Joey Brunk - 2016 Center (Indiana)

http://blogs.indystar.com/recruitingcentral/archives/3541

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ButlerWay: Are we showing any interest in Joey Brunk? I saw him briefly when I went to a couple of PT games to watch Bluiett. He's young and raw and appeared to be coming off a knee injury. Sounds like he has been playing well for IE 2016 though.

 

Brunk leaving PT and going to Southport for next season....

 

Is Butler showing any interest in Joe Brunk of Southport? I saw him in part of a game this week and I liked him. He is a big bodied kid that looks like he can move and has a nice touch. Lacks a little quickness from my perspective, but I'm no expert

 

Drew Messmer ‏@AllMetroDrew 15 Dec
2016 6'10 C Joey Brunk @JoeyBrunk Southport (IN) tells me #Xavier and #MichiganState have contacted him the most recently

 

Jeff Rabjohns ‏@JeffRabjohns 42m
Xavier watched 2016 Southport (IN) post Joey Brunk in open today, coach Kyle Simpson said.

Jeff Rabjohns ‏@JeffRabjohns 45m
Xavier watched 2017 Southport (IN) guard Paul Scruggs today in open gym, his AAU coach said

 

[tweet]459760036193902592[/tweet]

Swanigan at 1 is easy. I hear so many conflicting reports about Brunk but he's 6'10". Eron Gordon has been the #1 option playing 17u AAU ball from the start. Watch out...

 

Xavier offered Joey Brunk

 

Hello everyone, this is my first post here. I post infrequently on the other board. I'm not a Butler grad, but I've been going to Butler games for about 8 years and have had a season ticket the last 4 years. I originally started going to games just because it was a convenient opportunity to watch some D1 ball, but I became a fan because of the program's values and the way the team played the game. I apologize for the long post, I promise they won't all be this long!

I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about recruiting as many of you are, but I want to give some info about Joey Brunk, the 2016 6-10 center playing for Southport High School and UA Grind. Full disclosure: I'm a Southport grad, and Joey Brunk's dad was in my class and was a great player for us and for Hanover, where he is in their Hall of Fame. I know I have some bias here, but I think Brunk is a player Butler should be watching closely. I saw one post on the board a few months ago which described his game as "weak" and expressed a desire for Butler to pass on him. I want to present another viewpoint, with some stats to back it up.

Here's a link to Brunk's stats from the 2013-14 Southport season: Joey Brunk's Stats - MaxPreps

Southport's record was 15-8 (14-4 over their last 18 games), after going 1-19 in 2012-13 (Brunk was at Park Tudor that year). Brunk was the team's leading scorer (15.3 ppg) and rebounder (8.1 rpg), and was a major factor in the team's turnaround this year. He scored in double figures in 20 of 23 games, and scored 20+ six times. He had double digit rebounds in eight games, and had seven double-doubles. He shot 65.1% from the field and 66.7% from the line. His FT shooting improved as the season went on, and he had only one game out of the last 15 in which his FT percentage was less than his end-of-season average. He shot 50% or better from the field in all but two games.

For comparison, here's a link to Derrik Smits' stats from the 2013-14 Zionsville season: Derrik Smits' Stats - MaxPreps

Brunk's stats are better in nearly every category - significantly so in some cases - than Smits' stats, who is a year older and has already been offered by Butler. And Southport played a tougher schedule this season, ranking #13 in schedule strength by Sagarin as compared to #24 for Zionsville. I'm not trying to disparage Smits here, but I think it is an interesting comparison.

Brunk is a player who I think would fit in well at Butler. He's a very team oriented guy, a good student, and his attitude is more mature than many of his peers. The improvement in his game this year was very noticeable. I'm no expert at evaluating players, so I don't know if he will develop into a Big East-level player or not. But I think the potential is there, and I think Butler should be interested and should be letting him know they're interested. He received offers from Xavier and Iowa this week to add to an earlier offer from New Mexico, and he was also contacted by Michigan State, Purdue, Utah, and Evansville.

Again, I definitely have a bias here, but I would love to see Joey in a Butler uniform. Keep an eye on him!

 

Thanks for the heads up on him, and welcome to the board. It really depends on what the team needs are at that point, but I can definitely see if Fowler doesn't pop for Butler that Brunk would be fantastic to have, though honestly with the Iowas of the world already after him, I wouldn't be shocked to see him getting some BIG TIME offers here soon if he plays well over the summer.

Assuming no one transfers out (which will be interesting to see after last season), and all of the available scholarships are available, Butler will have 3 scholarships (this also assumes that Etherington uses both of his remaining years of eligibility), and I would say the greatest position of need will be on the wing with Jones, Dunham and Etherington all leaving at the same time (and possibly Harris if he comes and has immediate eligibility). We'll see what happens though.

 

I'm with the guy talking about Joey Brunk from Southport. I've heard that he would love a call and attention from Butler, but they are not giving him any the last I knew. Local 7 foot plus kid, other major schools are offering, and not getting any love from the Bulldogs.

 

To our friend who suggested this earlier - good call!

Zak Keefer ‏@zkeefer 1m
Joey Brunk, a 6-9, 200-pound Class of 2016 center out of Southport HS, is taking an unofficial visit to #Butler today.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-Iu-5kYaaQ

Love Brunk's enthusiasm.

 

We need to figure out a way to hide this kid!

 

Might be too late for that, I'm afraid. But I agree, looks like he could be a hell of a get. We need to get on it.

 

Sure looks and acts like Matt Howard. He was ok