‘19 LA SG - Gregory Hammond (URI ---> UMass-Lowell)

[RamStock]

I think he will be a very good player and probably most ready to contribute of the 2019 recruits. Good get! I hope they can still land McLeod or Walker. Does anyone think we stand land one of them?

[Running Ram]

Welcome!!! Great news!

[Running Ram]

We are going to have some height, 18's aren't exactly a short class, back to back classes with some real length, I love it!

[Rhody83]

Both McLeod and Walker are still solid.

[Running Ram]

Which one wants to be a Rhody Ram more?

[Rhody83]

Both

[Rhody83]

We are going to have some height, 18's aren't exactly a short class, back to back classes with some real length, I love it!

Players under 6’5” need not apply

[giovanni]

[rambone 78]

That would be wild if we got both......would Thompson and Tertsea leave? What about Aris?

[rhodylaw]

That would be wild if we got both......would Thompson and Tertsea leave? What about Aris?

It would be unexpected, but I could see both Thompson and Tertsea leaving this year. Both graduate. Book it!

[rhodylaw]

Also - welcome Gregory to the Rhody fam! Looks to be another great pickup.

[hrstrat57]

Welcome!

Dunno if I'm super quick to run Thompson outta town tho. Let's see how he performs as an upper classman first.

[Rhody83]

Nice article from Hammond.
https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com ... ry-hammond

[Rhody83]

From Hammond:
“Rhode Island is different, I said to myself why wait to commit when everything I ever wanted is in Rhode Island," Hammond told Rivals.com. "It’s really a family environment that as soon as I step foot on campus I felt that energy, I felt like I was home, I was comfortable, love it here."

A long wing with great size and a terrific frame to build on, Hammond ranks No. 41 nationally among small forwards in the class of 2019.

He loves to slash to the rim in transition, uses his body to finish in the paint, draws trips to the free throw line and is a good enough jump shooter that defenders can't afford to play off of him. In fact, he shoots well and handles well enough to play at the two and he even sees himself playing some point guard before his career finishes.

"As a freshman I think I can come in and bring a winning mindset that will be contagious to the team, my work ethic is unbelievable," said Hammond. "I'm for sure going to bring buckets with me but also being a guy that can guard multiple positions, and my versatility.

"As I get more versatile and experienced I think I'm become a great combo guard that can really play point guard at anytime."

[DC_Rams]

I think he will be a very good player and probably most ready to contribute of the 2019 recruits. Good get! I hope they can still land McLeod or Walker. Does anyone think we stand land one of them?

McLeod

[CT Rhody]

I think he will be a very good player and probably most ready to contribute of the 2019 recruits. Good get! I hope they can still land McLeod or Walker. Does anyone think we stand land one of them?

McLeod

[CT Rhody]

I think he will be a very good player and probably most ready to contribute of the 2019 recruits. Good get! I hope they can still land McLeod or Walker. Does anyone think we stand land one of them?

McLeod

Why not Walker? I’m still believing we can land both of them!

[4Diffs]

Welcome aboard Greg.! Nice bounce back from losing Bishop and loved his comments about the visit, the school and the coaches. This may be the best recruiting staff the school has had in a long time. Nice job Boswell and Cox.

Walker come on down and complete this class. Tell me again why we took Aris sight unseen? Would be room for McCeod a little easier if not for that. Let's be greedy and get both and let it shake out.

[DC_Rams]

McLeod

Why not Walker? I’m still believing we can land both of them!

LOL! Stop asking questions you don’t really want the answer to.

[CT Rhody]

Why not Walker? I’m still believing we can land both of them!

LOL! Stop asking questions you don’t really want the answer to.

Why don’t you tell us what your hearing instead of beating around the bushes?

[Rhody83]

Welcome aboard Greg.! Nice bounce back from losing Bishop and loved his comments about the visit, the school and the coaches. This may be the best recruiting staff the school has had in a long time. Nice job Boswell and Cox.

Walker come on down and complete this class. Tell me again why we took Aris sight unseen? Would be room for McCeod a little easier if not for that. Let's be greedy and get both and let it shake out.

Cox didn’t want to go into the season with 10 scholarship players. Too risky. The goal is to win this year.
Losing Akele hurt.

[bigappleram]

The best recruiting staff we had was the staff that secured the best recruiting class we ever had (last years class). I’m always an optimist but I don’t love this class, feels like a class of Plan B’s. Coming off 2 straight tourneys that’s not great. Landing neither Bishop or Walker is disappointing.

[reef]

Welcome to URI Gregory Hammond !!

Nice job staff

[DC_Rams]

The best recruiting staff we had was the staff that secured the best recruiting class we ever had (last years class). I’m always an optimist but I don’t love this class, feels like a class of Plan B’s. Coming off 2 straight tourneys that’s not great. Landing neither Bishop or Walker is disappointing.

So thankful that I don’t have thoughts as dumb as this. What more would you like the staff to have done? Please enlighten us all.

[theblueram]

The best recruiting staff we had was the staff that secured the best recruiting class we ever had (last years class). I’m always an optimist but I don’t love this class, feels like a class of Plan B’s. Coming off 2 straight tourneys that’s not great. Landing neither Bishop or Walker is disappointing.

So thankful that I don’t have thoughts as dumb as this. What more would you like the staff to have done? Please enlighten us all.

Land 4* players. That’s all.

[Rhody83]

Yeah 4* players like our top three returning players this year - Jeff Dowtin, Cyril Langevine & Fatts Russell.
Oh wait, none of them were 4* players (:

[bigappleram]

The best recruiting staff we had was the staff that secured the best recruiting class we ever had (last years class). I’m always an optimist but I don’t love this class, feels like a class of Plan B’s. Coming off 2 straight tourneys that’s not great. Landing neither Bishop or Walker is disappointing.

So thankful that I don’t have thoughts as dumb as this. What more would you like the staff to have done? Please enlighten us all.

You must be joking with this comment. Doesn’t seem abnormal to be disappointed we didn’t land 1 of our 2 priority recruits. I don’t care about stars or rankings but it was was clear those were the 2 guys we wanted most.

[Rhody83]

Btw, Hammond is rated #189. Only one player in our “best recruiting class ever” was rated higher than Hammond.
Dana (215), Tyrese (220) & Omar (NR). Long is rated #215. Early indications are that Tyrese will start his freshmen year. Ratings mean nothing.

I missed the announcement where the URI staff declared the recruiting class for 2019 complete. Several people on the Board with knowledge/sources have stated that they are recruiting for more than three scholarships. It isn’t over yet. Three weeks.

[Billyboy78]

BAR, are you saying we're out on Walker?

[bigappleram]

I’m not saying that, but DC Rams seems to think so and reading the tea leaves it feels that way.

[Billyboy78]

Why doesn't DC Rams just tell us if we're out. Why the big secret?

[bigappleram]

Well it ain’t over til it’s over, so until he commits elsewhere we are certainly in the mix.

[4Diffs]

Welcome aboard Greg.! Nice bounce back from losing Bishop and loved his comments about the visit, the school and the coaches. This may be the best recruiting staff the school has had in a long time. Nice job Boswell and Cox.

Walker come on down and complete this class. Tell me again why we took Aris sight unseen? Would be room for McCeod a little easier if not for that. Let's be greedy and get both and let it shake out.

Cox didn’t want to go into the season with 10 scholarship players. Too risky. The goal is to win this year.
Losing Akele hurt.

I agree that losing Akele hurt, but If this kid is not ready to play this year, as it appears based on Coach Cox's comments, this does not help for this year. I love this staff, but I would have held the scholarship. If Aris helps this year than I will stand corrected.

[bigappleram]

Aris won’t get off the bench this year. Unless there is an extreme injury situation.

[RIFan]

If we want to see more 4* recruits, Cox needs to win as HC and prove himself to the basketball community. We lost the closer and "name brand" when he who shall not be named left. Win and they will come...Fortunately we were left in a good position to do so.

This class is looking good, but I agree it doesn't have the same exciting feel as the last one...yet. I would have preferred a JC transfer or 5th year guy to a 4 year player who people are saying is an bench warmer and only going to play if everyone else is injured...they could have gotten a JC or 5th year to do that, and they would have been gone after 1-2 years.

[bigappleram]

Maybe they feel over time he can develop into a solid A10 player. Talking about Aris, you can’t teach height and I like the idea of a Euro on the squad they tend to have good ball skills (passing, shooting). I assume if the staff felt there was a 5th year or Juco they could secure to make an immediate impact they would have done that. By the time Akele and Layssard left there weren’t a ton of options.

[CHICO 78]

Wait. We landed 1 4 star recruit last year. We went to 2 NCAAT in 20 years, but they were 2 in a row.
Now we are the Gonzaga of the east, High Majors and we should only recruit 4 stars or better.
Please. Lets pump the brakes a little bit here and take our rose colored glasses off.
We had a coaching change. lost basically 5 of our best players. And we lost Hurley's pedigree. We are going to be
hard pressed to bring in 4 stars consistently until we are in the tournament CONSISTANTLY under Cox and Crew.
The fact that we have been in on these 4 stars is an achievement and some 4 stars are 4 stars
and some really aren't, once you get below the top 25-30 its a crap shoot.

As far as Aris goes, I took Coach Cox's comments to indicate he's not sure what he has
at this point and won't until he was more than 2 days into practice with him.
Could be he doesn't want to put un-needed pressure on Aris to perform out of the gate.
If he turns out to be a bust, well they reacted to Akele surprising them
and didn't want to be completely undermanned in case of an injury.

[DC_Rams]

Wait. We landed 1 4 star recruit last year. We went to 2 NCAAT in 20 years, but they were 2 in a row.
Now we are the Gonzaga of the east, High Majors and we should only recruit 4 stars or better.
Please. Lets pump the brakes a little bit here and take our rose colored glasses off.
We had a coaching change. lost basically 5 of our best players. And we lost Hurley's pedigree. We are going to be
hard pressed to bring in 4 stars consistently until we are in the tournament CONSISTANTLY under Cox and Crew.
The fact that we have been in on these 4 stars is an achievement and some 4 stars are 4 stars
and some really aren't, once you get below the top 25-30 its a crap shoot.

As far as Aris goes, I took Coach Cox's comments to indicate he's not sure what he has
at this point and won't until he was more than 2 days into practice with him.
Could be he doesn't want to put un-needed pressure on Aris to perform out of the gate.
If he turns out to be a bust, well they reacted to Akele surprising them
and didn't want to be completely undermanned in case of an injury.

+1,000

[RamStock]

Welcome aboard Greg.! Nice bounce back from losing Bishop and loved his comments about the visit, the school and the coaches. This may be the best recruiting staff the school has had in a long time. Nice job Boswell and Cox.

Walker come on down and complete this class. Tell me again why we took Aris sight unseen? Would be room for McCeod a little easier if not for that. Let's be greedy and get both and let it shake out.

Cox didn’t want to go into the season with 10 scholarship players. Too risky. The goal is to win this year.
Losing Akele hurt.

I agree that losing Akele hurt, but If this kid is not ready to play this year, as it appears based on Coach Cox's comments, this does not help for this year. I love this staff, but I would have held the scholarship. If Aris helps this year than I will stand corrected.

I agree with you on Aris. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he was one of the guys leaving after this year and was only here for one year. They may have needed him for depth/practice after losing Akele and Layssard. He may have other reasons that he is here besides basketball and it happened to work out with Sutton’s connections for both parties. If they indeed have 4-5 scholarships to fill for the 2019 class that can be difficult to fill with the right people. We will have to see as they obviously have a plan.

[Rhody83]

We are not out on Walker. The commitment from Hammond had no negative impact on Walker.

[Rhodyhooopz]

From Hammond:
“Rhode Island is different, I said to myself why wait to commit when everything I ever wanted is in Rhode Island," Hammond told Rivals.com. "It’s really a family environment that as soon as I step foot on campus I felt that energy, I felt like I was home, I was comfortable, love it here."

A long wing with great size and a terrific frame to build on, Hammond ranks No. 41 nationally among small forwards in the class of 2019.

He loves to slash to the rim in transition, uses his body to finish in the paint, draws trips to the free throw line and is a good enough jump shooter that defenders can't afford to play off of him. In fact, he shoots well and handles well enough to play at the two and he even sees himself playing some point guard before his career finishes.

"As a freshman I think I can come in and bring a winning mindset that will be contagious to the team, my work ethic is unbelievable," said Hammond. "I'm for sure going to bring buckets with me but also being a guy that can guard multiple positions, and my versatility.

"As I get more versatile and experienced I think I'm become a great combo guard that can really play point guard at anytime."

Wow. I love that this kid really wants to be here. it sounds like it is more than basketball too. this class is shaping up real nice.

Welcome to URI Greg!!!!

[DC_Rams]

Sticky this

[4Diffs]

The best recruiting staff we had was the staff that secured the best recruiting class we ever had (last years class). I’m always an optimist but I don’t love this class, feels like a class of Plan B’s. Coming off 2 straight tourneys that’s not great. Landing neither Bishop or Walker is disappointing.

Ah no. Not every compliment of the current staff is a shot at the prior coach or staff. The people that recruited that class are still here, especially the crown jewel of the class Jermaine Harris. There is no way he is at Rhode Island without David Cox. Dana Tate is Ty Boswell and Martin was Cox. Yes Dan Hurley was the coach and did a good job closing on them.

Have no idea why you would be disappointed with this class at this point in time. It is currently ranked #1 in the A10 and 35th in the Country. Now I know alot of that is how early it is and the fact that they have 3 verbals. But the overall average is .8830 which only ranks behind last years class average of .9156 for any of the Hurley years. And that average was heavily skewed by Harris' ranking of .9693. Hammonds ranking is higher than anybody in last years class and Long's is right there with Martin and Tate's. Think Long and Mading have been ridiculously undervalued on this board due to certain people constantly complaining about them. Long had offers from schools in the ACC, Big 12 and the Big East as well as the A10. if people cannot see the potential upside in Mading in a couple of years, I do not know what to tell you.

And they still have a good shot at both McLeod and Walker. All this for a first-year head coach coming off a year where they had their best class is impressive. It is usually hard to recruit the year after a class like that. See Hurley's 2014 class with Christian Thompson (2 star rating of .7667 ranked 433) and Nikola Akele, who was unranked.

So yes, in my opinion, this is the best recruiting staff we have had at Rhode Island in quite a while. Being around both Cox and Hurley, Hurley was a very good coach but was not the most personable person and did not enjoy alot of the aspects of the recruiting game. Cox is a people person who is very comfortable around others and loves the recruiting game. And Boswell is very solid in his own right and he is still here.

[bigappleram]

I won’t argue with any of that. I actually think the staff as a whole is one of the most impressive staffs we have had in 30 years following the program. BUT, this is a results based business so saying this is the best recruiting staff we have ever had without results that prove that out was a bit of an overstatement at this point. I am confident in this staff, and specifically in Coach Cox, and was 110% behind his hire. I merely was pointing out that it was clear the most effort went into Bishop and Walker and I am disappointed it doesn’t look like that huge effort will bear fruit. That said, it’s still early and lots can change. If we can land McLeod that likely will alter my perception of the class a whole, and it looks positive that we may do that.

[DC_Rams]

I won’t argue with any of that. I actually think the staff as a whole is one of the most impressive staffs we have had in 30 years following the program. BUT, this is a results based business so saying this is the best recruiting staff we have ever had without results that prove that out was a bit of an overstatement at this point. I am confident in this staff, and specifically in Coach Cox, and was 110% behind his hire. I merely was pointing out that it was clear the most effort went into Bishop and Walker and I am disappointed it doesn’t look like that huge effort will bear fruit. That said, it’s still early and lots can change. If we can land McLeod that likely will alter my perception of the class a whole, and it looks positive that we may do that.

That’s the business and we had solid backups for both. The Xavier thing was surprising to all involved. They swept in one month before he ended up eventually committing to them. He couldn’t turn away from the brighter lights. We landed a hell of a backup in Hammond. Bigger and a better shooter. Lesson learned, we could not afford to be jilted at the altar twice, and NOT end up with Walker. The entire staff, to include a former NBA coach and and USA Team coach are enamored with the skill and upside of a 6’10 SF. In Mading. Let that really sink in.

We don’t have the pedigree to rest on our laurels and brand, YET. In our rose colored world, we should be considered right along with the P5’s, but when you take those specs off, we are still just URI in the mid-level A10.

McLeod is within grasp, and landing him, just write out the potential lineup we would have, and watch your eyebrows instantly levitate.

[Running Ram]

I am a little surprised by your take BAR, ur usually sage-like in my book, but I'm not even a little bit disappointed at this point, if we land McLeod or Walker we have a class with huge potential and all kinds of length. Mix in a priority PG in the 2020 class and I would think we are in good shape for sometime.

[bigappleram]

I must have been cranky and tired and the sage levels were running on low!

[DC_Rams]

In addition, we will have the number 1 class in the A10, two years in a row, with or without Walker. We will be super competitive and chasing/attaining national rankings, for years to come. Our conference is always overlooked, we are primed for another 4 year team, that will not solely rely on the production of one or two guys to win. We will have a deadly rotation of 7/8 guys who can beat any starting lineup in the A10.

[theblueram]

Last year we had three 4* players. The year before we had 4. This year we have 1.

[DC_Rams]

If you look at 247 we were rated a .91, this year we are an .89.

It’s still consistent, why are you clamoring for 4 star guys when collectively we will still be the best in the conference. It’s a top 35 class as it stands. With McLeod, slightly higher.

You should probably take a deep breath man, the staff is getting it done.