antigua out of a typical coach's budget. Perhaps there are some seven-footers in Haiti that now need a home in a gym in Illinois. Opportunity?

Discuss.....

[Titanfan89]

Too big a risk of going over there and getting killed by an earthquake.

[PhotoGuy]

Uwe Blab... sat next to him at a girls HS game back in the day, nice guy.

Unfortunately he was in the news just a couple days ago, with the passing of his son:

Blab's Son Killed (clicky) (http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/01/blab.html)

[bballjunkie1]

Not sure who Blab was.

What about the makke guy for Quincy or martinez. Looking back it is almost comical the number of guys that Wallace brought it. That is not counting the area players.
Maybe we should start a College Prep team in the area. Home gym could be the Baylis gym. IHSA couldnt find us.

[PhotoGuy]

Blab played for Effingham in the 80's, he was the first big international import into our area... he was from Germany.

He went on to play four years at the University of Indiana for Bobby Night, then 5 more years in the NBA.

Following Blab, several more tall players were recruited by Illinois schools in what became something of a scandal.

If memory servers (don't take this for gospel, I am brushing off the cobwebs here), Blab was originally over for a one-year "student exchange" and wasn't even a basketball player... Effingham's coach got real interested seeing a 7'1" kid walking around the hall ways, and they started teaching him the game. They got him back for a second year, and after he graduated I believe they even brought over his little brother. Or so I recall, I could be all wet on this.

[bballjunkie1]

Blab played for Effingham in the 80's, he was the first big international import into our area... he was from Germany.

He went on to play four years at the University of Indiana for Bobby Night, then 5 more years in the NBA.

Following Blab, several more tall players were recruited by Illinois schools in what became something of a scandal.

If memory servers (don't take this for gospel, I am brushing off the cobwebs here), Blab was originally over for a one-year "student exchange" and wasn't even a basketball player... Effingham's coach got real interested seeing a 7'1" kid walking around the hall ways, and they started teaching him the game. They got him back for a second year, and after he graduated I believe they even brought over his little brother. Or so I recall, I could be all wet on this.

Amazing how that works. Very sad story about his son.

[nobody]

Blab played for Effingham in the 80's, he was the first big international import into our area... he was from Germany.

He went on to play four years at the University of Indiana for Bobby Night, then 5 more years in the NBA.

Following Blab, several more tall players were recruited by Illinois schools in what became something of a scandal.

If memory servers (don't take this for gospel, I am brushing off the cobwebs here), Blab was originally over for a one-year "student exchange" and wasn't even a basketball player... Effingham's coach got real interested seeing a 7'1" kid walking around the hall ways, and they started teaching him the game. They got him back for a second year, and after he graduated I believe they even brought over his little brother. Or so I recall, I could be all wet on this.

Jens Kujawa played at Illinois during the 85-86, 86-87 & 87-88 seasons.
Olaf Blab played there during the 85-86 & 86-87 seasons.
Did they both attend Effingham High also?

[PhotoGuy]

Kujawa played at Taylorville.

Olaf also played at Effingham, with a little help from the "local business community's foreign exchange student program" if you know what I mean.