General Recruiting Discussion/Comments 2022 and before

[wgracie99]

My expectation for the Fr class was for them to have little or no impact because Walker and Sheppard would be part of the 8 man rotation. Toppin has been a great surprise. Long is as I expected. JustKenny to spin it however he likes. He is shooting 29% FG.
Long’s minutes will decrease once Walker is available in two games. The 8 man rotation will be the 5 starters + Walker, Toppin & Tate.

I “could” see Long passing Tate somewhere down the line this year or next.

[rambone 78]

Tate is way too inconsistent. I expected big improvement from him this season.

Not there. Martin the same. JH ditto. Their bodies have improved way more than their play has.

Those 3 guys, Tate, Martin, and Harris were the ones everyone on this board wanted so much to stay committed when Dan left.

Well we got our wish.

Not saying they won't improve their last 2 years here if they stay, but be careful what you wish for.

[bigappleram]

Don't really think its fair to put Tyrese in the same category. He is averaging double figures and shooting 3s at a 42% clip, best on the team by a lot. Also contributing 5 rebounds per game and has seen all his stats improve from FR to SO year. While he is capable of more, and we will need more from him, to put him in the same boat as Harris and Tate is throwing the baby out with the bath water. Tate is the one who is most disappointing IMO, outside of a few minutes vs Alabama he has given us very little when he is on the court.

[PeterRamTime]

They all have gotten better.

Just not enough yet.

[bkoeppen]

Don't really think its fair to put Tyrese in the same category. He is averaging double figures and shooting 3s at a 42% clip, best on the team by a lot. Also contributing 5 rebounds per game and has seen all his stats improve from FR to SO year. While he is capable of more, and we will need more from him, to put him in the same boat as Harris and Tate is throwing the baby out with the bath water. Tate is the one who is most disappointing IMO, outside of a few minutes vs Alabama he has given us very little when he is on the court.

100% agree. Not sure what the expectations are for Martin and agree he does make some mental mistakes, but c'mon he's had meaningful contributions this year, plays a lot of minutes with solids numbers. Understand the frustrations with Tate and Harris, but again think these guys are going in the right direction overall and we will see continued progress over the year. i'm not sure why the sophomores are always the focus. if you're frustrated with anyone from yesterday it should be dowtin.

I'm trying to see the big picture here and these are meaningful minutes everyone is getting with a tough schedule so far - it's not always gonna be pretty. Will pay dividends come A-10 play.

[thatRamBand]

I agree, Tate has been very disappointing so far. I personally was most excited about his sophomore year because he put some much more muscle on his frame, which seemed to be what he was lacking last season when attacking the rim but he seems to have lost that confidence. Tate seemed the most excited of the sophomores (at least via twitter) to commit here and loves the fans - hope he can put some good games together as we head into conference play.

[Rhodymob05]

Anyone else notice that that way Tate runs up the court is sort of odd?

[ace]

Tate is way too inconsistent. I expected big improvement from him this season.

Not there. Martin the same. JH ditto. Their bodies have improved way more than their play has.

Those 3 guys, Tate, Martin, and Harris were the ones everyone on this board wanted so much to stay committed when Dan left.

Well we got our wish.

Not saying they won't improve their last 2 years here if they stay, but be careful what you wish for.

Yeah, it was an interesting situation. Those three made quite the play during the coaching search, basically implying they were gone if Cox wasn’t hired. They’re still better than starting from scratch, but collectively, I don’t think they’ve yet met expectations.

[ElmCityRhody]

Tate doesn't strike me as a low post player(says captain obvious) - which is what we need - i don't think he will ever get there as a low post player

[Rhody22]

I hope they improve and fast. I do think they have the ability to be much better than they currently are. The problem is that last year as they struggled people kept saying how great it was that the FR were getting so many minutes and how it would pay big dividends the following year. Here we are the following year and they are still struggling but the silver lining should be that it will prepare them for conference play? And if they struggle then? Do we expect it to help them for JR year? At some point they need to pay dividends and in my opinion, it should be now...

[bigappleram]

Tate doesn't strike me as a low post player(says captain obvious) - which is what we need - i don't think he will ever get there as a low post player

Tate isn't a low post player, so I wouldn't wait for that to happen. At his best he should be a bit of a glue guy/swiss army knife type that can do a little bit of everything. Get some boards, get some dunks in transition, hit an occasional 3 and give max effort with no bonehead plays. Still looks to be struggling to figure out his role but IMO that would be it. A goal for him should be to become a Kendall Pollard type player, 6'5" undersized F that played for Dayton and was a solid contributor on good teams. Filled the stat sheet.

[Billyboy78]

Dana wasn't even a post player at MacDuffie. He was a perimeter player with his strength being taking it to the basket.

[ramster]

But not long ago some were calling for Tate to take Harris’ spot in the starting line up.

Harris is listed 6’8”
Tate listed 6’7”

Look at them side by side in warm up drills Friday night from floor level

[adam914]

Tate isn't a low post player, so I wouldn't wait for that to happen. At his best he should be a bit of a glue guy/swiss army knife type that can do a little bit of everything. Get some boards, get some dunks in transition, hit an occasional 3 and give max effort with no bonehead plays. Still looks to be struggling to figure out his role but IMO that would be it. A goal for him should be to become a Kendall Pollard type player, 6'5" undersized F that played for Dayton and was a solid contributor on good teams. Filled the stat sheet.

Agreed Bar, and I still think he can be that guy, but in his defense I don't think he's had a chance to fill that role yet. Without Walker and Sheppard, and with Harris struggling at times, he has instead had to become the first guy off the bench and at this point is playing equal minutes to Harris at just under 20 minutes a game. If that could get narrowed down to even 15 solid minutes, maybe at times playing with a 4 and 5 out there next to him, then he could grow into that role more. Hopefully that is what we see come conference play.

[reef]

Dana is really frustrating at times

He was so good in that Alabama game but he struggles with consistency

[bigappleram]

Wow Akinjo and LeBlanc transferring out of Gtown.
At this time of year for a team with NCAA goals that is hard to fathom.

[CamsRams]

Wonder if Antwan is close with either of them. Akinjo is cali native and LeBlanc is Baton Rouge.

[Brian]

Wow Akinjo and LeBlanc transferring out of Gtown.
At this time of year for a team with NCAA goals that is hard to fathom.

"Coach, will you cooperate if these kids apply for waivers next season?"

[SmartyBarrett]

Top 100 recruit de-commits from Georgetown.

[bigappleram]

And he is from DC (Gonzaga)...high level shooter. Would be HUGE if our DMV connects could swoop in here.

[Dino611]

Hmmmm maybe this might be the reason why DJ isn’t redshirting maybe Cox was thinking about redshirting DJ if we couldn’t get another big for 2020 since we haven’t heard anything and with this kid’s position according to 247 sports being a PF Cox might go after this kid to get a big to kinda replace Cyril (he’s only 6’6” according to 247) DC or Rhody 83 any chance we get this kid?

[ramster]

Would have been interesting news along with Q & A about Johnson at the Mews last night.

[rambone 78]

They never take questions from the audience...at least at the ones I've been to.

When it comes to recruiting, mum's usually the word.

[DC_Rams]

Hmmmm maybe this might be the reason why DJ isn’t redshirting maybe Cox was thinking about redshirting DJ if we couldn’t get another big for 2020 since we haven’t heard anything and with this kid’s position according to 247 sports being a PF Cox might go after this kid to get a big to kinda replace Cyril (he’s only 6’6” according to 247) DC or Rhody 83 any chance we get this kid?

Zip, zero, zilch. The focus is a true BIG. That’s all, that’s it!

[TruePoint]

Ummm I’m all about finding a big but if there was any chance to grab a top-100 player I think you have to do it. You can’t let the next Jared Terrell go the board because you need to find the next Mike Tertsea. Play four guards for all I care. Just get the talent on the floor. If the kid isn’t interested then that’s another thing, but if he was you don’t pass because you’re targeting a big.

[rambone 78]

What if they find out early that Sheppard can't play next season?

They would no doubt cut him loose and that opens up another spot.

Worth a shot in my book.

[DC_Rams]

TP, despite all that, we aren’t on his radar. He wants P5

[TruePoint]

Like I said, if he’s not interested then that’s a different thing. But you made it sound like we aren’t interested because we’re holding out for a big man.

[DC_Rams]

Like I said, if he’s not interested then that’s a different thing. But you made it sound like we aren’t interested because we’re holding out for a big man.

That is part of it. We will not have a Cyril next year. We will need one. And while I think Terrance is a quality player, seen him over 20-30 times, I wouldn’t shift my focus for him.

[Rhody83]

Verbal deleted its original tweet to correct the school name. He plays at Springfield Comminwealth Academy (same prep that Mading was at last year).

[Rhody83]

[DC_Rams]

What did the tweet say?

[Rhody83]

[ramster]

They never take questions from the audience...at least at the ones I've been to.

When it comes to recruiting, mum's usually the word.

Rambone,
I wasn’t referring to recruiting but to the discussion taking place yesterday about DJ Johnson now being considered for playing as opposed to be held over for redshirting. The Redshirting possibility seemed like news since earlier reports were that Johnson was not considered ready both offensively or defensively. At the show it would have been a good opportunity for Cox to report that Johnson had been showing good progress in practices and left it at that. Instead we have lots of Johnson discussion now that could have come out officially at the Mews.

[Rhody83]

Great Prep action at St Andrew’s in Barrington this weekend.

[steveystuds06]

Makai Ashton-Langford just committed to PC, ranked 36 overall by ESPN. Will be interesting to see him against Fatts in upcoming years.

Id rather have Fatts

Nobody should want Russell over Aston-Langford, let's try not to be completely bias here.

This kid is rated one of the best PGs in the country, something Russell doesn't even sniff.

I said it two years ago and I'll say it again. I'd rather have Fatts!!!!

[bigappleram]

That post didn’t age well for Rhody15

[UCH21377]

Is that Doherty kid transferring out of Notre Dame worth looking at? Mass kid.

[SGreenwell]

That post didn’t age well for Rhody15

To be fair to him, it is usually the other way around, and a good portion of the posters here would be happier if we had a recruiting class of three and four stars every year. Fatts has been incredible for us, but we've had plenty of undersized guards that turned out to be non-factors. (Tyrese Sullivan comes to mind for me, since he was there when I was in college.)

[SGreenwell]

So, I now live in Texas, and I'm covering high school sports out here, freelance. The level of athletic competition is... quite a bit different than Rhode Island and New England. Tonight, I saw Morton Ranch play, which features L.J. Cryer (guard, Baylor commit) and Eddie Lampkin (a very, very large 6'10", TCU commit; he's like two Andre Berrys right now). Cryer had 42 points, hit eight 3-pointers. It was a tournament game, the fifth in three days for Lampkin, so he only had 11 points.

We never recruited either - it looks like mostly Texas universities were on each - but I just felt the need to share. Thank you for attending my TED talk.

[Rhody74]

So, I now live in Texas, and I'm covering high school sports out here, freelance. The level of athletic competition is... quite a bit different than Rhode Island and New England. Tonight, I saw Morton Ranch play, which features L.J. Cryer (guard, Baylor commit) and Eddie Lampkin (a very, very large 6'10", TCU commit; he's like two Andre Berrys right now). Cryer had 42 points, hit eight 3-pointers. It was a tournament game, the fifth in three days for Lampkin, so he only had 11 points.

We never recruited either - it looks like mostly Texas universities were on each - but I just felt the need to share. Thank you for attending my TED talk.

Any schools in Texas play res ball? Heard an interesting story on NPR about Native American kids who play an uptempo style that is very popular in northern Arizona and NM. I’d love to see it sometime.

[SGreenwell]

So, I now live in Texas, and I'm covering high school sports out here, freelance. The level of athletic competition is... quite a bit different than Rhode Island and New England. Tonight, I saw Morton Ranch play, which features L.J. Cryer (guard, Baylor commit) and Eddie Lampkin (a very, very large 6'10", TCU commit; he's like two Andre Berrys right now). Cryer had 42 points, hit eight 3-pointers. It was a tournament game, the fifth in three days for Lampkin, so he only had 11 points.

We never recruited either - it looks like mostly Texas universities were on each - but I just felt the need to share. Thank you for attending my TED talk.

Any schools in Texas play res ball? Heard an interesting story on NPR about Native American kids who play an uptempo style that is very popular in northern Arizona and NM. I’d love to see it sometime.

Hm, not that I've seen so far, but I've only covered a couple of games.

[wpbrown8267]

So, I now live in Texas, and I'm covering high school sports out here, freelance. The level of athletic competition is... quite a bit different than Rhode Island and New England. Tonight, I saw Morton Ranch play, which features L.J. Cryer (guard, Baylor commit) and Eddie Lampkin (a very, very large 6'10", TCU commit; he's like two Andre Berrys right now). Cryer had 42 points, hit eight 3-pointers. It was a tournament game, the fifth in three days for Lampkin, so he only had 11 points.

We never recruited either - it looks like mostly Texas universities were on each - but I just felt the need to share. Thank you for attending my TED talk.

Any schools in Texas play res ball? Heard an interesting story on NPR about Native American kids who play an uptempo style that is very popular in northern Arizona and NM. I’d love to see it sometime.

They have a series on Netflix called ‘Basketball or Nothing’ that covers Rez ball in northern Arizona. It’s interesting, I would def recommend watching it

[Rhody74]

So, I now live in Texas, and I'm covering high school sports out here, freelance. The level of athletic competition is... quite a bit different than Rhode Island and New England. Tonight, I saw Morton Ranch play, which features L.J. Cryer (guard, Baylor commit) and Eddie Lampkin (a very, very large 6'10", TCU commit; he's like two Andre Berrys right now). Cryer had 42 points, hit eight 3-pointers. It was a tournament game, the fifth in three days for Lampkin, so he only had 11 points.

We never recruited either - it looks like mostly Texas universities were on each - but I just felt the need to share. Thank you for attending my TED talk.

Any schools in Texas play res ball? Heard an interesting story on NPR about Native American kids who play an uptempo style that is very popular in northern Arizona and NM. I’d love to see it sometime.

They have a series on Netflix called ‘Basketball or Nothing’ that covers Rez ball in northern Arizona. It’s interesting, I would def recommend watching it

Good to know. Thanks!

[bkoeppen]

[Rhody83]

[Rhody83]

Rhody coaches were in attendance Sat & Sun.
https://zerogravitybasketball.com/tourn ... p-classic/

[Rhody83]

[Rhody83]

This is what the score of a good prep game should be. Much more credible than 100-90 scores.

[Running Ram]

even that seems a bit high considering the games are 20% shorter than college games