2019 Recruiting Update

[CT Rhody]

We have two open scholarships if the Long commitment holds. Anybody disagree with that?

[rhodyblue12]

Yup. Sure.

[theblueram]

Hold out for high quality players or pass.

[Rhody83]

Long
Bishop
Walker or Somerville

[Billyboy78]

I'm surprised they took a verbal from Long so early when they were still involved with several more highly rated players. They must see something they really like in him.

[CT Rhody]

I'm surprised they took a verbal from Long so early when they were still involved with several more highly rated players. They must see something they really like in him.

Long has a lot of upside, fits the positionless basketball movement well. I like the get especially if it goes along with Walker and Bishop!

[Rhody83]

Getting a verbal early when you need three commitments can be a plus. Let’s Cox be a little more selective on the other 2 Schollys.
Last year getting an August verbal from Dana helped in recruiting Martin and Harris.

[CT Rhody]

Getting a verbal early when you need three commitments can be a plus. Let’s Cox be a little more selective on the other 2 Schollys.
Last year getting an August verbal from Dana helped in recruiting Martin and Harris.

This is certainly true, allows the staff to really hone in and prioritize their top targets for those last two spots. Also minimizes the need to recruit other small forward types. I will say though that the vigor they are recruiting front court players makes me think we won’t ever get much out of Lyssard or Tertsea.

[Ramulous]

No team plays 13 players with any regularity.....the last 4 guys are projects, role players, practice players traditionally.....if they work hard on their game they can move into the rotation....if not it may be best for them to move to a level where they can play....we have guys this year who either move up or move out.....or they like the school enough to stay and not care if they play or not....I see Long as a kid who will fall into this category where he is not counted on right away but will either grow into it or not....we can afford 3 or 4 of these guys.....but not more...

[Rhody83]

I agree that a rotation of 8-9 players is enough. I don’t think that allows you to have 4 projects at the end of the bench though.
There are cases where you need a scholarship (or two) for transfers - see KI and Stan, you have an injured player - see EC & Thompson, you have a Fr that will be a significant part of the rotation as a Soph-Sr (I think this could happen to one of the Fr this year), you have a player leave during the year that leaves a gap (transfer, academic, Akele), late developers that make an impact like Berry. And of course you have players that were misevaluated or don’t develop (potentially Tertsea & Layssard right now).

It doesn’t feel like we have a deep team right now with 11 scholarship players and two of them a big question mark.

Rhody needs to recruit 13 players that can be regular rotation guys - hopefully 8-9 contribute each year.

[rhodylaw]

We need to load our team with minimum A10 level players - some of those guys may not get PT because we are also recruiting top 25 program level players. I think that is where we are. Mehki looks like he can play at the A10 level, with some hard work he could be a player here.

I think we are recruiting for four open spots next year. I see Christian graduating and transferring, or one of the mikes graduating early and transferring. All three I think can play in the A10 it is just a question if they can make the jump to get minutes on a top 25 team the way Andre did last year.

[Iggy1979]

We need to load our team with minimum A10 level players - some of those guys may not get PT because we are also recruiting top 25 program level players. I think that is where we are. Mehki looks like he can play at the A10 level, with some hard work he could be a player here.

I think we are recruiting for four open spots next year. I see Christian graduating and transferring, or one of the mikes graduating early and transferring. All three I think can play in the A10 it is just a question if they can make the jump to get minutes on a top 25 team the way Andre did last year.

I agree we're recruiting for four.

[rhodyblue12]

Hallelujah. My feelings exactly.

[Billyboy78]

We need to load our team with minimum A10 level players - some of those guys may not get PT because we are also recruiting top 25 program level players. I think that is where we are. Mehki looks like he can play at the A10 level, with some hard work he could be a player here.

I think we are recruiting for four open spots next year. I see Christian graduating and transferring, or one of the mikes graduating early and transferring. All three I think can play in the A10 it is just a question if they can make the jump to get minutes on a top 25 team the way Andre did last year.

I agree we're recruiting for four.

Iggy, who on the current roster, other than Preston, will not be here next year?

[Rhody83]

We need to load our team with minimum A10 level players - some of those guys may not get PT because we are also recruiting top 25 program level players. I think that is where we are. Mehki looks like he can play at the A10 level, with some hard work he could be a player here.

I think we are recruiting for four open spots next year. I see Christian graduating and transferring, or one of the mikes graduating early and transferring. All three I think can play in the A10 it is just a question if they can make the jump to get minutes on a top 25 team the way Andre did last year.

I agree with this except there is no way Layssard or Tertsea graduate early. They are just starting there 3rd year. The players take 9 credits during the season. You can’t play D1 basketball and graduate in 3 years unless you start with some credits. Akele came in with credits from HS and took extra summer courses. Maybe one of them transfers.

[Iggy1979]

We need to load our team with minimum A10 level players - some of those guys may not get PT because we are also recruiting top 25 program level players. I think that is where we are. Mehki looks like he can play at the A10 level, with some hard work he could be a player here.

I think we are recruiting for four open spots next year. I see Christian graduating and transferring, or one of the mikes graduating early and transferring. All three I think can play in the A10 it is just a question if they can make the jump to get minutes on a top 25 team the way Andre did last year.

I agree we're recruiting for four.

Iggy, who on the current roster, other than Preston, will not be here next year?

It all matters what happens this year. Thompson could decide to be a fifth-year transfer. If Tertsea doesn't play again that would be three straight years of not playing, but because he redshirted he could transfer and still have two years to play.
It's hard to transfer after your junior year, so I would say Layssard is here to stay.

[Billyboy78]

If one of those happens, the scholarship, if used for a '19, would be a late one. Not usually much left. Just like trying to use Akele's scholarship on someone for this year.

[Rhody83]

If one of those happens, the scholarship, if used for a '19, would be a late one. Not usually much left. Just like trying to use Akele's scholarship on someone for this year.

It can be known as soon as the season is over that a player is transferring. There are recruits who hold off signing until the second NLOI period in April. Akele leaving in July wasn’t like that - it was way after the ‘18s had already been on campus.

Some schools have signed recruits putting them over the 13 scholarships knowing someone is leaving (or will be forced out). Nevada did that this year. I don’t see Cox forcing anyone out.

I am not sold on Rhody having 4 scholarships for next year. That would be 8 in two years and really handcuff the ‘20 recruiting. I think Cox wants to spread the scholarships out. They don’t want to ever be caught with 5 Sr again. Ideally you use 3 per year and 4 one out of four years.

[Rhody83]

If you want to dream big, think of this as a foundation of the program establishing itself as a consistent Tournament team.

2016 class
Dowtin
Langevine

2017 class
Fatts

2018 class
Harris
Martin
Tate
Silverio

2019 class
Bishop
Walker
Long

That’s 4 straight years with a top recruit and at least 8-9 players that start on a top A10 team. That is the foundation that Coach Cox would use to separate Rhody from the pack for the long term. Think Big! We Do!

[TruePoint]

I'm starting to think that this class could have 4 members. I know we discuss it like there can only be 3, but it would not shock me to have some attrition toward the back of the roster. It hasn't happened much recently for URI, but it isn't necessarily a bad thing when it does happen (for the program or the player). The question is whether they would use that 4th spot or leave it open again, and I think the answer will depend on who they could get to fill it. To me, there are a handful of guys that I would take a verbal from and tie up that fourth spot with, assuming Bishop and Walker do join the class.

[Rhody83]

There is a strong indication that they are recruiting for 4 spots. If they got 4 commitments in the November signing period it would seem to create an uncomfortable situation for some of the current players. They don’t want to lose another player during the year since they are already down to 11 scholarship players.

[TruePoint]

It would seem like a lot to ask a kid to not sign a LOI to keep someone on the current team happy who may not end up being on the team in the long run, but there is the concept of the "silent verbal" in CFB recruiting where supposedly a player commits to the staff and neither the coaches nor the player tell anyone else. It should be noted that this idea is roundly mocked by many CFB fans, although there doesn't seem to be much of a way to tell whether it really happens or not. The obvious difference is that, at least until recently, the football signing period was after the season and the basketball signing period was before/during the season. In football, you were just asking a kid not to announce the verbal commitment, not asking him to not sign a LOI which would protect him with a scholarship in the event that he was injured or played poorly in the in the interim period.

[CT Rhody]

Can we track the known official visit schedule on the opening post? We know Bishop is Sept 15th so far, any others heard of dates being reported?

[Rhody83]

Does it hurt Rhody that the team is on break in August? URI had their 8 weeks of practice during the two school summer sessions which end July 23rd? They did get many top targets to do unofficial visits in June/July - Bishop, Walker, Long, Somerville, McLeod & Yeezy.

Other schools are practicing now and bringing in recruits for unofficial and official visits. Wahab comes to mind with vidits this weekend to Georgetown and VCU. How important is momentum? Rhody needs to get more official visits scheduled for Sept.

[CT Rhody]

Corey Evans of Rivals believes URI or St Louis will have the top class for 2019 and that VCU is a wild card.

[Rhody83]

VCU making a lot of final lists. Visit from Wahab today. Another list made.

[TruePoint]

Can we track the known official visit schedule on the opening post? We know Bishop is Sept 15th so far, any others heard of dates being reported?

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7001

[Rhody83]

It’s pretty clear that Rhody’s top 5 targets are in order:
1) Bishop
2) Walker
3) Long
4) McLeod
5) Somerville

All five have visited Kingston. None of the five have an official visit scheduled to any other school.
The top 2 have official visits planned for Sept and the 3rd has already made a verbal commitment.
#solid

[CT Rhody]

It’s pretty clear that Rhody’s top 5 targets are in order:
1) Bishop
2) Walker
3) Long
4) McLeod
5) Somerville

All five have visited Kingston. None of the five have an official visit scheduled to any other school.
The top 2 have official visits planned for Sept and the 3rd has already made a verbal commitment.
#solid

Where is wahab?

[Rhody83]

It’s pretty clear that Rhody’s top 5 targets are in order:
1) Bishop
2) Walker
3) Long
4) McLeod
5) Somerville

All five have visited Kingston. None of the five have an official visit scheduled to any other school.
The top 2 have official visits planned for Sept and the 3rd has already made a verbal commitment.
#solid

Where is wahab?

Visiting other schools (: It was mentioned before that the interest level has to be reciprocal. He is a long shot. He isn’t a top 5 target because he has expressed more interest in other schools. They are still working hard to try to get a visit but the outlook isn’t optimistic.

[CT Rhody]

It’s pretty clear that Rhody’s top 5 targets are in order:
1) Bishop
2) Walker
3) Long
4) McLeod
5) Somerville

All five have visited Kingston. None of the five have an official visit scheduled to any other school.
The top 2 have official visits planned for Sept and the 3rd has already made a verbal commitment.
#solid

Where is wahab?

Visiting other schools (: It was mentioned before that the interest level has to be reciprocal. He is a long shot. He isn’t a top 5 target because he has expressed more interest in other schools. They are still working hard to try to get a visit but the outlook isn’t optimistic.

Good info 83, well done as always. Completely understand the situation .

[Rhody83]

Some tweaks at 5 & 6 to the list based on official visits
1) Bishop
1) Walker
3) Long
4) McLeod
5) Burton
6) Mading

[Rhody83]

If you want to dream, imagine these rotaions:
2019-20
Dowtin
Fatts
Bishop
Martin
Silverio
Cyril
Harris
Walker
Tate

2020-21
Fatts
Bishop
Silverio
Martin
Long
Harris
Walker
Tate

[CT Rhody]

Some tweaks at 5 & 6 to the list based on official visits
1) Bishop
1) Walker
3) Long
4) McLeod
5) Burton
6) Mading

I would out Mading 5 and Burton 6, no inside info, just what it looks like from the outside.

[Billyboy78]

If you want to dream, imagine these rotaions:
2019-20
Dowtin
Fatts
Bishop
Martin
Silverio
Cyril
Harris
Walker
Tate

2020-21
Fatts
Bishop
Silverio
Martin
Long
Harris
Walker
Tate

I'm still dreaming of Christion in 19-20.

[SandorClegane]

Is Wahab coming in for an official or is he considered done as far as URI recruiting is concerned?

[DC_Rams]

Is Wahab coming in for an official or is he considered done as far as URI recruiting is concerned?

Done

[Rhodymob05]

Question, players can skip the verbal and just sign an LOI?

[Iggy1979]

Question, players can skip the verbal and just sign an LOI?

They can sign during any of the signing periods (Nov. 14-21, April 17-May 15). They don't have to give a verbal.

[ace]

Question, players can skip the verbal and just sign an LOI?

They can do the opposite, as well.

[Rhody83]

Question, players can skip the verbal and just sign an LOI?

They can do the opposite, as well.

?? Ace are you making light of a past situation?

I know you are aware that if they never sign the NLOI then they aren’t committed. They can go anywhere.

[ace]

Question, players can skip the verbal and just sign an LOI?

They can do the opposite, as well.

?? Ace are you making light of a past situation?

I know you are aware that if they never sign the NLOI then they aren’t committed. They can go anywhere.

I have no idea what you’re talking about.

I was saying a player can give a verbal and not sign a LOI, and if my kid was a priority commit, that’s likely what I would advise.

[Rhody83]

Right but at some point that isn’t a commitment. There is nothing binding about a verbal. Depending on how highly rated the recruit is, the school needs a signed NLOI in April or they probably go after a different recruit.

[theblueram]

Maybe a 5*, but beyond that I think that would not work.

[ace]

Right but at some point that isn’t a commitment. There is nothing binding about a verbal. Depending on how highly rated the recruit is, the school needs a signed NLOI in April or they probably go after a different recruit.

Of course it’s a commitment and of course it doesn’t work for the 12th or 13th best player on the roster (that’s why I said priority recruit). But, they announce a verbal, sign some non-binding scholarship paperwork, and that’s it. It happens. It’s a protection for the player, and a school’s not going after someone else if he’s their guy and they have a good relationship.

And I still have no idea what “making light of a past situation” means.

[Rhody83]

I thought you were joking in your first post. Have you seen how many top recruits have backed out of their verbal commitment in the last few week. It is happening almost daily right now. The school can’t even announce a verbal. If you are worried about the HC leaving, every school will let you out of NLOI. I know you know all of this. If you feel the verbal is a commitment then what is the hesitation of putting your commitment in writing?

[ace]

Because not every school will let you out of a LOI, at least not until it’s dragged on and they are shamed into it. Schools do not have to move in a timely manner on granting releases, and in the case of a change in head coach, they might refuse until the new guy is named. That hurts players. Staff changes, lots of transfers, sanctions- all can significantly change a situation. Schools can’t announce verbals, but they can talk publicly about guys who have signed other paperwork, not just a LOI. Schools hold all the power (see King Rice, Pierre Sarr), and I think players who have other options should not just immediately sign LOIs.

[theblueram]

For guys who most likely will never end up in the NBA? They have no other options. That means 4* and below.

[Rhody83]

For guys who most likely will never end up in the NBA? They have no other options. That means 4* and below.

I believe Ace means other options as in other D1 scholarships from quality programs.

Ace, I fully support what is best for the players.

[ace]

By options, I meant a player being able to sign paperwork other than an LOI. If a player is good, and both sides feel solid about the relationship, that should be an option a player and his or her family at least considers. Dan ran a good program that fans could be proud of for doing things the right way. I expect Dave to do the same, but not all others are like that.